2009 Australian Open women's finals: Serena or Dinara?

After a few minutes while typing this blog entry will unfold the 2009 Australian Open women's singles finals between Serena Williams and Dinara Safina.

Who's your bet?

Let's have a look at the records of the 2 players in the table below:

	Serena Williams	Dinara Safina
Head-to-head wins	5	1
Year turned Pro	1995	2001
Age	27	22
Career Titles	32	9
Singles Grand Slam Wins	9	0
2008 grand slam finals	Winner: US Open; Finalist: Wimbledon	Finalist: French Open

Being a huge fan of the Williams sisters, I have no doubt Serena would lift the title to make her total Grand Slam singles haul to 10; currently, she has a total of 19: including 8 in doubles and 2 in mixed.

If her Grand slam experience and records are anything to go by, Williams would easily win against Marat's younger sister. My prediction: straight sets!

Read the rest of this entry...

Filipino junior netter Francis Casey Alcantara wins junior's doubles tilt in 2009 Australian Open

Filipinos, especially the sports aficionados, have a new sporting icon to look up to other than Manny Pacquiao. He is 16-year-old Filipino tennis prodigy Francis Casey Alcantara.

Alcantara, who hails from Cagayan de Oro, a city in Northern Mindanao, teamed up with Cheng Peng Hsei of Chinese-Taipei to win the Junior Boy's Doubles finals today at the 2009 Australian Open in Melbourne --- the feat making him the first-ever Filipino to lift a title at a Grand Slam. The 7th-seeded Filipino-Taiwanese tandem crushed the pair of Mikhal Biryukov from Russia and Yasutaka Uchiyama from Japan in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. Before reaching the finals, Alcantara and his partner dispatched the Austrian teens Maximilian Neuchrist & Tristan-Samuel Weissborn 7-6(4), 6-4 in a semifinal match held yesterday.


Francis Casey Alcantara: Champion in 2009 Australian Open Junior Boy's Doubles

Alcantara, currently ranked No. 26 in world juniors, is also entered at the Junior Boy's Singles as the seed no. 10 but succumbed easily to an unranked player Daniel Berta of Sweden 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. He recently took the grade-four Phinma International Junior Tennis Championship last month and won various doubles competitions in Thailand and Morocco.

Read the rest of this entry...

What happened to the once oh-so-yummy bod of Ian Thorpe?

Ian Thorpe was photographed having a flabby physique, far cry from his glorious swimming days, while enjoying a day with friends at a beach in Fernando de Noronha in Brazil last week.

(Pics c/o of Just Jared)


What happened to Thorpedo's bod????







Rumors about Thorpe's sexuality began to swirl around tabloids when he was photographed swimming and playing in the surf with friends, one of whom is a male Brazilian housemate named Danny Mendes.

Twenty-six-year-old Thorpe is a swimming icon and an Australian hero, having won 5 Olympic gold medals and 11 World championship gold medals. He has retired from the sport since November 2006 is now studying psychology and linguistics at Macquarie University in Sydney.

Thorpe is not only a multiple Olympic medalist, but also a famous product endorser, philanthropist and owner of a swimwear brand under his name.

Have a peek at Thorpe's droolicious body in his heydays:











Watch Thorpe challenging a seal in ADIDAS commercial with the full-bodysuit here:



Click here to read an article invetigating Thorpe's relationship with his Brazilian housemate:
Thorpe's relationship with his Brazilian housemate

Read the rest of this entry...

Move over Gisele Bundchen, Jennifer Aniston has the most sought-after body!

Jennifer Aniston dislodged Gisele Bundchen as having the most desired female figure, according to a list compiled by Beverly Hills plastic surgeons and co-directors of The Beverly Hills Institute of Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. Gisele Bundchen was relegated to No. 2, followed by Jessica Biel.

Jen in her GQ 2008 cover




Gisele Bundchen

Jessica Biel

For males, People Magazine's 2008 Sexiest Man Alive Hugh Jackman has the most sought-after bod, followed by "McSteamy" Eric Dane and Matthew McConaughey.


