Tennis Moods Style: The 2013 Istanbul Fashion Week

At the end of a gruelling 2013, the best eight players in the world got to cap a magnificent season with a trip to the Season-Ending WTA Championships in Istanbul. For the third year running (see 2011 and 2012), the Turkish capital was host to a magnificent week of tennis, which saw Serena Williams, Vika Azarenka, Na Li, Aga Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber, Sara Errani, and Jelena Jankovic battle it out for ultimate glory. 

However, this week was not only about tennis. In addition to going head-to-head on the court, the WTA divas also disputed the 'Best Dressed' award, when their stepped on the red carpet at the Draw Ceremony on Sunday, Oct 20. To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed with the fashion on display. None of the players really shone. Serena and JJ had a correct look, Aga opted for the stand-out dress,  but she almost killed it with the shoes, Vika looked like Sister Act gone wild, while Angie's proportions were completely off in the black jumpsuit.

Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)

I don't understand what was she thinking, but Vika looked like a pregnant madame who is going to a soiree instead of the Draw Ceremony in that huuuge black dress. First, it is a few sizes too big for her. Secondly, the upper part adds so much volume to her bust and waist making her look like she's pregnant. Thirdly, the hair is a complete mess. She should've wore in a bun or something. Fourthly, the pearls are too big. She should've chosen something more delicate. The edgy Belorussian went too BIG this time and she failed.

On the other hand though, her on-court garment was the exact opposite. The bold print is sharp. Plus, I love the nice light grey strip on the shoulder. Great turnaround from Vika!

Serena Williams (USA)

Serena was safe in Istanbul. The red, strapless dress will always complement both her curvy body, as well as her skin tone. Although it proved a wise choice, it lacked a bit of excitement. Her on-court apparel too. She's always had some memorable outfits, especially for these big events, so this feels a bit of a letdown. I hope she will not continue on this more commercial pattern. I don't want to see another Maria Sharapova.

Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)

Aga had the most interesting dress on the red carpet, but she almost killed it with the shoes. The two don't match. I like the color of the peep-toes, but resent the detailing. I would have chosen something more hardcore, or a simple pair of stilettos. I credit her for taking a risk though. The Pole is proving a small fashionista wannabe after all.

Na Li (China)

Na Li is the biggest ambassador for Asian tennis, so I think it's applaudable that she stressed her roots by wearing an ivory cheongsam at the Draw Ceremony. The shoes are a no no and the watch does not match the outfit, but the Chinese was not trying to create a fashion moment, so I'll forgive her :). 

The on-court look was OK-ish. While I like the color combination, I dislike the stripes, the vertical fuchsia stripe on the polo and the horizontal white stripe on the skirt.

Sara Errani (Italy)

Sara Errani finally stepped up a notch and wore something decent on the red carpet. The Italian is usually either too casual or ultra sophisticated, but she got the balance right this time, wearing an interesting cocktail dress and a nice hairdo. I would have liked to see higher heels, but overall a good look from Sara.

Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)

Kvitova is another hopeless fashion case, but the Czech made some nice progress with her hairdo. Her dress, although flat, is not a faux-pas, but it requires another pair of shoes. You could wear those sandals with jeans and a top, but not on the red carpet. I am not at all enthusiastic with this fall collection from Nike, but it's a generic issue, so no minuses for Petra when picking the on-court apparel.

Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)

Although I am not a fan off the biggest fashionista wannabe, Jelena Jankovic, the Serbian got her game right this time, option for a short, beaded lbd to which she matched a pair of black stilettos. She used a red lipstick for a touch of color, so overall a correct look, perfectly suited for the occasion. 

Angelique Kerber (Germany)

They may be extremely talented, but the Germans are a complete fiasco when it comes to fashion. Although black is a color that slims you, Angelique Kerber managed to look fatter in an all black ensemble. That's because of the low waist that stresses the hips area, adding extra volume exactly where there's plenty. Plus, the proportions are totally off and the accessorizing is poorly done. Throw the necklace and the belt! A big miss for Angie. 

