Looking Good

What does a tennis player do when not on court? Pose for Sports Illustrated, that's what. Although she tries to avoid the Anna Kournikova comparisons and has surpassed the earlier blonde's career achievements in singles, Maria Sharapova can't help being the marketable poster girl for women's tennis. This year's SI swimsuit issue has Sharapova as the featured athlete. There's a nice cross-promotional deal for Nike as well: they provided the strings-and-triangles -- I mean, the swimsuits -- for the shoot.

Sharapova will be back on court this week, playing at the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open alongside Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay Davenport, and Justine Henin-Hardenne. Aaress at On the Baseline gives a good preview of the action to come. Hopefully Sharapova will not only look good, but play good as well. (Please ignore the grammatical error.)

Last week saw some good play on the men's tour. Carlos Moya surprised all observers by winning a title in Argentina, beating Juan Carlos Ferrero on the way to it and besting Filippo Volandri in the final. Moya has been plagued by a shoulder injury and lately had been exiting tournaments in early rounds; this was a good win for him.

Andy Murray furthered his case as the next British hope by winning his first ATP title and beating two top players in a row at the SAP Open. He toppled Andy Roddick in the semifinal and outlasted Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

At the same tournament, John McEnroe and Jonas Bjorkman had entered the doubles draw and ended up winning the whole thing. McEnroe had not played tennis on the tour since 1994 and turned 47 years old on the night of their first-round match, but showed he was still capable of his trademark mastery of the ball and court. I can't help thinking his run at this tournament was another shot in the arm for men's professional doubles. Things are looking good.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 10:18 AM