Saturday, June 29, 2013

Sloane Stephens meets Grey's Anatomy "Dr. Owen Hunt"

Photo: Sloane Stephens's Facebook page

Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd met Sloane Stephens Saturday at Wimbledon. Apparently, the actor who plays "Dr.Owen Hunt" watched Sloane Stephens defeat Petra Cetkovska and met the American player after the match. 

Stephens tweeted that she wouldn't mind "playing sick to see this doctor again!" McKidd tweeted earlier in the day that he was excited to go to Wimbledon today and thanked Ana Ivanovic and the WTA for getting him an entrance.

"Dr. Christina Yang"'s husband in Grey's Anatomy is on holidays in Europe. He was born and raised in Scotland but resides in Los Angeles with his family. 

Galway Bay FM radio presenter Alan Murphy also met the TV star and tweeted about it: 


Rafa Nadal forgets Wimbledon with Iglesias and Ibiza

How can you forget a tough week at the "office"? Rafael Nadal's answer is simple: music and sunshine. After his upset in the first round at Wimbledon, Nadal went back to Spain and was seen attending a Julio Iglesias concert in Barcelona with girlfriend Maria Xisca Perello. Later this week, Nadal sailed to Ibiza where he was seen with friends and family aboard a yacht.

More pictures here. And a small video about Nadal's presence at Julio Iglesias concert (in Spanish):


Friday, June 28, 2013

Aga Radwanska and John Isner to appear nude in ESPN Body Issue


ESPN The Magazine has released the list of athletes who posed nude or semi nude for the Magazine’s annual “Body Issue”. Among the 21 athletes chosen are Agnieszka Radwanska and John Isner. Radwanska announced the good news on her Facebook page: "Here's the news for you ;) I'll be featured in ESPN's The Body Issue that hits the stands on July 12. #ESPNmag".

In 2012, Daniela Hantuchova was the only tennis player posing for the Body Issue.

Other athletes featured in 2013's edition are NFC champion quarterback Colin Kaepernick, beach-volleyball player and Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and 77-year-old golfer Gary Player. Get the full list of athletes on the Huff Post. This year, ESPN The Magazine releases it's fifth annual Body Issue. You can get your copy on Friday, July 12.

Photos via Radwanska's and Isner's Facebook pages. 


Thursday, June 27, 2013

Toni Nadal and Judy Murray serve up coffee at Wimbledon

Judy Murray and Toni Nadal served up coffee this Wednesday to spectators queuing up for tickets for Wimbledon. Andy Murray's mother and Rafa Nadal's uncle and coach are Lavazza's brand ambassadors.

Crazy day at Wimbledon paves way for Murray, Djokovic and Serena Williams

Wednesday, 26 June. Day 3, Wimbledon 2013. Probably one of the craziest days in tennis history. After Nadal's loss in the first round, no one could picture another major upset anytime soon. But the unexpected happened. Not once or twice but ten times. There were four withdrawals and three retirements in a single day. Six former World No.1 were sent home in Round 2!

Let's rundown wacky Wednesday at Wimbledon:

1 - Withdrawal: Victoria Azarenka was the first victim of the slippery grass. She injured her right knee during her Round 1 victory against Portugal's Maria João Koehler. The Belarus withdrew before her second round match against Flavia Pennetta.



2 - Upset: Roger Federer was upset by World Nº136 Sergiy Stakhovsky.


With this loss, the Swiss will be out of the Top 4 players in the world for the first time since 2003. This was also Federer's earliest loss at a Grand Slam for a decade. Seven-time Wimby champion was out before quarterfinals for the last time in 2002. "End of an era?" ... some might say.


3 - Upset: Maria Sharapova lost to qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets. The Russian was unable to overcome the grass voodoo (Masha and her 20 year-old opponent said the court was "dangerous") and the Portuguese spell. Between them, Portugal qualifiers Koehler and de Brito had a huge part in sending both second and third seed home in the early stages of the Championships.


4 - Withdrawal: Steve Darcis, who defeated Rafa Nadal in the first round, decided not to play against Lukasz Kubot due to an injury in his right shoulder. Tough decision for the Belgian.

Marin Cilic withdrew due to a left-knee injury and Yaroslava Shvedova offered a walkover to Petra Kvitova because of an injury in her right arm. With Vika and Masha out, Kvitova is now top seed in her quarter. 

5- Retirements: Black Wednesday at Wimby also affected Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The French slipped, fell and hurt his knee. He retired in the third set. Radek Stepanek, on the other hand, quit in the second set. And John Isner's knee also got him in trouble. He retired after just two games in set 1.



6 - Upsets: Number nine-seed Caroline Wozniacki lost in straight sets 62 62 against Czech Republic's Petra Cetcovska. But she wasn't the only former 1-ranked player to say goodbye to SW19 on Round 2. Ana Ivanovic was defeated by teenager Eugenie Bouchard 63 63, followed by Jelena Jankovic who lost 75 62 to fellow Serbian Vesna Dolonc. 

