Sweet Embrace

I swear Fer and Feli are like boyfriends sometimes

Great wins for the Spanish guys I can't wait to see Fer play doubles tomorrow

I also love the grass court, in comparison to the horrible clay in spain

Hot Rod

Nice avatar of Fer and Feli Theresa.

Those guys were in action for the doubles match in Cordoba earlier today and Jo-Wilfried and Michael Llodra routed Fer and Feli 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 to trim the Spanish Armada`s lead down to 2-1.


This is quite a surprise that Jo-Wilfried and Michael won in such an easy manner.


Good win for Jo-Wilfried.


Of course Fer and Feli were feeling the shame of playing so badly on their beloved red clay.

Over in Belgrade, Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki defeated Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-2 to cut Argentina`s lead down to 2-1.



Meanwhile in the Play-Off tie down in Sydney, Lleyton and Chris Guccione defeated Fedrinka 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) to give Australia a 2-1 lead.





Lastly on the ladies` side, Ksenia Pervak routed Eva Birnerova 6-3, 6-1 to win the Taskent Open, which is her first WTA title.



So that`s the latest update. Tomorrow will be reverse singles in the Davis Cup. Rafa is scheduled to take on Gilles Simon in the first reverse rubber in Cordoba, but there is a good chance that French captain Guy Forget could go with Jo-Wilfried. Meanwhile in Belgrade, Nole is schedule to face Juan Del Potro in a very intriguing match in the first reverse rubber. It`ll be interesting to see how Nole will do after sitting out the first two days in what will be a very tough match against Juan Del Potro. Meanwhile in Sydney, Fed will play Bernard Tomic in the first match and then Lleyton will take on Stan in the last match.

Sweet Embrace

Thanks Hot Rod

I was a little surprised with how they played today (Fer and Feli) usually very strong but I think the problem is neither of them really lead when they play and Tsonga was very aggressive, building on his confidence. I would be surprised if Forget didn't put tsonga up against Rafa, and Tsonga has a good chance as he has beaten rafa before but it is on clay.

Hot Rod

Here is an update from today`s reverse singles matches in Davis Cup.

First of all in Belgrade, Nole got the call to play Juan Del Potro in the first reverse singles rubber and unfortunately his aching back became too much for him to bear as he was forced to retire, with Juan Del Potro leading 7-6(5), 2-0; which clinched the tie for Argentina and ends Serbia`s hopes of repeating.


What a terrible end for Nole.


He gave a valiant effort for his country,


but sadly his back injury, which he suffered in the US Open final, was too painful for him to play through.


I hated seeing Nole crying after the match.


However i like that Juan Del Potro showed some great sportsmanship by checking on Nole and giving him a hug after he retired.

Janko Tipsarevic won the dead rubber, which cut Argentina`s winning margin down to 3-2.

Over in Cordoba, Rafa routed Jo-Wilfried 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the tie for Spain.





Fer routed Richie in the dead rubber to give the Spaniards a 4-1 win over the French.



Down in Sydney, Fed defeated Bernard Tomic 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to level the tie at 2-2.



So it came down to the fifth match between Stan and Lleyton, which was suspended due to darkness with Stan leading 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4, 5-3. That match will resume tomorrow, with Lleyton serving to stay in the match.





Meanwhile on the ladies` side, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova won the Bell Challenge, which is her first singles title.



So that`s the story from today`s matches. The Spanish Armada will take on Argentina in the Davis Cup final for the second time in three years.





The Spaniards will host the DC final at a location to be determined. Of course we all know that it will be played on the always dreadful red clay.

Coming up this week will be the Open de Moselle in Metz, France, the BCR Open Romania, the Hansol Open in Seoul, South Korea and the Landsky Lighting Guangzhou International Women's Open in Guangzhou, China.

NikNak

Aww. I feel so bad for Nole.

Thanks for the pics and updates.

Sweet Embrace

Felt bad for Tsonga but he doesn't play too well on clay.

Nikki it looks like Nole will take about 4 weeks to recover. We all wish him well

No tennis here for the next three weeks.

Hot Rod

Actually Jo-Wilfried has done alright on clay, but he clearly was no match for Rafa.

There is still some action with some smaller tournaments in the next few weeks and then next month will be the China Open and the Shanghai Masters, which will feature most of the top stars except likely Nole. While it would be disappointing for the Asian fans that they likely won`t see Nole, i`m alright with him taking as much time off as possible to get well. I want to see him end the year healthy.

Also down in Sydney, the deciding rubber in the Switzerland-Australia Play-Off tie was completed earlier today and it didn`t last long as Stan got the break to defeat Lleyton 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 to give the Swiss a 3-2 win and a return to the World Group after being absent this year.


Good win for Stan. He did a good job of coming in the last two sets.

Of course i`m sad for the Aussies that they`re stuck in the second level again. I hope that they can get back to the World Group next year, because the top level of the Davis Cup hasn`t been the same without them.

Austria, Russia, Croatia and the Czech Republic will stay in the World Group after winning their Play-Off ties, while Switzerland, Italy, Canada and Japan will return to the World Group. Japan will be return to the World Group for the first time since 1985.

So that`s the latest update.

Sweet Embrace

What small tournaments do we have lined up and who is playing?

I caught Federer's amusing press conference about wawrinka, saying he would sleep on the floor if stan wants him to.

I wanted to make a feli/fer art so here:



Also happy birthday to Feli today. I can't believe he's 30!

NikNak

Thanks for the art.

Absolutely.

Sweet Embrace

That's okay I'll share any art here

Glad you're a Nole fan too!

NikNak

Congrats again on becoming a moderator! Just thrilled for you, sweets.

Hot Rod

Congrats Theresa and welcome to the Mod Squad. I`ll try to post at the Modern Family as much as possible, especially after i watch the season premiere tomorrow.

Getting back on topic here, Fed`s a lot of better friend that i would be sleeping on the floor for Stan.

Thanks for sharing that great artwork you made of Fer and Feli Theresa. Those guys has such a great friendship along with the other members of the Spanish Armada as evident by how much they pull for each during the Davis Cup matches.

Also as i stated earlier, this week`s tournaments are the Open de Moselle in Metz, France, the BCR Open Romania, the Hansol Open in Seoul, South Korea and the Landsky Lighting Guangzhou International Women's Open in Guangzhou, China. Jo-Wilfried, Richie, Nicholas Mahut, Marcos, Marion Bartoli and Maria Kirilenko are headlining this week`s events.

Lastly here are some pics of Feli to celebrate his birthday and for some eyecandy for you ladies.

Sweet Embrace

Thank you darling! I'm so happy

Hot Rod, thanks I hope you do join us, we'd love for you to contribute Thanks for the news on the tournaments and thank you for the feli picspam What a cutie he is!

Sweet Embrace

Tipsarevic is coming out of his shell and showing off his great body



For the ladies, here's more.

NikNak

Well, well.

Feli is a cutie but I need for him to get a haircut.

Thanks for the picspam.