Marat Safin gives an interview to Russian Hello! Magazine in his Moscow apartment. It looks like someone is a photography buff (Spletnik via GOTOTENNIS)

Carlos Moya is expecting his first child with his girlfriend Carolina Cerezuela (Revista Tenis)

Ivan Lendl will play against Mats Wilander in his first exhibition match since retiring in Atlantic City. Marat Safin will play Andy Roddick in the other match (The Canadian Press)

Uncle Toni wanted Nadal to withdraw BEFORE his Aussie semifinal match with Andy Murray (Revista Tenis)

The story of Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer’s disqualification after they had match point in their second-round match. Moral to the story – don’t throw your racquet. Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi went on to win the South African tournament (iol)

Dmitry Tursunov pulled out of the SAP Open this week and may need a third surgery on his ankle (Sacramento Bee)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled out of Rotterdam because of a stomach muscle injury (ESPN)

Gilles Simon withdrew from Rotterdam because of a right knee injury (Tennis Connected)

Mark Philippoussis lost his first match in a Challenger event in Dallas (Open Court)

Bernard Tomic wins a Challenger event in Tasmania (Fox Sports)

(Image: Spletnik)

Marat Safin played his final match of his career this evening. He lost to Juan Martin del Potro 6-4 5-7 6-4. The big Russia did well today and put in a solid performance against the 21-year-old Argentine. The US Open and Australian Open champion closed his career with a 422-267 record.

The Parisians gave him a great tribute, and it was nice to see the other players join in the ceremony. His good friends Younes El Aynaoui and Marc Rosset were also on hand for the festivities.

Tennis fans will miss the former world no.1 for his play and charm. His wit and honesty will be sorely missed, and I do not know if any one will be able to fill his shoes. With this gem from yesterday in regards to Andre Agassi’s book, there is really no other player that could sum up what most people are thinking with sounding like a heel:

I'm not defending the ATP, but what he said put it in a delicate position. The ATP allowed him to win a lot of tournaments, a lot of money. It kept his secret. Why does he need to be so cruel with it?

. . . . . .

If he is as fair play as he says he is, he has to go to the end. You know, the ATP has a bank account and he can give the money back if he wants.

Marat will be missed. I just cannot believe he already gone.

Marat Safin is playing in his final tournament of his career this week. The grand-slam winner was slated to play French qualifier Thierry Ascione, who is the current world no. 168, in the first round. This should have been a walk in the park for him, but this is Safin we are talking about after all.

The match looked like it was going to be another routine win for Safin. He was up a set and tied at 3-3, and it would be only a matter of time before he broke the Frenchman again for the win. Safin’s serve began to fail him and then errors crept into his game. Ascione, instead, broke the Russian in the tenth game of the second set to even the match at a set apiece.

In the third set, both men stayed on serve, but then Safin faced three match points on his serve at 4-5. He was able to fight off the Frenchman’s advances to even the set. After the scare, the Russian seemed to get his act back together and held serve again to take the match to a tiebreaker.

Safin was all business in the tiebreaker and was able to close out the match. He ended up winning 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) after 112 minutes of play. He now advances to play Juan Martin del Potro in the next round, in what could be his final match of his career. The two players have surprisingly never met in ATP competition. It was be a challenge for the big Russian, but no one more than Safin is capable of surprising the young Argentine. It should be a good matchup.

Monday’s Results
Singles First Round
Andreas Seppi (ITA) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-3 6-3
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Pablo Cuevas (URU) 7-6(3) 6-4
Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Q Vincent Millot (FRA) 6-3 7-6(4)
Q Lukasz Kubot (POL) def. Andreas Beck (GER) 6-4 3-6 6-4
Viktor Troicki (SRB) def. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 7-6(4) 3-0 ret. (right calf)
Albert Montanes (ESP) def. Victor Hanescu (ROU) 3-6 6-3 7-6(3)
John Isner (USA) def. Q Alejandro Falla (COL) 4-6 7-6(10) 7-5 - saved 3 M.P.
WC Marat Safin (RUS) def. Q Thierry Ascione (FRA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) - saved 3 M.P.
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) def. WC Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) 7-6(2) 6-4

Doubles First Round
S. Aspelin (SWE)/P. Hanley (AUS) def. J. Chardy (FRA)/G. Simon (FRA) 6-4 3-6 10-7
WC A. Clement (FRA)/M. Llodra (FRA) def. J. Levinsky (CZE)/F. Polasek (SVK) 3-6 6-1 10-4
J. Benneteau (FRA)/J. Tsonga (FRA) def. J. Coetzee (RSA)/M. Melo (BRA) 6-3 6-4

Tuesday’s Order of Play

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(Image: AP)

I guess not. After knocking out the top-seed yesterday and opening the draw for himself, Marat Safin played his last Kremlin Cup match today in Moscow. He lost his second-round match to Evgeny Korolev 6-4 7-6(4).

