Ranks between number 1 and number 2 have always been questioned in sports, and tennis is no exception. No. 2 always has a chance to beat no. 1, and vice versa. In this case, our no. 2 is Rafael Nadal, second only to the top ranked Roger Federer.

After beating Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday in 3 straight sets in the 3rd round of the French Open, Rafael Nadal was asked who he thought was the better player, him or Roger Federer. With R-Fed ranked at world's number 1, and Rafa ranked at world's number 2, the burning question is: who's better? Federer has an all time record of 7-14 versus Nadal, so how can he be named the Greatest Tennis Player of All Time? Here's Rafa's answer:

    Q. I have a different question for you. Everyone in tennis loves Roger, respects Roger. He is said to
    be the best of all time. Yet two out of every three times you play him, you win. You’ve won six of the 
    last seven times. Who’s a better player?

    NADAL: You like this. You are focused on the Roger thing, eh? (laughter.)
    Yesterday with the clay. Today with the if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person
    don’t know nothing about tennis. That’s my answer.

    Q. How so?

    NADAL: Why?

    Q. Yeah.

    NADAL: So you don’t know nothing about tennis.
    You see the titles of him and you see the titles of me? It’s no comparison. So that’s the answer. Is
    difficult to compare Roger with me now, because he has 16 Grand Slams; I have 6. Masters 1000,
    yeah, I have more than him. But for the rest of the things the records of Roger is very, very almost
    impossible to improve.

    Q. The question is: Still, for the fans, it is interesting when you step on the court with him, you usually
    win.

    NADAL: Well, I am No. 2 in the world for five years, so I think I am a good player, too. Sure, I can beat
    him. No. 2 can beat No. 1. That’s the thing. It’s not a lot of difference between No. 2 and No. 1 or
    between No. 1 and No. 10. That’s the tennis, and the tennis very close, the level, all the time.  But I can
    beat him, yes. The same time, the thing is I beat him a lot of times on clay. I beat him on other
    surfaces, too. But the most of the times I beat him on clay, so I played with him more times on clay than
    on the rest of the surfaces.

What do you think? Is Roger in for another Rafa beating on his dominant field of play, the clay court? Or should Nadal be careful when messing with the Fed? (Did Rafael even answer the question?)

It’s true; Serena Williams was upset today by Australian native Samantha Stosur in the women’s quarterfinals of the French Open today. Williams, ranked as the world’s number 1 women’s tennis player, was defeated in three sets by Stosur, ranked number 7.

 

However, if you wanted a score update, you wouldn’t be reading this blog. You already knew about the big upset. You’re here because you’re curious what else Serena has lost very recently.  

 

Well avid Serena fans and teenage boys, I have some good news for you. Serena and well known hip hop artist Lonnie Rashied Lynn, Jr., better known as “Common,” have indeed separated. After several years of dating, they have recently been experiencing problems because of their busy schedules- Common, with his music career and Serena, obviously with her tennis career. Even when Serena isn’t playing in a tennis tournament, she’s busy shooting commercials for her sponsors or tending to her personal matters. On the other hand, Common has been pushing the production of his latest album, The Believer, and filming Just Wright, releasing later this year. As a result, this weekend, the busy couple called it off.

 

Now could this be the reason for Williams’ heartbreaking (ha ha) loss today? Could be. They say tennis is a mental sport, and no doubt breaking up with a loved one you’ve dated for several years has to be tough to deal with mentally. Separating was Common’s idea, so it has for sure taken its toll on Serena the past few days.

 

Serena Williams and Common told the press that they aren’t ruling out the possibility of getting back together, that their break up was civilized, and they will remain close friends. Yeah right.

Previous co-star Meagan Fox was recently fired from her role in the unbelievably successful Transformers series because director Michael Bay said that she has gotten too skinny. Ouch. Now the role of Sam Witwicky’s (Shia Lebouf) girlfriend is up for grabs. How honorable right?

 

In the hunt for the next person to replace Meagan Fox, many names have surfaced, but the only one we’re interested in here is Brooklyn Decker. She is an American swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated, she's super hot, and has been in one movie, which is still in production. However, the only credential we’re interested in (and perhaps the thing she’s best known for) is the fact that she is tennis star Andy Roddick’s wife.

 

If Brooklyn got the role, A-Rod would undoubtedly be unable to contain his pride. Can you imagine telling your friends that your wife is starring in a Transformers movie? It’ll for sure give Brooklyn some more credit, and let her be known for something else rather than just “Oh that girl? Isn’t she Andy Roddick’s wife?”

 

The bad news is because she is already starring in a movie that is still being worked on, her chances aren’t as good as the other actresses to get the role. Keep your eyes peeled for who gets the part when as Transformers 3 comes out in July 2011.

Anna Kournikova might have started out as a tennis player, but she certainly did not end her career as one. She excelled in her modeling career, and never really reached her potential as a tennis player. She just wasn’t a very good tennis player. Now before all you die-hard Kournikova fans start arguing with me, yes, it’s true that she had two Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles (even though Martina Hingis did all the work), and she was in the WTA’s top 20 at one time.

