FASHION FIX: First look at Sania Mirza's new adidas tennis gear

Fashion first: Here's a first look at Sania Mirza in her new adidas gear playing at the Hopman Cup. The Indian sensation, who announced her new partnership with the global sports brand this week, took on Meghan Shaughnessy of the US who was filling in for a tardy Serena Williams and lost 6-3 4-6 6-3.

It looks like Sania is continuing her red + white fashion moment from last season's Japan Open, but our favorite is still the stylish green + white Lotto gear she wore during her successful US summer run.

(images via AFP/Tony Ashby)

SIGHTING: Maria Sharapova takes in Singapore, will take on Chakvetadze

Maria "Shriek"apova has made her first trip to Singapore to play an exhibition match on December 30 against compatriot Anna Chakvetadze, who was recently a victim of a home invasion at her family's country house. The Russian stopped to take some photos on the roof of the Fullerton Hotel, where she'll be staying in the presidential suite. The suite usually runs a cool $4,745 per night, but it'll cost a bit more after Maria's done with it. Why? Because the Singapore officials will be selling every single item from the hotel room for charity - everything except the toilet seat.

We were worried, but it's good to know the officials have their limits, too.

(image via ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Sania Mirza signs multi-year partnership with adidas

Sania Mirza is the latest tennis player to be signed to the adidas brand. The Indian sensation, who was formerly sponsored by Lotto, had a very successful 2007 US summer hardcourt run in which she reached a career high No. 27 after reaching the final of Stanford, a Tier II tournament. Sania had this to say about her new partnership with adidas:

"I am extremely happy to be part of such a distinguished family of players and brand ambassadors. I have been associated with the brand as a junior and I believe adidas` experience and expertise will be a key part of my on-court performance. I am really looking forward to wearing the stylish 3-Stripes for many years to come."

(via women's tennis blog, image via AP Photo)

THE LOW DOWN: Andy Roddick slams media for choosing Simpson over substance

Andy Roddick has a bone to pick with the media (does that mean us, too?) On his blog, the former US Open champion accuses journalists of not covering the good work that tennis ballers do, including himself, and only reporting on negativity and gossip. He even references B-list celeb Jessica Simpson's ill-fated PR stunt of attending a Dallas Cowboys football game in which boyfriend and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had the worst game of his career.

According to A-Rod,

"I have been on the go since Davis Cup. I have played in a bunch of charity events and am convinced that tennis is an amazing sport. You hear so much about pro athletes being spoiled and getting arrested and that sort of thing….unfortunately, the media chooses those stories over the good ones that are out there. So many tennis players use the little off-season they have to raise money for charitable causes of their choice. It’s a really great thing. I wish there was a way to get these kinds of things as much attention as what hot chick is wearing whose jersey at a football game and who’s pissed about it or whatever…."

No worries A-Rod, we're up in ALL of your business. We've written about both your charity work and your love life. It's much more fun for us, really.

(image via wireimage.com)

VIDEO VAULT: Maria Sharapova brings new look, and ping pong skills, to The Ellen Degeneres Show

Maria "Shriek"apova spent part of her pre-holiday celebrations visiting The Ellen Degeneres Show, working the new bangs we wrote about last week. Wow - Maria is a giant next to Ellen (of course the fashionista is wearing about 3" stilletos on her 6' 2" frame) and she can TALK. But in all fairness Maria seemed genuinely nervous and excited. The former Wimbledon champ even took on Ellen in a game of ping pong - we won't say who won. You'll have to see for yourself...

Letter to our readers: Happy Holidays!

Hello readers,

We'll be posting sporadically over the next week as we'll be getting our party on for the holidays. We'll still be monitoring the tennis news so if anything extraordinary happens, we'll be there.

In the meantime, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the support over the last 7 months since we started this blog and for believing we actually had something interesting to say about the sport we love - tennis. We look forward to continuing to bring our brand of tennis coverage the best way we know how - Down the Line!

Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year!

- Rich