bid on nole’s stank! + other player’s smells

I smell another enterprising fan: eBay is teeming with scentilicious auctions this week, including a sweat-soaked shirt worn by Nole during his win over Tsonga in the Aussie Open finals.

The shirt is going for a starting bid of A$4,990. Clearly, the ridiculously price is leaving a bad smell — as of this posting, none of the sweat fetishists have come out to sniff (there are zero bids). Still, I wish it better success than the half-eaten banana from the Davis Cup finals. (And really, if I had $5k to spend, I’d rather buy Arkel bags in every color.)

If you prefer your musk from an American, Andy Roddick‘s scent is available in a more conventional medium; a bottle of his cologne is also up for auction, with bidding starting at a more affordable $2.99.

Missed it? I didn’t even know he had a cologne. Apparently, it was launched in time for the 2006 U.S. Open. Clearly it didn’t take off. Has anyone seen it for sale recently (not on eBay)?

More scents: You can also have your smell inspired by Gabriela Sabatini (she has plenty), Roger Federer (here), or the love story of Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

(via DTL)

sorry, jelena — we take it back!

Jelena Jankovic might have received more than a handful of demerits for that pink bow she wore at last week’s Australian Open, but she’s now officially back on our good side.

First, we’re still riding on fumes from her amazing leopard print dress at the SEWTA year-end party. And now we’ve head from a reader that she was toting a Bally Arkel bag during her first round Aussie Open match against Edina Gallovits.

Yep, THIS BAG.

It comes in red (above), orange, and turquoise — all in patent leather. Available at Bally stores for $1095 a pop. (Visit their website for more info.)

Alternative: If your heart skipped a beat after reading that price, then consider the much more affordable (but equally as chic) Lydia bag from Puma.

(jankovic photo by Getty Images; Arkel photo via bally.com)

brand focus: down the line sportswear

TSF recently caught wind of a tennis fashion line named DTL Down the Line Sportwear (not to be confused with the Down the Line! blog). It was founded by Carla Hilbig, a former nationally ranked junior who has turned her buying experience into a tennis apparel line that’s “affordable, high fashion, high quality, and high performance.” Folks can even host their own Tupperware-style Courtside Party, which cuts down on the company’s overhead and helps spread word about their line.

Our take: To be honest, we were ready to write off DTL apparel at first glance (at least from looks; we’ll do a gear test later), but a closer look at their catalog led to a few jewels. I’m especially in love with the Scoop Neck Racerback Tank ($37.95), the simple Collared Fit Top ($35.95), and the ruffled Sarong Wrap Skort ($39.95) — you know about our love for ruffles.

Edit: DTL has given readers of Tennis Served Fresh a special discount; enter “AUC08” at checkout and you’ll get 20% off until February 29, 2008. That’s the whole month of February. With an extra day, even. Go crazy.

Over e-mail, we talked to Carla about how she started the company, her tennis background, and — if she had a chance — which top pro she’d ask to endorse her line. See the Q & A

tattoo watch: kateryna bondarenko

One half of the newly crowned Australian Open women’s doubles champions, Kateryna Bondarenko, had her back tattoo playing peekaboo through her K-Swiss top during that final match.

Does anyone have an idea what it’s of?

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I’m liking that she and her sister Alona have become legit contenders on the tour… I guess Oksana Baiul can finally give up her “most popular Ukranian athlete” title for now.

(photo by Getty Images)

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aussie open men’s final: sightings from the stands

Sightings in the stands from the 2008 Australian Open men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. After a strong first set showing by Tsonga, Nole came back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Know your tennis parents: Tsonga’s parents are Didier (front right), a chemistry teacher and former international handball player from the Congo, and mother, Evelyne (front left), a schoolteacher born in France.

Meet the Djokovics: The oh-so-adorable Nole camp — Srdjan, Dijana, Marko, and Djordje — came out to support the family’s current superstar. I guess the parents’ big talk is now backed up by an Australian Open title. FYI, Marko was entered in the juniors draw but lost early. Mary Carillo said he felt snubbed that Nole didn’t watch him play. Meanwhile, everyone’s touting Djordje as the best tennis player of the bunch.

trophy watch: doubles and wheelchair action at the australian open

As with any Grand Slam, plenty of silver (both as cups and platters) were doled out to runner-ups and winners of the various events at the Australian Open.

The team of Jonathan Ehrlich and Andy Ram capped a historic weekend for Israeli sports by becoming the first Israeli team to win a Grand Slam title. Their opponents in the 7-5, 7-6 (4) win were the defending Wimbledon champs, Michael Llodra and Nono Clement. Suffice to say Ram and Ehrlich’s celebration is exactly how the Frenchmen would’ve done it.

More: The women’s doubles. mixed doubles, and quad wheelchair winners

pat and his ponytail praised; philippoussis ponders life post-tennis

Patrick Rafter got some more icing on his already sweet career cake with an induction to the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame. The ceremony, which included an unveiling of a Rafter bust, happened before the 2008 Australian Open women’s final between Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic. Those are some mad crow’s feet. Remember to wear your eye cream, people!

