Novak Djokovic Stands with Serbia on Kosovo Independence

Prominent Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic stood with the Serbian people who have been rioting since Kosovo's declaration of independence, which the U.S. has stood behind. He release this video message (translated by a YouTube commenter):

Hello to all of Serbia and all who are with us
This is the toughest of times in the history of Serbia
and I want to thank eveyone who has come here to this meeting
and to show the world that we are not small and weak,
that we are united and willing to defend what is ours
I am sad I can not be with you physically right now
and I want eveyone to know that my family and myself are with kosovo always
entire situation is very hard on me as entire history of serbian nation is stemming from kosovo
kosovo is serbian and shall remain so forever.

Meanwhile, during the burning of the U.S. Embassy some of the rioting Serbs had this message for CNN:

That clip, AFTER THE JUMP...

Tensions high as Serbs reject Kosovo independence [iht]

(Djokovic via down the line)

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Own Novak Djokovic's Sweaty Pit Stains for Just Under $5000

Attention tennis fans and athletic clothing fetishists, here's a chance to own the discarded item which afforded us all these great shots.

The person who caught one of Nole's shirts that he threw into the stands during the final of the Australian Open is selling it on eBay. The big selling point here seems to be "full of sweat!"

Previously
Djokovic Wins Australian Open, Vows Never to Wear Shirt Again [tr]
Novak Djokovic Upsets Roger Federer to Head into Aussie Open Final [tr]
Terra Cotta Tennis Warriors Unveiled in Shanghai: Federer, Nadal, Davydenko, Djokovic, Roddick, Ferrer, Gonzalez, Gasquet [tr]

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Djokovic Wins Australian Open, Vows Never to Wear Shirt Again

Of course the second part of that headline is simply wishful thinking, but that's how it looked after Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open over the weekend to win his first tennis Grand Slam title and become the first Serbian tennis player to achieve such heights in tennis.

Agence France Presse reports: "His victory was the first Grand Slam final since the 2005 Australian Open not won by Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal with the top-ranked pair dominating the game, claiming the last 11 majors between them. 'I am so proud of myself and to be the first Serbian who won the Grand Slam title,' said Djokovic, who eclipsed Jim Courier as the youngest men's winner at Melbourne Park. 'I was trying to stay there with Jo because I knew that sooner or later with my style of the game I could get in control of the match, which I did in the middle of the second set. Today I was nervous on the start because I was in the strange situation of being the favorite in the final of a Grand Slam. It was dangerous, but I managed to cope with the pressure well and to win.' Djokovic and Tsonga rocked the established order by dumping Federer and Nadal out in the semi-finals to set up a decider unimaginable at the start of the tournament."

We look forward to seeing much more of Djokovic in the future.

Previously
Novak Djokovic Upsets Roger Federer to Head into Aussie Open Final [tr]
Sportrait: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [tr]

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Novak Djokovic Upsets Roger Federer to Head into Aussie Open Final

Serb Novak Djokovic pounced on Roger Federer last night in straight sets (7-5, 6-3, 7-6 ) to upset the world #1 and head into the Australian Open final against yesterdays' upset winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Like Tsonga, Djokovic did not deny the crowd a display of shirtless bravado.

Three more shots AFTER THE JUMP...

Previously
Sportrait: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [tr]
It's Hot in Melbourne [tr]
Martina Navratilova on Gay Men in Tennis [tr]
Terra Cotta Tennis Warriors Unveiled in Shanghai: Federer, Nadal, Davydenko, Djokovic, Roddick, Ferrer, Gonzalez, Gasquet [tr]

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Sportrait: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

There's been a major upset at the Australian Open. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France has risen through the draw and overnight the #38-ranked player in the world put away #2 Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3 6-2 in less than two hours to face either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday. Now that's worth throwing your shirt into the stands for.

Tsonga defeated #14 Mikhail Youzhny and his compatriot, #8 Richard Gasquet to reach the semi-final.

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One more shot, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Terra Cotta Tennis Warriors Unveiled in Shanghai: Federer, Nadal, Davydenko, Djokovic, Roddick, Ferrer, Gonzalez, Gasquet

Novak Djokovic

In September I posted about the upcoming Shanghai ATP Tennis Masters tournament and the Chinese warrior statues that were being created by French sculptor Laury Dizengremel in the likenesses of the tourney's "elite eight". The warriors, of course, are meant to resemble the terra cotta army buried with the Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC.

Well, the tournament got underway yesterday and the sculptures were unveiled. Here they are in all their glory. I can't say that the likenesses are necessarily spot-on (Novak Djokovic comes out looking a bit like Lance Bass) but the player portraits are hot. I've taken some close-ups of the Quentin Shih photograph for your perusal.

Andy Roddick, who reportedly asked for an alteration, as the baseball cap that's part of his public image wasn't included in the first go-round.

The rest, after the jump...

Richard (I'm not gay) Gasquet and Fernando Gonzalez

David Ferrer

Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko

Roger (King Arthur) Federer

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Djokovic Delivers at Davis Cup Play-off

Serbian tennis players Boris Pasanski and Novak Djokovic became quite excited watching their compatriot Janko Tipsarevic battle it out with Australian Lleyton Hewitt at a Davis Cup World Group play-off match today in Belgrade.

Tipsarevic lost the match to Hewitt. The stakes are high in the best-of-five series between Australia and Serbia. Should Serbia win the series, they'll advance to play in the Davis Cup World Group next year, something the team has never achieved.

Djokovic has always been animated in his response to the game, but we're glad he demonstrates the same qualities on the court and off, after the jump...

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Tennis' Top Eight Men Immortalized in Terracotta

The top men's tennis players in the world will meet soon in November in Shanghai to face off in the ATP Tennis Masters tournament. For that occasion, Laury Dizengremel has been commissioned to sculpt the top eight players as terracotta warriors in the mold of the thousands of soldiers in the terracotta army buried with the Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC.

Below, a video of the process...featuring Federer, as well as Nadal and Djokovic.

Who Says Federer Has a Problem With Clay? [abcnews]
(video via kenneth)

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Sportrait: Novak Djokovic

Here's to the runner-up of the U.S. Open.

Novak Djokovic was close so many times to breaking points against the robot from Nike that it was a bit heartbreaking to see the Serb, in his first grand slam final, choke in the clutch time and time again.

But Djokovic is the next big thing in tennis, and the most entertaining athlete the sport has seen in years, and showed that talent off earlier in the weekend with a courtside performance of his imitations of Nadal and Maria Sharapova.

Good on Federer for making history with a 4th consecutive U.S. Open win and a 12th Grand Slam trophy, but last night we were rooting for the underdog.

Here is Djokovic's hilarious post-game performance at the U.S. open and a longer, extended mix shot previously from inside the locker room.

And finally, a last favorite, after the jump...

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