Testosterone treatment: The folks at adidas have done well to integrate current streetwear trends — geometric patterns, color blocking, neons — into their men’s adiZero collection. As a whole, this was the best look for the 2011 U.S. Open, seen on Juan Monaco, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco, Alexandr Dolgopolov, among others.
More: See the individual pieces (that triangled warm-up’s our fave) — after the cut…
Check out this Roger Federer tee being sold by Nike at their on-site U.S. Open booth. It wasn’t included in the preview they released, so I’m glad we ran across it!
Pop quiz: The images show Roger’s medal from the Olympics (albeit in doubles) along with 14 of his majors. He has 16 Slams in total; which ones did they leave out?
In a rush: Fed took care of things quickly against Juan Monaco in the fourth round of this year’s men’s singles event; between the late start (that Wozniacki/Kuznetsova took forever) and the threat of a rain delay, he wanted to finish ASAP. Roger only dropped three games against the Argentine and has booked a quarterfinal appointment with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the man who beat him in the final 8 of this year’s Wimbledon. (Draw: Men’s Singles)
(screengrab via ESPN)
Juan Monaco at the 2011 U.S. Open. The Argentine is still in the singles draw, beating Seppi in the first round and next playing Stepanek. They share the same section of the draw as Federer and Fish. (Draw: Men’s Singles)
(via)
Juan Monaco‘s playing at this week’s combined Mutua Madrid Open, winning his first-rounder against Andrey Golubev 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. He’ll need to step it up if he wants to upset ninth seed Gael Monfils in the next round. They both share the same quarter as Andy Murray (though we think it’s Tomas Berdych‘s to lose). Browse: Mutua Madrid Open Draws.
Taking pic(o)s: Some shots we took of Monaco earlier this year at Indian Wells.
(images by TSF)
Slow day over here. Thank god, otherwise I’d never’ve gotten around to linking to these pics of Grigor Dimitrov from 2010 in Bangkok, where he went on a tear and ended up with back-to-back titles. (Photos: Enjoy!)
2011: Grigor’s won a Challenger (Cherbourg) and last month reached a career-high No. 70 in the ATP rankings. He entered this week’s Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and immediately lost 4-6, 1-6 to Juan Monaco (after being up 4-1 in that first set). Draw: Here’s how the rest of the guys are doing. (The field includes Nadal, Soderling, Ferrer, Melzer, Monfils, and Almagro.)
(image via modetopia)
Week one of the Australian Open is over and done with: seven days of play down, seven to go. But there were seven instances out of the tennis norm that caught our eye, and we’re wondering for today’s Sunday Survey: which moment was the wackiest? Choose in the survey below. And if you’re not sure what we’re referencing, check out videos on each occurrence after the jump.
Click here for a video vault on all seven moments. (more…)
Thanks to Sophie for leading us to the source of that Pico pic we posted last month. It’s from an issue of WATT, an argentinian magazine, that came out in 2009.
Further ogling/reading: Article here (at WATT), pictures here (via New Balls, Please).
Fuzzy wuzzy Juan Monaco is through to the final four at this week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters after beating Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-2 in the quarters. (Sadly, Jurgen was probably pooped out after upsetting Rafa Nadal in the round prior.)
Looking forward: Monaco next faces Andy Murray, who won over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The other semi will feature Roger Federer (d. Soderling) and Novak Djokovic (d. Gigi Lopez).
The clothes: As we saw in person at the US Open, we’re much more a fan of the grey and purple version of this fall’s Edge line from adidas.
Buy: Fall Edge Theme Top (assymetrical), $39; Crew, $35; Shorts, $35; in Deepest Ink (grey), Ultra Beauty (fuschia), and white; all at TW.
(image via Getty Images)
For TSF readers in Miami, a little tip: if you’re into the clothes of Etiqueta Negra — a favorite of both Juan Monaco and David Nalbandian — it’ll pay to visit their outpost at the Aventura Mall in the near future. UrbanDaddy’s letting folks leverage $50 into $100’s worth of clothes from the Argentina-based label, putting you that much closer to picking up Pico’s style. Us non-Floridians can browse the full-priced goods at the company’s site.
Act soon: The offer’s good until Wednesday next week. More info here.
(screengrab via etiquetanegra.us)
If you can tell me where to find the rest of the pictures from this session with Juan Monaco, I have lots to trade. My firstborn, a kidney, skin grafts, hair follicles, an eye, a few fingers. Hit me up.
(photo from LL’s Twitter)
The women took a week off to fight for the flags, but the men were vying for titles this past week.
Marin Cilic defended his title at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over Michael Berrer. After the match, Marin explained that second-set hiccup that went Berrer’s way.
“I was surprised with the level of [Berrer’s] game. It’s not that I underestimated him; it’s just that I did not expect this level of tennis in his first major final. There were no ups and downs in his game; I had to earn every point.”
Marin currently has a 15-1 record for 2010. He won Chennai and made it to the semis of the 2010 Australian Open.
