PHOTO OP: Eyes wide shut

"Please GAWD let that ball be on the strings..."

Did anyone else notice Thomaz Bellucci, who's having the tourney of his life after knocking out Top Tenners Andy Murray + Tomas Berdych and reaching his first Masters 1000 semifinal in Madrid, hits his spinny, lefty forehand with his eyes completely shut? It's true. I noticed it after I was sifting through a bunch of his match photos. Strangely, it only happens on his forehand and not his backhand. It's an odd habit, but tennis ballers are full of 'em as we all know.

All I can say is the Brazilian better have those pretty peepers wide open and focused for his next match when he takes on Novak Djokovic, who raised his record in 2011 to 30-0 after getting past David Ferrer today 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Nole's only trailing John McEnroe (42 in 1984) and Bjorn Borg (31 in 1980) for the record of longest winning streak to open a season. Holy fucking hell. I mean, WHAT IS THAT???

Anyway, back to Thomaz. More shots of his closed eye FH after the jump - click the head if you need more proof. But don't say I didn't tell you so. Even though you will.

[Photo(s): Pierre-philippe Marcou /AFP/Getty Images, Reuters, Francisco Leong /AFP/Getty Images]