|
The 'It-Girls' of The WTA
Ever since Serena announced her pregnancy in 2017, there's been a new it-girl each year. In 2017, it was Sloane Stephens, sort-of; 2018, Osaka and Gauff; 2019, Andreescu; 2020, Swiatek; 2021, Raducanu and Fernandez. According to the Post, Raducanu is on her way to Billion Dollar status. Except for Osaka, however, there's been no 'it' thereafter, Gauff notwithstanding. New reality? BTW, did Swiatek get an invite to the Met Gala like Raducanu and Fernandez or is she already forgotten?
Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTACode: Select all
Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTALooks like Osaka’s image matches her tennis for all of 2021. All sorts of crazy. Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTAWell you know what they say. "It's take a whole lot of money to look that bad" Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTAWell you know what they say. "It's take a whole lot of money to look that cheap"
Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTA'It-Boys' too. Looks like everybody got an invite. No need to win GS titles anymore.
Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTATeen US Open breakout star Leylah Fernandez wore a Met Gala dress inspired by tennis royalty - Venus and Serena Williams Just days after taking down multiple tennis superstars on the sport's biggest stage, up-and-coming tennis star Leylah Fernandez is emulating other tennis legends away from the court. The 19-year-old Canadian wunderkind — who made a stunning run to the 2021 US Open final earlier this month — made her first-ever appearance at the Met Gala in a black-and-white Carolina Herrera dress. While Fernandez's attire may have looked simple compared to the ornate outfits many others donned at the star-studded event, the young athlete's dress was a meaningful tribute to two of her sport's greatest athletes — Venus and Serena Williams. In 1998, when tennis' most famous sisters were right around Fernandez's current age, iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz shot Venus and Serena for Vogue. The then-budding stars — who had yet to win a Grand Slam at the time but were quickly rising the tennis ranks — posed in black-and-white striped dresses from none other than Carolina Herrera. Surely Fernandez's decision to emulate Venus and Serena with her own striped Carolina Herrera dress was intentional. Some 23 years after the Williams sisters' shoot with Leibovitz, they are bona fide tennis royalty with 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them. Fernandez finds herself in a similar position to Venus and Serena from the time of that Vogue shoot. She's fresh off of her first-ever Grand Slam final appearance at this year's US Open and maybe on the brink of tennis greatness herself, just like the 1998 Williams sisters were. Perhaps the black-and-white dress is the last piece of the puzzle before Fernandez breaks through for her first Grand Slam victory. After all, within two years of wearing those gowns, Venus and Serena captured the first of many major titles.
Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTANaomi Osaka eyes tennis return 'soon' after feeling 'itch' to play again Naomi Osaka did not say when she would return to tennis when she announced she was taking a break after the U.S. Open. Four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka looks set to return to tennis shortly after getting "that itch" to play again. Osaka said at the U.S. Open earlier this month that she would take a break from the game to concentrate on her mental health following a third round defeat by Leylah Fernandez. But the 23-year-old player said on HBO's "The Shop" that she still loved the sport and was already looking to get back to the court. "I know I'm going to play again, probably soon because I kind of have that itch again," she said. "But it wouldn't really matter to me if I won or lost. I'd just have the joy of being back on the court." Osaka, who has slipped to seventh in the world rankings, said tough matches had begun to take their toll on her and she needed the break to refresh. "I used to love the competition and just being competitive. If I were to play a long match, the longer it was the more fun it was for me," she said. "Then I just started to feel -- recently -- the longer it was the more stressed out I became. But I just needed a break to go within myself." Roger Federer has added his voice to the growing calls for changes in how players and the media interact after the issue of players' mental health came into the spotlight when Osaka withdrew from the French Open in a row with tournament officials over media duties. Sloane Stephens and Shelby Rogers also spoke after their U.S. Open matches about how social media abuse impacted on their mental health. Federer, who shares the men's record of 20 major titles with Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, said the situation needed a rethink. "I think players, the tournaments, journalists, we need to sit down together in a room and go, 'OK, what would work for you and what works for us,'" Federer told the British GQ magazine on Monday. "We need a revolution. Or at least an evolution of where we are today. "Even when I am feeling down I know I need to act a certain way in front of the world's press. We need to remember that tennis players are athletes and professionals, but we are also human too."
Re: The 'It-Girls' of The WTAEmma Raducanu splits with coach just two weeks after winning US Open Less than two weeks after her incredible, historic run at the US Open, Emma Raducanu has split with her coach. Raducanu, the 18-year-old who won the US Open earlier this month after entering as a qualifier, split with her coach, Andrew Richardson on Friday. Richardson, a former Davis Cup player, had coached Raducanu for two years when she was competing at the youth level, and joined her on a short-term deal ahead of the US Open. “At the time, I thought Andrew would be a great coach to trial so we went to the States but never did I even dream of winning the U.S. Open and having the run I did, and now I’m ranked No. 22 in the world, which is crazy to me,” she said, via The Associated Press. |