South Africa and South America: See the other two singles winners after the cut…
As expected, Juan Monaco — the 30th seed at the 2010 Australian Open — rolled over for his third round opponent, Nikolay Davydenko. The score: 0-6, 3-6, 4-6.
To Juan’s credit, he had some pretty good wins in the prior two rounds, including one over Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 in the first and a five-setter over Michael Llodra in the second (Pico came from two sets down).
Up next for Kolya is Fernando Verdasco, who walked over after Stefan Koubek retired with a fever (FeVer?) after losing the first set 6-1. And the potential quarterfinal matchup for the Russian is Roger Federer — sorry, Lleyton. (Draw: Men’s singles.)
It means go: Monaco’s wearing clothes from adidas‘s Spring 2010 Edge line, which is using green (“signal” and “dark”) as the contrast to the blue courts of the Australian Open. We’re all about the color blocking on the bermuda shorts, and pairing that with the intense graphic of the black/green crew gives a nice effect. Unfortunately, it just looks messy with the white/green colorway.
Buy: adidas Spring 2010 Edge Crew, $55; Edge Bermuda, $55; Warm-up, $80.
(images via Getty Images)
Proud achievement or slap in the face? Japanese phoenix Kimiko Date-Krumm became the oldest SEWTA winner since BJK in 1983 by beating Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3 at the Korea Open. Set this win beside Kimmie‘s U.S. Open triumph (and alongside Dinara‘s first round disaster in Tokyo) and what you get is fodder for naysayers of the deflated WTA Tour. Either way, congrats to Kimiko!
You can’t Photoshop that even if you tried: Israeli Shahar Pe’er beat local (Uzbekistani) Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3, 6-4 at the Tashkent Open. Shahar also won the singles title at last week’s Guangzhou Open.
More: The men, and toasts to Agassi and Kramer after the cut…
Peekaboo: Blame the “just because we can” syndrome, but here’s a photo of Juan Monaco, who made the finals of the BCR Romania Open this past weekend. He lost 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) to Albert Montanes. The Argentine was up 5-2 in the second set before he fell and hurt his right leg. Unfortunately, he was not able to recover. What is it with him and leg bad luck?
More: See a few more pics after the cut…
TSF’s clay hope Juan Monaco — he once had the goods to back this up — did his unseeded duty by going taut-belly up against ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. We expect Tsonga to easily beat Christophe Rochus (who won the battle of the munchkins against Arnaud Clement), but to fall to Juan Martin Del Potro in the round of 16.
Three stripes times two: Pico’s steady baseline game was accented by the adidas Spring Edge Print Crew, while Tsonga’s all-attacking style was covered in the season’s Zip Crew.
Buy: adidas Spring Edge Print Crew, $35.99, phantom/pool blue and white/blank; Spring Competition Zip Crew, cyan/black/white and neon yellow/white, $43.99.
More: A few more pics of Monaco’s French Open play after the cut…
Robredo rolls: Spaniard Tommy Robredo has been slowly compiling a successful 2009 (he’s 15-3 in match wins so far), adding to last week’s Brasil Open title a trophy from the Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires. As a part of a nine-match winning streak, Tommy took out 2007 champ Juan Monaco 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (5).
Roddick’s revenge: Early bird got The Worm this week when Andy exacted revenge on Radek Stepanek‘s title win over the American at last week’s SAP Open. This time around, at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, the top seed only needed two sets to take out Stepanek: 7-5, 7-5.
As you may have heard, Roddick is skipping this the ATP Dubai stop in support of Shahar Peer. Good for him.
Teenage triumph: And on the women’s side of this combined tournament, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka upset top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the finals of Memphis 6-1, 6-3. This is Victoria’s second title of the year (and of her career). She was merely playing catch-up to Wozniacki, whose breakout 2008 produced three titles.
Venus and Virginie: Speaking of Dubai, a gracious (and henna-free) Venus Williams addressed Shahar’s situation during her trophy ceremony after beating Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-2.
“I am not here to rock any boat or upset people, I am just here to do things that are right,” Williams said. “And I think right things are already happening next week and right things will happen next year.”
Props to Virginie and Asics for maxing out her airtime. They had her in another colorway of her separates, this one in black with pink trim.
French fracas: We’re a little sad that the French smorgasbord in Marseille has come to an end (Arnaud Clement, Youzhny, Tursunov, Dimitrov, Vliegen, Seppi, Safin, Chardy, Bolelli), and even sadder that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga denied us a post-win striptease from runner-up Michael Llodra. But thumbs-up to Tsonga for bagging his second title of the year.
Maria’s maiden title: In Bogota, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat Gisela Dulko 6-2 6-3 for her first SEWTA title at the Copa Colsanitas tournament.
(images via Getty Images)
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…and by “checking in with” we mean “showing many pictures of”.
Calendar boy Juan Monaco lost early at this year’s Australian Open, falling to fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.
But of course he won the adidas fashion war that day, besting Tsonga’s yellow top from the Competition line with his white Edge crewneck. Props to the neat look of the black/white contrast and the novelty six-pack print — not required since Juan has his own washboard.
