Yes! The ATP World Tour Finals can’t start before the requisite Men in Suits photo session. Along with the British press, another overlooked benefit of hosting the ATP World Tour Finals in London is seeing Federer, Nadal and the rest of the top guys in bespoke tailoring (at least I’ll pretend it is.) Here are some photos from Class Picture Day – I mean ATP World Tour Media Day at the County Hall Marriot Hotel.

These school assemblies are always so boring. . .

AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth via Daylife

Really, how lucky are we to have three ATP Top Models in the final 8?  Federer, Djokovic and Verdasco are obviously engaged in a heated pose-off in the photo below. While I love Roger’s masculine bearing, Nole takes it with his casual Gene Kelly elegance. Verdasco gets points for coaching del Po and Soderling has an honorable mention for his Swedish Sears catalogue look. Davydenko is obviously in character for the starving P.O.W. role he’s playing next week in the West End.

How the heck did Andy Murray get Dr. Ivo’s pants?

Who will be head of the class?

Nice trophy, right? It was made in England by expert silversmiths. You can check out the video on the ATP website.

Some year book photos:

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images via Daylife

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images via Daylife

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images via Daylife

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images via Daylife

AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth via Daylife

Candids! This one’s begging for a caption:

And thanks to “Tem” for passing along the Bryan Bro’s snapshot:

I’m a little concerned about Rafa’s hair:

I think Roger is, too:

Yes, Roger is deep in thought about it.

CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Rafa’s like “awkward!”

CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

What ho! Is that Halley’s Comet or ATP CEO Adam Helfant? The players record this momentous occasion:

Andy Murray and the Bryan Brothers took part in the draw ceremony for the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday in a pod of the London Eye Ferris wheel. Here are the round robin groups for the singles and doubles competitions, which run from November 22 – 29:

2009 ATP World Tour Finals Singles Draw:

Group A
Roger Federer
Andy Murray
Juan Martin del Potro
Fernando Verdasco

Group B
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Nikolay Davydenko
Robin Soderling

Group A: Based on head-to-heads, Murray rules Group A. He holds a winning record over everyone else, for a combined win-loss tally of 17-5.  Roger has a 12-7 win-loss record over Group A, with 6 of those 7 losses coming to Andy Murray. All the players in this group have struggled with injury since the US Open, with Murray winning the group’s only title a couple weeks ago in Valencia. Based on the head-to-heads, recent form, and home-crowd advantage, Murray’s a shoe-in for the semis. And Roger Federer (apart from being Roger Federer) has the extra motivation of playing for the year-end No. 1. Group A matches up badly for Verdasco and del Potro is likely too gimpy to get through. But you never know – the tournament can’t be called the WTF for nothin’.

Your predictions:

Group B: This is where the Mojo’s at! Based on their form, Nole and Kolya (the 2008 WTF finalists) are the guys to beat – not only in the Group but in the entire tournament. Nole, the defending champ, has been on a tear this fall, winning 3 titles: over Cilic in Beijing, Roger Federer in Basel and Gael Monfils in Paris (where he also took out Rafael Nadal in straights in the semis.) His only loss in the past months has been to Nikolay Davydenko in the semis of the Shanghai Masters. Kolya went on to win the title, beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the finals. Speaking of Rafa – he’s lost to all of the Group B players in their most recent meetings. The most painful loss was to Robin Soderling in the round of 16 at the French. Besides the possibility of retaking the no. 1 ranking from Roger, revenge may be the major motivator as the Spaniard progresses through Group B.

Your predictions:

2009 ATP World Tour Finals Doubles Draw – Nestor and Zimonjic and the Bryan Bros are battling for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Group A
Daniel Nestor – Nenad Zimonjic
Mahesh Bhupathi – Mark Knowles
Frantisek Cermak – Michal Mertinak
Mariusz Fyrstenberg – Marcin Matkowski

Group B
Bob Bryan – Mike Bryan
Lukas Dlouhy – Leander Paes
Lukasz Kubot – Oliver Marach
Max Mirnyi – Andy Ram

Whenever I get excited for quarterfinals day, the matches never live up to my expectations. Friday at the Paris Masters was no exception. I was pulling for either a Nadal vs. Soderling grudge match in the semis or a chance for Tsonga to defend his title. Instead we get Novak Djokovic out-scrapping the Sod and Tsonga choking break points against Nadal. I won’t even get into Del Potro’s poop-out against Stepanek. At least Gael Monfils kept things interesting:

Saturday’s semifinals line-up in Paris will be: Djokovic vs. Nadal and Stepanek vs. Monfils. I’d say I’m excited, but I don’t want to jinx it.

