Here’s Feliciano Lopez at last night’s opening of a restaurant called Barroque in Madrid.
You’re welcome, Kolya!
(src; m b)
Archive for the ‘nikolay davydenko’ Category
a budding bromance?
June 2, 2009
Nikoliano? … or maybe Lopydenko? Josh pointed out this quick Q&A by the folks at rolandgarros.org, who drilled quarterfinalist Nikolay Davydenko about a few things, including who he thought was the nicest guy on tour. Here’s how the world’s top Russian tennis player responded:
“They’re all really nice: Federer, Nadal. All of the guys in the top 100 are cool. But if you asked me which one was the best looking I’d say Feliciano Lopez. Everyone thinks he’s gorgeous, with his blue eyes and curly hair.”
Scoreline: Tenth seed Kolya just fell to real-deal Robin Soderling 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 a day after the Swede upset Rafa Nadal (and Nikolay beat eight seed Verdasco in straight sets). Meanwhile, Lopez dropped out in the second round after losing to Janko Tipsarevic.
More: A few more photos of Lopez’ Halloween costume, courtesy of Joma, after the cut…
hmm, kolya — is that “flour” in your pastry?
May 10, 2009
Powder took some time out during this week’s Estoril Open to learn about a world-famous Portuguese cake: the Pasteis de Nata. Sabine Lisicki joined him for the tutorial.
Watch: Check out the video here.
Scoreline: Currently ranked 11th in the world (oh, how the mighty have fallen!), Davydenko entered the combined tournament as the second seed. He was upset by James Blake 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 3-6 in the semis.
And speaking of white powder, Frenchman Richard Gasquet has now confirmed an initial report by L’Equipe that he tested positive for cocaine during a routine drug test at the Sony Ericsson Open in March. He claims innocence and has begun compiling evidence to prove this to the ITF and the World Doping Agency.
We’re hoping he’s innocent and that the case gets dropped; two years of Gasquet-less tennis would just be too much to handle.
(screengrab from ATP)
in dubai, marat continues to sputter
February 24, 2009
Writing the epilogue: The unpredictable career of Marat Safin has reached some consistency now that he’s steered himself toward retirement sunset.
At this week’s Barclay’s Dubai Tennis Championships, the eighth seed — bumped up by the absence of the injured Federer (back), Nadal (knee), Davydenko (ankle), Verdasco(ankle), and Roddick (Dubai slapped him in the face).
Too bad he fell in three sets — 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 — to Richard Gasquet.
“I struggled in the beginning with the serve, especially, and returns from the baseline, but I started to get used to it and I started to get better and better,” Safin said. “But unfortunately, it’s a lack of confidence and I didn’t play for a long time after Australia. I played in Marseille, and it’s my second match.”
Meanwhile, after giving his neck a little breather, Marat’s back in business with his charms. Is that the imperial crown?!
Scoreline: Djokovic and Murray are doing just fine in Dubai. We’re expecting these top two seeds to face each other at Sunday’s final.
(photo via Getty Images)
serbia’s greatest export
October 10, 2008
Who knew that Victor Troicki could be as animated as his fellow Serbian, Novak Djokovic?
It’s hard to contain his excitement, perhaps, of finally making some noise in these past few weeks; he’s reached back-to-back quarterfinals, first losing to Andy Roddick at the Japan Open 6-3, 6-4 and then to German Mischa Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Now that he’s shown us a full range of facial expressions, we can’t wait to see him battle Nole in the striptease competition.
Rest o’ the draw: The semis — Santoro’s through after Mathieu retired, and will face either Kunitysn or the gorgeous Chardy. Meanwhile, Kolya and Marat (de facto final?) are duking it out to see who’ll take on Zverev.
More: See more of Troicki’s fun faces after the cut…
practice makes perfect: the boys fight for flags
September 22, 2008
davis cup: don’t let kolya’s pink scarf fool you — the russians play dirty
September 20, 2008
The Russian doubles pair of Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn hacked their way into a 6-2, 6-1, 6-7(9), 3-6, 8-6 win over Guillermo Canas and David Nalbandian using some unusual tactics:
For the first two sets, Tursunov and Kunitsyn bamboozled their opponents with very little pace. In fact at times it was almost as if they were playing pat ball. With Kunitsyn staying back after most of his serves, and eschewing the chance to come to the net even when it presented itself, the visitors were playing almost a badminton formation of front-court back-court, Tursunov looking for the interceptions, Kunitsyn rallying from the baseline and covering when Cañas and Nalbandián tried to wrongfoot Tursunov. It was fascinating, if unusual.
And Tursunov said that it was Shamil Tarpischev’s plan all along to make David stay on the court as long as possible, thus making fatigue a factor during tomorrow’s reverse singles. (audio)
Nikolay Davydenko next to wife, Irina, snug as a bug in a pink scarf.