Hugh Jackman


Matthew McConaughey


Eric Dane

The list also included the most desired lips, eyes, nose, skin, hair, jawline, cheeks and hair.

To find out which stars are the most envied by plastic surgery seekers, then click here:
Most Sought-after Hollywood Body and Facial Features

Read the rest of this entry...

Alvaro Quiros becomes first Spanish winner of Qatar Masters

Twenty-six year-old Spaniard Alvaro Quiros won his third European tour title by lifting the trophy at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, January 25 at the Doha Golf Club.

Quiros carded a three-under-par 69 in the final round for a tournament total of 19-under-par 269 to deny Stenson a second victory in Qatar and become the first Spaniard to win in 12 editions of the prestigious tournament. He received a cheque of US$ 416,660 and a Mother of Pearl trophy.



Part of Quiros' bio in Wikipedia:

Quirós was born in La Línea de la Concepción, Province of Cádiz. He played on the Challenge Tour in 2006, winning one tournament, and earned his European Tour card for the 2007 season by finishing in the top 35 at the qualifying school. He won the first European Tour tournament he entered as a European Tour card-holder; the Alfred Dunhill Championship which is played in South Africa. His second European Tour win came at the 2008 Portugal Masters, where he finished with birdies at both 17 and 18 on Sunday, to win by three strokes over Paul Lawrie.

To read more about Quiros' win, click here:
Spaniard Quiros proves master in Qatar

Read the rest of this entry...

Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Slumdog Millionaire grab major wins in SAG Awards

Meryl Streep won as Best Actress, Sean Penn as Best Actor and Slumdog Millionaire as the Outstanding Performance by a Cast for a Motion Picture, tantamount to Best Picture from the guild, at the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards held January 25 at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.

Streep, who played as a fierce nun for the movie Doubt, beat Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Melisa Leo and Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road), while Penn, who played as a gay rights activist for the movie Milk beat Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, Mickey Rourke and Brad Pitt.

Heath Ledger won again as Best Supporting Actor for the movie The Dark Knight, while Kate Winslet was declared the Best Supporting Actress for The Reader. Winslet also won Best Supporting Actress for the same film at the Golden Globes earlier but she is nominated as Best Actress for this film at the upcoming Oscars.

To find out who the other winners are, please click here:

SAG article from L.A. Times

What do you think of the stars' gowns?

Angelina Jolie in Max Azria

Kate Winslet in Narciso Rodriguez

Anne Hathaway in Azzaro

Katie Holmes in Jil Sander

Penelope Cruz in Azzedine Alaia

Freida Pinto in a pewter silk chiffon Marchesa gown

Teri Hatcher in Monique Lhuillier

Read the rest of this entry...

Give your saggy or flat butt a lift, try "Biniki"!

This is for all of you men and women whose butts are either saggy or flat, and want them to look good at a cheap price.

Ever wondered how some people have enviablly full, firm, athletic butts under their pants , shorts, skirts, trunks or swimsuits?

While some of them might have either undergone expensive surgery (collagen injections for butt) or may have been wearing jelly-filled or foam-padded undies, you never know that some of them did not have to endure the pain and mess of surgery and padded undies as they are sporting their natural butts with the help of a new shapewear called BINIKI!


Biniki for women


Maniki for men

In a nutshell, "Biniki" is a bra for the butt. Patented by an American psychologist named Dr. Karin Hart, Biniki is made up of narrow bra straps worn around the waist down to the buttocks, raising the rear and giving it a defined, fuller look! Biniki can not be detected under most clothes and can be worn low on the hips, giving wearers a new sense of confidence about their behind.

Biniki is ideal for women with drooping and even flat butts. And hey, men can also wear Biniki as there are Binikis for men too! They are called "Maniki".

Biniki costs for as cheap as $30, while Maniki costs little higher at $40.

For more information about this product, click below link:
Official Site of Biniki Fashions

Read the rest of this entry...

Brad Pitt's Curious Case grabs 13 Oscar nominations

Brad Pitt's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film about a man who ages backwards, is this year's Oscars heavyweight after getting 13 nominations, including Best Actor, Best Picture and Best Director.


