VIDEO VAULT: Bethanie Mattek-Sands gets the Gaga treatment - should we be scared?

Let's be honest. I know I've been a little bit tough on Bethanie Mattek-Sands and her ideas of fashion over the years (Exhibits A, B, C, D, E, F). Fine, a lot a bit.

But I'm being completely genuine when I say I cannot wait to see what over-the-top insanity she'll be wearing after Alex Noble, a fashion designer who has worked with Lady Gaga, gets through with her. Apparently, this dress will involve tennis balls and strings. Does that mean she'll be carried out for her first round match at Roland Garros inside a tennis store? Hey, if Gaga can arrive in an egg for the Grammys then anything is possible.

*waits with bated breath*

[Via: WTA]

VIDEO VAULT: Charlie called. He wants his Angels back.

Maria Sharapova and WTA tour sponsor Sony Ericsson revealed the six lady ballers who will be taking part in the Xperia Hot Shots initiative during a launch party in South Beach, Miami ahead of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Heather Watson, Alize Cornet, Sabine Lisicki, Sorana Cirstea and Dominika Cibulkova were chosen to take part in the web-based series which will help them "realize their dreams" (aren't they doing THAT already?) by giving them exclusive access to a bunch of really cool events thereby helping grow their Facebook fan base (see the page here.) The lady baller with the biggest base gets a "support deal" from Sony Ericsson. No idea what that means exactly.

There's also a dedicated YouTube page where these webisodes will premiere. It's a bit Charlie's Angels to me - not that there's anything wrong with that. But the girls need more high-waisted pants, hair flipping and background explosions. Yes, definitely more explosions!



[Via: MariaSharpova.com]

BALLER BLOGS: Venus Williams + Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Venus Williams and her muffin top give an update on how they've been spending they're time while recovering from a knee injury in V's latest blog. Apparently she's back to training - herself and her niece's new puppy that is. She's also been working on the designs for the dresses she'll be wearing for her latest U.S. Open campaign. However, there's one dress she won't have to create: The winning design from the Tide plus Febreze Freshness Sport contest which she'll wear in Flushing Meadows.

Did anyone else know that Bethanie Mattek-Sands has been blogging for USA Today during the U.S. Open Series? Hell if I knew, but she is. And it's good. Real good. 

BMS, who's in Montreal for the Rogers Cup this week, discusses her San Diego doubs play with her "little Chinese buddy" (that would be Yan Zi), the perils of packing for long travels and some juicy (though hardly surprising) insight into good friend JJ and momma Snezana's traveling circus ("I ran into them at the hotel in Madrid as they were checking in and thought they were going to be having a trunk sale in their room!") And, as any good girlfriend would do, she pimps out Aleksandra Wozniack to any single guys who might be reading. That's what friends are for, no?

[Photo(s): Getty Images]

HE SAID/SHE SAID: Roland Garros Day Three

Q. What about the circumstances in general, or the weather conditions, rather? In Madrid it was sometimes warm or cold. What do you prefer?

RAFAEL NADAL: The sun. I love the sun. The sun is like happiness. When it's a bit like a dull‑type of weather like this, I don't really like this type of weather. When I play tennis I'd rather play in the sun.

The ball bounces higher. When it was really sunny, I can tell you the balls are a lot lighter. Today it was a bit heavier, so I didn't play really well.


Q. You remember last time you won against a top 10 player?

KIMIKO DATE KRUMM: Maybe top 10 player? (Through translation.)

He told me 1996. That time, the Championships in Madison Square Garden in New York. I beat Monica Seles in the first round. She retire. (laughter.) And the second round I lost against Martina Hingis.

Q. Just after Miami, you made the decision clearly you needed some time off. You wanted to rest the body. But now thinking back, would it have been a good idea to play Rome, or is it basically you didn't know you were going to get sick in Madrid?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, I didn't know I was going to get sick in Madrid. That was my preparation last year and I had my best ever French Open.

Also I have responsibilities elsewhere, you know. It was my first anniversary and I hadn't seen Brook in a while. I think at that point in the year, that was always gonna take precedence for me. That was a time that we had blocked out for us, and you know, that's necessary.

Q. You obviously have a little bit of history with [fashion] as well. Refresh my memory about what you've been fined and where the line was drawn. As you understand it, what's the line that they've kind of drawn?

BETHANIE MATTEK SANDS: For clothing? It's really hazy, actually. I think the book says, "proper tennis attire." That could be depends who's the supervisor, what tournament you're at. I mean, obviously some are more lenient than others on what you can wear.

