Out in Sports: September 2007 Archives

Will the United States finally win the Davis Cup after more than a decade of coming up short? If it does, much of the credit must go to top-ranked American Andy Roddick who won both his matches this weekend over Sweden in the semifinals. It would help salvage a subpar year for Andy who won some tournaments, but came up short in the majors.

We all know that tennis stud Novak Djokovic of Serbia likes to take his shirt off after or a win or during practice. We like it! But this is a first: during a Davis Cup match against Australia Friday in Belgrade, Djokovic (seen here with fellow player Boris Pasanski), Novak lifted his shirt to support teamate Janko Tipsarevic who ended up losing to Lleyton Hewitt.

It's Davis Cup weekend. Does that not mean anything to you? It's the annual tennis competition that pits teams from various countries against each other. The USA dominated in the days of John McEnroe then again in the Agassi-Sampras era. But it's been more than 10 years since we've won the cup.
American hearthrobs Andy Roddick and James Blake are competing starting today in the semifinals to try and put an end to this long Davis Cup drought...
Good luck guys!

If this had happened in Europe, no one would have thought twice. But a Florida Gator football player kisses his teamate (and roomate) on the cheek after a touchdown pass completion and it's caused something of a furor. The kisser, Tony Joiner, didn't freak out when he was asked about giving Tim Tebow a congratulatory smooch: "That's my roommate. I love him. We've grown close," he told the Florida Times-Union.
Said Tebow: "I got teased a lot about it [over the weekend]. "When it happened, I didn't even really think about it. That's Tony."

It's still so silly how homophobic the sports world remains in this day and age. If these guys were gay and they wanted to kiss each other, they'd have plenty of opportunity behind closed doors. That such a sweet gesture - a peck on the cheek - would become such a big deal is just plain stupid.
Grow up football fans.

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic didn't win the U.S. Open on Sunday but the number three player in the world won a lot of fans not only for himself, but for tennis as well. He's fun and appealing and cute. He received a hero's welcome this week at the Belgrade airport. Meanwhile, the man who beat Djokovic, Roger Federer, posted with his fourth U.S. Open trophy on a street in Manhattan. He looks terrific in tennis attire butr cleans up pretty damned well too.
Hopefully, we'll see lots more head-to-head matches between these two...

I should have known better. I felt that Roger Federer was ripe for a loss today in the finals of the U.S. Open with Novak Djosovic primed for a major breakthrough. But Federer fought off tons of set points in the first and second sets to prevail 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. He has now won four consecutive U.S. Opens to go along with the five consecutive Wimbledons. It just doesn't get any better. Still, Novak established himself as a legitimate challenger to the throne and a popular player with the fans who gave him a bigger ovation that they gave Federer during the awards ceremony. My friend, Henry, is very happy right now and never lost faith in his Roger...

Roger Federer (above) reached another U.S. Open final Saturday and Sunday afternoon, will face Novak Djosovic (below) as he tries to win a fourth straight men's title...If he wins, it will give him 12 grand slam titles - two short of the all-time record set by Pete Sampras.

Not only is Novak one heckuva player, he is also an exhibitionist who has made a tradition of taking his shirt off after a win...MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

Could there be a better way to lead up to a ladies final? The great Carole King, whose "Tapestry" album I could still listen to all damned day, performed for the crowed at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Saturday night. And speaking of Bille Jean, she took in the final with former doubles partner Martina Navratilova. Each of the ladies won four U.S. Open singles titles in their careers and teamed up to win the 1978 and 1980 doubles crowns together.

...and finally, here is the 2007 ladies champion, Justine Henin. The world's top-ranked player won her seventh grand slam title and on her way to the final round, beat both Serena Williams and Venus Williams. It was a well-deserved win for this small but mighty battler from Belgium...

This kid, this Novak Djokovic, is a force to be reckoned with. A tennis force on the court, and a comic force off of it. First things first. The Serbian is ranked third in the world and reached his third grand slam semifinal of 2007 on Thursday night when he defeated Carlos Moya (below) in straight sets at the U.S. Open. If he and Roger Federer both wins their matches on Saturday, as expected, it is very possible that Djokovic could beat Federer. He did it last month in the final of the Canadian Open and is the real deal. My friend, Henry, might kill me, but I'm going on the record saying I think Djokovic will win the men's title on Sunday.


I love this picture (above) of Novak consoling his drop-dead gorgeous victim, Moya, who still has plenty of game left at 31. Then, posted below is a video of Novak in the locker room doing impersonations of players ranging from Andy Roddick to Rafael Nadal to...get this...Maria Sharapova! He's brilliant at it.
Enjoy!
p.s. I have no idea who the guy in the towel is. If anyone does, please lemme know...

The outcome was somewhat expected with three-time defending champ Roger Federer beating 2003 champ Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last night. But what was really cool was that both players showed up in cool black clothes...I love Federer's look because, like his play, it is very elegant. Meanwhile, all Andy has to do is lift up his shirt and the photogs kn0w they have their Out In Hollywood money shot!