ferrer, quietly, in the mix

Still in it: Spaniard David Ferrer is one of the few players left in the draw who snuck into the round of 16 of the 2011 U.S. Open without much fanfare (along with Monaco and Gilles Muller); pretty much all the other guys have either tussled with (and toppled) high-profile players or are BMOCs themselves. Ferrer, the fifth seed, will face Andy Roddick for a spot in the quarters; the winner of that match plays Nadal or Muller.

Lotto: Simple kit for Lotto‘s guys this year — nothing to write home about. (That torso, though, is a different story.) As for Lotto’s women, they’re still charging on with the same flirty kits they’ve been playing in all year. Glad to see Radwanksa in the mix to help Pironkova and Schiavone sell the brand’s designs to fans.

(photo by Getty Images)

most improved hair: carla suarez navarro

It’s been around for a while now — at least since the start of 2011 — but we’re still not over how much better this boy cut is on Carla Suarez Navarro (compared to this, we mean).

The Spaniard fell to Andrea Petkovic in the fourth round of the 2011 U.S. Open 6-1, 6-4. Petko had a tough time closing out the match but eventually prevailed. She’ll play the winner of Wozniacki/Kuznetsova (which is being contested as we type).

And speaking of Petko, check out Nick’s interview with Andrea for USOpen.org.

(image via Getty Images)

fashion focus: in lotto, schiavone keeps the frills to a minimum

While we wouldn’t have picked Francesca Schiavone as the woman who could best showcase the uber-feminine clothes from this season’s Lotto drop, the Italian is keeping up her end of the sponsorship bargain during this claycourt season: she’s backed up her decision to lay low during the last Fed Cup tie with a quarterfinal appearance in Rome (losing to Stosur) and a semifinal defeat in Brussels (to Caro). Now she has a chance to defend her French Open title in the finals against Li Na, played tomorrow. (Draw: RG Women’s Singles)

TSF loves the skort in particular, with its super-bunched hem and bow off to the side. (We first noticed this on Pironkova back at Indian Wells.) Schiavone’s done a good job mixing up the skort’s three colors — pearl (grey), dark navy, and white — with the irid cocktail (light salmon) and dark navy pieces. We’re also glad she’s opted for the more subtle ruching of the cap-sleeve top, leaving the messy criss-cross design of the tank back in Rome. All that extra fabric is doing nothing for her flat-chestedness.

Buy: Lotto Missy Skort, €30.17; Polo, €34.03; Tank, €30.17; Dress, €45.29; Cap-Sleeve Top, €30.17.

More: Images from her 2011 Roland Garros looks — plus two from Rome — all

kolyateral damage

Shirtless: Croatia’s Antonio Veic did his part to make a name for the qualifiers who reached the third round of this year’s French Open (the others: Leonardo Mayer, Lukasz Kubot, Lukas Rosol). In the process, Veic took down 28th seed Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. Veic next plays Nadal. (Draw: RG Men’s Singles)

More: A few more shots of Veic in (and out) of his Lotto gear, plus Kolya in his Dunlop kit. Nothing to see there, really. It’s just for my records…. See it all

tattoo watch: potito starace

Potito Starace got tangled in Andy Murray‘s medusa at this week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Potito went down 2-6, 3-6 to the fourth seed, who next faces Florian Mayer. The other six quarterfinalists are Nadal/Cilic, Gasquet (who beat Federer in three with two tiebreaks going his way)/Berdych, and whomever wins these third-rounders: Soderling vs. Almagro and Djokovic vs. Wawrinka. (Draw: Rome Men’s Singles)

Tattoo watch: We hadn’t seen that one on his upper right arm before. Archives: Potito’s shoulder.

(image by Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images)

david ferrer springs back

David Ferrer has had a great year so far, being in an elite group of four guys who’ve won more than one singles title in 2011 — Nole has four, Soderling has three, and Ferrer and Almagro each have two.

After coming so close to winning Monte Carlo, Ferrer’s vying for his second clay title of the year in Barcelona. He opened with a quick match against Carlos Berlocq and will face Hanescu in the third round. He could meet Melzer in the quarters after that. Draw: See how all the guys are doing at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Lotto: After playing with yellow and color blocking to start out the year, Lotto’s moved on to showcasing the chest by adding lines and patterns to polos and crews. They used orange (“Fanta”) during Ferrer’s swing through Indian Wells and Miami, and have gone back to teal for his clay run. Buy: Shirts available at Pro-Direct Tennis.

