It was only a matter of time before a female musician wised up and pulled an Enrique Iglesias. Shakira stepped up her pimp game and cast Rafael Nadal in her upcoming video, Gypsy. The 33-year-old Colombian singer posted a teaser of things to come on her website yesterday.



From the accompanying stills, it looks Shakira took full advantage of her casting opportunity. The video should be pretty steamy. We shall see, soon enough, how much of it the Spanish champ winds up without his top on or if he is ever in a frame by himself.

(via shakira.com)

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)

Roger Federer took no time in taking apart Andy Murray in this straight-set snoozer. The world no. 1 triumphed over the Scotsman 6-3 6-4 7-6(13) after just 2 hours and 41 minutes of play. The win extends Federer’s grand-slam titles to 16.

Last year, Federer was inconsolable in his five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in their epic thriller. Now, Nadal is no threat with his knee issues that began last May. We now see the tennis great atop the stand with yet another trophy.

It seems that neither Murray nor Novak Djokovic -- and we can now add Nikolay Davydenko to the list -- will step up to break up the Federer monotony with the Spaniard consumed with his issues. Being peers with the Majorcan, Murray and Djokovic bring their A-game when Nadal is playing well. When Nadal is not really a threat or around, you can look forward to them being content with getting to the semifinals or playing runner-up to Federer. It is officially annoying.

In Murray’s case, he wins when it does not really matter. The Scotsman has beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in Masters tournaments and has four career titles at that level. It is at the grand slams where he has yet seal the deal.

There is no reason why Murray should leave the grand slams titleless. Juan Martin del Potro was able to take care of business at the US Open last year at the tender age of 20. It is starting to look like the Scotsman is the new Andy Roddick but with more talent.

With Nadal neutralized, all the Scotsman has to do is take out Federer in the final, but that is too much to ask. You would think it would be an easier path to a grand slam title. Since Nadal’s problems began, Murray lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon to Roddick, of all people. Murray then turned around and lost to Marin Cilic in the fourth round at the US Open where he is away from the British media and the pressure.

Murray has all the physical and technical skills to win a grand slam. Everyone respects his game. The problem may lie somewhere between his ears. Luckily for the Scotsman, he is still young at 22 and can learn from these grand slam losses.

Give Federer credit. He is always consistent and always brings his A-game to the slams. His confidence is back with a vengeance with Nadal is out of the way.

On the doubles side, the Bryan brothers have successfully defended their Australian Open title. They bested second-seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 on Saturday. The win is their third Aussie title. The Bryans have now won 57 career titles. Ten of those titles come from grand slams. They earned themselves a career slam in 2006.

Sunday’s Results
Singles Championship
1 Roger Federer def. 5 Andy Murray 6-3 6-4 7-6(11)

Saturday’s Results
Doubles Championship
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. 2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3

Friday’s Results
Singles Semifinals
1 Roger Federer def. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonge 6-2 6-3 6-2

Thursday’s Results
Singles Semifinals
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. 14 Marin Cilic (CRO) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2

Doubles Semifinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) 6-1 6-4
2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) def. I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic (SRB) 6-4 6-4

(Images: AP/Rick Rycroft, AP/Andy Wong)

On Friday, it was announced that Rafael Nadal would be out for about a month to rehabilitate his right knee:

Nadal said it was not the recurrence of the tendinitis that sidelined the six-time Grand Slam singles champion for periods of 2009. He was unable to defend his Wimbledon title last year because of the tendinitis and has not reached another Grand Slam final since his five-set win over Roger Federer at last year's Australian Open.

MRI and ultrasound tests showed a small tear at the back part of Nadal's right knee, which can be treated with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory treatment, Dr. Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said in the statement.

This is another blow to the Spanish champion’s prospects. At the pinnacle of his career, he lost in the round of 16 at the French Open and snapped his four-straight title streak. It was then discovered that Nadal has severe tendinitis and would not defend his title at Wimbledon.

Since his return last August, Nadal has been looking to get back to top form. He looked good at his Davis Cup match in December. The Majorcan looked pretty good for most of the Australian Open. He was beginning to get his feel back, but we are now back to this.

This is especially unfortunate because Nadal is the type of player that has to practice a lot and play a lot of matches to get the feel of his shots. His crazy shotmaking ability that we have come to take for granted comes from hours of practice and play. That is why he is the best at defense-to-offense because he works hard at it.

