Serbian media are speculating that Novak Djokovic may have already married to his long-time girlfriend Jelena Ristic. Here are some photos of Novak who spotted vacationing with girlfriend Jelena in Portofino, Italy. But vacationing is not the only reason that’s fueling the rumors. It is believed that the couple is set to embark on a month-long journey aboard a luxury Manhattan 60 yacht which Novak was reportedly reserved a year ago. I guess we have to wait and see if he is following the footsteps of Roger Federer and Andy Roddick.

More photos after the cut… 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)

Tennis stars are making headlines and … money not only on court  but also (read mostly) off court.

•  Maria Sharapova joins Cole Haan Sporting line. (On the Baseline)
• American Sam Querrey signed two deals while at U.S. Open, with Olympus and Zappos.com. Querrey joins fellow tennis player John Isner as the only professional tennis players with endorsement deals with Olympus. (Olympus)
• Russian Anna Chakvetadze reportedly is planning to sign an apparel deal with Fila.  (Sports Business Journal)
• Adidas plans to launch a tennis racket next year and wants Novak Djokovic to be the endorser. (Sports Business Journal)

Though Novak Djokovic has failed to defend his title and lost in his opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open, his publicity campaign is going strong. Following Roger Federer’s steps, Djokovic is featured in the April issue of the Men’s Vogue magazine.

(Photographed by Frederike Helwig at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Monaco, where Djokovic now lives and trains. Ralph Lauren Black Label blazer, $695, jacket, $225, and pants, $325; polo.com. Adidas shoes.)

Pacific Life Open photos.

March 14, 2008,

Pacific Life Open.

Q. Do you plan on playing? Because Andy pulled out of it because he thought it was too close to the US Open for him. What are your thoughts about it? And can you excel at both the Open and the Olympics since it’s so close together?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: The Olympics comes around only once every four years, and the US Open is there every single year. I don’t know if he’s played the Olympics before. But, you know, obviously I never have, and it’s been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl.
So it’s been one of my priorities for a very long time. You know, I’m privileged to be part of so many athletes. You know, I really don’t know what to expect, because usually you play the same events every single year. You go from tournament to tournament.
I think this will be just completely new and different, and usually you have sort of an idea of what things are going to be like, but I’m really clueless. I’m just — one of the things I’m really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with all the athletes and, you know, athletes from my country, yeah, in front of thousands of people.

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Serbian Novak Djokovic made a guest appearance yesterday on Jay Leno’s Tonight show. If you missed it, still can check it out on youtube.

Masters Cup, Shanghai - Andy Roddick to Novak Djokovic about his tendency to bounce the ball numerous times before serving.

“I could make like eight phone calls and order a pizza by the time you hit a service.”

Another great win by Argentine David Nalbandian. The 25-year-old unseeded Nalbandian outclassed world No 3 Novak Djokovic with a 6-4 7-6 victory to reach his first final of the year. As I said in my previous post, the guy can beat anyone on any surface IF he is in the zone. This week has been his “Zone” week.

Nalbandian’s main weakness has been his inability to close matches and win on important points. He has always been underestimated by the media and experts. He is not media favorite because he doesn’t have typical marketable personality and doesn’t like talking to them after he loses matches (his press conferences are just awful). Since I am a biased Nalbandian fan, I attribute it to the language and cultural barrier he has with English-speaking crowd:-) Otherwise he is quite nice and friendly when he speaks Spanish:-) Still I think David needs a PR consultant to better market his image.

Peter Bodo’s blog reveals a nice secret about David. His full name is … (are you ready for this?) Gervasio Esteban David Ezequiel Nalbandian.

Gervasio Esteban David Ezequiel Nalbandian will face world number one Roger Federer in Sunday’s final.