Mr. & Mrs. Hewitt fighting with women's magazine

Lleyton and Bec Hewitt have started legal action against New Idea magazine. The magazine wrote that the actress was seeing another man. This another man was in fact was her brother.

The story in New Idea was titled "Bec's other man" and claimed Bec was spending time with a American fitness trainer. The magazine carried photographs of Bec and him with the Hewitts' two young children.

"Our marriage has never been stronger. We are blessed with two wonderful healthy children and we are still very much in lovet" they said.

"For some time now we've had to endure fictional, rubbish stories by New Idea and Woman's Day targeted at our marriage, private lives and even work with charities." they added.

Bec Hewitt is demanding an apology and correction from New Idea. We hope Hewitt familly will get it.

~shaw

There is only one number one

"You know what, whether I end up No. 1 at the end of this week or not, I think people obviously see me as No. 1. At the end of the day, I've been No. 1 and I'll be No. 1."

- Serena Williams on her ranking situation. In any other case we would say that she is a little bit to self confident. Not this time. She is just realistic. Let's hope No. 1 spot will still belong after Miami to a person who really deserves that.

~shaw

When stars met stars

Not for the first time tennis stars have the opportunity to meet some music stars. It was Shakira yestarday who visited center court for Rafael Nadal match. They met after and had some chat.

Shakira spend some time also with Novak Djokovic.

Then, it was time for Fernando Verdasco who met with somebody else than a nice girl. He shared a talk with musician Alejandro Sanz.

In the end, Julio Iglesias kids met their tennis idol Rafa Nadal.

~shaw

Cheer me up, Richard

Richard Gasquet once again showed, why every men in the world wants to be an athlete

~jachal

Who else is fed up with Djokovic's father?

We know Srdjan Djokovic from many unpopular actions. This time his behaviour caused an argument with Nikola Pilic, the director of the upcoming Serbia Open ATP event.

As a result of that, Pilic, who is also an advisor of Serbian Davis Cup team, has resigned as a main person responsible for Belgrade tournament.


-“A couple of weeks ago he held a press conference in Belgrade without previously consulting with me and spoke of things he has no place or capacity to talk about. After that I got into touch with the ATP and asked them to relieve me of my duty as tournament director.” said Nikola Pilic.

“Of course, this will not influence my cooperation with Novak Djokovic, with whom I still have a great relationship. He actually called me afterwards and apologized to me, saying he hadn’t known anything about it,” he added.

Well, it doesn't surprise us at all. We got used to stupid parents who unwillingly destroy careers of their children. The question is, what will be another 'famous' step of Srdjan Djokovic?

~shaw

Players busy doing Miami promo stuff

WTA's World No. 9 Nadia Petrova joined the Miami Habitat for Humanity project in Little Haiti. Looks like she may soon change her profession ;)

Meanwhile, Maria Kirilenko, Robert Kendrick and James Cerretani went to Miami Metro Zoo.

That's not the end. Na Li was another tennis player that took part in promoting events. They invited her to Jungle Island in Miami.

~shaw

Justine For Kids

Former world No.1 Justine Henin has launched a new website for her organization - Justine For Kids - www.justineforkids.be


Justine For Kids is a non-profit organization created by Justine Henin to support projects helping children that are suffering with cancer and other serious illness.

The site is really cool. Just check it out, to get to know more about the organization's up-coming projects. Really worthy thing!!!

~jachal

And the award goes to...

The Sony Ericsson WTA awards for 2008 have been announced and presented to the players yesterday during a special ceremony in Miami.


And the winners are...

Player of the Year - Serena Williams
Doubles Team of the Year - Cara Black and Liezel Huber
Most Improved Player - Dinara Safina
Comeback Player of the Year - Zheng Jie
Newcomer of the Year - Caroline Wozniacki
Humanitarian of the Year - Ana Ivanovic
Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award - Elena Dementieva
Player Service Award - Liezel Huber
Favorite Premier Tournament - Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)
Favorite International Tournament - Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

~jachal

The two Andies appreciate Rafa

He's the dominant player, having won three of the last four Grand Slam titles. Rafael Nadal has now totally established himself as world No.1. Why is he so difficult to beat? The Tour's top Andies - Roddick and Murray were trying to give us some insight on that...