Here are Friday’s highlights:

The biggest stories coming out of Bercy on Friday had more to do with the World Tour Finals than the Paris Masters. Rafael Nadal continues to chip his way closer to the year end No. 1 ranking, which could be within his reach by London. Rafa’s win over Tsonga also guaranteed his countryman, Fernando Verdasco, the final spot at the WTF. (Personally, I’ve found this week’s tournament to be a big WTF.)

Here’s the ATP’s World Tour Finals line-up:

A lot of interesting stories continue to develop in Tennis Land, so I thought I’d put them all down in one place:

Let’s start with some fun stuff. Reporter Matt Cronin via Twitter: “Sharapova recently began dating the Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic. Now if she can only help “The Machine” get his deadly jump shot back.”

Vujacic is 25 years old, Slovenian and 6′7″ tall (so about Sharapova’s stiletto-height.)  Last year, he signed a three-year, 15 million dollar deal with the LA Lakers. Have fun, kids!

Here’s Sasha working the red carpet, Sharapova style:

Speaking of the young and super-rich – after collecting her $1.5 million dollar check in Doha this weekend, Serena Williams set the single-season record for prize money earned on the WTA tour: $6,545,586. Earlier this year, Serena surpassed Lindsey Davenport to become the first woman to earn more than $23 million in career prize money in any single sports league. (via Reuters) Serena may only have won three titles this year, but she knows how to pick ‘em. But Serena is not picking Fed Cup this weekend, abruptly withdrawing her participation last week just days after volunteering it. Here’s the reaction of team Captain, Mary Joe Fernandez via ESPN:

Fernandez, the ESPN analyst who was once a Fed Cup stalwart herself, sounded as if she had a little emotional whiplash Saturday after getting the news. “[Williams] e-mailed me,” Fernandez said. “She said she feels terrible and wishes she could be there, but she feels like she’d be a burden. I’m watching her play (in Doha) now.” “We were so excited that she was going to go, but what can you say? It’s the end of the year and everybody’s hurt. Billie Jean King always told me that you have to take the people who can go and who want to be there.”

Perhaps Serena’s exhausted by the Battle of the Books, as the hype surrounding Andre Agassi’s autobiography “Open,” continues to dominate the headlines. Shortly after winning in Doha she flew to London to promote her own book “My Life: Queen of the Court” at a book signing at Harrods. Agassi will be appearing on “60 Minutes” this Sunday, the evening before his book hits the shelves.

Andy Murray is the latest tennis star to offer his opinion on Agassi’s crystal-meth use and drug test cover-up, offering this supportive take (via the Guardian):

I don’t think any of the players expected it, but you’ve just got to move on,” he said in Valencia, where he is due to return to the ATP Tour tomorrow after six weeks off with a left-wrist problem.

“I loved Andre, met him numerous times. He was unbelievably nice to me. I practised with him quite a lot. I guess it’s something he has to deal with himself. He’s entitled to say whatever he wants and I wish him the best.”

“I judge him as a tennis player, he was great, a great player, one of the best of all time. From the experiences I have had with him, he’s been nice to me. No one wants drugs in sport but everyone makes mistakes.”

“I didn’t play in those times [when Agassi failed a test] so I don’t know what it was like. There are even cases now where guys get off, with failed tests and contaminations, mistakes, like with the [Richard] Gasquet case. Sometimes things like that happen. People get away with it sometimes but I just don’t think drugs in tennis is a big problem like it is in other sports.”

Fernando Verdasco, who has recently spent some quality time in Las Vegas with Agassi and Adidas trainer Gil Reyes, agrees with Murray:

“He was my idol, all my life when I was a kid, and he will still be my idol,” the Spaniard said. “Everyone can make mistakes. My thoughts about Andre will not change because of this. He is a great person, he is always trying to help me and that for me is more important.”

Tennis writer Peter Bodo thinks more players should be voicing their support of Agassi, and condemns cynics who think Agassi’s confession is a ploy to sell more books: “Condemn Agassi all you want, but he respected you enough to tell the truth about himself and his time in the game.”