(Image: AP)

Marat Safin upset top-seed Nikolay Davydenko in his first-round matchup with the recent Shanghai champion at the Kremlin Cup. The retiring veteran has not been playing well as of late, but he is always dangerous when he is feeling it. I guess today was one of those days.

The upset marks the fifth exit of the seeded players. Only Mikhail Youzhny, Pable Cuevas and Janko Tipsaravic are left in the draw. With the upset of the top seed, the draw is now wide open on Safin’s side of the draw.

The big Russian now has a good shot at winning his first Kremlin Cup trophy. He will have to get past his second-round match with Anna Kournikova’s cousin, Evgeny Korolev first. The two players have never met in ATP or grand slam competition.

(Image: AP)

Colombian up-and-comer Santiago Giraldo won the Natomas challenger title last week. The 21 year old won his third challenger title this year and six for his career. Let's hope he makes a speedy transition to the pros (Sacramento Bee)

Nadal warns of tour overload and thinks the season is too long. After all the nine retirements in Shanghai this week, you would think the ATP might want to be proactive about the situation (Guardian)

Roddick chimed in about the season (BBC Sport)

Novak Djokovic takes both sides into account (The Independent)

Marat Safin adds that he was talking about the season length five years ago. The Russian took time to slam Roddick for his newfound position on the matter, and then takes a swipe at Berdych too. Boy, I am going to miss him (The Globe and Mail)

Maybe they should get rid of the Race (The Globe and Mail)

Andy Roddick will be out with a knee injury for three weeks (NYT)

Czech Ivo Minar is banned for eight months in a doping ban (Fox Sports)

Safin feels the love in Shanghai (Open Court)

The many sides of Djokovic (ESPN)

The case for Juan Carlos Ferrero to play against the Czech Republic for the Spanish Davis Cup Team (Times Online)

Juan Martin del Potro wants to build on his success (CBS)

Novak Djokovic almost played for Great Britain (Times Online)

You wouldn’t know if from tennis common "wisdom" in the States, but Nadal is actually the most popular player worldwide on tour. They pretend it is Roger Federer (CCTV)

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

City: Moscow, Russia
Surface: Indoor Hard
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Igor Kunitsyn
2008 Doubles Champions: Sergiy Stakhovsky and Potito Starace

Defending champion, Igor Kunitsyn will defend his title this year. He will participate in the Moscow tournament along with top-seeds Nikolay Davydenko, Victor Hanescu, Mikhail Youzhny, Igor Andreev and Pablo Cuevas. In the 18 years of this tournament, Russians have dominated singles by winning 12 of the 18 titles awarded.

Top-seed Nikolay Davydenko will try to win this title for a fourth time coming off of his win in Shanghai. He will also try to go for his fifth title of the season, thus tying Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray as the top title holders of the year.

Marat Safin will also participate in the tournament for the final time. The veteran has never won this title and was runner up last year. I am sure he will be a sentimental favorite of the crowd. Janko Tipsarevic, Fabio Fognini, Evgeny Korolev and the retiring Fabrice Santoro round out the draw.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Monday’s Order of Play

(Image: Kremin Cup)

Rafael Nadal



















Juan Carlos Ferrero

























Gilles Simon


















David Ferrer

















Nicolas Kiefer



















Marat Safin


















Juan Monaco



















Viktor Troiki















Nicolas Lapentti


















Evgeny Korolev
















Frank Dancevic











There are some tennis polls some readers have pointed out and felt outrage at some the choices in these polls. I have received recent requests from readers over the week to do a proper topless poll. In light of the recent weather developments at the Open, I thought I would give you a treat.

I have gone to through the tennisfiend photo archives to compile a list for my fellow tennis fiends. By no means is it a comprehensive list, as I do not have photos of everyone. This poll will also be a tribute to the many of the fallen and the few who remain in the tournament that is steadily coming to a close this week despite the weather.

So, please participate in a proper poll of the ATP’s finest. Since this is a scientific poll and it may be hard for you to choose just one, we are going to do this one Chicago style -- so vote early and vote often.

Update: The formatting in IE is messed up. If viewing this post in IE , the pictured are as follows from the top to the bottom: Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gilles, David Ferrer, Nicolas Kiefer, Marat Safin, Juan Monaco, Viktor Troiki, Nicolas Lapentti, Evgeny Korolev and Frank Dancevic.

(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)

Might he coach? "No, no. Playing is one thing and teaching is completely different. It looks simple but it's really not. It's a really tough job." TV commentating? "I'm different to other people who want to lay back and do nothing for the rest of their lives and talk nonsense on ESPN, talking about my match against Sampras. I will not do that."

