a tennis pop-rock band!? now we've heard it all...

John Macom and Binge present to you, your very own songs based on those lovely jovely smashers of greens:

"Anna Kournikova" (album preview)
"Hey, It's Andy Roddick" (preview)
"Grand Slam Man" (preview)
"Maria Sharapova" (preview)
"Vamos Rafa" (lyrics)


sing about them piratas, kids - and we'd even bear emo rock!

Folks, just the few last weeks left before we're moaning and groaning about the off-season and have to make do with monstrocities like, phessh, golf on the telly - so get your fill while you still can!

Madrid, Madrid, here we come!

arriveth he who descends upon us from the milky blue heavens of coffeedrops and lemon spongecakes - this greek adonis, adorn with mighty bulk of will and a chaste soul of trying - with the might of two goliaths and a half, a sepuchral spectre of male evaluation, the clearity of a river, the carefully chiselled features of an italian hand atop the lilt of a spanish accent.


we present to you, dear, sweet, innocent people of the world, the one that we've waited all year for: the marat safin blog.

Marat Safin has revealed he will retire from tennis in 2010. The mercurial Russian is a two-time Grand Slam winner, but has plummeted down the world rankings this season as a result of injury and a loss of form.

"2010 will be my last season," said Safin. "I will be 30 years old and it will be time to move on to something different."

A serious knee injury has contributed to his slide to 63rd in the world, and he also split with coach Peter Lundgren in August.

"The season has been very tough for me. If I had won half the games I should have won, I would be in a completely different position."

Safin's career highlights came with his victories in the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open, and he has also topped the world rankings.

However, he has been notoriously inconsistent, and missed most of the 2003 season because of injury and a lack of mental focus.

Source: Eurosports

In Dmitry, We Trust.

what a week, if your name happens to be dmitry tursunov! stuck knee-deep in controversy and getting the sharp edge from a few tennis journos here and there (oh dima, they're just JEALOUS) and coming out of the week with a title win (a first), right after seeing off your country to the davis cup final on your weakest surface (what, he had won just one match this whole clay season?!)

but lets kick off with the truly essential: the tursunov blog!

he's churning out the entries, folks! he actually enjoys the process of penning down bon mots and tall tales with that edgy russian humor! just my kinda' man! head over there quick and make sure you bookmark it: ATP's resident blogger is not someone your going to want to miss.

Which brings us to the ahem, controversy aspect. right after the davis cup win (yeah that humongo one where he kicked himself some andy-asphalt) - it all happened so fast: the russian team went to hug, smoulder and cherish to death their blonde hero, and igor andreev ending up giving our dima a smacker, right on the lips. ofcourse it was all fast and in a rush of emotion and most probably, igor wanted to kiss the cheek (a european commonality amongst men and women) but accidentally ended up hitting the pucker, ahem. so yes, now the whole tennis world thinks he's gay and it's quite an uproar really. and it's all they showed on tv the davis cup weekend ;) sly sportscenter peeps ;)

ahem!

but dmitry made sure he let people know that controversy was the last thing on his mind the week he made it all the way to the trophy in mumbai! his first ATP tittle!

he's happy, he's loved and he's popular. what more could dima want?



and here, folks, is our international moment of zen:

Question: If you had your own cologne, what would it be called?

Dmitry Tursunov: That would depend on the smell. For a strong and woodsy fragrance, The Communist. For a light and lemony fragrance, The Traitor.