But I've pushed the line a few times. It's really a hazy line. So I think it's cool when people push it, though. I like it. I think it brings more interest. I mean, obviously everyone is talking about it, so it's great. Tennis is getting in the news. It's on the front page when I open up my browsers and everything just because she's we are something different.

So I think it's great.

Q. How many times have you been fined and how much and when?

BETHANIE MATTEK SANDS: Um, I was fined ten grand for wearing a hat at US Open like five years ago. I was fined I think for a shirt that was like sheer, two grand. I think that's it.

For a while I actually had to bring my clothes in and get them approved. That's how they prevented me from actually, like, wearing something that I shouldn't on the court.
Since this last year I've been a little more conservative as far as the clothing goes.

Q. Sam, you've had some good results on clay. You won Belgrade, won Houston. Are you fighting sort of a Jeckyll/Hyde part of yourself here?

SAM QUERREY: A little bit. Those are 250s, and they're great. I love you know, a tournament win is a tournament win. A final is great. It builds my confidence, but I won Belgrade and my ranking didn't move. I'm kind of past that point right now. Those 250s do nothing for me ranking wise. It's all about the Masters Series and the Grand Slams.

That's where I just have not been playing well. You know, I just need to mentally get it together in my head. I need to enjoy myself out there. I need to enjoy playing. You know, if a guy has a breakpoint against me, I should know, Hey, I've got one of the biggest serves out there. Let's see you win this point off me.

But like I said, I just tank some points. (UGH, Samurai.)

Q. You looked very happy at the end of your match. It must be great to be back at the place you've had success in the past.

JUSTINE HENIN: Yeah, I was feeling very happy just to be back on center court, and it's something that I never expected in the past anymore.

It was the case again today. I really, this morning, when I woke up and before walking on the court, I didn't know really what to expect and how I was going to deal with my emotions. At that time I felt like, well, I've never played on this court, you know. I've played so many times on that court.

But as soon as I walked in and I was into my match, I felt a lot of things were coming back. It was just fantastic to share this again with the crowd as they gave me one more time great support. So it was very good to be back. It was an honor for me to be scheduled on the center court. It was very nice from the organization, also.

Q. And your immediate goals for this year are what?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Media goals?

Q. Immediate goals.
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I thought, media goals, wow, I would never set those goals. (Laughter.) Yeah, I want to be the most famous.

Just improving my game. You know, obviously getting back to top 10 would be great, but I understand that's a long process. I just have to give my best in every match.

Q. If I recall correctly, you recently expressed some interest in getting involved in politics. What was that about?

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I never ever said that. Never. I'm the farthest thing away from that. (Laughing.)

[Photo(s): Getty Images, AP]

Overcoming must feel awesome, or so they say

Fernando Verdasco was seemingly struck by a severe case of amnesia this week in Barcelona. After being absolutely annihilated by Rafael Nadal 6-0, 6-1 in the final of Monte Carlo a week ago the Spaniard gathered himself, threw on his best Calvin Klein undies (crotchless, perhaps?) and made his way to the final where he bested Robin Soderling 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 for his fifth career title.

It really does say something about a baller's state of mind and confidence when they can be utterly stomped on one week and come back and fight through some tough matches to take the crown the next week. I'm not saying he's going to win Roland Garros but these are the moments you can see a baller's growth and hard work paying off. He still has some demons to conquer (beating Rafa on ANY surface, for instance) but he seems to be moving in a positive direction and lifting his game at the right time.


Bethanie Mattek-Sands was the unlikely choice to play heroine at during this weekend's FED CUP semifinal bout between the U.S. + Russia but she's never been one to be conventional.

After being dealt a 1-2 deficit when Melanie Oudin went down to Elena Dementieva 7-6 (4), 0-6, 6-3 in the third singles rubber, BMS seemed to understand the moment, digging in and using her all-court game to tough out a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over Ekaterina Makarova and evening things up with the Russians. She returned to the court with Liezel Huber for the deciding doubles rubber against Elena + Alla Kudryavtseva, and the pair clinched the tie with an easy 6-3, 6-1 decision. The U.S. will now face a rematch of last year's FED CUP final when they face defending champs Italy in November.

BMS had all the pressure after Mels went down to Lena but she came through for the team when it really mattered, staying aggressive against Katia by serving-and-volleying at times, taking returns early and attacking the net when she could. I loved watching her game do the talking this time and not her fashion, which still has a lot to say that's not worth listening to. So stick to the tennis BMS, it's working for you. The other thing? Not so much. But you knew that.

