While the Spanish player showed his colours for the Parisian Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova unveiled a brand new candy store, Wawrinka bought a red PS2 and Gael Monfils played Ping-Pong with a plastic chair.
Rafa clowns around with the cup
Beaten last week in Monte Carlo for the first time as an adult, Rafael Nadal bounced back with an eighth triumph on Barcelona's clay. As his way of celebrating his victory, he walked around wearing the trophy on top of his head, like an acrobat. It is far from easy.
Nadal, Spring/Summer Roland-Garros collection 2013
What will Rafael Nadal be wearing at Roland Garros? The veil has finally been lifted. The Spaniard - or rather his manufacturer, the one with the swoosh - posted his outfit for the Paris fortnight to the web, complete with red shorts reminiscent of the ochre colour of the Parisian courts. A good omen. Probably…
The Spanish player says what he thinks of Fuentes
The Fuentes trial is currently making a lot of noise in the world of sport. The doctor involved in the Puerto case, sentenced this week to a heavy prison sentence, brought discredit to many areas of Spanish sport. Rafa is no exception, having been the victim of many rumours since he started out. During the trial, it was primarily the judge's decision to guard the anonymity of the cheaters that upset people, particularly in Spain. In any case, Nadal spoke out: “this is not the best image we can give; the best would be for you to stop talking about it. I think we should give the names of the cheaters so they can feel the hatred of the other athletes [...] the decision hasn't been good for anyone, except for the cheaters.”
The funky point
We know it well, Rafael Nadal easily took out Nicolas Almagro in the final in Barcelona (6-4 6-3). At 5-4, 0-30, the Majorcan felt sufficiently relaxed to pull off a trick-shot between the legs.
No special favours in Paris
As number 5 in the ATP rankings, Rafa should logically inherit the seeding... No. 5 (or 4) at the French Open. Not without incident though, as the Parisian organizers wanted to give the lefty a better seed in recognition of his record at Porte d'Auteuil - but also (and, perhaps, especially) to prevent him to play against Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals? Yes, but no. “Given what Nadal represents in Paris, the best player in the history of the tournament, it seemed incongruous for him to come here as the number 4 or 5 seed,” said Gilbert Ysern, tournament director. “The final decision was made not to intervene in the order of the seeds. The damage was done, a doctored draw was evoked. What should have been a strong symbol, in fact a tribute, was equated with wrong intentions.”
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world…
David Ferrer, a geek in slow motion
Like many people now, tennis players are tech savvy, and let it be known. David Ferrer is no exception to the rule. Thus, when given the chance to praise the latest Microsoft Surface tablet from Samsung, the Spanish player didn’t hesitate or equivocate. Except that the Javea native did so from... an iPhone. Sheepish, Ferrer quickly removed his tweet.
A boat ride for the lovers
The Portuguese tournament of Estoril is popular among the players of the tour. Thus, Stanislas Wawrinka and Elena Vesnina took advantage of it to go on a little boat ride between two matches. Together. Old school courting, you know. It was the Russian who posted the picture to Twitter. The Swiss seems very embarrassed. Seasick, perhaps…
Sharapova, the convertible triumph
Why does Maria Sharapova love the Stuttgart tournament? Because the lucky winner walks away with a Porsche. Despite Jelena Jankovic saying that the car was like a dream for her, Sharapova showed no mercy and easily won the final against the Serb. And as the Russian had already ventured into the premises of the firm during the week, she fittingly celebrated her victory at the wheel of the car of her choice. Class.
Kirilenko and her rebel haircut
Maria Kirilenko shines more for her beauty than for her prize list. The Kournikova way. Engaged in the Fed Cup with Russia, the player gives news of her life on Twitter. Obviously, she spends more time at the hairdresser than at training and is now sporting a very rebellious look, reminiscent of the Disney stars in Spring Breakers.