But if you still want to condemn the ATP for the cover-up, click here to read a former ATP-exec’s inside story.

Super-coach Brad Gilbert, who worked with Agassi from 1994 – 2002, told the The New York Times he had no idea about Agassi’s drug problems or the failed 1997 test:

“Maybe it was me being naïve, but I had no clue,” Gilbert said in a telephone interview Friday from his home in San Rafael, Calif.

“I did a really good job of sticking to the tennis court,” Gilbert said. “If Andre asked for something outside it, I would give it. I just wouldn’t ask him about it or volunteer something I wouldn’t have knowledge about. Because we hung out a ton, but that doesn’t mean you ask things that are personal.”

“I probably would have been up a creek if I would have known,”

Someone who always seems to be up the injury creek is Tommy Haas, who has withdrawn from this week’s Davidoff Swiss Indoors tournament due to Swine Flu. He came down with the flu before withdrawing from the Stockholm tournament a couple weeks ago and is unlikely to participate in the Paris Masters (via the Telegraph):

“I did a test because I suspected I had the swine flu and the test was positive,” he said. “It was obviously a shock for me.”

“I am quite relaxed because I know that swine flu is a particularly strong form of flu, but when you are in a good physical condition like I am, then you can quickly beat it off,” he added.

“It was really bad for three days and I couldn’t leave my hotel room,” he revealed. “I felt really bad.”

This will be Haas’s third straight withdrawal/retirement, having started the streak at October’s Shanghai Masters, where he retired from his second round match due to a shoulder injury.

Haas may be out of contention for the World Tour Finals in London, but plenty of other guys are still fighting for the last two spots. Click here for the ATP’s “on the bubble” break-down. (Hang tough, Stepanek fans!)

Rafael Nadal, who is taking a break from tennis this week, will appear in an in-depth interview on CNN’s Talk Asia. Here’s some of what he has to say:

On how Roger Federer has inspired him:

“What makes me a better player isn’t seeing Roger being a perfect player. What makes me a better player is to watch Roger always improve because when he was number one in 2004…I saw him and he was an unbelievable player, but after a few times, he was better and he was improving during all his career. And that says to me is you must improve all the time.”

On his career’s longevity:

“A lot of people finish their career at 29 years old and he started at 20 or 21. But I started at 16 and already I have seven years in total. I am not finished. I expect to be here and hope to be here for a long time. That’s what I can say. . .I think if I am not having chances to win important tournaments, I’m gonna go. That’s my feeling. I have already seven years like this and I hope be here as long as I can, but having 14 or 16 career years seems a lot.”

Click here for more from Rafa.

French chicken – and I’m not talking coq au vin. The French Tennis Federation is threatening to pull the French Open out of its current location if the Paris city council continues to stall the tournament’s expansion plans (via ESPN):

“It seems that the mayor’s entourage has become more hostile to our project — which was not the case when we launched it,” (FFT director general Gilbert) Ysern said. “Add to that the residents’ opposition and we are now forced to look for other options, including that of leaving the premises.”

A site near Disneyland Paris is a rumored alternative. I say it’s a stupid idea – roof or no roof, the French Open belongs at Roland Garros!

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.

The ATP posted this feature on Spanish No. 2, Fernando Verdasco. My favorite line: “Being the center of attention does not bother or upset me.” What a shocker!

And then there’s the opener: “Cool, calm and with catwalk charisma, he’s the pinup boy of men’s tennis.” Did Nando write that himself?

But once I got past the “model behavior” stuff, I thought: wow, this guy’s had one hell of a year. I just hope he has another match like the one he played against Nadal in this year’s Australian Open semifinal in him. That’s on my Best Matches Ever list.

Moving on, the ATP also did a piece on Stefan Edberg:

Nothing earth-shattering, but Stefan’s always a pleasure to watch!

Czech it out! Photographer: Paul Zimmer

Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek took care of business on Saturday, pairing up after their epic five setters the day before to beat  Marin Cilic/Lovro Zovko in the doubles: 6-1 6-3 6-4. The Czech team is now 3-0 over the Croatians, and is guaranteed a spot in the Davis Cup finals this December.

