Male model @ ball boys??

Male models need to keep eye on the ball, say players ~ Reuters

MADRID: Male models being used as ball boys at this week's end-of-season WTA Championships need to keep their minds on the job and not be distracted by the female players, world number eight Elena Dementieva said on Monday.

One of the model ball boys....

"We were practising the other day and I don't think they really know what they have to do on the court because they are too busy watching the players," the 25-year-old Russian, Elena Dementieva, told reporters ahead of the Madrid event, which starts on Tuesday.

"We'll have to see if it will work out or not but I think it will be a distraction for them to do their job. I don't think that they realise what they have let themselves in for and that they will have to be very careful about what they are doing on the court. The players are so focused and sometimes they get crazy with the ball boys so they don't know what they will be facing in a couple of days."

Organisers decided to use male models as an answer to criticism over the use of female models as ball girls at the men's Madrid Masters.

Kim Clijsters, who won the tournament in 2002 and 2003, said the initiative had been a talking point among the eight players taking part. "I was talking to Maria (Sharapova) in the taxi and she said they looked nice," the world number six said. "I'm excited about it, although it is going to be strange. As long as they do a good job, that is all that matters."

Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, who is bidding to wrap up the year-end number one spot at the Championships, joked that her husband had warned her to be on her best behaviour. "I'm very excited but I'm married so I can look but not touch," she smiled.

Martina Hingis added it would give her a chance to get even with boyfriend Radek Stepanek, ranked 19 in the world. "Radek played here in Madrid in the past so now it's my turn," she said.

Amelie Mauresmo of France...

Martina Hingis of Switzerland... look at her big strong biceps... perghhhh!!

Nadia Petrova of Russia...

My favourite, Maria Sharapova of Russia...
Beautiful Maria...

In purple outfit, inside out... :)


Not so long ago the WTA's season-ending championships were dominated by players from the United States. This year, for the first time since the event began in 1972, there are no Americans at the tournament. Four of the world's top eight players that have qualified to play in Madrid come from Russia, two from Belgium and one apiece from France and Switzerland. The only American in the world's top 35 this week is Lindsay Davenport, while the long-term absence of Williams sisters Serena and Venus has left a vacuum which has yet to be filled. Only 15 women have topped the world rankings in the 31 years since the inception of computer rankings and eight of them were Americans. But in August this year, a week before the U.S. Open, there were no American representatives in the WTA top 10 for the first time since 1975.

I think American Tennis has come to a turning point... so does other sports... i.e. Lance Armstrong... from cycling to marathon!!

Anyway.... I MISS MY TENNIS RACKET!!!!

:)