Another tournament, another excuse to play “tennis” somewhere where tennis should not be played. This time Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played the “tennis” on Shanghai’s maglev train, the world’s fastest commercial train, which reaches a top speed of 268 miles per hour.

We got video, folks. This is what I really love about Verdasco – give him a topic and he’ll just go with it.

Some silly quotes from Tsonga (via ATP):

“It was a very special experience. I made a few more errors than normal, but at least I was not driving the train because if I made errors then we would all be dead.”

“It was great for us to do this activity. It is very different than playing tennis in a normal court. The speed of the train is two times faster than my serve, so it was pretty fast.”

The story of the photo shoot: Verdasco knows how to pose. Tsonga’s more of a natural.

Nando, your Zoolander is showing:

Am I crazy, or does Verdasco look like Darren Cahill in this one?

Nando teaches Jo-Willie how to stare soulfully into the middle-distance:

Tsonga learns fast:

Tsonga practices his new smoldering skills on his own:

Tsonga and Verdasco are in the same half of the Shanghai draw. Tsonga could play Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarters and Verdasco could meet Rafael Nadal.