flashin’ the pearly whites

Just as we were scratching our heads to figure out what the eff happened to Arnaud Clement, the scowly Frenchman (he and Kolya Davydenko should start a club) showed flashes of smileyness after beating Italian Filippo Volandri in four tough sets to open his 2011 French Open campaign. Unfortunately, Clement’s wildcard didn’t do him so good: he fell to Michael Berrer in the subsequent round. (Draw: RG Men’s Singles)

Clothes: The Lacoste kids are still wearin’ the same Striped Tennis Polo that they’ve been using all clay season long.

(photos by Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)

where’s nono?

Seeing this bandana on Johanna Larsson (and viewing pics of Nenad Zimonjic playing with pocket-sized furry creatures at the Belgrade Zoo) made us wonder: where the eff is Arnaud Clement? We miss you! We really do.

Estoril: Onto more important things, like tennis! Larsson lost her semifinal match at the Estoril Open to Kristina Barrois, who will face Anabel Medina Garrigues for the title. And mazel to Barrois for breaking into the top 70 (when rankings are released on Monday). Draw: Estoril Open Women’s Singles.

BTW: can anyone ID Johanna’s ruffly black tank?

(image by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty Images)

what’s cute and fuzzy and has a little temper?

If you answered either “badgers” or “Arnaud Clement,” you got the right answer!

Flashback: Here’s the Frenchman at the 2010 US Open, where he upset 16th seed Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 — and in that heat! — in the first round and then fell in five sets to the super-fit Mardy Fish.

(image via Getty Images)

even in the battle of the bags, roger wins

Arnaud Clement, who took out fellow munchkin Janko Tipsarevic in the first round, had the pleasure of playing Roger Federer in the third round of this year’s Wimbledon. He lost in straight sets — 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Even in the accessories department he was no match, with Roger’s custom-made Nike duffel leaving Nono’s Lacoste bag in the Centre Court dust.

Draw: Up next for Roger is Jurgen Melzer, who swatted away Feliciano Lopez in four sets. If he gets through that, he’ll have to play Tomas Berdych, who always gives Federer trouble. (More: See the draw here.

(images via Getty Images)

a friday feud and, oh, that’s better! (and worse)

We’ve got a feud on our hands here folks, and for once it doesn’t involve Jelena Dokic or any of the people in her camp. Sounds as though Pete Sampras is pretty upset with Andre Agassi over the way Sampras was portrayed in Agassi’s book, “Open“.

Read this Yahoo! Sports blog entry for more juicy details.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer cleaned up his look on the practice court today, sporting shorter shorts and a bright-colored tee (we’re loving the tees, Rog!). We also love how Arnaud Clement (who is in the Auckland final against American John Isner) is starting off 2010 with a bangdana. Oops, we mean a bang. Never do you disappoint, Arnie.

More: Check out John McEnroe’s frightening top (hopefully the flashes whited it out) and see a chainless (but taped up) Serena shot from her ugly loss in Sydney.

nono bags first win since the french

Munchkin Watch: Two snaps for Arnaud Clement for snapping a six-match losing streak that dated all the way back to this year’s French Open. Now he’s into the second round of the IF Stockholm Open after defeating fifth-seed Andreas Beck 6-4, 6-2 — this, after successfully getting through qualifying and earning a spot in the main draw.

Buy: Clement’s wearing the Short Sleeve Solid Super Dry Lacoste polo in black. Check out all the colors (starting at $51.99) at lacoste.com.

(image via Getty)

i want to wrestle andy murray…

…to the ground and give him a proper haircut.

Scoreline: As the second seed at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Murray beat Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-3 and will face Richard Gasquet in the quarters.

(image via Getty Images)

munchkin report: clement out of melbourne

To round out our munchkin reports (Janko? Check. Andre Sa? Check. Nono? Here we go!) —

French munchkin Arnaud Clement got bounced out early in both singles and doubles at this year’s Australian Open.

As expected, he played in solid-colored Lacoste performance polos.

Clement needed five sets to defeat Ukranian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round (6-3, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 — yikes!) and ran out of the fuel he needed to beat 14th seed Fernando Verdasco. He even got pesky in the latter match, getting called out by the chair ump for rudely grabbing his towel from the ballboy.

In doubles, with partner Marc Gicquel (what happened to Llodra?), Arnaud lost to Peya and Petzschner in two tiebreaks.

At least he had fun at the IMG Crown Players’ Party before the tourney started.

(1st round photo by FFT; 2nd round and party images by Getty Images)

photos: arnaud clement at wimbledon

Arnaud Clement had too slow a start in the post-rain delay continuation of his Wimbledon quarterfinal match against Rainer Schuettler. Our favorite French munchkin lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (9-7), 6-8. He could’ve been in the semis!!

Bless that Lacoste duffel of his. Notice the zip collar on his white polo.

More: See a few more pictures

lacoste standard issue: the women pull ahead

We’re always eagerly anticipating the standard issues that Lacoste doles out for each Grand Slam, and the ones for Roland Garros turned out just fine — at least for the ladies.

Gisela Dulko wore the halter from the Fine Stripe line in her loss to Alize Cornet in the second round. Cornet, the 19th seed, also wore the tank but spaghetti-strap style; she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska in the round after.

Buy: Fine Striped Tennis Halter, $68.