 

But check this out- Google “Anna Kournikova” and click images. There is not one single picture of her playing tennis on the first page, they’re all modeling pictures!

 

Has tennis had enough of these “back-seat” players that aren’t famous for playing tennis, but rather just the stardom? Enter Fernando Verdasco, who recently lost to Nicolas Almagro in the 4th round of the French Open. The second ranked Spaniard player, preceded only by Rafael Nadal, has arguably one of the hottest bods in tennis. We all know it, and he knows it too.

 

It’s not hard to find Verdasco’s modeling pictures, as he recently modeled in underwear for Spain’s Calvin Klein. His career has been compared to that of Kournikova’s. Now go back to that Google page with the Kournikova search and try “Fernando Verdasco.” This time you actually get some tennis pictures, but there are also some modeling pictures beginning to plague the page. Don’t get me wrong, Verdasco is not a bad tennis player, his rank is pretty high and he got to the 4th round of Roland Garros.

 

Fernando could go a lot further if he didn’t choke on important points so much. It just seems like he’s got his priorities a little mixed up. If he wants to be known as a tennis powerhouse, he needs to focus on tennis and not become another Kournikova! I can admit it, he’s got a great body. And why not flaunt what you’ve got right? But at least win some more matches and get more respect in the tennis world, come on!

Several Australian gossip magazines confirmed seeing Lleyton Hewitt’s wife, Bec Hewitt, sporting a noticeable bump under her clothes. She was spotted early last week while getting groceries with Lleyton and their two kids. Rumors have been circulating about a third baby for weeks but nobody has been sure. Lleyton Hewitt finally confirmed the rumors before the start of the French Open.

 

Bec wasn’t planning on expanding their family until after he retired but apparently Lleyton had different plans…she was equally as surprised as the rest of us.

 

"We were thinking we'd wait until Lleyton retires because traveling with two is plenty. It's a happy surprise though." It shouldn’t be that big of a surprise though since having a baby is completely in your hands…

 

If you were worried that having more kids can make a tennis player lose focus, don't fret. Hewitt’s former coach, Roger Rasheed, doesn’t think the addition to Lleyton’s family will affect his focus on the game.

 

"To win a grand slam is a hard thing to do. Lleyton has won two and been a finalist in a couple of others and been very close in a lot of other championships. He knows what it is about and he knows what to do. Having kids, it brings him a lot of joy actually. It is a great down time thing. Instead of just being in your hotel you can spend time with your family."

 

Lleyton is very excited about the news, saying "It wasn't fully planned, but it's fantastic. We were always going to have a third at some stage so it was exciting news."

The third Hewitt baby will join Mia at age 4, and Cruz age 17 months.

There are rumors circulating that NBC might not finish their coverage of the French Open and just let the Tennis Channel or ESPN cover the rest.

 

After the two top ranked players, Serena Williams and Roger Federer, were defeated in the past two days, NBC believes they will lose many viewers for the remaining Roland Garros matches. Can you blame them? Let’s face it, most of us love watching the number 1 tennis player compete. We want to learn from them and cheer for them. After they lose, there’s not much to cheer for and we lose interest.

 

Here's an interesting fact: During the last couple of days, the ratings for NBC’s coverage of the French Open were down 15% and then 8% the next day.

 

I don’t believe tennis is a dying sport, on the contrary, I think tennis is gaining more and more fans as well as players each day. But if you’re going to be ranked the world’s number 1 tennis player, shouldn’t you at least get to the semifinals of a tournament, let alone the finals? Maybe you should worry less about your Gillette commercials and what shirt matches which pants, and focus on playing some good tennis and winning.

 

Now this isn’t official, but NBC has been considering showing NASCAR races and golf tournaments instead of covering the rest of the French Open. Lame!

British tennis player, and former junior Wimbledon champion, Laura Robson described some of her fellow players as “sluts” last Thursday. Now she is apologizing and trying to take back what she said.

 

She made her controversial comments during an interview with Vogue, where she said that her rivals had their priorities all mixed up. Robson claimed that they only cared about going out at night and the vanity of tennis rather than actually practicing tennis.

 

"They go with every guy and make a bad name for themselves. You don't want to be known for stuff like that. You want to be more discreet," Robson said.

 

After a couple of days of flying below the radar, Laura has finally come out and apologized, claiming that what she said about her fellow female tennis players was taken out of context.

 

"Firstly, I would just like to say a big sorry to anyone that I may have offended in an interview published recently. I still have a lot to learn both on and off the court, and clearly I need to be a lot more careful about how silly remarks may come across when taken out of context." Robson said in a statement.  

 

Yeah it’s pretty messed up to say that but come on, she’s a 16 year old girl and still learning. The tennis world shouldn’t make such a big deal about it.

In a recent poll conducted by Robinsons, Maria Sharapova was voted the World’s Sexiest Female Tennis Player with 58 percent of the vote, reports The Sun. She outscored other fellow beauties on tour such as Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva, and Daniela Hantuchova. Sharapova claims the title while her opponents didn’t even come close.