Sunday: The Argentines are up 2-1 going into Sunday, and the sched posted on the DC website lists Kolya playing David (though Dmitry might sub…) and del Potro against Andreev.
(photos by Getty Images)
davis cup: Nike and del Potro combine powers
September 19, 2008
Juan Martin del Potro nudged Argentina into a 2-0 lead against Russia by beating top 10er Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 (this, after Igor Andreev lost to Nalbandian). Del Potro has now won 23 out of his last 24 matches, picking up four titles along the way.
We give props to Nike for using a deeper shade of blue on the double-wide terry wristbands (compared to the headband), and making the color pop even more with that purple swoosh.
And in line with the rest of their summer/fall ‘08 gear, there’s mesh (in tribal/tattoo form) on the shirt’s back.
Into the weekend: The boys will duke it out in reverse singles a day after cheering on the doubles match between Canas/Calleri and Kunitsyn/Tursunov. At least after last year’s Portland debacle, Tarpischev knows better than to put Kolya in play on a Saturday!
Show some love: The Argentine version of the tennis pieces aren’t available for mass consumption, but consider giving your gaucho some love via this Country Split Windrunner Jacket, $100; or the Hyperdunk shoes — both released in time for the Beijing Olympics.
(photos by Getty Images)
davis cup: I’m craving a sandwich
September 18, 2008
Juan Martin del Potro and the scot-free Nikolay Davydenko will meet in the second rubber of this weekend’s Argentina vs. Russia Davis Cup semifinal tie in Buenos Aires. As much as I’d like Kolya to win, this is the en fuego JM. Playing on his home turf. Sorry, Russia!
By the way, can someone give Nikolay a smaller jacket so it doesn’t look like he’s wearing a dress?
(photo by Getty Images)
finally, they leave kolya alone!
September 12, 2008Finally, Nikolay Davydenko is free! (Maybe the investigators heard my plea?)
Having exhausted their leads, the ATP gives up on trying to pin the Russian for match-fixing. I hope Kolya, whose momentum got effed up by all the bad press brought on by this scandal, recovers his spot as a legitimate top-fiver on the tour.
Read the AP report after the cut…
davydenko’s nightmare isn’t over
June 26, 2008
Kolya Davydenko was the first top casualty at this year’s Wimbledon Championships with his straight set (4-6, 4-6, 4-6) loss to the 116th-ranked Benjamin Becker. It’s really sad that his titles in Miami and Warsaw were nowhere to be found in any of the post-match articles. Instead, the questions still focused on the match-fixing scandal that has rocked the Davydenko world for a very long time.
“It is like a bad dream. Not one day but months,” he says of the experience.
Too bad he bowed out early (but really, apart from his 4th round appearance last year, Kolya has lost in the first round of Wimbledon five of the last seven years), because that Airness polo he wore is the best and cleanest thing I’ve seen come out of the French company’s performance collection so far this year.
By the way, I heard from a colleague that Nadia Petrova, a former Airness beneficiary, was seen at Wimbledon wearing EleVen. Can anyone confirm with pics?
(photos by Getty Images)
RELATED POSTS
>> TSF’s wimbledon coverage
trophy watch: roger retreats to routine while rafa rolls on with record
June 18, 2008
The Queen’s Cup
Rafael Nadal continues to make his case for winning this year’s Wimbledon title with a 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic at The Artois Championships in London. Rafa, who took home $133,000, is the first Spaniard to win a grass court title in 35 years (bookending Andres Gimeno’s 1972 Eastbourne feat).
Does Rafa already have a toothpaste endorsement deal? It could be very lucrative…
Meanwhile, Roger Federer scurried back to the teat of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, where he tried to erase last week’s French Open drubbing with his fifth title at this smaller grass event. He beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4. He didn’t drop a set in five matches, helping extend his record to 25-0 at this event (and to 59 straight wins on grass dating back to 2002).
Looking forward: Roger will seek his sixth straight Wimbledon title this coming week.
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko chips away some more of that (unfounded) match-fixing notoriety with another title, this time at the Orange Prokom Open in Warsaw. He has racked up three titles so far in 2008, tying Nole and trailing only Rafa’s five. Kolya beat second seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3. Great track jacket from Airness!
Kateryna Bondarenko switched to a more even K-Swiss outfit for the DFS Classic final. Kateryna overcame Yanina Wickmayer 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (4).
In this week’s only clay contest, Maria Kirilenko made quick work of Maria Martinez Sanchez (6-0, 6-2) in the Barcelona Open. Maria turned this around with a first-round exit at Eastbourne this week.
(photos by Getty Images)
Davydenko, out! + Airness drops Nadia?
