sweet escape

For those who don’t have enough Australian Open required reading (I’ll be the first to admit: I’m tragically behind!), make sure to check out TSF gal pal James LaRosa‘s Sweet Spot throughout the fortnight.

from talent to talons: reining in nole’s appeal

We knew it wouldn’t be long before Nole and adidas put their noggins together to capitalize on the Serb’s high profile. And on the eve of the 2009 Australian Open, they revealed Nole’s Falcon range of shirts and shoes at an aerial court set up in Melbourne’s State Theatre. The defending champion will wear the new products for the first time at the Australian Open.

Nole chose the predator as the logo because he believes his “style of play is just like a falcon hunting”. Yes, it is true: eagles disrobe after killing their prey.

As you may remember, we all got a sneak peek at this line with the shirt Nole wore during the Tennis Masters Cup trophy ceremony. We’re not entirely in love with the logo (too primitive), but we’ll give it a chance to evolve.

Serbian Imelda: The footwear range has five different colorways for the four Grand Slams and the year-ending Masters Series Cup. Nole’ll also get two new clothing colourways for his night matches for the Australian and U.S. Opens.

“The CC Genius is just the shoe I’ve been looking for,” said Nole. “It’s light but has great grip and allows me full movement around the court without compromising on stability and I’m thrilled to lend my name to the first CC Genius shoe.”

Let’s hope this keeps him from switching shoe brands around a certain, ahem, difficult month in the tennis season.

Eagle on my shoulder: The shirts and shorts of the Falcon range are all part of the broader Edge collection (which is totally delicious this season, btw. More on that later!). The white Edge tennis polo, right, has the Falcon logo on the left hand shoulder and the olive stripes matches the color in the shorts.

(In Australia, the Edge polo he wore for his first round match looked like a special make-up, with the olive three-stripe design on the sleeves and a yellow trim on the back collar instead of olive green in the front…)

Edit: His shirt in Australia is actually called the Edge Djoko Crew.

Nole’s night match get-up will be all black with silver stripes, made to match his specially designed silver CC Genius shoe (complete with Falcon logo).

Buy: CC Genius Novak, $130; Edge Djokovic Polo, $50; Edge Bermuda Shorts, $50; all available at shopadidas.com.

tattoo watch: jarkko’s unveiling

Jarkko Nieminen and his tattoo tease has a sequel, apparently. As the Finn collapsed on the court after his 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-2 loss to David Nalbandian in the Sydney International final on Saturday, he let us in on another inking, this time on the underside of his right arm.

(photo by Getty Images)

i’m only trying to help

Since readers can’t seem to make up their minds about whether Andy Murray is bigger than in years past, I thought I’d help out by posting a few more photos.

Do these help? I hope so. You can thank me later!

(photos by Getty Images)

practice makes perfect: roger federer’s 2009 so far

First off, a shout-out to Mikey, whose Timber Palace blog is back in business… If you’re into architecture (or you live in the Pacific Northwest), you should take a peek…

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Nike and Roger Federer are at it again, starting slow in 2009 before slamming us with his day/night outfits for the Australian Open.

More pics: See what he wore in Doha, Kooyong, and for practice sessions and pressers — all

le sigh: nicky kiefer withdraws from aussie open

Nicolas Kiefer has pulled out of this year’s Australian Open because of a left ankle injury he sustained at the Hopman Cup (two weeks ago). He was to face Guillermo Canas in the first round. Instead, Canas will play German qualifier Dieter Kindlmann.

Feel better, Nicolas!

(photo by Getty Images)

practice makes perfect

A quick look at the players’ practice gear as they get ready for next week’s Australian Open.

Ana Ivanovic wears a cute adidas trefoil tee (dotted with blue and white trefoils) as she hits under the watchful eye of “coach” Sven Groenefeld. (Buy: adidas Classic Trefoil Tee, $19.99, eastbay.com.)

