WEEKEND WINNERS: Fed, Rafa, Kolya, Maria K + Kateryna

Halle - Roger Federer

The 5-time defending Wimby champion made it 5 titles in Halle after easily dismissing homeboy Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 and extending his win streak on grass to a record 59 matches. But with his shaky performance in the French Open final and Rafa's awesome momentum right now, Fed's reign at The All-England Club will be severely challenged this year.

Queen's Club - Rafael Nadal

Note to Roger Federer: BE AFRAID. The Mallorcan Matador made a huge breakthrough and statement this weekend when he became the first Spaniard in 36 years to win a grass-court title by defeating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 7-5, extending his winning streak to 17 straight matches. All of this success bodes will for Rafa at Wimbledon where he will be a towering favorite when the Slam begins next week.

Warsaw - Nikolay Davydenko

Kolya returned to the slippery stuff (anyone know why that makes sense right now? Oh yes, ch-ching!) to claim his third title this year by conquering Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3 in Warsaw. Let's just say the Russian's probably not expecting much to happen in London besides maybe a lot of free time.


Barcelona - Maria Kirilenko

Maria added to her title in Estoril by crushing first-time finalist Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-0, 6-2 in the championship match in Barcelona. I guess she's also looking forward to some serious free time in London, right Kolya?

Birmingham - Kateryna Bondarenko

Kateryna, of the Flying Bondarenkos, took advantage of a weakened draw (Jelena Jankovic + Dinara Safina withdrew) and earned her first professional career title on the green grass of Birmingham with a 7-6(7), 3-6 7-6(4) win over Belgian Yanina Wickmayer. Kat's clearly comfortable on the grass as she won the Wimby junior girls' title over Ana Ivanovic in 2004. Could she be a darkhorse candidate in London?

(images via Getty)

Behind-the-scenes of infamous WTA marketing campaign

So finally we get to see what all the hype was about...

Here are some behind-the-scenes images and video from the infamous WTA Tour "Superheroes" marketing campaign photoshoot that Maria "Shriek"apova made a public stink about recently. Unfortunately we don't get to see Maria in action, but we do get Maria Kirilenko, Ana Ivanovic, Venus + Serena Williams, and Jelena Jankovic.

ReRe enjoyed her experience saying,

This has been a fun experience and I love anything in front of the camera! Matthieu is a great director and I could really follow his vision.” She added, “This is a great campaign for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and it’s another sign that women’s tennis is the leading sport for all female athletes worldwide.

(images via Getty)

FASHION FIX: Kirilenko makes stylish moves in Estoril

Maria Kirilenko is battling ballers in Estoril this week while the top ladies are gathered in Charleston for the Bausch + Lomb Championships. The Russian took down Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

I have to say I'm a bigger fan of Maria's fashion than her game. Though her counter-punching ways can go awry, her tennis stylish gear from adidas by Stella McCartney always hits the mark especially the Tennis Polo White top she's working here.

Can her game catch up?

(image via AP)

FASHION FIX: Morigami battles Kirilenko in stylish showdown

Fashion fight: Here's a matchup that was surely easy on the eyes - fashionably speaking. Japan's Akiko Morigami battled No. 27 seed Maria Kirilenko for a spot in the third round at the Australian Open. Although the Russian dismantled Akiko 6-1, 6-1, the fashion scoreline was much closer.

Both women showed up in one of our favorite trends -the flirty skirt. Maria was working a white tank-top and yellow skirt from Stella McCartney for adidas while Akiko showed up in a super-cute pink, white, and black Fila number. LOVE.

(images via Getty)

Venus Williams wins Korean Open, dines on cow tongue

Venus Williams made a return to the winner's circle this week at the Korean Open. Playing for the first time since her semifinal US Open loss to eventual champ Justine Henin, V played sketchy tennis at stretches to defeat Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. The finalists donned traditional Korean clothing for the presentation ceremony.

Here's what V had to say in her blog about the dress:

"I really love the dress they gave me after the final in Seoul. I was thinking about when I'd have another chance to wear it - but I don't know if I can even get it back on! The reality is probably I can't wear it again, but it was mine to keep, so I have it with me. They fitted it for me too, which was great, but with that in mind, I don't know if any other woman can wear it!"

The World No. 8 celebrated the win with some late night karaoke and a dinner that included cow tongue:

"I'd have to say the highlight of my week was the final; it was just a great final, so intense - but the most interesting part was probably getting coerced into eating tongue at this Korean barbecue last night. I almost lost it - twice. Don't get me wrong, I loved the food all week, and I ate lots. But the restaurant owner brought us some delicacies and of course, there was cow tongue. He told me to dip it in the sauce, which was vinegar, and I really don't like vinegar at all. It was just miserable! But I made it through."

