Aussie Open: Here We Go!

Believe it or not, the first slam of the year is nearly underway!

TENNIS.com has pulled out all the stops for the Aussie Open coverage.

The official AO web site also always has great material including video, audio and pictures. I love their live scoreboard and radio, both of which I use extensively since I'm a TV-less college student.

Erwin at Tennis Served Fresh. always has tremendous stuff on the slams (particularly the fashion, of course) and will bring in a contributor or two to give some different perspectives.

And don't forget the tour's official web sites (men's and women's).

Oh, and this is one of a few stories that the NYT is doing surrounding the tournament, as well.

Those are the sites I will be frequently, along with wherever the mouse might take me. Any other suggestions?

Link It Up

We started school this week in Seattle on Wednesday. It's my senior year of college, and as much as I was itching to get into the academic swing again, after collecting my three syllabi in the span on 24 hours, I'm ready for summer again.

One of my classes, taught by Sonora Jha, is an International Affairs writing class. During the quarter, each of us will follow a region of the world and become the bureau correspondents for the news out of our region.

It's a pretty exciting class, but it also got me thinking about how much information gets pumped into blogs - no to mention the internet - everyday. It also made me realize what a niche the tennis world is. When Sonora asked which of us had a blog and I raised my hand, saying I had a tennis one, I got blank stares from most of my classmates. So this is a shout out to my fellow bloggers, who are putting out incredible content on a daily (and sometimes hourly) as the tennis globe turns.

My fashion guru, Erwin. Always in the know about everyday popular (and un-popular) about tennis fashion.

Jeremy over at Grand Slam Tennis Tours has a great blog. He's been updating more often and has some fresh stuff. I just added this blog to my roll, too.

Tennis Planet is the Perez Hilton of tennis blogs. Always with the juice, and not necessarily just the tennis stuff.

Craig Hickman always has something to say. His lay out is terrific, too!

Everything WTA can be found at Inside WTA. Ladies, ladies and more ladies.

These are just a few of the dozens of tennis-specific blogs on the web. Check them out and support these bloggers are working hard day in and day out.

Players Have Pages, Too

I forget that pro tennis players have their own Web sites sometimes. It just slips my mind that I might actually find something worth reading on a player's page instead of from a news or specialty site. My site roll on my Internet Explorer consists of several such pages, none of which I frequent for some reason. So, with a persistent Seattle rain falling outside today I decided I should do some page shopping and see what I find.

It seems that Ana Ivanovic might be one of the most marketable athletes in pro sports today. She's talented, young, beautiful, has a great personality and has made a meteoric rise up the WTA rankings sheet. Ana blogs weekly on her site, and, from what I can tell, she can put together some intriguing thoughts.

Andy Roddick is one of the most free-spirited and down-to-earth guys on the tennis tour, but his Web site couldn't be more clean cut and professional. DimensionMedia maintains the site which is always up to date with the latest Roddick happenings. Just today the Roddick news ticker had five new stories to post, plus the photo gallery was updated with Davis Cup photos.

Kim Clijsters frightens me. So does her Web site. So does the idea of Kim's Land.

For a long time now, Rafael Nadal's personal site has been on my site roll as a must-see. Not only does this site have tons of pictures, but Nadal's team does a great job of keeping it updated with a lot of what Rafa is doing off the court. Since Nadal is Federer Junior in the sense that we know what he's doing on the court, I like to get the off-court scoop. Especially if it's shirtless.

Finally, one of my favorite vintage players, Monica Seles has a great site run by a couple of die hard fans. If anyone could have an incredible fan-run site, it's Seles. Not only do these guys update news on Monica, but they have a great collection of pictures and videos - both pre- and post-stabbing.

Tennis Chatter: Friday Afternoon Laziness

I arrived this morning at the TENNIS office to find myself nearly completely alone on our floor. Three sales guys were there, along with Troy, the other intern, and one of the graphic editors. Needless to say, Troy and I were out of there by lunch time - TGIF! The open afternoon has allowed me to go on my run, catch up on emails and - most importantly - get the latest Tennis Chatter from around the tour:

Venus Williams has committed to the Acura Classic in San Diego, which begins July 28th. Barring the CincinnatiStanfordLastMinuteWithdrawalBug, the Acura could be one of the best fields of women minus the slams this year.

I mean really. The field at the Western & Southern looks like a Challenger event. And Stanford more like the US Open Qualies bracket. The WTA needs to figure out how to get its players to, well - play.

Every morning Troy and I enjoy perusing through a number of tennis web sites. One of our favorites has to be Corned Beef Hash Marks, a blog by my West Coast buddy Erwin. Witty writing and seriously serious tennis topics found here. Love it!

