Armani released its newest men’s underwear ad this week and it features men’s tennis superstar Rafael Nadal in just his jeans and manties, as he shows off his abs and whatever else it is that he thinks he should be proud of. So there you have it, ladies. You get some candy on With Leather today. But I don’t know what the big deal is – Oooooooh, he’s Spanish and a phenomenal athlete and wealthy and exotic and “in shape” and young and handsome and barely at the peak of his game. Big freaking whoop.

Let me ask you this – can Nadal walk into almost any bar in downtown Orlando and get a beer within 30 seconds? OK, he probably could, but until he does, he can bite me because I’m a real man, thank you very much.

Stupid sexy video after the jump…

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Over the weekend, the world’s top-ranked tennis player and Tiger Beat Man of the Year, Rafael Nadal, defeated his bitter rival Roger Federer to win the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition, marking the beginning of the 2011 ATP season and the end of days for football. The practice tournament featured Nadal, Federer, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis. Maybe next year, terrible American tennis players!

Since 2009, the Mubadala tournament has served as a PR launch for the ATP, as it shows the world how exciting the sport of tennis can be by having its top two stars defeat young up-and-comers, while everyone plays at a level somewhere between “Meh, there might be girls watching” and “Strictly half-assed.” But the real promotional fun doesn’t take place on the actual court, as much as a fake court that is placed in a unique location to give citizens of Doha, Qatar (the WTC exhibition was played in Nermal’s least favorite city, Abu Dahbi) a chance to witness the playful nature of tennis’ top rivalry.

For this weekend’s tournament, Nadal and Federer boarded a floating court in open water and they proceeded to smack the crap out of the ball. Or they lightly slapped it back and forth with the fear that they could drown with one poor step. Either way, I’m sold. Go tennis!

This year’s promotional effort after the jump, as well as the 2008 and 2009 excitement…

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While you were getting hammered, indulging in delicious barbecue, and doing other American things, the Wimbledon final was getting played out across the pond. 2nd ranked Rafael Nadal beat 12th ranked Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to seal the victory. I have no idea what those numbers mean. Could they be the number of homoerotic grunts each player made each set, perhaps? Probably not, but I have absoloutly no interest in knowing.

And when it ended, Nadal marked his victory with a celebratory somersault. That endless energy, and so many superb strokes, allowed the No. 2-seeded Nadal to outclass No. 12 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Sunday for his second Wimbledon trophy and eighth Grand Slam title overall.

Sunday’s contest was hardly a classic. More like a coronation — or, at the very least, confirmation that Nadal is elbowing his way into any conversation about the best players in tennis history. His eight titles at major tournaments pushes him past John McEnroe and ties Nadal with quite a heady group that includes Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl. –ESPN

Another of those players in the conversation for best player in tennis history is Roger Federer. But, his time in England was disappointing. The 16-time grand slam champion fell to number three in the ATP rankings. That will give Roger some food for thought while he’s diving into his Scrooge McDuck-esque money locker. Read the rest of this entry »

I swear to God this is my last tennis post of the day, but it’s a good one. It’s the pride of Switzerland [Heyyy --Ed.] Roger Federer chasing down a ball and returning it cross-court. Through his legs, with his back to the court. It’s really not that amazing when you realize that he shaves his ass the same way. He’ll play Juan Martin Del Potro in the final, who beat Rafael Nadal in the semis. I guess that ends the debate about who the world’s No. 1 is on the men’s zzzzzz. Ah, tennis. via.

The Super Bowl blotted out all other sporting events this weekend, and that’s too bad*, because there was some outstanding action in other arenas.

RAFAEL NADAL IS A BADASS – Nadal, whose five-set semifinal match was the longest in Australian Open history (5 hours, 14 minutes), had one day less to prepare for the final than Roger Federer, and Nadal still beat him — in five sets that took almost four and a half hours.  Then Federer cried.  Awesome.

GEORGES ST-PIERRE: ALSO A BADASS — GSP’s domination of a completely overmatched BJ Penn at uFC 94 started talk of the French Candian taking on middleweight champion Anderson Silva for the sport’s next “superfight.”  However, the fight I’m looking forward to most is Jon Jones versus anyone at all.  His unanimous decision over Stephan Bonner was the most entertaining fight of the night.

HOCKEY, BASKETBALL STILL GOING ON – I just wanted to make them feel special.  Just eleven days until the NBA’s All-Star weekend, so that’s something to kind of look forward to.  I guess.

*not really

I wasn’t planning on writing an update on the scorching Australian Open today, then I saw Rafael Nadal’s Rambo face, and, well, I had to share.

Nadal (rawr!) continued his domination of the men’s bracket — he has yet to lose a set, by beating Frenchman Gilles “Jill” Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the semifinals, where he’ll face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams is the lone American remaining in the field; the other three semifinalists — Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, and  Vera Zvonareva — are all Russian.

Serena advanced by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in a match that began with the arena’s roof open before temperatures reached 107° (in excess of 130 on the court) and officials decided to close the roof.  Oh yes, you read that correctly.  “Hey, it’s 120 degrees on the court. Should we turn the air-conditioning on?”  “Nah, let’s wait until gets f-ckin’ hotter.”