venus covers up, and then some

This is Dubai, after all: We are pretty sure that the “skin baring” dress that Venus Williams would’ve kept her out of defending her singles title at the Barclay’s Dubai Tennis Championships (hey, what’s this event if not without controversy?), so it was probably a smart move that she went back to the EleVen dress that she wore at the 2009 U.S. Open.

And speaking of, she again got some henna tattooing done (like how she did at this tourney last year), this time adding some ink on her left thigh.

Draw: Venus looks good for a repeat; she’ll be up against the story of the tourney, Shahar Peer, in the semis. Teenagers Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska will vie for the other spot in the final. ([pdf]).

More: A few images (including the tattoos)

tattoo watch: black, like janko tipsarevic’s heart

Ask and you shall receive: Thanks to Amy for sending us links to some Janko images with his new tattoo. As he had explained on his website, this latest addition (on the back of Janko’s left arm) is the chinese/japanese character for “black”.

Tattoo watch: Read some more from the Tattoo Watch blotter here.

(image via Getty Images)

janko 2.0

That’s right, folks. Sury Serbian Janko Tipsarevic now has his very own website. It loads a little slow (which, in this age of seemingly unlimited bandwith, is “unacceptable”, as they say), but we’re definitely looking forward to keeping in touch with the munchkin.

Tattoo watch? In the fan question section (“Ask Him“, someone asked about the meaning of Janko’s new tattoo. His response? “Black”. Is there really a new tat? If you have info (or images), please send our way!

(screengrab via jtipsarevic.com)

petrova upsets clijsters + tattoo watch and fila heritage

The comeback story of Kim Clijsters hit a little bit of a snag when she ran into Nadia Petrova in the third round of the 2010 Australian Open. Many had high hopes that she’d join fellow recent unretiree Justine Henin — and the newbie Yanina Wickmayer — in a Belgian battle in the bottom half of the draw.

Instead, Petrova — who trained for six weeks leading up to Melbourne — gave Kim her worst loss in a very long time: a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing that booted the Fila mascot off the court in less than an hour.

“I was completely off,” Clijsters told reporters after the match. “I think tenniswise, I didn’t feel the ball at all.”

Henin and Wickmayer face each other in the round of 16; the winner of that match will play the winner of Petrova vs. Kuznetsova. (Draw: Women’s singles.)

Honorable mention: There weren’t really any good shots of it, but we are all about Fila’s Heritage skort. It’s got pleats just on the front left side, giving us a refreshing take on a classic tennis outfit.

Buy: Fila Heritage Cap Sleeve Top, white or red, $45; Heritage Skort, in white or peacoat (navy blue), $45.

More: See pics of Kim’s shoes and her two tattoos (!) — all

fashion focus: alona bondarenko’s fruity dress, not quite ripe

Alona Bondarenko bagged the first upset during Day 5 of play at the 2010 Australian Open with her defeat of eighth seed Jelena Jankovic in the third round.

The rusty (and “clogged-up”) Serbian never round her rythm, and the Ukranian took advantage, running away with a 6-2, 6-3 win. Up next for Alona is a match with Zheng Jie, who took out 11th seed Marion Bartoli. After that, it’s either Safina or Kirilenko. (Draw: Women’s Singles)

Pretty in pink: The “Raspberry Rose” halter dress has that faux layering at the chest (which everyone’s doing), chunky pleating, and grey and white stripes at the high waist to give the dress some extra shape (not that Alona needs the help). One of the cutest dresses of the tournament. Note that her shoes also have grey/pink detail.

Buy: K-Swiss Halter Dress, $75, in rose and white colorways; available February 3rd at kswiss.com. At some point I wish they’d figure out that this should go on sale the same day the tournament starts.

More: More pics of Alona

janko’s out

The sandwich-loving Janko Tipsarevic is out of the 2010 Australian Open in the third round, losing to 18th seed Tommy Haas 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6.

Still, the Serb is having a good year so far: he got to the semis of Chennai (losing to Cilic) and was a runner-up for the doubles title (with partner Yen-Hsun Lu).

(image via Getty Images)

tattoo watch: sam warburg. shirtless.

I know that some of you are cool with keeping things anonymous when it comes to your men, but just in case you want to get to know them better: I think this is Sam Warburg.

Squint if you must: Alas, we botched saving the photo we took of a circular tattoo on his right inner forearm. But it’s there!

Draw: Sam lost in the first round of the US Open qualies to Michael Berrer.

tattoo watch: jose acasuso

Tattoo watch: TSF spent some time watching Nadia Petrova work on her serve at the Pilot Pen Tennis tourney’s show court yesterday morning (she fared well with it during her match against Anna Chakvetadze; too bad the rest of her game didn’t click), and for doing our homework we got a treat in the form of Jose Acasuso, who practiced after the Russian.

Scoreline: The Argentine faces compatriot Maximo Gonzalez in the first round of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament (they play today).

janko shows off his guns, rides off into the sunset

Double barrel: Janko Tipsarevic retired from his third round match against Andy Murray because of a hamstring injury (grr, he gets injured too often!). The Serb only had praise for the Scot, saying that while Murray’s game isn’t quite suited for clay, his high confidence and playing style makes him a definite contender for the title. “In my opinion,” Janko shares, “he is the best defender and has the best passing shot on tour.”

