Maria Sharapova will be playing Nike Knockout event on August 25th in New York City.  According to the organizers, it will be a star-studded event with the participation of the biggest names in tennis with the hottest celebrities in entertainment for head to head doubles. The event will feature Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Victoria Azarenka, John McEnroe, Madison Keys and more. There will also be live-streaming.

I strongly appreciate when people in power or with money who have achieved something in their lives, still find time to get involved in humanitarian work.  So, we try to cover their efforts as much as possible on this site. This time the kudos go to Roger Federer, who recently visited Ethiopia and posted some photos on his Facebook page.

Roger Federer: “I am on my way to visit one of the projects that I support in Ethiopia. But before I left home yesterday, the Austrian Postal Service presented me with a stamp. It was a nice honor.”

Roger Federer: “Here is a shot from today when I visited the project i support in Ethiopia. It was touching to see the impact my foundation has had on the lives of these kids. I had a great time.”

One more photo after the cut. Read more »

Q. Would you say maybe your ability to retrieve is just as important as shot?making, the balls you ran down?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I definitely think footwork is something of the most important things in tennis, especially at the level that we’re playing at. At the moment, I think it’s become extremely physical, you know, the game of tennis, especially at the baseline. It’s not as much back and forth. It’s more side to side.

I feel like, you know, my movement’s back. I think that’s a great thing. I definitely had to play some of my best tennis tonight to come through. That was clearly the case.

Q. Did you think it was a great strategy tonight, more than usual?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, he’s obviously a very patient man from the baseline, you know. I mean, I think this is how he made it to the top really. You know, not missing much, being dangerous, mixing up his pace very well, some loopier, some flatter. He can obviously go angle, hard down the line, as well as his backhand. I think that makes him particularly tough to play against.

Read more »

Today tennis royalty met with real royalty. Prince William made a surprise visit to watch Roger Federer play a second round match at the Australian Open. Federer acknowledged Prince William in the crowd after the win against Romanian opponent, Victor Hanescu. “Your Royal Highness, welcome to the world of tennis. Thanks for coming,” Federer said.

Prince William stayed for the final match of the evening between Casey Dellacqua and Karolina Sprem  and also posed for pictures with both Federer and Serena Williams.

New York Times has an interview with Roger Federer. Among many things, the Swiss tennis star explains why he kept his twins news under wraps.

What the world has been waiting for…  Roger Federer has posted the first photo of his twin girls on his Facebook page. The photo was taken by his father.

World number 1 Roger Federer proudly announced on his website the arrival of his twin girls Charlene Riva and Myla Rose who were born Thursday night in Switzerland:

“This is the greatest day of our lives. Mirka, Myla and Charlene are all healthy and doing very well.”

Congratulations to Roger and Mirka!

(Photo: Getty)

Andy Roddick interview

Wimbledon, July 05, 2009

Q. Did you just lose to the world’s greatest tennis player ever?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.

Q. Can you talk about when you were sitting in the chair and the crowd was chanting your name, what did that mean to you?

ANDY RODDICK: That was nice. You know, it showed that they appreciated I guess what we did out there today. You know, it was definitely a nice and appreciated gesture by them.

Q. How is it possible to hold your concentration? You served from behind on 10 occasions with the title at stake.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you just keep going. I mean, you don’t really — looking back it seems like a lot, but each time it was just a point, and then another one and then another one. I guess it added up after a while.

Read more »

Roger Federer interview
Wimbledon Final, July 5, 2009.

Q. How hard was that compared to other finals you have played here?

ROGER FEDERER: It was difficult, because I thought Andy played great. You know, I mean, I’m obviously ?? I know how it is to play a Wimbledon final. I know how it is to play a fifth set in the final, in a Wimbledon final.

But it felt different. It was so different to what I experienced the last few years with Rafa, you know, where it was a baseline game. Today it was a serve and return game, which is more classical for grass.

Read more »

You can’t miss any tennis match today. Look at the order of play today. All the big names are in action.

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Robin Soderling (SWE) [13] vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2]
2. Dinara Safina (RUS) [1] vs Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) [17]
3. Andy Murray (GBR) [3] vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [19]

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] vs Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [13]
2. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [7] vs Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [22]
3. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [20] vs Andy Roddick (USA) [6]

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4]
2. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) vs Serena Williams (USA) [2]
3. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs Radek Stepanek (CZE) [23]

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [8] vs Nadia Petrova (RUS) [10]
2. Dudi Sela (ISR) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4]
3. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) vs Gilles Simon (FRA) [8]

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Igor Andreev (RUS) [29] vs Tommy Haas (GER) [24]
2. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [9] vs Sabine Lisicki (GER)

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [11] vs Melanie Oudin (USA)
2. Virginie Razzano (FRA) [26] vs Francesca Schiavone (ITA)