our zoom was off. we promise.

But we’ll gladly pass it along: Contrary to the evidence, we had nothing to do with this one.

Pic taken while the ATPers visited the Avala Tower in Belgrade before the start of the Serbia Open.

(via MTF)

tipsarevic withdraws from serbia open

The little engine that can’t: Too bad that Janko Tipsarevic keeps falling apart mid-tourney. He had to pull out of a semi at this week’s Serbia Open because of a thigh injury, thus giving Novak Djokovic a spot in the final against Feli Lopez. This also means that Nole’s 26-match winning streak is still intact. Get better soon, Janko!

More: A few other views of the most adorable sad face in tennis —

volandri makes the quarters in belgrade

Italian Filippo Volandri beat Illya Marchenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to advance into the quarters of the Serbia Open in Belgrade. His next opponent is Marcel Granollers, who upset second seed Viktor Troicki in straight sets. Scorelines: Get updates on all the matches here.

Asics is pretty much sticking to solid white, yellow, and a royal blue (worn by Frederico Gil at Estoril) this season. Check it all out at Midwest Sports.

(image by Srdjan Stevanovic via serbiaopen.rs)

team marko

Joe Jonas, Taylor Hanson, Marko Djokovic. It’s always about the middle brother, isn’t it?

(image from Family Sport via serbiaopen.rs)

tattoo watch: adrian ungur

Romania’s Adrian Ungur has made it through to the second round of this week’s Serbia Open by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round (and qualifying for a spot in the main draw). Unfortunately, that’s probably where it’ll end; he faces Novak Djokovic in the hometown hero’s opening match tonight.

Tattoo watch: Ungur told TSF (by way of the Serbia Open media folks) that the hip tat you see peeking out of his shorts means “respect” and “honor” in Chinese. Open season: And he also revealed that he has four more: a star on his hand; the initials of his wife; a bracelet on his upper right arm; and an old Georgian saying on his arm. Let the photo hunting begin!

(images via serbiaopen.rs)

want: novak shirt from the serbia open store

Window shopping: TSF’s had its moments of “hunh?” with the hairstyles of Novak Djokovic — especially when he lets a buzzed head overgrow into Chia Pet territory — so we smiled upon seeing this shirt that is all about that. These are the goods being sold on-site at this week’s Serbia Open. (Flashback: An old shirt with a Nole-specific ‘do.)

Fingers crossed: We can only hope they dove off the deep end and actually printed this one.

Brackets: Nole headlines the night match tomorrow. He’ll go up against qualifier Adrian Ungur. OOP is below.

SERBIA OPEN – ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, 27 APRIL, 2011

CENTER COURT start 12:00 noon
B Kavcic (SLO) vs R Mello (BRA)

Not Before 2:00 PM
M Berrer (GER) vs [4] A Montanes (ESP)

Not Before 4:00 PM
F Lopez (ESP) vs [WC] F Gonzalez (CHI)

Not Before 8:00 PM
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] A Ungur (ROU)
C Fleming (GBR) / D Martin (USA) vs S Gonzalez (MEX) / I Zelenay (SVK)

COURT 1 start 12:00 noon
S Devvarman (IND) / T Huey (PHI) vs [2] J Erlich (ISR) / A Ram (ISR)
Y Lu (TPE) / M Zverev (GER) vs F Ferreiro (BRA) / A Sa (BRA)
[4] O Marach (AUT) / A Peya (AUT) vs M Elgin (RUS) / M Kukushkin (KAZ)

Not Before 5:00 PM
[1] M Granollers (ESP) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs K Nishikori (JPN) / L Zovko (CRO)

(image by Pedja Milosavljevic at serbiaopen.rs)

one giant through, the other falls

Varying versions of that honeycomb pattern were on the Nike dudes as they showed up for clay events this week. JMdP wore the Green Apple version of the Showdown Movement tee during his first-round win at the Estoril Open, where he needed to beat Portuguese qualifier Pedro Sousa 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to advance. Delpo has a potential quarterfinal match against top seed Robin Soderling. Draw: Estoril Open.

