fashion focus: sharapova the showgirl

Her name was Lola: The ailing Maria Sharapova sat out this 2009 Australian Open to give her shoulder enough time to heal (she’s back next month). And a version of the Spring Maria Day Dress, a ruffled number whose tiers fade from liquid lime to charcoal grey, might have been the defending champ’s on-court outfit.

Cover-up: And this charcoal grey warmup is the season’s variation on the oversized collar that’s been around for a few seasons now. Use the drawstrings for a dramatic gathered-neck effect.

Buy: Nike Maria Tennis Dress, liquid lime/charcoal, $96, prodirecttennis.com; Woven Cover-Up, charcoal/white, $80; Open Skort, white/light photo blue, $60; Cover-Up and Skort via Tennis Warehouse.

(images via prodirecttennis and TW)

fashion focus: serena william’s laser light show

TSF didn’t put our money on an out-of-form Serena Williams to be an Australian Open finalist this year (that’s why we’re not bookies, we figure), but we put our money down for a buzz-worthy Nike outfit from the American.

Am I in downtown Vegas? For spring, her sleeveless dressfeatures contrast trim around the v-neck and waistline plus a pleated bloussant skirt — perfect for covering Serena’s badonkadonk. Unfortch, we didn’t know what to make of that laser-light-show fabric of her first-round dress.

Much more refreshing was the version in Light Photo Blue with lime trim (accented with a bandana and wristband) which Serena wore in the latter rounds in taking out Azarenka, Kuznetsova, and Dementieva. The white/blue version of the dress made appearances during her doubles matches with sister Venus.

What’d you think of the dress? Love it? Hate it? Tell us!

Accessories: Here are her earrings up close, and a look at the whole get-up (a ring, a bracelet, a pendant, and her hoops). Of course, icing on the Serena cake is the Nike 76 Club bag.

Scoreline: Serena’s fourth stab at a Melbourne title will pit her against Russian Dinara Safina. Williams’ road to the finals included three straight-set matches, a walk-over (due to Azarenka‘s stomach virus — poor kid!), and a three-set quarterfinal against the hard-hitting Kuznetsova.

Buy: Nike Women’s Spring Cruise Serena Day Dress in white/blue/gray, $90, nike.com. Browse the rest of the women’s collection here.

fashion focus: serena’s oz open duffel

Serena Williams is through to the Australian Open finals after defeating lady-in-waiting Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Their match was played under the closed roof of Rod Laver Arena. The three-time champion will next face Dinara Safina, who bested fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi.

Apples and oranges: I saw a blog post yesterday talking about whether titles won post-retractable-roof-installation need to be noted in the records as such (i.e., to differentiate those who were able to brave the sun from those who got to play under the shade). Same thing with Wimbledon — a title coming from a match protected from the rain vs. one that had ten rain delays. What do you think? Do these titles need an asterisk? Tell us.

Buy: Nike 76 Club Women’s Bag; with block letters on one side and a swoosh logo on the other; colorway: Light Photo Blue/Dark Obsidian; $85; nike.com.

(image via Getty Images)

fashion focus: orange ya glad fer elena? i am!

Aussie Open 09’s Most Improved Award goes to Ms. Elena Dementieva, who’s languished in Yonex‘s utilitarian and generic performance wear for a while now. The creatives seemed to find their stride late last year, first with the “denim” dress at the 2008 U.S. Open, and now this orange-heavy outfit for the first major of 2009.

Mixing it up: What this dress lacks in color variation it makes up for in construction, detail, and fabrics. A keyhole breaks up the orange on the back of the v-neck top; and in the front, a fabric belt — it doesn’t quite cinch — aspired to give the outfit a more sophisticated look.

Scoreline: The fourth seed dashed Australian hopes by eliminating Sam Stosur in round three. She then took out fellow orange-wearer Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2 in the fourth round. She blew through Carla Suarez Navarro with the same score and will now face Serena in the semis.