We also like the tee’s olive/yellow version (we’d like a break from lime, thanks). And in the Edge Warm-up Hoodie, the graphic simply moves higher up on the chest. Look for a blue version of these items to drop in the Spring. (It’s the same blue that Nike is using right now.)
And in light of all the coif makeovers happening Down Under (see: Roger Federer, Marcos Baghdatis), I’m glad that Juan’s kept his the same — even though I’m sure he’d look good with any hairstyle. And I hope he starts posting good results soon, because I’m slowly being won over by the locks of Jeremy Chardy!
The goods: adidas Edge line (which includes Djokovic‘s Falcon apparel): Edge Tee, olive/yellow and white/phantom, $45; Edge Warm-up Hoodie, $65; Bermuda Shorts, olive/white/phantom, $50; tie headband, $15.
Aside from being able to drool over Juan Monaco up close (I didn’t think he could look better in person…), one of the good things I took away from last month’s ATP Calendar launch was the discovery that Juan gets dressed by Argentine label Etiqueta Negra.
Thankfully, a friend of mine recently spent some time in Buenos Aires and filled me in on the brand. Etiqueta produces some well-constructed pieces in classic cuts and silhouettes, using raw materials of higher quality than other Argentinian brands.
Even better, Etiqueta’s SoHo store, which’ll eventually open on Prince and Lafayette, will fit right into the current trend of “concept” shops — i.e., displaying clothes alongside installations of brand-inspiring items (in their case: antique Jaguars and vintage BMW motorbikes).
And in case you weren’t quite sold on their upscale feel, founder Federico Alvarez Castillo chose a greyhound — think racing dog, not mass transit — as the brand’s logo, and is the official outfitter of a polo team.
FYI: Unlike Monaco, David Nalbandian had an official endorsement contract with EN that ended at this year’s Open.
Browse: See Etiqueta Negra’s latest collection. And some images from a recent lookbook after the cut…
TSF was lucky enough to drop by the launch party for the ATP World Tour 2009 Calendar at the W Times Square. The tour enlisted the help of a few good men — Dmitry Tursunov, Juan Monaco, Ivan Ljubicic, Paradorn Srichaphan, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Mikhail Youzhny, Tommy Haas, Marcos Bagdhatis, Tomas Berdych, Mike and Bob Bryan, Fernando Gonzalez, and Tommy Robredo (who isn’t so green about disrobing for the camera) — to pose for the 13-month skin-baring pin-up. We were joined for champagne by Dima, Juan, and Juan’s doubles partner Maximo Gonzalez.
Too bad French photographer Corinne Dubreuil, who shot these guys in Paris last year, wasn’t around for the event; you bet we wanted to ask her about shooting these shower pics of Arnaud Clement and these of Kolya Davydenko.
ATP jokester Tursunov (above, right) felt confident in his decision to pose shirtless for the calendar, and is ready for any locker room pranks pulled by his fellow athletes. “Bring ’em on,” he said. “We tennis players work hard for our bodies, and it’s definitely not in vain. So it’s nice to do something like this.” He added, “I’d rather people make fun of me for being fit than for being out of shape.”
And what did the scruffy Mr. Monaco, through a translator — sorry, my Spanish can’t cut it — think of his experience? “It was very important for me to develop my image outside the sport and have people outside the sport get to know me.” And showing skin didn’t faze him: “I just had fun with it.”
The ATP’s Chris O’Neill came up with the idea for the calendar while roaming the grounds of the Countrywide Classic. He watched Dima get mobbed by women (“who wanted to have his baby, who wanted to marry him” — all these crazy things) and realized that there was a side of the sport that wasn’t getting showcased. And we’re grateful for his idea.
Buy: Pick up the calendar for $13 at TW.
More pics: See some more pages from the calendar after the cut…
Even though most of the ATP and WTA tours have already flocked to Paris for the French Open (which started on a Sunday this year), there were still titles contested in some nearby warm-up tournaments.
Kolya announces his intentions to challenge Rafa and Roger for the French Open title with his win over Juan Monaco (6-2 2-6 6-2) in Poertschach, Austria.
Monaco failed to defend his title from last year. Nikolay was bothered by a thigh injury (he had to have it taped), but assured the press that it wouldn’t affect his play in Paris.
Robin Soderling, Robert Lindstedt, Thomas Johansson, and coach Peter Carlsson pose with their hardware after taking out the Russian tennis team (of Dmitry Tursunov, Igor Andreev, and Mikhail Youzhny 2-1 in the ARAG ATP tennis World Team Cup in Dusseldorf.
Anabel Medina-Garrigues shows off her trophy (from Baccarat) after winning the Strasbourg International against Katarina Srebotnik. Scoreline: 4-6 7-6 6-0.
23-year-old Gilles Simon beat countryman Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-2 at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco.
And Agnieszka Radwanska became the first Polish woman to crack $1 million in career earnings after winning the Istanbul Open over Elena Dementieva. Agnieszka beat the Russian 6-3, 6-2.
(photos by Getty Images)
tennis served fresh 