 

Spanish heartthrob Rafael Nadal won the hearts of the women tennis fans, claiming the title for Sexiest Male Tennis Player. Nadal received 55 percent of the vote, facing very tough competition from Britain’s Andy Murray. What about Fernando Verdasco? Or Andy Roddick?

 

Although these two won Sexiest Tennis Players in their respective polls, two former players took the title for Tennis’ Sexiest Players of All Time. They were clear favorites in the survey for the most desirable players. Tennis legend Andre Agassi was voted sexiest male of all time, and Anna Kournikova won sexiest female of all time. Kournikova I can see but Agassi? The voters must've been thinking about the mullet days...

 

Does Sharapova deserve such a high honor like that? There are plenty of beautiful girls in the sport that could compete with her in this category; some just haven’t focused on the glamorous life of modeling as much as she has. What do you think?

The International Tennis Federation is considering banning the ability for players to grunt while playing in a tennis match. If passed, it will be added to the ITF’s code of conduct. If a tennis player breaks this rule and is too loud, they could forfeit that game, or even the whole match because of their noise. 

 

The possible ban started with Michelle Larcher de Brito’s appearance at this year’s French Open. She was the source of complaints for being too loud during her matches. Not only are her shrieks loud, but they’re sustained long after she hits the ball too.

 

While it’s quite entertaining to hear some of the women moan and groan, it can start to get annoying and even distracting for opponents. Especially if you’re playing world record holder for the loudest grunt, Maria Sharapova. Her loudest grunt was recorded at 101 decibels. To prevent hearing loss, you’re not even supposed to be around something that loud for more than 10 minutes, and tennis matches can last hours long! She out grunted the former No. 1 loudest player, Monica Seles, who recorded a 93.2 decibel grunt. These girls are loud!

 

If a fan made any kind of noise that loud during a tennis match, they would be taken out for sure. Tennis players should be held to that same standard as well. If a player is too loud, they can mask the sound of their racquet hitting the ball and throw off their opponent’s rhythm.

 

"The noise extends into the hitting preparation time of her opponent and that creates problems," Bill Babcock, ITF executive director of Grand Slams said. “The events at Roland Garros have heightened the issue."

 

Is the grunting annoying? Tolerable? Necessary? Sexy?

If you looked closely, you probably noticed the newest French Open champ Rafael Nadal wearing something new and different. It’s not hard to find, just look for the only non Nike item on his body-his watch.

Now this is the world’s new no. 1 tennis player, Rafael Nadal, we’re talking about here. You know it’s not just going to be another watch. And it isn’t. During the French Open 2010, he sported a $525,000 watch made by Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille. It’s called the RM 027 Tourbillon, and it was made especially for Nadal. If you were trying to look like Rafa and are planning on buying the watch yourself, let me know how that goes because there are only fifty of these watches produced worldwide.

The half-million dollar watch is made up of carbon-composite case and lithium alloys. It clocks in at about 20 grams (about the weight of 7 pennies), which is supposedly so light that it doesn’t have any effect on Nadal’s playing ability on the court. It’s part of yet another sponsorship deal that Nadal recently signed before the French Open began.

Click here to see a close up of Rafa’s new 525K watch:
http://www.mensfitness.com/images/mf/209954/17342.jpg

Look closely on the left side of the watch, it even has Nadal’s name on it!

Perhaps one of the top tennis players with the best sense of humor is Andy Roddick. He has been quoted many times for saying something funny and sometimes off-color things. 

Roddick is notoriously known for saying comical/rude things to umpires after a bad call while he is playing a match.

 

"You're on live TV, you know. You look like a real moron right now."
-Andy Roddick to a chair umpire

Or one of my favorites:

"You're an idiot! Stay in school kids, or you'll end up being an umpire."

Roddick was once interviewed on his amazingly fast serve:

Interviewer: “You have a very fast serve.”
Roddick: “It killed a small dog.”

A few seconds pass by and Andy Roddick notices that she is not laughing.

Roddick: “I’m joking, I am joking...The dog was huge.”

 

There’s nothing quite like Roddick at an interview or press conference. Here are some other funny quotes from the top tennis players.

 

"I would so like to be Lenny Kravitz."
-Roger Federer.

 

This one from Novak Djokovic is pretty funny, all you have to do is picture it to understand what he’s talking about:

“Everybody makes fun of me because of that, but yesterday I was a bit embarrassed. I was bouncing the ball, and then I had a bad bounce, and the ball went away, and everybody smiled.”

A controversial video on YouTube has been the source of discussion on many tennis websites the past few days. The video features Novak Djokovic, dressed up as singing sensation Shakira.

 

Djokovic’s doubles partner, Viktor Troicki, is reclined in the video and shirtless. Djokovic dances to the song and proceeds to touch his partner, who is supposed to be dressed up like Rafael Nadal.

 

Why did they decide to dress up as Shakira and Rafa? And why is Djokovic dancing on him? Why did Troicki touch Djokovic’s butt? All very good questions, and I have no idea.