Czech mates! Photographer: Paul Zimmer

Though the Czechs were playing in Croatia, they still enjoyed significant support from the stands. Here’s the on-the-ground report via daviscup.com:

The Zatika Arena was reminiscent of a heavy metal rock concert. The cheering, chanting, and jumping up and down courtside would have been more at home at a Pearl Jam performance. An entire section of men with all body shapes removed their shirts and started to swing them in the air while singing. They were celebrating.

In Spain, the Defending Champions also pulled off the 3-0 lead against their semifinal rivals, with Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez taking out the slight favorites, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel, in four sets: 7-6(6) 6-7(7) 6-4 6-2.

Team Spain. Photographer: Sergio Carmona

Both Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco were sidelined with injury, but were literally on the sidelines to support the team (they joined in the victory lap, above). The final against the Czech Republic will be played in Spain, and if Rafa and ‘Nando are both healthy, a couple members of the current team will likely be left out (no F-LO? Adios JCF?) Talk about a problem most teams would like to have.

WORLD GROUP PLAYOFFS

Roger is not amused. Photographer: Angelo Tonelli

There’s some drama in Italy, where the Italian team of Bolelli/Starace snagged the crucial doubles point from Wawrinka/Chiudinelli on Satuday, bringing things to 2-1, Switzerland. Roger Federer, who was taken out of the doubles rubber for a  rest, will try to wrap things up in the fourth rubber vs. Seppi on Sunday.

The (Nole-less) Serbs are the only playoff team already guranteed a spot in the World Group. They beat the Uzbeks 3-0.

The dreamy team. Photographer: Virginie Bouyer

Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra pulled France ahead, 2-1, vs. the Netherlands.

Click here for more World Group Playoff results.

In ZONAL TIE news, things are looking bad for team Britain, down 1-2 to Poland after Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg defeated Andy Murray and Ross Hutchins in the doubles on Saturday. It’s unlikely that Murray will play again on Sunday, due to wrist tendinitis that he says is not improving. Where’s Tiger Tim when you need him?

Whoa, Roger Federer almost needed 5 sets to get past Robin Soderling on Wednesday night!  Fed already had the first two in the bag, 6-0, 6-3, when, suddenly, Soderling went bombs away. The next two sets  went to tiebreaks, with Soderling up 6 points to 5 in the final breaker before Fed squeaked by. A little too close, but Fed fans can take comfort: Roger wasn’t broken for the entire match and he hit 28 aces. Not counting those amazing and amazingly well-timed serves, Roger hit 38 winners to 26 unforced errors. Really, that ain’t bad.

Being the Federer Freak that I am, I was actually worrying that Roger was winning too easily during the second set, a la the 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal he won against Del Potro at the Australian. Ever since that tournament, I’ve been superstitious about Roger serving up the double bagel before a final. Yes, I know that’s ridiculous, but it’s true.

Here’s Fed’s take on what happened:

“I had dream tennis there for a while in the beginning. I was able to dominate like I’ve never done that before against him. Then, you know, he started to get better, started to serve better. He got — you know, he got better, sort of more confidence from the baseline, and then it was more difficult to stay with him.”

As for Soderling, you have to admire his mental fortitude. He’s steely -  doesn’t whoop, or flex, or thump or bump or do anything at all to pump himself up – but something cold and treacherous still swirls below the surface.

Or maybe you buy Soderling’s simpler explanation: “After the first two sets I was thinking, you know, I can’t do worse than this. “

But Federer found a way to do better, and is through to his 22nd consecutive major semifinal. This figure is so mind-boggling, so untouchable, that I’m starting to value it more than the Great #15.

Roger tried not to be too impressed with himself:

“It’s not important (the record 22 straight major semifinals), but it’s nice to have, let’s put it that way. It’s something I never ever aimed for, that’s clear, but it’s probably one of the greatest records that I’ve created in my own personal career.”

Yeah, you know, it’s one of the greatest things he’s ever done, but geeze, it’s not that big a deal. Like the time I beat one of my really smart friends at Scrabble. Yep, just like that.

Novak Djokovic also needed four sets in his quarterfinal match against Fernando Verdasco. Nole lost the second set but found his game as the match went on (and Nando’s strained belly began to ache.) Nole’s earned his first appearance in a major semifinal since last year’s US Open, where he lost to Roger Federer. Rematch!

The biggest story of the US Open is over, now that Melanie Oudin lost to Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday night: 2-6, 2-6. All credit goes to the 19 year-old Caroline for playing the veteran to Oudin’s ingenue, even though it was the first major quarterfinal of her career, too.