Poster of the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. While its lead actor Brad Pitt was nominated, its lead actress Cate Blanchett was not recognized by the Academy.

Slumdog Millionaire, winner as best pic at the Golden Globes, got 10 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.

Other films nominated for Best Picture are Frost/Nixon, Milk, and The Reader.

Pitt would be joined at the awarding ceremonies by his partner Angelina Jolie, who also got nominated for her leading role in Changeling.

While Heath Ledger (who earlier won at the Golden Globes) is again nominated as Best Supporting Actor for the film The Dark Knight, many surprised when it was snubbed in the Best Picture and Best Director categories. This comes as a surprise considering it has been honored by Critics’ Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, with director Chris Nolan also having been nominated at the Director Guild of America awards.

Revolutionary Road is also snubbed when its actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio both failed to convince the voting academy. Howewer, their co-actor Michael Shannon was nominated as Best Supporting Actor. Winslet, who grabbed Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress trophies at the Golden Globes for the movies The Reader and Revolutionary Road respectively, got a Best Actress nomination for The Reader.

Winners of the 81st Academy Awards will be announced in a ceremony which will be hosted for the first time by actor Hugh Jackman on February 22 at the Kodak Theater.

To view a complete list of this year's Oscars nominees, click below:
2009 Oscar Nominees

Read the rest of this entry...

OZ Open 2009 Day 5 Highlights: Federer crushes Safin; Ivanovic, Wozniacki upset

* Roger Federer avenged his 2005 Australian Open semifinal defeat to Marat Safin by crushing him in the 3rd round in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 and later paid tribute to retiring players: 28-year-old Safin himself and 36-year-old Fabrice Santoro.

Federer, who was embraced by Safin after the match, said of the temperamental Russian: "He brings something different to the tennis world with his character, the way he is on the court and the way he is off the court. He’s larger than life. I respect him for what a competitor he is. I hope it’s not the last one tonight"

Safin embracing Federer after their 3rd round match which Safin lost.


Safin waving to the audience while leaving the court alongside Federer.

Federer said of Santoro, who has never gone past the quarterfinals in singles in 66 Grand Slam events and was earlier defeated by Andy Roddick the same day: "I guess he’s one of those magicians that’s going to leave the game. His game is not very easy to play at this stage. Players are getting stronger and faster and more powerful.I was fortunate enough to learn things from him, because he’s quite a tricky player to play against. He teaches you how to treat a tennis ball … not to go crazy about it.”

Being a huge fan of Safin, I feel so sad knowing knowing that he's going to retire from the sport at the the end of this season, thus making this his last Australian Open. His retirement is quite surprising considering that his ranking has climbed to no. 27 at the end of 2008 (despite niggling injuries and losses here and there), where his most remarkable win was a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon (the feat making him the first ever Russian to reach Wimbledon semis). For someone like him who's a former world no. 1, two-time Grand slam winner (2000 U.S. Open against Pete Sampras and 2005 Australian Open against home favorite Lleyton Hewitt) and holder of 2 Grand slam runner-up trophies (2002 and 2004 Australian Opens) and 15 career titles, Safin, relatively young at age 28, still has loads of talent and energies to unleash. But he is firm on his decision, something that he already announced last year. In a post-match interview after his loss to Federer, when asked if there is anything that could change his decision, he answered: "Nothing. I've been already too many years. I want to change and do something else. I'm ready for that. It's been a nice trip. It's enough."

Truly a man of few words, he did not reveal what his plans after tennis are by saying that he'd rather keep it to himself for the moment and that he's happy and ready.

And truly a gentleman that knows how to give respect where it is due, he could only say of Federer: "Well, it's just we know each other for how many years? Since '94. We didn't play in the juniors, but we saw each other. We had some great matches. I was close a couple times. We grew up together. He started a little bit later than me. I respect him as a tennis player, as a person. He's just very close ‑‑ let's put it this way: Very close colleague of mine. Probably, yeah [being the best player he's ever faced]. He's the most complete tennis player in the history of tennis, that's for sure. With all due respects to Agassi and Sampras and the rest of the gang. But I never felt so uncomfortable against any of the players before.

