Sunday, February 28, 2010

Nole downs Youzhny, defends Dubai title!

  World no.2 Novak Djokovic won his second straight Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships trophy and defended a title for the first time in his career! He defeated no.7 seed Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in 3 hours and 22 minutes.
   Djokovic was leading 7-5, 2-0 on Saturday in rain suspended final. The 22-year-old Serb found himself 15-30 behind on serve in the fifth game, thanks to some attacking play from Youzhny, who won a great rally with a drive volley to get to break point. Novak handed the break to the Russian with an unforced error, but managed to break back immediately for 3-3. The best Serbian tennis player held to go 4-3 up, earned two break points in the eighth game and converted the first to increase his lead. He was serving for the set at 5-3, but hit two unforced errors to go 0-30 down and double faulted to give his opponent two break points. Youzhny broke back and held to equalise to 5-5. Nole put the pressure on the Russian in the 12th game, earned a break/set point and capitalised on it to take the set 7-5 with a pass down the line.
 
  Djokovic opened up the second set on serve and took a 40-15 lead, but then the rain started and the players left court. Play resumed 30 minutes later. Novak won the opening game and made a break for 2-0. At 30-15 for Nole play was suspended again and postponed until 11.00h CET on Sunday.
 
  Novak easily held for 3-0 lead, but Youzhny won three games in a row to level to 3-3. At 4-3 Djokovic missed a fantastic opportunity to break. The Russian used his chance, made a break and was serving for the set. The defending champion broke back immediately for 5-5, but no.7 seed earned three more break points, broke to love and had a second opportunity to serve for the set! He served out to love to win it 7-5.
  Nole was 3-0 up in the third set too, but Misha fought back to equalise to 3-3. The seventh game brought new drama. Nole faced two break points but held for 4-3. The next game was crucial. Djokovic capitalised on his second chance for break and then closed the set and match 6-3.
 
" This win means the whole world to me. Of course there are always people who are saying he can't do it. This is another success in my career that I wasn't able to make in the last two years. But now, finally, I did it, and it's a big relief. So in the future I just hope I'll make a couple more of those. It's a big boost because I believe in myself. Even when I play bad, I know I have the abilities… Today was another good example of how much I believe in myself and how much I fight till the end ", said Novak.
 
 The world no.2 will get 500 ATP points and $383,000.
 
 This is Novak’s seventeenth career title. He’s become the second player in tournament history (since 1993) to win back-to-back titles. Federer won three in a row from 2003-05.

  SOURCE: Novak Djokovic Official WebSite
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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Rihanna wears bizarre half bikini half jumpsuit outfit onstage

Rihanna clearly couldn't decide whether to dress up or down last night when she performed at the Superbowl Fan Jam concert - so decided to do both at the same time.

The Russian Roulette singer wore a risky - if not downright odd - outfit that was half-bikini, half-catsuit.
RiRi was joined by Timbaland and Young Jeezy at the bash, held ahead of Miami hosting the Super Bowl American football championship match on Sunday.

Rihanna Paid $100K to Sit Front Row at Fashion Week

Imagine being paid hundreds of thousands just to sit and be a spectator?! Well, that’s part of the charmed life of Rihanna, who will be raking in some serious cash just by showing up to Fashion Week!
The singer will reportedly make $100,000 for each show that she sit front row at during next week’s Fashion Week in New York. And according to Fashionista.com, Rihanna is the highest-paid “seat filler” out there right now. Beyonce is right up there, making anywhere between $80K-$100K per front-row appearance.

Rihanna spotted with Jennifer Lopez

Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez have reportedly been seen spending time together in Miami.

According to Radar Online, the singers, who are in town for the Super Bowl this weekend, spent the afternoon chatting and having lunch together.
Rihanna and Lopez were spotted by the pool at the Fountainebleau Hotel enjoying each other's company with animated conversations and gesturing with their hands.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Novak no.1 seed in Rotterdam!

   The draw has been made for the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Rotterdam. This is the first event where Novak Djokovic plays as world no.2.
   Novak Djokovic is no.1 seed and he will start his campaign against world no.66 Ukranian Sergiy Stakhovsky. The two players have met once, in the second round of last year’s Roland Garros. Nole won 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
 
   If he passes first round successfully, Novak’s second round rival will be the winner of the match between Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) and Michael Llodra (FRA).

  SOURCE: Novak Djokovic Official WebSite
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