There’s no shame in losing to the No. 9 seed, but young Melanie was still disappointed:

“For me, I wanted to win more than anything. Losing isn’t good enough. But then, I mean, that was right after I had come off the court. I really think about it, and I really have had an incredible two weeks I should be proud of myself.”

You should be Melanie – you done good. And personally, I’m a little relieved that Oudin didn’t make it any further for the very selfish reason that I can’t take another “Cinderella story” reference. (Honestly what’s the connection? It’s not like she’s holed up with some evil step sisters. And Adidas, not singing mice, supply her with plenty of tennis clothes.)

Caroline Wozniacki was asked a Dumb Press Conference Question! And she had a smart answer:

Q. And real boyfriends, how many do you have?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I don’t have any real boyfriends right now, so ‑‑ and usually I keep to one.

She’ll face Yanina Wickmayer next, who beat Kateryna Bondarenko to become the second unseeded Belgian semifinalist in the women’s draw, along with Kim Clijsters. Sheesh, tennis is weird.

In the good news/bad news category, ESPN2 is showing doubles and it’s really entertaining. Unfortunately for the US Open, the Bryan Brothers lost to Paes/Dlouhy on Wednesday. But the 4th-seeded Williams sisters did get through and will play in the semis on Thursday.

If the weather cooperates, the men will finish up their quarterfinals on Thursday: Del Potro vs. Cilic and Nadal vs. Gonzalez. But the forecast is not looking too hot (or dry.)

So Roger Federer played second fiddle today, taking the court against Tommy Robredo after Melanie Oudin’s big win over Nadia Petrova. He did his best to wow the crowd in his own way, coming back from a tight first set to dominate the Spaniard in vintage Fed style: 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

I loved what Roger had to say about finding motivation, even against players like Robredo who he’s now beaten all nine times they’ve played (via usopen.org):

“It’s not like even trying to beat him again; it’s just about having fun out there, playing a good match, playing good tennis, enjoying the moment, playing in packed stadiums. It’s something not many people get an opportunity to do. I think everybody would love to be in my shoes. Why should I give away my spot, really, because I enjoy too much and people love to come see me play? So this is motivation alone for me. It’s plenty.”

No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost a nail biter to Caroline Wozniacki: 6-2, 6-7, 6-7. And she wasn’t too happy with either of their performances afterwards:

“I don’t think she (Wozniacki) did something too well, you know. I just did unforced errors all the time. And you don’t have to do much. You just have to put the ball back. I was creating the point or I was losing it. This was it.

Robin Soderling advanced to meet Roger Federer in the quarterfinals after Nikolay Davydenko retired down two sets to one.  This is the second time this tournament that a player has retired against Soderling – Marcel Granollers lasted all of two games against him in the second round.

Side note – Venus, Vera and Melanie are sporting mummy-wrapped legs, Acasuso and Simon retired in the third round and Davydenko tapped out in the Round of 16, Nadal and Almagro were both splayed out on court getting treatment on Sunday. This isn’t hard court season, this is injury season.

Fernando Verdasco, who is nursing his own abdominal injury, edged out the lone American left in the men’s draw, John Isner, in four sets. I’m so missing Andy Roddick right now.

Novak Djokovic worked the crowd after dominating Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday night. He thanked the crowd for staying, challenged Todd Martin and John McEnroe to a hit (guess who accepted) and did a Johnny Mac impression (click here for the video.) Personally, I love seeing Nole up to his old antics. And I also love knowing that he’ll probably piss off everyone again before the tournament is over.

The women’s quarterfinals are set:

Yanina Wickmayer vs. Kateryna Bondarenko (Say wha?)

Melanie Oudin vs. Caroline Wozniacki

Li Na vs. Kim Clijsters

Flavia Pennetta vs. Serena Williams

The men are still working on the Round of 16:

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Fernando Gonzalez

Gael Monfils vs. Rafael Nadal

del Potro vs. Ferrero in the battle of the Juans

Marin Cilic vs. Andy Murray

The men put in a good day’s work on Day Four of the US Open on Thursday, including some solid wins by Tommy Haas, Fernando Verdasco, Novak Djokovic and Tommy Robredo. Here are some of our snapshots.

*fellow bloggers are more than welcome to use our photos, please link us if you do.