PHOTO OP: Nando featured in Hola! magazine

Fernando Verdasco is looking all kinds of shirtless in the latest issue of Hola! magazine.

Seriously, the bod is sick and the faux-hawk looks long gone. But sometimes Nando can look sexy and other times can be straight on cheese. I'm getting Versace ad sprinkled with a dose of International Male here. You? Though, to be fair, the styling isn't so great either.

But really you have to give Nando some props - just think about where he started.







(images courtesy of verdasco-online, scans via socialitelife)

Serena won't be playing with spin anymore - at least not on heels

"I've got a dance move for you Czink. Take that!" (insert grunt)

Serena Williams has famously attempted acting and is currently attempting screenwriting. But the 11-time Grand Slammer has decidedly given up her attempts at dancing - at least on stacked heels.

After defeating pesky Melinda Czink 6-3, 7-6(7) in Stanford ReRe finally revealed the cause of the left knee injury that ultimately required surgery. She told the press she tweaked it getting her groove on at a club back in 2002:

I went into this little spin move out there on the floor and I could feel something go in my knee. I did my move and thought, ‘Oh, no, Serena. This can’t be good'... Whenever I go out now I always bring a pair of flats.

Hysterical - I can SO see this happening in my head. So why did it take so long for her to come clean?

I just didn’t want my parents to know. I don’t think they know yet. I’m still a little nervous about that.

But there was a silver lining to all of this for the former top baller: more time with sister Yetunde Price, who was murdered not soon after her surgery back in 2003:

It was good because I ended up spending the whole summer with my sister, so I have zero regrets. Maybe it happened for a reason….I just thought it was all worth it at the end.

It's a good thing ReRe was able to spend time with her sister before she was brutally taken away. But why would she be nervous about her parents knowing the reason? Are they anti-club, anti-dance, anti-heels, or all of the above?

*scratches head*

(image via getty)

PHOTO OP: Shirtless samurais as athletic supporters

Here's hoping Sam Querry, who made his third consecutive quarterfinal in LA after defeating compatriot Ryan Sweeting 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, keeps up his winning ways for obvs reasons.

I mean, you can't really argue with shirtless boys who love tennis.





(images via getty)

JJ vs. Bart: Say what, MF?!

Marion Bartoli on facing Jelena Jankovic in the Stanford quarterfinals:

There should be a lot of good tennis. I always beat Jankovic so who do you think I want to play?

JJ's response?

She talks like she's Serena Williams. Who is she? She's just another player on the tour.

*sssssslap*

ROFL. Uh, newsflash Bart: Your head-to-head with the Serb stands at 4-3, though you've won the last three matches. A bit of verbal vomit on your part me thinks.

In any case, bring it ladies.

(images via getty)

PHOTO OP: "I'm a little tea pot short + stout, here is my handle..."

Jesse Levine returns a ball to Tommy Haas at the LA Tennis Open. HotHaas won 6-1, 6-3.

(image via ap)

Marat making good in LA, reaches first quarterfinal of the year

Could LA be Marat Safin's tourney to take?

The towering Russian opened the event by playing a rematch of the 2000 US Open final against a sleeveless-wearing Pete Sampras and winning again. Then, he defeated newly-crowned Indianapolis champ Robby Ginepri in the opening round followed by a doubles win with compatriot Igor Kunitsyn. Phew.

On Wednesday Marat upended the big hitting Latvian lad Ernest Gulbis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his third consecutive quarterfinal in the City of Angels but very first of the year. He'll face Tommy Haas for a spot in the final four.


After completing this third match in four days he told the press:

It's getting tougher and tougher to play these kinds of matches, to fight when you're struggling and not playing well. It's difficult to motivate yourself and take care of your body. You have to spend much more time in a gym and practising. There are so many (other) things to do. I need some vacation, take half a year just to relax and realize that I'm not anymore a tennis player and to understand that there is life afterward.

I need to relax. There was so much stress throughout the years. There is no matches, there is no more match points, there is no more deuces, there is no more second serves. It's a different way of thinking and I need to take some time off to really understand it.

Surely it'll get tougher to get motivated for each match at each tourney as the deadline comes closer.

Here's hoping Marat makes good here, though. I'd love to see the big lug grab a title before he calls it a day, and with all the big boys on break this could be his best chance.



(images via getty)

PHOTO OP: Spotty Play

Marcos Baghdatis waiting to return serve against Frank Dancevic at the LA Tennis Open on July 28.

