Victoria Azarenka wins title in Brisbane; yikes, the ponytail!

Seriously, Victoria Azarenka's phython-sized braided ponytail is very distracting. The other braided ponytail that I dislike is Mary Pierce's.

Put the hairy issue aside, the good news is, Azarenka earned her first WTA title, defeating Marion Bartoli in the final at the Brisbane International.

Belarus’ Azarenka, the no. 2 seed, cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over the third-seeded Frenchwoman in the second career meeting between the pair.

“Everybody says the third time’s the charm but for me it is the fifth one - I’m just glad I got it,” Azarenka said.

“I just go out and play no matter what happens. That probably helped me. It was like playing a regular match - that is what helped me finish it so quickly.”

Azarenka defeated Bartoli in just 71 minutes.

(Via Yahoo! Sport)

Venus Williams leads team America to victory in Hong Kong

Venus Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva in straight sets to seal victory for the Americas over Russia in the Hong Kong JB Group Classic World Team Challenge yesterday.

Williams wins 6-2, 6-2 to give her team a 3-1 lead in the best-of-five gold group final.

It followed a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win for Gisela Dulko over Anna Chakvetadze after the Americas and Russia were tied at 1-1 overnight.

Williams, who struck 10 winners and six aces, looks in great shape for this month's Australian Open, which she has never won.

Earlier in the tournament she crashed world number one Jelena Jankovic by the same scoreline.

"I've been here so many years and this is the perfect way for me to prepare for the Australian Open," Williams said after her team's win.

Referring to her victories over Jankovic and Zvonareva, Williams said: "(They are) very accomplished players and experienced and both of them played great last year so it's definitely a great way to start the year with wins against such talented players."

In the final match of the exhibition tournament, Williams and Coco Vandeweghe beat Chakvetadze and Alexandra Panova 6-4, 6-1 in doubles to seal a 4-1 victory for the Americas.

On Friday, Williams beat Chakvetadze 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 to give the Americas the lead but Russia hit back through Zvonareva, who beat Dulko 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

Asia-Pacific won the silver group final 3-0 against Europe.

(Via AFP; Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Defending champion Dmitry Tursunov at the official draw of Medibank International Sydney

Dmitry Tursunov and Svetlana Kuznetsova were at the Myer Department Store in Sydney's city centre.

They were getting some help from fans in conducting the official draw. There was an also autograph session with the players including Mario Ancic and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Check out the draws and OOP here.

Dima will be defending his title here. He's definitely an interesting player to watch out for, whether it's on court or off court. If you have missed his 'off court adventurous ride' recently in MTF or DtL, check it out here. Click for a larger version.


(Images via Medibank Sydney website, downthelinetennis)

Serena Williams the Queen of Bling

Serena Williams took some time out from practice at the Medibank International Sydney. She visited award winning celebrated jeweller Nic Cerrone at his beautiful store and workshop.

Check out Serena's facial expression when she was presented a special made necklace by the King of Bling himself, Nic!


(Via Medibank Sydney website)