US OPEN

After 2 weeks of nail bitting tennis matches...its finally coming to the end. This year there are really huge dissapointments in some players but definetely the list does'nt include the world number 1, J.Henin. I have soo much respect for that woman, though she is small in size but there is no doubt about her powerful backhand. This year, not only did SHE WON the US open, she won every match without dropping a set and she swept OFF the two williams sistas straight. Boy!! she is THE champion, she breezes through the finals and grab the title. This year, though being in the difficult part of the draw ..Justine Henin was simply UNSTOPPABLE. She has proven that she is the WORLD NUMBER ONE... with her win on her seventh grandslam title of her career.

All hail HENIN!!!

Maria sharapova was a total dissapoinment. The defending champion had a shocking early exit although she was in the easier half of the draw. With henin, serena, venus,hingis, ivanovic, jankovic all in the top half..it is really shocking to see sharapova walk off soo early from the US open. She breezed through the first two rounds without dropping a set. Sharapova had made some changes to her game this time around, she became more agressive with the volleying, usually she is known to be hitting most of her shots further down from the baseline, this time she really turn it up a notch and went nearer to the net to deliver some good volleys. Also, she changed her serve a lil..and in the first two rounds of her match, it seemed that her new serve was putting in more speed to the ball BUT she totally flopped with her serve in the third round against Radwanska and was slammed out of the Open .

Sharapova double faulted 12 times and had a lot of unforced errors done. Maria double faulted all at the wrong time in the third round, giving off the game points to radwanska. Sharapova lost the first set to radwanska but later regain her rhythm to play and won the second set 6-1, and head to the third with a 2-0 lead. At that point just when everyone thought that sharapova would win, she lost the next six games to Radwanska !! Shocking!! . Sharapova was really shaky with her serves esp on the third set of the match , I held my breath for every serve she made , what a dissapoinment she just kept the double faults going and commited 20 unforced errors on that set alone and that eventually killed her game. Somewhere between the third set of the match, i think when the score was around 5-2, her dad started packing and left. Ouch!!! that was painful. He could'nt bear to watch another minute. When asked about how she felt with her dad leaving the box..she just said that he was there .Sharapova did not have an answer after the match for how she lost the momentum she had going into the third set.

“You know, you’d think I’d have the momentum in the third with a break,’’ she said. “But I just didn’t really feel that way inside of me for some reason today. You know, just going to have those kind of days where you’re always trying to come through and always trying to find a way, even though you don’t feel like things are exactly going your way.’’ -SHARAPOVA-

Dissapointment with the 3rd round..BUT one things for sure, her outfit this year for the day and night match was SUPERHOT!!! if only she could have stayed longer in the Open.. she only wore the daytime outfit once and the little red dress twice at night. Sighss wasted.. Sharapova's dress received sooo much publicity even before the US Open began. On her first match of US open, she strutted out on court as if its a fashion runway wearing dangly earrings, what she called a "couture" black jacket, and with a racket-bag on one shoulder, a handbag on the other. The Arthur Ashe Stadium doubled as a court and a catwalk.

This was tennis power-dressing at its finest. "I was trying to get through my pre-match warm-up as fast as I could so I could put the dress on actually. That's not a joke," Sharapova said. "I was pretty excited about putting it on. So I told my coach, 'Last return and I'm out of here. I'm going in the locker-room'. It makes a difference when you feel good about what you're wearing and you feel good about putting it on. You know what it's like. You feel like you're the bomb. I had never worn red before. And there's no better place to do it than at a night match in New York City." “Put on a nice outfit and some makeup and you're the bomb.” -SHARAPOVA-

Yes Maria Sharapova you're the bomb........


People were actually anticipating what sharapova's outfit gonna be like after last years Open, where she won the Us open in that CLASSY outfit nicknamed the little black dress which was inspired by Breakfast at Tiffany's. After the 2006 Us open, it auctioned out for a staggering, if I am not mistaken 21K U$ dollar. Impressive.. and this year Sharapova collaborated with Nike again to design a dress with 600 Swarovski crystals sewn into the neckline. The Russian's red dress received more pre-tournament publicity than most of the other leading players combined. The dress even had its own launch party, a fashion event at Manhattan's Rockefeller Centre where it was explained that its design had been inspired by the New York City skyline. What a smart marketing move by Nike..... but then again Sharapova is a marketing magnet.


Last year was:

Simply classy and elegant..

This year.....

The night dress is a bright flaming red — in honor of the Big Apple — in a flared shift silhouette. It’s a sleek garment made of a breathable wicking jersey and constructed with a no-sew technique with seams bonded with heat and silicone instead of thread. There are more than 600 Swarovski crystals incorporated into the design, which makes the dress sparkle. Additionally, there are three crystal buttons down the back, creating a keyhole effect.