The one player who can make the grand slams interesting has been wracked with injuries over the last six months. Hopefully, this is just a short-term problem, and the Spanish champ can get back on track before this year becomes a giant snoozefest.

Marin Cilic could be problematic for Andy Murray (Times Online)

Tennis great Alastair Martin dies (UPI)

Australian up-and-comer Bernard Tomic draws fire for criticizing the scheduling at the Australian Open (Reuters)

Tomic is also in the market for a new coach. He is looking at Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill. If there is a god, he will pick Gilbert. Gilbert has been terrorizing American television audiences for years with his crack “analysis.” I have been praying for someone to hire him for years (Tennis)

Richard Gasquet has a new coach (Tennis)

In more Tomic news, Lleyton Hewitt is not on board for his rival's bid on the Australian Davis Cup team. The rivalry continues (The Australian)

Rafael Nadal answers some rather frisky questions from his fans (Herald Sun)

It looks like Laura Robson has moved on from Marat Safin (Daily Online)

Speaking of Safin, there is a rumor of a Safin love child (Open Court)

Andy Murray took out Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0. Murray was in the lead when Nadal retired in the third set with more of his dreaded knee problems. With the retirement, Murray secured his spot in the semifinals.

Nadal will drop to the third or fourth spot in the rankings next week since he will lose points for not successfully defending his title this year. Let’s hope the former no. 1 gets better to defend the rest of his titles this year. Poor thing.

On the other side, Marin Cilic upset Andy Roddick 7-6(4) 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 after 3 hours and 50 minutes of play. This is the Croat’s first grand-slam semifinal appearance of his short career.
Cilic will now face Andy Murray in the first semifinal on the men’s side. Murray leads their head-to-head 3-1, but the 6’6” Croat won their last meeting at the US Open in the round of 16.

The outcome of this semifinal is not a forgone conclusion. On paper, Murray should win. He has the experience, and he has been playing well these last two weeks. The Scotsman has come up short in the grand slams, and it is beginning to look like a mental block. It is a just matter of whether Cilic can turn it up to another level and upset another top player or if Murray can overcome his grand slam jitters. It’s a toss up.

Tuesday's Results
Singles Quarterfinals
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0 RET. (right knee)
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. 7 Andy Roddick (USA) 7-6(4) 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3

Doubles Third Round
I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic (SRB) def. 5 L. Kubot (POL)/O. Marach (AUT) 2-6 7-6(11) 7-6(4)

Doubles Quarterfinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. E. Butorac (USA)/R. Ram (USA) 7-5 4-6 7-6(2)
M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) def. F. Gonzalez (CHI)/I. Ljubicic (CRO) 4-6 6-1 2-0 RET. (Ljubicic: right thigh)

Wednesday’s Matches
Singles Quarterfinals
1 Roger Federer (SUI) vs. 6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

Doubles Quarterfinals
2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) vs. A. Clement (FRA)/J. Erlich (ISR)
3 L. Dlouhy (CZE)/L. Paes (IND) vs. I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic (SRB)

Wednesday’s Order of Play

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(Images: Getty Images/AFP/ Greg Wood , AP/John Donegan)

Rafael Nadal had the large task of meeting Ivo Karlovic, the biggest server on the tour, in the round of 16. The 6’10” Croat had already taken out Radek Stepanek and Ivan Ljubicic in earlier rounds. The Spaniard had some problems returning serve this week. These factors could have been a problematic for the returning champ.

Nadal instead turned up the heat on his serve and was able to hold serve. The Spaniard stayed with the Croat and eventually took advantage of any openings. Nadal eventually triumphed over Karlovic 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4 after 2 hours and 36 minutes of play. Now, the world no. 2 will face Andy Murray, who beat John Isner, probably the second-best server on tour.

Nadal is currently 7-2 over the Scotsman. The two players have not played since last year in Monaco, but that was before Nadal's physical troubles. Since his return to the tour in Montreal, the Spaniard is 1-9 against top ten players. This week, Nadal has done just enough to win. Murray, on the other hand, has all the skills to win a grand slam but has yet to do so. We shall see if Nadal is ready to ratchet his play up enough to surpass the Scotsman or if Murray can finally cross the threshold to win his first grand slam.

