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 »

Our regular contributor John Bolan, irritated by the behavior of Serena and Venus Williams who, he believes, are disrespecting the WTA Tour and the other players who work hard all-year long, is sharing his opinion with us. Read on!

For the last several years I have been following the antics of the Williams sisters. I have seen the broken agreements between them and various tournaments. I have been there when tournaments marketed them only to have them pull out at the last minute.  The fake injuries and the appearance fees taken to show up but they play only one match losing to a no body. All this stuff is well documented. It is too crazy to make up.

Last week the Williams sisters actually showed up for a couple of matches at Eastbourne before bowing out so they can model their newest togs in London. The tennis media went bonkers about them while forgetting all about the women who now lead the WTA and where tennis priorities should be. These two players make a mockery of the tennis world and the media but it seems people keep falling for their antics.

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Venus Williams once again made an outfit pushing the fashion limits, only this time in a much better way than her shocking Australian Open 2011 choices and the most of the provocative 2010 season dresses. The American five-time Wimbledon champion (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008) cruised into the second round 6-3 6-1 without facing a break point against Akgul Amanmuradova in a white EleVen clothing item with a dominant zipper in the middle. When I first saw it I first called it a thing, because it is not a dress, it is not a two-piece outfit, but Venus herself later clarified the situation: 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)

Venus Williams survived one more round than her sister Serena at the AEGON International in Eastbourne, but that was it, in the quarterfinals she lost to in-form Daniela Hantuchova, who played the final of Birmingham last week. Hantuchova's first win over Venus in their eleven meetings, and actually the first in ten years, came after a tough battle with both Venus and the wind.

In the first set of the Eastbourne quarterfinal, Hantuchova converted two of three break opportunities she had and held her serve throughout the set to win it 6-2.  The Slovak world No.25 looked to be on a good way to victory while leading 6-2 4-2, but Venus fought back and won the second set 7-5. In the decider Hantuchova took command again and advanced to the semifinals where she will play fifth seed Petra Kvitova. Final score: 6-2 5-7 6-2.

Hantuchova was Eastbourne runner-up in 2004. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

The current Big Three of women's tennis, if I may call them that way – Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters – had very much different Wednesday. Serena lost in Eastbourne, Venus won, while Kim faced the fact that she would have to withdraw from Wimbledon because of her injury sustained yesterday in 's-Hertogenbosch.

Serena Williams survived a scrappy first-round encounter with Tsvetana Pironkova, but top seed Vera Zvonareva was a sterner opponent and even though Serena led 6-4 5-4 Zvonareva prolonged the match and won it 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5 after three hours and 12 minutes of play. Positive news for Serena today is her Wimbledon seeding. The defending champion will be seed No.7, which is 19 places higher than her ranking, and will avoid the highest-ranked opponents until at least the quarterfinals. Read more »

As a form of tribute to the Williams sisters' return to tennis, I decided to share this beautiful old story of the Williams family and update Women's Tennis Blog's section dedicated to players when they were kids.

The short film shows the beginnings of Venus' and Serena's careers, the LA ghetto neighborhood they grew up in, their father Richard's clear vision, and even a "respected author" who said "demographically tennis is still perceived as a white upper-class sport, I don't think there are people out there dying to give millions of dollars to a ten-year-old black girl". You also get to see a 13-year-old Venus and a year younger Serena talking, laughing and playing tennis.

More childhood photos of Serena and Venus are available here, while here you can see little Venus with her enthusiastic father on the tennis court. Read more »

Serena and Venus Williams are set to play the AEGON International in Eastbourne, and even though some fans are still finding it hard to believe the sisters will indeed show up, it is highly likely that their comeback is for real. To celebrate the return of the biggest names, the WTA Tour has even made a short video of the Williamses practicing ahead of their first competitive tournament in a long time – Serena hasn’t played since last year’s Wimbledon, which is practically a year, and Venus hasn’t played since January’s Australian Open (while even before that, after Roland Garros 2010 she played only Wimbledon and the US Open). Read more »