Fila always saves big news for the start of the season – last January they welcomed Jelena Jankovic from Anta and Vera Zvonareva from K-Swiss and this January German world No.18 Julia Goerges has joined the Fila family. A great and necessary move for the clothing company, who has lost their biggest and most loyal star when Kim Clijsters retired after the 2012 US Open.

Goerges, who was previously sponsored by Nike, debuted her Fila apparel in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, against Anastasija Sevastova. Her 2013 opener was victorious, but she lost in the second round to Johanna Larsson 7-5 6-7(1) 6-3. (source: Julia Goerges' Facebook page)

World No.1 Victoria Azarenka advanced to the semifinals of the Brisbane International with a 6-1 6-0 victory over Ksenia Pervak, the qualifier who upset former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the first round, but had little left in her tank after two third-set tiebreaks in wins over the Dane and Urszula Radwanska.

The Brisbane tournament debuted in 2009 and Azarenka was its first champion, but back than it was a lower-level tournament, i.e. International, while in 2012 it was upgraded to Premier. Last season Azarenka's Australian swing was perfect, with the Sydney and Australian Open titles, but this is the first time since the inaugural year that Azarenka is playing Brisbane. Another thing to note about Brisbane is that in 2013 its prize money has increased to $1 million, while last year it was $655,000, and before it was $220,000.  Read more »

On December 31st, 2012, ice hockey player Alex Ovechkin happily announced on Twitter an engagement to his girlfriend Maria Kirilenko, one of the most beautiful women's tennis players. I am not surprised that Alex broke the news on Twitter, he has always been very eager to share his love and support of Maria on the social network. Read more »

Women's Tennis Blog is back after a short winter break, just in time to wish you a Happy New Year! I wish you good health, true love, lasting friendships, harmony and fun sports activities in 2013. I wish the same for our WTA players, also hoping that they will be injury free and thus able to realize their abilities and potential to bring us an exciting new season.

I would also use this opportunity to thank you for making my work here worthwhile by your continuous support and contribution to our discussions. I can't believe that Women's Tennis Blog is already entering its sixth year of existence and there's no one else I can thank for that than you, its readers.

I hope you're enjoying the lazy January 1st in good spirits

Cheers,

Marija

Victoria Azarenka had a stellar start of the 2012 season with 26 straight matches won, including four titles, one of which was the Australian Open, and a rise to the No.1 ranking. Her tennis has never been better, but how good was the Belarusian in the fashion department during 2012? Let's see!

Azarenka played her first tournament of the year in the Nike Women's Holiday Set Point Graphic items that she exposed en route to her 2011 Luxembourg title, Tokyo semis and the WTA Championships final.

New apparel was introduced at the Australian Open. Azarenka paired a blue Nike Women's Spring Pure Tie-Break Graphic Tank with an open back and white shorts. Read more »