Feels kinda awkward, right ReRe? For the first time ever, no American will be in the top ten come the release of the ATP and WTA rankings tomorrow. The sadder note? Serena Williams — who hasn’t played a match since Wimbledon last year — was the lone remaining Yank in either men’s or women’s top ten. Do you care? Tell us what you think about the lastest American tennis woe.
More: Oracene says no S or V at FO
(Image by kay ef via Flickr)
FYI: No bedazzled busts for the ballfolks at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open. Ellesse covered skin in classy, classic outfits that don’t distract from the matches themselves. But we’re glad to see that they’re still using male models — or at least ones worthy of modeling — as part of the roster.
Finals: The final four are set, with top seed Rafa (d. Federer 5-7, 6-1, 6-3) squaring off against No. 2 Nole Djokovic (d. Bellucci 4-6, 6-4, 6-1). On the women’s side, Vika Azarenka defeated Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-2 and will play Petra Kvitova, who upset Li Na 6-3, 6-1.
(image via madrid-open.com)
What’s good design without good people: Designer James Huniford, Iman and GMA‘s Lara Spencer. (Getty)
For the few fervent TSF readers we have out there (what, are there a couple dozen of you?), you’ll know that our TSF East team (that would be me, Nick) worked at Housing Works for two years in SoHo. The AIDS non-profit has a different way of doing things with their social entreprenuerial outlets and also hosts one heck of a party, which is where I found myself on Thursday night.
The Design on a Dime event happens every spring and brings together interior designers from across the industry. Nate Berkus was a host this year (he’s shorter in person than you would think, but the hair doesn’t disappoint!) and brought together a few dozen designers to put together rooms (bathrooms, kitchens, living and bed rooms) that are then for sale — that’s right, every item in each room, from each lamp to table to painting to rug — is for sale. And all the money goes back to Housing Works’ AIDS programming.
As I volunteered on Thursday night, I got to tour around with Bravo’s Andy Cohen and go through a couple rooms with him. We debated on a couple chairs that he was eyeing, and when I saw him later he whispered “I got that chair!” with a little bit of hesitation in his voice. I approve, Andy. The piece he bought was a striped deck chair with gorgeous, 70s-inspired dark wood in the arms and legs. A picture? Don’t have one. But my fave item of the whole night (I think it was retailing for $1,000) was a Cohen-influenced piece of art: the original six from The Real Housewives of New York City. Knock a zero off that price and I’m there!!!
Ramona and Alex made (late) appearance at the event, and though we couldn’t get the gals to go pose by their own portraits, you can bet that they were making the party rounds. More drama: If you haven’t been following the Sampras-Agassi blow up recently, it’s reached the level of Real Housewives dramatics. Jeez! These boys could even tire out the Countess!
For New Yorkers: The Free Public Sale goes on today through 6 PM
More shopping: NYMag‘s full line-up of New York sales this weekend
Tennis, too: It’s been a good year for Blake Strode. Last year, the now-23-year-old looked bound for (Harvard!) law school before entering the USTA’s first ever national play-in for a spot at the U.S. Open qualifying draw. He won nine matches to claim his spot in the qualies, where he won his first round match before bowing out. Not bad, eh? Well the journeyman is still at it in 2011, making a second go around at the playoff starting next weekend at Yale, the site of the New England Sectional. Plus: Blake’s ATP page
(Painting image by TSF)
Hitter in chief: Before President Obama had to prove to the world where he was born, take on Donald Trump or take down Osama bin Laden … he was playing a little tennis. The commander in chief participated in a little 10 and Under tennis at the White House as part of the Easter Egg Roll activities on the Monday after the holiday, April 25.
At right you can see Chris Evert rallying with the prez and at the bottom left is Katrina Adams, a former pro and current on-air talent for the Tennis Channel. The 10 and Under activities were part of Mrs. Obama’s active Roll day for the “Let’s Move!” campaign. If you look closely, you’ll notice the prez is, indeed, a lefty.
More: The USTA is giving away a free 10 and Under tennis kit everyday until the U.S. Open. Click for a chance to win one for your family
(Image provided by the USTA)
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, TSF asked a few of the ladies on the WTA tour what their plans are for the special day. Monica Niculescu, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Johanna Larsson, and Casey Dellacqua chimed in — these gals are adorable! — so read their responses after the cut…
As if any of these “shirtless” posts are off-topic!
Wilhemina model Caleb Halstead shot by Matthew Scrivens for Armani Exchange‘s summer 2011 campaign.
(photo by Matthew Scrivens via Chic Report)
One less for Tattoo Watch to keep tabs on now that pseudo-tramp-stamped Austrian Stefan Koubek has announced his retirement.
The 34-year-old ATPer, ranked 261st, plans to finish his pro career off with an exhibition match on July 30. “I wanted to play Roland Garros and Wimbledon one more time but I won’t make it,” he told the press. “Once you’ve decided to quit, you lose your motivation.”
More: Here are pics we took of Koubek back in March. Yes, you saw that correctly: it’s a chinese character superimposed over a tribal pattern. He has his cake and eats it, too!