Though we were bigger fans of Pat with his buzz-short hair (circa 2001), it’s only appropriate that they immortalize him in the ponytail he sported while tearing through the North American hardcourts in the late 90s.

Rafter won back-to-back U.S. Open titles (’97, ’98), reached the finals of Wimbledon twice (’00, ’01), and the semis of Roland Garros (’97) and the Australian (’01). See a list of his 11 career titles here.

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Meanwhile, his compatriot Mark Philippoussis suffered what could possibly be his last tennis-related injury in December while attempting to qualify for this home Grand Slam. “I won’t lie – but at the moment I’m just enjoying spending time with my family and friends,” he told The Age last week — which means he hasn’t given ATP Tour play any thought. Flip doesn’t even have a tentative schedule planned out. Le sigh, it all went downhill after being up a set and 2-1 (but on serve) against Sampras in the 1999 Wimbledon semis.

(Photos by Getty Images)

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fashion focus: tsonga’s adidas bag

(Editor Update: As of July 2012 we are focusing our tennis coverage over at Tennis Now. Check us out there.)

FYI, Roger Federer wasn’t the only one toting cute white bags onto the tennis courts of Melbourne Park for last week’s Australian Open.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did his part to feed the fashion frenzy with this adidas Vintage Airline bag. Here he is before the 2008 men’s final against Nole Djokovic.

The bag game in also came in black/gold colorway, but a quick search showed that it’s sold out.

Next best thing: If you’d love to get something similar, I have some suggestions

365 days later, TSF in The Daily Telegraph

Last night I had a drink with Pony and celebrated my blog’s first year in existence. (I’m not sure of the exact date, but it’s sometime in late January…) I certainly didn’t think there would be enough material to sustain a blog, let alone for this long. But here I am.

So thanks to my friends, family, peers, and readers for making this worthwhile.

Also, we got linked to in this web article about Nole mania in The Daily Telegraph (out of Sydney, Australia). I love how they included the most misspelled comments ever recorded in the history of the internet.

Hunky Novak Djokovic makes a racket off court
The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

v-necks!

I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out the je ne sais quoi (well, je sais quoi, now) behind the adidas quarter-zipped Edge Theme Polo that I love seeing on Paul-Henri Mathieu, Juan Monaco (both here), and Marat Safin (here).

In essence, all I really want are more v-neck shirts on the guys. Show off the collarbones, the chest, or (in some cases) the hair. You can even consider that Roger Federer photo we have on the TSF banner if you need another example. It’s a good way to mix things up, don’t you agree?

trophy watch, aussie open juniors

Madness going on in Melbourne, I know. But madness is also going on in my world. Good madness. One of my siblings is getting married tomorrow, so all eyes are on that for now.

I’ll check in with all the Aussie Open finals either Sunday night or Monday. But one last one before I head out — the juniors (with some help from contributor JNP)…

Girls: Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands has started off 2008 with some huge leaps in her career; she reached the finals of a tune-up to the Aussie Open Junior Championships, defeating hot prospect Simona Halep in a classic 3-set battle. Unfortunately Halep lost her semi-final in the juniors draw to local Jessica Moore, erasing her chance to get Rus back. Rus, clad in adidas Edge separates, beat Moore with ease 6-3, 6-4 in the Championship match.

Boys: For those tennis fans who don’t know about Bernard Tomic, he’s 15 and he just won the Aussie Opena Jr Boys championship — yup, only 15. After this notable result, expect him to start getting some Freddy Adu/LeBron-esque phenom buzz soon; the U.S. Open juniors is surely one of the most important dates on his calendar this summer. Oh, and if you were wondering, IMG has already signed him to a multi-year deal.

Scoreline: Tomic beat Yang Tsung-Hua of Taiwan 4-6, 7-6, 6-0. Does anyone else think Tomic looks like the lovechild of Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero?

things in life that are certain:

(Editor Update: Another thing that is certain: we are still alive and kicking as an editor at Tennis Now as of July 2012. Check us out there.)

1) Fred Phelps is a douchebag. The pastor’s evil ways live on at the Westboro Baptist Church. Members of his congregation want to attend Heath Ledger‘s funeral, just to make sure everyone knows that his death was caused by playing one of the gay roles in Brokeback Mountain.

2) When Nole wins big, Nole takes off shirt. I’m pretty sure you can predict the future if you look closely at those swirls on his chest. See the photos

roger federer: “i’ve created a monster”

Serbian Nole Djokovic improved to 2-5 against the World No. 1 Roger Federer after notching a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5) win in the Australian Open semifinals. Nole destroyed any possibility of Roger achieving a Golden Slam (all four Grand Slam titles + Beijing gold). Congrats, Nole.

In the press room after the (almost) three-hour match, Roger — teary-eyed, I read — explained away the shocking results.