(source)

Maria Kirilenko trades out adidas for a sari at the Sunfeast Open

Taking a page out of Daniela Hantuchova's fashion book, Russia's Maria Kirilenko traded out her Stella McCartney for adidas and threw on a sari for a press conference at the Sunfeast Open. Maria is the No. 4 seed at the tournament and moved into the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Ivanova.

+ TUESDAY NETCORDS: Venus, Amelie, Martina vs. Anna...ESPN grabs Bud, Ana remembers and more

(image courtesy of rampant_media)

- Power play: The WTA Tour introduced the "power index" at last week's Acura Classic to rate the hardest hitters on the women's side. The index takes into account a player's fastest groundstroke (forehand or backhand), first serve, second serve, first-serve return, second-serve return and overhead or volley. Rankings at the Acura Classic: No. 1? Venus Williams. No. 2? Maria Kirilenko - they may need to check their meter.

- Talking to the press in Carson, CA for this week's East West Bank Classic Serbian World No. 5 Ana Ivanovic described the bombings in Belgrade, saying "I still remember the first night we went into a cellar because we didn't know what to expect," [...] "At first we were very scared because we didn't know what to expect, but later they explained that they were aiming only at military targets. Still, there was quite a bit of collateral damage, but we still tried to live as normally as possible."

- Double vision: Swiss Martina Hingis definitely sees similarities between her game and Russian Anna Chakvetadze saying, "She’s very smart around the court and she has good vision. You don’t see anything specific that she’s winning matches [with] so I definitely see some similarities." We agree and we like.

- Take that NBC: Sports network giant ESPN gave struggling NBC the proverbial finger by hiring legendary sports writer (and tennis Hall of Famer) Bud Collins after Collins was unceremoniously dumped by the peacock network during this year's Wimbledon. Gotta love it...

- Frenchie Amelie Mauresmo, who's having a less than stellar year as it is, has pulled out of the upcoming Tier I Rogers Cup in Canada and the Pilot Pen in New Haven, CT to recover from her appendectomy in March. You can scratch her from your US Open office pools this year.

THE LOW DOWN: Tennis stars who play with wood

An interesting editorial in the current Tennis magazine by Douglas Robson is a study on the temperament of current players on the tours. Robson carried a few wooden rackets and visited the practice courts of Indian Wells and the Sony Ericsson Open with hope of getting a few of the players to take a crack at hitting with wood.

Who were the most personable and approachable players? Take a look:


Swiss Martina Hingis, an old school player in her own right, had this to say about hitting with wood:

“You'd have to get used to it and find out the strength and weakness of the racket because the strategy would definitely have to be a little different,” [...] “You get the flat ball, so you'd have to be more aggressive [and] try to hit winners sooner."

Spin merchant Russian Sveta Kuznetsova, when asked if she could possibly beat a current player with the wood, said:

“Yeah,” [...] “Depends against who, but I think I would.”

Cutie Novak Djokovic and his 2 hitting partners played a series of tiebreaks with the wood. Always the "Djoker" the Serb had this to say:

“It's the first time in my life,” [...] “When we started to play, I tried to play as players did 20 years ago – the flat hits, chip and charge… volleys, slice. Then I tried to hit as we do today with spin and it was pretty good. I won I think three dinners."

And, clearly not the modest type, Daniela Hantuchova said:

"It was coming off the racket pretty well...I always thought I'd be quite good playing maybe 100 years ago."

Not a surprising bunch, at least to us. But more interesting was who gave wood the thumbs down:


It makes us wonder why they refused to experiment. They are obviously too young to have actually played with wooden rackets so why the disinterest? Too intensely focused or too self-conscious??

We think it would be great to see modern players compete with old technology in an exhibition match. Some players need to appreciate the history...and lighten up.

FASHION FIX: The short(s) of it all

We've really been loving the flirty skirt moment happening on the women's WTA Tour this summer. The trend continues at this week's Acura Classic with Maria Kirilenko in Stella McCartney for adidas and Tataina Golovin in Lacoste. For all the athleticism and power these players possess, this style adds some much needed elegance to the sport.

But we've also noticed a disturbing trend looking to take the spotlight from the skirts: shorty-shorts. Recent perpetrators include usually fashion-conscious players like Venus "V" Williams (who we know owns a flirty skirt) and slender Slovak Daniela Hantuchova. We're all for minimalism and comfort, but this looks too boyish (and it seems we're not the only ones thinking this way.)

Our memories remind us that Russian Elena Dementieva was the first player we spotted wearing fashion shorts back in the day.

BEST LOOK: Flirty skirts or shorty-shorts? Tell us!