(photos by TSF)
Good to see an American presence deeper into a clay tournament, but it had to end at some point: Li Na beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. (Video: See how Li has been training on the dirt)
Going forward: Li’s semifinal opponent will be either Kvitova or Cibulkova, both of who had huge scalps this week: Zvonareva for the former and Kuznetsova for the latter. (Draw: Mutua Madrid Open Women’s Draw)
UA: Bethanie — with her best lothario make-up — already showed off the purple version of this stripey Under Armour tank, and here it is in the black/white colorway.
(Image by Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images)
You know it’s time to get a haircut when…
Loving the mini-bangs, Andy.
Madrid: Fourth seed Murray ran into the Thomaz Bellucci train at this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. The Brazilian is still in it, nabbing a semifinal spot after upsetting 7th seed Tomas Berdych 7-6 (2), 6-3. Bellucci will play the winner of Ferrer/Djokovic and Nadal, who beat Llodra, will face either Federer or Soderling. (Draw: The Madrid Open Men’s Bracket)
Look down: As hypnotizing as it is, look away from Muzz’s fuzz for a sec and check out his fun blue adidas polo, part of their Barricade group and exclusive to Andy. Loving the green detail in the placket. Buy: adidas Men`s Barricade Traditional Tennis Polo; $51.99; tennisexpress.com.
(image via Getty Images)
Michael Llodra is the lone Lacoste man at this week’s Mutua Madrid Open, where he’s facing Rafal Nadal in the quarters after taking out Daniel Gimeno-Travers 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). (The rest: Mutua Madrid Open Men’s Draw)
Polos: The guys are switching from their classic solid polos to these, of the chest-striped variety. We prefer it in blue; works better against the orange clay.
Buy: Lacoste Super Dry Chest Stripe Tennis Polo; $85; in blue and white colorways; TE.
(Llodra image by Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images; Wawrinka image via madrid-open.com)
We won’t even bring up pre-match sex: Third seed Francesca Schiavone‘s prep for a defense of her French Open title continued to sputter as she was ousted by Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the third round of this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. (Schiavone lost her first clay event — Stuttgart — to Radwanska.) Up next for Mattek, who also upset Ivanovic in the opening round, is eighth seed Li Na. With Zvonareva and Caro both out, we’re picking Cibulkova to come out of that half. What do you think? (Browse: Mutua Madrid Open Women’s Singles Draw)
Video: Bethanie took some time in Madrid to soak up some local color. Here’s a video of her and hubby Justin getting their caricatures drawn. She really wanted that dimple in there, eh? (What, no eyeblack?) Click on the image above to watch.
Clothes: Under Armour prints can get pretty busy, but we’re loving this one that’ll stay around through the summer. Buy: UA Summer Print Tank; white; $49.99; TW.
More: Two other photos from the Mattek/Schiavone match after the cut…
Helping out with the Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief is still very much in the minds of the folks at oki-ni, who’ve amassed a great raffle of limited-edition items from the brands they carry: Thom Browne donated astronaut helmets he made for the models of his spring/summer ’11 show; NN07 gave a sample Japanese indigo pique shirt; and Bernhard Willhelm contributed four Japanese headbands. Full list of prizes available on the raffle page. (TSF Vault: Fila x Kim Clijsters design fundraising shirt for Japan)
View: The Thom Browne Space Race-themed Spring/Summer 2011 collection, complete with shark-patterned blazers and shorts! Browne was also the one who had tennis on his mind while dreaming up a Spring 2009 presentation.
(TB runway image via gq.com; TB helmet image via oki-ni.com)
16-Love your look: The folks at 16-Love were kind enough to hand over a couple shots of Chandler Massey, one of the stars of the new film.
More Love: Co-star Lindsey Shaw on Chandler’s abs + more | TSF Vault: Shirtless
(Photos provided by 16-Love)
Feeling colorful: It’s nice to see some color in Midtown Manhattan every once and a while — away from Times Square, that is. The Desigual store on 35th and 6th Avenue, just below Bryant Park, gives spring a new feeling in the city. The Spanish clothing co. gets pretty good reviews for their store in SoHo, but as one Yelper notes: the store “isn’t friendly for budget shoppers.”
Summertime signage: We know you were curious about what the adidas store would launch off its blank canvas from earlier this week. Looks like they’re set for summertime, and if you can’t quite make out those faces, don’t worry — none of them are major athletes. Just models making the store look pretty.
After the jump: Uniqlo gets in the tennis swing, and not just for Kei. (more…)
From left to right: Lindsey Black, Chandler Massey, Lindsey Shaw and Susie Abromeit, a former Duke player. (Photo provided by 16-Love)
In the new tennis-centric movie 16-Love, Lindsey Shaw plays Ally Mash, a top-ranked junior player who is injured and forced to lead the teen life she never had before. (Jealous, Capriati??) While the movie is geared more to the ABC Family crowd than the TSF one, Shaw delightfully reminds us of a younger a Andrea Petkovic – as an actress, of course. The 22-year-old’s best known cred is probably her work in Pretty Little Liars and she co-stars alongside a shirtless-post worthy (don’t you worry folks, it’s coming!) Chandler Massey, who has done TV work on Days of Our Lives, One Tree Hill and other projects.
