Fernando Verdasco shirtless in Thailand

Fernando Verdasco lost his shirt but still turned up for some promo shots for the Thailand Open. What a trouper. He did some kick boxing too. It didn't help him with his tennis though as he lost to Becker in the second round. Unfortunately the unpire didn't allow any kickboxing on court or I'm sure Verdasco would have won easily.

Nadal is somewhere in Bangkok too but unfortunately keeping his shirt on though he is smiling a lot.

The Woz cruised in Japan, Schiavone rolled Kanepi, Azarenka did what we expected to Vandeweghe and Zvonareva played wonderfully but still lost to Dementieva.

There's some tennis in Malaysia too. Apparently Soderling won and Davydenko didn't.

France and Serbia

France and Serbia will contest the final of the Davis Cup, which is only important to those nations argues a silly Yahoo blog. Thanks for showing you care.

Roger Federer doesn't, as he pulled a no-show and his country crashed to the might of Kazakhstan. Fed usually plays once a year - in the relegation playoff to get his country back into the top group after they were earlier beaten without him. But this year he didn't play at all and the Swiss were beaten twice. Now that they are out of the top tier maybe Fed won't have to play at all.

Lleyton and the Aussies went down to Belgium (again) and little Ollie Rochus. That's got to hurt.

Spain cares so much about women's tennis that the entire Fed Cup teams will boycott next year.

Nadal wins everything

Yes, it's official Rafael Nadal can win on hardcourts! And he can be the best player in the world, despite the presence of the other fellow. Rafa now has a career Slam (if not a Grand One) and if knees hold up, many more Majors to come.

Djokovic was brave but when he did win a set that seemed only to annoy Nadal and the latter stepped up a gear and at times played the Djoker off the court.

The major disappointment of the tournament as usual was Murray who is making a habit of beating the top players when it doesn't count and underwhelming at the Majors. remember the career of Tim Henman young Scot, surely you can do better?

Grats too to Clijsters who thumped poor Bepa Zvonareva and paraded her daugther with the trophy like last year. Why not?

The Woz did a Murray while Stosur exceeded expectations by actually reaching the second round. Please can Serena play next year? We promise not to be too critical.

Wozniacki rips Sharapova, Monfils the last French standing

Men:
Monfils looking better and better but they all did: Fed destroyed Melzer - apart from his lucky tiebreak... Djokovic took the sockless-wonder down and Soderling doesn't care that nobody likes him, he just keeps winning.

We picked all yesterday's winners (and only missed one of the women's). Today it's Nadal's turn to shine (over Lopez). Let's have Youzhny over Robredo, Querrey over Wawrinka and Verdasco over Ferrer.

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Querrey over Wawrinka, Verdasco vs Ferrer
Winner: Querrey

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Nadal's vs Lopez, Youzhny vs Robredo
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Gasquet, Fish
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Montanes, Melzer
Winner: Federer

Women:
The Woz shrugged off Sharapova's challenge rather easily. It's good to be the top seed. Cibulkova next - her old sparring partner in juniors. She used to beat her there too.

Cibulkova was too much for the Kuz though, which seemed to surprise some people but Kuznetsova has been a shadow of herself since last year's French. Wicky lost to the ever improving Kanepi and Bepa thumped Petkorazzi despite the old last-minute closing yips.

Stosur against Clijsters should be good but probably won't be. Stosur in a tense bash-a-thon. Venus to wake up, remember she's in the last eight of a non-Wimbledon major and wilt before Schiavone. That and the dress which isn't a distraction but just has to be tugged 50 times during a match.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Sharapova, Kuznetsova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Wickmayer, Petkovic
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Williams vs Schiavone
Winner: Schiavone

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Stosur vs Clijsters
Winner: Stosur

Murray to wait another year, Elena always

Men:
Well out of the big four we all thought the Djoker would be the one to fall, but Murray did do this last year. Is Querrey now a reasonable shot? Verdasco finally wins a (reasonably) big one, Isner finishes his 15 minutes and Simon and Llodra bow out.