“I’ve created a monster that I need to win every tournament — still the semifinals isn’t bad.”

Perhaps the monster came out of his ginormous Nike tennis bag. The delicious white duffel (with blue and grey accents) finally got its 15 minutes with the camera as Roger left the court. What do you think of the bag? Tell us!

Photos: See the bag

le sad: butter’s bubble pops

The demands of the real world has led one of our favorite Marat Safin blogs, Butter’s Bubble, to hang up its keyboard after a good run in 2007.

Who’s going to keep watch over the Russian’s necklaces now?!

You did a great job, Butter. If ever you feel an itch to post something, you’re always welcome to do so on TSF…

By the way, this is how Marat’s neck looked at this week’s Australian Open. He lost 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6 in the second round to fellow adidas-wearer Marcos Baghdatis.

(photo via Getty Images)

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short balls: safin’s sex face, virtual fashion mess, night tennis hangs on, etc.

Sex face: Apparently, Marat Safin‘s sex face is satisfying, and Roddick‘s is intense. (Jezebel)

Player blogs: Nothing worthwhile in Marcos Baghdatis‘ ATP blog from this week. We were hoping for insight, perhaps, into that whole mess with Turkey?

Russian ritual: The Age hosted a column for Ana Ivanovic. On Svetlana Kuznetsova — “you always know she’s in [the locker room] when you hear loud dance music.” On her current life — it’s not that glam. On court coaching — do it all the time or don’t do it at all.

Props: ESPN’s Bonnie D. Ford sums up the off-court scandals clouding the game of Sania Mirza. And of the folks who took the Dostoevsky angle when writing up that epic Federer–Tipsarevic match, she wrote it up best.

Second-life DOA: IBM decided to promote its sponsorship of the Australian Open with a quickie virtual fashion contest. The winner of “Couture on the Court” wins the SL equivalent of $927. I can only hope many of the entries were better than this Bethanie Mattek knock-off.

Consider our hearts broken: One of the better folks to rock the Nike standard issue, Feliciano Lopez, has jumped ship to Spanish sportswear company Joma Sport. See their website here. (DTL)

Night tennis of the living dead: This event just. won’t. die. (HS)

rafa = this week’s best dressed?

Rafa’s consolation: Oh, Rafa. I know you’re sad about failing on the hardcourts yet again — this time losing to an on-fire Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the men’s semifinals at the Australian Open.

Hey, at least you can take solace in the Herald Sun thinking you were this fortnight’s best dressed.

Buy: The Nike Spring Global Power Sleeveless Top, $55; Global Power 3/4 pants, $55.

Nadal joins fellow Tsonga scalps Richard Gasquet, shotmaker Andy Murray and the slice-happy Mikhail Youzhny in the sidelines while Tsonga awaits the winner of the Federer–Nole semi.

I guess the new court surface didn’t buckle the trend of unpredictability Down Under.

(photo by Getty Images)

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sightings from the stands: djokovic downs hewitt

Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. Our days of admiring the cute Bec Hewitt are numbered.

More photos: And Lleyton‘s bodybuilding sister, Jaslyn, was also on hand the Aussie’s fourth round match against Nole Djokovic.

partners, in repels, closer to a title

At the risk of becoming hyper-homoerotic…

Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement, the reigning Wimbledon champs, can beef up their trophy case with an Australian Open title this year. They’ll face the Israeli team of Andy Ram and Jonathan Ehrlich in the finals after beating Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie 6-3, 7-6 (9).

Aww, look at them celebrating their semifinal win. FYI, they’re both wearing Lacoste Repels. I was weary of the honeycombs at first… but it’s a cool design pattern. (By the way, I know I said the shoes would drop in the Spring, but I haven’t seen them for sale stateside yet.)

open court: a bethanie mattek sighting

If it wasn’t for Stephanie Myles‘ Open Court, we wouldn’t have known about Bethanie Mattek‘s tennis-appropriate (!!!) Bebe Sport outfit as the American went through the doubles draw in Melbourne.

Mattek paired with Jelena Jankovic to upset the fifth-seeded team of Nathalie Dechy and Dinara Safina in the first round, and fell two rounds later to the tenth seeds, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

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know your tennis mothers: dragana ivanovic

While it might not have been an upset, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one banking on Venus Williams making it past her quarterfinal match against Ana Ivanovic. Instead, the seedings held, with the Serbian and fourth seed dispatching Venus, the eighth seed, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

(Presumptuous of me, perhaps, but I was waiting until later this week to document Venus’ EleVen outfits for the fortnight!)

Know her mother: That’s Ana’s mother, Dragana Ivanovic, watching today’s match. She looks fierce. “I wouldn’t want to mess with her,” said Mary Carillo. I agree.

Ana’s website did a three-part interview with Dragana a while back. Find out more about this customs lawyer and devoted mother of two (Milos is the other Ivanovic) as she talks to journalist Gavin Versi (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

(screencap via ESPN360)

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