[Photo(s): Getty, AP]

FASHION FIX: Some ladies were looking lovely, some others not so much

Venus Williams struggled mightily in first round match at the US Open last night and I'm not just talking about her game. The 2-time champ was pushed to the brink by a left knee injury and Russia's Vera Dushevina but pulled through with a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 victory. She cracked 54 errors - a defeat for most lady ballers - but balanced it out with 53 winners.

Papa Richard was interviewed by ESPN's roving reporter Pam Shriver (buh-bye Michael Barkan and your awkward interviews) and revealed V has been dealing with the injury for 5-6 weeks now but refused to pull back on her practices. Tsk, tsk.

The latest EleVen by Venus Williams dress was also a mess last night with its pepto pink color and strange looking etched hairy crown design on the back. I was dead serious when I wondered if this line should be retired and this latest look did nothing to change my mind.


Here's a first look at Daniela Hantuchova working her new adidas duds during her 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 opening round win over American Meghan Shaughnessy. The slender Slovak is wearing the Fall Adilibria Tank ($55) paired with Fall Adilibria Skort ($50). Now that Dani is with adidas, she may have been a better pick for adidas by Stella McCartney than Caroline Wozniacki but I guess they have a longer term prospect with Wozzi who's only 19-years old.


Former "It Girl" for the aforementioned adidas by Stella McCartney line, Maria Kirilenko, crushed the Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva 6-2, 6-1 in her first round match. Fine she may have been given the boot from the brand's more fashion focused line but Kiri still looks great in the regulation adidas Fall Competition Tank ($60) and the Fall Competition Skort ($50).


Alas, we've arrived at your fave fashion disaster and mine Bethanie-Mattek Sands. The American grabbed a nice looking win over a great looking, Reebok-wearing Iveta Benesova ousting the Czech 6-3, 6-4. I suppose BMS wouldn't be the same if she didn't scare us a little with her Grand Slam stylings, though these knee socks are tame in comparison to some of her past violations.

I got to see some of this match live and took some pics of both lady ballers which I'll post later. Bennie was looking quite lovely.

(images via ap, tennisforum)

Bethanie launches website, keeps hair big and fashion bad

Bethanie Mattek just launched a new website featuring all the usual stuff we've come to expect from B (read: bad hair, worse fashion).


It's good to see her back on court too after getting married and dealing with injury. However, I'm not loving the red/orange/copper crap dye job at all - icks - though it's not quite a hairy situation yet.

But with B I've come to learn to expect the worse but prepare for hilarity. It's just a matter of time.


(via Great Tennis Photos, images via bmattek.com, getty)

Stephanie Myles wants to rip someone a new one - but why is it me?

So remember the post when I wrote about the rumors of Bethanie Mattek's wedding based on tennis scribe Stephanie Myles' story in The Montreal Gazette? And remember when I confirmed the rumors with images and info from her November nuptials??

Well someone wasn't too happy with me.

Imagine my shock to find this oh-so pleasant email from Stephanie greeting me this morning in which she assumes I got the photos from her (false) and not B's publicist at CMPR (true), calls me "irresponsible", and makes all kinds of other strange statements:

Hi Rich,

Please remove the Bethanie Mattek wedding photos from your fabulous blog.
They're not yours to reproduce there; they were obtained by my newspaper and remain our property.

You can link to my blog, but that's as far as it can go. It's called intellectual and copyright property. You haven't even given me the courtesy of doing that, which is irresponsible.

A word of advice. If they cared to, Getty Images could also tell you to take all the photos they own off your blog, too, by the way. They're a for-profit company that charges people for the use of their photos. If bloggers just take them and use them for free, they'd be out of business pretty quickly. They probably just haven't found you yet, because from what I can see, you abuse the notion pretty freely.

Just because it's on the internet, doesn't mean anyone can just use stuff free of charge. A stunning concept, I know.

For example, I can use Getty and AFP on my blog because our newspaper has a contract with them and pays them, even though I don't often do it, because I have a huge log of photos that I took the last 12 months at all the Grand Slam tournaments and others. But that's the distinction.

Thanks for you prompt attention to this.

Stephanie Myles
The Gazette

Wait - no "thanks" for linking to her (maybe) highly read and insightful Open Court column? No invitations to "do lunch" and gossip about the Tours and dating rituals of other ballers (and drink ourselves silly of course)??

There's appreciation for you.