Let's assume Monfils can win the Battle of France and Djokovic goes Fishing, Soderling destroys Montanes and Fed dines out on Melzer's dropshots.

Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Isner, Murray
Winner: Querrey
Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Nalbandian, Simon
Winner: Nadal
Djokovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Gasquet vs Monfils, Fish vs Djokovic
Winner: Djokovic
Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Soderling vs Montanes, Federer vs Melzer
Winner: Federer

Women:
Stosur beat Dementieva in a break-fest (but both served well) to show that she can go hard in New York, but closing is still a big problem for both girls. Schiavone is still outstaying expectations, but Ivanovic finally lived up to hers. Venus too is belaying the doubters and presumedly will expect to advance over the Italian (which means she will lose). Clijsters looks good and may even still be improving.

All eyes on the Battle of the Blondes. When they asked the Woz if she admired Moody Maria as a youngster she said no, Kournikova. That should inspire Sharapova to teach her a lesson but let's tip Wozniacki for the win though with more lost games then usual. In the others the red-hot Cibulkova over the Kuz, angry Wicky over the much improved Kanepi and Bepa over Petkorazzi though we would hope for a Petkovic win just to see her dance again.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Wozniacki vs Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs Cibulkova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Kanepi vs Wickmayer, Petkovic vs Zvonareva
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: Peer, Pavlyuchenkova
Winner: Schiavone

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Ivanovic, Dementieva
Winner: Stosur

Kirilenko out, Fish wins

Men:
Mardy Fish made long work out of Arnaud Clement, Monfils made Roddick unhappy (by beating Tipsarevic), Blake woke up, Gasquet continues on, Federer is in his groove and Soderling is nicely under everyone's radar.

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Youzhny vs Isner, Murray vs Wawrinka
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Nalbandian vs Verdasco, Nadal vs Simon
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Blake, Tipsarevic, Clement
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Mathieu, Nishikori, Ferrero
Winner: Federer

Women:
Yes, Jankovic is that ordinary, apparently Wozniacki is that good and Sharapova is even better. Those two can sort it out next round. Wicky sneaked past Schnyder which doesn't bode well for her continued presence in this tournament and who is this girl impersonating Cibulkova and actually winning? As usual the new look Bepa performs.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Capra, Kirilenko
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Jankovic, Dulgheru
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Williams vs Peer, Schiavone vs Pavlyuchenkova
Winner: Pavlyuchenkova

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Ivanovic vs Clijsters, Stosur vs Dementieva
Winner: Clijsters

Llodra reborn, Venus sparkles

Men:
Harrison missd a great opportunity, Nadal rolled, Llodra looks very good and Isner is still here. Lopez took five and is probably only good for one more round (against the similarly tired Stakhovsky) before Rafa ends his run.

Nalbandian, Murray, Verdasco, Querrey and Wawrinka all smashed their opposition while Simon took the longer route.

Hopefully there won't be any more fights in the stands to upstage the tennis.

Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Hanescu, Granollers, Brown, Chela
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Kohlschreiber, Becker, Harrison, Chardy
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Djokovic vs Blake, Monfils vs Tipsarevic
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Federer vs Mathieu, Montanes vs Nishikori
Winner: Federer

Women:
Stosur sneaking under the radar, so is Schiavone, Peer ousted Pennetta and Dementieva sent Hantuchova back to doubles. The resurgent Ana Ivanovic continues to surprise. Venus' dress almost as good as her tennis.