 

Watch the video and see for yourself:
http://www.tennisnow.com/Tennis-Now-TV/Funny-Tennis-Videos/May-2010/Victor-Troiki---Novak-Djokovic--Rafael-Nadal---Sha.aspx

Andy Murray and Kim Sears have not been spotted together since their break up until yesterday, when Murray defeated Spain’s Ivan Navarro, 7-6 6-3 at the Aegon Championships in London. Andy and Kim have dated for 4 years before breaking up last November.

                                    

Murray refused to talk about the couple’s reunion when interviewed. All he said was that he was “…very happy off court but not on it.” Well yeah, maybe you’d be happier on court if you won more.

 

Kim sat with Murray’s mother during the tennis match. Although he didn’t comment on their relationship status, Andy did admit that he feels a lot more comfortable playing when she is supporting him.

 

"I would rather not discuss that, but every time I have friends and family supporting me, it is of benefit."

 

How does a guy like Andy Murray get such a pretty girlfriend? I know he was the runner up for sexiest male tennis player (that baffles me too) but she is way better looking than he is! What do you think about their reunion? Will it distract Murray from his game and cause him to continue this downward slope since his loss to Roger Federer at the Australian Open in January?

Serena Williams is now here to serve you! If you wanted to be pampered by the tennis superstar, then now is your chance. She enrolled in a 240-hour program in order to become a certified nail technician.

 

"No one likes getting their nails done more than I do," Williams wrote on her own blog. "As a matter of fact I go every 4 days to get a manicure and every 7 days for a pedicure. So, I had a brilliant idea to get certified to be a nail tech. I thought 'Serena, this is a no-brainer,'" she wrote.

 

Serena is took those classes in preparation for her nail collection coming out soon called HairTech. Whether she truly wanted to be a nail technician or if she is just trying to push her line and stir some news is up to the reader.

 

Still, her commitment to taking a 240-hour course is pretty admirable, seeing as she doesn’t need to pursue any passion other that tennis. Serena reportedly makes $6,545,586 a year off prize money, more than any other female athlete, let alone tennis player. Fellow students in the program have said that she gives the same effort and heart that she does when she plays tennis matches.

 

"I went to the Hello Kitty store and bought plenty of containers as well as a backpack to keep my belongings. If I'm not the best, I sure do want to look like it."

4. Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi

These two have met many times, and have one of the classiest on-court rivalries. They have played a total of 34 matches, with Sampras holding the upper hand on the record which stands at 20-14. Pete Sampras still holds the longest streak for holding the world’s number 1 position, with Roger Federer one week away from tying his record. Agassi was his toughest opponent.

 

3. Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick

Federer and Roddick have a long rivalry, even though Federer has won most of the matches. They have played 21 matches against each other, and Federer has won 19 of them. Roddick is Federer’s most played opponent, and the matches between the two are always intense. Roddick has lost four Grand Slam titles, all to Federer. For 7 straight years, Federer and Roddick have been on the ATP’s top 10, the only two tennis players to accomplish such a feat.

 

2. Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams

This is an obvious rivalry, as both sisters love to compete and love even more to win. They were the only two siblings in the history of tennis to meet in a Grand Slam final. Perhaps the most surprising is that out of the 16 times they have met, they share the record equally at 8 wins apiece. The Williams sisters have 7 Grand Slam meetings, and Serena has won 5 of them.

 

1. Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal

Roger’s toughest opponent is no doubt, Spain’s Rafael Nadal. This is hands down the best rivalry in tennis. When Rafa defeated Federer at Wimbledon in five sets, he also ended Roger’s 66-match win streak. That solidified the rivalry between these two top tennis players. Nadal leads the record 14-7. The pair held number 1 and number 2 ranks for a record setting four consecutive calendar years, before Andy Murray became the new number 2 ahead of Rafael Nadal.

They do it in basketball, baseball, and sometimes soccer- play a short clip of music for each player as they walk out onto the field or court that matches their personalities. Usually the players pick what song they want for their walkout music themselves, but in tennis’ case, the players will need some of my help.

 

Every now and then, I’ll choose one of the top tennis players and pick a theme song for them that would fit their personality. Today, obviously, is Mr. Federer.

 

Federer’s best theme song would have to be the Swan Lake Overture by Peter Tchaikovsky. No, not because the overture is beautiful, but because when you’re watching a Federer match, the words you hear the most by the talking heads are that he is “graceful” and “smooth.” Out of all the top tennis players, Federer is talked about the most as being elegant.

 

He sidesteps and moves his feet with grace and rhythm on the court, much like a ballet dancer would. Federer’s form is smooth and his forehand and backhand just look so natural. Not only is Roger Federer elegant during tennis matches, he is also graceful and kind off court. In fact, Federer is so well-mannered that he can almost be considered boring, much like classical music.

 

So next time Federer walks out on to the court, they should play the Swan Lake Overture on the loudspeakers while he performs a plié. Can you think of a better theme song to fit Roger Federer? 

