Tennis Fashion Fix

Is there a sound any better to a tennis fans, players, whatever than a sound of a tennis ball meeting the racket? Probably not. So here, for your listening (eventually viewing, especially if you're a one-handed backhand fetishist), a video of Roger Federer and Richard Gasquet practising at the 2011 US Open. You might need to tune out the sound of an airplane once or twice though...

Check out this video of a cute kid in the audience watching Novak Djokovic's practice prior to the start of the US Open and asking Novak to marry him. Nole, being the good-natured everyone's clown, invited the boy on court and allowed him to hit several serves. Now, all together: "Awwww!".

I was playing around YouTube looking for some Rogers Cup videos and stumbled upon this video illustrating the process of the development of Novak's ND logo. Pretty neat.

It's my pleasure to introduce yet another sport to the Around the Courts blog - volleyball .  A sport I grew up with, courtesy of familial involvement, then kept falling in and out of touch with.  I must admit, prior to last week, I'd not watched a full match of volleyball ever since the Beijing Olympics final when my favourite team of all time, Brazil under the watchful eye of the great Bernardo Rezende, lost to the Team USA failing to win the 2rd consecutive title. Heartbreak to the players and the fans in the country where the sport actually means something. Something, as in, a lot. As losing or winning a match is usually a team effort, it would be pointless trying to blame the loss on one player. At the same time, it was extremely difficult not to notice that one very significant piece to the team was missing from the Olympic squad. His name's Ricardo Garcia. He's a setter. And the the time, he was considered the best in the world at that position. The glar...

All the Around the Courts readers who enjoy the Ana fashion updates, here's a pretty sweet video put together by adidas. Lovely doesn't even begin to describe it.

More photos after the jump.

As the tennis season 2012 picks up speed, let's have a look back at this classic video.Let's wait and see what the new year brings us in the Rafa-Nole departments. If we get a repeat of even a very small percentage of their classic matches from 2011, I'll be a happy blogger.

Check out this video of Rafa Nadal and Dickie Gasket Richard Gasquet battling it out around the age of 12. Interesting to see Richard's forehand has always been freaky looking and Rafa didn't seem to have the wedgie problem back them. Some things never change, and some things do... Thanks to Roland Garros facebook page for digging out this marvel.

Nole, who was forced to withdraw from Beijing and is doubtful for Shanghai due to that pesky back injury, was in Belgrade this weekend, his brothers in tow, cheering the Serbian Women's Volleyball Team to the European title (defeated Germany in today's final). Let's remember Serbia now holds both men's and women's Euro titles. Impressive! Photo: Getty Images

Wonder why it's so hard for Nole to give up on the Beijing and Shanghai tournaments? He's quite the popular boy over there. Check out this photo of tennis magazines with him on the cover. Photo: @RyanLee5

Ever since aggravating his back injury during the Davis Cup in Belgrade Nole has been anything but slowing down the pace. Quite the opposite, in fact. In the week and a half that has passed since his ill-fated match against Juan Martin del Potro at the Belgrade arena, he did the following and probably more that I'm missing: Presented the trophies at a celebrity tennis tournament Photo: Mladen Mitrić, svet.rs Attended his physiotherapist's wedding / baptism of his daughter where he acted as the best man and the child's godfather.  Photo: Luka Trajkovic Played in a soccer charity match Photo: Agencija TANJUG Visited a preschool as part of his UNICEF Ambasador duties. Photo: infoLink

Compilation of my favourite quotes tennis quotes from and about tennis players, among others. * Tennis is an addiction that once it has truly hooked a man will not let him go. - Russell Lynes * Ladies, here's a hint. If you're up against a girl with big boobs, bring her to the net and make her hit backhand volleys. That's the hardest shot for the well-endowed. - Billie Jean King * I would so like to be Lenny Kravitz. - Roger Federer More quotes after the jump.

I took this photo at the Montreal Airport on my way back from the Rogers Cup. Here's hoping some of the tennis players grabbed a copy on their way out of town. Happy reading!

Nole is everywhere tese days. And so he should be. Here he is, making at appearance at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon who, by his own admission, is a Federer fanboy. This reminds me of a story that happened to me and my friend at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami earlier this year. After Richard Gasquet , who happens to be one of my favourite players, lost the first set against Mardy Fish, and hit a ball out of the court in frustration. It landed right at our feet up in the 400 section. Since there's no way we'd be able to trow the ball back from so high up, I kept it as a souvenir. Now just need Richie to show up at my window to sign it. Who cares I live on the 19th floor.