Buy: This Yonex collection is not quite ready for sale. (Why aren’t these items ready in time for such a big debut? There’s an editorial brewing there…)

More: Detail shots of the skirt and back

honorable mention: zheng jie in australia

She’s legit: China’s Zheng Jie set the tone for her 2009 with a fourth round showing at this year’s Australian Open. Unfortunately, she had to retire during that match (against Svetlana Kuznetsova) because of a wrist injury she sustained during a fall. Kuzie was up 4-1 in the first set.

As you may remember, Zheng reached the semis at last year’s Wimbledon (where she fell to Serena Williams), causing Nike to up her prominence in Olympics-related advertising in China.

Is this Nike? She spent her first (and maybe second) round playing in a light pastel pink dress with a fabric belt and gathered detail on the shoulders.

She then switched up to simple bow-adorned whites, the top trimmed two light yellow floral graphic strips at the bust and a pink gothic “Z” on the chest. This reminds me of a pre-Fila Agi Szavay.

(images via Getty Images)

where were the gays at nadal v. simon?

Haaay: In case you were wondering where the gays were sitting during the quarterfinal match between top seed Rafa Nadal and french upstart Gilles Simon, they were putting in their two fashion cents about Nadal’s new look.

Scoreline: Rafa beat Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 (and shared a moment at the net!). The Mallorcan will next face Fernando Verdasco in an all-Spanish semifinal.

(images via Getty Images)

for the love of earrings: anticipating maria sharapova’s return

One of the reasons why we’re giddy about the planned return of Maria Sharapova to the SEWTA next month: we’ve missed her earrings.

If you may remember, she teamed up with Tiffany & Co. for a multi-year deal to show their wares at the slams, beginning at the 2008 French Open. She followed these up with some silver drop earrings to match her tuxedo outfit at Wimbledon.

Masha has entered the draw for the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris (formerly the Open Gaz de France). This indoor tournament begins on February 9.

fashion focus: fila’s last stand

Stopping on a quarter: The dream run of Jelena Dokic at the 2009 Australian Open ended in the quarterfinals at the hands of No. 3 Dinara Safina. (By the way, TSF is picking Marat‘s younger sister to face Serena Williams in Saturday’s final.)

With Dokic’s amazing performance came a chance for Fila to showcase their spring women’s collection. We’re not going to lie — it’s taking us some time to warm up to it. The season’s loud print worked best as trim and accents on solid-colored pieces — this is no Cavalli runway show, after all — worn by Dokic and Anna Chakvetadze in their second-round match. Dokic won 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

Up close: See pics of Fila girls Anna, Jelena, and Svetlana Kuznetsova

oh, mirka!

She’s no Serena: Unlike Serena Williams, second lady Mirka Vavrinec isn’t ready to downgrade just quite yet. Here she is toting a Louis Vuitton Shimmer Comete while watching her boo Roger Federer rub out Juan Martin del Potro in an embarassing 80-minute quarterfinal match. Del Potro, the 20-year-old Argentine, won only only 14 points total in the second and third sets.

“The last couple of games [were] not that much fun,” Federer said after the match. “You want to almost put him out of his misery because you know how tough it is for him to come back.”

This 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 performance brushes off any doubt that Federer is ready to face Andy Roddick in the semis. (Roger flubbed his previous match, needing almost 3.5 hours — and five sets — to take down Tomas Berdych.)

Buy: Louis Vuitton Monogram Shimmer Comete, $2,260, 866-VUITTON.

(image via Getty Images)

blake flatlines, but fila’s baseline shines

American James Blake had the misfortune of running head-long into the Tsonga train in the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open. Tsonga took out the ninth seed 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3). While it didn’t seem like Jo-Wilfried would spring back to defend last year’s run to the finals, his game peaked at the right time (picking up a title along the way — over Nole Djokovic at the Thailand Open in September). He’ll be up against Fernando Verdasco in the quarters.