With so many upsets in a single day, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have their way paved to the finals. In fact, that was the joke of the day among tweeps: 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Federer orange-soled trainers banned from Wimbledon

Roger Federer trainers were banned from Wimbledon due to All England Club rules. According to AELTC, the orange-soled footwear infringes Wimbledon's all-white dress code. BBC Sport reports that an All England Club spokesman said "a number of players had been spoken to about their attire in round one". 

But, that we know of, players like Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, who also had orange motifs in their gear (shorts and trainers), were not informed to change their clothing.

Nike made no comments about the incident but didn't miss the chance to tweet about it. "One match wonder", they say. It could have been the best tweet ever if only Roger Federer hadn't lost his second round match to world Nº136 Sergiy Stakhovsky. Guess the all-white trainers for Round 2 had bad luck printed all over.


Monday, June 24, 2013

Hello Wimbledon!

We welcome the grass, strawberries with cream and the classic all-white outfits. :)

The championship will have the biggest digital coverage ever. The BBC will have 10 live streams available for computer, tablet, mobile and connected TV. The British channel will introduce two new commentators: nine-time champion Martina Navratilova on TV and 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic on radio.

Here's Wimby's BBC teaser:


And a preview available on Wimbledon's YouTube official channel:

Friday, June 21, 2013

Pre-Wimbledon Party: Tennis stars say cheese at Oriflame photo booth

Among dozens of guests who tried out the Oriflame photo booth at the 2013 WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party, there were a few WTA players. Aga Radwanska, Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova were some of the circuit ladies who took a photo with colorful and fun accessories. Here's some of the pictures: 

Daniela Hantuchova in the middle

Jelena Jankovic in red

Aga Radwanska on the right; Angelique Kerber, left

Heather Watson in a yellow dress (right)

Laura Robson looking gorgeous in emerald green

Robson and friend try out fun accessories


New HEAD white bag for Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic
HEAD released the new Limited Edition White Bag collection. The bag will be premiered at Wimbledon by Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet. 

To learn more about this collection visit HEAD website here.

Tomas Berdych

Richard Gasquet

Andy Murray

Gilles Simon
Photos via HEAD Facebook page

Adidas looks for Wimbledon 2013

Caroline Wozniacki - Adidas by Stella McCartney barricade 







Maria Kirilenko and Laura Robson - Adidas by Stella McCartney barricade 





Jo Wilfried Tsonga



Andy Murray


Ana Ivanovic


Photos by Adidas

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Pre-Wimbledon party: Serena Williams and Laura Robson in Burberry, more pics


Serena Williams and Laura Robson picked Burberry dresses for the Pre-Wimby Party, which is taking place  tonight at the Roof Gardens in London.

Jelena Jankovic is so trendy: fishtail hairstyle, cut-out dress, Jimmy Choo clutch and shoes - Best Dressed nominee much?



Radwanska wears Alexander McQueen

Heather Watson

Petra Kvitova

Laura Robson and host checking out H. Watson dress 

Sabine Lisicki

Sloane Stephens chose a cut-out dress just like JJ

Captions from WTA Live stream 

First glimpse of WTA Pre-Wimbledon party



The Roof Garden in London welcomes once again the WTA Pre-Wimbledon party. Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic are two of the top stars already at the venue.
Maria is wearing a Burberry dress and told in an interview at the Pink Carpet that she enjoys this type of events because it is an oportunity to wear one of her many fancy pair of shoes.
Ana Ivanovic is looking gorgeous in Matthew Williamson, hair parted to the side, just as the trend rules.
Here are some pictures and tweets from the event:

Storify: London welcomes Sugarpova

Boyfriend Dimitrov & Nole impersonate Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova's boyfriend joined forces, just a few hours ago, with Novak Djokovic's alter ego "Djoker Nole" in a Pre-Wimbledon exhibition tournament.

Grigor Dimitrov and Nole were playing this afternoon an exhibition match in The Boodles tournament and, at a certain point, decided to do impersonations of Maria (very good ones, in fact). The crowd at Stoke Park laughed their heads off. The Serbian player ended up winning the match and probably went home with a few more fans on account of his funny imitation. We wonder if Maria is gonna find this funny? Watch out, Grigor!

Serena Williams warms up for Wimbledon with... ping-pong

Serena Williams was a special guest of a Ping Pong tournament that happened last night in London. The tennis superstar made an appearance at the Royal Opera House to play Nike Electro Ping Pong and end up losing against the champion of the paddle sport (although, some believe she let him win).

Laura Robson spreads tennis love in London schools


British player Laura Robson accepted Wilson's challenge and tried to recruit some new tennis fans. The 19 year-old went to visit some schools in London area and got to motivate kids to practice tennis.


Laura is touring London prior to Wimbledon in the "Wilson Laura cab" and is offering Wilson rackets and balls.




Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Storify: Meeting Djokovic at UNIQLO-London

Via Instagram


via Instagram