Maria Sharapova loses, sports sneaky red undies

Defending champion Maria "Shriek"apova debuted her Nike day dress...and then proceeded to lose. Her tormentor: 18 year old Agnieszka Radwanska, a former junior World No. 1 from Poland. We are certainly disappointed by the loss and the fact that we won't get to see the dress, or her sneaky red undies a la Tatiana Golovin, in action at the US Open anymore. Nice touch Maria, but bad loss...

US OPEN PREVIEW: 1st Women's Marquee Matchup

The US Open is beginning to heat up and we like it. Here we have our first Women's Marquee Matchup, though we wish these two high-profile players were meeting later on in the tournament. Regardless, this is definitely a "popcorn" match in our books. Let's take a look:

Venus "V" Williams played her second night match and wasted No. 21 seed Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour. World No. 5 Ana Ivanovic continued her march through the draw, blasting Russian Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-3. The last time these players met was last month in the semifinals of Wimbledon, where V easily handled the Serb 6-2, 6-4 with her rocket returns and superior movement. However, Ana is a different player already and is feeling prepared to challenge the Wimbledon champion this time around.

Here's what V had to say about Ana:
"She's definitely a good player, great competitor, and a nice person. It's good to see good things happening for her."

Ana had this to say about playing V:
"We had tough matches before. Last one was in Wimbledon recently. She was in a great shape. She's also playing good at the moment. We had tough matches, but definitely I think I have chances. I'm looking forward to that match because I think I'm in a good shape. I feel good on the court. It will be exciting to play against her."

Matthew Cronin for FOXSports.com is calling this match a defacto final and isn't quite ready to pencil V into the quarterfinals, and neither are we. The hardcourt surface is a great equalizer in the movement category, so V won't necessarily have that advantage like she did on grass.

Venus vs. Ana: tell us who you think will move on to the quarterfinals!

PHOTO OP: So long, Tim

Brit Tim Henman played his final Grand Slam match tonight, going down to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the US Open 2nd round. He is retiring after Britain's Davis Cup qualifying match against Croatia in September. Here's a look at the titles Tim won over his 14-year career:

SINGLES CAREER TITLES (11): 1997--Sydney Outdoor, Tashkent; 1998--Basel, Tashkent; 2000--Brighton, Vienna; 2001--Basel, Copenhagen; 2002--Adelaide; 2003--Paris TMS, Washington FINALIST (17): 1997--Antwerp, Doha; 1998--Los Angeles, Sydney Outdoor; 1999--Basel, Doha, London / Queen's Club, Rotterdam; 2000--Cincinnati, Rotterdam, Scottsdale; 2001--London / Queen's Club; 2002--Indian Wells TMS, London / Queen's Club, Rotterdam; 2004--Indian Wells AMS; 2006--Tokyo

DOUBLES CAREER TITLES (4): 2004--Monte Carlo AMS; 1999--Monte Carlo, London; 1997--Basel FINALIST (2): 2000--Rotterdam; 1996--Atlanta Olympics

THE LOW DOWN: Rafael Nadal's knee troubles, seeks laser doctor to the stars

All the talk about Rafael Nadal at the US Open hasn't been about his trademark aggressive baseline playing. This week the World No. 2 has been facing questions about his balky knees and the tendinitis plaguing them. Apparently he's been visiting Italian surgeon Pier Francesco Parra, who has used his laser treatments to cure what ails dozens of tennis stars, soccer players and Olympic skiing champion Alberto Tomba.

The Spaniard initially visited Dr. Parra on after Monday's practice session and then today. "It's like doing arthroscopic surgery, but without cutting the skin," Parra said. "And it takes 23 seconds."

(story via Slam Sports; photos courtesy of AP Photo)

PHOTO OP: Novak Djokovic bends back for victory

Wow - there are so many visuals going through our heads right now that we don't know where to start. Novak Djokovic celebrated his 5-set win over Czech Radek Stepanek at the US Open today by showing his fans more of what his body can do. Keep it up Nole - we'll be watching...

SIGHTING: Colin Farrell takes in the US Open

Hottie actor Colin Farrell was spotted at the US Open last night taking in the epic battle between James Blake and Fabrice Santoro. According to ColinFarrellFanSite.com, he stopped in NYC on his way to the Venice Film Festival where his new movie "Cassandra's Dream" will make its official premiere. The film was directed by Woody Allen and co-stars Ewan McGregor.

(image courtesy of colinfarrellfansite.com)

FASHION FIX: Fabrice Santoro goes the distance in Lacoste

Frenchie Fabrice Santoro put up the good fight last night against American James Blake in a thrilling 5-setter at the US Open. Incidentally, this is the first time James has won a 5-setter in his career (the monkey is finally off his back.)

We couldn't help but fall hard for Fabrice's multi-striped polo shirt by sponsor Lacoste. So cute and colorful (in a good way!) Unfortunately the shirt is not available since it's from a past collection, according to TSF. What a tease...

+ THURSDAY NETCORDS: Fed, Nole, Alona, Martina the black widow...Rafa's injuries worry, Lleyton is ready and more

- Pulling a fast one: Is the hardcourt surface at the US Open faster than the Wimbledon grass? The debate rages on...

- Far and Wide, an AP news blog, reports on the gender-biased fashion news coverage from the AP's reporting on the US Open. Mentions: Women -1077, Men - 0. Clearly they need to start tracking Down the Line's! consistent coverage of the Open...we LOVE the men over here.

- Is Rafa's playing style catching up to him? Bonnie D.(esimone) Ford of ESPN opens up the conversation.

- Ready to go: Darren "Killer" Cahill, part-time ESPN broadcaster and Lleyton Hewitt's fill-in coach at the US Open, says the Aussie's game is in good form and he's up to challenging the top players - namely Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. "...his game at the moment is in terrific form. His practice sessions have been great leading into the US Open. He's been working hard the last six or seven months and obviously his form in the last three months is getting back to where he's challenging the top players in the world."

- Notorious NY gossiper Page Six has called out TENNIS magazine for labeling Martina Hingis a "black widow" after injuries plagued past boyfriends including Radek Stepanek, Magnus Norman, and Justin Gimelstob. Conspiracy or coincidence???

- Get to know Alona Bondarenko

- More Borg-inspired trainers: check out these kicks from Diadora

Marion Bartoli fights back at Navratilova comments, "This really makes me nuts..."

Marion Bartoli is feeling disrespected and she's over it. The recent Wimbledon finalist is lashing back at legend Martina Navratilova for comments she made about Marion during a phoner with The New York Times. “She can beat a top-10 player here and there, but not day in and day out,” Navratilova said. “For that, you need better movement. But it just shows how good she is and how well she hits the ball. She doesn’t have the foot speed, but she still gets the job done.”


After hearing these comments, Marion told The New York Observer's John Koblin, "This really makes me nuts," [...] "You can't be in the final of Wimbledon if you can't move. I mean how impossible to beat the number one in the world [Justine Henin] in the semifinal if not moving great. And I beat Jelena Jankvoic, the number three in the world, and she moves so well. If you don't move well you cannot beat her, there is no way. So you cannot throw this kind of thing in the air and say 'she is a bad mover, she is not a great athlete.' You cannot say that, there is no way. So maybe Martina Navratilova is not right every time."

We think the Frenchie's run to the Wimbledon final was a fluke, too. Clearly she was in the zone, as evidenced by her post-Wimbledon (lack of) results. But, we're giving Marion her props - it's still a great result.

PHOTO OP: Too many balls for Jelena

We can safely say we've never had this reaction to having too many balls in our face...