Arrivals at the Sony Open Player Party

Players arrived at Sony Open Player Party 2013 held at the JW Marriott Marquis on Tuesday in Miami, Florida.

Missing from the tournament are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who won the BNP Paribas Open last week.

Maria Sharapova who was also recently victorious at the BNP Paribas Open made an appearance at the players' party along with world no.1 Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska among others.

Maria Sharapova is aiming for a rare double at the Sony Open. Only two players in WTA history have won back-to-back Indian Wells and Key Biscayne titles: Steffi Graf (1994 and 1996) and Kim Clijsters (2005).

If you bet on sports you might want to follow the tournament closely.

Novak Djokovic who is the favourite to win the tournament here is set to make a comeback after losing in the semifinals at Indian Wells last week. His 22-match win streak was ended by Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro.

Djokovic will try to claim his fourth Miami title in Key Biscayne while Serena Williams attempts to take her sixth career crown at the $8.5 million ATP and WTA event that began since Tuesday. First-round byes are given to seeded players.

Meanwhile, Victoria Azarenka is still dealing with a nagging, painful injury to her right ankle. After withdrew from Indian Wells last week, Azarenka will enter the Sony Open without a loss. However it is still unsure whether she'll be able to play her first tournament match on Friday.

Another notable player to watch is Spaniard David Ferrer who drew strong contender Del Potro in his quarter at the Sony Open. After a spectacular start to the 2013 season, Ferrer suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Nadal in the finals of Acapulco. That seemed to drag his disappointment with him to Indian Wells. With Del Potro in his half, it could be extremely hard for Ferrer to regain back his no.4 ranking from Nadal.

Looks like the tournament will not lose its shine without Nadal and Federer.

Victoria Azarenka

David Ferrer

Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy

(Images via zimbio.com)

Fernando Verdasco: Valentine's Day with Jarah Mariano

Fernando Verdasco flew to Memphis to have dinner with his model girlfriend Jarah Mariano on Valentine's Day. How romantic!

The couple has been together since 2010.

Previously, Verdasco had a high profile relationship with Ana Ivanovic which lasted for only a few months.

(Image via Fernando Verdasco's Twitter page)

Rafael Nadal, Juan Monaco: Winners for best bromance and in doubles match

Rafael Nadal and Juan Monaco are best friends. Last night, they were not only the winners for best bromance on the ATP but also on clay court.

Their mutual understanding for each other gave them the first doubles match win at the VTR Open. They won easily in just over an hour defeating the Czech pair of Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Dlouhy 6-3 6-2.

This is Nadal's first win and appearance in a tournament since June 28 when he was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by qualifier Lukas Rosol.

Nadal will kick off his singles campaign on Thursday against Argentine Federico Delbonis.

(Images via Juan Monaco's Facebook page, Sina Sports)

Kevin Anderson undergoes LASIK vision correction

"#Nomorefoureyes" as he puts it in his Tweet today.

Kevin Anderson decided to ditch his contact lenses and glasses and "go under the knife" to correct his vision.

The South African is absent from the Davis Cup match this week. Last year, he has defended his decision to skip the tournament citing financial concerns, along with the risk of injury, as the reasons for not playing.

Meanwhile Frenchman Benoit Paire paid a visit to the dentist. He'll be cheering for his countrymen as he didn't make the Davis Cup team.

(Images via Twitter)

Rafael Nadal meets President Sebastian Pinera, Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez at La Moneda Palace

Rafael Nadal arrived in the Chilean capital of Santiago this morning.

The first thing on his schedule since he landed was a visit to the Palace of La Moneda for a meeting with President Sebastian Pinera. Also attended the function were Chilean Olympic medalists Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez.

Arrives in the official car

Waves like a prince

This is Nadal's first official public appearance since Wimbledon

A happy smile

Nadal, Massu and Gonzalez on the way to meet and greet the President

After the event, Nadal headed off for his workout preparing for his first appearance in Vina del Mar tournament since Wimbledon.

(Images via Soychile.cl, Rafaholics)

The wig prank continues

Caroline Wozniacki is the latest player to pull a wig prank on Facebook. However, unlike Victoria Azarenka who copied Maria Sharapova, Wozniacki is a bit more original by putting on a black one.

Still on Wozniacki, she'll be on the February issue of Expatriate Lifestyle (Malaysia version). There will be an exclusive interview inside. I haven't purchase the magazine yet but I will share the content once I get hold of it.

(Images via Wozniacki's Facebook page, Expatriate Lifestyle)

Mom-to-be Kim Kardashian hangs out with Serena Williams

Kim Kardashian enjoyed a night out with girl pal Serena Williams without boyfriend Kanye West. They had a dinner at Nobu restaurant in Los Angeles.

"I simply cannot get out of bed," Williams tweeted earlier that evening, to which Kardashian replied, "You better! We have dinner tonight!"

Despite her exhaustion after long weeks at the Australian Open, Williams ended up having a great time with Kardashian.

They even took a picture together and Kardashian tweeted "Fun girls night!!! But where's my nose @serenawilliams ??? Lol #tooflashy."

"Such a fun night," Williams agreed. "Love you!"

(Via US Magazine; Images via Tennisforum.com)

Infographic: Who are the social media champions of Australian Open 2013?

The guys at IBM has analysed social media posts across Twitter, Facebook, news sites, blogs and videos to understand fan sentiment for the first time at the Australian Open this year.

Some of the predictable facts are Maria Sharapova's first tweet (she has garnered more than 115k followers so far), Sloane Stephens tripled her Twitter followers since defeating Serena Williams and Bernard Tomic being the most popular Australian player at the Grand Slam.

There are a couple of surprises though. Firstly, Victoria Azarenka's negative sentiment is way lower than I expected and secondly, Li Na is not even listed among the Top 5 popular female players ranked by number of positive mentions. It doesn't make sense to me.

So, what do you think?

Click the image to enlarge

(Image via @desteed of IBM)