For the daytime, the look is similar but without the flashiness of the crystals. The dress is mostly white with a gray skyline image against a black backdrop. It has a scoop-back design that facilitates movement, according to Sandieson. Performance is always the priority, Sandieson said, but she and Sharapova strive for designs that marry function with fashion.





SIMPLY FLAMING HOT AND STUNNING

....there is no better colour for sharapova to walk out as the defending champion of the title for the first night of the match. FLAMING RED...

More than ever, players are using more than just their racquets to make a statement on court, but maria sharapova is the one that shines out.

Don't you agree?

MEN's TENNIS

For once, the women didn’t entirely monopolize the field of COURT FASHION. Top seed Roger Federer came out as the man in black for his opening night match, wearing black Nike shoes, socks, shirt and striped “tuxedo” shorts. There was no shortage of high fashion experts to critique the look, either – Federer not only had friend and Vogue editor Anna Wintour in attendance, but his girlfriend Mirka was sitting next to designer Oscar de la Renta. Ralph Lauren also looked on. Amongst the other stars present at the US open were janet jackson, tate donovon, martha stewart and many more. So, the Open is also for the place to hunt down some celebs. Who knows who might be sitting next to you?

On the Men side of the US open, nadal was a dissapoinment, first was the knee injury then when everything seem fine, all of a sudden he got kicked out at the quaters. Marat safin as usual a dissapointmet he threw his tantrums and abuse his racquet all the way throughtout the matches but only manage to reach 2 or 3rd round.

Novak djokovic on the other hand, was really impressive, through repeated visits from trainers, through all manner of momentum shifts. Novak djokovic outlasted Stephanek in a lengthy 4 hours and 44 minute match. When the match ended Stepanek stepped over the net, dropped his racket and trudged over to apply a bearhug so hearty the weary Djokovic nearly toppled over.It definetely looks like novak has emerged as a a potential challenger to No. 1 Roger Federer and NOW he's at the finals up against roger federer. Novak won over federer recently at the ATP masters in montreal. Do it again Novak!! sweep that coolness out of federer's face. I would love to watch federer lose..just shows that he is a human cuz I am starting to feel like he isn't one.

He's young, funny, charming and talented. Give some support to Novak Djokovic.

Someone once said that there are two types of tennis players: one that plays for themselves and the other that plays for the crowd. I don't know about you, but I find this statement kinda have some sense in it.

It is said that players like Marat Safin and Anna kournikova are all considered to be players that play for the crowd.. Sharapova said that tennis players are entertainers, people pay hundreds of dollars to watch a good show on court just like people pay to go watch a concert. People pay to watch what other people do best and in this case its tennis. Marat Safin said that people like to see some dramas on court so he smashes his raquet to give some drama. People like watching Marat because he's so emotional on court not because he always wins. Anna rarely wins but people go crazy over her. That woman knows how to work the crowd in and off court. Marat and Anna too much personality on court but flopped on in tennis.

Whereas, players like Federer , Nadal, Henin, Kuznetsova are good examples of players that play for themselves. They view tennis tournaments strictly as a tournament and nothing more. Its not a show. The court is a battleground for the title and they will give their very best to win. They don't really have a fuss about what they wear .They rarely talk about how big , small, cheerful or whatever crowd that turns up. All they ever talk about is TENNIS. Federer is a really good example, he is expressionless during a match ...he just plays his best on court and that's it..who gives a damm about what kinda crowd is around me and who is watching. Anything off court well is none of your damm business. Their personality is unknown. People love them for their tennis. All they ever have in their minds is winning. They give their VERY best tennis with no personality to it. They win and win it without personality.

Maria Sharapova, Venus, Serena, and Novak on the other hand are a blend of the two categories, they have a kinda balance. Novak has a real personality on court..he takes off his shirt and throws off his wristbands to the crowd ...offcourt he's a real funny guy. the William sistas shows up on court beat the hell out of their opponent and offcourt Venus has recently launch her fashion line "eleven". Serena always tries too look her best on court. Maria sharapova needless to say..offcourt she is a celeb on her own..on court she blows kisses everytime she wins. These players have the sheer determination to win and they do it with some personality not only tennis. Their presence on court are soo different from players like federer and henin. Novak, the Williams, and Maria all see tennis pros like themselves not only as just tennis pros but also entertainers. They Win the match and win it with some PERSONALITY. Play good tennis , play it with some personality....




Okies I am done with my tennis ranting madness. i need to get some sleep..for the next match at 4.am. Finals for mens singles and the last grandslam of the year is over. The US open 2007.

Signing out....