Baseline: TSF had initially reported Blake wearing pieces from Fila‘s Collezione line in Melbourne, but it turns out that they shipped him both Collezione and Baseline, and Blake went with the latter.

We’re happy for James’ first venture into the Fila world. He wore both the white/heritage blue and heritage blue/black versions of the Baseline Solid Polo throughout his run to the fourth round. The polo’s spruced up with vertical stripes screened down the front and back of the left torso, plus perpendicular lines on the sleeves. (It looks like the lines on a tennis court — get it?) We also like the similar Stripe Polo, whose added feature is a stripe pattern ghosted over the entire shirt.

What do you think of James in Fila? Tell us!

And there’s no worries about Collezione not getting love from Blake; Janko Tipsarevic and Marin Cilic did a fine job giving that collection some press time.

Buy: Fila’s Winter Baseline collection — Solid Polo, $41.99; Editor’s Pick: Striped Polo, $41.99; Crew, $36.99; first three items come in white/heritage blue and heritage blue/black colorways. Short, black with white trim, $36.99; Warm-Up with heritage blue top and black pants, $89.99; Terry Headband, $3.99.

(images via Getty Images)

citizens for the sideburns of roger federer

While I’ve heard complaints about Roger Federer‘s pre-Aussie Open haircut — how it looks too similar to the hairdos of everyone from Liza Minelli to Jimmy Connors — I must say it’s refreshing look, and complementary to the classy Nike outfit he’s wearing at this first major of 2009. (One tip, though: he needs to keep the bandana from riding too far up his forehead. Apart from that, he’s golden.)

Next step: I say Roger should show up at Indian Wells with some sideburns (or mutton chops, even). Are you with me? I’m starting the Facebook group!

Scoreline: His fourth round match against the erratic Tomas Berdych kept us at the edge of our seats for all five sets: 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. (Meanwhile, Nadal has yet to drop a set…)

Looking forward: Up next for the second seed — and our pick to take the title — is the lanky Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals.

(image via Getty Images)

cnbc on nadal’s “wardrobe malfunction”

We had a chance to weigh in on Rafael Nadal‘s new Nike look when CNBC’s Darren Rovell put it under the business microscope.

So did the sports giant make the right move with this sartorial switch? Rovell thinks so. In fact, it’s the only way to make their relationship with this tennis thoroughbred financially viable.

Read: See the entire post at CNBC.com.

charmed, i’m sure

I’ve got to be honest: I never would have thought that the Jelena making the quarterfinals of the 2009 Australian Open would be Dokic and not Jankovic.

The Yugoslav-born Australian, who received a wildcard after winning a qualifying event, has become the Cinderella story of this tournament. She overcame years of depression, injuries, and emotional abuse from her father to reach the final eight. Her scalps along the way: Anna Chakvetadze, Caroline Wozniacki, and Alisa Kleybanova (who took out Ana Ivanovic).

The high-quality fourth-round match between Kleybanova and Dokic ended with a 7-5, 5-7, 8-6 scoreline. She next faces Dinara Safina, who held off two match points to win over 19-year-old Alize Cornet 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. (Cornet had match points serving 5-3 in the third set.)

Lucky charms: Dokic will need all the luck she can get. She’s been pushed to three sets for all her matches so far, and rolled her ankle in the third set against Kleybanova. Will she one of the last women standing at Saturday’s final?

(image via Getty Images)

janked out: bartoli defeats top seed

Marion Bartoli and her sweet teeth gnawed at the inconsistent game of top-seed Jelena Jankovic in their fourth round match at the Australian Open. The sixteenth-seed used her piercing two-handed groundstrokes and powerful returns of serve to put the Serb on the defensive throughout the 6-1, 6-4 match.

No more Reebok: Ms. Jankovic and Reebok didn’t renew their contract (which expired at the end of 2008), and instead she signed an agreement with ANTA Sports, a company based in Fujian, China with a logo surprisingly similar to Diadora‘s. (What is it with Chinese companies aping this stuff?) They’ll team up to develop a range of products under the “JJ” brand.

