Srichapan Marries Former Miss Universe

On this Thursday, Paradon married his girl-friend and 2005 miss universe, Natalie Glebova. (Do you now blame him for his poor tennis form this year? May be he didn’t have enough energy left to play on tennis court;) ). The two have been going steady for the past two years. I remeber that they bought a big house six months ago. I’ll try to search and post some photos here.

From ATP-Tennis:

Paradorn Srichaphan and Natalie Glebova, a former Miss Universe, married in a private ceremony surrounded by honor guards on Thursday. The reception was held later in the day in the Grand Ballroom of the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

The newly weds have no immediate plans to go on their honeymoon, as they are going to spend the next few weeks with family and friends.

When asked about children, 26-year-old Natalie said: “It is up to fate, but hopefully in the next few years.”

They auctioned off replica commemorative dolls of themselves to raise money for charities that work with people who are HIV positive.

The pair danced their first dance to Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do, I Do It For You”.

ATP players Danai Udomchoke and Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana were also in attendance, as well as many Thai dignitaries and celebrities.

Srichaphan missed the last seven months of the 2007 season due to a right wrist injury. The 28-year-old went 1-5 in ATP play, with his last tournament coming at ATP Masters Series Miami in late March. ATP Profile

His Russian Canadian wife was crowned Miss Universe in 2005, and is an ambassador for many international companies.

The pair first met at the Thailand Open in September 2006 and announced their engagement in April this year.

Nadal plays down foot injury fear

Uncle Toni says that the foot injury in career threatening. But, Rafa refuses. Conflicting comments from Nadal camp…

World number two Rafael Nadal has moved to calm fears about his future after comments regarding a foot injury from his coach Toni Nadal.

Reports suggested the 21-year-old’s career was in doubt after uncle Toni admitted: “It’s very serious. I don’t know (if it’s career-threatening).”

But Nadal told Spanish TV: “This injury hasn’t stopped me competing at the top level for over two years.”

He added: “The story that has come out is totally false.”

Ealier, the Spaniard’s spokesman Benito Perez-Barbadillo told BBC Sport: “This is nothing new and really serious.

“It’s something he lives with. It’s definitely not career-threatening.”

Nadal’s season ended with a 6-4 6-1 defeat by world number one Roger Federer at the Masters Cup in Shanghai on 17 November, although he has since played an exhibition match against Richard Gasquet.

“He’s had a very successful year,” said Perez-Barbadillo. “He was the guy who played the second-most number of matches and he wouldn’t do that if it was a serious problem.

“Rafa is not happy with what came out. He arrived back from a holiday in Egypt today and he starts training tomorrow, and plays an exhibition in Malaga at the weekend.”

The physical nature of Nadal’s game has often taken its toll – he had to pull out of a Davis Cup tie in March and carried a knee injury throughout the US Open.

“He’s been affected by an injury to his foot since 2005,” said Toni Nadal. “He has to learn how to live with it and so far he has managed for two years.”

He added: “We are pleased with the season just finished, with the injury and everything. His play has improved and the matches have been less intense.

“Roger Federer is a fully-rounded player; Rafael has a different style. The key factor has been to shorten the length of matches and we have achieved that.

“His problem is that he has to play to maintain his physical tone and fitness levels. There’s no other way to do it than by competing.”

Source: BBC Sports

Sampras shocks Federer in Third Exhibition match

Pete Sampras fired off his trademark powerful serve in a shock upset of world number one Roger Federer in Macau on Saturday to post his first win in their three-game Asian exhibition series.

The former US world champion came back strongly after defeats in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur, forcing the first break of the match in the ninth game of the second set and serving out for victory to win 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 in 70 minutes.

He won the first set on a tie-break after a tight affair that had gone with serve on a lightning-quick court.

Sampras, 36, said the level of play in the final match was high.

“It was very fast out there, very quick conditions. It was helping out my service games. I got going a little bit today and it could have gone either way in the first set.”

The 26-year-old Federer praised his opponents serve, saying he still could compete at the top five level in the world.

“We delivered a great level of play. Unfortunately I didn’t win today but the surface was really quick and Pete was playing really well and hardly making any mistakes,” he said.

Sampras, who won a record 14 Grand Slams, started the match strongly with his heavy serve, hitting two aces in the first game and never letting up.

