Australian Open 2009 Top Seeds: Rafael Nadal, Jelena Jankovic

Men’s world no. 1 Rafael Nadal and women’s world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic have become the top seeds of upcoming Australian Open 2009. Spanish star Nadal had an excellent year back in 2008 as he won French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic Gold medal last year, and thus, replacing Roger Federer atop the ATP ranking. Serbian tennis Jankovic also achieved the no. 1 spot of WTA ranking last year thanks to her excellent consistency on the tour, even though she could not win any grand slam title yet.

Among the 32 top ranked players of ATP ranking, Nikolay Davydenk is missing the tournament due to his injury problem, while defending champion of women’s singles of Australian Open, Maria Sharapova, has also withdrawn herself from the tournament due to her shoulder injury. Chinese tennis star Li Na is also missing the tournament through injury. Defending champion of men’s singles, Novak Djokovic, is the third seed in the tournament with former world no. 1 Roger Federer being the second pick for Australian Open 2009.

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bloomberg

Ana Ivanovic: I Learnt a Lot in 2008

World no. 5 of Women’s tennis Ana Ivanovic recently said that she had learnt a lot last year during which the Serbian star won her first ever grand slam title, but then fall apart towards the end of last year as she was suffering from injury.

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Press Association

Roger Federer Surprised at Andy Murray’s Top Favorite Tag for Australian Open 2009

Andy Murray has been the top favorite for the upcoming Australian Open 2009 tournament among the betters. However, Swiss tennis star Roger Federer expressed his surprise at this news. He admits that Andy Murray has been in excellent form of recent, but he has said that winning a grand slam tournament is a different ball time. Since 2008, Murray has been in consistent form so far and the Briton recently defeated Federer on two occasions.

Well, I think, Murray has enough possibility to win the Australian Open 2009 because he is young and is most probably at the peak of his career. Murray can become the first British after Fred Perry to win a grand slam title. Perry won his last grand slam title way back in 1936 and since then, no British players could achieve this distinction, but Andy Murray went very close to win it when he reached the final of US Open 2008, but lost to eventual champion Roger Federer.

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AFP

Roger Federer: Highest-earned Tennis Player from Sponsors

Roger Federer may not have played at his best this year, but money is still coming in a flurry to his bank account. According to a recent research done by Forbes magazine, Roger Federer earned $35 million from sponsorship deals over the last one year. This is the highest amount a tennis player earned from sponsors in the last one year. Though he has lost the top spot in ATP ranking, Federer does not need to worry for his earning.

Maria Sharapova takes the second spot in terms of yearly earning from sponsors. The Russian beauty queen earned $26 million from sponsors over the last 12 months, despite the fact that she missed half the season with injury. Now, guess who is in the third place? Rafael Nadal? No, Jelena Jankovic or Ana Ivanovic? No, not at all. The third place goes to Serbian star Novak Djokovic. The world no. 3 earns $9.5 million from sponsors. To know more about the earnings of the tennis players from their sponsors, read the article at Blic.

Ana Ivanovic Preparing for the New Season in Mallorca

The fifth ranked Serbian tennis star is currently preparing herself for the new season in Mallorca, Spain where she has recently bought a luxurious villa worth 4,5 million euros. The beauty queen also spent a day with her boyfriend, Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco recently in Mallorca. Ivanovic will again meet Verdasco in Brisbane before Christmas and the couple would celebrate the Christmas together over there. Both of them will also take part in the season opening tournament in Queensland, Australia, starting from 4 January. The two are not trying to hide their relationship.

Blic reported:

At the press conference held in Port Aventura, Verdasco said about his relationship with Ana: “We have known each other for three months, we are in no hurry, slowly getting to know each other better. The most important thing is that we are getting along well.”

“I arrive in Australia in mid December to prepare for the beginning of the tournament. I used to prepare for the season in Melbourne and Sydney, but now I have decided to see this part of Australia which I haven’t been familiar with so far,” Ana Ivanovic said.

Well, whatever it is, one thing is for sure that the two are in love and they are getting closure day by day. Both are young and in the process of improving their game on the court. Ivanovic won her first grand slam title in French Open 2008, while Verdasco recently won the Davis Cup 2008 title with Spanish team. So, their career graph is upward and who knows, they might become the next star couple in tennis after Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

Sania Mirza: Injury and 2009

It seems that Sania Mirza is not going anywhere. It is very bad for hard and for hard fans who expect a lot from her. 2008 was a disappointing year for heart and-son now dreaming that in 2009, things may change for her. Well, for that she needs to be in full fitness and she should focus more on her fitness Than her beauty. So, the main challenge for our hearts into thousand nine will be posted feet and play her best tennis.

Fashion in Tennis: What about Sharapova

It seems that the state’s all the attention of female tennis has been centered around Ana Ivanovic. She is what favorite female player among all the people and very few female players in any sports can think of the attention and popularity that she is getting. Well, it is a bad news for Maria Sharapova but who was extremely popular only even two years ago and was considered to be the most beautiful attractive female tennis player. No problem- but there is some good news for Maria today. She has been recognized as a fashion icon.