(images via Getty Images)

davis cup: nalbandian moves argentina into the semis

Two clutch performances by David Nalbandian at this past weekend’s Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals in Moscow moves Argentina into the next round. Even though he’s been sidelined by injury for the past few months, the former World No. 3 won the opening singles rubber (vs. Davydenko) and the decisive fifth rubber (upsetting the unflappable Mikhail Youzhny), both of which contributed to their 3-2 victory against the Russians. (Read up: Tie Details)

Top clothing marks go to Leonardo Mayer in Lotto. Everyone else came predictably dressed (Eduardo Schwank in Topper‘s standard issue; Nalbandian in Yonex; Davydenko — with costume changes — in Dunlop; Kunitsyn and Youzhny in Fila and adidas whites, respectively).

Click on the pics below to see more.

(images via Getty Images)

live blogging the FO (men’s) final

5:39 PM 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 Game, set, match, Nadal I’m pretty happy for Rafa and that win. He definitely deserved it. Congrats, big guy.

5:24 PM 6-4, 6-2, 5-3 Nadal Time for the Robin Soderling to pull out the gladiator armor. He’s neeeeeeeeding it.

5:07 PM 6-4, 6-2, 3-1 Nadal No, we have no idea who the junior champions are, either. And so much for Bode Miller‘s U.S. Open bid. Kind of rough for the USTA‘s number one story line to flame out in the first round. McEnroe is really doing his best to verbally route for Sod to take this to four or five.

a whole lotto yellow

Kudos to Francesca Schiavone for taking these flirty white and yellow Lotto pieces all the way to the fourth round of the 2010 Australian Open (with an upset of 10th seed Agnieszka Radwanska along the way). The Italian and 17th seed even took a set from Venus Williams before losing.

But I’m not gonna lie: I’m curious to see how this dress would look on someone with more, uhm, boobs.

More: Note the frills on the skirt and the sheer material used as accent pieces. See pics

david ferrer is a dirty, dirty pirate

David Ferrer defeated Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters. He’ll next face compatriot Feliciano Lopez, and have a so-so Juan Martin del Potro as a potential third-round match-up. If he makes it through, Tsonga will likely be his quarterfinal opponent. Draw here.

Gold: Ferrer is wearing pieces from Lotto‘s Shock collection, this time in black and gold. He also wore this at the 2009 U.S. Open.

More: A few more pics of David

david ferrer: biohazardous to roddick’s game

Andy Roddick got his first taste of trouble in the hands of fiery Spaniard David Ferrer, who took the top-ranked American to three sets — 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 — in the fourth round of this week’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Lotto’s new look: We’re not quite sure what to think of this biohazard-esque graphic splayed on David Ferrer‘s spring Lotto kit, but its definitely a welcome change from the teal/white colorway he sported in the last few months.

He wore a red/white version during last week’s Davis Cup tie between Spain and Serbia; the white/mustard colorway during his matches earlier this week, and the mustard-only made its debut last night.

Looking ahead: Still, Andy got through and will next face Novak Djokovic in the quarters. They’re even in their head-to-head with two apiece. They’re most recent match was at this year’s Australian Open (Nole retired in the fourth).

(images via Getty Images)

fashion focus: a lotta lotto blue

Lotto decided to keep last spring‘s aqua blue for this year’s spring kit, choosing instead to tweak the clothing design. David Ferrer wore both the blue/white and white/blue version of the spring tee this week’s Australian Open. He beat fellow Lotto player Dominik Hrbaty in the second round before falling to 11th seed Marin Cilic 6-7 (5), 3-6, 4-6.

Here’s Hrbaty in his second-round match.

In a grand slam that’s seen almost every outfitter overwhelm spectators with bright, bright (did we say bright?) offerings, it’s refreshing to see Lotto take a more subtle-but-still-colorful route.

From the back: And we picked Gilles Muller to show off the detail on the back of the shorts (plus the bumblebee shoes). The unseeded Luxembourger lost to eight seed Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (5), 5-7, 3-6, 5-7.

Buy: As of press time, the new goods weren’t yet for sale.

(images by Getty Images)

davis cup: i, too, would settle for a pompadour…

Who needs a custom Davis Cup kit when you’ve got an amazing pompadour like Fernando Verdasco?

Unfortunately, his solid red adidas Compeition Crew looked bland next to the rest of Team Espana’s uniforms.

Meanwhile, Joma and Feliciano Lopez continue their wonderful partnership with his Davis Cup getup. (See the detail on the back of his polo, and his shoes.) Nadal is wearing the same vibrant Nike kit that he wore in Beijing, save for a switch to a red headband (instead of yellow). David Ferrer is in Lotto (pic).