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Kerber's Late Awakening

Following a season of near-misses, Angelique Kerber caught fire at the best moment, putting together a consistent couple of months to clinch her place at the WTA Season-Ending Championships in Istanbul for the second consecutive year.

Although she maintained her place inside the top 10, the German did not quite reproduce the breakthrough season she had last year. As said, it's been a season if near-misses. She lost in the last 16th at the Australian Open (to Ekaterina Makarova), Roland Garros (to Svetlana Kuznetsova), and Flushing Meadows (to Carla Suarez Navarro), as well as in the second round at Wimbledon (to Kaia Kanepi), but she had great chances of advancing further in all these occasions. She also lost one WTA final, at Monterrey, where she was again outrun in dramatic fashion, by another Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The sudden awakening occurred at the beginning of the Asian Swing. In Tokyo, at the Premier Pan Pacific Open, Kerber rediscovered her inner strength to defeat a slew of top players to make the final. Her victories over Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, respectively Agnieszka Radwanska, provided a huge boost of confidence, and although she fell to former Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova, she remained upbeat about her performance. Another good week followed in Beijing. She again had an opportunity to go further, but she stopped in the quarterfinals following a tough loss to Aga Radwanska.

With two weeks to go till the final showdown in Istanbul, Maria Sharapova announced her withdrawal, so her seat was up from grabs. Angelique was the frontrunner in this race, but she needed a strong result in Linz to seal the deal. Although she was the No.1 seed, her week did not start very promising, as she was bagelled in the first set by Romanian Monica Niculescu. After shrugging off the shock, the German made serious adjustments, which made her unstoppable. She cruised through the draw, avenging the heart-breaking US Open loss to Suarez Navarro in an emphatic manner, beating the Spaniard 6-2,6-0. In the final, the German proved she has what it takes to win big matches, dismissing the stiff challenge of rejuvenated former world No.1, Ana Ivanovic. The win marked the perfect ending to a dream week for the German, a week in which she qualified for the Season-Ending Championships by claiming her first title of the year.

Angelique does not have an outstanding weapon, but she is the perfect example of a counterpuncher who can play extremely aggressive tennis. To me, she resembles Kim Clijsters. Plus, she is a lefty, which makes it trickier for opponents to beat her. She lacks a bit the mental strength to close out matches, but on a good day she can defeat anyone. It remains to be seen what she can do in Istanbul, but provided she gets an accessible group, I see her making the semis.

Angelique Kerber capped a dream week in Linz, beating former champion Ana Ivanovic to win her first title of the season. The result was enough for the German to book her seat at the WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul.

Angelique also achieved a great result in Tokyo where she reached the final of the Premier event. Unfortunately for her, she was beaten 2-6,6-0,3-6 by Czech Petra Kvitova.

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Flipkens Gets to Live Her Dream

Last summer when she was diagnosed with blood clots in her legs, Kirsten Flipkens seemed a spent force. Battling a life-threatening injury and with her career in complete bewilderment, the Belgian even considered hanging up the racket amidst this turbulent time. People slapped the door in her face, as they lost faith in her ability to fulfill her once huge potential. Flipkens, a prodigious junior with titles at Wimbledon and US Open in 2003, keep on believing though, knowing that she is destined for greatness. "I had lost the support of the federation and not many people still believed in me," Flipkens told wtatennis.com about the ordeal. "When everything is going well, everyone's your friend. But in hard times you learn who your friends are. But I knew I could fight back and prove them all wrong."
She overcame her health issues, started anew and returned to the spotlight to accompany her good friend, Kim Clijsters, into retirement at the US Open, where the two played doubles together. In late fall, the Belgian's comeback was gaining great momentum, as Kirsten saw a dream come true, winning her first WTA title in Quebec, beating Czech Lucie Hradecka in the final. She continued to turn milestones in 2013, reaching her maiden second week at a major, at the Australian Open, cracking the top 20 in June, and making the final of her "home" tournament in den Bosch, where she lost to Romanian Simona Halep. Nevertheless, nothing was really announcing her fairytale fortnight at Wimbledon.