(Image: AP/Andy Wong)

Rafael Nadal had a sluggish start in his Thursday evening match with German Philipp Kohlschreiber but was able to still able to get into a groove by the second set. The Spaniard jumped out to a two-set lead over the 26 year old.

It looked like another straight-set win for the returning champion until he lost his opening serve in the third set. Kohlschreiber somehow took control of the set causing Nadal to fall out of sorts. Errors uncharacteristically crept into the second-seeds game, and the German managed to keep his tournament hopes alive and win the third set.

They traded breaks in the fourth set but then Nadal stepped up his game in the last two games to win the fourth set and the match. It was not pretty, but he did manage to get pass Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5.

Nadal will play Croat Ivo Karlovic, who played at the same time and length in his third-round match with Ivan Ljubicic, in the round of 16. The Mallorcan leads their head-to-head 2-0. The two players have never met on a hardcourt surface before. Dr. Ivo and his giant serve spell trouble on Saturday.

Friday’s Results

Saturday’s Order of Play

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(Image: AFP/Getty Images/Torsten Blackwood)

Rafael Nadal put on a clinic in this second round match on Wednesday. The unfortunate recipient of this instruction was Slovakian up-and-comer Lukas Lacko. The Spaniard ran through his match and defeated Lacko 6-2 6-2 6-2 after 1 hour and 51 minutes of play.

The world no. 2 is beginning to look like the Nadal of old. His movement and shot making are a lot better. He is beginning to win points he really should not have, which is bad news for the rest of the tour. There is still some room for improvement, for him, so it should be interesting to see if he can peak at the right time.

Next up for the Mallorcan slugger will be 27-seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Nadal currently leads their head-to-head matchup 4-0.

(Image: Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal advanced after a tight first set. He beat Aussie Peter Luczak 7-6(0) 6-1 6-4 after 2 hours and 34 minutes of play. The Spaniard looked pretty good but still has room for improvement. If anyone can play their way into a tournament, it would be the Mallorcan.

Nadal could meet Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Murray, on the other hand, was a little more efficient in his 97-minute win over South African Kevin Anderson 6-1 6-1 6-2. Nadal and Murray were fortunate as they played in Rod Laver Stadium with a roof.

Other players were not so lucky. Rain delays plagued the outer courts, and the tournament canceled 12 men's matches with 9 other matches suspended. Play resumes today for the rest of yesterday’s matches and rest of the first round action. Rain is already in the forecast, so it should be another precarious day for the tournament.

Singles First Round
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Peter Luczak (AUS) 7-6(0) 6-1 6-4
4 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) def. Michael Russell (USA) 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-1 6-1 6-2
7 Andy Roddick (USA) def. Thiemo de Bakker (NED) 6-1 6-4 6-4
11 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) def. Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-1
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. 13 Radek Stepanek (CZE) 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 3-6 6-4
24 Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) def. Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-1 6-2 6-1
Bernard Tomic (AUS) def. Guillaume Rufin (FRA) 6-3 6-4 6-4
Andrey Golubev (KAZ) def. Mardy Fish (USA) 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-3
Florian Mayer (GER) def. Philipp Petzschner (GER) 0-6 2-6 6-4 6-2 6-2
Wayne Odesnik (USA) def. Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-2

To Finish
Matthew Ebden (AUS) even 12 Gael Monfils (FRA) 2-2
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) leads Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 7-5 4-2
27 Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) leads Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 6-1 4-3
29 Viktor Troicki (SRB) leads Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 4-6 6-3 6-2 5-3
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) leads Nick Lindahl (AUS) 6-2 7-5 5-4
David Guez (FRA) leads Julien Benneteau (FRA) 4-0
Marsel Ilhan (TUR) leads Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) 6-4 4-2
Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) leads Jose Acasuso (ARG) 6-1 2-6 3-2
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) leads Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-3 7-5 4-6 3-2

Tuesday’s Order of Play

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Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur took part in the Hit for Haiti fundraiser at Rod Laver Arena yesterday afternoon. The 90-minute exhibition has brought in over $200,000 so far.

City: Melbourne, Australia
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 2000
2009 Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
2009 Doubles Champions: Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan

It is the first grand slam of the season. This particular tournament should be an interesting affair because there are many more players who can get passed Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year. Rafael Nadal defends his title this year, but any of the top six could take it.

From the end of last season until the present, Nikolay Davydenko looks like the one to beat. The Russian has won four Masters titles and 16 other titles in his career but has yet to convert at the grand slam. Some players do well all year but then come up empty-handed in the grand slams. Andy Murray fits into this category as well, but Davydenko is playing more solidly at this point in the year.

