We’re a little late on this (one day!) but birthday wishes are in order for one Erwin Ong in celebration of his big day. For this, we’ve created a commemorative Save-the-Date invitation for you all to Erwin’s hitching to sir Nikolay Davydenko. Hitching date TBD, obvi… but Erwin is already emotionally overwhelmed by it! -NM
The men have already kicked off the final week of the ATP Tour calendar for 2010 at the ATP World Finals in London. Andy Murray has made easy work of Robin Soderling while Roger Federer does battle with David Ferrer later tonight.
Who do you think is set to end the year with a bang?
(getty photo via atp web site)
Wilson has a new video out that seems to be poking a little bit of fun at Head (twice!) and Roger Federer after their recent watch-this-amazing vids surfaced online – and we love it. The break-dancing themed vid has a tennis player dancing, spinning and hitting the ball to an opponent who surely must be a little motion sick from their battle.
Tomorrow night the DC metro area will host arguably its biggest tennis event of the year as World Team Tennis puts on its annual Smash Hits charity event at American University. Billie Jean King will play the honorable hostess, joined by a cast of tennis (and non tennis!) greats: Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Anna Kournikova and Elton John. A good friend of TSF is DC-bound for the evening of big time tennis and big(ger) personalities.
It got us thinking: If you could play tennis with any one individual from throughout history, who would it be and why?
Don’t like our options here? Create your own in the comments section.
(photo by Patty Boh via flickr)
We know you’ve all been waiting for this since the US Open and thank god – is god Srdjan in this situation?! – and it’s finally (FINALLY!) arrived. Just promise us, you won’t spend all of your Christmas money on these babies. At least save some for the China Open store. Novak, No Shirt Needed: The TSF vault is good for those moments when no tee is needed.
(screen grab via novakdjokovic.rs)
To celebrate Ana Ivanovic‘s victory in Bali, we thought we’d release the cover of her new book, Eat Play Love. Everyone knows what an affable, sweet girl Ana is, and now you can read about her journey to find herself – and her game – across five continents.
(troy venechanos illustration)
Taylor-made: Taylor Dent announced his retirement from pro tennis this week, following a 12-year career that saw him reach as high as no. 21 in the world. Dent, now 29, won four career titles but saw his progress cut short due to a high volume of injuries. He returned to the tour over the last 18 months after being out for much of 2006 and 2007, amassing a 12-19 record in 2010 and a ranking of no. 85. We’ll miss ya, Mr. Serve-and-Volleyer. TSF Vault: The Dent Diaries.
The way of the ladies: Ana Ivanovic ended 2010 unlike any recent ending she’s had to a season, winning the title in Bali with three impressive victories and vaulting herself back into the top 20. Ivanovic won 13 of her final 15 matches of the year with her title in Linz. Ravi Ubha gave Ana the thumbs up to become a major Slam contender in 2011 or 2012, while giving the exact opposite forecast for countrywoman Jelena Jankovic (who finished 2010 6-11). Ubha had his crystal ball out for the WTA contingent on ESPN.com. The WSJ Weighs in: The Wall Street Journal had a piece last week on how – just how? – Caroline Wozniaki took the top spot in tennis.
Quiet please, just kidding: Walking up Lafayette Street yesterday in NoHo, I spotted this Heineken billboard still clinging to behind-the-scaffolding life from this year’s USO. This spot is just blocks away from the 40 Great Jones, which hosted the Boast party earlier this fall, and the adidas store where I became besties with Justine. Bestines.
(tsf photo)
For just the second time in this year, Andy and Jamie Murray are joining forces this week in Valencia on the doubles court. The Murray clan took out Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the opening round of play 6-3, 7-6 (3). Doubles draw here.
The two were awarded a wild card into the event, marking the first time they’re playing double together outside of their home country since Madrid in October of 2008. The two paired up often early in their careers, even making a final together in Bangkok in 2006. But as Andy’s singles career exploded, he played less and less dubs, pairing every so often with big guns like Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman, Lleyton Hewitt and Novak Djokovic.
Jamie Murray has also had a variety of partners, but mostly has settled on Jonathan Marray, a fellow Brit in 2010. The Murray-Marray duo floats their ranking around no. 90 in doubles these days. None of these three gents, Andy, Jamie or Marray have taken the court for the British team in Davis Cup doubles in the last two years, though Andy and Jamie teamed up for one win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Perhaps the brotherly love springs from the recent Murray wedding? Are these bros past their water-in-the-face days? Wedding pic after the jump. (more…)
Elena Dementieva is waving good-bye to the WTA Tour after a dozen years on the tour, which saw her greatest moment in 2008, at the Beijing Olympics. But while Dementieva might be most well-known to tennis enthusiasts as the greatest chica never to nab a Slam, you can bet she will be a missed force on the tour. No one else played with such maturity and poise, and even the shaky serve was made up for by that blazing forehand. Can you remember an Elena diva moment? Neither can I. I got the chance to watch Elena in person this summer – and if you never had the chance to watch this girl up close, I’ll give you one descriptive word: athlete – and she was a joy to watch. The tennis may have been flawed at times, but the heart was always there. Can’t wait to see what comes next for the Muscovite. Survey study: Of the 158 folks that responded to our Sunday Survey, 38% said they thought Elena would announce she’s pregnant come Thanksgiving. OK, riiight.
Courier calls: A variety of responses sprung up from the naming of Jim Courier as the new US Davis Cup coach last week. Greg Garber was questioning the call already over at ESPN.com, while L. Jon Wertheim was giving the nod to the Courier appointment in his Monday post this week. Our call? Well, we’re not so sure it matters who captains. Wertheim pointed out that four Americans sit inside the top 22 (Roddick, Isner, Fish and Querrey), and while the time may have passed for Roddick and his Davis Cup days, the Bryan Brothers look committed. The bigger question is: what will the Isner, Fish and Querrey era bring? Those are the boys that seem invested as Courier takes the reigns.
Retirement footnotes: While Elena’s announcement shocked a few and left others unsurprised, Serena Tweeted and blogged her well wishes to Dementieva, who had a 5-7 record against ReRe. Of course, retirement of one WTA veteran meant that the media was curious about her counterparts, namely Kim Clijsters. And here’s a curious fact for you: Lindsay Davenport, who shaved off Elena in her first big-bang match in the 2000 US Open semis still is not listed as retired on the WTA web site. Comeback likely? You never know with the mom next door.
Back on the winning (and publicity) track: Winning his first match in five tries, Fernando Verdasco found his winning form (most recently displayed in heroics at this year’s USO) in Valencia Monday. The Slice had some good shots of Fernando charming the masses at a Calvin Klein event last week in Madrid (with his pants on), before heading east to Valencia. He also appeared on the Spanish cooking show, El Hormiguero. Jealous of that cooking-show host? Yes, so are we.
tennis served fresh 