Rafael Nadal Nike Commercial

Rafael Nadal is in a Nike Pro ad campaign in Europe with Dirk Nowitzki, Thierry Henry, and Gavin Henson.  Nowitski I knew from the NBA, but I had to look up Henry and Henson.  Thierry Henry turns out to be a soccer player and Gavin Henson a rugby player.  I think I've just failed "European Sports" on Jeopardy.

You can take a look at a few different versions of the ads on this site.  It's mostly a see the players without shirts, see the players put on those skin-tight Nike shirts, see the players wear the skin-tight Nike shirts type of series.

Serena Williams Nike Commercial

Serena Williams is being featured in a Nike ad campaign with Michael Vick and Ben Gordon.  You can read about the campaign here and at the bottom of the page there's a link to see Serena's 30 second spot (voiceover by Jadakiss).  It's got a very urban feel to it and right now it's only running on BET.  Even with Serena's extreme fashion style, somehow I don't think Serena's going to be wearing these on court anytime soon. 

Vince Spadea

Vince Spadea, as always, is making more news with his mouth than his tennis racket.  Interesting psychology though.  If you publicly guarantee that you will reach the top 10, will it help you to do it?

From the Miami Herald: Top 10 or bust: Boca's Spadea vows to go out with bang

OK, so he's not Joe Namath, and his bold guarantee is not making national headlines, but Vince Spadea's public vow to rise from No. 56 to the top 10 is making some ripples in the insular world of tennis.

Spadea, the 31-year-old Boca Raton resident, on Sept. 19 signed a contract with his sports psychologist, John Murray, that ''guarantees'' he will reach the top 10 -- barring injuries -- for the first time in his career. He sent out a press release, complete with photos of his contract.

Kournikova and the Boys and Girls Club

A complimentary article about Anna Kournikova that mentions something besides her looks (although somehow the entire first half of the article is about that): There's more to Kournikova than meets the eye

Aschermann, a burly, high-energy Boys & Girls Club official, is the one that brought Kournikova onboard two years ago. She contacted him about committing herself to volunteer work after leaving professional tennis...

Aschermann was curious when Kournikova phoned him to discuss a deal, so he immediately invited her to one of the clubs in Miami.

“On purpose, I picked an all-Latino and all-African American club,” he told the fund-raising gathering.

Kournikova was supposed to be there for 20 minutes; she stayed for three hours.

And she wasn’t showing kids how to string tennis rackets, either. She sang and danced with the children.

Agassi and Graf in Hello Magazine

There's a short fluff piece on Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in Hello magazine including a couple of photos of them playing with daughter Jaz Elle in the park.  I like how Agassi is in his Reebok adidas (what was I thinking when I wrote reebok?) tennis oufit in the photos - as if that's what he usually wears when hanging out with his family! 

The two-year-old, with her blonde hair in pigtails, was all giggles as her doting dad tipped her upside-down and then put her safely back on her feet. And her mum Steffi Graf likewise had her hands full, as she helped big brother Jaden get to grips with a large plastic playhouse just a few yards away...

When asked about the early days of his romance with Steffi, the proud father is characteristically self-effacing. "The looks were something I responded to most when I didn't know her - I'm such a caveman!" he confessed. "But then you notice the pillars in her life that are a testament to who a person is. And then I basically stalked her, then got to know her and it has been a joy ever since."

Positive Drug Test at French Open

But we don't know who yet because the process isn't complete.  Reportedly both the A and B samples came back positive but the player is still due a review of the case by an independent three-person panel before his/her name is revealed. 

The French newspaper L'Equipe decided to jump the gun and reveal that an unnamed player who reached the second week of the French Open this year tested positive.  This is the same paper that jumped all over Lance Armstrong recently for supposedly having had either his A or B sample from 1999 test positive for EPO.  It seems that whatever lab does drug testing for high-level sporting events in France has a mole.

And according to Eurosport, L'Equipe got in the obligatory dig at the Argentines:

Law of numbers has the Argentine press worried, according to L'Equipe:

No fewer than 14 Argentines reached the final phases of the French Open (with four juniors), including six in the men's singles Last 16.

One of them - Guillermo Cañas - has since been suspended for two years in a seperate incident at the ATP tournament in Acapulco in February. Cañas and two others - Guillermo Coria and Mariano Puerta - would risk a lifetime ban if convicted a second time of doping.

I'm not going to start combing through the names of players who reached the second week; we'll know who it is soon enough anyway.  I just hope it's not anyone too famous and I hope it's not an Argentine.

Agassi Withdraws from Stockholm Open

Question.  Since Andre Agassi's only motivation for playing tennis these days is to win one more Grand Slam and his sciatic nerve can't handle too much tennis, should he bother playing again this season?

From the BBC: Agassi sidelined by back injury

Andre Agassi has been forced to pull out of next month's Stockholm Open because of a back injury.

Agassi, beaten in last year's Stockholm final by Thomas Johansson, said: "I was looking forward to going further.

"My family enjoyed the stay last year and Stockholm is a very nice city to be in, it is a great shame."

More Quotes from Todd Woodbridge's New Book

This article has a good selection of quotes from Todd Woodbridge's new book including his thoughts on Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter and getting thrown in jail at the 1996 Olympics after winning the doubles gold medal (I somehow missed that one at the time).

From Seven News: Hewitt is misunderstood

"Lleyton came under a lot of criticism as a teenager for some of his belligerent gestures and controversial comments.  He'll probably admit he made a mistake or two but, in such a cut-throat sport, people shouldn't expect an 18-year-old to act like a 30-year-old," writes Woodbridge.

"He has had to learn about life while under scrutiny, and also how to harness a ferocious will to win so that he doesn't overstep the line of what's acceptable.

"His in-your-face attitude hasn't always made him popular among fellow pros, especially the older ones.  He's also had fallouts with the ATP.  As he has matured, however, more people have warmed to him.

"Off court, he enjoys company and mixes well.  In fact, he's more sociable than many of the top players, and is courteous to strangers."...

Woodbridge Pens Book

Australian Todd Woodbridge retired somewhat impulsively after Wimbledon this year and for his follow-up act he has written a book which will be published in Australia tomorrow.  He's doing book signings and everything.  The title - 'Todd Woodbridge: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Doubles Player'. It sounds like a good one - not a vanity fluff piece.

From Fox Sports Australia: Woodbridge wants cash for coaches

In the book, co-authored by Alan Trengove, Woodbridge also claims Lleyton Hewitt is misunderstood and not given a fair go, that Pat Rafter retired too early and could still have won Wimbledon and that Mark Philippoussis wasn't all to blame for Australia's shocking Davis Cup loss to Zimbabwe in 1998.

Woodbridge also laments not being credited for having a successful singles career that featured a Wimbledon semi-final appearance and two ATP titles.

He tells of the trauma associated with his brother's heroin addiction and the freakish deaths - 15 months apart - of close friends Payne Stewart in a plane crash and Renay Appleby, the wife of Australian golfer Stuart, in a car accident and reveals his anguish at being arrested at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics...

Hewitt Withdraws from Thailand Open

Drat!  There will be no Lleyton Hewitt-Roger Federer rematch at the Thailand Open and not even a Lleyton Hewitt-Paradorn Srichaphan matchup because Hewitt today withdrew from the tournament with a groin injury.

From The AP: Hewitt withdraws with injury at Thailand Open

"In my practice today, I overstretched the inside left of my groin which has been stiff from training, and especially after the match against (Justin) Gilmelstob last night," said Hewitt. "I'm very disappointed for the fans and the tournament."