Elena Dementieva is one of the most beautiful women tennis players, nobody can deny that. She is sponsored by Yonex, and wore one of their dresses in the Australian Open and her poor fashion choice left people wondering why she even wore it in the first place.

 

The teal Yonex dress wasn’t very pretty to begin with, but add some sponsorships and badges on the front and you might as well be wearing a Girl Scout sash. It looks more like an outfit from the TV show Power Rangers.

 

Now the dress actually wouldn’t be too bad if the right person wore it, but having young Elena Dementieva wear it just looks wrong. She looked like a fifty year old woman in that dress. The color just wasn’t very flattering for her, and she didn’t seem as confident as she normally does when she’s modeling. Dementieva didn’t own the dress.

 

With all the tennis dresses starting to look more and more fashionable, Dementieva shouldn’t be wearing an old woman’s tennis dress. She is a beautiful young woman, but she should worry a little more about her on-court appearance in such a superficial tennis world.

Last week during the Aegon Championships, Angry Murray showed himself again. But this time, he is totally justified and has many people backing him up.

 

The match began poorly for Andy Murray, who was losing 3-0 from the start. But after playing some great tennis, Murray rallied back to 3-3 against Mardy Fish, and it seemed like Murray had all the confidence as well as momentum on his side.

 

Then 8:30 rolled around. Fish, who has a notorious record for losing matches after he seems to be in control, felt like it was getting too dark to play. Whether that’s the real reason he wanted to postpone the match or not, we’ll never know. He complained to the umpire nonetheless, who granted his wish, and Fish was off the court before Murray even knew what happened. Murray got into an argument with the umpire, saying that it wasn’t fair for the match to be ended so abruptly, especially without him being informed of anything.

 

"Mardy says he doesn't want to play so we stop playing. The referee didn't consult anyone. That came out of nowhere. The weather was absolutely fine. It's ridiculous. The only reason he wanted to stop was because it was 3-3. Ten minutes ago, when it was 3-1, he was quite happy. I have never known this to happen before. It’s ridiculous.”

 

That’s ridiculous, the other player, who is equally important in the match, should at least be informed of the decision if not be a part of it. Tennis players are getting soft, whining that they can’t play any more just because it’s getting dark. Just suck it up and play!

After a two month absence due to an injury in her left foot, top 10 female tennis player Kim Clijsters is finally back and ready to rejoin the WTA tour today. She injured her foot during the Fed Cup and has not returned since.

Clijsters will play Yanina Wickmayer in the first round match at the Aegon International. There is a lot of excitement to see if she still plays as well as she left off two months ago.

Despite her two month absence, the newly released WTA tour rankings released this morning placed Clijsters at number 9! That places her ahead of top female tennis players who have played very recently such as Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova. Do you think this is fair?

Adidas unveiled the dress that Ana Ivanovic will be wearing for Wimbledon. Depending on the weather when Ivanovic plays, she can choose to wear the leggings you see in the picture or not. Hopefully the weather remains warm at Wimbledon this year. :)

 

It’s not a bad looking dress; it seems comfortable and fits the season well. The white color makes the dress look clean. It’s not really glamorous, but that’s a refreshing change from the vanity of tennis today.

 

Wimbledon has a rule that all the tennis players must wear all white, so it’s not too different from the dresses the other women will be wearing. But there isn’t too much designers can do to make a dress stylish when they’re working with just one color.

 

Ivanovic said that she likes the dress and will enjoy wearing it.

 

“…Adidas have again done a great job of designing something that is both comfortable and stylish. I think it's a very feminine look and I'm going to enjoy wearing it in London."

In one of Nike’s biggest (and longest) commercials of the year, tennis superstar Roger Federer plays English soccer player Wayne Rooney in ping pong. In the commercial, Rooney hits an awesome forehand and beats Federer.

R-Fed only had nice things to say about Rooney. He talked about him like they were best friends, even discussing the possibility of playing a doubles game for fun with him sometime.

Federer talks about what it was like to play with Rooney and how it was fun to lose to him. Any talk about Roger being a jerk or cocky sure wouldn’t be justified here. He comes off as a down-to-earth person, and nobody can deny that he is both humble and classy.

This is a great video to push Roger’s publicity positively in the right direction. It was a very good idea for Federer to have this interview because people were beginning to talk about how overconfident and arrogant he is, especially since he hasn’t been playing tennis as well as he used to.

You can watch the video here:

Only the keenest eye would have noticed the strange racquet Maria Sharapova was playing with at the 2010 French Open. It didn’t have the familiar “P” stenciled on the racquet, Prince’s trademark. The racquet also had no writing on the neck, and it was painted all black.

 

What’s going on here? Did Prince and Sharapova break up? Of course not. They’re still going steady.

When one of Prince’s rep was questioned about it, he said that she’s using “…experimental frames over the next few months in practice and actual competition,” and that some racquets that she’ll be testing won’t be carried on their line yet.

 

The Prince rep refused to comment or go into more detail on the new racquet. As a matter of fact, he wouldn’t even confirm that it was actually a Prince racquet. Maybe Sharapova was doing some research across companies?

