los angeles: friday oop

FARMERS CLASSIC, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2010
STRAUS STADIUM start 12:00 noon
Rainer Schuettler (GER) vs [2] Sam Querrey (USA)
[6] Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) vs [3] Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Not Before 4:00 PM
[4] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs [WC] James Blake (USA)

Evening Session – Not Before 7:30 PM
[1] [WC] Andy Murray (GBR) vs Alejandro Falla (COL)
Eric Butorac (USA) / Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) vs [2] Robert Lindstedt (SWE) / Horacio Tecau (ROU)

GRANDSTAND start 3:00 pm
[4] Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Aisam Qureshi (PAK) vs Arnaud Clement (FRA) / Jonathan Erlich (ISR)

(photo by TSF)

tattoo watch: finding love and hope in a shirtless robert lindstedt

Tattoo Watch: Swede Robert Lindstedt is still in the doubles draw with Romanian partner Horia Tecau at this week’s Farmer’s Classic in Los Angeles. They were practicing a day before their match against the team of Butorac and Rojer. FYI, Rojer used to play for UCLA’s tennis team. (Draw: Doubles)

More: A closer look at Robert’s tattoo, which says “Et in asperrimis temporibus amor et spes adsunt“, in the gallery below.

(photos by tsf)

it muzz be love

Andy Murray – Farmers Classic 2010 practice

Practice makes perfect: Here’s Andy Murray hitting with Santiago Giraldo a day before his debut at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, Calif. The top seed — and last-minute replacement for Novak Djokovic — plays qualifier Tim Smyczek.

We could watch him do this all day!

(video by TSF)

tipsarevic rolls to beat of his own drum

We already know that Janko Tipsarevic is different from the average bear, but he has shown this even more so while in Los Angeles for the Farmers Classic ATP Tour Stop. Over at Sweet Spot, James LaRosa got some taxicab confessions out of our munchkin Serb (something about sheep looking at doors?).

And earlier this week he mentioned a racquet bag change via Twitter. He rolled out the new look for his opening dubs match with Feli.

They’ll resume their partnership for a match today against the team of Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr.

Draw: See who’s left playing singles and doubles at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles.

(bag image by TSF; screengrab from Twitter; match images via Getty Images)

los angeles: thursday oop — where will YOU be at noon?

TSF missed taking a pic of Feliciano Lopez toting a Louis Vuitton dopp kit yesterday, but here he is looking equally as fab taking some practice time in before his doubles match tomorrow (with Janko; against Hutchins/Kerr).

FARMERS CLASSIC, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2010
STRAUS STADIUM start 12:00 noon
[4] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Dudi Sela (ISR)
Alejandro Falla (COL) vs [5] Erenests Gulbis (LAT)
Not Before 4:00 PM
[WC] James Blake (USA) vs Benjamin Becker (GER)

EVENING SESSION – Not Before 7:30 PM
[1] [WC] Andy Murray (GBR) vs [Q] Tim Smyczek (USA)
[1] Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT) / Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)

GRANDSTAND start 4:00 pm
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) / Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) vs Ross Hutchins (GBR) / Jordan Kerr (AUS)

(photo by TSF)

tsf podcast: the botw roundtable edition

We wanted to make something new and we did. It’s called a podcast. And you should listen. (Photo by 20×200 via flickr.)

BOTW Roundtable: TSF Podcast 2010 BOTW Roundtable

I was lucky enough to wrangle C Note (of Forty Deuce fame) and Chris Oddo, a freelancer here writing for On The Baseline to participate in a roundtable discussion between sessions at the Bank of the West Classic. Check out the audio for our thoughts on who will be the queen of the US Open Series, why practice courts are the best places to be at small-time tournaments and what we think Lynn Welch does on her down time (the little of it that she has).

a puppet's ode to lynn welch

For any big-time tennis fans, the name Lynn Welch rings a bell at first mention. She’s the ever-present WTA chair umpire who has been around the game for years, calling major matches and small ones week in and week out. Welch’s accent is decidedly American, so there is no British or French inflection to add to the drama of the score calling. But her syntax (can chair umpires have syntax?!) is decidedly slow after points (“Fif-teen. Aaahll.”) and she’s always looking good in khaki pants, sunglasses and her mom-doesn’t-need-to-be-fashionable haircut.

We loved this video posted by YouTube user pawubu who seems to have a knack for puppetry and knowledge of the good words of Lynn Welch. Click the picture to get to the video page. Enjoy!

(screen grab via youtube)

fashion focus: maria sharapova's wimbledon dress, in color

Maria Sharapova, fifth seed at this week’s Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., is safely through to the second round after taking out Zheng Jie 6-4, 7-5. As you may remember, Zheng beat Masha in the first week of the 2010 Indian Wells tourney.

Draw: Up next for her in that bottom half of the draw is Olga Govortsova then a quarterfinal meet-up against the winner of Date-Krumm vs. Dementieva. (Draw: Singles)

Wimbledon whites in color: Sharapova’s Wimbledon whites turned into pale shades of green (“filament”) and blue (“armory”) for this summer hardcourt swing. Buy: Nike Sharapova Lawn Women’s Tennis Tank and , $60 each, nike.com.

(botw shot via Getty Images; screengrabs via nike.com)

jersey ruffles make west coast debut

That headless body belongs to Christina McHale. The American lost in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic this afternoon to Sam Stosur 6-1, 7-5.

McHale is a Jersey girl herself, so the ruffles you see on the shoulders and the skirt shouldn’t be too surprising. Snooki approves. The WTA has been missing some Jersey grit in its bloodstream lately, don’t you think? Without the Brooklyn bluntness of Jennifer Capriati, things have been a bit too Florifornia for us. We welcome Christina and her ruffles with open, orange-tanned arms.

To note: McHale scored two big exhibition wins a few weeks ago in New York, beating Melanie Oudin and Victoria Azarenka in New City. Another shot of McHale – head included – after the cut. Read the rest of this entry »

sightings in the stands: who needs samurai when you've got dudies?

Last night’s eye-candy-filled doubles match between Tipsarevic/Lopez and Blake/Querrey (will I get a cavity in my cornea??) had no visible Sam-urai contingent, possibly contributing to the Americans’ 6-3, 6-3 loss in the opening round.

Meanwhile, Dudi Sela, now clad in Lacoste, took out shotmaker Xavier Malisse 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in their first round singles match. He’ll next face the fourth-seeded Lopez.

Draw: See who’s left playing singles and doubles at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles.

(image via Getty Images)