Safin would surely be missed, especially by his fans in Australia (a place that has endeared him after winning 3 Grand Slam trophies here). I agree with Federer when he said of Safin he's larger than life. He's living a life and having a personality that is colorful on and off the court. Who would forget his first shocking appearance this year at Perth for the Hopman Cop sporting bandaged right thumb, two blackeyes and a cut in his right eye (which he explained later he got from a Moscow fight that he won)? He's one of the reasons that make tennis exciting and interesting to watch. He's a huge talent no doubt. Most importantly, besides all those line judge-and-umpire-scolding spoken in 3 languages (Russian, English and Spanish), self-berating and racket-smashing (he estimates having broken around 300 rackets in 2005) antics, oh how could everyone miss that handsome face!

Well, I don't wanna say goodbye yet. I'll see him soon in remaining Grand Slams and tournaments of the year.








* Violence between Serbian and Bosnian fans erupted after the match of Serb Novak Djokovic and Bosnian-born American Amer Delic (won by Djokovic), causing a female fan to be briefly knocked unconscious after being hit by a thrown chair and for 30 fans to be ejected from the grounds of Melbourne Park

* Marcos Baghdatis upset Mardy Fish; Juan Martin del Potro defeated Gilles Muller; Marin Cilic (seed no. 19) mildly upset David Ferrer (seed no. 11); and so did Tomas Berdych (seed no. 20) against Wawrinka (seed no. 15).

* Spanish Tommy Robredo ended the run of Nalbandian conqueror, Taiwanese Yen-Hsun Lu.

* The biggest news in the women's singles was the crashing out of last year's runner-up and 5th seeded Ana Ivanovic to a lowly ranked player, World No. 61 and 29th-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.

(Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images)

* Australian fans had a lot to cheer about as Jelena Dokic continued in her impressive comeback, downing 11th seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in 3 sets.

* No. 1 seed Jelena Jankovic was a winner over Sugiyama, and so were Cornet against Hantuchova, Safina against Kanepi, Bartoli against Safarova, Petrova against Voskoboeva (who retired after losing the first set), and Zvonareva against Errani.

Read the rest of this entry...

Qatar Masters gets underway today

Qatar Masters gets underway today at Doha Golf Club, with a lineup that boasts of World No. 2 Spanish Sergio Garcia, and former champions Australian Adam Scott (two-time and defending winner), South Africans Retief Goosen and Ernie Els.


Adam Scott shows off his Qatar Masters trophy with Qatar Golf Association president Hassan Nasser al-Nuaimi.

Sponsored by Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ), the 12-year-old Qatar Masters is part of the three European Tour golf tourneys that are being held in the Gulf, the others being the Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. It has a prize fund of US$ 2.5 million, equal to that of Dubai but bigger than that of Abu Dhabi (US$ 2 million).

What spectators would be curious to find out is if the good-looking 28-year-old Scott would be tagging along Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, whom he was seen having happy and intimate moments with at the Kapalua Resort in Maui more than a week ago. I bet no, as Scott later announced that he is not dating Hudson and that they are "just friends". Well, what to do yani?


Adam Scott


Adam Scott with Kate Hudson photographed at Kapalua Resort recently (Photo courtesy of Just Jared)

Read the rest of this entry...

As Mariah gets older, this is the best that she can do to a President...

sing a lifeless unimpressive rendition of "Hero", so arranged to suit her disappointingly lower register!

Was that Beyonce' (who delivered in "At Last") we overheard mocking her? :P

Read the rest of this entry...

OZ Open 2009 Day 3 Highlights: Federer, Safin win to set a 3rd round showdown

• Roger Federer and Marat Safin both recorded straight-sets wins to set up a mouth-watering third round clash. Federer disposed of tennis’ new poster boy Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 (too bad we couldn’t see more of Korolev’s gorgeous bod not unless he prefers to stay in Melbourne to surf :P), while Safin dispatched Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.