Taking advantage of Azarenka's withdrawal following a nasty knee injury, the Belgian progressed through to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She then produced a major upset, taking out the last Grand Slam winner left in the draw, the 2011 champion, Petra Kvitova. Although Kvitova started strong, the Czech eventually paid the price for her erratic display, allowing her opponent to level the match. Once on equal terms, Kirsten seized the opportunity. She hanged in tough in the decider, breaking Petra's serve before coming up with two aces to close out the biggest win of her career. Appearing in her first major semifinal, the talented Belgian seemed too overwhelmed to stand a chance against Marion Bartoli. She was completely outplayed by the determined Frenchwoman who came through 6-1,6-2 to reach her second Wimbledon final.

What a difference a year makes! If last season her No.262 ranking did not even get her into the Wimbledon qualies, 12 months later she's in the semifinals. "I think I still don't really realize what I've managed to go through today and what I've achieved today," she confessed during her press conference. "Last year, as everybody knows already, I didn't even get into the qualifying of Wimbledon. I was ranked No.262; today I'm a semifinalist in a Grand Slam. 

"It's a dream - more than a dream - coming true. There are no words. I never expected this to happen in my life. It was already a great performance that I managed to get into the fourth round in the Australian Open this year, but being in the semifinals of a Grand Slam, of the biggest tournament of the year, it has no words. I never expected I would come this far."

Although she did not win the trophy, Flipkens has won so much during these two weeks. It could very well be that this will remain the pinnacle of her career, but Kirsten has made a habit of proving everyone wrong, so she will surely seek to break new grounds.

Although she's beaten Kvitova in their last meeting, Kristen Flipkens produced another upset at Wimbledon, stunning the 2011 champion, 4-6,6-3,6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.

Visibly bothered by a knee injury, the Belgian was crushed by the determined Marion Bartoli in their semifinal clash. The Frenchwoman won 6-1,6-2 to end Kristen's dream run at this year's Wimbledon.

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Robson Is Ready to Take on the Grown-Ups

Following her sensational run at the US Open last season, Laura Robson has pretty much established herself as a potential threat to the leading ladies of the WTA tour. Her New York wins, over a retiring Kim Clijsters and a rejuvenated Na Li, have showed she has the mental strength to hang on with the badass chicks of the tour and to eventually beat them. Concluding a breakthrough 2012 with a final in Guangzhou, the Brit added another milestone by cracking the top 50 for the first time earlier this year.

In Melbourne, she started strongly, cruising through her opening match against feisty American, Melanie Oudin. The victory brought her face to face with former Wimbledon champion, Czech Petra Kvitova. Kvitova is anything but an easy opponent, but Robson once again showed her class, coming from behind to seal a stunning triumph.
Although, Petra looked in command in the early stages of the encounter, the Brit regrouped, levelling the dispute. However, she quickly got herself back in trouble when her opponent built a 3-0 lead in the decider. Showing nerves of steel, the former junior Wimbledon champ got back into the match and even had a chance to close it out, serving for it at 6-5. She missed the opportunity, but refused to do any such mistake when she got back into a winning situation at 9-8 up. Whipping some booming serves, Laura Robson served out a superb win. 

"I knew it was going to be really tough, I always struggle to play lefties and I really struggled to return her serve in the first set but in the end I got through," declared the relieved youngster. "I started off very up and down. You know it's going to be a pretty ugly match when you start off with two double faults. You can't win a set when you're playing five unforced errors compared to every winner. So at the start of the second set I knew I just had to play with more consistency and percentage."

