Sexe Sur La Plage

Luca Pouille hit the beach with David Goffin today, to help celebrate the Frenchman's 27th birthday. Talk about making up to him for winning that Davis Cup tie! 

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Congrats to France for winning its 10th Davis Cup over the weekend!

Lucas Pouille was the hero of the day for winning the fifth and deciding match ...

Still, it was hard not to feel bad for David Goffin, who went 6-0 in singles this DC season -- including two in the final against France -- right after beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in London only to come home empty-handed both times.

The Belgian team ...

Even after sleeping on it for a week, the year-end Top 10 still isn't sitting well with me. (Kudos to Juan Martin del Potro for still NOT cracking it even with half the elite players sidelined!) 

On the women's side, No.1 seed Zhang Shuai of China roared back from a first-set demolition to outlast South Korea's Jang Su Jeong, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3, and win the Hawaii Open, one year after finishing as the runner-up at the WTA 125K Series tournament.

Meanwhile in Mumbai, Belarusian teenager Aryna Sabalenka claimed the biggest title of her career on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Slovenia's Dalila Jakupovic in the final of the L&T Mumbai Open, a WTA 125K Series event.

The WTA ranks the Top 5 upsets of 2017 HERE.

Off the court ...

Jan-Michael Gambill and his Instagram-official boyfriend, Malek Alqadi, got some shirtless R&R in Jamaica ...

while exhibitionist Robert Farah proved he's just as hot in a suit and tie ...

And Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss spent the night with The Boss ...

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Hard to know how to react to this year's ATP Championships. While it's intriguing that odds-on favorite Roger Federer didn't end up winning, it's a little difficult to see this as the career-defining moment for Grigor Dimitrov, who jumped to No. 3 in the rankings by defeating Pablo Carreño Busta, Jack Sock, Dominic Thiem (who hasn't won a match since the summer) and David Goffin twice. Meanwhile, Goffin beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer -- both for the first time -- only to go home the "loser." Goffin, Sock and Carreño Busta all end the year in the Top 10, but is it really what it seems when 50% of the top-tier players are sidelined?

Winning view ...

A hug from coach Dani Vallverdu

No, Ryan. Thank you.

... and that sexy partner of yours, too

Meanwhile, comeback queen Belinda Bencic wins again, defeating Arantxa Rus 7-6(3), 6-1 in Taipei. 

These tournaments aren't exactly big-time -- they seem to be a new grade that's just above ITF level -- but it's great to see the young woman who was beating Serena Williams not too long ago find her game again and re-enter the Top 100. 

In less-happy news, Pancho Segura, tennis great of the ’40s and ’50s known for his blistering two-handed forehand, died Saturday at his home in Carlsbad, Calif., at 96. Remembrances from Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors (a protégé), Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and others were posted on Twitter. Read his New York Times obituary HERE.

From HERE.

From HERE.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Happy to see that David Goffin, who got injured in a freak accident at the French Open, is back in form, capturing the crown in Tokyo on Sunday. (This adds to the ATP World Tour title he won last week at the Shenzhen Open.) It was the Belgian's first trophy at an ATP World Tour 500-level tournament. The fourth-seeded Belgian defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3, 7-5 in 84 minutes at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo for his fourth ATP World Tour title.

Meanwhile, the ATP writes that if Rafael Nadal is to finish as the year-end No. 1 for a fourth time, his recent performances on hard courts will be of critical importance. Nadal extended his win streak to 12 straight with the China Open title on Sunday, defeating Nick Kyrgios 6-2, 6-1. The Spaniard, who remains undefeated since returning to World No. 1 on 21 August, tightened his grip on the top spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Now up to 2,360 points over Roger Federer, he has put himself in prime position to cap his 2017 campaign in No. 1 fashion. 

Victory in Beijing gives Nadal his 75th career crown, moving to within two titles of John McEnroe for fourth on the Open Era list. It was his second triumph in the Chinese capital, having previously defeated Guillermo Coria for the 2005 trophy.

On the women's side in China, red-hot Caroline Garcia defeated Simona Halep, 6-4, 7-6(3) to claim her 11th-consecutive win! 

What made the victory especially satisfying is that the Slamless Romanian had just overtaken the No. 1 ranking from Garbiñe Muguruza, so she looks like even more of an asshole holding that flower-covered number. Chris Evert defended Halep's place atop the rankings -- "high level of consistency over 12 months more impressive than a Slam with poor or average results rest of year." But the truth is Halep hasn't been particularly consistent -- just slightly more so thana bunch of hapless players in a post-Serena world.

UPDATE:

A commenter noted that Bartolomé Salvá Vidal, a childhood friend of Nadal's, was in his box this weekend. Hubba hubba!

Rafa's "friend" goes by Tomeu ...

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Little David Goffin defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 to win in Shenzhen, his third career title and first since 2014.

The match that caught my eye was Goffin versus Henri Laaksonen, a surprise semifinalist. The 113th ranked Finland-born Swissman looked very poised for a journeyman, and very fit in his red shirt and black shorts.

