Wimbledon is the most traditional tennis tournament and that conservativeness is reflected in the white clothing rule. But the color restriction is not limiting players to express themselves and challenge the set rules.

Bethanie Mattek Sands is always attracting a lot of attention with her look and for Wimbledon 2011 she reinvented herself in cooperation with Lady Gaga's designer – the jacket adorned with white tennis balls may have challenged the officials, but it is likely to end up in the Wimbledon Museum (one Bethanie's Wimbledon outfit is already there).

Venus Williams' outfit for Wimbledon is the second biggest shocker of the tournament. Her EleVen zipper jumper with an open back is definitely unique, whether you like it or not. I like the piece for bringing something new (it's not a dress, it's not a shorts and a top), but it reminds of pajamas. Also, I don't appreciate the visible brown bra in the back.

Nadia Petrova's message still hasn't reached her sponsor Ellesse, they simply don't want to give up the fluffy outfits.

Let's move on to some good examples. Read more »

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki still hasn't lost a set at the tournament and she hasn't lost more than three games per set. Today the Dane defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3 6-2 and in the fourth round against Dominika Cibulkova she will be looking for her first Wimbledon quarterfinal. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam where she hasn't played at that stage.

Twice-defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams hit 10 aces and 32 winners to Maria Kirilenko's nine winners and scored her first straight-set victory in five matches since her return from a year-long absence. Final score was 6-3 6-2 and Serena will play Marion Bartoli in the fourth round, who beat Flavia Pennetta 5-7 6-4 9-7.

Maria Sharapova is also through and if she defeats Peng Shuai in the fourth round, a clash with Wozniacki is a possibility in the quarters. The fifth-seeded Russian, besides the Williams sisters the only player in the draw who has a Wimbledon title to her name, beat Klara Zakopalova in the third round, 6-2 6-3, but the victory didn't come smoothly. Read more »

Maria Sharapova outclassed Anna Chakvetadze in an all-Russian match in the first round of Wimbledon, 6-2 6-1. The 52nd-ranked Chakvetadze broke Sharapova's serve only once, in the beginning of the second set, and Sharapova won all the following games.

Besides Venus and Serena Williams, Sharapova is the only WTA player in the draw who has won Wimbledon. The former world No.1 Russian followed her 2004 Wimbledon triumph with two semifinal showings, but has since failed to go past the fourth round. This year she is one of the favorites for the title, if not the biggest favorite (which our poll results are currently demonstrating as well), especially because of her recent form shown in Rome and Paris. Read more »

As our faithful reader P!nky suggested, I'm making a poll for Wimbledon, a bit reluctantly, though, as Roland Garros winner Li Na was not even included in my Roland Garros poll which featured twelve names. This time I've narrowed down my list a bit, but if the player you favor is not included, feel free to add her in the comments section.

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Li Na is here because grass is her good surface and she won the French Open recently, although she did lose early to Daniela Hantuchova at the AEGON International. Talking about Hantuchova, I think her current form gives her big credentials for this year's Wimbledon, although her retirement in the semifinal against Petra Kvitova at Eastbourne is worrying. Kvitova played the Wimbledon semifinals last year and this weekend she played the final of Eastbourne which she lost to Marion Bartoli. I wanted to give justice to Bartoli and include her as well, because she won on the grass of the Wimbledon tune-up, has had a great win-loss record recently and played the final of Wimbledon in 2007. Caroline Wozniacki is world No.1, so she has to make the list. Serena Williams is defending champion, although she didn't impress in the lead-up to Wimbledon, while her sister Venus won the tournament five times. And last but not least, the 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, who played impressively this clay-court season, and grass is her much better surface.

What do you say? Who do you think has the greatest chance to win Wimbledon 2011? (photo: Fimb)

Nike hired famed photographer Annie Leibovitz to shoot ads for their "Make Yourself" campaign and tennis players Li Na and Maria Sharapova are among the seven women’s athletes featured. Read more »

Things in tennis are happening fast, the French Open finished just yesterday and the grass is already under players' feet, so let's have a quick look at some Wimbledon whites that the biggest brands of Adidas and Nike prepared for their players. Actually, in the case of Adidas we also have a peek at the US Open dresses.

Adidas Adizero line, worn by Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova, will present an Adizero Feather dress with pleats on front of skirt, open back and discreet, light artwork on front of the top part.

After the cut you can see a sneak picture of Ivanovic wearing the dress, and you can also see the dress in pink and blue, most probably dedicated to the US Open. Read more »

In two quarterfinals that took place today at Roland Garros, players that advanced are those that actually consider, or at least used to consider, clay their least preferable surface.

Maria Sharapova is not a good slider on clay and four years ago at the very same tournament she famously compared her movement with a "cow on ice", but now, with a different setting in women’s tennis, she’s a title favorite and today she had a straightforward 6-0 6-3 win over Andrea Petkovic to reach the semifinals. The three-time Grand Slam champion, seeded seventh this year, is now only two wins away from completing a career slam. Just to mention, Sharapova did play the semifinals of Roland Garros in 2007 and lost to Ana Ivanovic. She lost in the quarters three times. Read more »

Maria Sharapova won her ninth straight match on clay, the streak featuring her Rome title, by defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round of Roland Garros 7-6(4) 7-5. The Russian will be playing her fifth quarterfinal at the tournament, but only once did she make one step further, in 2007 when she reached the semis.

The three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who has a chance to complete a career slam this week, came back from 4-1 down in the first set, leveled to 4-4, then both players held their serves to take the set to a tiebreak. In the second set Sharapova faced set points, but saved all five of them and finished the job in that set.

It’s interesting to compare Sharapova’s and Radwanska’s stats because of contrasts in most departments. Sharapova hit 7 aces to Radwanska’s 1, but also 7 double faults to Radwanska’s 0. When it comes to winners and unforced errors the situation is equally unbalanced. Sharapova hit almost 4 times more unforced errors (44 to Radwanska's 12), but also much more winners, 47 to 13.

Andrea Petkovic, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2 2-6 6-4 in the fourth round, will be next Sharapova's opponent. Other quarterfinal pairs are: Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Marion Bartoli, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Francesca Schiavone, and Li Na vs. Victoria Azarenka. (via Sharapova's official website, photo courtesy of our reader Tony)