Buy: Nike Showdown Movement Tennis Top, Green Apple and Tour Yellow, $55, tennisexpress.com.

And in Belgrade, John Isner‘s run at the Serbia Open ended abrubtly with his 6-4, 7-6 (4) loss to Ricardo Mello, who’ll next face Blaz Kavcic. He shares the same quarter as top seed Djokovic. Live scores: Get caught up on the happenings here.

(Isner image via serbiaopen.rs; Delpo image via Getty Images)

that painting is brill

Upper right corner, my friends. Nole posing next to his Pacific Life Open trophy. Amazing.

(God, how we miss that whale.)

This photo was taken during the ceremony held at this week’s Serbia Open in Belgrade to hand diplomatic passports to Ana Jovanovic, Bojana Jovanovski, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Viktor Troicki, and Novak Djokovic.

“I am honored to promote to diplomatic service people who have contributed to the popularity of Serbia in the world,” said Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic. “There is not a single country in the world which wouldn’t be honored to have you as ambassadors.”

More: See the whole story at the Serbia Open site and the full gallery here.

(img by Pedja Milosavljevic via serbiaopen.rs)

big brother nole

It’s almost a little creepy how omnipresent Nole is at the Serbia Open, no? Even when he’s not around, there’s a statue to take his place. If you remember, this is the terra cotta replica commissioned by the ATP for the players participating in the 2007 year-end championships. (Flashback: See all eight statues — for Nole, Ferrer, Federer, Gonzo, Kolya, Rafa, Gasquet, and Roddick)

Work it: All the Serbia Open fashion show pics here.

Work it: The singles draw has Nole, Troicki, GG Lopez, Montanes, Isner, Gulbis, Janko, and Pico as the top eight seeds. Draw: Serbia Open.

(image via serbiaopen.rs)

good idea, bad idea: novak djokovic

Nick’s away for well-deserved R&R over on the left coast this weekend, so it’ll be a fashion-heavy while I’m bloggin’ by my lonesome…

Good idea: Novak Djokovic opens up another NovakCafe, the Djokovic restaurant venture. The fourth branch is located near the MGM tennis court, the site of the Djokovic-owned Serbia Open. (Pics: interior and exterior — pretty cute, no?)

View: See pics from all four outposts of Novak Cafe at the restaurant’s official website.

Marko’s looking more delicious by the minute. So is the restaurant. If only we could get Nole to stick with adidas, and not switch over to K-Swiss like he’s been rumored to?

Bad idea: Where do we sign the petition TO NOT MAKE THIS HAPPEN? Nole just began to hit his mark with his Falcon line (above) — it was one of the U.S. Open’s best outfits, along with Rafa Nadal‘s checker cab polo. (Pics: Nole’s day and night kits) He should really hang around and give it time to grow. Perhaps K-Swiss has better shoes?

On the flip side, K-Swiss will get a benefit from having a top male player on their roster. (No offense, Tommy Haas.)

Bonus round: Good Idea, Bad Idea from Animaniacs

(via HC Foo and TW; novakcafe images via HCFoo; djokovic image courtesy of adidas)

trophy watch: estoril, serbia, and roma

One less salute: Fourth seed Tomas Berdych topped Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the final of the BMW Open in Munich. Tomas took home a Z4 Roadster along with two business class tickets from South African Airways and €71,700.

Blake falls down the Montanes: Spaniard Albert Montanes won the Portuguese bullfight against American James Blake 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-0. Didn’t help that James was wearing red Fila during the week-long event in Estoril. On the women’s side, Yanina Wickmayer took the title by beating Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-2.

Safina makes it real: In Rome, Dinara Safina proved to the world that her No. 1 ranking is legit by defeating former No. 1 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

He kinda had to: Over in Belgrade, Novak Djokovic‘s inaugural Serbian Open (formerly the ABN AMRO) turned out to be quite a success. Over 70,000 spectators saw him beat lucky loser Lukasz Kubot; the Polish player took out seeds Igor Andreev and Ivo Karlovic en route to the final.