He impressed at the net with his serve-volley game as the match continued to go with serve.

Federer, currently on 12 Grand Slams, had two set points in the first set tie-break, but Sampras escaped and made his second set point count.

Serve continued to dominate at the start of the second set, with neither player looking likely to force the vital break. Federer pushed Sampras to deuce in game eight but the American produced an ace to get out of trouble and level it up at 4-4 before he broke Federer.

Both players hit 14 aces during the match. Sampras made 15 unforced errors to Federer’s 13, while Sampras won 14 points at the net to Federer’s six.

Their clash in the packed arena at Macau’s Venetian resort was their third match in just five days, following the meetings in Seoul and Malaysia.

Federer won the first match in Seoul on Tuesday 6-4, 6-3 in 61 minutes.

The second clash, in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, was a closer affair over 90 minutes, with Federer emerging victorious after winning both sets on tie-breaks.

The two met only once on the ATP Tour, in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2001, when Federer defeated the American in five sets.

The loss ended Sampras’ remarkable reign at the All England Club. Sampras retired from professional tennis in 2002.

Federer edges Sampras in the second exhibition match

In the second exhibition match in Kuala-lumpur, Federer edged sampras in two close tie breaks, 7-6(8-6) 7-6(7-5).This match was more entertaining than the first one. Sampras was at more ease and served huge. Hopefully, we’ll get even more better tennis from the third match this Saturday.

The watch was televised live on Tennis Channel. Other than that, only live scoring was available on internet (http://www.bet365.com/home/default.asp).

Federer Joins Clinton, James Bond, Kanye As GQ Men Of The Year

From TennisWeek:

He’s beaten one of tennis’ toughest clay-court champions and one of the game’s greatest grass-court players in the past week and now Roger Federer is once again expanding his horizons in keeping world-class company. You can soon see the Swiss stylist sharing space with former President Bill Clinton, rapper Kanye West, candidate Ron Paul, James Bond and the Flying Tomato.

Federer joins that eclectic group as one GQ Magazine’s Men Of The Year in the new December issue of GQ. The magazine recognizes the 12-time Grand Slam champion as “Court King.” Clad in a white Armani Exchange t-shirt, a stylish Federer resembles the young Warren Beatty in the black-and-white photo shot by Liz Collins.

Hall of Famer Bjorn Borg praises Federer in the article that accompanies Federer’s photo.

“For me, watching Roger is like watching an artist,” Borg says. “Because Roger can do anything on court – behind-the-back shots, between-the-legs shots. Just the way he changes the pace: He can play slow or fast. We played together in Dubai a couple of years ago; it was a great thing just to play against each other, and hit a couple of balls. Roger won the Australian Open this year without losing a set. That’s unbelievable-to win a Grand Slam tournament without losing a set. At Wimbledon I think he has a good chance to break my record next year and win his sixth in a row; I plan to be there. I also think that Roger has a good chance to win the French Open, though Rafael Nadal is a big competitor and a challenge for Roger to beat. If he stays motivated and away from injuries he’s going to be the greatest player who ever lived.”

Federer defeats Sampras, 6-4 6-3

Today in Seoul, in the first exhibition match of the 3-match series, Federer beat Sampras 6-4, 6-3.

Pete still had that huge serve (IIRC, he served 6 aces) and was very good at the net. But, he was slow near the baseline. He broke Roger once in the first set. Pretty decent stuff from a 36 year old guy;) OTOH, Roger was sloppy throughout the match. There were some pretty good rallies though. Overall, the match was not as entertaining as the battle of surfaces (Federer-Nadal) or the Federer-Nadal Korea exhibition last year.

An article from IHT:

In an exhibition match between the giants of tennis present and past, world No. 1 Roger Federer defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

The match in Seoul is the first of three Asian exhibitions the two legends will play. The pair meet again Thursday in Kuala Lumpur before heading to Macau two days later.

Sampras, 36, retired in 2002, a year after the only previous meeting between the pair at Wimbledon 2001.

Federer won that fourth round match in five sets. If the Swiss star — who lifted his fourth Masters Cup title Sunday in Shanghai — expected an easier ride against the aging American he was in for a shock.

Sampras brought cheers from the crowd at Seoul’s Olympic Tennis Arena as he fired down two fierce aces in his first service game.

The balding Sampras proceeded to break his opponent’s serve and then moved 4-2 ahead courtesy of a delightful drop shot.

“I feel pretty good,” Sampras told Korean television after the game. “I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me.”

Federer was equally happy with the workout.

“Pete was one of my idols growing up and it’s great to play him,” Federer said. “It wasn’t easy for me, it wasn’t easy for him as he’s been retired five years. I am number one and everyone expects me to win.”

All the familiar trademark volleys and serves were on display but Sampras, who has won 14 Grand Slams to Federer’s 12, was slower around the court than in his 1990s heyday and made a number of unforced errors.

Federer took advantage of those to break the serve Sampras and take the first set 6-4.

Apart from three successive lobs that Federer served up to his opponent in the second game of the second set, the game was a competitive, though light-hearted affair.

By that time, Federer was hitting his stride and took the second set with a minimum of fuss.

“I have no plans to come back from retirement,” said Sampras. “You have to come back for a reason. I just stay home and watch Roger win on television.“

Australian Open Courts to Speed up in 2008

While all the surfaces (including Wimbledon) are being made slower and slower every year, Melbourne courts will be made faster next year. Australian open courts are being revamped right now. The courts will be colored blue (similar to US open courts??) and a new surface, plexicushion replaces the Rebound Ace.

From The-Age:

TENNIS Australia officials believe the new surface for the Australian Open is set to provide a faster, more attractive tournament in January.

The tournament will be played on new blue plexicushion courts, which have replaced the green Rebound Ace courts that were criticised by Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, who argued for a faster and more consistent surface.

Tournament director Craig Tiley said Tennis Australia tests have shown that the courts already were faster than the old Rebound Ace courts.

Tiley said the courts would get even faster by January 14, although they would still be slower than Wimbledon and the US Open.

“Our plan has been to be in the medium to medium-fast pace range. On the ITF (International Tennis Federation) scale, that’s about 34 to 38, and we’re very pleased to be able to tell everyone that scientific testing has got us right smack bang in the middle of that, which is where we want to be,” Tiley said.

“It’s going to get quite a bit of playing time and environment over a period of time, so we expect them to increase in speed by a couple of points.

“So from a scientific point of view, it has worked out great, and so far the player perception has been great but not everyone has hit on them. So once you’ve got 500 players hit on them, there’ll probably be a range of perceptions, but we know scientifically now that at least we can back ourselves up with these tests.”

He said the new surface would be more durable under heat stress than Rebound Ace. The remaining few courts at Melbourne Park will be completed by mid-December.

Photos: Federer, Sampras meet before the Exhibition

Some pictures from pre-match press. Federer looked very good in that jeans and shirt. Not surprisingly, Sampras looked very fit for his age.

 

 

 

 

 

Sampras Federer Exhibition Details

Roger and Pete will play exhibition matches in three asian cities.

11/20 (Tuesday) — Seoul, South Korea

11/22 (Thursday) — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

11/24 (Saturday) — Macau, China

All the matches will be telecast live on Tennis Channel (in US). There must be some Asian channels airing them too… I’m not aware of the details. The schedule for Tennis channel telecast:

Day/Time (EST)	On Air	Location
Thursday, Nov. 22nd	7am LIVE, 8pm encore	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date	Online	Location
Monday, Dec. 3rd	Rafael Nadal vs. Richard Gasquet	Seoul, Korea
Tuesday, Dec. 4th	Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras I	Seoul, Korea
Wednesday, Dec. 5th	Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras II	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Thursday, Dec. 6th	Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras III	Macao, China

Federer wins 4th Masters Cup

Federer beat David Ferrer convincingly, 6-2 6-3 6-2 to win the year end championship. Federer was in the zone for the whole match and broke Ferrer twice in each set.

Some stats for the records:

- This is Federer’s fourth Masters cup in the last 5 years. He is one away from most tiles record (Sampras and Lendl have 5 titles each)

- Highest ever prize-money in a calendar year, $8.6 million. He beats his own record (2007 – $8.4 million)

- Federer keeps the Number-1 ranking for the fourth consecutive year

- Federer keeps the record for most titles in the season for fifth consecutive year — 2007 (8 titles), 2006 (12 titles), 2005 (11 titles), 2004 (11 titles), 2003 (7 titles)

- This is Federer’s 53rd career title