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...

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...

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...

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...

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)

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...