Tennis

Four of the biggest stars in tennis gathered Thursday night in Paris for a quick exhibition.

Roger Federer has joined twitter.

Photo by Beth Wilson Articles: Brain Game: The Art of Nadal – by Craig O’Shannessy (tennis.com) (I thought I’d linked to this before, but I can’t find it now…so, better to link twice than not at all.) News from the French, part III – by Guillaume Willecoq (rolandgarros.com) Keys for Nadal, Sharapova in Paris – via espn.com Nadal back in old routine and looking invincible – by Martyn Herman (nbcsports.com) Burning questions about Serena, Rafael Nadal, more going into French Open – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com) Practising In Paris: Rafa, Roger Reflection – via atpworldtour.com Photos: Stars practice at Roland Garros – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com) Soderling absent but not forgotten at the French Open – by Douglas Robson (usatoday.com). Some nice quotes about Rafa. 2013 Masters 1000 Power Rankings: The Good, The Bad, and the Random (So Far) – by Juan José (changeovertennis.com) Videos/Audio: iB3′s standard “Rafa’s on his way to a tournament” airport footage. And more airport interview footage. Photos: A very nice photoset from Tennis View Magazine on Facebook. Scroll down for some Rafa! Ella Ling’s fab Rafa photos from the Brasil Open. Rafa does social media: Rafa doubted the intentions of the clouds. #MiguelAngelJiménez ya va por su torneo 600! En #Golf es muy complicado entrar en este club tan exclusivo — Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) May 23, 2013 Social media related to Rafa: A vine from the Nike event and another one. [View the story "May 23rd - Rafa in Social Media" on Storify] Other stuff: Looks like we are in for some rough weather at Roland Garros. Get some books to read for the rain delays.

©Colette Lewis 2013-- Urbana, IL-- In the career of a college tennis player, few honors are as coveted as that of All-American status, and on a damp and chilly day on the University of Illinois... For the complete story, click on the title of the post to go to zootennis.com

Rafa had a shortened practice session today. Shortened for two reasons: he was late; it started raining. Here’s a few pictures: Photos by AFP PHOTO/MIGUEL MEDINA and EFE/CORINNE DUBREUIL. Later in the day, he joined a few other career slam holders for a Nike event. Photos by AFP PHOTO/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

(May 23, 2013) With a combined 47 singles Slam titles among them, Nike athletes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova took part in a tennis exhibition at the Espace Clacquesin in Paris prior to the start of Roland Garros. (Click to enlarge) The quartet played tennis on a court lit with black lights for the “Kings of the Lights” Nike promo event, but also enjoyed each other’s company on court in white lights. Young fans also took part in the exhibition, taking court themselves under the black lights. (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) Afterward, the stars posed with fans and answered journalists’ questions.

British doubles pair Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray made it into the semi-finals of Power Horse Cup 2013 in Dusseldorf on Thursday.

Stephanie Vogt is trying to qualify for the French Open and put her tiny home country on the tennis map.

Roger Federer during practice on Thursday at Roland Garros (May 23, 2013) The day has arrived: 17-time Slam winner Roger Federer has officially joined the world of Twitter. At 4:59 pm EDT, Swiss journalist Svenja Mastroberardi tweeted the following, both preparing fans for the arrival of the maestro and dissuading any skeptics. Make sure to follow @rogerfederer — Svenja Mastroberardi (@svenja_mastro) May 23, 2013 Five minutes later and with just over 4,000 followers, the @RogerFederer account broke the silence with a rather humorous caption and “selfie” of the tennis player. A little (blue) bird told me that the place to be is @twitter, so here I am! twitter.com/rogerfederer/s… — Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) May 23, 2013 One hour later and the account has 27,000 followers, and is following five accounts itself: the four Slams and the official ATP World Tour account. Despite still not being officially verified by Twitter, the account is gaining thousands of followers per minute. With the cult-like following of the fake Federer account @PseudoFed, perhaps the thought on many tennis fans’ mind is when these two accounts will hold their first Twitter interaction. If you haven’t experienced the hilarity and humblebrags of the pseudo account, you’re missing out. Just last week after his loss to Rafael Nadal in the Rome final, Roger Federer was asked about the “Twitter world” questioning his service speed. He had the following to say. Q: Roger. You say you are healthy and I am convinced you are. The Twitter world says you are not and the speed of your serve was 174 and the second 160 …..  R. Federer:  160 is that slow for a second serve… Is that slow? Q: It is normal …….. The Twitter world says this. R. Federer:  Is everyone the same opinion. Janowicz serves at 225 but I am not that guy and I work my points differently and the radar is not always the story. Ask Rafa if I served slow and he will silence the Twitter world, your friends. When Federer was describing this “Twitter world,” he didn’t seem to quite grasp the size of this parallel online universe, as described by this reporter: Federer: What is te Twitter world? There’s like thousands of people out there. — Alex Krstanovic (@acabgd) May 19, 2013 Despite his seeming hesitation with Twitter, the @RogerFederer account was officially registered on April 9, 2013, and now follows suit after being the only top tennis player without a Twitter account. Hopefully, he’ll continue his dorky self-tweets and continue to give fans his unique voice. Also, don’t forget about the Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) Federer is holding with fans tomorrow, Friday, May 24th at 1:30 pm EDT. Click here for more info. UPDATE: The @RogerFederer account has now been verified by Twitter.

Alize Cornet swept into the semi-finals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg with a comfortable win over Chanelle Scheepers.