More: See the rest — Rafa as our pick for Best in Show; plus Lleyton, Murray, Roddick, Jelena — all

serena’s sydney jewels

Serena Williams‘ stint in Sydney might have been shorter than expected (she bowed out in the semis against eventual champion Elena Dementieva), but she got to prance around in some cute necklaces before her curtain call.

First up is this $2.5-million necklace designed by local jeweler Nic Cerrone.

She replaced it with an “S” pendant for her match against Sam Stosur, which she narrowly won.

And the heart makes an appearance in her loss to Dementieva.

Aussie draw: As the tournament second seed, Serena will possibly face Kuznetsova in the quarters and either Dementieva or Venus in the semis.

(photos by Getty Images)

tattoo watch: jarkko nieminen

Finn de siècle: Is Novak Djokovic‘s 6-4, 7-6 loss to Jarkko Nieminen in the semis of the Medibank International in Sydney a sign that the Serb won’t defend his maiden major title? It must be sophomore slump time!

In case you’re curious, per wikipedia: “Sisu is a Finnish term that could be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.”

Further reading: Here’s Wertheim‘s Aussie Open seed report for SI.

(photo from Getty Images)

there’s always broadway…

Bethanie Mattek is totally like the Michael Jordan of tennis fashion. She can be anywhere on the court (even off it) and hit her mark every time. Even on her deathbed she’ll come up with stuff like this!

By the way, Ms. Mattek, if tennis doesn’t work out, there’s always Broadway.

Thanks to Stephanie Myles over at Open Court for digging up the deets (and pics) of Mattek’s November 2009 wedding to insurance man Justin Sands.

She wore a black Romona Keveza dress and some zebra-print stilettos from Marciano (hmm, nothing from her tennis clothing sponsor, bebe?). And her 5.5 carat engagement ring almost doubled in weight with her 3.5 carat wedding band — made with black and white diamonds to resemble zebra stripes.

Other minutiae: She skipped the Aussie Open to get hitched. When she returns on the court, you’ll see her name on the scoreboard as Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Mazel tov, Bethanie!

(OT) since we all can’t be besties with bret thompson…

I would rather have Milk owner Bret Thompson (<3) make these cookies for me, but since he can’t, I’ll settle for the next best thing. The Los Angeles Times has published a recipe for chocolate chip cookies adapted from the ones he sells at his Beverly Blvd. shop.

Are you without a resolution? Maybe you want to update your wardrobe. Check out Refinery29′s guy’s guide to dressing in 2009.

(Thompson photo via Oishii Eats; bottom image via Refinery29)

a little taste of europe in palm springs

So long, humpback: We are still mourning the loss of Pacific Life as the title sponsor to the combined event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California. Theirs was such a great trophy…

For now we can be distracted by trying to drill the tournament’s new name — the BNP Paribas Open — into our minds and fingers when we blog about it every March. They’re in for the long haul, too: the bank is the event’s sponsor for the next five years.

As expected, there’s a new URL (bnpparibasopen.org) and the old Pacific Life one no longer works (delete it).

fila’s annatomy: the baseline collection

Fila sent out its official announcement earlier this week about signing Russian Anna Chakvetadze onto its roster. Anna was previously with adidas.

The 21-year-old is having a slow start to her 2009 so far, losing her matches at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong, and her first round match in Hobart (to Carla Suarez Navarro).

Country club chic: Anna will wear pieces from the company’s Baseline collection (along with Alfa shoes) at next week’s Australian Open, where she is seeded 17th.

The sea-inpsired collection takes colorful prints from the country club to the pro courts. We weren’t quite ready for the return of this ladies-who-lunch aesthetic; I suspect it’ll take some time for our eyes to adjust. (We eventually did it for Steffi Graf, didn’t we?)

Buy: Skirt, $48; Cap Sleeve Top, $45; Jacket, $68, all at fila.com. Dress, cami tank, racerback tank, sleeveless tank, polo, and pants also available. Items will drop later this month.