Their first outing wasn’t so bad — an homage to Australian sports in the form of a green empire waist baby doll dress printed with a yellow logo. She accessorized with white shoes and a three-color wristband.

(images via Getty Images)

tiffany & co.’s tennis ball can

What recession? Leave it to Tiffany & Co. to have us drooling over this accessory: a simple four-ball container made of sterling silver. The lid’s etched with the company logo and the numbers 925 and 1837.

Buy: Tiffany & Co. 1837 Tennis Ball Can, $1500.

(via luxist)

rafa’s costume change, part deux

Rafa‘s new-and-improved Nike look had a second incarnation in the form of his day match kit, which keeps the same basic themes from his night outfit but swaps charcoal for pink in his Bold Crew Tee, putting an exclamation point on the hypermasculine Nadal’s ability to feel comfortable wearing anything on the court.

The Australian Open top seed strutted on the Plexicushion catwalk that was his second round match against Croatian Roko Karanusic. He dispatched Karanusic in straight sets: 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

The check pattern on Rafa’s shorts — compared to the novelty print overlays they splayed on his capris — are a nice preppy touch. And those white dots evoke both whimsy (they look like twinkling stars) and a hard edge (they look like studs, too).

Of course, no outfit would be complete without matching shoes. His Cages-dressed-as-Ballistecs are in the white/volt/turquoise colorway.

One more: See the outfit in action here.

Buy: Nike Bold Crew Men’s Tee, $55, nike.com.

(images via Getty Images)

a matador in the stands

No matter what you think about chair-throwing, face-painting, flag-waving, appendage-swinging Australian Open tennis fans, you gotta hand it to ’em. Where else would you see a matador in the stands? A MATADOR.

It’s going to be a long time before this sighting in the stands can be toppled as the best ever.

Scoreline: Rafael Nadal continues to bulldoze through the draw, taking out Tommy Haas-been 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round. The top seed will next face the hard-hitting Fernando Gonzalez. Unfortunately for Gonzo, he had to play 22 games in that fifth set before defeating Richard Gasquet. Alas, he won’t be facing Rafa with a full tank o’ gas.

(image by Getty Images)

uhm, you said it was a “show” court, right?

From the AP: The Williams sisters were en route to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Ayumi Morita and Germany’s Martina Muller when the man, wearing only a shirt, sprinted across the sidelines and made several dance moves before heading toward an exit.

Day 5 was also marked by Ana Ivanovic‘s loss in women’s singles and an all-out brawl (involving flying chairs, apparently) amongst spectators at the Nole/Amer Delic match.

Yawn: The watermark is covering his ding dong, but still, NSFW.

(image by Getty Images)

what’s sharapova to wear when peter som peters out?

Maria Sharapova the fashionista will have one less fashion show to attend at the Fall 2009 fashion week in New York City (next month). One of her favorite designers, Peter Som, has split with its business partner, leaving him without the moolah to present a proper a fall collection.

Masha showed up at his Spring 2009 show back in September in a beautiful silver and black number. She even showed newbie (and Olympic darling) Nastia Liukin are thing or two about navigating the event.

“I couldn’t believe how fast the show was,” Nastia revealed to WWD. “I was with [Maria] and she told me it’s all about the preshow, the interview and the pictures!”

Browse: See Som’s entire Spring 2009 RTW collection — along with a review of the show — at style.com.

(masha images via Getty Images; Som runway stills via WWD.com)

fashion focus: still no morigami at fila japan

We don’t even know if Akiko Morigami is still with Fila Japan, but here’s what the company is doing for their first 2009 collection.

The women get a polka dotted outfit (Akiko would have rocked this, right?), while the men get a more subdued polo, with the pop coming in the form of this green and mustard warmup.

Browse: See the rest of the 2009 goods at Fila.co.jp — men’s and women’s.

(screengrabs from fila.co.jp)