Mathilde Johansson faced Serena Williams in the second round. She wore the Racerback Tennis Dress with detachable flower, $145. Meanwhile, Petra Cetkovska (middle and right) put on a layer when it got a little chilly.

And Mike Frey over at Tennishead continues to help out TSF with this photo of this player (can anyone help me out with a name?) wearing the polo.

Unlike the 2007 French Open, which saw Lacoste give their male sponsors the cutest orange and white polos, 2008 was way bland. Michael Llodra and Jeremy Chardy — as delicious as they are — couldn’t quite bring this Heritage Check Print Polo to life. (If you want to grab the jacket, it’s still available at lacoste.com.)

As usual, Arnaud Clement and Fabrice Santoro are off doing their own things.

(photo by Getty Images and Tennishead)

Consider our hearts broken

Say it ain’t so: Frenchman Arnaud Clement has been bitten by the love bug. Pictures of him hanging out with Nolwenn Leroy were published by Voici last month.

That being said, we are still holding out hope that Nono is a Cody Freis. If you don’t know what that means, ask a neighbor.

(bad scan via webdetente)

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

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.)

no more singles for arnaud, but will play doubles with llodra

FYI, I’m not entirely in love with “Nono” as a nickname for Arnaud Clement, but it might stick over time…

He lost to Rainer Schuettler in the first round of the Australian Open. The German prevailed 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 4-6. Arnaud had a couple of costume changes with that bandana, wearing the purple, the baby blue, and this red/yellow one I haven’t noticed before.

More left: Lucky for us, there’s more of Clement to see this week. He’s entered in doubles with Michael Llodra as the seventh seeds.

(photo by Getty Images)

tattoo watch: a public service announcement

From Tattoo Watch, a word to the inked: the Melbourne climate has brought about unrelenting summer heat, so make sure to keep your tattoos under plenty of sunblock as you compete at the Australian Open.

Model citizen Arnaud Clement sets an example while practicing at last week’s Medibank Sydney International, where he played the qualies. (Nono faces German Rainer Schuettler in the first round of the Australian.)

(photo by Via. Her photo gallery is bookmark material, folks. so do it.)

i still need to be a productive member of society…

…so I will refrain from browsing this trove of delicious ATP player photos by Corinne Dubreuil until after I reach retirement. (Dubreuil is the same eye behind Kolya‘s layout in l’Equipe.)

You, though, should enjoy this photo of Arnaud Clement.

And this one of the Frenchman playing peepeekaboo with the camera,

fashion focus: another buff from arnaud clement

Frenchman Arnaud Clement‘s trademark look gets another log in our bandana book at this week’s Hopman Cup. Here he is playing the men’s singles match against team Taiwan.

Lovin’ the thin yellow bracelet, and for those wondering about the honeycomb kicks, they’re from Lacoste‘s Repel line.

FYI: His team (with partner Tatiana Golovin) placed second in their respective group. They did not make it to the finals. No trophy, but they at least got to attend a kick-ass party.

(photo by Getty Images)

pics from the hopman cup new year’s eve ball

New Year’s Day landed smack-dab in the middle of the 2008 Hopman Cup calendar, so there was no doubt that they’d throw a good party to celebrate.

This year’s organizers chose a nautical theme, with 750 guests boarding the “Hopman Princess” for the gala. Tournament Director Paul McNamee surprised everyone with his Love Boat attire (a costume he kept under wraps, even to his wife). To those who came in more formal garb, like French team member Arnaud Clement (above), they provided leis to spice up the crowd.

Of course, no tennis gala would be complete without its charity component. This event’s beneficiaries were the Variety Club and the Kids Tennis Foundation, who’ll split the 35K raised from an auction (items bid on: racquets from Serena Williams and Roger Federer, original artwork from Martina Navratilova and Juraj Kralik, a 2008 Australian Open package, etc.).

Scores: The Serbians (after beating Argentinians Gisela Dulko and Juan Ignacio Chela) will face Mardy Fish and Serena in the final. The Americans won in the semis over Alicia Molik and Peter Luczak. Jelena suffered an upper leg strain in an early match and hasn’t quite recovered. Meanwhile, Nole’s back problems have carried over from last season. Who’s going to take the title?

Take a peek: Player pics from the event (Serena, Tatiana, Lucie and Tomas, Nole and Jelena, Sania and Rohan, etc.)

clement to 2007: peace out!

Arnaud Clement and his doubles partner Michael Llodra (not pictured) have not been doing so well post-season; their seventh-seeded pairing lost all three of their round-robin matches at the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, first to Knowles and Nestor 2-6, 7-5, 10-5, then to Dlouhy and Vizner 3-6, 6-3, 10-5, and finally to Aspelin and Knowles 6-3, 7-5.

Have a good vacay and we’ll see you rowdy Frenchmen in 2008!

(photos by Getty Images)

dredging youtube: arnaud clement and lacoste

A random surf session the other day turned up another Roland Garros 2007 Laundry Room Karaoke session, this time by Arnaud Clement, who sang the theme from The Love Boat. Watch it here…

…which led me to a commercial for Lacoste featuring a song by Natasha Thomas. And Arnaud in a towel…

Finally, it used to be that too much idle time left houses TPed and walls tagged. These days it just churns odd odes to favorite clothing brands. Perhaps an exercise in FinalCut?

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