vtp blog competition!

http://www.australianopenshop.com/prodetail.asp?proid=21993#

i have a tennis ball keyring to give away ... so this is what i'll do: the best comment posted on any of my 2010 posts on this blog, will be rewarded with this souvenir as your prize. feel free to comment before (hmm..) february 5 and the best/smartest/funniest will be the winner. don't forget to leave an email or link to your blog for example for me to contact you if you win. please note: my decision is final, and as usual all irrelevant comments will not be published as i have moderation here.

so enjoy your read below... :)

hit for haiti II - rafa and nole playing 'doubles', and the end

let me help wipe down your thighs, rafa

don't you ever touch me again!!!!

how about... i let you use me for a target?

.... like this?

don't be ridiculous!

now that i've landed on all fours, i'm not so amused

gee this rafa is hard to please

i must think of a way to get rid of him

... there you belong!!

awwww

play finishes, all smiles with haiti rep

wrapping up... i have a dream

hit for haiti tennis stars... all laughs and little play

serena williams

rafael nadal & andy roddick

kim clijsters

novak djokovic

... stuffed with towels

serena still in stitches

keep it up, partner

if i do more push ups, i may just get more bulk here

i complain for the fun of it

need my help, rafa?

i'm still in charge

let's dance

melbourne 2010 qualifying, practice, and 1st round

donald young celebrates a point

xavier malisse celebrates a win

ping-pong style serve?

feliciano lopez shows off ... again

i win !!!

oh elena, what's happened to your pretty face?

daniela hantuchova practises hard

janko the tattoo man

animated chat

puffing andy roddick

a hot day for tommy robredo

not so great for sebastien grosjean

another player special... the arnaud antics @ aus open tennis

let me check the towel ... hmm

i can show you a thing or two, ballkid

closeup 1

am i smelly?....

closeup 2

umpire, are you sure??

sydney 2010 qualifying and practice

Svetlana Kuznetsova grimaces during practice

Daniela Hantuchova waits at practice

Jelena Jankovic gets lots of sunscreen

who's striking a pose

new doubles partners Llodra and Ram

tennis gossips

Andreas Seppi hits at practice

Nick Lindahl at practice

new bejing 2009 gallery featuring nadal, blake, bartoli and zhang... and other end of year news

yup the bejing tennis photos are slowly being added to the new gallery: beijing 2009

also while you're browsing around the photos, don't forget to take a look at the calendar cards and the calendar poster. Clearing 2009 stock now, at not to be repeated prices! i have no plan to make any 2010 calendars this year, so they may truly be 'never repeated'...

so far, things are all looking good at the end of this year. hopefully all the year's pics will be up before 2010, when as usual we'll be busy with the january tennis season. i will be in sydney, as usual, and also plan to attend melbourne *before* the main draw starts. my other photog friends hope to be around the main game, and together we hope to be making the most out of the open :)

thanks for your lovely patronage this year (and before) and come back soon for more news!

ps. i do take requests for players photo prior to a tournament... usually do that at men's tennis forums - frenchie forum but if you like, leave me a message here too. i'll see what i can do...

freelance photographers available for australian tennis 2010

if you're a media organisation that needs photographic coverage of the tennis season down under in 2010... have a good size circulation, with a sports/tennis interest... you should contact me quick! i know a few freelancers who have the skills and experience to do the job at a very good price. but hurry, application has to go in before end of october. please email me (viatennis at smakdesign.com.au) for more details. (email link is at the bottom of this page)

brisbane's gallery is up

yes and you can go and view all the lovely tennis action pics here

as usual, the more popular a player, the more of his/her pics i'll add to the gallery.

daniela is the most popular right now within the brisbane gallery... someone must have found them and told others :)

on another note... wondering where the melbourne pics are? well me too. hopefully i'll get hold of them in a few days.

but first... sydney's will be next. stay tuned...

sydney tennis 2009, part I

this was monday, 12 jan 2009....

mr 'balcony guy' richard gasquet, seen here with his coach (?) at a men's singles match.







it wasn't the hottest day yet, but spectators were already taking shade and rest outside the centre court.


these motor carts (how else to call them?) seen in european tournaments last year, have made their way to australia. yay.


has mario ancic turned into a mean muscle machine, after taking time off tennis? we are definitely seeing results



i mistook djokovic as jurgen melzer from a distance away from his practice court. really time to check my glasses. at least the camera managed to 'see' him with david nalbandian here, taking a bit of rest and doing a bit of discussion.


another fan had mistaken this guy for fernando verdasco. at least *i* wouldn't make the same mistake. he's dark but he's no spaniard ;)






this guy coaches a few chinese female players. i have a feeling he's french (????) but i call him andrew denton anyway. denton is an aussie tv personality :)

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/about/about_andrew.htm

sydney tennis 2009, part II

(yup part II... last things first!)