The depressingly talented Kvitova won the first three games against Clijsters including two breaks and the surrendered the next twelve - Ouch.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Capra vs Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs Kirilenko
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Jankovic vs Kanepi, Dulgheru vs Zvonareva
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: A Bondarenko, Minella, Pennetta
Winner: Pavlyuchenkova

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Razzano, Hantuchova, Kvitova
Winner: Clijsters

Gasquet wins, Wozniacki bagels

Men:
The Djoker stayed up late. Davy wimped out to a resurgent Gasquet. Soderling destroyed Dent, Fed strolled. Clement continues, James Blake came back and Melzer took five

Murray's Quarter
Matches to watch: Llodra vs Hanescu, Querrey vs Granollers
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Matches to watch: Simon vs Kohlschreiber, Ferrer vs Becker
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Davydenko, Petzschner
Winner: Djokovic

Fed’s Quarter
Bye bye: Cilic, Dent
Winner: Federer

Women:
Wozniacki continues to impress, smashing poor Chang with a double bagel. Now if only she can play like that against the good players in the second week...

Cibulkova took down Bondarenko the Giantkiller, Rezai lost to Capra? Who's Capra? Bepa and Wicky eased through, Jankovic toughed it out and little Masha finished strongly. Big Masha made a mess of everything but still won easily.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Benesova, Sevastsova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Lisicki, Goerges
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Schiavone vs A Bondarenko, Minella vs V Williams
Winner: Pennetta

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Ivanovic vs Razzano, Hantuchova vs Dementieva
Winner: Clijsters

Vika down, Roddick out

Men:
Roddick tried a dummy spit but failed miserably compared to Serena. Who'd be a line judge these days? Berdych showed exactly why he's regarded as a waste of talent. Ljubicic's down in the gutter but Simon may be looking up at the stars.

Monfils entertained, Murray thumped and Isner served but today it's all Roddick (and Azarenka).
Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Starace, Berdych
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Young,
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Roddick, Andreev
Matches to watch: Davydenko vs Gasquet, Petzschner vs Djokovic
Winner: Davydenko?

Fed’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Nishikori vs Cilic, Soderling vs Dent
Winner: Federer

Women:
Venus Williams' quarter is now wide open thanks to the heat sickness concussion suffered by Azarenka. Get better quickly Vika. Courage unable to help Oudin whose extraordinary downward spiral continues to confound US media types.

Stosur did enough to pass, Errani dumped Kleybanova, Bartoli took a hit from the gypsy, Ivanovic continues to surprise - how soon we forget she's a Major winner - and Clijsters thumped Peers despite playing woefully.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Benesova vs Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs Sevastsova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Matches to watch: Zvonareva vs Lisicki, Goerges vs Wickmayer
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Bye bye: Oudin, Szavay, Azarenka, Pironkova, Mirza
Winner: Pennetta

Clijsters’ Quarter
Bye bye: Rodionova, King, Bartoli, Kleybanova
Winner: Clijsters

Petrova out, Djokovic wins

Men:
Baghdatis lost to Clement. Djokovic, Nalbandian and Verdasco barely survived, while wild card Blake won in straight sets. The newly married Stepanek can spend more time at home and Chardy took out Gulbis.

Murray's Quarter
Bye bye: Benneteau
Matches to watch: Starace vs Almagro, Berdych vs Llodra
Winner: Murray

Nadal's Quarter
Bye bye: Dolgopolov, Gulbis, Fognini
Winner: Nadal

Djokovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Baghdatis, Troicki, Vliegen
Matches to watch: Roddick vs Tipsarevic, Monfils vs Andreev
Winner: Roddick

Fed’s Quarter
Winner: Federer

Women:
Petkovic dumped Petrova (it was probably the dress, though the Serena like foot fault helped), the Woz showed she knows what the top seed is supposed to do and Jankovic just survived Halep. Li Na's off home, taking with her Chakvetadze, Cornet and Shvedova. Sharapova took some time to find her groove.

Meanwhile Myskina now has a second child.

Wozniacki’s Quarter
Bye bye: Rybarikova, Groth, Strycova
Winner: Wozniacki

Jankovic’s Quarter
Bye bye: Halep, Molik, Petrova
Winner: Zvonareva

Venus Williams' Quarter
Matches to watch: Oudin vs A Bondarenko, Szavay vs Pennetta
Winner: Azarenka

Clijsters’ Quarter
Matches to watch: Stosur vs Rodionova, Hantuchova vs King, Bartoli vs Razzano
Winner: Clijsters