“Sorry, can’t comment on any products/technologies that Prince is having Maria test as part of our playtest program with her,” the rep wrote.

 

Personally, I think it’s a Head YouTek Radical Pro…

If you didn’t see or hear about Venus Williams’ dress she wore at the French Open, it’s probably time to trade your Walkman in for an iPod. The dress she chose to wear at this year’s French Open has been questioned and talked about all over the internet. It did a good job of turning the heads of people in the crowd and distracting the ball boys.

The dress was black and red and really lacy. However, it wasn’t the fact that the dress looked like a nightgown that people talk so much about it. Under the dress, the bottoms she wore matched the color of her skin so well that it almost looked like she wasn’t wearing anything at all!

"It's really all about the illusion," Williams told reporters. "What's the point of wearing lace when there's just black under? The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely, for me, a lot more beautiful."

This is the most talked about dress that Venus has worn since that really short, lime green dress she wore at the Australian Open earlier this year. The bottoms she wore then are very similar to the ones she wore at the French Open. It’s been described as “skimpy” and “risqué.” Certainly not ways a tennis player wants to be described.

What will Williams wear at Wimbledon to save her reputation? Can she wear something classy, or will she come to play in something she found in her bedroom?

If anybody was worried about what tennis ace Rafael Nadal was doing or where he is, they can relax. Nadal was spotted on Tuesday with his girlfriend Xisca Perello at Palma, Majorca.

 

The two were spotted walking down the street and canoodling just like normal people. They weren’t trying to impress anybody by wearing expensive outfits or taunting paparazzi; they just wanted to spend time together.

 

The sighting was after the male tennis players’ bracket was announced for Wimbledon. Nadal was seeded second, behind Roger Federer, even though he is actually ranked number 1 in the world. It doesn’t matter though, because both players will be top ranked in their respective draws.

It sure doesn’t seem like Rafa is bothered by it, he’s just enjoying his last few free days with his girlfriend before he has to go to work at Wimbledon.

Nice sock tan Rafa!

In a recent interview with E! Online, Brooklyn Decker was asked if she and tennis superstar Andy Roddick plan on having a baby soon.

 

Brooklyn quickly spoke for herself and Roddick, saying that they don’t have time right now to have a baby and don’t plan on reproducing anytime soon.

 

"I ran into Fergie one time and she said to me, 'Once you get married, people are going to ask, when are you having babies? So just get ready for it. It's going to be so annoying.' And she's so right.

 

“So my answer is, we're obviously waiting. We're young and we're focused on our careers and being together right now."

 

That's too bad because I bet their children would be hot! You’ve got a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and, well, Andy Roddick. It’s probably a good thing for Roddick that the couple doesn’t want to expand their family yet though because he needs to focus on his game and become one of the top male tennis players again. He’s got a real shot at Wimbledon, just like everybody else this year...

Andy Murray has lost yet again, but this time it’s not on the tennis court. Kim Sears and Murray were rumored to have been back together during the French Open, but a few days ago Kim broke it off with Murray.

 

Why? Because Andy has been spending too much time playing video games and not spending time with her. According to Kim, Andy spends more than 7 hours a day playing Call of Duty. Thus Andy is down one love again.

 

Murray went into the Masters in London with high expectations. People thought he would get far, but instead Murray didn’t even reach the semi-finals. A total letdown. His way of dealing with it is probably to just stay at home and escape to an alternate reality via videogames.

 

He should probably put his controller down and pick up a racquet because he has as good a chance of winning Wimbledon as a lot of the other male tennis players this year. His chances of winning are better than his chances at getting Kim back this time…

Thomas Muster has announced his comeback into the ATP tour. Muster is now 42 and hasn’t played a professional tennis match in 11 years. He’s probably a little over his prime…

Muster announced last week that he’s accepted a wild card match into the ATP tour on June 28 at Braunschweig, Germany. 

Who is Thomas Muster? Not many people really know because of his short time as world’s number 1 in 1996. Muster did not spend long at the top rank, only about six weeks. He did win the French Open in 1995. His final pro match was during the French Open in 1999, where he lost the first round.

Even though he hasn’t played in 11 years, Muster claims that he never really retired. Yeah right.
"I never formally retired, as I said after that match I would go on a holiday," Muster said. "So now I am just returning from my holiday."

We’ll just have to see how the 42 year old does against 20 and 30 year old tennis players who are just now getting into the peak of their game. I hope he practiced and trained during his 11 year “holiday.”

Yesterday’s first round of Wimbledon was certainly a wild one. You already know how Roger Federer came back from a 2 set deficit to win the match, but how do you feel about it?

Federer played Alejandro Falla of Colombia. At the end of the second set, Falla was 1 game, 4 points, away from pulling off the biggest upset in Wimbledon history. The match went into the fifth set with Federer finally pulling it out and winning the match in the end. Even though he won, it shouldn’t have even been close.

Falla is ranked number 60 in the world, while Federer is ranked the number 1 tennis player in the world. The match should’ve ended in 3 sets. This match just further showed that Federer is slowly losing his amazing skill that he once had. A number 1 seed should be able to destroy a number 60 seed very quickly. Like someone said in an earlier blog, “Roger Federer’s years of invincibility are over.” He’s good, but he used to be better.

