Bethanie Mattek Sands, Heather Watson, Alize Cornet, Sabine Lisicki, Sorana Cirstea and Dominika Cibulkova have been chosen to be a part of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Hot Shots campaign – a web-based TV show which will follow the tennis stars as they travel the world on tour.

The six participating players were announced in Miami, ahead of the Sony Ericsson Open, and Sony Ericsson brand ambassador, Maria Sharapova, was also there. Read more »

Vera Zvonareva is now just two steps away from her third successive title at the PTT Pattaya Open in Thailand. The top-seeded Russian beat world No.40 Peng Shuai 6-4 4-6 6-4 and earned her 13th consecutive win at the tournament. The victory didn’t come without a challenge, as Peng had two break points to lead 5-3 in the third set. Zvonareva’s next obstacle is Daniela Hantuchova.

Second seed Ana Ivanovic lost in today’s Pattaya quarterfinals. The Serb was defeated by Roberta Vinci, the first time in their five meetings. Final score: 7-5 6-3.

A mention of Galina Voskoboeva’s Pattaya campaign I owe to our reader and contributor John Bolan. Voskoboeva lost in the quarterfinals to Sara Errani, 2-6 6-3 6-2. But this defeated came only after she won two qualifying matches, including one against Sania Mirza (Voskoboeva's first match back from almost a year long injury), and her second-round match against third seed Maria Kirilenko.

Elsewhere, that is in Paris, another tournament is in full swing. As we’re awaiting the spectacle of the day – Kim Clijsters vs. Jelena Dokic, which could earn Kim No.1 ranking – let’s mention a great match that happened between Andrea Petkovic and Bethanie Mattek Sands. Petkovic was in charge during the beginning of the match, her service games were strong and she earned a set point. However, Mattek Sands miraculously got back into the match, and in a tiebreak won that first set, leaving Petkovic in utmost frustration.  Even though the German won the second set, Mattek Sands repeated the history and advanced to the semifinals, 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

As our reader Brenda from Argentina asked for my overview of the 2011 Australian Open tennis fashion, here it is – a little bit of every brand, a little bit of good and bad.

Let's not save the best for the last. Let's start with by far the biggest fashion attention-grabber of the tournament – Venus Williams. The American played three matches (actually two, but she started her third one) and showcased the same number of outfits. The following one is the unofficial ugliest tennis outfit of the decade.

Venus, a graduate in fashion design and the person behind clothing line EleVen, made the outfits herself.

Believe it or not, Venus' dresses, or whatever they can be called, have gained a fan base. Whoever likes Venus' latest EleVen dresses, please leave a comment! I'm sure the world would love to hear your reasoning.

I'd like to continue with Nadia Petrova, the representative of Ellesse. Petrova has also had some colorful and imaginative styles (remember her US Open 2010 outfit that had stripes of all the possible colors?). There might be sound logic behind Petrova's support of EleVen.

Another fashion favorite is always Aravane Rezai. Even though this time her family drama attracted more attention than her dress, the Frenchwoman stayed faithful to the touch of crazy uniqueness. Although, she definitely can do better!

Let's move on to adidas – plenty of it. Read more »

I was given a great opportunity to interview Bethanie Mattek Sands and she did a great job answering my questions. I believe you'll enjoy the interview. Bethanie seems to prefer the way men's tennis players are dressed, she has quite a few very good friends on the WTA Tour in the times when camaraderie is very rare in professional tennis, and I also got to ask her what she thinks of the attitude of the Williams sisters towards participation in the Fed Cup. Enjoy!

You are famous for your tennis clothes, I've recently even made a short overview of them, so what's your favorite outfit you have worn on the tennis court?

One of my favorites was my initial high sock outfit back a few years ago at Wimbledon against Venus. I've kind of made it my staple this past year along with my Under Armour gear. Next season I'm hoping to add some more colors and designs though. DryMax makes the high tennis socks especially for me so we'll see what we can come up with for next year.

Whose on-court fashion style do you like?

I think Nike does a great job with Rafa! All his colors are coordinated, from wrist bands to shoes, and considering he's extremely superstitious I'm willing to bet his undies are matching too! I'm loving all the neon colors he was wearing this year but I think what makes his style even better is that Roger is polar opposite!

Can you tell us something about the tattoos on your right arm? Are those the only ones you have?

The ink on my forearm is a swarm of bees. When I was young my nickname was killer bee and believe it or not now that I have a few inked on me I can't bring myself to swat at or step on any of the little buggers! The flowers on my bicep are water lilies and along with being one of my favorite flowers it means enlightenment and change, so its kind of my own personal zen garden. I have one more (for now) and its my husband name scrawled on the inside of my left ring finger. Awwww! He has my name too!

Is there some player on the Tour that you, for whatever reason, simply hate to see as your next or possible opponent in the draw?

Read more »

Bethanie Mattek Sands is one of the most famous tennis players when it comes to fashion sense, or nonsense. That's why I'm doing this overview of her on-court outfits, as promised a long time ago to our reader Lilly.

No matter how trashy some of Bethanie’s outfits are, they certainly bring a lot of fun. This ball boy's peak was in all the media during the 2007 US Open.

However, I have to say that not all Bethanie’s styles fall into the category of unsophisticated (to put it that way), her tube socks are priceless and a great addition to tennis fashion. Read more »

Grand Slams are the places where tennis players want to look their best and sponsors want to use the opportunity of huge publicity to market their products. Let's have a look at what women's tennis stars are sporting during one such event, Roland Garros 2010 in Paris.

Venus Williams raised many eyebrows by her lingerie-like black dress. But the dress raises all the eyebrows when in action!

Sorana Cirstea lost on Day one to Svetlana Kuznetsova, but her adidas dress can win all the awards, if you asked me. Just like Ana Ivanovic's.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands is wearing her cool tube socks and looks sporty. Well, Venus took Bethanie's role of ball boy distractor. Caroline Wozniacki, nice dress but nothing new, really nothing. Read more »

American Bethanie Mattek married JPS Insurance President Justin Sands on Saturday, November 29, 2008 at Edgewater Beach Resort in Naples, FL. The world No.37 will take a break and skip the Australian Open.

Jelena Jankovic is a player that makes me laugh by far the most frequently, but at one level the Serb is beaten, and that is the level of the on-court fashion. Bethanie’s outfits you may not like, but you will certainly notice them, and probably find, hm, interesting. Here are just two examples, my favorites.

Of course, Bethanie’s wedding was not ordinary either. She wore a black wedding dress. (via Down the Line)

If you are familiar with at least some of Bethanie Mattek’s previous outfits, you are probably just as excited as me to take a look at her wardrobe at Roland Garros. Enjoy as the world No.106, famous for her sense of style, shows you her clothes.

Reminder: Mattek today exited the 2008 French Open, but she played three sets against top seed Maria Sharapova in their second round match.

At the beginning of the US Open, American tennis player Bethanie Mattek drew attention to herself with her outrageous gold dress and matching headband. Later on, she sported her somewhat better-looking outfit, but it was still too provocative and the ball boy was being distracted. Haha, no wonder!

Mattek lost to Shahar Peer in the singles second round, while in women’s doubles she’s still in action, having reached the quarterfinals with Sania Mirza of India.