May 31, 2008
Battle of the No. 3s: Poor Nikolay Davydenko got pushed to five sets by Ivan Ljubicic, the man who used to occupy Kolya’s spot as No. 3 in the world behind Rafa and Roger. The score, in Ivan’s favor: 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
The Russian’s clothing sponsor, Airness, kept up its end of the bargain by giving him no less than three variations of their Spring ‘08 shirt. That mock collar, which we also saw on Lotto this season, is a little too much with all the color blocks and stripes. Oh well, at least we won’t have to see it for a week.
Meanwhile, Nadia Petrova got dropped by Airness, it looks like. She showed up at Roland Garros wearing this drop shot top from Nike.
(photos by Getty Images)
red scare? more like red annoyance
May 30, 2008
TSF had concerns about Nikolay Davydenko facing Davis Cup teammate and v-neck posterboy Marat Safin in the second round of the French Open, especially after Safin dismantled Jean-Rene Lisnard in the match prior (granted, Lisnard is ranked 228th in the world). But it turned out to be a clay cakewalk for Kolya, who won 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2.
Perhaps it was Marat’s lack of jewelry that did him in. Where are his necklaces?!
Buy: Marat’s adidas Spring Competition 6 Theme Polo in Scarlet Red, $44.99 at TennisExpress.
(photo by Getty Images)
Trophy Watch: Warm-ups wrap up
May 26, 2008Even though most of the ATP and WTA tours have already flocked to Paris for the French Open (which started on a Sunday this year), there were still titles contested in some nearby warm-up tournaments.
Kolya announces his intentions to challenge Rafa and Roger for the French Open title with his win over Juan Monaco (6-2 2-6 6-2) in Poertschach, Austria.
Monaco failed to defend his title from last year. Nikolay was bothered by a thigh injury (he had to have it taped), but assured the press that it wouldn’t affect his play in Paris.
Robin Soderling, Robert Lindstedt, Thomas Johansson, and coach Peter Carlsson pose with their hardware after taking out the Russian tennis team (of Dmitry Tursunov, Igor Andreev, and Mikhail Youzhny 2-1 in the ARAG ATP tennis World Team Cup in Dusseldorf.
Anabel Medina-Garrigues shows off her trophy (from Baccarat) after winning the Strasbourg International against Katarina Srebotnik. Scoreline: 4-6 7-6 6-0.
23-year-old Gilles Simon beat countryman Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-2 at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco.
And Agnieszka Radwanska became the first Polish woman to crack $1 million in career earnings after winning the Istanbul Open over Elena Dementieva. Agnieszka beat the Russian 6-3, 6-2.
(photos by Getty Images)
davydenko keeps his pants on
May 21, 2008
The ATP tapped our favorite albino Nikolay Davydenko to blog from this week’s tour stop in Portschach. Things we learned: his mom is an Energizer bunny, his dad is more chill, and he doesn’t like getting naked in the crazy, coed, clothing-eschewing spas of Austria. (The Russian baths, apparently, welcome the demure.)
The snapshot above is Kolya trying on his dad’s red spectacles. Long live geek chic!
(photo via ATP)
Davydenko’s legacy might not be match-fixing after all…
April 24, 2008
(By the way, this lighter green is the new color of Prince.)
Two weeks ago, Nikolay Davydenko put together a string of wins at the Sony Ericsson Open beating Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal en route to capturing the biggest title of his career. His play on court, combined with the romantic story of how he switched from the Ozone Tour to the denser string pattern of the Ozone Pro Tour prior to his first round match, and how he used the same frame to march through the draw, are becoming something of tennis lore. His results and outspoken affinity for his “new” O3 racquet, have not only led to a surge in his popularity but created a noticeable spike in demand for the racquet as well.
What is Kolya wearing?
April 21, 2008
Question of the week: Aside from what I can only assume is his wedding ring, what else is hanging from Nikolay Davydenko’s necklace?
(photos from the Estoril Open by AP)
Kolya as Cinderella: racquet and shoes fit
April 9, 2008
Racquet switches are usually done during the off-season to give the player a chance to acclimate to the difference. (Remember James Blake’s unsuccessful affair with Prince?) At the beginning of last week’s tournament, Nikolay Davydenko switched to the Ozone Pro Tour, a racquet with the same frame (”cosmetically”) but with a denser string pattern. Instead of 16 rows of strings, it has 18. This means more control.
(Click here to read more about his new racquet… and shoes!)
Trophy Watch: Kolya’s second Masters, Serena defends title
April 9, 2008
He’s not for the birds: Top Russian Nikolay Davydenko won his second Tennis Masters Series title by handily beating Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-2 at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open. This after overcoming Andy Roddick in the semis. Looks like Kolya has finally shaken off the mental insecurities that came with being under investigation for match fixing. Like Mary Carillo said in during CBS‘ coverage of the final, “This is what Davydenko will be known for” even if he’s cleared of allegations. Better leave all that worrying to your lawyers, Nikolay.
(Click here to read more…)
Stumble It!
