she shouldn’t have smiled

Forget about Roger Federer‘s records possibly being broken by Nole or Rafa — we’re in awe of Bethanie Mattek-Sands finally snapping Jelena Jankovic‘s record for worst gimmicky outfit worn to a party. It only took three years to oust her shopping buddy. Congrats, BMS!

A scowl on Bethanie might have helped us all stomach this, uhm, dress, designed by the UK-based Alex Noble (who frequently works with Lady Gaga). But all the giddiness and excitement was too much to contain; she couldn’t help being the balls of the ball.

Browse: Check out Noble’s blog to see some his other work (including the main outfit worn by Gaga in the “Judas” music video).

(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for WTA)

stylistically french

Style lady. While she barely escaped unknown Frenchwoman Caroline Garzia today on the tennis court (3-6 6-4 6-0), Maria Sharapova is easy to find on any newsstand in New York: she’s plastered on the front of the New York Times Thursday Style section. The article, a lengthy feature, talks about the brand Maria has grown (herself) and her work in fashion — Cole Haan being the highlight. | Draw: Maria survives

Is that a black eye? While Sharapova’s quarter was blown wide open with Kim Clijsters’ loss, American Bethanie Mattek-Sands sits on the top half of the draw and next has to deal with the always-testy Jelena Jankovic. The talk, however, has been less about BMS’ play (it’s been rather good lately) and more about her ever-famous face make-up (seen above). Everyone seems to be chatting about BMS’ face, and less about her game. Though, after her hard-fought second round win, the Times gave her this headline: “A Rising American Now Has a Game as Bold as Her Style.” Touche, folks. But what about in a few weeks’ time when BMS dons her Wimbledon players’ party Gaga-inspired dress? There will be no talk of her tennis, we predict. Or can she have her cake and eat it too? Either way, she’s happy.

TSF Vault: All about Bethanie

Soft core porn? And leave it to the eds at the Huffington Post to come up with this headline, teasing out the WTA‘s new “Strong is Beautiful” campaign: “Is This Ad Campaign ‘Soft Core Porn That Has Nothing To Do with Tennis’?” The headline itself was from a blog post from back in September, when the original Times photo shoot ran that inspired the campaign. The Post asked readers in a poll about the campaign, an overall response (through Thursday afternoon) is below:

(BMS image via the AP; Huffington Post screen grab)

strokin’: when tennis met music

By Jonathan Scott

It may not be tabloid fodder like every Taylor Swift dalliance, and it’s not nearly as insufferable as Brangelina, but the marriage between music and tennis is itself a storied love affair. It stretches across decades and genres, and it knows no bounds – well, none other than those pesky white lines.

Try to set aside the disappointment that the artist Sergey with the song “Tennis” on iTunes is actually not Vera Zvonareva‘s ridiculously good-looking model/coach. And, however possible, repress the memory of Justine Henin‘s song-and-dance scareoke on TV. Yes, Novak Djokovic and Ivo Karlovic have tried their tongues at rapping, as has Vince Spadea with amusingly deplorable results, but that doesn’t mean you should try it at home after perfecting your Djokovic-ian down-the-line backhand, does it?

As the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival just wrapped its annual song-a-thon in Austin, Texas – soon to be the site for a volatile USA vs. Spain Davis Cup tie in July – here’s the skinny on the latest hot shots in tennis-tinged music and an homage to some of the greats.

Best Newcomer: James Blake is a dub-step soulman and a veritable crooner. The British JB, that is. His American counterpart is a best-selling author and owner of a laser forehand whose best days are past, but Blake the Brit is taking the music world by slow-burning storm, releasing his rave-reviewed eponymous debut in February and – well before that – igniting the blogosphere with his faithful but quirky cover of Feist‘s “Limit to Your Love.” Let’s just pray that, when we hit up a James Blake concert sometime, his fans aren’t half as annoying (adorable?) as the American Blake’s J-Block can be in the tennis stands.

Dainty she is not. Our fave album cover from Blonde Readhead’s 23. (Image via band website)

Best Dressed: Sometimes it’s okay to judge a band by its cover. Oxymoronic indie rockers Blonde Redhead out of New York City put out the best, most elegant tennis-themed album art when they dropped 23 in 2007. But, no, the song “Top Ranking” has nothing to do with disputed no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.

Worst Dressed, but Best Sound: Yea, there is a band simply called Tennis, a married duo specializing in ’60s surf-pop for 2011. This act released its debut Cape Dory in January, and though the song “Marathon” doesn’t harbor the words “Isner,” “Mahut” or “Wimbledon” anywhere in the lyrics, it’s solid stuff. Consider it your soulful throwback soundtrack for this summer – but steer clear of wearing skintight aqua as with the album cover. It looks like leftover fabric from a hideous Nadia Petrova creation.

