Rahal meets Federer, other tennis stars

Fresh off a podium finish (3rd) in this past Sunday's Champ Car World Series event at Road America, Graham Rahal took a break from the twists and turns of his sport on Tuesday to enjoy pro tennis in his home state of Ohio at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

Following a 27-mile morning bike workout, Rahal, who drives the No. 2 Medi | Zone car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, drove from his hometown of New Albany, Ohio to the Cincinnati event. He watched a number of matches and met several top ATP players including Roger Federer, James Blake and Novak Djokovic, who is fresh off a victory at the most recent Masters event in Montreal where he beat Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Federer.

"It was a thrill to talk about tennis and racing with these guys, particularly Roger, who is very knowledgeable about open-wheel racing," Rahal said. "Of course, for obvious reasons, I particularly enjoyed watching Andy Roddick drill serves at 140 miles per hour!"

Rahal, the youngest podium (top-three) finisher in the history of the Champ Car World Series following his second place finish in Houston, also discussed his upcoming Champ Car European races in Belgium and Holland with the Swiss Federer and Serbian Djokovic. Rahal was a tournament guest of fellow Ohio residents Paul and Bruce Flory, who run the Cincinnati event.

Rahal will jump back into his car on Wednesday to drive to Detroit, where he will make a special announcement on behalf of the Champ Car World Series. He then will attend the International Motorsports Hall of Fame induction ceremony as a guest of Bridgestone. Champ Car World Series