This quote from Marat Safin encapsulates the main problem with tennis broadcasts in the United States. John McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Brad Gilbert, Mary Jo Fernandez, Mary Carillo et al. basically have a lock on most of the tennis broadcasts. If you want to watch a match on television in the States with the sound on, you are going to be treated to these fools.

They could careless about what is going on the court and the current crop of players and love to talk about themselves and their useless opinions. I have heard children give better “analysis” of matches than these people. Normally, I turn off the sound and watch the matches with music on. The last two days, I attempted watch matches with the sound on to try and see if I could learn something interesting but was only treated to a headache from the verbal diarrhea spewed by these people.

I literally watched two minutes of the Davydenko-Soderling match this afternoon before John McEnroe worked on my nerves with his nonsense. We should be telling him, “You can’t be serious with your bullshit analysis!” Yesterday, he took a narrow reading of the trainer rule to act like Rafael Nadal was cheating and attempted to feign false outrage. In the same Nadal-Almagro match, Mary Carillo said that the reason Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon was to focus on the US Open. Really?

We then have Brad Gilbert who basically trashes all of the non-Anglo players. The man is an overall tennis creep that acts as if he were commentating a WWE match. The audience has hear about how he coached Andre Agassi and Andy Murray every two seconds, and we do not hear boo about when he was a player stinking up the court.

And don’t get me start about Martina Navratilova, who can only talk about what she would do if she were playing and trash the current players. She reserves special ire for the Williams sisters. Say what you want but those girls have 18 grand slam titles between the two of them. They have to be doing something right.

I am going to miss Safin for his play and personality. Who else can sum up what everyone else is thinking in one sentence in his third language? The sad part is that I think Safin would actually be a good commentator, but these trolls have scared him off from doing that.

Musketeer extraordinaire, Gael Monfils during his tricolor match with Jeremy Chardy.

A look at Monfils, Tsonga, Simon & Ouanna's bond on and off the court. They, as a group, put in a respectable showing at Flushing Meadows after having a rough last couple of months. Two of the four are now into the second week (NYT)

An examination of Safin’s career that was plagued by questions of what if (SI)

The top ten dominate, but really the top three REALLY dominate (WSJ)

The always smart and thoughtful, Mats Wilander likes Juan Martin del Potro (Busted Racquet)

His run for the USO title my be difficult and hampered, but Nadal is winning the shirtless poll hands down (PopSugar)

A crazy story about Canada’s Peter Polansky's freak accident and recovery (NYT)

What a difference 18 months makes for Serbian players (New York Observer)

Rafa-mania at the USO (Straight Sets)

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Marat Safin was killing Jurgen Melzer when I left the stadium after the first set on Wednesday. Somehow the Russian managed to lose the match 6-1 4-6 3-6 4-6 and exits the US Open for the final time, as he retires this year. In a strange, masochistic way, I am going to miss the big, cranky Russian giving me headaches like these.

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Czech Ivo Minar tested positive for a banned substance and denies the allegation (The Guardian)

Gasquet returns to the circuit in New Haven but fails to qualify. Let's hope he gets back into form soon (BBC News)

Novak Djokovic gained confidence from his week in Cincinnati and looks forward to the US Open. (Reuters)

Dmitry Tursunov is questionable for the US Open and may need a second surgery (The Sacramento Bee)

Le baiser à la cocaine as told in grand fashion by the Brits (Times Online)

An interview with Novak Djokovic, who thinks he was born at the wrong time (Blic)

Andre Agassi will release his autobiography in November (CBS Sports)

Safin wedding rumors (Oh No They Didn’t)

How you can obtain an autograph from Rafa (Gossip Barf)

Marat Safin’s retirement stop in Cincinnati ended to day with a loss to Radek Stepanek. The Russian started out well and won the first set. It looked like he had his head together today, but as a viewer, you know there is a ninety-percent chance of a trainwreck.

In grand Safin fashion, he allowed Stepanek into the game and fell completely apart in the third set. The Czech veteran rallied to win the match 4-6 6-3 6-1. On the bright side, the big man did make it to the second round, so there is a small victory for him there.

Stepanek now has the large chore of playing Andy Murray in the round of 16. Murray currently leads their head-to-head matchup 2-0.

