Ever wondered what Big Babe Tennis means? Check out this fun video that demonstrates why tall women dominate at Wimbledon.

Sovetski Sport has published an interesting interview conducted at Roland Garros with Shamil Tarpischev, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation.  I have translated some of the interesting points below:

About Maria Sharapova:

“The shoulder pain has gone. But the psychological fear of getting an injury is still there. No plans to talk to her about her Fed Cup participation in 2010. I am sure she would like to concentrate on improving her ranking.”

About Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Kirilenko:

“Both of them are “mind”-players. But in today’s tennis it will not take you far. They need to add power to their game. I am not saying that they have to add  a lot of muscles, but it is a weak area that they need to work on. I can’t force them to do it, they need to understand it themselves.

About Svetlana Kuznetsova:

I was a little bit disappointed that the partnership between Sveta and Olga Morozova didn’t work out. But what can you do, their characters didn’t click. From psychological perspective, Svetlana is quite happy with her recent move to Russia. But she still has some gaps in her technical game, and she needs a coach to address those problems. (Her current coach is Larisa Savchenko, also recommended by Tarischev.)

It was a great experience to see some of my favorite tennis players play live. As I have promised in my previous post, here are some of the photos that I managed to take while running back and forth between Suzanne Lenglen and Philippe Chatrier courts. It was so cold and windy, that I didn’t wait to see Marat Safin loose his perhaps the last Roland-Garros match. I really enjoyed seeing Maria Sharapova playing again with the same fire and focus. She is definitely back! Enjoy the photos. I will post more photos tomorrow.

Murphy Jensen, one of the colorful hosts of Tennis Channel’s “Open Access.”

So French, so Roland-Garros…

Maria Sharapova battled through her countrywoman Nadia Petrova.

(TIB: More Roland-Garros photos to come.)

To celebrate Maria Sharapova’s  partnership  with Cole Haan, a very exclusive party was held at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Guests included heartthrob Josh Hartnett, up and coming heartthrob Kellan Lutz as well as Jason Lewis, Kerry Washington, Lily Collins and Eve. Maria left the event with her rumored boyfriend Charlie Ebersol.

If you believe these photos and the celebrity gossip sites, actress Camilla Belle (Maria Sharapova’s good friend), is Fernando Verdasco’s new girlfriend. The two were spotted at the recent ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California. Camilla was also in Fernando’s box when he played his quarter final against Roger Federer.  Verdasco until very recently was dating Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic.

Well… I don’t know. However, Matthew Cronin at Tennisreporters.net thinks that Anna Chakvetadze’s father’s quote about Maria Sharapova is most likely false.

For those of you who read the Russian Express story that alleged that Anna Chakvedatze’s father Djambuli told Yuri Sharapov that he has lost all control of Maria, that story is said to have no basis in reality. Mr. Chakvetadze and Sharapova are not friends and would never have such a conversation.
Due to the massive cutbacks in the publishing industry, reporting, or lack there of, has grown increasingly sketchy, while the editing, or the lack there of, has also hit the skids.

I also posted about the Chakvetadze’s father’s quote on my site, which I got from the Russian Daily Express. The argument that Maria’s father and Anna’s father are not friends might not be entirely accurate. When Maria was in Moscow for Fed Cup trainings, the Russian media reported back then that feuding fathers Yuri Sharapov and Djamal had made up. Russia’s team captain himself confirmed in a quote that the fact that Anna and Maria were training together spoke about the improved relationship between their fathers. Having said that, I am also not sure if the quote was true or false. When it comes to Russian media, the line between tabloid press and reliable news reporting is really blurred.  It is common to see a typical National Enquirer-type article appearing next to a 60 minute-style investigative report:-)

While the tennis world speculates when Maria Sharapova will be ready to play tennis again, Djambuli Chakvetadze (Anna Chakvetadze’s father) claims Maria Sharapova’s mind is not set on tennis these days. In an interview with the Russian media, Chakvetadze said: “The injury has nothing to do with her comeback. Don’t make me laugh. Maria’s mind is just not set on tennis these days, it’s all set on love. I talked to her father Yuri several days ago. He’s upset. He’s lost all his influence on his daughter. Maria doesn’t listen to him any more. She is in the middle of a love affair and doesn’t need anyone except for this guy. I understand Yuri’s feelings very well since I have my own daughter of about the same age.”

Masha has recently been linked to Charlie Ebersol, the son of NBC sports chairman Dick Ebersol and actress Susan Saint James.

We know there is no shortage of Yuri Sharapov’s photos, but it is rare to see Maria with her mom Elena. Here are some family photos–really old and somewhat new.  The interview where she talks about her mother is here.

More photos after the cut… Read more »

This is a bummer. Defending women’s singles champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Australian Open.

Dolce is eclipsing Maria’s fame…