Leave your tennis shorts at home. It’s time for some tailored suits, couture dresses and, heck, even intimates! A look back at 12 of my favorite style moments (with a mishap or two) from 2012.
More on clothes being optional in looking good, Caro also showed off her great bod when she modeled her new underwear line. Weeeell, atleast this was different from her off-court staple, Herve Leger, which I’m sure she wore on her way to the shoot.
What’s so special about Nole wearing a suit? I’m not sure but for whatever reason he looks damn good in this one. Plus, I’m a total sucker for the glasses. And… well, yeah, it’s mostly the glasses.
Everybody knows that Roger always looks great in a suit (see Suiterer link above) so seeing him walk around in these Kanye West-designed Air Yeezy IIs (with some non-blue jeans!) was a nice surprise. You gained some extra cool points with me on that one, Mr. RF.
Masha’s the best dressed female athlete 90% of the time. This is Exhibit A of that other 10%. I gotta give her props for keeping it together the entire night because that Alexander McQueen was begging for a malfunction.
Well, Bogo does seem like a jeans and sneakers kinda guy so why force him into some wool? Either that or nobody bothered to tell him that he was supposed to show up in atleast a two-piece. Whoops.
I normally don’t care for the preppy look. (It reminds me of A&F and I’m not that brand’s biggest fan.) But it’s Milos! Not in a hoodie! But in a cardi! Looking adorbs!
Rafa’s a hipster? The low v-neck graphic tee, red shorts and undone hair totally says so. Who knew?! Hipster!Rafa just might be my favorite off-court style Rafa.
Vika looked great in this little ensemble she wore for her official Australian Open trophy pictures. She looked fresh and young and the blue/green combo worked well with that new, large, shiny accessory.
The amount of buzz this wig generated was ridiculous. I wish the actual photoshoot it was used for was talked about as much because it’s a great spread. There was some really bold styling and we’ve never seen Masha in anything like it before. (Menswear on a woman? Where do I sign up?)
Serena’s the first tennis player to ever grace the cover of US Vogue. She often talks about her love for fashion so I can only imagine how excited she was to be on the cover of the biggest fashion magazine in the world. This is only the second time US Vogue has featured athletes on the cover. I may have fist pumped for Serena when this came out.
Being on the cover of Vogue is pretty hard to top but Roger, style maestro of the entire tennis world, can do it. How? By being thrown a birthday soiree by US Vogue’s editor-in-chief and tennis fan, Anna Wintour, herself. Some of the guests were the who’s who of the fashion world—Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang and David Lauren.
Was there ever a doubt that Roger would be at the top of this list? I think not. I’m sure I missed a look or 10 here and there. Feel free to refresh my memory.
Maria Sharapova did the West Coast launch of her candy line, Sugarpova, last night at the It’Sugar store in Universal City. She looked great on the pink carpet and was very excited to talk about this new venture. Masha signed hundreds of bags of candy and took photos with fans and sweet tooth-ers.
Tennis was well-represented during the Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in London last night. 8 of our beloved tennis players were flag bearers for their respective nations. Nole, Masha, Aga, Baghs, Horacio (lookin’ hawt), Steph Vogt, Stan The Man and The Beast all led their countries’ delegates during the parade of athletes.
I’m sure they all felt equally happy and proud but Nole showed it the most. As per yoosh.
Max pulled off the hat quite well. And so did Masha.
Actually, Masha made the Russian’s official wardrobe look good. Who knew a little sleeve fold could make a difference? Oh, right.
Aga and Horacio both cleaned up nicely. Very, very nicely.
Polona Hercog successfully defended her title in Bastad after she defeated Mathilde Johansson in the final 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. Going into the tournament, Polona hadn’t won a match in almost 3 months, her last win came at Estoril last April. A nagging back injury had been bothering her for most of the year but she appears to have turned the corner in Switzerland. Hercog notched good wins over Julia Goerges and Mona Barthel en route to her second career WTA title.
Dominika Cibulkova defeated her good friend Marion Bartoli 6-1, 7-5 in the Carlsbad final to win her 2nd WTA career title. She, of course, did not drop a set en route to the title.
Whenever Pome plays, it is never not mentioned how amazing it is that, at her size, she can hit the cover off a ball. She’s been on Tour for 7 years now yet we all still get shocked at the sight of her pouncing on a ball. So, I have concluded that it will forever be a phenomenon.