"He has developed a chip that gets him out of trouble a lot that no one ever really talks about. They talk about the running and heaviness, but he volleys well. He's able to play returns, as evidenced by Wimbledon last year, They talk about how he stands back, but he's able to mix it up. I don't really think he gets credit for how complete of a tennis player he is. I think he kind of gets pigeon holed into what people remember from five years ago. The thing about Rafa's game, and the type of ball he hits coming from the left side is that, maybe more so than other players, he's able to kind of say, 'This is what I do. You're going to have to deal with it. But that being said, the guy knows what he's doing on a tennis court. He knows his way around."
- Andy Roddick

"He's so consistent and really fast. You know, he has obviously one of the heaviest forehands the game has ever seen. It's easy to think, you have to play unbelievably all the time. That's not always the case. You have to pick the right shots to go for the lines and play aggressive against him, and then you've got a chance. It is obviously very difficult, because when you get more tired in the tight situations, you know he's not going to give the points to you. That's where you have to be very strong mentally to win against him, especially in the big match tight situations."
- Andy Murray

~jachal

Fisherman's Friend

Frank Dancevic took a some time off and went fishing in Miami.

(Dear Lord, I wish I was a tennis player, so that I could take part in all those cool promotional stuff they do...)

~jachal

Maria Cole Haan Sharapova

Maria Sharapova may not have been playing tennis for more than half a year now, but that doesn't mean she has disappeared, or left the spotlight, or even stopped marketing herself and her sponsors. Here's the Russian making some promo for the store Cole Haan.


Of course, because there were so many handbags, Maria was even willing to enter the store...


Sharapova started the collaboration with Nike subsidiary Cole Haan in February.

~jachal

Clijsters announces comeback

So now it's official! Kim Clijsters will start a comeback, or as she told the reporters - will start a new career. This is perhaps the greatest news for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour so far this year.


"It all started with preparing for the gala match at Wimbledon. It was all pretty laid back. But I liked it so much I was onto my training schedule from my pro days, and then the hunger for more came automatically. I look at this as a second career, not as a comeback, as I am now in a situation where not everything revolves around tennis 24 hours a day. We'll see how I, Jada and the others in my environment can handle this." Clijsters said.

Earlier, Clijsters had announced she will join Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Tim Henman for a series of exhibition matches at Wimbledon on May 17 under the new retractable roof on Centre Court. She's also scheduled to play an exhibition June 14 against Michaella Krajicek in the Netherlands, along with two matches for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis in July.

Looks like Kimmy is taking this comeback very serious...

"I have never trained harder. I am not coming back to lose in the first rounds. Otherwise, I might as well go on holiday.''

"I am amazed how many players I don't even know. There are even many names I do not know how to pronounce.'' - she said (and yes - this was most probably about Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova...)

"I want to be back at my peak as soon as possible, but I know that is not logical to ask that. I will have to take it match by match.'' - Clijsters said.

Clijsters, who is married to American basketball player Brian Lynch and gave birth to her daughter Jada last year, retired two years ago, picking continuos injuries and the need to start a family as reasons for the retirement.

We keep our fingers crossed, that the comeback will be successful one. Go Kimmy!!!

~jachal

Players Party in Miami

The Players Party has taken place at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, so it's time to check out, what the stars were wearing...

~jachal

Feli strikes back

The battle for supremacy goes on!!! Feliciano Lopez responded. He's not gonna give up his status as ATP Tour's biggest playboy without a fight! He was challenged by Fernando Verdasco (more on that HERE) and he really responded in style. Feli is now dating the 18 year old model Belen Aveledo. The girl made some headlines as she posed naked for the magazine Interviu.


It seems like - the younger, the better - is the new credo of the spanish playboys. Now it's again Nando's turn to come up with something. I'm sure we won't have to wait long for this to happen.

~jachal

Nishikori visits the less fortunate

Kei Nishikori, Japan's best male tennis player, visited the Baptist Children's Hospital in Miami. Nishikori won't play at the tournament, but he made the trip as he will be recieving an award from the ATP for the Newcomer of the year.

A hospital is not a place that's a totally stranger for Kei. He just saw an elbow specialist in New York, who ordered him to take a few weeks of the Tour.

Get well Nishi!!!

~jachal

The Count of Monte Hingis

Former world No.1 Martina Hingis has lived a quiet life since her doping scandal. She was banned from the WTA Tour for 2 years after she was found guilty of cocaine abuse at Wimbledon in 2007.

The Swiss Miss, as her fans used to call her, hasn't been seen in public since then very often. Now, she made an appearance at the premiere of the “The Count of Monte Cristo” musical in St. Gallen.

Hingis of course wasn't alone there (fortunately, Radek was not in sight). She was in company of a local tennis player from Zurich. He claimed, they aren't dating each other.

Time will tell if it's only a cover and if Hingis only wanted to keep a low profile...

~jachal

Feed me baby one more time

Nened Zimonjic, Jo Willfried Tsonga and Fernando Gonzalez had their fair share of fun, as they were given the opportunity to feed the dolphins. It's of course all part of the promotional strategies of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

~jachal