Shaw took time out of her busy sched to chat with TSF on email. Check out her hilarious musings below.
TSF: A lot of the tennis action was filmed at La Costa in San Diego, where a pro event takes place. What did you think of training there? Did you soak that in a little bit? See any big-time tennis players or teaching pros training?
Lindsey Shaw: La Costa was great, mostly because I could wake up and walk to set from my hotel room. It’s harder to be late when you sleep 100 yards away from the set. It was always fun to come to set every morning because there were always a variety of other guests that were out for their morning tennis lesson or game. There was a lot of active tennis energy around. The environment was immersed in the story, so to speak. The courts were so much fun to get to work on. I felt kind of epic walking onto the court every time because of how grand it all felt. Definitely soaked in the energy of past players and spectators who had been there. I didn’t see any big-time players or pros on the courts there, but being at La Costa and dressed in my tennis gear, I certainly felt like a big tennis deal most of the time … I think that counts.
TSF: Big deal, indeed. Another big deal is Chandler Massey, who is your co-star. What was the best part of working with him?
LS: His abs. Definitely.
TSF: We’re jealous. The worst part?
LS: The worst part of working with Chandler Massey was constantly battling the star power of his abs.
TSF: If you could use a tennis racquet to do something other than play tennis with, what would you use it for? Gardening? Air guitar?
LS: If I wasn’t playing tennis with my tennis racquet, I would assume/hope that the racquet would be infused with superpowers I could use for the world’s protection and occasionally my own amusement.
TSF: Who is your favorite tennis player?
LS: Roger Federer.
TSF: You’re not a tennis buff. What sort of tennis training did you do for this movie?
LS: I had no tennis training before shooting 16-Love. When I found out I booked it, I was both excited and anxious about portraying an athlete at the top of her game. I immediately started working with great tennis coaches a couple hours a day which continued all the way up to the first day of shooting. Unfortunately, as any tennis player knows, tennis is not mastered in the 15 hours of training I got. We brought in an awesome double for a lot of the big tennis matches. But I certainly got worked across the court as well! For every 50 shots, I think one landed where I intended it [to]. It was such a whirlwind, wonderful experience to be faced with such a physical challenge within a world I knew very little about prior to this project. I offer myself up to all tennis players out there, I did my best!
TSF: What’s the funniest moment you can recall in the shooting that involved tennis? A fall? A racquet to the head?
LS: The funniest moments shooting the tennis were the times when I had to be really intense and immersed in a match and I completely missed the ball. I looked like such a pro, and then it came crashing back to me every time I actually had to handle the racquet that I was not really a sports star. Also, all the tennis scenes where Chandler Massey had to downplay his real, mad tennis skills and I got to act like I was schooling him were pretty entertaining.
TSF: Imagine you’re given the chance to play Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon. What would you wear?
LS: If I were playing Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon, I would wear the exact outfit she was wearing to psyche her out.
Shaw’s advice for Venus, her battle cry against Regis Philbin and her favorite music after the cut. PLUS: See the signed hat that 16-Love wants you to win. Click for more. (more…)
Nole‘s winning streak is now at 30, the latest being his opening round at the Mutua Madrid Open against Kevin Anderson. We’re not really seeing any threats in his quarter (or even half) of the draw this week. What do you think? (Draw: Mutua Madrid Open Men’s Singles)
(image via Getty Images)
Here’s supermodel Mark Vanderloo promoting the Lexus CT 200h Hybrid at this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. I love that guys sprawled on cars is becoming a thing. Sex sells, I guess?
(image by Eduardo Parra/WireImage)
At least he looking better with age. 2003 French Open Champ Juan Carlos Ferrero got bounced out of this week’s Mutua Madrid Open in the first round by Thiemo De Bakker 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. This, after his recent return from seven months in the sidelines recovering from knee surgery.
“Physically I’m not very well,” explained the former World No. 1. “The situation is quite tough. I think it’s difficult to accept it but if the pain continues throughout the year, I suppose that in Valencia I will announce my retirement.”
Valencia: ATP Profile. Valencia is JCF’s hometown and he’s going to be the tourney director for the event.
Madrid: De Bakker is in the same quarter as Ferrer and Nole. See how it’s all playing out here.
(images via Getty Images and madrid-open.com)
At LAX on May 2, 2011.
As the pics from the “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” Costume Institue Gala have trickled in, everyone’s showing images of the ladies in their wonderful attire (see: Vogue‘s best dressed), so — aside from the Brookyn (fab!) and Serena (oy) — we’ve instead opted to showcase the dashing gents who attended as arm candy to their equally gorgeous gals-in-tow; as designers to the muses; or on their own.
But still, we couldn’t resist: the end of our list has some honorable lady mentions: Michelle Williams in Miu Miu; Janelle Monae in Chanel, Chloë Sevigny in McQueen, and Karolina Kurkova in a Jean-Paul Gaultier dress that gives Venus Williams‘ underwear gimmicks a run for its money. As for Beyoncé‘s furry boobs, we’re sorry. Look away if you have to!
Photos: The men of the McQueen gala, and then some…
