Na knocks Serena out of Stuttgart and the WTA Penthouse

Li Na has a way with the Williams sisters.

The Chinese baller, who defeated Venus at the Beijing Olympics, pulled a Serena stunner knocking the world no. 1 off her perch in Stuttgart with a strange looking 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 scoreline and ending ReRe's short stay in the WTA Penthouse.

Jelena Jankovic will again take over residence on Monday - so let's make sure the powder room is stocked with gowns + glitter, okay guys?

(image via AP)

Quote of the Day: Fed on skipping Stockholm

2008 has been a tough year for me as I was always playing catch up after being diagnosed with mononucleosis at the beginning of the year. I feel fortunate to be healthy again, but I want to remain at the top of the game for many more years to come and go after the #1 ranking again. In order to do that, I need to get a proper rest and get strong again so that I am 100% fit for the remainder of the year or next year. At this point, I am not sure when I will be ready to play again, but I hope to be back at some point before the end of the year. I apologize to the tennis fans in Sweden as I was looking forward to playing in Stockholm again. The country has produced so many incredible tennis players and the tournament has such a great history. I hope to be able to come back at some point in the future.

- Roger Federer on why he's skipping next week's Stockholm Open

Tough luck Swedes but Fed's bout with mono may have been worse than he originally let on based on this statement. He's thinking long-term here so I say go the "Williams' way" and take the rest of the year off if needed.

Listen, I'd love to see him back as much as anyone but I'd much rather have him around for many years to come. You do the math - Fed already has.

(image via Getty)

Rafa to develop fragrance line - will his ass-ets shape the bottles?

Rafael Nadal will soon have more in common with Roger Federer than Nike, no. 1, and a Wimbledon crown.

The buff baller has reportedly signed a deal with Inter Parfums to develop a fragrance line called Lanvin L'Homme Sport based on his image to be launched in summer 2009. Of course, Fed has his RF Cosmetics body care line featuring a cologne, after shave balm, body wash, and deodorant stick. No word as to whether Rafa's line will be as extensive.

I'm thinking the shape of the bottles will be inspired by his recently revealed full-moon moment. Do you think his ass-ets are trademarked yet?

PS - Thanks to reader Brent for tipping me off to the news!

PHOTO OP: More Murray fitness, focuses on core and upper body strengthening

Team Murray continues to give us a glimpse into Andy Murray's fitness sessions in Roehampton. Yesterday, the Brit baller worked the treadmill to exhaustion and today we get to see him strengthening his core.

According to his site,

In performance sport circles, core stability is seen as key to peak performance and injury avoidance. In a nutshell, it's about the strength and conditioning of the deep, underlying muscle groups that ordinary folk often neglect.

Andy's core programme sits neatly, and somewhat painfully alongside the running work. Unlike the traditional 'hard fitness', core exercises demand a high level of concentration and attention to detail: to get the most of it, you need to nail the poses.

During the session Andy starts with "the superman" (top image), a balancing practice that uses the abs to keep him steady on the ball. Next up is "plank" which may be familiar to those yoga and pilates practitioners and is held for a minute each repetition:


Andy then moves into the "roll and hold" on the ball where he rolls to one side, holds the pose, then repeats on the opposite side:


Now comes a very difficult looking practice, the "Swiss ball push up" (don't try this at home, people!):


Okay - I need to catch my breath after that one. Tthe fun doesn't stop there, however. The 21-year old ends with a workout for the arms, shoulders, and parts of the back using resistance bands:



I guess this is how someone becomes the number four baller in the world - I get it!

(images via andymurray.com)

PHOTO OP: Ana works it like Maria - well, she tries anyway

Team Ana released some images from their ballers photoshoot for the WTA Tour's "Looking for a Hero?" global marketing campaign. Now, after seeing the left image it struck me as being very familiar. What other baller on the Tour is a wannabe sexpot model? Oh right - Maria Sharapova, duh!

Look, we all get that sex sells but there's absolutely nothing sexy about the image particularly when you're working your adidas duds against a blank background. Plus, the posing + pouting don't work for you Ana - not that they work for Shrieka either.

