Wednesday, January 21, 2009

This and that

I've already mentioned Jelena Jankovic's Australian Open dress (like the color, don't like the cut). Venus looks great in her yellow dress, and Dementieva--as always--looks good in orange. My favorite dress so far is Chakvetadze's, but, alas, we won't be seeing it anymore. Serena Williams wore a totally different outfit for her third round match. I liked the gray-patterned dress, per se, but I think it is a bit busy for Serena. 

Note to Martina Navratilova: Even Patrick McEnroe says "no woman's land" (though he acts like he should get some type of Cady Stanton award for doing so), and he doesn't call the women "guys," either. Come on, Navratilova--there are no men on the court.

Tennis Channel's latest promo for Chris Evert has a voice-over that says Evert is "currently married" to Australian golfer Greg Norman. Ouch.

Speaking of Tennis Channel--Gabriela Sabatini is number 3 in the countdown of the "Five Greatest One-Slam Wonders." No one else from the women's tour was included in the top five or among the honorable mentions, though I imagine Jana Novotna was under consideration.

I really feel the absence of both Maria Sharapova and Katarina Srebotnik from this Australian Open. It would be nice to have Bethanie Mattek there, too, but she recently married and decided to take a little break.

ESPN commentators heard Dinara Safina's request that her name be pronounced correctly, and they are doing a good job of pronouncing it. Now, if they could just get around to correctly pronouncing some of the other names...

6 comments:

Herzblut said...

Ana Ivanovic's dress.....colour, yes; style. ick, ick, ick....... :(

Anonymous said...

Do tell! You mean Safina is not sa-FEE-na like the SEWTA site says. How DO you pronounce it? Also, last night on Tennis Channel it sounded like Martina was pronouncing Benesova as be-ne-SHO-va (unlike the SEWTA site). But as a fellow Czech, I'd think she'd be right... As one who usually has both first and surnames mispronounced I feel for the players, but am at a loss myself. Wish there was a RELIABLE guide.

I tape all the live coverage and fast forward through the bits with the talking heads, which is why I missed the Safina interview. Speaking of which, is it just me, or do the American commentators talk too much during the matches. It seems to me that the non-Americans seem to pause during/for the action.

Ivanovic's dress seems to be similar (same as?) to the one she wore at the YEC. I disliked it then as I do now. The colour looks good on her but the design doesn't seem very practical for tennis, doesn't look comfortable either.

Herzblut said...

oh, trust me, the British commentators yap their way through it as though they're being paid by the word.......ggrrrrrr.............

ken said...

I was not a fan of Serena's patterned dress in itself and I did not think it was very flattering. Liked what she was wearing versus Dulko much better. liked Dulko's outfit as well. Simple but nice colors. Looked good on her. I usually like what Lacoste makes for women.
Was not a fan of Venus's dress. Did not like the color or the style which seems like the same thing she has worn for the past year just in different colors.
Like, for a change, the Fila line the women are wearing i.e. Chazvetadtze and Dokic.

Diane said...

I always thought it was SAFina, and Dinara has confirmed that I was right. And yes, people from the Czech Republic do pronounce the "sh" sounds in those name.

The American commentators cannot shut up. The worst of the worst is Brad Gilbert because when he doesn't have anything to say about tennis, he'll make the kind of "jokes" you might make if you were a hopeless nerd (hmm...) or an anxious 9-year-old boy.

ken, I really like the Fila line, too. Both Chak and Dokic looked great. And Lacoste is always nice. Dulko always has a good outfit, and no one looks better in Lacoste than Tatiana Golovin.

Remember Tatiana Golovin?...

Diane said...

ken, I forgot to mention: I think Venus is wearing those cross-strap dresses for a reason not related to fashion. Since she has begun wearing them, she has stopped doing that excessive tugging on her dress.