Place your bet: Federer or Safin?

Federer holds a 9-2 winning record against Safin. Their last Grand Slam meeting was at the semis of last year’s Wimbledon, a surface Safin is not fond of, which Federer won in straight sets. However, when the two met in the semis of 2005 Australian Open, Safin won in the semis and went on to win the finals against Lleyton Hewitt. Safin has all the weapons to pull out an upset provided he conquers his worst enemy: himself. Let us wait and see if he could be able to display his more relaxed, drama-free style of playing he was talking about earlier. Being a big fan of Marat, I could only wish him good luck --- go Marat!

• The biggest upset of the day was 10th seed David Nalbandian defeat at the hands of lowly ranked Taiwanese Yen-Hsun Lu in five sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 in a match stretching up to almost fours.

• Other seeded casualties were 16th seed Robin Soderling, who fell to Marcos Bagdhatis; 28th seed Paul Henri Mathieu, who lost to Amer Delic of USA; and 32nd seed Philipp Kohlschreiber who was sent packing by Fabrice Santoro.

• Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller ended the fairytale run of 16-year old local hope Bernard Tomic, winning in four sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.


Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in action during his 2nd round match with Tomic

• Seeded players Djokovic, Roddick, del Potro, Ferrer, Cilic, Wawrinka, Fish and Robredo all progressed to the third round.

• In women’s singles, there could be no more sensational than Jelena Dokic’s upset of 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze, winning in three sets 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. Let us see if she could pull out another surprise when she faces 11th seed Dane Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.


"Come on!" shouts Jelena Dokic after scoring a point during her match against Chakvetadze.

• Sania Mirza’s comeback was derailed by 10th seed Russian Nadia Petrova, losing in straight sets 2-6, 3-6.

• Seeded players headed by top seed Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Dinara Safina, Aliza Cornet, Ai Sugiyama, Marion Bartoli, Vera Zvonareva, and Daniela Hantuchova all booked their places in the third round.

Read the rest of this entry...

US First Lady’s inaugural ball gown by Jason Wu earns plaudits

It took a U.S. First lady to earn his ticket to fame.

This holds true for Jason Wu, an emerging American fashion designer whose creation was chosen by U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama to wear in her husband’s inaugural ball. When Michelle Obama donned the inaugural ball gown he created: an elaborate single-piece floor-length white chiffon, one-shoulder gown covered in fluffy appliques and beading, it earned the nods of many --- so much so that his name was splashed on leading newspapers and became instant fodder to the fashion blogosphere the next day!


(Photo courtesy of Jared Leto from justjared.buzznet.com)

Avril Graham, executive fashion and beauty editor of Harper’s Bazaar, said of Wu’s creation: "For evening Michelle Obama veered from her love of strong colors to don an off-white shade with an ultra-feminine goddess silhouette. The one shoulder look of the season gave a traditional gown a totally on-trend feel. (We saw plenty of this particular detail most recently on the red carpet at Golden Globes.) Her accessories were simple and totally current—drop earrings and bangles. Just right!"





U.S. President-elect Barack Obama must have been so smitten by the looks of his wife that night that when he entered the Neighborhood Ball at Washington’s Convention Center, he proudly asked: “First of all, how good-looking is my wife?” drawing loud cheers from the revelers.

No matter how the U.S. First Lady loves the dress, unfortunately, she can’t keep it because tradition dictates it should be donated to Washington’s Smithsonian Museum’s long-running collection of First Ladies’ fashion items and memorabilia.

What do you think of the U.S. First Lady's gown? Here are more pics:











But who is Jason Wu?



Jason Wu is a 26-year-old Taiwan-born Manhattan-based fashion designer who studied in the prestigious Parsons The New School for Design, notable fashion alumni of which include Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Narciso Rodriguez, and Anna Sui among others. A recipient of Fashion Group International's Rising Star Award in 2008, he started his craft by creating couture clothes for toy dolls and has since made name for himself in dressing human dolls in the likes of Ivanka Trump, Lisa Cant, and Amber Valletta.

Read the rest of this entry...