Don’t miss Ellen DeGeres’s show on Friday, December 21st. Maria Sharapova will be Ellen DeGeneres’s guest on the last day of the annual 12 Days of Giveaways. Ellen promises to ask Maria about her “noisy” style of play:-)

“Tennis sensation, 20-year-old, two-time grand slam champion MARIA SHARAPOVA will be my guest for the first time ever. We’ll talk about what it’s like to be the highest paid female athlete of 2006, her roller coaster year due to injuries, her holiday plans, and I want to ask her about her world famous grunt.” (Via Women Who Serve)

Breaking tennis celebrity news:-) Tennis blogosphere is a buzz about the marriage license application submitted by Nicole Vaidisova and Radek Stepanek. According to Bradenton Herald:

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Maria Sharapova gets mentioned in 2008 World Book Encyclopedia. (Via On the Baseline)

Dinara Safina is one of the players featured in the 2008 Tennis Players to Watch series. (Dinara Safina Makes Her Mark as Russians Continue to Dominate Tennis).

Nikolay Davydenko: World number four player Kolya whines about not being able to relocate to Moscow because he cannot afford an apartment there. Davydenko is a Russian citizen of Ukrainian origin, currently living in Germany, lists tax-haven Monte Carlo as his permanent residence, AND has applied for Austrian citizenship. Talk about Globalization! (Tvoy Den).

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Serbian Smile-Loving Tennis Star Jelena Jankovic will be “framed” in the upcoming months by a “soon to be announced” Hollywood star. A first-of-its-kind television series created by Reebok Entertainment, “Framed” provides viewers with an unfiltered, real view of the biggest names in sports and entertainment both on and off the field, court and screen. Marking Reebok Entertainment’s first venture into the world of television, “Framed” will air exclusively on IFC beginning December 14, 2007 throughout March 2008. (Reebok News Release)

Check out Tennis Info Blog‘s (my:-) article about Justine Henin featured as part of the 2008 Players to Watch series launched by On the Baseline.

Over the next two weeks On the Baseline, a leading tennis internet site devoted exclusively to the women’s game, will feature guest articles and exclusive interviews with several Tour players, journalists, and tennis bloggers. The 2008 Players to Watch series will spotlight many familiar stars, as well as the brightest newcomers in women’s tennis. Here is the list of “spotlightees” and their “spotlighters”:-)

Justine Henin by Tennis Info Blog (She is already at the Top, What’s Next for Her)

Agnes Szavay by WTA Backspin’s Todd Spiker

Dinara Safina (yes, Marat’s little sister) by Journalist Paula Vergara

Marion Bartoli by On the Baseline

Katarina Srebotnik by Tennis Thoughts

Tamira Paszek by Women’s Tennis Blog, interview with Paszek by On the Baseline

Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, and Mary Pierce by On the Baseline

I will update the links to the individual posts as they become available.

Many thanks to Aaress Lawless, editor of On the Baseline, for inviting me to be part of this great virtual tennis community project.

In an interview with Russia Today, Russia’s Fed Cup team captain Shamil Tarpischev told that Maria Sharapova had agreed (finally!) to play for Russia in the opening tie with Israel. The list of the team players will be finalized during the Australian Open, ten days before the start of the tie. Russia begins the defense of its Fed Cup title against newly-promoted Israel in the first round of the 2008 Fed Cup on 2-3 February. It will be played in Canada Stadium in Ramat Hasharon.

This would be Sharapova’s first appearance for her native country. She has been strongly criticized by Russian tennis officials for her decision not to play for the team, every time citing various reasons for the rejection. Russia’s Fed Cup teammates have also questioned the motives of Sharapova who attended the final against Italy to show her support. Earlier in fall, Tarpischev told the Russian media if Maria wants to play in Beijing Olympics, she has to play for Russia.

It looks like if Maria manages to stay injury-free by February, the Russian fans finally will have their chance to cheer for Masha and Mother Russia!

(Photo by Leonid Zinkevich, from l. - Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Vesnina, Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, d/k, Maria Sharapova, and Fed Cup team Captain Shamil Tarpischev)

Russian mafia’s attraction to the world of sports is nothing new. There are many examples how the Russian organized crime has successfully targeted top sports players, has socialized with them, and in some cases established businesses together. Most of these cases have involved hockey players, one of which is world famous Pavel Bure (Anna Kournikova’s ex-boyfriend/fiancé). However, after months of match-fixing allegations in tennis, AFP reports that US tennis legend John McEnroe expressed his concern that organized crime, such as the Russian mafia, could be infiltrating tennis. The outspoken former world number one believes that threats to tennis players or their families could be forcing them into throwing matches. Read more »

Forbes has just released the list of top-earning celebrities under 25. The top four slots of the 20 Under 25 list went to athletes. Basketball superstar LeBron James landed at #1 ($27 million), followed by NFL rookie Reggie Bush ($24 million), Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova ($23 million) and golf prodigy Michelle Wie (19 million). The rest of the list was dominated by actors and entertainers.

According to Forbes, the 20 Under 25 list of the Top-Earning Young Superstars examined earnings from June 2006 to June 2007. They included salaries, winnings, endorsement deals and royalties.

Sharapova, Serena Among “Most Searched” on Yahoo!

According to Yahoo!, Sharapova is not only rich but also “most searched.” Yahoo! has announced the Top Trends in Search of 2007 based on the billions of searches conducted by millions of Yahoo! searchers around the world. Top sport-related searches show that Maria Sharapova was very hot this year, and Serena Williams’ win at the Australian open, after a series of injuries, also made her a favorite of Yahoo! searchers. Maria took the second spot (after NASCAR:-), and Serena was the fifth. GO GIRLS!

Visit Maria Sharapova’s section on the site to see all the other TOP lists that Masha made. Has anyone seen Sharapova’s Pepsi commercial in the U.S. or Europe? Is it for Japan-only?

A big day for American tennis. The United States won its first Davis Cup title since 1995. On the indoor hard court at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum, the U.S. won the first three matches in the best-of-five final against Russia.The United States now has 32 titles in the international team competition, dating to 1900.

The U.S. last hosted the Davis Cup final in 1992, in Fort Worth, Texas. Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe defeated Switzerland. (Source: Reuters)