Scoreline: After Nadal beat Sam Querrey (Sam took the first set) and Ferrer took out Andy Roddick in five sets, the Spanish duo fell to Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6. This gives the Americans a chance to get back into the tie with reverse singles tomorrow. (See the details here. First up: Rafa will play Andy!)

(photo by Getty Images)

fashion focus: lotto goes back to its roots

Lotto takes advantage of the Italian flag palette for its Wimbledon men’s gear. Red and green stripes adorn the shirts, shorts, and wristbands of Simone Bolelli, David Ferrer, and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Same goes for the shoes.

Juanqui wears the crewneck version of the tee, and joins the land of the double-wide wristband with his own slapdash version…

Ferrer adds a bandana to his outfit.

Meanwhile, Simone went with the polo version. Look at his jewelry!

Browse: This Wimbledon collection isn’t available for sale yet, but you can check out the rest of Lotto’s goods (including the fleur de lis-branded Leggenda collection) here.

(images by Getty Images)

shoes: the next frontier + novak’s nike switch

Venus Williams and her less-than-$20 shoes have a place in the finals tomorrow. The four-time (and defending champ) took out the grumpy (and possibly misinterpreted) Elena Dementieva in the semis.

No chances for a mix-up over at Fila, who marked Sveta Kuznetsova and Dmitry Tursunov‘s shoes this week.

And here’s a look at those Alfas designed by Fila especially for Wimbledon court staff.

While Nike gets top honors for its design of Roger Federer‘s shoes, we have to point out these Lotto kicks customized for Simone Bolelli. Notice the “Bole” (his nickname) incorporated into the shoe. The designers at Fila need to go in this direction…

Shahar Peer and Reebok bring back the Israeli flag, seen here in her match against Dinara Safina.

Andy Murray playing in Nike against Ricky Gasquet of France.

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Much ado about Nike: Our buddy Darren Rovell at CNBC wrote about Novak Djokovic‘s silent switch in tennis shoes from adidas to Nike Air Max Breathe Cage IIs at this year’s Championships. Nole did a fine job white out the swooshes on his shoe.

Here’s a photo of the grass court shoe he wore the week prior at The Artois Championships in London (he lost to Rafa Nadal in the finals). He apparently slipped and slid too much and decided to give Nike a try…

More from Lotto’s Spring line

The one piece missing from the Lotto Spring 2008 line being peddled at Tennis Warehouse is this black version of the Effect Crewneck. David Ferrer wore it for a few matches at last week’s tournament in Barcelona.

(JFTR, I prefer the white. Yep, story of my life…)

(photos by Getty Images)

David Ferrer in Lotto blue

Spaniard David Ferrer plays at this week’s Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana wearing pieces from Lotto‘s refreshing aqua-colored Spring 2008 Effect line. Notice the assymetrical geometric scribble that seems to be all the rage these days.

Buy: Lotto Effect Crew, $42.99; Effect Shorts, $29.99; Effect Polo, $49.99.

(photos via OTCV gallery)

Juan Carlos Ferrero switches gears for the clay season

The roost-ruling Juan Carlos Ferrero switches from maroon to black (with red trim) for the ATP Tour stop at his hometown — the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana.

Practice shirt.

(photos via OTCV gallery)

fashion focus: a lotta props to lotto for spring

During our almost hourly powows at Indian Wells last week, my friends Chip and Charge both chimed in on their favorite outfits from the desert. Their unanimous choice? The looks from Lotto.

Former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero was wearing a the Kontact Print tee in a white/maroon colorway (with matching shorts). This is the style with the metallic graphic on the right torso. (FYI: After a strong start Down Under, Juanqui’s record has been dismal, with back-to-back first round losses in Rotterdam and Dubai, followed by a loss in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open to David Nalbandian.)

Yep, that’s a mock mandarin collar. I still like v-necks better, but this is genius!

A training sleeveless tee and a warm-up jacket.

Meanwhile, Guillermo Garcia Lopez wore a red/white/black polo. Very clean, and stood out very nicely in the green and blue courts in the desert.

Gigi on the stretch.

The flip side: Lotto’s casual Leggenda collection looks pretty good for spring/summer 2008 — they’re all about fleur de lis, which I’m currently into. I might do a post on it later with pictures, if I have time. For now, you should check out the Lotto site and browse.

(All photos by BabyAngelB1 via MTF)

(almost) shirtless: juan carlos ferrero

22nd seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, in Lotto, took out Australian Alun Jones in a second round match in Melbourne. The Spaniard will next face 10th seed David Nalbandian or another Australian, Peter Luczak. (draw)

Whodathunk he’d be so freckly?

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