Federer and Nadal are the only two, until very recently, who can consistently win on the big stage. Federer’s dominance wanes. To his credit, the Swiss master prolonged it for two years. With Nadal, we will truly see what condition he is in. If he is in back to his dominant form, then this will greatly complicate things for the others.

With more able players, the draw is even for the first time in years. No one will waltz into the semis or the final this year. It will definitely be on from the quarterfinals onward. Whoever wins this title is going to have to a long slog ahead of him. This is bad news for whomever, but good news for us.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Tournament Evils
16 Tommy Robredo (ESP) vs. Santiago Giraldo (COL)
20 Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs. Richard Gasquet (FRA)
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs. Pablo Cuevas (URU)
Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs. Nicolas Lapentti (ECU)

(Image: Getty Images)

Though the season is already a couple of weeks in, I decided to take some extra time this year, as I overdosed on tennis last year. With some rest, I am back to overindulging on tennis this year. Last year started out great but then when to the dogs. It was hard to see Rafael Nadal go from winning the Australian Open to not being able to defend his title at Wimbledon in just four-short months later due to an extreme case of tendinitis.

Other low points last year include:

• Travis Parrott and Filip Polasek broke up
• Richard Gasquet’s suspension
• Andre Agassi’s biography. Some of the revelations revealed the subsequent ridiculousness of Gasquet’s predicament
• The tricolor charge did not live up to expectation. Let’s hope this year will be better
  

The year did improve with some things:

• Juan Martin del Potro won the US Open
• Spain repeated its Davis Cup championship
• Novak Djokovic finally got his act together and is back to living up to his potential
• Nikolay Davydenko’s rise again as force to be reckoned with
• Gasquet cleared up his troubles and can now focus on tennis
• Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer turned out the Valencia Open. It went from to some tiny tournament to a definite must-go-to stop on the tour. See for yourselves:
  

The Spanish Davis Cup team posed with Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after recapturing the title this past weekend.

Spanish camaraderie won in the end. Plus, there are details of Ferrer’s bathroom break right after he lost the first-two sets to Radek Stepanek (NYT)

Tignor takes a harsh look at the Davis Cup final participants. He is really hard on Tomas Berdych and kind of hard on Radek Stepanek. It is a little too severe considering the fact that, on paper, the Czechs should have never made it that far, but they did. Other teams allowed the Czechs to get past them when they should have won. Spain just did what it was supposed to do (Tennis.com)

Freep this poll! Ronaldo vs. Nadal (TMZ)

Viktor Troicki beats Novak Djokovic in a Serbian exhibition 7-6. Djokovic does some impressions and talks tennis (Blic)

Andy Murray commits audio terrorism against the world. You have been now warned (The Pop Cop)

Guga will be honored by Brazil's President Lula. I will now be holding my own parade to honor the honors (ATP)

Pat Rafter wins AEGON Masters title (BL's Tennis News)

Roddick rehabs knee after injury (TSN)

The Austrian Open is dropped from the ATP calendar, and the ATP transferred the rights to Nice, France (TSN)

Roger Federer finishes the year No. 1 in singles, and the Bryan brothers finish no. 1 in doubles (ESPN)

(Image: Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)

I kid. I kid.

(Images: AP, Denis Doyle/Getty Images, AP, AP,AP, AP, Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images)

Spain swept the Czech Republic 5-0 to cap off the weekend. Despite clinching the title, Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer still played in their respective dead rubbers to in Barcelona.

Sunday’s Results
R5: David Ferrer (ESP) def. Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) 6-4 6-2
R4: Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Jan Hajek (CZE) 6-3 6-4

Saturday’s Results
R3: F.Lopez/F. Verdasco (ESP) def. T. Berdych/R. Stepanek (CZE) 7-6(7) 7-5 6-2

Friday’s Results
R2: David Ferrer (ESP) def. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 1-6 2-6 6-4 6-4 8-6
R1: Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 7-5 6-0 6-2

(Image: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images)

Spain successfully defended their title and captured their fourth Davis Cup title of the decade. The last team to successfully defend their title was Sweden in 1998. The Spaniards won the most titles of this decade -- the US came in second with two titles. The title also moves Spain into the sixth place on the number of Davis Cup titles won: USA 32, Australia 28, France 9, Great Britain 9 and Sweden 7. Not bad for a country that won its first Davis Cup title in 2000.

