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Baghdatis on the Big Stage
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus was the one responsible for ripping off top seeds from the men's draw of the Australian Open 2006. After beating Andy Roddick, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian, the Cypriot hero is looking at his first Grand Slam title - that is if he also have the guts to outlast the almost invincible player of the world: No. 1 Roger Federer.
(Photo from USA Today/Getty Images)
Posted by Rob | 1/28/2006 | 
China's First Grand Slam
Twelfth seeds Zi Yan and Jie Zheng made history after beating first seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in an epic three-setter (2-6, 7-6, 6-3) Women's Doubles finals match yesterday. Their victory brought China its first tennis Grand Slam ever.
People have been talking about how their win would boost the tennis popularity in China. On the contrary, China has long been breeding tennis athletes like an army of Asian contenders. I believe that Zi Yan and Jie Zheng's surprising win is the first of many more to come.
(Photo from USA Today/Getty Images)
Posted by Rob | 1/28/2006 |
Amelie: At Last
A dream come true for Amelie Mauresmo of France was a nightmare for Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne after their expected close clash turned out to be a one-sided affair dominated by the french world No.3. until the ailing world No.6 decided to raise a white flag early on the second set.
Amelie Mauresmo finally held the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and erased the bitter memories of her only Grand Slam final appearance seven years ago when she fell to Martina Hingis in the same tournament.
(Photo from Yahoo! Sports/Getty Images)
Posted by Rob | 1/28/2006 |
The Belgian Blockbuster
If one-handed backhands could kill, Justine Henin-Hardenne would've been hanged ages ago. The world No. 6 from Belgium could punish, if not kill, with her sleek and almost flawless, one-armed backhands. What Justine lacked in height - which is not really a disadvantage for tennis players, Justine makes up for her deep ground strokes.
Moments ago, she beat Lindsay Davenport in their quarterfinal match at the Rod Laver Arena to book a place in the last four of the Australian Open 2006. Justine displayed yet another stellar tennis by prevailing over the world No. 1 in an epic three setter, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. She's set to play world No. 4 Maria Sharapova of Russia on an expectedly riveting semi-final bout.
(Photo from Justine-Henin-Hardenne.Net galleries)
Posted by Rob | 1/24/2006 |
The Colosseum of Indoor Tennis
The Rod Laver Arena, Centre Court of the opening Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, was named after one of Australia's greatest tennis players in the Open Era. It's a high-tech stadium that boasts of a sliding roof that closes in 15 to 20 minutes.
As Melbourne Park's central attraction, this titanic stadium, which sits on the banks of the Yarra River of Victoria, can warm up to 15, 000 human buttocks.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Posted by Rob | 1/24/2006 |
Mind Over Matter
"She's just an unbelievable player. She hasn't got a huge serve, she hasn't got big groundies, but she's got everything mentally and just anticipates really well. She just knows what's going on out there.""She can hit lob winners on the line and reflex volleys back when she needs to. That's what she did to me. She's just an awesome player. Now playing her, I know why she's won all these Grand Slams and why she's probably going to go down as one of the greats ever."
- Samantha Stosur, after losing to Martina Hingis in their fourth round match at the Australian Open 2006
(Photo from Hingis.Org)
Posted by Rob | 1/24/2006 |
The Trigger
At first glance, who could've guessed that this graceful arc of Andy Roddick's body could unleash the fastest tennis service those IBM-powered machines have ever recorded?
Currently the world's No. 3, the 23-year-old American served a whopping 246.2 km/h (153 mph) during a match against Paradorn Shrichaphan in the Stella Artois Championship on July 11, 2004 at Queens, London.
(Photo from AndyTheAce.Net Gallery)
Posted by Rob | 1/22/2006 |
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