But before Janko ended the match — he was trailing 6-7, 3-6 — he got his fans “tipsy” with a little gun show. What was covered up by the Fila Center Court Crew from his second round victory over Feli Lopez was now for all to see in the Sleeveless top.

Buy: Fila Center Court Sleeveless Top, $33.99; Colorblocked Crew, $37.99; in Parisian Blue/white.

More: See more of Janko lunging around the court

tattoo watch: alona bondarenko

Alona Bondarenko could bag her first SEWTA Tour title of the year if she defeats Romainian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru in tomorrow’s Warsaw Open final. Alona beat Anne Keothavong 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the final, while Dulgheru upset Dani Hantuchova 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

At next week’s French Open, Alona opens with a match against Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, and has Amelie Mauresmo, Agi Szavay, and Venus Williams in her section of the draw.

Tattoo watch: Meanwhile, we’ve discovered this photo of Alona’s back tattoo, taken during the a 2009 Aussie Open match against Svetlana Kuznetsova. It looks similar (and is inked almost in the same spot) as her sister’s.

More: See a blow-up

tattoo watch: daniel koellerer

Austrian tennis player Daniel Koellerer upset top seed David Nalbandian 1-6 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the Acapulco tournament.

BTW, the Mexican version of ESPN The Magazine put Venus Williams on its February cover (in anticipation of the tournament, which she won). The mag also included an article on Nalbandian, plus a decent layman’s write-up about the event’s “ATP 500” designation, and how that fits into the rest of the ATP scheme.

(photo by Getty Images)

tattoo watch: bolelli’s twofer

FYI, Simone Bolelli got his left forearm marked up (to go along with another new tattoo and his long-standing “S“).

Unconfirmed post at MTF says it’s his girlfriend’s name. Can anyone back it up?

Scoreline: At this week’s Barclays Dubai Championships in Dubai, Simone lost in straight sets to Richard Gasquet in the second round.

(images via Getty Images)

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tattoo watch: bolelli’s tramp stamp

Tattoo watch: One of our favorite Italian stallions, Simone Bolelli, was clearly busy during the off-season. And in case ya don’t believe him, he’s got the tats to prove it.

More: See the tattoo (and a few more shirtless pics) — all from this year’s Medibank International tourney in Sydney —

tattoo watch: venus stays noncommittal in dubai

Venus Williams applied an elaborate henna tatto for this week’s Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships party. It’s not the first time Venus has flirted with tattoos — remember the disappearing act of 2007?

Scoreline: As she had wished before the beginning of this tournament, Venus will get to play against sister Serena in the Dubai semis. Venus took out Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-3 while top-seeded Serena had no problem overcoming the go-for-broke strategy employed by Ana Ivanovic (Serena won 4 and 4).

Browse: See the rest of our tattoo watch blotter here.

(image via Getty Images)

tattoo watch: moving foreward

I’ve been seeing an awful lot of forearm tattoos lately… I should take that as a sign that I should get one myself (my squid is getting lonely).

Guillermo Canas showed his off in the first round Australian Open men’s doubles match with partner Marat Safin. We hadn’t seen this one before. Hebrew script, I think. Is it new?

(photo by Safinfan via Angelique)

tattoo watch: jarkko’s unveiling

Jarkko Nieminen and his tattoo tease has a sequel, apparently. As the Finn collapsed on the court after his 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-2 loss to David Nalbandian in the Sydney International final on Saturday, he let us in on another inking, this time on the underside of his right arm.

(photo by Getty Images)

tattoo watch: jarkko nieminen

Finn de siècle: Is Novak Djokovic‘s 6-4, 7-6 loss to Jarkko Nieminen in the semis of the Medibank International in Sydney a sign that the Serb won’t defend his maiden major title? It must be sophomore slump time!

In case you’re curious, per wikipedia: “Sisu is a Finnish term that could be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.”

Further reading: Here’s Wertheim‘s Aussie Open seed report for SI.

(photo from Getty Images)

tattoo watch: name that ass back tattoo

After a few idle months, the TSF tattoo blotter got its latest entry thanks to the photography of Carlita at the Mutua Madrilena Masters in Madrid.

So, whose tat is this? Find out

tattoo watch: timea bacsinszky

Tattoo Watch: Thanks to everyone for clearing up the tattoo confusion for me. This tattoo, mistakenly attributed to Maria Sharapova, is actually that of Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky. She lost 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 to fifth seed Elena Dementieva.

tattoo watch: maria sharapova?!

This could just be a error, but the caption accompanying this Abaca Press photo of female player’s nape at Wimbledon identifies it as Maria Sharapova‘s. I’ve never seen her nape, so…

Three things:

1) Is this her neck? The top doesn’t look like the Nike tuxedo top. Even if you took off the sheer layer (leaving the sports bra), it still doesn’t look like Maria.

2) If this isn’t Maria, who is it?

3) What does the tattoo say?

(photo by Corinne Dubreuil/Abaca; thanks, Lu!)

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