*sigh*

(image via www.impress-photo.com)

PHOTO OP: Bethanie finds zebras (or The Corpse Bride) inspiring, wears all-black on wedding day

So the rumors of Bethanie Mattek's marriage to JPS Insurance President Justin Sands are true and you know what? Here are the pics to prove it!


The marriage took place on Saturday, November 29, 2008 at Edgewater Beach Resort in Naples, FL.

In typical style, B's wedding was far from traditional (I mean FAR) and it seems "zebra" was the theme of the day: she worked an all-black Romona Keveza wedding dress and Marciano zebra print stilettos and wore a 5.5 carat custom engagement ring paired with a wedding ring made from 3.5 carats of black + white diamonds resembling zebra stripes.


Flowers arrangements were created from purple orchids, white lilies, and white hydrangeas and the cake, continuing the theme of the day was made from vanilla and strawberries and a layer of chocolate mousse.

I wonder what it says about the bride when her dress is straight up black? I have my guesses. And her hair, well, it's giving me flashbacks to those egg pods from Aliens. Creepster!

In any case, she's done The Corpse Bride justice and I'm sure she couldn't be more proud.

Congrats again B - can't wait to see you (and your "fashions") back on court soon. You'll be missed in Melbourne!


(images via www.impress-photo.com)

Bethanie reportedly married, will deprive our eyes of more fun fashion in Melbourne

Has our fave fashion f-up gone and gotten herself married? It seems (maybe) so.

Stephanie Myles for her "On Court with Stephanie Myles" column at The Gazette is reporting that Bethanie Mattek has gotten hitched and will be missing next week's Aussie Open:

There will be no fashion show at the Australian Open this year.

Bethanie Mattek, sadly, is a no-show.

She's gone off and gotten married, and is taking a break and skipping the Australian swing.

Who's the lucky guy?

He's a civilian named Justin Sands, the head of the Arizona office of a Pennsylvania-based company called the Specht Insurance Group.

An insurance guy? Meh.

Anyways, it's too bad Bethanie won't be making Melbourne (if this story proves true) because her game seemed to be getting better while her fashion foibles seemed to be getting less, eh, eye-catching. Yeah.

In any case, congrats to you B.

(image via Getty)

FASHION FIX: Bethanie beats Marta in lingerie, slumber party may be next

Bethanie Mattek is hoping she can match her Wimbledon moment from this summer where she made the fourth round of a major for the first time. The American baller struggled mightily but prevailed against Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-7 (9), 7-5, 6-4.

So it seems Bethanie has reverted back to her freaky fashion ways opting for some lingerie-looking number from bebe.

Maybe she and fashion BFF Jelena Jankovic, who's also working sleepwear this fortnight, should host a Grand Slam slumber party. Boys are optional, of course.

(image via USOpen.org)

FASHION FIX: Nicole beaten by Bethanie in Birmingham but crushes American with Reebok style

Here are two things I haven't written about in a while: Nicole Vaidisova + Reebok. Why you may ask? Well, Nicole had been on a 6-match losing streak and Reebok hasn't been worth writing about until now.

The Czech finally broke the curse with a 6-1, 6-3 first round win over Frenchie veteran Natalie Dechy at Birmingham and won her next match against Ekaterina Makarovato to make the quarterfinals. But, alas, the good times weren't meant to last as Nicole was blasted today 6-3, 6-0 by fashionably crippled Bethanie Mattek working bebe.

The 19-year looked great, though, in her white Reebok tank dress with a ruffled hem - a classic look with a touch of femininity. A perfect look for the green lawns of Wimbledon (sans the sky blue visor.)

In any case, a tough loss to the American Nicole but at least you won the fashion battle today. Need proof? Check it:

Egads!

(images via Getty)

FASHION FIX: Mattek double-bageled by Maria, outfit may be to blame

Bethanie Mattek got white-washed by Maria "Shriek"apova in Charleston, suffering an embarrassing 6-0, 6-0 loss to the in-form Russian.

Maria probably wanted to get off the court with a quickness to avoid looking at Bethanie's outfit. Though the top half is fine, I'm sure the bottom was a hot mess. How do I know? Let me present my evidence here + here.

Case closed.

(image via AP)

FASHION FIX: No golden moment for Bethanie Mattek

Bethanie Mattek is at it again. Trying to muscle her way into the tennis fashion game, the American hits all the wrong notes with this US Open outfit. Bethanie looks like she's auditioning to be a dancer on the 1980's singing show "Solid Gold". Wrong decade, wrong outfit...

(image courtesy of AP Photo)