(UPDATED) PHOTO OP: Sveta scrapes past Alona but what's hiding underneath her Fila gear?

Remember Svetlana Kuznetsova? Yup, the only other lady baller left in the draw besides Serena Williams to have won a Grand Slam in their career. She's actually still alive in the draw at the Aussie Open although you wouldn't know it.

The Russian headcase needed five match points and a double-fault by Alona Bondarenko on the sixth one to defeat the Ukranian 7-6 (9), 6-4. Sveta hit a miserable 68 errors against 37 winners and converted only 4 of 15 break chance opportunities - UGH.

She'll next face former Wimbledon semifinalist Jie Zheng for a spot in the quarterfinals - good luck with that one.

I haven't written much about Sveta as of late because, frankly, there hasn't been anything worth mentioning about her sketchy game. But I did notice the tail-end of a sneaky tattoo living underneath her Fila gear.

What could it be?

UPDATED: Thanks to the Fila team who confirmed the tattoo is, in fact, a tiger!

(image via Getty)

PHOTO OP: Serena survives, reveals secret love to the world

Well, well. It looks like Serena Williams has been keeping a secret love from us.

The former no. 1, who survived a fierce 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 battle with up-and-coming Frenchie Alize Cornet in Beijing today, is sporting a heart-shaped tattoo on the nape of her neck.

Hmmm - wonder who that sexy surprise is for? Any guesses??

(image via Getty)

SIGHTING: Fun in the sun with Marat Safin and his tattoos

Making his mark: We noticed an interesting tattoo on body brigade member Marat Safin during his practice session in Melbourne yesterday. So we did a little more snooping and came up with three - well, three we could actually see.

The Russian tennis baller, who lost to fellow shirtless wonder Andy Roddick at the Kooyong warm-up this week, will be looking to kick-start the season at his most successful Grand Slam - he's a 3-time finalist, including winning the 2005 championship, and played Roger Federer in the best men's match in Australian Open history, according to ESPN.com's Joel Drucker.

(images via AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Tattoo You

I've seen and read my fill of tennis fashion for Wimbledon this year and I'm ready to move on. How about what's underneath all those frocks?

Check out cutie Janko Tipsarevic, one of the lesser known players from rising Serbia, and his cool tattoos. There must be more - but where?











Does anyone know what it says?

(UPDATE: Tipsy discusses the tattoos at his post-match press conference.

Q. A lot of people will have seen your tattoo. I understand it says, "Beauty will save the world." What are you trying to say with that quote?
A. In my free time I like to read. One of the favorite writers is the Russian guy, Dostoyevsky. The quote, "The beauty will save the world" is from a book called "Idiot" where the main character believes in the idea that the inner beauty will save the world, and because of that idea he dies at the end. This book means a lot to me in my personal ways because I have ideas about life because of this quote.

Q. Is that one quotation?
A. The left one is "Beauty will save the world" and the right one is the first two letters of the names of the members of my family: father, mother, me and brother.)


I'm sure many other players have tattoos - we must investigate...