tuesday was a more interesting day than monday, since this year the men's draw is cut back to a field of 28, so there are fewer first round matches. i don't know if that helps with attracting top players (with byes on offer), as i think those who play will play anyway, and those (rafa?) who won't come, won't come anyway.

miss long legs stretching out in a 'quiet spot', after a centre court loss to agnieszka radwanska


jeremy chardy also stretched, before playing his first round match later in the afternoon








one of men's fashion icons ... janko tipsarevic with his colourful sunglasses, and tattoos in japanese(?)


sydney launches more 'fan-friendly' features. lots of creatures hopping and swirling around the grounds this year...


and this ... in coordination with the atp's new space theme perhaps?


while i was away in brisbane, alize cornet has somehow become a new fashion icon herself. not that we could see anything irregular this day at a tight outside match...



agnieszka radwanska and maria kirilenko in a doubles match


fabrice active around the grounds, although not having signed up for competition







leaving the best till last, right? another sweaty shirtless frenchman ...


joyous in serving ...


... and enjoying another light moment

frenchies special, sydney 2009

jeremy chardy at qualies... another puffing frenchman! lol




unfortunately this was how arnaud clement played... arriving a split second after the ball went in (and out of reach). his big serving opponent was... ahem, peter luczak. granted, peter was better than many other aussies on the day, so this had to be a 'tough draw'.


to be fair, this was how it looked when arnaud got to the ball




spectators for arnaud clement. bruno and an unnamed companion (dark hair guy with glasses).






nicolas devilder also lost in first round qualification




gilles simon, meanwhile, enjoyed a main draw entry, and a cosy centre-court environment, training with local lleyton hewitt.



camille pin lost in a second round qualie

brisbane tennis 2009, part II

a view from brisbane's south bank 'beach' - the two player hotels are in the background. i don't know much about the history, but to me the it's a very pleasant precinct, new, clean, upmarket, quiet, but close to city centre, and served by public transport. (hmm should check out some properties in the area... )

'mr berdych, believe me when i tell you i have the greatest admiration for you...'
'hmmm'

feeling kinda blue, without my regular partner arno......



frenchies in serious discussion, whether marcos would lose this match, or lose his hair first.





a familiar sight at the brisbane tennis... novak on the run while signing autographs (or posing for pics) and being chased by fans

sunset at the tennis centre. hang on, do we know that guy sitting there?








this doesn't happen often in a tournament - a player waiting court side for an earlier match to end. not surprisingly, the other match was veeery long.... for marion bartoli

a bird eye's view... cameras are placed on rooftop to capture the action inside centre court. another creative service brought to you from brisbane.



that's it folks for the blog! more pics (serious action stuff) will be uploaded to the regular vtp galleries...... coming soon :)

brisbane tennis 2009, part I

i'm back from this brand new tournament and tennis centre in australia... with blisters on my feet. i'm not a public transport type, and it's altogether too much walking for me (especially with the shoes that i'd got :()

but as you can see, there's plenty of shade around the grounds. the centre court and courts 1 and 2 have roofs on them, although they don't give shade to the seats on 1 and 2.

or should i say, seats on 3 and 4? somehow the architects had forgotten to design spaces in between courts so that seats could be placed... so the spectator stands on courts 1 and 2 are actually standing on courts 3 and 4. the other outside courts are all fenced in, and spectators (including the players' coaches and cheer squads) had to watch outside the door/fence, using whatever seating they could find. (or simply, stand)

it's now time i should give you some photos of players, or you'll be all gone in a sec...

who is this cool lady player? here at the tennis centre, there's a handy shaded area where you can watch players come and go (to courts).

the guy in sunnies is juan carlos ferrero, ready for a picnic in the sun... not. he appeared pleased with a gift from a devoted fan :)

officials pinning the new atp logo onto the net - another new invention this year

richard gasquet spotted at a balcony overlooking court 1, where benneteau and ginepri were battling it out. richard was busy with a few things...

... like hand-signalling to someone at a distance (while eating his lunch, and using his phone).

this is marcos baghdatis. appearing courtesy of a tournament wild card, marcos was given the superstar treatment by his many fans. lucky they caught him early, as marcos didn't get to stay on for long...

this is one of the official paper cut-out... djokovic in the 'atp logo' pose.

another people-watching interlude and i caught camille pin, one of VTP's favs... why are all frenchies always on the phone?

camille pin in practice. is this the first time i show you a practice court? see the shadow of the fence in the foreground, and you understand why.

more later...

update on melbourne plans - good news :)

guest photographer a.cheung has secured a media pass to the australian open tennis in melbourne. he will be on site during a more interesting stage of the competition... the middle weekend and early 2nd week. that will comprise the round of 16, and quarter-final stages, and we can expect the most competitive matches.

go to see some examples of a.cheung's work on Via's Tennis Photos

now that we can anticipate many great pics from melbourne come january ... all that's left for me to wonder is, will he contribute to this blog and do some reports for us ??

it's that time of the year again....