(images courtesy of Fila)

checking up on Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick‘s 2009 isn’t so shabby so far. He made it all the way to the finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he lost to Andy Murray 4-6, 2-6.

The American enters next week’s Australian Open as the seventh seed, getting an upward bump because of my poor Kolya‘s left heel injury.

Shop: That white Lacoste tee (with a cobblestone grey croc) is also available in black. Pick it up at lacoste.com for $29.99.

Bonus round: Enjoy the pics!

more on james blake + fila

The Fila camp sent out a release this morning with more details about their new partnership with the un-swooshed James Blake.

The yet-to-be-named collection will incorporate the heritage of the Fila brand with a contemporary twist inspired by Blake’s signature style. And to that end they have started the process. “We have not started designing collection,” they told us by email. “[But] we spent hours w/ James to discuss apparel & footwear w/ our design team before he left for Australia.”

The co-branded collection targeting the active male will be the basis for developing a long-term licensing business for Blake. It’ll include apparel (tennis, golf, fitness, and lifestyle), footwear (performance and lifestyle), plus accessories. Fila and James Blake will also explore other product categories as opportunities arise in the market. (headshaving razors, maybe?)

And just like all great fashion milestones, the collection will debut in New York, with a limited release just before the 2009 U.S. Open. The clothes will be available the following spring.

He’s wearing Collezione: James will be wearing the Collezione collection at the season’s first Major. “Ever since Borg graced the courts of Wimbledon in Fila, I have always been attracted to the Italian style, grace and sophistication of the Fila brand.” He’ll look good in it! Pics of the kit will be posted mañana.

Bad break-up? Either that or Blake’s webmaster was too busy picking his nose while photoshopping these pics on James’ official site. You don’t need to be so obvious about deleting Nike from your life! (Make sure to scroll to the bottom.)

from australia, the french revue!

Not to be outdone by her compatriots Golovin and Llodra, and to the delight of teenage boys — and some teenage girls — everywhere, French teenager Alize Cornet performed her own Lacoste wet t-shirt contest during last week’s mixed doubles match at the Hopman Cup.

It drew ire from officials and Margaret Court (we live in a different world now, ma’am), and the Australian Open will be scrutinizing on-court kits at next week’s event.

What’s the big deal? At least she was wearing a bra! And what’s wrong with see-through anyway? Masha‘s Wimby tuxedo top was essentially the same. And if Rene Zellweger can end up on Style.com’s top 10 for that train wreck Carolina Herrera she wore at the 2009 Golden Globes, so can Cornet. Allez Alize!

The rest: She had some cute outfits this week. Apart from the controversial dress, she has an orange skirt and two black/white tanks with red and blue piping detail. And a delicious orange cap. Check ‘em all out

only a frenchman…

Just when you thought that Michael Llodra‘s all-grey Lacoste kit was a little too Dead Man Walking, he turns it into a Cabaret with one simple move.

(Not that we didn’t expect it; the Australian summer is his time of year to show some skin.)

Scoreline: Llodra lost to David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Sydney International.

sticks and stones may break rafa…

…but what about Andy Murray‘s skin and bones?

British paper Daily Mail thinks that their local Grand Slam hope has emerged from the off-season more buff than ever (look at those guns!) and ready to take on Rafa Nadal (and Tsonga, and maybe Nole and Roger) in the first major of 2009.

Is he really bigger? I can’t tell the difference.

Here’s the before shot, taken at last year’s Australian Open:

(top photo via DM; bottom photo via Getty Images)

sponsorship musical chairs: blake to fila

TSF saved some champagne from our new year celebration (happy 2009, btw) in anticipation of some news from our folks at Fila. Of course, they did not disappoint:

Tennis Week is reporting that James Blake has finally left Nike, and will join Janko and Dima in the stud farm.

Blake’ll make the clothing and shoe debut at the Australian Open; there’s even word that they’ve produced a line inspired by the American. I wonder what they’re basing it on? One can only hope that the creative minds in Baltimore have decided to put the “J-Block” to rest.