Yes, I understand Federer still won in the end but it wasn’t easy, and plus that’s what should happen. And just because something that should  happen did happen does not mean that it deserves any special praise.

Oh, and Falla was also playing with a groin injury.

Training and practicing for Wimbledon is hard work and can often get boring. That’s why tennis divas Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova opted to go to the Ralph Lauren pre-Wimbledon party. The exclusive party was held at The Roof Gardens in New England.

You’d think if they were at a Ralph Lauren party, they’d choose to wear very fashionable and crowd pleasing dresses, but they didn’t. Sharapova wore a dress that looks like one of the Golden girls picked out for her, and Serena just looks too muscular and manly for any dress she chooses to wear.

In addition, Sharapova wore black heels with her beige shirt, and it just didn’t match well. Serena on other hand wore heels that looked like a first grader made by putting quarters and other shining objects on. The duo didn’t represent the girly, sexier side of ATP women tennis players at the party.

But enough ranting, what do you think about their dresses?

Serena Williams doesn’t have much free time left in her hands. If she’s not playing her matches in Wimbledon she’s training for it. But lately something else has come up that she needs to practice for. The defending Wimbledon champion from last year and top ranked women’s tennis player in the world has something bigger to worry about: her curtsy.

Queen Elizabeth II will be visiting the All England Club tomorrow, and Serena needs to go in to overtime to practice and perfect her curtsy. Forget practicing for tennis, the main reason why she’s there, she needs to practice the way she bends her knees.

After her win against Michelle Larcher de Brito in the first round of Wimbledon, Williams took advantage of the time to get some practice in a public setting, but she wasn’t impressed with herself.

“I think I flubbed it, so I’m definitely going to work on it a little more,” she said.

Apparently she did some customizing of her curtsy too.

“But my curtsy is really fun. It’s something that she’ll definitely never forget. I’m looking forward to nailing it.”

It must be hard to get attention and recognition when your sister is stealing it all away. This is Venus Williams’ case, as her tennis game is slowing digressing while her sister, Serena, has been getting better and better. Serena is currently ranked the world’s number 1 women’s tennis player.

Well this is third time Venus has chosen an unconventional dress to wear while playing tennis, and this time it’s at Wimbledon. After her lacy black and red dress she wore at the French Open, fans were wondering if she’d go back to more normal dresses. That is definitely a “no.” At least she’s wearing white shorts this time and not skin-colored.

This time, Venus wore a white dress full of frills near the bottom. They shook and jiggled as she moved around on the court. She said that she was inspired by one of her idols, Tina Turner, who was famous for sporting that kind of design.

“I love her. I love Tina Turner. Obviously, she’s just an amazing, amazing artist, just a survivor. She reinvented herself. Plus she looks great. I’ve loved her forever. So the dress is really inspired by her.”

Granted it’s not as bad as her previous two dresses, but that’s probably because she had to follow the strict rules of Wimbledon. This is sure to cause gossip and attention, whether Venus wanted it or not.

Basketball superstar LeBron James’ free agency has not only the New York Knicks going wild to recruit him, citizens of New York are also desperately trying to get him to play in the Big Apple.

Good thing New York’s got a new recruiter now: tennis bad boy John McEnroe. The man who yelled the infamous "YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS" at Wimbledon made his sales pitch to offer LeBron James free tennis lessons at his brand new tennis academy. Mcenroe's new facility is named, surprisingly, John McEnroe Tennis Academy on Randall Island.

“I would give him free lessons at the academy, he looks like he’s already a good server.”  (How can you tell something like that?)

“It’s not only important for the Knicks, but for the next five, 10 years, the city needs LeBron as much as the Knicks do. It would give the city an unbelievable buzz…We need to end the suffering.”

No word yet on James’ response to McEnroe’s offer, but I’m going to go ahead and say offering free tennis lessons to a basketball superstar is not a very effective recruiting tool, even from a tennis player as infamous as John McEnroe…what do you think?

Yesterday I wrote a blog about how Serena Williams was taking time off the court to practice her curtsy for Queen Elizabeth II. Well the Queen arrived today to watch some tennis matches and she came early to greet a few privileged tennis players.

Queen Elizabeth hasn’t been to Wimbledon since 1977, until today. She decided to watch Andy Murray play Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

Today was the day when Serena would show off her curtsy that she’s been working so hard on to the Queen and her fans. Not only did Serena get a chance to meet the Queen, but so did her sister, Venus Williams, Roger Federer, and Andy Roddick. The women curtsied while the men bowed.

What do you think? Was all her practice worth it? Looks pretty easy to me…

Now there’s a guy who knows how to greet royalty!

Everyone has heard about the epic match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, and they are getting more and more famous by the second. But is it deserved?

Yes, it’s amazing that they played for over 11 hours, but you’re telling me neither of them could dig a little deeper and play a little harder? There was less and less heart from both tennis players put into the match as each hour went by.

