Indian Wells is getting woozy. Big wins, puzzling losses, falling seeds, big match hangovers. Makes me glad I’m not a betting woman. Here’s a quick report on Wednesday’s action at Indian Wells.
Grrr. Marcos Baghdatis failed to follow up his career best win over Roger Federer, losing to Tommy Robredo 5-7, 6-0, 4-6 in his next [...]

WTA stars continue to drop in the desert like beads of sweat from Rafa’s furrowed brow (or the deluge from Kleybanova’s ponytail). Sharapova, Henin, Ivanovic and Kuznetsova disappeared during the first week. On Monday 3rd-seeded Victoria Azarenka was bounced by 28-seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. No. 17 Shahar Peer took out No. 9 Flavia Pennetta.

No. [...]

Okay – first of all, Rafael Nadal is not keeping the kinds of hours I’d expect of a Spaniard. Meaning, I totally missed it when he and Kim and Roger and Ana were all together on the practice courts on Thursday morning. I was still eating my breakfast! Thank goodness there are other crazed tennis [...]

Novak Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco practiced together at Indian Wells on Thursday. Quick, someone call Calvin Klein! We have an impromptu boxer briefs spread in the making here. Enjoy:

Sergio Tacchini confirms what many of us already suspected: Novak Djokovic is H-O-T.

Why yes, Robin Soderling qualifies as a Tennis Hunk, in that pasty-faced Northern European kind of way.
Speaking of. . .here’s Andy Murray!

And bona fide Hunk Feliciano Lopez, looking more funky than hunky. (He was practicing with Murray today.)

What Ho! The Indian Wells Masters draw is out earlier than expected! (Click here)
With Rafael Nadal at No. 3, he and Roger Federer are suddenly the Williams Sisters of the ATP tour. Everyone’s first question when the draw comes out: are they on opposite sides of the draw?
They are.
Okay, moving on to the second question. [...]

It was an exciting first round weekend for the Davis Cup World Group, with eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals (setting up yet more intriguing match ups come July’s quarterfinals.)
Here’s how everything turned out:
SERBIA def. U.S.A. 3-2

The Serbs started strong, gaining the 2-0 lead on Friday in Belgrade. But Saturday served up a couple surprises [...]

Thank you, Twitter! The Bryan Bros via Twitter from Belgrade, Serbia, about their upcoming Davis Cup tie:

And thank you, Bryan Bros. for the photos:

Novak water!

Yeah, I’d be showing off the Estoril trophy, too! Love it!

P-Mac is not intimidated, knowing that the average height of his team it 8 feet, 9 inches. . . .estimated.
I think [...]

The trend this weekend in tennis: Firsts and seconds!
Self-described “best friends” David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero met in a final for the second time in two weeks, with Ferrer avenging last weekend’s loss in Argentina with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win in Acapulco. With this victory, Ferrer scored his first title since 2008 and [...]

Will Ferrero win his third title in a row? Will Venus win a title on clay a week after she won one on hard courts? Will Blake win his first title since 2007? Will Nole defend a title for the first time? Is Ernests future looking up? There are lots of intriguing questions to be [...]

Here’s some video from Tuesday night’s ATP players’ party in Dubai. Roger Federer made an appearance, fooling everyone by ditching the usual v-neck sweater for a henley tee.

I’m sure he left soon after receiving this terrifying portrait:

“Uhhhhhhh.”

Novak Djokovic and his girlfriend Jelena Ristic attended along with Andy Murray (and some cricket players), Marin Cilic and [...]

Here’s a quick peek at what’s going on in the tennis world this weekend.
In Paris we have the WTA’s Open GDF Suez, a Premier-level event without the Williams sisters, Clijsters or Henin. It’s nice to see Melanie Oudin taking advantage of both the draw and the confidence she gained last weekend in Fed Cup; she’s [...]