In case you haven’t noticed, (ex-) Croatian sensation Ivan Ljubicic is no longer being sponsored by Diadora.
On September 24, it was announced that Ivan would begin wearing clothes from Chinese sportswear giant Li Ning — the same company endorsed by Shaquille O’Neal and a few other NBA players.
FYI: Eyebrows have been raised about Li Ning’s logo (if you squint enough, you might see a similarity to the Nike Swoosh) and how it piggybacked on that to a third place share of the Chinese market (behind Nike and adidas). It continues its charge with an agressive Beijing Olympics campaign: along with sponsoring some Chinese teams, Li-Ning has also landed the contract to outfit the Spanish delegation.
While it’s nothing mind-blowing, we love what they’ve put on Ljubicic so far… that fine checkered pattern on the left (last seen in Vienna earlier this month) is a breath of fresh air compared to the color blocks that have become Diadora’s complacent signature as of late.
Oh Arbre de Fanti, we hardly knew ye. Your rugged oxidized copper branches (cradled and adored by Kolya) inspired us to start Tennis Served Fresh and our Trophy Watch. So I hope you know how devastated we are after learning that the BNP Paribas Masters (Paris) has replaced you; this year’s winner will hoist a trophy designed by ex-rugby player Jean-Pierre Rives.
I can only hope that this new creation lives up to your beauty. We’ll miss you.
(via tourney website; Fanti photo via Getty Images)
This past week the men played in three tournaments (Basel, Lyon, St. Petersburg) while the women made a showing in Linz, Austria. Lots of shiny things were handed out, save for a purple oddity in Lyon…
At the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Sebastien Grosjean defeated fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6 (5), 6-4 to capture his fourth career title (and first since Nottingham 2002). His trophy looks like it’s stuffed with tennis balls. What do you think?
In St. Petersburg, Andy Murray hoists a cup after winning his second title of the year. The runner-up in this 6-2, 6-3 match was Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. This title will keep Murray in the running for the final two spots in this year’s Masters Cup (Shanghai). FYI, St. Pete top seed Nikolay Davydenko got fined $2,000 for allegedly tanking in his 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to Marin Cilic. Poor guy can’t catch a break! On the bright side, the Russian has already qualified for the Masters Cup. But on the other hand (call me a pessmist?), he likely won’t be able to defend his title at this week’s Paris Masters.
In Linz, Slovak Dani Hantuchova (still in Nike black) came out the winner in the final against Patty Schnyder at the Generali Ladies Open. The 6-4, 6-2 victory gave Hantuchova a spot at the WTA Championships in Madrid (starting Nov. 6). This is her second title of the year in four finals. Her other title this year is from Indian Wells.
And in Basel, Roger Federer took out Jarkko Nieminen at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, thus defending his title (this one’s No. 52) and securing the year-end No. 1 spot for the fourth year in a row. By the way, the runner-ups were awarded with watches. Classy.
All the frivolous things I love came together at last night’s event hosted by Takashi Murakami honoring current Louis Vuitton mastermind — Marc Jacobs. The party was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, where a retrospective of Murakami’s work opens today. (More info here.)
Of course, just like during her last visit to this museum (which welcomed the Beckhams to Los Angeles), MJ fan Serena Williams looked beautiful in black.
Not to be outdone by the U.S. Open’s partnership with Tiffany & Co., the Wimbledon organizers join the luxury licensing fray by announcing their Wimbledon Jewellery collection.
Indian outfit Gitanjali Gems secured three-year license to promote and market jewelry under the Wimbledon brand. To begin their efforts, the company presented a diamond-encrusted 24-carat-gold tennis ball to Roger Federer. The ball’s valued at Rs 35 lakhs (approx. $90,000).
No word on when the collection will be available for sale. As soon as I find out, I’ll let you know.
Reebok reissue: Everything old is new again, and the Reebok shoes endorsed by Michael Chang isn’t immune. The company’s releasing the Court Victory Pump in a glow-in-the-dark colorway (see it in action). Available at atmos. (Hypebeast)
Paul Smith hits the slopes: UK designer Paul Smith has ventured into the sports world yet again (remember the soccer balls and cycling jerseys?), but alas he missed tennis yet again. This time, he’s partnered with Burton to come up with some stylish snow-friendly outerwear. (UrbanDaddy LA)
And speaking of soccer…:Nike flexes its world dominance muscle yet again with a takeover of the soccer-focusedUmbro (via DTL)
Painted clothes: In the spirit of Mystique and Demi Moore, the members of Sisterhood — a rowing team based in the UK — have posed for a fundraising calendar as various athletes. The twist: their kits are painted directly on their naked bodies. A clothed Jamie Murray posed in one of the photos. (andymurray.com)
Stilettos and ping pong:Of course it would be Novak Djokovic who’d be hardcore playing ping pong at the Madrid Masters (look at that extension!). And of course he’d be the one playing against a girl wearing stilettos. (photo by andymurray.com)
Andy Murray’s flickr page: By the way, the folks behind Andy‘s website are embracing Flickr and uploading vids onto YouTube. Here’s a pic of him right after a haircut that raised money for charity.