Denis Istomin won his second ATP career title at the 2017 Chengdu Open after Marcos Baghdatis was agonizingly forced to retire in the final with a back injury.

Worth noting that Guido Pella had a great week. Before losing to Baghdatis in the semis, the Argentine beat three of the hottest men on tour -- Borna Coric, top-seeded Dominic Thiem and surprise quarterfinalist Taylor Fritz -- all in straight sets.

Meanwhile on the women's tour, Caroline Garcia captured the biggest title of her career in Wuhan, beating Ashleigh Barty 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-2 in two hours and 44 minutes. French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko made the semis -- defeating Wimbledon champ Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets -- before getting creamed by Barty.) It should be noted that U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens and runner-up Madison Keys were both knocked out of the Wuhan Open in the first round on Monday. In their first matches since the final at Flushing Meadows, the 17th-ranked Stephens lost to Wang Qiang of China 6-2, 6-2, while the 12th-ranked Keys was beaten by fellow American Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 7-6 (4). (Way to go, gals!) The last time Grand Slam finalists lost their next match was after 2005 Wimbledon, where Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport. (Keys is reportedly suffering from wrist pain again.)

Meanwhile, a little history was made in Tashkent. Kateryna Bondarenko, playing her first WTA singles final in NINE years, finally won her second title, defeating Timea Babos of Hungry, 6-4, 6-4 to win Tashkent. Bondarenko became the first mom to win a title since Kim Clijsters captured the 2011 U.S. Open -- although I think it's likely to happen again soon. (P.S. Fun to see Vera Zvonareva back in the mix, reaching the semis before being forced to retire. She's been in a few qualifiers and seems to be making progress.) 

Now that Serena Williams has broken Steffi Graf's open-era record for most majors, I want her to blast past Margaret Court's (quasi-bullshit) all-time record. (Don't forget that many of those Aussie Opens were tiny local events at the time.) Court has proven herself to be a hateful human being, and I would love to see Serena rob her of her most treasured claim to fame.

The men and women are in Beijing this week, including living dolls Mischa and Alexander Zverev! 

ATP Invades China

Thirty-two-year-old Marcos Baghdatis and 20-year-old Borna Ćorić make a cute couple in Chengdu.

Late night with the BOYS?

David Goffin expresses himself in Shenzhen ...

Top four seeds David Goffin, Alexander and Mischa Zverev and Paolo Lorenzi at the players party. See the draw HERE.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

A few thoughts as we start the second week of Roland Garros. 

Although it's unfortunate that recent Top 10 addition Alexander Zverev lost in the first round to veteran Fernando Verdasco and David Goffin got tarped (maybe Eugenie Bouchard's lawyer can help?), I'm all too happy that Dominic Thiem lived up to his seeding. 

While I'm not expecting too much against Novak Djokovic -- he got just one game when they played recently in Rome -- he's proving himself to be a reliable Top 10 player. (And kudos to Adidas for those nearly obscene white shorts and green briefs.)

Rafael Nadal looks unbeatable -- he now plays Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarters -- so I guess the only wild card is who his victim in the final will be. Andy Murray has shown he's no slouch on the red clay -- and then there's former champ Stan Wawrinka in the top half of the drawer, too.

The women's side just really let us down. Was heartened then heartbroken by the return of Petra Kvitova. (Anyone else notice the resemblance to Elisabeth Moss, especially now that she's blond in "The Handmaid's Tale"?) Would have rather she'd lost to anyone but Bethanie Maddek-Sands, who is beloved by all but just tries too hard wiith her "adorable" antics with poor Lucie Safarova. (Kudos to whichever trailer park provided her with a tennis court as a child, however.) 

With Serena Williams out pregnant, it seemed so many people were poised to make their moves, only to get in their own way -- namely Venus Williams. All the stars seemed aligned for the big sister to finally win her first French Open -- except the one that allowed her to find the court in the third set against Tragic Eyeliner Girl Timea Bacsinszky. (Why, Venus????)  Meanwhile, defending champ Garbine Muguruza lost to Kristina Mladenovic, who admittedly is on a bit of a hot streak but is hardly someone you want to see late in the tournament -- let alone possible winners/finalists Jelena Ostrapenko, Petra Martic, Alizé Cornet, Veronica Cepede Royg, etc. The only way this can have a "happy" ending is if Caroline Wozniacki or Simona Halep ends up walking away with the crown -- the journeywoman cometh! -- or Karolina Pliskova makes good on the promise shown late last year. (Angelique Kerber -- sigh.)

And while this is definitely Tennis Tuesday worthy, Márton Fucsovics is so smoking hot I can't hold off. The hunky Hungarian won the ATP Challenger event in Vicenza yesterday -- saving two match points against seventh seed Laslo Djere of Serbia -- as well as a legion of gay fans (after today).

Expect to see more of this one

Fun Couples: Dominic Thiem and David Goffin

With the young Austrian's HOT ASS, I'd like to see the Belgian on top ...