The win this weekend was impressive. Each player carried his own weight. No one flaked out and relied on Rafael Nadal to carry the team. Nadal played wonderfully yesterday, and David Ferrer showed a lot of heart by rallying from two sets down to win when he was not playing particularly well yesterday.

Today, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez stepped up to the plate and effectively shutdown Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych. A weak point for the Spanish duo is Verdasco’s volleying and Lopez’s serve. These issues were not a factor at all today. In fact, they both played really well and kept their errors to a minimum. Plus, Verdasco hit a lot of winners from all over the court.

Most importantly, there were no mental hiccups. In the tiebreak, the Spaniards served for the first set at 6-3. They allowed the Czechs to go on a 4-point run. As a consequence, the Czechs turned the tables and had a set point at 7-6. It looked like the Czech team would take advantage of the situation. Verdasco and Lopez instead took care of business and won the next two points. The next time they saw set point, they converted.

In the second set, the Spanish team played solidly. They did not make any major mistakes and again had no mental letdowns. They stayed with the Czechs and actually broke in game 11. Lopez then held serve for the second set.

From there, the wheels came of the Czech bus. The Spaniards broke in the first and fifth games of the third set. Stepanek and Berdych were completely despondent by game four. The second break effectively closed the door on the Czechs, who had successfully taken advantage of a lot of teams this year. Verdasco and Lopez ultimately won in dominant fashion 7-6(7) 7-5 6-2 after two hours and 46 minutes of play.

Spain wins it in three to cap a dominant performance this year. Congrats to the Czech runners-up, who went on the road and upset France, Argentina and Croatia. They definitely deserved to be in the final but ultimately ran into a team that was all business this year.

(Images: Denis Doyle/Getty Images, LLuis Gene/AFP/Getty Images)

Since Rafael Nadal’s return to the tour in Montreal this year, the Spaniard’s play has been inconsistent. He is still trying to return to that top form that has brought him six grand slam titles. Over the last four months, Nadal has looked good at times and has looked flat at times.

Today, he looked great. His movement was good, and his defense-to-offense was on point. After a tight first set, he steamrolled Berdych in the next two sets and was back to playing target practice with his opponent. The Majorcan eventually topped the Czech 7-5 6-0 6-2 after 2 hours and 28 minutes.

With Spain jumping out to a 1-0 lead and Nadal in good form, this took some pressure off of David Ferrer. Ferrer has really struggled over the last eighteen months. Plus, there was the drama from last year’s Davis Cup final against Argentina.

Ferrer had the more difficult task of playing Radek Stepanek, who has a good all-around game and is known for his head games. Stepanek played well in the first-two sets, and Ferrer looked out of sorts. It looked like it was going to be a replay of last years’ Davis Cup final for the Spaniard.

This time, Ferrer was able to turn the match around and take Stepanek to the distance for a 1-6 2-6 6-4 6-4 8-6 win after 4 hours and 17 minutes of play. At the end of the match, you could tell the win meant a lot to him. It was definitely a good win for Ferrer, his confidence and his critics.

Ferrer’s win now gives Spain some cushion. If he lost, it could have put Spain in a precarious predicament. Spain is now in a good position for another title, but they are still not out of the woods yet.

If any team can rebound from a 2-0 deficit, it is Berdych and Stepanek. The worst kept secret is that Stepanek and Berdych will probably play doubles tomorrow instead of Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek. They are currently undefeated in all three of their Davis Cup matches this year and have a good chance of taking Fernando Verdasco and Felicano Lopez tomorrow. A win tomorrow could spark a Czech run, though Nadal’s play today most likely closes the door on any Czech hopes of a title.

(Images: AP)

Awww, say cheese!

(Image: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images)

Today is the first day of the Davis Cup final. The Spanish team will defend their title against the Czech Republic on their home turf of Barcelona. Though the Spanish team is deep, the Czech team is anchored by Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who have caused a lot of heartache this year.

The Czechs has travelled on the road and upset a lot of teams along the way. This matchup could actually more of a toss-up than it appears on paper, so it should be a good times for tennis fans.

Friday’s Matches
RR1: Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
RR2: David Ferrer (ESP) vs. Radek Stepanek (CZE)

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(Image: AP)