Masha still competes: But not on the court. Vogue puts Maria Sharapova in the running for 2007’s best-dressed. Other nominees include Sienna Miller, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Chloe Sevigny, SJP, Gwyneth, some supermodels, and a smattering of socialites.
… while Roger makes another list: The World No. 1 ends up No. 4 in Askmen.com’s Top 49 Men of 2007. (Alas, there are no other tennis players on the list; AndyRoddick’s lost his mojo for good.) Like how we dreamed it, David Beckham is on top. (via DTL)
Why we love Karl:NYT‘s Stephen Holden writes up the new documentary on Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld. The best quotes from the flick: “I love change; I’m attached to nothing”; “When I took on Chanel, it was a sleeping beauty — not even a beautiful one; she snored”; “Success nullifies; you have to do it again, and better.”
Alas, what TSF thought was a carefree summer trend towards long, unkempt hair has creeped into fall with Lukas Dlouhy leading the charge.
Ponytails can look alright — Xavier Malisse‘s is decent, while the half ponytails of Jurgen Melzer are so-so — but what Czech has done at this week’s St. Petersburg Open makes him look like a Dr. Seuss creation. How could the tournament referee have let him play? If an official can ask Tommy Haas to change out of a sleeveless shirt, I’m sure they could have asked this guy to adjust his hair.
Scoreline: Dlouhy took out Pavel Chekhov in the first round match 7-6 (5), 6-4 but lost in straight sets to another crazy-haired ATPer, second seed Andy Murray, in the next round.
A photo shoot:Bossip shows us a behind-the-scenes photo of Serena and Venus posing for ESPN The Magazine‘s 10th anniversary issue.
A piece of the publicity pie?: Former pro David Wheaton (now a Godcaster) thinks that our Federer-filled tennis days are boring compared to the late 80s/early 90s — when Lendl, McEnroe, Connors, Becker, Edberg came up against the American upstarts (Agassi, Sampras, Courier, Chang, and Martin). While he may have a point, I think Federer’s hold on No. 1 isn’t as strong. 2008’s going to be great. (Winnipeg Sun)
A media mogul:Tennis Week‘s Randy Master — getting ready for the magazine’s November relaunch — announces the addition of Maria Sharapova to the magazine’s masthead as an editorial contributor. The Siberian Siren is also in talks with CW to develop a drama set in the world of women’s tennis. (And it’s true — some of the stuff that happens, you can’t make it up!). She’ll be working with Jacob Epstein, whose writing credits include L.A. Law, Sliders, and Without a Trace. Epstein will be the executive producer, and Masha gets a co-executive producer credit. (via Kat)
A petition: An advocacy group passed around a petition to discourage Roger’s participation in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors. As you may know, Davidoff sells tobacco. I say cut Davidoff some slack. If we went out protesting the practices of every tennis tourney sponsor, we’d be out of ’em. Also, who doesn’t love Cool Water?
A fridge full of water:Rachael Ray takes a look at what’s in the fridge of Venus Williams.
Further reading: Recent notes from ESPN’s Bonnie D. Ford. One of her mentions is the race to Shanghai, where twenty guys are vying for the last three spots.
(OT) A fashion blog: If you’re looking for another fashion blog to follow, consider V‘s online content. They scour the world for some pretty cool stuff, and their photographer JD Ferguson is great. (He has his own blog, too.)
(OT) A quick study of the Case Studies: This NYT article checks in on the current state of Case Study houses in the preservation-unfriendly world of Los Angeles.
Serena goes bananas over ‘berry:Serena Williams blogged so dramatically about losing her Blackberry in Paris (realizing its disappearance while shopping at Fendi, no less) that Down The Line! thinks she’s just lost her marbles.
Coria’s quiet return: The Argentine accepted a wild card into a tourney this week, and he crashed out in the first round. (La Legion Argentina)
Articles are getting a bum rap:TTC drops one of its Ts (guess which one?) and announce it via a press release worthy of The Onion. There was really no way to make a big serious deal about this…
Aussie love: Ex-troubled teen Jelena Dokic finally speaks about her decision to return to pro tennis (with the help of Tennis Australia). Meanwhile, the adorable Nick McCarvel has been missing Molik and hopes she’ll make a strong start in 2008.