Feliciano Lopez, long an ATP underachiever, looks fierce in his win over Juan Carlos Ferrero today in Stuttgart. He's in the semis against another Spaniard. Yeah, that one named Nadal.

And That Makes 70

Rafael Nadal won his 70th straight tennis match on clay yesterday. His total domination of the tennis world - Roger Federer included - has yet to subside, and the way this kid is going, I doubt it will end any time soon.

I am continuously amazed not only with Nadal and his game, but how together the Spaniard is. On the court, off the court...even on the internet. It takes a lot to put together champions like him - more than big biceps and a drive to win - a maturity that a lot of up-and-coming ATP teens need to aspire to.

Blogging on Blogs

The award for best female website went to Maria Sharapova, and I think I'll have to award the male version of this coveted prize to Mr. Rafael Nadal. Check out his Web site for up-to-date stats, tons of pictures of Nadal and videos, blogs and special features that you can't find anywhere else.

If you're not into quality and would prefer - um - not quality, then I would recommend the website and blog of teenager Caroline Wozniacki. This girl has a solid future on the court, and has been a mainstay on the junior circuit for a couple years while getting her feet wet on the pro tour. She has just made the official leap to the pros, but that doesn't say anything of her blogging ability. Check out page 4 of her blog to hear her side of the scandal at the US Open that eventually got her defaulted.

Basically if you're in the mood for lots of:

• :)
• !
• "Hey everybody!"

Then check out Wozniacki's site.

I really like the blogs that both the WTA Tour and the ATP are putting on their sites during the season. It's great to read about the players day-to-days and really see what's going through their heads...though I could've gone without the awkward pictures that Kristof Vliegen posted from Auckland.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama (and Tennis) Queen

I was watching an old episode of Around the Horn (terrible show on ESPN...but it's Christmas Break, what can I say?) and a 2004 edition of the show had the Jennifer Capriati French Open semifinal meltdown (she lost two and two to Myskina) as one of the points of discussion.

The various guests on the show (all writers for distinguished American newspapers) talked about the bombing of Capriati and how the French Open field had been depleted to a barrage of unknowns. One of the players that was mentioned was none other than Maria Sharapova, the now Teenage Drama Queen of the Tennis Court.

It was amusing to watch these professional sports journalists stumble over Sharapova's name, and when one of them said that she was the up-and-comer of the tour, the others scoffed at their colleague and it was on to talk of Tiger's slump and NASCAR catastrophes.

Two weeks later, however, Maria would belt her way through the Wimbledon field in order to capture her maiden slam title. After squeaking out a quarterfinal win over Ai Sugiyama (7-5 in the third) and being saved by the rains of London and a moody Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova took Serena Williams (and the rest of the tennis world) by surprise with her 6-1, 6-4 drubbing of the younger Williams. Tennis had found its new Queen: 17 and cell-phone savvy; she could giggle almost as good as she could grunt.

In the past two years, Sharapova has matched (if not surpassed) Serena Williams in the tennis diva slash celebrity category by becoming an internationally-known model/spokeswoman/athlete/sex symbol/millionaire. The difference, however, was that Sharapova was able to maintain her high level of play, advancing to five slam semifinals following her Wimbledon 04 title and finally landing a sophomore slam at the US Open this past fall.

Even with all this on-court and off-court success, the lords of the 21st century demanded more of the Russian-born Sharapova. It wasn't enough that she had won multiple slams, signed the biggest endorsement in women's sports history or been named one of the 100 most beautiful people in the world, Sharapova didn't have a (gasp!) website. Like any star (athlete or actress), Sharapova answered with swift action, launching www.mariasharapova.com, her website in late September following her US Open victory. What is surprising about this website isn't that it gives fans useless links and out-of-date information, but rather the Sharapova-ness that is distinguishably oozes.

Maria blogs at least once a week, talking about her personal life and the adventures of a young star. This - as far as my research shows - is the best women's pro tennis player web page on the internet. The photos, the blogs, the news updates and the player information (stats, etc.) are all there for both the common fan and the Maria maniacs alike. I particularly enjoy Sharapova's latest installment: The Top 10 Lists.

And until Venus, Serena, Justine or Amelie is able to name their top ten "Things They Hate" or "Sweets They Love" while training during the off-season for the most grueling grand slam of the year, I must crown Miss Sharapova as the Teenage Drama (and Tennis) Queen for the new year. It's not just her on-court performances that are grabbing our attention now; but the quick-witted and light-hearted confessions of a champion that keep us coming back.