Asked what aspect of her game was she most pleased about, Laura answered: "That I never gave up. Even when she went up a break twice in the third, I thought I could always break her serve, I just had to get as many returns in as I could. And in the end, I thought I had nothing to lose, so I just relaxed on my service games and went for it. I'm happy, but a bit tired. I'm looking forward to going back to my apartment and sleeping."

The Melbourne born Brit has plenty of supporters Down Under. "I could definitely hear the crowd, I’m pleased so many people stayed," she said. Next up for the rising star is a fellow teen, American Sloane Stephens, and the Aussie crowd is expecting another stellar performance to cheer about.

In an epic battle, Laura Robson held her nerve, coming from behind to stun former Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova, 2-6,6-3,12-10 to advance to the third round. The talented Brit takes on fellow teenager Sloane Stephens next. 

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The Czech A-Teams

Although the Czech Republic has given so many great tennis champions in previous years, recently the country failed to produced the same amount of talent. Martina Navratilova, Iva Lendl,  Hana Mandlikova or Jana Novotna are all legends of the game, but after their retirement, their place was hard to fill.

However with Kvitova's stunning triumph at Wimbledon and Berdych's sudden glimpses of magic, the nation finally got something to cheer about. The duo showed their class in the beginning of the season, teaming up to win the mixed-doubles event in Perth. They were imperious in winning the Hopman Cup, disposing of the Frenchmen Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet in the final.

The successes kept on coming for the Czech, as Kvitova and co. successfully defended their Fed Cup title. It was Safarova though who clinched the final victory over Serbia, as she defeated both former number 1s, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, to bring in two vital points. 

Inspired by their female counterparts performance, the Czech squad lead by Berdych was determined to end Spain's reign in the Davis Cup and collect the country's first trophy as an independent nation. To help their cause, Corretja's team was deprived of its main superstar, Nadal continuing to be sidelined by the knee injury that forced him to miss the second half of the season. However, with Ferrer in hot form and Almagro as the supporting actor, the Spaniards were not to be dismissed easily.

Day 1 saw the two nations tied at 1-1, with Berdych beating Almagro in a five set thriller, while Ferrer cruised passed Stepanek. The doubles match proved vital in determining the winner. Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez were starting as hot favourites having just claimed the ATP World Tour Championships in London, but old fox Stepanek was yet to say his last word. He and Berdych produced a superb performance to recover from the loss of the opening set to stun the Spaniards 3-6,7-5,7-5,6-3. Stepanek was top notch on Sunday too, scoring the decisive point with a four set victory over Nicolas Almagro.

With Berdych losing in straight sets to Ferrer it was up to Radek to clinch the win and his older compatriot did not waste the opportunity. "I was dreaming about it my whole life and now we're standing here as Davis Cup champions, it's amazing," Stepanek said. "I had a lot of chances in the second set. I was playing very aggressive today; I wanted to be the one who was more active. Even though I lost the third set, I had no doubt about my tactics. I came on the court with a mindset that I had to stay calm, hungry and concentrated. That's what I did tremendously well today."

Having won all the team trophies in 2012, the Czech Republic has established itself as the dominant force in the world.

Radek Stepanek, Tomas Berdych, Ivo Minar and Lukas Rosol respectively, won Czech Republic's first Davis Cup trophy since the country's independence. They beat Spain 3-2 in front of a magnified crowd in Prague.

Earlier this month, Lucie Safarova, Petra Kvitova and doubles specialists, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, won the Fed Cup final against Serbia. Former world number 1s, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, were unable to cope with an inspired Safarova, who brought in two decisive points. 

At the start of the season, Petra Kvitova teamed up with Tomas Berdych to win the Hopman Cup in a final against Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet of France.

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Tennis Moods Style: The 2012 Istanbul Fashion Week

At the end of a gruelling 2012, the best eight players in the world got to cap a magnificent season with a trip to the Season-Ending WTA Championships in Istanbul. For the second year running, the Turkish capital was host to a magnificent week of tennis, which saw Vika Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Aga Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber, Na Li, and Sara Errani battle it out for ultimate glory. 