Partners in crime: Speaking of, Nick and his transatlantic sidekick, Troy Venechanos, brought us good blogging from the Madrid Masters. In part two, check out the photo of yet another big purse from Mirka…
Over it: I’m so over the match-fixing scandal, so I’ll leave it to Stephanie Myles to keep you informed.
What difference a year makes: Ahh, it seems like the NCAA tennis season just ended, yet we’re already into the second major tourney of the new season. Colette Lewis lists the seeds and wonders what happened to the men of UCLA and to USC darling Lindsey Nelson.
Cinematic genius Pedro Almodóvar (along with his amazing hair) made a cameo at last week’s Mutua Madrilena Masters bullfight between triumphant toreroDavid Nalbandian and the slain Roger Federer.
Things have been crazy out here the last few days: I helped out at AIDS Walk Los Angeles over the weekend (they raised over $3.9 million!). I had the honor of being Deidre Hall‘s escort. That’s right — Marlena from Days of our Lives! She was so nice and so kind. Kenneth put some photos up… And I’m sending good vibes to everyone stressed out about these SoCal fires. I know what it’s like to have a home threatened by fire… Oh and p.s. chili cheese yam fries are my new love. Now, the tennis…
Number crunching: At the rate that Rafael Nadal is crashing out matches, the Spaniard might soon end his record-setting streak as the World No. 2. And Novak Djokovic‘s march to the top isn’t helping the Spaniard’s cause. (Tennis Diary)
It’s no longer just her TITLES: The folks at HP are giving us more Serena, this time in the form of advertising splayed across Times Square billboards (and on HP’s Serena site). They’re blaxploitation cartoons featuring Serena “Super Fly” Williams in episodes like Knowledge is Power and (my personal fave) Quite a Racket. Check ’em out.
Federer’s fall: Tennis planet does a quick write-up on David Nalbandian‘s amazing performance against Roger Federer, plus the Argentine’s defeat of Nadal in their first match against each other. We always talk about Federer being tested as the No. 1 player. Perhaps now Nole and Nalbandian can test Nadal as No. 2?
Federer enshrined: His racquet and all-white Nike outfit from the 2007 Wimbledon tourney are all on display at that Grand Slam’s museum. (jetsetters)
String It Like Roger: The latest issue of Play writes about the racquet customization phenomenon, but warns us common folk from getting a racquet just like R-Fed’s, i.e., a “Wilson [K] Factor Six One Tour with a 90-square-inch head” strung with “a Wilson 16 gauge gut main string and a Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough cross string”. It’s super-hard to control, and takes a talent like Roger to use. FYI, the full arsenal of 12 racquets he carries at each tourney costs $3,500 to keep up.
Tipsarevic in hot water: An early-round match between Lleyton Hewitt and Janko Tipsarevic from last January’s Adelaide International is one of the 140 matches under investigation as the ATP continues to try and clear its sullied name. (SMH)
(OT) Gigi and Bjork: My first love Gael Garcia Bernal and Bjork struck a pose at a premiere of Gig’i’s movie El Passado in Rio. See a NSFW trailer here.
(OT) Old prints, new tricks:NYT‘s Cathy Horyn reflects on the last round of fashion weeks.
(OT) Low-cost long-haul: A new airline — Oasis Hong Kong — wants to give my love Cathay Pacific a run for its money. I can only hope that there’s room for both to play. (NYT)
(OT) Can Taste Be Taught?: As much as we’d like to think that taste can be taught (I will home-school Radek Stepanek if I have to), it’s just hard to shake off old habits. (NYT)
(OT) Shulman downtown: The Getty Institute is showcasing the work of architecture photographer Julius Shulman at the L.A. Central Library through Jan. 20. Check it out. (LAT)
(OT) From a favela rises a Gaudi: This one’s for you, Mikey. (BBC)
(OT) And this one, too: A new species of dinosaur has been found in Argentina — the plant-eating, 100-foot-long Futalognkosaurus dukei. (BBC)
(OT) Pissin’ my pants:The Economist economizes by changing their model for delivering content. A good chunk of their archive will now be free to access. (Guardian)
An inactiveMaria Sharapova (who pulled out of Zurich and Linz) is hoping that ridding herself of her cursedNike U.S. Open day dress will help her at the Year End Championships. The dress will be autographed and auctioned, with proceeds benefitting the Maria Sharapova Foundation. (via DTL)
Ok, can we talk about this for a sec? I don’t understand why she has to autograph the dress (over the right bust), thus rendering it unwearable. Perhaps she doesn’t want anyone else wearing it? Perhaps the autograph adds more value to the item? It would be MUCH better if they just left it as is (a la the protocol of Hollywood-driven Clothes Off Our Backs.