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Fernando Verdasco poses for Hola! Magazine. Let’s hope all the topless action helps him prepare for the US Open Series. (Socialite Life)

Karlovic is a Croatian MC and has the song to prove it. While his single is magnificent -- for all the wrong reasons -- on its own, Djokovic may team up with the tennis ace to make a hip-hop single. It could be double the magnificence (Blic)

Rafael Nadal maybe iffy for Montreal (Open Court)

Mario Ancic’s mononucleosis continues to sideline the Croat. He and Nalbandian (hip) will miss the US Open this year (Tennis)

Rafael Nadal regrets playing in the Madrid Masters Series because it led to a lack of preparation for the French Open (Rafael Nadal)

Richard Gasquet wins a spot in the 10 Best Bad Excuses. The tennis genius has now been slapped with a defamation lawsuit (Fox Sports, TimesOnline)

Marat Safin thinks tennis has become too professional (Tennistalk)

Andre Agassi will replace Novak Djokovic in an exhibition with Marat Safin on Aug 28 (WSJ)

Tipsarevic is upset over allegations about his integrity. Curious betting patterns caused scrutiny after a Tipsarevic-Hernandez match in Stuttgart on July 15 (Blic)

Rafael Nadal purchased a house in DR. From the press release, it looks more like the Spaniard lent his name to a development project (Daily Commercial News)

Top-seed Tommy Haas and the retiring Marat Safin had an old school matchup in the quarterfinals of the LA Open. The more consistent of the two players prevailed. The top-seed seized the match at 7-6(3) 6-2 and secured a spot in the semifinals.

It was Safin’s final appearance at the tournament, as he retires at the end of the season. Through a series of self-pranks, I did not have the opportunity to see the match but heard Safin was a mess in grand fashion. Despite last night’s performance, I think it was a good tournament for him because he did not lose in the first round, and he, at least, made it to the quarterfinals, which is respectable for him.

For Haas, he could easily win his second title of the year, but he will first have to get passed Sam Querrey today. The German currently leads their head-to-head matchup 3-1 with Querrey dismissing Haas in their last meeting this year in the first round of Memphis. Querrey’s win also occurred during the first-four months of the tour, which were problematic for Haas. The German’s is now been playing his best tennis over the last-three months. He is now healthy, on a roll, and I am sure will be looking for revenge for his dismissal in Tennessee.

(Images: Getty Images/Stephen Dunn)

Not known for his consistency, Marat Safin – pictured keeping it real – rallied to prevail over Latvian Ernest Gulbis 2-6 6-3 6-4 in Los Angeles today. The Russian, who is retiring this year, has now won two matches in a row to advance into the quarterfinals. Let’s hope he continues his winning ways this week.

(Image: Getty Images/Stephen Dunn)

Pete Sampras and Marat Safin played an exhibition match at the LA Open last night. Safin prevailed over the tennis great 6-4 3-6 1-0. The Russian ended up being double winner for the evening when he defeated Marcos Baghdatis and Dudi Sela in doubles with partner Igor Kunitsyn 6-7(6) 6-2 11-9.

Let’s hope he can extend his winning ways to this evening when he plays Robby Ginepri in his singles opener.

(Image: Getty Images/Stephen Dunn)

City: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
2008 Doubles Champions: Rohan Bopanna and Eric Butorac

Juan Martin del Potro will not defend his title this year. Tommy Haas is the top-seed and the one to beat this week since he has been playing well over the last two months. It could be a good opportunity for the German to pick up another title this year. Mardy Fish is the second-seed and could give the German trouble because the American is best on the hard surfaces.

Marat Safin rounds out the seeded players as the eighth seed. Let's hope he does well in his final LA appearance.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Monday's Order of Play

(Image: Getty Images)

Nicolas Kiefer and Marat Safin were both upset at Wimbledon today. Frenchman Fabrice Santoro sent Kiefer home 6-4 6-2 6-2 in a battle of the veterans. Santoro is playing in his last Wimbledon tournament, as he is retiring this year. American Jesse Levine took out Safin 6-2 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 in the Russian's final Wimbledon appearance.

Also, Dmitry Tursunov retired against German Mischa Zverev 6-4 6-2 3-0. He injured his ankle in last Saturday's Eastbourne final. He promised to play in Wimbledon but was not able to make it through his first-round match.

(Images: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images, AP)

Richard Gasquet and a delegation from the Variety Club wait to attend the General Audience of Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square. If anyone needs religion and the pope right now, it would be him.

The Frenchman (Gasquet) maintains his innocence (Canadian Voices, Guardian)

Another account of Gasquet's night in question (Miami New Times)

A profile of Rafael Nadal's general adorableness. It describes his down-to-earth nature and outlook since losing his French Open title (Times Online)

Swede and 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson retires from tennis at the age of 34 (ABC News Australia)

Andy Murray talks of his Wimbledon chances and thinks Nadal will play (Guardian)

Maikel Scheffers covers Robredo's tournament Memorial Santi Silvas (ITF Tennis)

Nearing the end of his career, Safin has some clarity (The Independent)

Ana and Fernando are no longer friends (Blic)

Nadal's foundation will open a tennis school in India (Reuters)

Mark Philippoussis's life skids out of control (The Daily Telegraph)

A pictorial profile of some of Feliciano Lopez's hairstyles (Beautiful Hairstyle Pictures)

(Image: AFP)