Rogers Cup Photos: Nadal, Raonic, Del Potro, Haas

Lots of great players on the grounds yesterday at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and another fantastic day for Canadian tennis with Vasek Pospisil defeating Radek Stepanek, and Milos Raonic beating Mikhail Youzhny.

Today should be even better with Nadal vs. Janowicz first up on Center Court, followed by Murray vs. Gulbis, Del Potro vs. Raonic, and Djokovic vs. Istomin. I'll also be making my way over to the National Bank Court to watch Pospisil try to take down Berdych.

Here are some photos from the Rogers Cup so far...

First up we've got Tommy Haas stretching it out during his practice session.

Then we've got Frank Dancevic and Jerzy Janowicz in their second round match. Jerzy won in three sets.

Raonic Upsets Youzhny at Aussie Open

Canadian Milos Raonic defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6–4, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4 to move into the fourth round of the Australian Open. This is a huge win for the 152nd ranked Raonic who will likely play the No. 7 seed David Ferrer in the next round. I'm so excited that there's a Canadian player doing so well at a grand slam event, and I will be cheering hard for Raonic in his next match.

Photo: John Donegan/Associated Press

Best Tennis Tantrums: McEnroe, Connors, Safin, Roddick, Hingis, Youzhny, Tarango...

Since the US Open final has, once again, been postponed due to rain, I've had to find other ways to entertain myself today. Luckily I happened to find this gem on the Sports Illustrated website: Fifteen Famous Tennis Tantrums. There's nothing better than a little racquet smashing, and there's certainly nothing more entertaining than an angry John McEnroe (and clearly this collection of videos includes a number of Johnny Mac's best tantrums). My personal favourite is the Jeff Tarango video—he comes across as such a baby, and it's amazing. You'll also find videos of Roddick, Safin, Federer, Connors, Hingis, and more! Check it out, you won't be sorry. 

US Open: Super Saturday Preview!

Can't believe we've already reached the final weekend of the US Open, but here we are! Tomorrow's matches will feature two men's semfinals in the afternoon, and the women's final at night.

Men's Semifinal #1
Rafa Nadal vs. Mikhail Youzhny

12:00 PM on Arthur Ashe Stadium

Predicted winner: Rafa Nadal

Rafa showing off his magically faster serve

 There's nothing better than the Youzhny salute. Nothing.

US Open Matches to Watch: Day 7

Ana Ivanovic vs. Kim Clijsters
This one is going to be a heart breaker. How can you want either of these two women to lose? I think Kim will win the match, but Ana is finally playing better again and I at least hope that they both play well.

Rafa Nadal vs. Gilles Simon
Gilles became a father this week when his wife gave birth to their son four weeks early. Unfortunately, as it was so unexpected, he was unable to get back to France on time and he will have to wait until after the US Open to meet his baby. Obviously Rafa is the favourite in this match, but maybe Simon's excitement about becoming a dad will help him play better, or maybe he just wants to get the hell out of New York City and fly home to see his wife and child. I'm going to go with Rafa winning this one.

Sam Stosur vs. Elena Dementieva
I really don't know who I think will win this match. I'm hoping that Sam can make it through to the next round, but obviously Dementieva is a tough opponent. I think this match could go either way, but I'm going to pick Sam to win in three sets. Mostly because I feel that me predicting Sam to win will help her actually do it.

Andy Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka
Murray is the clear favourite for this match, but we all know that Wawrinka is capable of playing really good tennis. Plus, he's Swiss...which clearly means he has superior tennis genes. I'll go with Murray winning in four sets.

David Nalbandian vs. Fernando Verdasco
This will probably (hopefully) be the most exciting match of the day. Verdasco is the higher ranked player, but we all know Nalbandian has been playing well beyond his ranking all summer. I was going to write that both players have an equal chance of winning this match, but honestly I'd be surprised if Verdasco won this one. He just hasn't looked that great recently, so I'm going to have to go with Nalbandian moving on to the next round.

John Isner vs. Mikhail Youzhny
Everyone was afraid Isner would have to pull out of the US Open due to injury, but he's playing and he seems to be doing fine for now. I'm not sure there's a favourite for this match, but Isner will have the crowd support behind him and that might make all the difference. I think Isner will win in 4 sets.

Practice Court Shots: Rafa, Fed, Murray, etc.

Lots of rain delays at the Rogers Cup today, and it looks like some of the matches might get rescheduled. Here's hoping that things clear up soon so we'll still get to see the beloved Rafa/Novak doubles match tonight.

And to keep us occupied while waiting for the rain to stop, here are some of my photos of the players practicing...

For more photos of Rafa practicing click here, more photos of Federer click here, and more of Feliciano Lopez and Frank Dancevic click here.