Roger Federer fans were griping about the same thing when his “RF” hats went for auction on his site. They were totally willing to shell out the big bucks to get the limited-edition goods, but many were turned off because the hats would have a visible Federer autograph (and who wants to wear that?). They even started a petition…
McEnroe Declares “The Age of Love Is Over” In Third-Place Win Over Philippoussis That He Dedicates To “The Old Girls”
DALLAS, TEXAS -– Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Jim Courier of the United States 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 (Champions Tie-Break) Sunday to win the $142,000 Stanford Championships, his second title of 2007 on the Outback Champions Series and his third career title on global circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30.
Ferreira collected a paycheck of $46,000 for winning two round-robin matches and the championship match. He also (Continue reading after the cut…)
More boring trophies from this week’s tournaments: the Zurich Open and the Mutua Madrilena Masters in Madrid. David Nalbandian beat Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win his first title of the year. He equaled Novak Djokovic‘s feat of defeating the Worlds No. 1 and 2 back-to-back in the same tournament. (Nole did it at the Rogers Cup.)
And Justine Henin continues her dominance of the women’s tour with her ninth title of the year. (She racked up four of them in this latest 20-match winning streak.) Justine took on Tatiana Golovin in the Zurich Open and won in straight sets — 6-4, 6-4.
More photos — plus men’s doubles results — after the cut…
Much ado has been made about Roger Federer‘s bags from Nike: there was his dominatrix duffel for this year’s U.S. Open and the poodle pouch from Wimbledon.
But just so you know, the other guys carry them, too. Here’s Feliciano Lopez after his loss to Roger in the quarters of the Mutua Madrilena Masters last week, carrying a take on the Heritage SI Boston bag. You can’t really see it from this photo, but the other side of the carryall has the Nike logo and a swoosh.
Rafael Nadal used the same bag at this year’s U.S. Open.
Buy: The Heritage SI Boston’s on sale for $34.99 (down from $50) at Nike.com.
How fun is this?! HP‘s “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign with Serena Williams included this paper doll page with four outfits: (from left to right) an Aneres creation, her Nike2004 U.S. Open dress, her white 2007 Wimbledon dress, and its pink French Open counterpart.
Moving the outfits onto Serena triggers a short video with comments about each dress from Serena, Jill Smoller (her agent), and her sister Lyndrea Price. Try it out here.
(This is what Masha paper doll outfits should have looked like!)
Meanwhile, I think that HP can take this a step further by customizing the Gwen Stefanitourbook for tennis fans. Imagine your pics folded into a tournament program. An on-site kiosk can print one out for you (it should cheap enough these days) or have a high-res PDF e-mailed. I’m so over the bland programs they hand out.
Anyway, I haven’t quite fleshed out the idea, but I’m just putting it out there. I think it’s cool to get autographs on balls, t-shirts, and caps, but I feel like there could be a novel way of digitally documenting a tennis fan’s experience.
There’s definitely someone at Nike taking care of Rafael Nadal. Of all the folks wearing this exact same Global Power Sleeveless Tank at this week’s Mutua Madrilena Masters — including Carlos Moya, Feliciano Lopez, Stefan Koubek — Rafa was the only one who made it work.
The key lies in the colors: the white headbands and the grey shorts worn Moya and Lopez wash out the shirt. On the other hand, Nadal’s light blue accessories mute the Dark Crystal Blue tank at the same time that his black Global Power Board Shorts help the same blue stand out.
(And it didn’t help the others that they were occasionally still wearing the same tank in the less-vibrant Argon blue shade from Fall ’07)
Buy: Board Shorts are $55 and the Global Power Sleeveless Tank is $55; both available at Midwest Sports.
Roger Federer does it again. The World No. 1 is playing yet another Sunday, and this week it’s at the Mutua Madrilena Masters in Madrid. He took out Nicholas Kiefer 6-4, 6-4 in the semis and will face David Nalbandian in the finals. The Argentine “overweight has-been” is showing the form that took him to No. 3 in the world in 2006; he took out Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the semis after beating a rusty Nadal 6-1, 6-2.
Roger’s moved away from his fall “Darth Federer” and his patriotic Davis Cup ensemble. Instead, he goes for an Obsidian Blue version of his custom Nike shirt (that one with the “RF” logo) and pairs it with the Mist Grey Control Shorts.
TSF’s totally okay with the Roger’s haute couture. If you saw what Nike’s selling to the masses for Winter 2007, you’d agree.
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