Thomaz Bellucci upset world No. 8 and top seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 in the Gstaad final to win his 3rd career ATP title. It’s a (good) surprise to see Bella beat a top guy in a final. We all know he can do it on a more regular basis but he’s completely oblivious of that fact. Perhaps this can be the start of… errr, I should know better than to finish this statement.
After a whole week of hard work in Hamburg, Pico was awarded a few bottles of Coronas to celebrate. Tennis: Doing it right since 2010.
In the most physically unattractive final ever, Juan Monaco defeated Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-4 to claim his 3rd ATP title of the year. Pico moves into the Top 10 for the first time in his career with this win.
Andy Roddick says to his fellow Weekend Warriorees: Put all your titles together and it still won’t equal half of how many I got. (I totally made this up.)
Andy won his 32nd ATP career title after he defeated Gilles Muller 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in the Atlanta final. Following a terrible start that included a shoulder injury scare, Andy hung tough (as per) and fought his way through the second set to win it in a tiebreak. He then cruised in the deciding set as his opponent went away completely.
I would prefer to not move on from Roland Garros. I’d like to bottle that tournament, put it in my back pocket and end my run as a tennis fan. But, much like in years past (US Open 2006 was one of the best ever for me), I know I won’t be able to help myself. Plus, there are people who I can’t possibly stay away from in this sport (faves and friends, alike) so I “play” on.
However, before I completely wash off the virtual dirt stuck on the soles of my shoes and dream of rolling around the pristine grass at SW19, let me revisit, for the last time on this blog, the moment from Paris that I’ll draw inspiration from for… ever?
When you score a Sharapova tribute to Beyonce, you’ll have me.
“I always listened to my own voice, and it always told me that for some reason I’m meant to be better. I’m meant to succeed again. And I did.”
My thoughts after Maria’s win were summed up nicely in the last paragraph of this blog post (which had nothing to do with me or tennis) by a fellow photographer, James Nord:
“The old man cast his line out one more time, this time impossibly far into the ocean and as I turned around I imagined him pulling in a fish he would talk about for the rest of his life because we all deserve a brush with greatness to remind us to strive for it.”
And with that, it’s time to move along.
Ready? P… NEVER. Question though, is the women’s draw wide open at this Major? Is it?!
Lindsay Gibbs talks Andy Roddick. And the h-word. (After his Eastbourne win today, Andy has now won at least 1 title for the last 12 years. He’s definitely given fans reason to always h…)
The annual WTA pre-Wimbledon party in photos! Oh, here’s a gallery just for the Williamses. And, oh, for the World No. 1. Swag away, ladies. I certainly don’t disapprove of you having your own galleries. #oh
Alize Cornet won her first title in FOUR years at the NÜRNBERGER Gastein Ladies in Austria. Alize didn’t drop a set all tournament long but dropped almost to her knees after claiming the title. (Har har.) I might not agree with her playing on clay when Roland Garros is already over and Wimbledon is only a few days away but this title run could help her always-shaky confidence. Maybe.
Now should we Believe? No, I’m never going to stop using believe when it comes to Mels. Ever. Almost 3 yeas after that miraculous run to the US Open quarterfinals, Melanie finally wins her first WTA career title at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. She defeated the 2007 champ, Jelena Jankovic, in the finals. It was a fantastic week for the young American who battled through qualifying and, with this win, rose from No. 208 to No. 122 in the world rankings.
For Tommy, there’s something about… Halle. The old guy upset Tomas Berdych and, fellow oldie, Roger Federer en route to his 13th ATP career title. This is his second Gerry Weber Open trophy; he also won it back in 2009 over Novak Djokovic in the finals.
“[Winning] my thirteenth title was a goal of mine to maybe achieve in the next coming months, years or however long I am going to play. To have somebody across the net like Roger is a real honour for me. To have that picture with the winning trophy and Roger next to me is something really special, something I’ll obviously never forget. I’m just really happy and proud.”
Tommy also made headlines earlier in the week when he criticized Andy Murray’s rope-a-dope tactics. In thr article, you’ll also find Muzz’s (kind of) response to the comments but basically said that he doesn’t care for Tommy’s opinions. ATP dramz is cute. #duncurr
Marin won his 7th ATP career title and first ever on grass at the AEGON Championships in London after his opponent, David Nalbandian, was defaulted for injuring a linesperson during the final. I’m sure it wasn’t the way Marin wanted to win a title but his opponent’s reckless behavior had no place in that championship match. Plus, it wasn’t like he magically made it to the finals so he deserved the trophy for getting to that stage and being the only responsible sportsman on court.
