Still no more definitive word on David Nalbandian’s coach Francisco Mastelli, who abruptly parted with the Spaniard of his own accord after Nalbandian’s first-round win in Miami. Nalbandian would not give a reason but said he and the man who coached him since December 2005 “remain friends.” One ATP employee suggested jokingly that since the Argentines switch coaches so much, it might be better to not list their coaches in the ATP Player Guide and instead start a website where they could better keep up with the changes.

Most enjoyable media moments in Miami: revered tennis journalist Richard Evans bitching to Bud Collins about finishing third in one of the categories of the U.S. Tennis Writers’ Association Contest behind Paul Fein, who he complains rarely goes to tournaments and performs “copywriting” duties. Evans also refused to participate in the USTWA awards presentation on the stadium court. Or how about Tennis.com’s Pete Bodo, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Charlie Bricker, and Collins arguing the merit of surprising opponents with an underhand serve — a question Bodo posed to Roddick in his post-match conference before receiving an incredulous blank stare from the top-ranked American? The underhand serve, Bud noted, sure worked for Michael Chang in his French Open win over Ivan Lendl. Hard to argue with that.

Thursday’s Andy Roddick v David Ferrer match got a little juice from the video replay challenge in the third set when Roddick challenged a call that was clearly out, but hoped against hope might be in to turn the tide in his three-set loss to the Spaniard. When the replay came up “out” and the […]

Is it just me, or has the addition of instant replay in tennis added personality (or a personality) to the players on the court?

Nothing to me says personality more than watching a player look over at the chair ump and make the replay request. Wow. Riviting. And then we get that reaction of “yeah” when they are right or when they slump their shoulders when they are wrong. What a big hit.

News just in is that Scarlett Johansson was named by FHM readers as the sexiest woman in the world. The new Hollywood “It” girl beat out tennis diva Maria Sharapova, who finished No. 8 in the rankings.

“One of the best things for a woman to hear is that she is sexy. I’d like to thank FHM’s readers for the huge compliment,” Johansson apparently said after earning the top spot.

So did you catch the March Madness excitement this weekend? No, not the tennis - sorry - but i’m talking NCAA basketball.

This weekend showed - er the last two weeks - why this 64-draw event is one of the best shows in all of sports. Upsets where everywhere, buzzer beaters almost non stop and the storylines aplenty. At the end of the day Sunday the tournament was left with zero No. 1 seeds in the Final Four - first time since 1980 - and Yannick Noah’s kid, Joakim, and his Florida Gators as the new tournament favorites along with UCLA, LSU and Cinderella George Mason.

I just on the tennis-x site that they will be having a blogging competition, with the winner earning a spot - read my spot! - on this site as a blogger.

I must say a novel idea, and good luck to whomever takes the crown. Hopefully the tennis-x crew will keep me around but who knows.

Things for Andy Roddick have gone from bad to worse. Unfortunately for the American, he is the story in tennis here in the U.S. Swiss stars Roger Federer and Martina Hingis certainly have been the overall story this year in the sport, stateside we care about stateside players, and our top dog is Roddick.

In case you have never heard of him - and if you live outside of the U.S. and France you probably haven’t - Yannick’s ponytailed son, Joakim, is part of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. Noah is a 6-foot-11 sophomore for the Florida Gators, which thanks to his strong play just won the SEC tournament Sunday.

It is March and even though here in the U.S. the month is reserved for all purposes for College Basketball’s March Madness 64-draw hoop tournament, I prefer the 96-draws of Indian Wells and Miami that showcase the best in tennis.