Best Tournament Run: This has to go to the ginger-haired heroine in the video for Vampire Weekend‘s “Giving Up the Gun.” She rips through a draw that includes Joe Jonas, a Daft Punk-helmeted doubles team, and even a flask-swilling Jake Gyllenhaal in tear-away pants. It’s a great song, and the immaculately-white indoor court is sharp – even if the choked-up strokes from the damsel look laughably bad in reality. Girl, who taught you to grip a racquet like that? Topping it off: RZA from Wu-Tang Clan serves as the chair umpire, and Lil Jon offers astute on-court coaching. Brill.

TSF Vault | The many lives of tennis-themed music vids

Best Clay-Court Match: French DJs Martin Solveig — oddly in tasteful Wimbledon whites — and Bob Sinclar, sporting some hot-magenta vintage-Agassi styles, squared off on Roland Garros‘ red dirt for the video for Solveig’s dance track “Hello” sung by Dragonette. The match and music video are both visceral, a veritable heartbreaker. Check out the cameo by that flashiest of the current French tennis stars as he comes on the scene and devastates the darling DJ.

Hello? Could Martin Solveig look any cooler? We think not. (YouTube screengrab)

Best Charity Hit: Andy Murray and Thom Yorke of Radiohead teamed up for charity single “Two Minute Silence” to benefit serving and former British troops and their families. Strangely enough, its title is no lie. “Hear” — but really just see — it here. British Prime Minister David Cameron and more also got in on this quiet riot. Truly the oddest not-quite-a-band lineup ever, but hey, can’t wait for their episode of “Behind the Music.” Finalist: Wozniacki put out a charity single called “Oxigent” (or “Oxygen”) to benefit Danish and Polish Paralympic athletes. Because, you know, she has oodles of free time.

Top Passing Shot: Meg Baird‘s lovely, lilting “Waltze of the Tennis Players.” It’s just pretty, and we do pretty.

More of Jonathan’s music musings (including “Best Grunt” and “Best Musical Ode to a Tennis Player”) after the cut.

short balls: open hangover

We don’t know this guy, but he’s serving our post headline brilliantly with this beer-carrying pose. Great concentration on the step up, wouldn’t you say? (Photo by feltonamus via flickr.)

If you’re having a little bit of a US Open hangover like us, make sure to check out our week 2 podcast if you haven’t already. Erwin and I are chatting it up about all things TSF cares about at the USO. Which is all you should care about, too. Now, the short balls:

There’s nothing like curing a good tennis hangover with some non-tennis news. This version of (OT) is gay-tastic, which shouldn’t come too surprising to most of our readers. The VMAs happened on Sunday night in LA, and as a prep before the big show (in which Lady Gaga wore a meat dress – yes, meat), OUT.com put together a list of the gayest moments from the show’s nearly 30-year history. OUT also compiled photos from photographer Jeff Sheng that chronicles service men and women who have been effected by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The exhibit is opening at the Kaycee Olsen gallery in LA on September 28th.

(MORE (OT)) As if you couldn’t get enough we have plenty of (OT) news up our sleeves this week. The blog we once loved to love is still churning out content, even after getting a book deal and getting published. Stuff White People Like is a hilarious and satirical blog. The latest ‘stuff’ white people like: The TED Conference. Hilarity. The US Olympic web site is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Sydney Olympics (remember Cathy Freeman? And Michael Johnson?!). And the New York Times flexes its graphic muscle with this panoramic view of the new Meadowlands Stadium, home of the Jets and Giants.

There’s been much (tennis) controversy following ESPN2‘s decision to cut away from the trophy ceremony at Flushing Meadows to commentary before the second Monday Night Football game of the night (yes, the second) between the Chiefs and the Chargers. Chris Chase laments on the Yahoo! tennis blog Busted Racquet about the debacle. We agree: us tennis fans are greatly outnumbered by the NFLers, but give our boys a little credit for the work they’ve done, and the history they’re making. Pretty sure no history was made on the gridiron on Monday night, no? Luckily, Forty Deuce has us saved with the full trophy presentation here. (And kudos on that post title, Courtney… )

While Serena (and Fashion Week) had/have nothing to do with the 2010 Open, there’s still plenty of connection between the two events. Fashion Week mainstay and Vogue editor Anna Wintour is a constant face (force?) in Roger Federer’s box and yesterday, Wintour’s right-hand man, Andre Leon Talley, penned a note for the Vogue Daily about Serena walking the runway for Fashion Week. As we write this, it’s 3 PM on Wednesday, so the big event’s already taken place (1 PM catwalk call time for ReRe at LaQuan‘s show at the Peninsula Hotel). Hopefully pictures soon. Meanwhile, this picture of Wintour and Serena at the Michael Kors show will have to do.

Serena and sister Venus both were a part of the Huffington Post‘s recent online musings. Venus’s US Open fireworks dress, which we talked at length about in our TSF podcast, was the subject of a photo gallery on the Huff‘s web site, while Serena is one of eight athletes selected by the Post as part of their Game Changer’s series.

Read more short balls with an epic version of short(er) balls after the cut.

it’s been almost a week

and I am still obsessed with this dress.

ob. sessed.

(screengrab via YouTube)