However, this week was not entirely about tennis. In addition to going head-to-head on the court, the WTA divas have also disputed the Best Dressed award, providing a veritable fashion runway at the Draw Ceremony on Sunday, October 21. It came down to the wire, but Serena once more outclassed Azarenka to restore her reign also in the fashion department. However, Victoria is making huge progresses lately, becoming one of the most consistently well-inspired fashionistas.

Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)

Probably the sharpest look at the Draw Ceremony was Victoria's who dazzled the audience in a form fitting black jumpsuit. The world number 1 showed plenty of class, styling her outfit perfectly with a slick ponytail and a pair of oversized earrings. Her on-court look was also inspired, with a plus for the dark grey - light yellow mix. Although she does not have her own Nike label, the Belorussian added the only bit of glamour to Nike's mainstream fall collection.

Maria Sharapova

If some dressed up, Maria Sharapova dressed down. The Russian, one of the most veritable fashionistas in the game, wore an angelic white mini dress, which she matched with oversized mustard blazer. Although the pieces are great and they create an exquisite look, I feel she should have stepped up a notch and wore something a bit more fancy. This was more of a day look, than a red carpet one. However, my main issue with Sharapova lately is her on-court attire. Most of the times, it is really boring and not flattering. I miss the creative queen of the tutus that ruled tennis fashion some years ago.

Serena Williams

Serena has been on fire since July and she capped the momentum in a femme fatale red mini dress. The big hairdo, the leopard shoes, everything was pure perfection as the stunning American stepped on the red carpet. She also looked flawless on court. The sleeveless polo and the peplum inspired skirt are cool, actual pieces that perfectly showcase the American's sexy curves.

Agnieszka Radwanska

Agnieszka Radwanska does not stand out on a regular basis, but the Pole proves to have an impeccable fashion taste with every appearance. Her princess dress is actually extremely current, transparency being one of the major trends at the moment. The nude pink colour is really cool, though the front of the design makes it resemble a night gown. Also, although sponsored by Lotto, the Pole has already found clothes that seem well-made, expensive and pleasantly looking. The fucsia-peach mix is a bit too intense for me though.

Petra Kvitova

Last year's titlist took a great decision when she opted for a red mini dress, which by the way looked stunning on her. The look was ruined by the ugly black sandals though. Plus, I am wary of the red-black mix, as it can be cheap and vulgar. Though I liked Azarenka's on court attire, I am really unimpressed by Petra's version. I find the floral print on a white pattern tacky and I think the only version that works is having it on a darker background, such as grey.

Sara Errani (Italy)

Hoping to make an impression at her first WTA Championships appearance, Sara Errani went over the top with a wedding-ish purple dress. Her long gown, though elegant, seems a bit too sophisticated for the event. She was similar Nike clothes with Azarenka, Kvitova and Na Li.

WTA Championships debutant, Angelique Kerber was hoping to steal the show in this black gown. However, as with Errani, she did not succeed. The same issue as the Italian, the dress is too elegant, too sophisticated for the event. Probably something more of a cocktail party dress would have worked better.

Na Li (China)

Na Li was another player to opt for a lbd. Though the dress is relatively boring, the styling is edgy with a huge plus for the big wristwatch. The nude platforms are a safe choice in this combination, although a more vibrant colour would have been a killer hit. The Chinese's on-court garments are relatively pretty dull and this one makes no exception. Taken from the same mainstream Nike fall collection, the top part is the blue version of Kvitova's attire.

Marion Bartoli (France)

Second alternative, Marion Bartoli was boho-chic in a lbd which she styled with a stunning black pair of high-heels ankle boots and a white shall. The Frenchwoman is proving to be a little fashionista as she reveals her upbeat personality at the Draw Ceremony in Istanbul.

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