Usually tennis players just get to take a break during the change over, but these two were allowed to go home and eat, sleep, and rest for hours before coming back out onto the court. Then Isner and Mahut both got presents from Wimbledon? For what, playing equally badly and choking on their respective match points?

The worst thing is that when Isner played Thiemo De Bakker yesterday, he lost 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, straight sets. Watching Isner play was frustrating. De Bakker just seemed a step too quick for Isner the whole match. Isner showed little effort and was aced numerous times. Not only was he easily aced because of his lack of heart, he had zero aces the whole match. It seemed like Isner was still hung over from all the media attention he received for his 11 hour match.

The Isner-De Bakker match was the shortest Wimbledon match this year, at 1 hour and 14 minutes. Where’s the sportsmanship Isner?

Victor Hanescu has apologized for spitting at the crowd and showing general unsportsmanlike conduct during his match at Wimbledon. His actions caused him $15000.

He was found guilty of rude behavior, unsportsmanlike conduct, and the money was deducted from his prize money of $47071. While he may have been frustrated with the score: 6-7,6-7, 7-6,6-3 3-0, that still doesn’t give him the right to act that way in front of fans and then play so badly towards the end. It was obvious he wasn’t giving 100% as the match finished.

You just can’t act like that when there are kids looking up to you, especially someone seeded as high as 31^st in the world. Tennis players need to remember that people are watching their every move, and they need to set the example.

“I lost my control briefly in the fifth set after another insult from someone in the crowd. I should never have done that but I am human and I made a mistake. I would like to apologize to the fans, the All England Lawn Tennis Club and everyone else for my behavior.”

Here’s how Hanescu justified his crude behavior:

“There were people in the crowd that had been insulting me since the beginning of the match. I was winning, had four match points in the third set, but unfortunately I could not close it out. Then I got a leg injury at the end of the fourth set.”

That’s still no excuse to react that way though.

Andy Roddick may have lost his match yesterday at Wimbledon, but he does have something to be proud of. He’s married to the world’s hottest tennis wife.

Vanity Fair recently posted an article ranking the top 15 hottest tennis wives, and Brooklyn Decker topped the ranks. Her win is not a surprise, Brooklyn is a swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated, and more recently she was considered for Megan Fox’s role in Transformers.

How did Roddick get such a smokin hot wife? I’m not sure, maybe it’s the shoes he wears? Or his Lacoste clothes? Or maybe his incredibly fast serve? I think most would agree that Andy Roddick is a very, very lucky man. His tennis career may be slowly drifting away, but at least he has a beautiful woman to spend his retirement with. 

Click here to see the whole 15.

Venus Williams was booed by the crowd at the All England Club yesterday when she walked out late. It was a bit shocking to see such a well known tennis player show up 10 minutes late to her own match.

The rumor is that Williams purposely showed up late to prove a point. She was angry that she was put on Court 2 instead of Court 1 or the Centre Court. And in order to show her frustration, she waited 10 minutes before walking out on to the court, a way of “sticking it to the man.”

Venus, however, had a different reason why she was late.

"I didn't know the procedure for Court 2, so I was waiting on someone to get me. No one came. So eventually I just came out (laughter). Usually there's like a court escort kind of person, they come and get you."

That doesn’t make sense though, because Venus has played on Court 2 several times, so she should already know the procedure by now. She shouldn’t have made a big deal about it; her match wasn’t the most important match yesterday. Serena played Maria Sharapova on Centre Court, and Justine Henin played Kim Clijsters on Court 1. Venus’ match was the third most important match, thus she played on the third court.

I can’t see why someone would be angry about playing in a 4,000 seat court, though.

After Andy Roddick’s loss to the world’s no. 82 tennis player Yen-Hsun Lu on Monday, he attended a post-match conference. Roddick’s frustration was palpable as he answered the reporters’ questions. His answers show how frustrated he was with the match, as well as the interview itself. I feel like the reporters’ questions were a little bit rude.

Q. Always [losing in] the fifth set in Grand Slams. Do you dread the fifth set in a slam these days?
ANDY RODDICK: No.

Q. Any reason why you felt you were down in the first three sets in terms of quality?
ANDY RODDICK: What's the question?

Q. Any reason why you were not hitting the ball that well in the first three sets?
ANDY RODDICK: If I would have had a reason, I probably would have figured it out, right?

If the reporters were trying to get Roddick pissed, they succeeded.
Q. So tomorrow when you wake up, you think you're going to be pissed off, disappointed?
ANDY RODDICK: I'm going to be thrilled. I mean, c'mon.

Q. You've been through these slams before.
ANDY RODDICK: And it never gets easier. Of course I'm going to be pissed off when I wake up tomorrow. I mean, if you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn't wake up the next day in a great mood. I mean, c'mon, let's go. We're better than those questions.

Lesson learned. Don’t ask Andy Roddick stupid or rude questions if he’s just lost a match or you’ll get short and sarcastic answers from him.


Notice how the video is a little over 9 minutes, but right after the question Roddick thanks the press and leaves: