Rafael Nadal wins Olympic Gold and becomes World Number One!

This year Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal has won the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Gold, has become World Number One and now, to top things off, he's posing shirtless for New York magazine and they're rather taken with him:

Take your time. It’s okay. That photo of Rafael Nadal on the back cover of this magazine is undeniably … what’s a polite way to put it? Arresting. The mussed locks curled just so above the shoulders. The biceps curved like a particularly ripe aubergine. The shadows playing across the deeply grooved abs. All demand extended scrutiny.

When you’re done, ask yourself this: Would Roger Federer ever pose for a photo like that?

Hopefully not! I've never understood the attraction that some of my fellow 'mo bloggers have to Roger Federer. I'm not an admirer of his appearance nor his game. Rafa, on the other hand, hits the spot on both counts - check out them guns!

Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer to become the Wimbledon Champion 2008

I've been meaning to blog all afternoon but the tennis has been so compelling and I couldn't take my eyes off the television. Heck, I couldn't even go for a bathroom break apart from when the match was suspended for two rain breaks.

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in five epic sets 6-4 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7 to become the Wimbledon Champion 2008. I don't think I've been this excited watching a tennis match since Borg vs McEnroe back in 1980. I remember watching that with my brother and living through every point and shouting at the television. We so wanted Borg to win back then and it was thrilling when he finally did win his fifth Wimbledon.

This time, Rafa was the player I was urging to win. Listening to the pundits, they were all picking Federer to win - Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Tracey Austin, all the BBC commentators had picked Federer with the exception of wily Pat Cash who picked Nadal last night when forced to choose. Rafa started well and won the first two sets, then Federer won the third in the tie break. Rafa then had two match points during the fourth set tie break and at that stage we had the same situation as Borg and McEnroe in 1980 where each point won would either be a set point or a match point for either player.

Federer managed to win the tie break again, so we were in a fifth set. I have no idea how Rafa managed to keep his head together, most other players would have collapsed by this stage, having lost match points and into a fifth set. I think I spent the final set with my hands covering my eyes as it was so bloody tense. As there's no tie break in the final set at Wimbledon, they played on and each held serve until Rafa finally broke Federer at 7-7 to make it 8-7 and served for the match.

After all that excitement, I think I need to have a stiff drink now!

Rafael Nadal arrives at Wimbledon - "Vamos!"

Our Rafa beat his first round opponent, German qualifier Andreas Beck, in straight sets today at Wimbledon 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-0) in two hours nineteen minutes. His opponent didn't seem to mind losing too much though, Beck even reached over the net at the end of the match and gave Rafa a nice big manly hug. Then again, I'd probably do the same thing.

Rafa's had a bit of a haircut, just an inch or so, but he's still got all his familiar quirks: that "thing" with lining up his water bottles and, of course, his charming habit of picking his underwear out of his sweaty ass crack just before he serves.

Rafa was talking last year about how he was embarrassed by the attention that fans and the media were paying to his quirks and said that he was going to make an effort to get rid of them. Fortunately, all of Rafa's OCD tics are still present and correct, just the way we like them. It just wouldn't be the same otherwise.

Andy Roddick in Outside magazine

Super hot American tennis player Andy Roddick in Outside magazine:

"I have to have windows every couple of months where I can put my body back together."

Let me know if you need any help with that, Andy ;o)



Source

Wimbledon seeding for 2008 leads Andy Murray to moan again

Ah, I was woken up early this morning. Normally, I don't get up until 9am but my flatmate has a "gentleman caller" staying over and he keeps getting up, banging doors and generally making noise. So annoying. Aren't they supposed to skulk out and 3am or something? It's called manners.

Anyway, I'm wide awake now and having a browse on teh internetz. I just noticed that the Wimbledon seeding has been announced and, of course, our own Andy Murray is not happy and is having and good old bitch and moan about it. You see, Andy's been seeded a whole ONE place below his current world ranking. That's right, one place. He's world number eleven and he's been seeded number twelve:

"I feel like I am one of the top grass-court players in the world, but because I missed Wimbledon (last year) I am going to lose out because of it, which I think is a little bit tough. I personally think it should just be done on the rankings, which is much easier."

Oh, Andy does enjoy a good moan doesn't he. I don't think he's happy unless he's got something to bitch about and he could really do with lightening up a bit. Look at his brother Jamie, who won the mixed doubles with Jelena Janvovic last year, he seems so much happier. Wasn't li'l Andy on a PR charm offensive recently? I guess that's over.

So, who's your favourite this year? I like the look of Rafa Nadal, but then I always do, but I'd be happy with a Djokovic win too. With the women it's pretty much a wide open field, with Ivanovic, and Sharapova looking good for it and, of course, either one of the Williams sisters is always going to be a contender. Here's the full list:

Men's seeds:
1. Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2. Rafael Nadal (Spain)
3. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
4. Nikolay Davydenko (Russian)
5. David Ferrer (Spain)
6. Andy Roddick (United States)
7. David Nalbandian (Argentina)
8. Richard Gasquet (France)
9. James Blake (United States)
10. Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus)
11. Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
12. Andy Murray (Britain)
13. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)
14. Paul-Henri Mathieu (France)
15. Fernando Gonzalez (Chile)
16. Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic)
17. Mikhail Youzhny (Russia)
18. Ivo Karlovic (Croatia)
19. Nicolas Almagro (Spain)
20. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
21. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain)
22. Fernando Verdasco (Spain)
23. Tommy Robredo (Spain)
24. Jarkko Nieminen (Finland)
25. Dmitry Tursunov (Russia)
26. Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia)
27. Nicolas Kiefer (Germany)
28. Gilles Simon (France)
29. Andreas Seppi (Italy)
30. Gael Monfils (France)
31. Feliciano Lopez (Spain)
32. Michael Llodra (France)
Women's seeds:
1. Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)
2. Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)
3. Maria Sharapova (Russian)
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia)
5. Elena Dementieva (Russia)
6. Serena Williams (United States)
7. Venus Williams (United States)
8. Anna Chakvetadze (Russia)
9. Dinara Safina (Russia)
10. Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia)
11. Marion Bartoli (France)
12. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland)
13. Vera Zvonareva (Russia)
14. Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)
15. Agnes Szavay (Hungary)
16. Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
17. Alize Cornet (France)
18. Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic)
19. Maria Kirilenko (Russia)
20. Francesca Schiavone (Italy)
21. Nadia Petrova (Russia)
22. Flavia Pennetta (Italy)
23. Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia)
24. Shahar Peer (Israel)
25. Lindsay Davenport (United States)
26. Sybille Bammer (Austria)
27. Virginie Razzano (France)
28. Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine)
29. Amelie Mauresmo (France)
30. Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia)
31. Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
32. Sania Mirza (India)

Top Spin 3 on the PS3

Ooh, just look was waiting for me when I got home from work this evening, Top Spin 3! I've been waiting for this for ages. I generally enjoy all sports videogames (except for football) and I particularly enjoy tennis games. It's out on all platforms so I could've gotten this for the Wii or the PS3 but I decided to go for the PS3 version as it has online play plus it also has the hot addition of Rafael Nadal as a player.

I've only had a short while with the game and my first impressions are mixed. First of all, it doesn't look amazing. In fact, I'd say that Virtua Tennis 3 still looks better. Also, the controls seem a little overly complicated. Maybe it's because I'm so used to playing Virtua Tennis since the Dreamcast days, but that always has fairly simple controls - "easy to learn, but difficult to master!" as the tag line used to go.

In Top Spin 3, you have to press the shot button, move your character into position, then press the shot button a second time. At first, I didn't realise what was going on and I kept missing shots, so I ended up reading the instruction manual (which I never do) and saw that I needed to do two presses. Like I said, maybe I'm just too used to Virtua Tennis and I'll grow to like Top Spin but I'm yet to be convinced.

On a positive note, the thing that I do love about this game is that is has some classic players. You know how you have the option of playing with legendary players and teams in baseball and basketball games? Well, you've never had that in tennis games until now. Top Spin 3 includes three classic players: Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Monica Seles!

This is a fantastic idea and I hope we get even more classic players in the future. Just imagine recreating classic matches with your favourite players, a re-run of Borg vs McEnroe for example, or Grat vs Seles. Oh, that would be dreamy.

Don't forget, Wimbledon starts Monday, can't wait! \o/

Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic at the Queens Club Stella Artois Championship

My man won his first grasscourt tennis tournament, vamos Rafa! World number two and French Open champion Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 in an absolutely fabulous final, full of drama and power. Sometimes in tennis, it's the quarter or semi finals which offer the best tennis and the final is often a bit of a let down, such as the French Open final last week. It can be a bit of an anti-climax due to nerves and it's not unusual for one player to be below their usual standard, but this match today was superb.

I like both players so I would've been happy for either of them to win, but I have to admit that Rafa (and his biceps!) has captured my heart. I haven't been as smitten with a player since the dreamy Goran Ivanisevic. Anyway, what was so great about this match was the competitiveness of both players. Neither of them have ever won a grasscourt tournament, each has won one of the Grand Slams so far this year and they're the world number two and three so it all added up to a match where both players were hungry to win and playing at their best.

It's been a wonderful season for tennis so far, let's hope these two keep up their current top level and give Roger Federer a serious challenge for the title at Wimbledon!

Rafael Nadal wins the French Open 2008

Yay, my man won! Our Rafa beat the world number one Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0 in one hour 48 minutes to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1981 to win four Roland Garros titles in a row. Some people don't like him, but I reckon that Rafa is HAWT (as the kids say) and he was in devastating form throughout the tournament. Poor Federer didn't stand a chance, I bet it's been a long time since he lost so badly.

By the way, I am loving Rafa's current skintight pants. They really show off his famous ass ;o)

Jan-Michael Gambill by S Tong

Ok, so Jan-Michael Gambill may not be the best tennis player in the world (though he did reach number 14 back in 2001) however he is probably the best looking. Who cares that he's only won three tournaments in his career? Check out those abs and baby-blues!

Photography by S Tong.

What are you playing this weekend?

"What are you playing this weekend?" If you don't play videogames, then that question may not mean a lot to you. But those of us who do have been asking that question all week. My choice is Sega Superstar Tennis. I love tennis games, plus I've got a soft spot for SEGA games having had a Dreamcast. I've read previews about the game and they all seemed to bitch and moan about the motion controls for the Wii and recommending using the other control methods (you have three control options in the game).

Well, I fancied a bit of waggling stick fun today so I just started playing using the "standard" control and it felt just right. The controls work very well and I even prefer it to the tennis game in "Wii Sports" as the game is more intuitive to play. You can hit A to produce a lob, or the B trigger to perform a drop shot. All this feels very smooth and natural.

And just look at the courts! As well as using characters from SEGA's best games, they play on courts using themes and music from classic games such as "Samba de Amigo", "Space Channel 5", "NiGHTS", "Super Monkey Ball" and "House of the Living Dead". Plus, there are also lost of tennis-based minigames to play, just like in the Virtua Tennis games.

As you can probably guess, I absolutely love this game, but if I had to criticise it for one thing, then that'd be the lack of online multiplayer. SEGA took the lazy route and decided not to include any online multiplayer which is a shame as that'd add to the longevity of this game. As it is, most people with a Wii probably enjoy social gaming and will have someone around to play with, but I can go online with pretty much every game I have on my Nintendo DS so there's really no excuse.

Novak Djokovic beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open 2008 final to win his first Slam

Novak Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in the Australian Open 2008 final to win his first Slam. Even though I got to bed late last night, I dutifully set my alarm for 8.30am as that was the time it was here in England when the match was transmitted live. See how dedicated I am to my tennis viewing?

Djokovic said: ""I feel kind of relieved. I've played at least the semi-finals in every Grand Slam in the last year.. I was pretty close in the US Open, so probably today I was a bit nervous at the start."

If you think about it, he's been the world number three for a while now so it's about time he won a Grand Slam final. Federer and Nadal have had it their own way for too long so it's great to see a new face winning. Plus, what I like a Djokovic is that he has a big personality. He even joked about the Australian crowd's obvious support for his opponent, the chocolate-nippled Frenchman Tsonga: "I know the crowd wanted him to win more. That's OK, it's alright. I still love you guys, don't worry."

Aw, and he even managed a bit of shirtless celebrating in the locker room. What a lad!

Novak Djokovic plays unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open final 2008

Have you been watching the Australian Open this year? Serbian Novak Djokovic and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are in the Australian Open final 2008. I've been watching the matches at night as although the BBC has been showing them, they start at 8.30 in the morning so I've only got the chance to catch the first half hour or so before having to drag myself off to work. Anyway, they get repeated in the evening on the BBC Interactive channel so I have to avoid looking at any sports news during the day to avoid finding out who wins.

You know, although I'm disappointed that my favourite big butted Rafa Nadal lost his semi final to Tsonga, it's good to see some new faces in a final. The commenters all seem surprised that Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in his semi final but he is world number three now so it's not really an upset. Oh, I do like these two. They have something that the world number one is missing: a personality.

Plus, both Djokovic and Tsonga have the charming habit of ripping off their shirts after they win a match to help them celebrate and they seem to love parading around half naked. This kind of behaviour should only be encouraged, don't you think? Djokovic is a bit on the skinny side for my liking, but he's still young. However, the chocolate-nippled Tsonga has just the right amount of meat on him. I'd volunteer be his ball-boy, wouldn't you?

Serena Williams and her glorious booty

Well, what do you call it? Serena Williams was confused momentarily at a press conference at the Australian Open this week when a reporter asked her what she thought about a TV commentator admiring slow-motion pictures of sister Venus's "posterior": "We say booty. I'm not quite sure about 'posterior'. I'll try to keep that in the back of my mind. 'What are you doing?' 'I'm shaking my posterior'."

I've seen Venus and Serena in action and they definitely both have a booty. All that jelly don't make for no high-falutin' posterior!

Did you miss me?

Well, did you?

I had a few days off work and, since we’ve been having rotten weather lately and the forecast was sunny, I went to visit my mom and brother. They have no internet access so I’ve been busy doing other things: watching Wimbledon and Big Brother; finishing off a biography about Dirk Bogarde; playing Final Fantasy III on the Nintendo DS; plus a spot of gardening. I had to cut the hedge and I’ve ended up with scratches all over my body, as if I’d had rough sex or been attacked by the cat. Oh, and my arms ache too.

Well, didn’t Wimbledon end up being terrific in the end? After all the drama about the rain delays, we ended up with some great matches over the last four days. My favourite was the match with Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova. I haven’t seen such ferocious hitting since the days of Monica Seles. At that point, you kinda got an inkling that Venus was a serious contender and I was very pleased that she won her final. I’ve always liked Venus, though I’m not too sure about her hair. That nasty ol’ weave has seen better days. She should set a match to it and get some nice corn braids again, or maybe a huge ‘fro. Oh, I’d love that, kinda like Arthur Ashe back in the seventies.

My man didn’t win, though Rafael Nadal gave it his best and OCD’d his way through his match, tugging on his knickers like crazy but Rafa still didn’t manage to win. Close match though, and at least we got to see Bjorn Borg again. I remember watching Borg and McEnroe when I was a kid with my brother. We always wanted Borg to win and were thrilled when he won his fifth Wimbledon. I wasn’t so chuffed this year when Roger Federer won. Sometimes, I just don’t like certain players no matter how well they play. I never liked Steffi Graf or Ivan Lendl for instance, just couldn’t be bothered. Federer’s girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, looked happy enough. Now, is it just me, or does Mirka get bigger and bigger each year? Just as well Federer won £700,000 in prize money, he’ll need that just to keep Mirka in groceries!

Wimbledon seeding for 2007

Seedings for Wimbledon 2007 - the excitement starts on Monday!

Men's Singles

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI)
2. Rafael NADAL (ESP)
3. Andy RODDICK (USA)
4. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)
5. Fernando GONZALEZ (CHI)
6. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS)
7. Tomas BERDYCH (CZE)
8. Andy MURRAY (GBR)
9. James BLAKE (USA)
10. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)
11. Tommy ROBREDO (ESP)
12. Richard GASQUET (FRA)
13. Tommy HAAS (GER)
14. Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS)
15. Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO)
16. Lleyton HEWITT (AUS)
17. David FERRER (ESP)
18. Jarkko NIEMINEN (FIN)
19. Jonas BJORKMAN (SWE)
20. Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP)
21. Dmitry TURSUNOV (RUS)
22. Guillermo CANAS (ARG)
23. David NALBANDIAN (ARG)
24. Juan Ignacio CHELA (ARG)
25. Carlos MOYA (ESP)
26. Marat SAFIN (RUS)
27. Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
28. Robin SODERLING (SWE)
29. Agustin CALLERI (ARG)
30. Filippo VOLANDRI (ITA)
31. Dominik HRBATY (SVK)
32. Juan MONACO (ARG)

Ladies' Singles

1. Justine HENIN (BEL)
2. Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS)
3. Jelena JANKOVIC (SRB)
4. Amelie MAURESMO (FRA)
5. Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
6. Ana IVANOVIC (SRB)
7. Serena WILLIAMS (USA)
8. Anna CHAKVETADZE (RUS)
9. Martina HINGIS (SUI)
10. Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK)
11. Nadia PETROVA (RUS)
12. Elena DEMENTIEVA (RUS)
13. Dinara SAFINA (RUS)
14. Nicole VAIDISOVA (CZE)
15. Patty SCHNYDER (SUI)
16. Shahar PEER (ISR)
17. Tatiana GOLOVIN (FRA)
18. Marion BARTOLI (FRA)
19. Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO)
20. Sybille BAMMER (AUT)
21. Tathiana GARBIN (ITA)
22. Anabel MEDINA GARRIGUES (ESP)
23. Venus WILLIAMS (USA)
24. Alona BONDARENKO (UKR)
25. Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE)
26. Ai SUGIYAMA (JPN)
27. Samantha STOSUR (AUS)
28. Mara SANTANGELO (ITA)
29. Francesca SCHIAVONE (ITA)
30. Olga POUTCHKOVA (RUS)
31. Michaella KRAJICEK (NED)
32. Martina MULLER (GER)

My picks? Hmm, coming off the clay court season, it's hard to pick who's truly on form as the grass court season is so short and often sees high ranking players crash out early. Sticking to my favourites, I'd have to pick Amelie Mauresmo or Serena Williams for the ladies' title and Rafael Nadal (so cute in all white!) or Andy Roddick for the mens'. I'm not a Henin or Federer fan. I like my players to have a bit of personality.

Rafael Nadal whups Roger Federer’s ass to win his third consecutive French Open final

Well, one of my favourites had to win something this weekend after so many disappointments so it was a great pleasure to watch Rafael Nadal beat world number one Roger Federer 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4 to win his third consecutive French Open trophy.

I won’t walk you through the match as I’m assuming that you’ve watched it already if you’re a fan and couldn’t be bothered reading about it if you’re not. However, I will say that it wasn’t the greatest match, it was full of nervy errors from Federer and neither player really played at their best. It’s really surprising to see Federer just lose his confidence when he faces Nadal on clay and make lots of uncharacteristic unforced errors.


One thing I did notice is just how obsessive compulsive Rafael Nadal is. Apart from compulsively pulling his knickers out of his ass crack before each serve, our Rafa also places his two water bottles in precisely the same place in front of the water cooler, smoothes out the service line as he doesn’t like it all messy and ties his laces then bangs his shoes, sometimes all in succession! I’ve never seen a tennis player get up to so much business, there’s definitely some kind of compulsive disorder going on there.

Rafael Nadal beats Carlos Moya at the French Open quarter final in straight sets

I was off work sick today again and one of the good things about that was that I could stay in and watch Oprah, then the French Open tennis. Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya played their quarter final this afternoon. Didn’t Carlos Moya look good? He’s been a bit forgotten over the past few years, but he was the circuit pin up back in the nineties. The nude photograph above of Carlos Moya should remind you what a looker he is. The story goes that Moya, who is from Majorca, as is Nadal, asked his younger compatriot if he wanted to have a career like his. Nadal answered no, he wanted a better career. Cheeky little Rafa! It wasn’t Moya’s day though as Rafa beat him in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-0.

Rafael Nadal is my favourite male tennis player these days, ever since he won the French Open in 2005. There’s nothing I like more than watching Rafa racing around the court, getting all sweaty and showing off his muscles. His underwear must sneak into his ass crack all the time though as he is forever pulling it out. Haven’t you noticed? He doesn’t seem to be able to keep his hands away from his famous ass. Just watch him serve. He’ll select his balls, put one in his pocket, bounce the other ball, then reach around with his right hand and tease his underwear out of his ass crack.

A lot of tennis players develop nervous ticks before they serve, but this has to be the most charming I’ve seen. Maybe Rafa should think about wearing a jockstrap instead of whatever underwear he normally wears. Oh my, I’m going to have to lie down now, I’m getting an image in my head of Rafael Nadal’s famous ass in a jockstrap and it’s all getting too much for me.

Rafael Nadal shirtless and showing off them muscles!

To celebrate the start of the French Open on Sunday at Roland Garros in Paris, I thought I'd share a tasteful photograph of hot Spanish player, Rafael Nadal. Rafa has the best body of all the current crop of tennis players. Seems like a pretty sweet guy too. Well, I'd do him.

Robby Ginepri showing some skin again

My new favourite player, Robby Ginepri, sure does like to show off the merchandise doesn't he!

"“I don't know what's going on right now. I'm a little foggy, a little dizzy. It's crazy. Crazy!”"

Hot American Tennis player Robby Ginepri gets fresh in Peach magazine

A kind reader alerted me to the hotness that is US tennis player Robby Ginepri. How the heck did this one pass under my radar? These sexy photos come courtesy of Atlanta Peach magazine.

Robby's stats, courtesy of the ATP:

Pronounced:
gi-NEP-ree

Birthdate:
7-Oct-82

Birthplace:
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

Residence:
Kennesaw, GA, USA

Height:
6'0'' (182 cm)

Weight:
175 lbs (79 kg)

Plays:
Right-handed

You know, suddenly I'm really looking forward to Wimbledon this year.