... to get ready for the new year, and the new tennis season down under!

i'm planning to go to the new combined tournament in brisbane, and then back home to the old favourite sydney.

but i'll give melbourne a miss in 2009. crowd conditions, for me, have been getting intolerable the last two years. it just seems to me that the grand slam down under is only keen about growing attendance numbers, without any consideration for improved services and facilities.

normally fans don't have a choice. we are 'lucky' enough to host a grand slam tournament and get to see it, so no one should be complaining, right? well, my aging bones simply can't put up with that, unfortunately. so no more than two weeks in a row for me - i'll simply watch the telly after that. and send someone else to do the photos! :p

btw if anyone wants tips on travelling to sydney for the tennis, here's a link to mens tennis forums for more info.

australian open 2008 gallery is up!

there are now more photos and many more players from the australian open at my australian open 2008 gallery. and they're not just french! apart from ana, there are many other top female players, players who played french players (lol), some doubles players, a few pics of rafa and marcos as usual, and even practice pics of roger and lleyton. (luckily, to satisfy viewer demand).

four days of australian open tennis

i now have 4 days worth of photos from last week. it will be quite some time before i finish uploading and filing the good ones, so i'll just quickly put a few up here in this blog to whet your appetite ;)

... and you think sebastien can't be funny! here he is, having a serious discussion with the umpire at a doubles match.

arnaud wiping sweat

fans asking for autographs from clement/llodra (photo courtesy: alfred sin)

crazy hair murray playing a game of tennis soccer

adding more photos to sydney 2008 gallery

yes you can find more photos and more players from the sydney tournament at my sydney 2008 gallery. i'm still adding, haven't got to the rest of tuesday yet, which was my last day.

i'm doing only one or two for each player at this time... but if a player gets more hits or higher rating, then (as i always have done) i will add a few more of his/her pics. you are always the boss ;)

sydney tennis 2008, day 3 tuesday

i was more into catching people than watching matches today!

enjoying a hit ... seb grosjean

so many girls asking for a picture ... dmitry tursunov

looking pretty in sydney ... ana ivanovic

the blind team? lol ... fernando verdasco and gilles simon

retiring ... paul-henri mathieu

i also got autographs from carlos moya while he's waiting for a practice court, he's shy as usual... and catching verdasco again when i was leaving... fernando was signing sponsor's balls in a tent right next to the exit! like, say goodbye to a star before you go! (one of the many new inventions at this tournament this year) it's kind of funny, people queuing up for their ball before they left, most of whom did not know who he was. but fernando looked very cool about it and was particular sweet with kids with other demands :)

sydney tennis 2008, day 2 monday

another quickie ;)

sebastien grosjean... hard fought match on centre court against 'aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi', but as one aussie lady yelled out, 'sebastien we love you too!'

nicolas devilder... lost final qualie match to alberto martin

feliciano lopez... disappointment in first round to fernando verdasco

daniela hantuchova... long long match with dinara safina

tatiana golovin... too strong for tzipora obziler

james blake... tamed by fabrice santoro

sydney tennis 2008, qualifying saturday

i'm still so tired and soaked in rain and sweat that i really don't want to write much, apart from posting a few photos and captions in a timely manner and hope they are enough to please some of you!

nicolas devilder... a lucky winner playing a no-name substitute!

camille pin... at practice

fabrice ... still having fun

richard gasquet ... training with fabrice

john isner ... yes i do mean to show him diagonally

arnaud ... bad match-up with isner?

sebastien grosjean and bruno ... spectators who didn't really want to know (LOL)

this has to be ... mathieu montcourt!









more photos coming soon. check out the usual photo galleries as well.

new year plans

it's that time of the year again for aussie tennis fans...

like last year, i'm heading to the sydney tournament, and then for a few days to melbourne for the australian open.

the players i'll be seeing are probably the same old same old... but this year no more rebound ace, instead there will be a new bluey surface called plexicushion (heaven help me that i've got this right lol) so at least the pics will look slightly different.

stay tuned..... :)

tennis is back at beijing again...

as for me and this blog this is kind of a one year anniversary, as i basically started blogging for my trip to beijing! this year no such luck for me as i'm safely and boringly ensconced at home, with next to no tennis on the telly for me this year, and not having done any tennis with the camera since january.

so really i don't have anything interesting to report, except that it's already september, and aussie tennis isn't that far away, is it? ;) in fact, the tennis calendar commences again before new year 2008, on december 31 2007 officially, but of course for qualifiers and early birds they will be in adelaide (and doha, and chennai...) by the weekend before.

so there! i will continue to hibernate until december when i again blow the dust off my lenses and prepare myself for the annual tennis fix. in the mean time, i am actually working on a 2008 wall calendar with some of my most popular tennis pics. stay tuned when/if something along that line comes up... i may offer it on my tennis photos website...

(what do you think? would you pay for a wall calendar with my pics on it?)