Maria, beautiful candy
When she's not driving a beautiful German car, Maria Sharapova manages her business. Thus, for the launch of her brand of sweets "Sugarpova", the blonde went to Moscow. Here’s a video detailing the inauguration. A nice day, with a lot of sweeties...
Goffin, Top chef
The advantage of playing tournaments abroad is that you can taste the local specialties. Thus, the Belgian David Goffin took some time out to have cooking classes with a local chef during his visit to Estoril. We have no idea of how good the result was though…
The fashion crime of the week
Radek Stepanek is not the most elegant player on the tour, maybe because he’s rarely described as "handsome". For his come-back to the tour, he had to play against the Russian Mikhail Youzhny. So far, so banal. Except when it came to choosing his outfit. Obviously he lost a bet. How else to explain this?
Monfils enjoys playing ping-pong with a chair
Gael Monfils isn't at his best on the tennis court at the moment. Currently ranked outside of the top 100, the Frenchman keeps busy in other ways. Such as in this video where he takes bets around a ping-pong table. Thus, the player proved that he was able to play with a chair as a racquet. Or a box of tennis balls. Impressive.
Haas pays tribute to Bavaria ... in his own way
Tommy Haas is in the twilight of his career and is taking full advantage of it. In Munich, he traded in his shorts and his racquet for the traditional Bavarian dress. He even brought Youzhny into his delirium. "It was pretty special. If you look at the traditions here in Bavaria, the Spring Festival and the Oktoberfest, it's really nice to dive into the local culture. Dressing like this is really fun, and I can't wait to start Oktoberfest!" said Tommy on the ATP website. And playing a whole match in this outfit, would that be fun?
Stanislas Wawrinka is a red
When traveling, some players try cooking lessons. Wawrinka, for his part, is not of this world. He prefers playing video games. Shortly after arriving in Estoril, the Swiss took out his credit card to buy a PlayStation in a local supermarket. A bright red console. He must be the only one in the world to have one like that. A true connoisseur...
https://twitter.com/stanwawrinka/status/329653822353965057
Na Li, working on a new dream?
A few weeks ago, a Nepalese claimed the world record for the number of tennis balls held in one hand with 21 balls. Na Li can (currently) hold six. We have the proof, courtesy of the WTA Twitter feed...
Sharapova on the cover again. And half naked.
Once more, Maria Sharapova finds herself on the cover of magazine in a bikini. It's been a while. It was the Latin version of Esquire who took the rare opportunity to host the Russian. We particularly appreciate the beautiful flesh-coloured bathing suit. Granny style.
Steffi Graf, why?
Steffi Graf wasn't the sexiest player of the tour in her heyday. And it is clear that after storing the racquets away, the German has not really improved her style. As evidence, we present the hat in this picture taken in Kentucky, when Mrs Agassi was a member of the jury for a fashion competition. Jury, in a fashion competition… really?
Tomic Sr in jail ?
Since Saturday, it is no longer a reputation but a reality. John Tomic, Bernard's father and coach, is a raving lunatic. The former taxi driver who converted to a breeder of tennis champions violently beat up his son's hitting partner, Thomas Drouet. According to information from the newspaper L'Equipe, the fall out started at the Monte Carlo tournament where the young Australian's training partner intervened in a dispute between father and son. So, when the Frenchman would told Tomic Sr, in Madrid, that he did not like his aggressiveness, he went AWOL, headbutting the player from Monaco. Result: a broken nose, a cut above the eye, a serious concussion in neck, a trip to the hospital and a complaint filed to the Spanish police. Arrested at his hotel, John Tomic had to spend this Monday afternoon on trial at a Madrid court. As for Bernard, on Monday he stated he did not see the fracas, "I was with my physical trainer at the time of the incident. I saw nothing, heard nothing. It's a very odd situation ... I wanted to talk to Thomas, but he was in the hospital. I have not seen my father since. I know he is sorry, and he's also upset."
By Mathieu Faure