Seriously Team Ana, do you really want your girl to go down the same road as Shrieka? I think you guys need to focus on getting Ana back on track to her winning ways or none of this will really matter anyway.

(image via anaivanovic.com)

+ TUESDAY NETCORDS: Back problem for Baghdatis...US juniors come through... Shopping Elena style

(Kei Nishikori, Tokyo)

LINKS

Bringing Butch back [ESPN]
Baghdatis suffers severe back injury [Eurosport]

Fed, Billie Jean, Johnny Mac top NY athletes [New York]
Juniors saving US tennis apparently [tennis week]


BLOG TALK

Urszula Radwanska who? [Drop Shots]
Elena gets her Stuttgart shop on [HCFoo's Tennis Blog]

(image via Getty)

Quote of the Day: Srdjan Djokovic on Serbia's '09 Davis Cup draw

First Russia [this year], now Spain. Nobody wants to see us win Davis Cup. The chances of us beating Spain on clay are only two percent.

- Srdjan Djokovic, Nole's pops, complaining to Serbian paper Sportski that Serbia drawing Spain in next season's Davis Cup first round tie is "no coincidence."

You know what? This sounds all too familiar to me. Crazy is as crazy does.

Get this family some Prozac please...

(image via Blic)

Hurricane Anna hits Charlotte on Champions Tour - Dallas, you're next!

Jim Courier knows how to get people to watch older fogies chasing after fuzzy yellow balls hit by other older fogies - give 'em some Anna Kournikova.

The 4-time Grand Slammer is co-founder and promoter of the Outback Champions Series, where retired over 30 ballers can continue to stay competitive...oh, and continue to make a living off the sport.

So when Jim failed to secure two of his biggest draws, legends John McEnroe and Pete Sampras, for the Series stop in Charlotte his marketing mode kicked in (read: how can I still make a lot of cash outta this thing?) and he unleashed Hurricane Anna on the unsuspecting city:

...[Courier] tapped Anna Kournikova for a couple of mixed doubles exhibitions on Saturday. Bingo: both day and night sessions are sold out. Kournikova arrives early a.m. from her Miami home, hits the hotel for a cat nap, then strolls onto the still wet grounds at The Palisades, eyes glued to a Blackberry as a line of admirers waits at the entrance to center court.

The Series' next stop is in Dallas featuring the debut of Boris Becker to the tour, but in case fans aren't interested in ballers who actually won a tournament of some kind in their Hall of Fame careers Jim secured Anna for a two-event deal.

Anna on the Champions Tour - how perfect. Seriously, the fact that she can sell anything blows my freakin' mind.

Hey Anna: I'm trying to sell my apartment. How do you feel about doing open houses???

(image via Getty)

Sharapova bags new man - Nole rumors put to pasture

The word on the street is that Maria Sharapova is now officially off the market!

According to Tennis Week, Shrieka is now dating Charlie Ebersol, the son of Dick Ebersol, an executive at NBC who helped launch Saturday Night Live. In 2004 Dick, Charlie, and 14-year old Edward were involved in a plane crash that killed the youngest son.


The pair joined Andre Agassi as guests at the Bryan Brother's All-Star Tennis Smash charity gala dinner over the weekend where Shrieka put herself up for auction and joked, "My boyfriend will outbid you." No such luck - a day with the Russian fashionista went for $10,000.

Well, fine. I guess we can officially trash those Nole-Shrieka rumors...at least for now.

Thanks for the heads-up Erin!

(image via tennisforum.com)

PHOTO OP: Top ballers hit the sake in Tokyo, though one seemingly hit it way too hard

Some top ballers gathered this week in Tokyo for the AIG Japan Open (phew - isn't this tourney lucky to still be around.) They also attended the official opening ceremony where they broke open sake barrels to wish happiness and success for the tourney.

But, lo and behold, there was one baller who looked like he either wanted to somewhere else completely or he hit the sake way too early and way too hard:



I wonder why? Maybe it's because this classy moment of David's is making the rounds...priceless:



(images via Getty)