(image via Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

(UPDATED) MEDIA MASHUP: Rafa buys new home in Dominican Republic

Rafael Nadal has purchased a beachside home in the exclusive residential complex Playa Nueva Romana in the Dominican Republic.

The community will have "1,200 luxury homes, a marina, a five-star hotel, and an 18-hole golf course. This new development represents an investment of more than US$180 million and covers an area of 620 acres of coconut groves, just 45 minutes from Santo Domingo's international airport."

The company behind the development, Pinero Group, was so excited (understandably) about the purchase by Rafa that they even thanked him on their website:


Here are some renderings of a few of the model homes in Playa Nueva Romana. Is that a rendered Xisca roaming around those digs? Maybe they drew her up to entice Rafa a little more.




A video of the contract signing is also included in the news release. Boy, I'd be grinning ear-to-ear too if I just scooped up one of these gorge homes. *sigh*

In any case, this move might actually keep the pesky stalkeratti at bay especially in a private residential community. Might.

CHECK IT:



UPDATE: Miri over at Nadal News has a Googley translated version of the interview he did with TVE today where he dispels rumors that his recent issues have been due to his parent's separation earlier this year (see end of post here.) It's the KNEES people.

(via PRNewswire)

PHOTO OP: Matching tails

Mariano Zabaleta faced off against Tommy Robredo at the Masters Tennis 2016 tourney in Burgos, Spain today.

(image via ap)

FASHION FIX: Shrieka pushed by Ai, unveils minty Wimby dress in Stanford

Maria Sharapova played her first competitive match since being knocked out of Wimbledon's second round by Gisela Dulko.

The Russian lady baller was pushed to the limit by veteran Ai Sugiyama in their opening match at Stanford even losing a 5-2 lead in the second set and two match points in the tiebreak before prevailing 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1.


Shrieka also debuted a minty version of her Nike Wimby dress for the tourney, which didn't look like bondage-wear at the All England Club but certainly does now. Dominatrix duds perhaps?

Anyway, it seems like there's a lot going on with all the lines including on the visor. The Wimby white + gold version was much more subtle and classic. But all in all it's not so bad.

(images via getty)

NaturAna ready to return - but what is she REALLY saying?

Ana Ivanovic hasn't played a competitive match on the WTA tour since her tearful exit from the Wimbledon fourth round - a gate she hasn't passed at a major since winning at Roland Garros last season. Ouch.

But the slumping Serb has taken a mini-break and is ready to rejoin the rest of the lady ballers during the North American hard-court swing. She even said so in her latest Diary entry below.

SIDE NOTE: Isn't fun to read between the lines especially in these baller-penned blog posts? Well, it is for me...

Recharged and raring to go / July 27, 2009
I feel refreshed after an enjoyable holiday. I think it is a great idea to have this mid-season break, as part of the Roadmap, and it has given me time to rest and reflect on my game (read: I've been obsessively picking apart my game with surgical precision to the point where no improvisation or creativity is even possible. It keeps me up at night, though.) More importantly, of course, it has allowed me to get fit again after my injury.

Wimbledon seems like a long time ago. I did some fitness work during my holiday in Scotland (read: I got busy with my manpiece Hottie Scottie. I mean, LOTS of busy) and I've been training this past week in Spain. I am now on my way to America for what should be a six-week stay at least. I will play tournaments in LA, Cincinnati, Toronto and then the US Open.

It's quite some time since I played three tournaments in three weeks and it's definitely a challenge physically, but I am up to it for sure. Actually, someone told me that the last time I played three tournaments in three weeks was three years ago, when I won the US Open Series (read: I didn't have much left then for the U.S. Open so I figured let's do it again.) That was nice to hear!

Having a short break from tennis like this gives me even more hunger to compete. (read: I think I want it too much and I can't stop myself. WTF?!) I really can't wait to get back on the court, so I am very much looking forward to the Los Angeles tournament starting next week.

Love
Ana

PHOTO OP: Elena's all thumbs - and she likes it

"I wanna do that super cool "thumb-in-the-pocket" model thing for this shoot. Is this right?"

"Fine. How 'bout this? No?? What do you mean "more bests"???

"Ah yes. Breasts. Duh!"


Elena Dementieva works it at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge + Coit Tower before heading south for this week's Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

(images courtesy of Bank of the West Classic)