Sloane Stephens' Steady Assault On The Rankings

Sloane Stephens Aiming To Out-Perform Her Tennis Apparel 

When you look at the ages of the women in the top hundred of the WTA rankings nowadays, it seems incredible to think that teenagers were winning Slams not so long ago. Monica Seles was 16 when she won the French Open, Tracy Austin was 16 when she won the US Open and Maria Sharapova was 17 when she won Wimbledon.

Now players are much better protected from 'burnout' early in their careers by tennis authorities and parents, allowing them to progress at a much steadier pace toward their tennis goals. This means that there were only 3 women in their teens in the top hundred at the start of this week - Hungarian Timea Babos, and two young Americans - Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens. That's now down to two as Christina's just celebrated her 20th birthday on May 11th.

After being hailed as the next Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens has had to put up with the enhanced expectations of a country desperate to avoid a vacuum of home talent when the Williams sisters turn to their fashion businesses for their primary source of income. Luckily for Sloane, she has a calm head on her shoulders as Serena Williams noted when they were involved in a Fed Cup match together recently. Serena was so impressed at her confidence and tranquility at such a young age.

Sloane's had a mixed year so far in 2012, but has made some progress. She's now up to 82 this week, not quite the blistering rise of Angelique Kerber, but then Sloane is still only 19 with time on her side. In fact Sloane's best, yet most disappointing performance this year occurred when facing Angelique at Indian Wells, where she held two match points against the powerful German when 5 - 1 up in the second set, but still conspired to lose in 3 sets.

More recently, she's beaten Sara Errani on clay, a feat in itself against one of the world's best clay court players. On the down side, she suffered a humiliating 6 - 1, 6 - 0 loss to Kaia Kanepi in Estoril, Portugal also on clay, so it's not been a smooth curve of improvement.

The latest signs are good, though, with two good wins in the qualification tournament for the Rome main draw, one against fellow American and Under Armour wearer Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Under Armour are clearly making an effort to grab a larger slice of the women's tennis clothing market with their high tech fabrications (including the world's first performance cotton!) Sloane's athletic physique shows them off to perfection.

Why not try Under Armour's latest tennis apparel to see how their state-of-the-art textiles can benefit your tennis game.

Melanie Oudin Back To Winning Ways At Last

Melanie Oudin Returns To Form In Wilson Gear

It's been almost painful to watch the sharp decline in form of Melanie Oudin since she exploded onto the tennis world aged 17. Then, she was being talked of as the eventual replacement for the Williams sisters at the top of American tennis.

In 2009, she almost casually beat former world number 1, Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon to reach round 4, and then topped that performance by reaching the quarter finals of the US Open, ousting huge names like Elena Dementieva and 3 time Slam winner, Maria Sharapova along the way.

Since then there's been precious little to cheer, save for a mixed doubles win with fellow American, Jack Sock at the US Open 2011 and a couple of spirited Fed Cup performances. It seems like yet another example of how important the mind is in tennis in separating winners from losers. Melanie hasn't suddenly become an average player - the problem is the mental baggage she now has to carry, full of the weight of expectations of her home country tennis fans.

But suddenly this week, she's back to winning ways, beating Irina Falconi in the final of the Boyd Tinsley Women's Clay Court Classic in Charlottesville, Virginia. OK, it's not quite a Slam event, but Irina's in the top 100 of the WTA rankings and Melanie was ranked at a lowly 370 only a couple of weeks ago. If Melanie can use this confidence booster as a springboard to better things this year, she might soon get back to her career high of 31 or higher, which better suits her talents. She needs to follow her own advice and 'believe' in her own ability again.

It's a sign of Melanie's hard times that the WTA Tour website hasn't bothered to update her record this year and still show her as wearing adidas tennis apparel, though she moved to Wilson over a year ago. Even Melanie's own website isn't up to date with her latest success, and Wilson's Player Profile page show an ominous blank where her tennis gear should be.

Let's hope that Melanie hasn't been dropped by Wilson as they have some of the nicest women's tennis clothes of the summer season in the colors of sport royal, union gold and white. There's 'Star Power' tennis tops and dresses and 'Power Play' tanks and skorts, with an alternative 'Village' summer skort which is one of the best looking of the year so far.

Anna Chakvetadze Is Back To Winning Ways (At Least In Qualifying)

Anna Chakvetadze Winning Again In Her Fila Tennis Clothing

It's tough getting to the top, but it's even tougher staying there, and this is as true of women's tennis as anything else. The top 500 WTA rankings are littered with players who've tasted success at or near the highest level but haven't been able to maintain that standard for one reason or another, other than age.

Jelena Dokic reached number 10, ten years ago, but is now outside the top 100, though still only 29 years of age. She's had family upheavals throughout her life, mainly centered around her bullying father, that haven't helped her career.

Aravane Rezai is also now languishing above 100, after being as high as 15 in 2010 when she could do little wrong on court. Her Iranian descent has caused some friction in the past in her adopted country of France. Her over-the-top tennis fashion statements may also have been a distraction from her tennis.

Melanie Oudin's now in free fall at 370 after pushing the top 30 when only 18 in 2010. Her problem now is likely her inability to cope with so much fame and success so early.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is the current ranking of Anna Chakvetadze at 402, former world number 5 in 2007. Anna's career came off the rails when she was tied up and robbed of over $300,000 in her home in Moscow. The stress of this event seems to have brought about a series of illnesses and faintings on court over the next four years.

Fila's New Heritage Asymmetrical Tennis Dress

There seems to be some hope recently as Anna has returned to continuous competition in 2012. She has to enter qualifying now unfortunately, due to her current ranking, but there are signs that her talent is surfacing again.

In qualification tournaments for Stuttgart and Copenhagen in the last few weeks, Anna has won all six matches. She's come unstuck in the main draw though each time, so there's a bit more confidence building and fitness work to do before the heady days of winning tournaments again can possibly return.

Anna's just had some promotional photographs taken for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart in her Fila tennis apparel, but she's wearing an older Fila outfit. I think Fila must have given up hope on her, saving their latest apparel for the other Fila big names like Kim Clijsters, Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Fila's summer women's tennis wear is just out and looks really good, with it's bold asymmetrical designs. Lets hope Anna can get back to a high ranking to be able to enjoy Fila's best new women's tennis fashion soon.

Sara Errani Doubles Up On The Double In Barcelona

Sara Errani Gets Fired Up For The Clay Season

There's something about red clay that transforms Sara Errani's tennis game from very good to great. Maybe not quite the dominance of Rafa on the surface, but enough to give her a fighting chance against just about anyone in the women's game.

She's already tasted clay court success this year in Acapulco, when she turned the (ranking) tables on their head to beat fellow Italian, Flavia Pennetta in the final. Now she's done it again by beating higher ranked Dominika Cibulkova in Barcelona.

Not only that, she's completed a very rare double - double, by winning in the doubles too in an all Italian final, with Roberta Vinci, whom she also partnered to victory in Acapulco. There's no doubt, Sara's game is on fire on the red stuff, and she must be ecstatic about her chances of doing well in Budapest, Madrid and Rome in the run up to Roland Garros. Playing like she has done this week, she may well have a say in the outcome of that as well.

Her joy was tempered by the sudden death of Italian soccer player Piermario Morosini during a recent match after heart trouble. She dedicated her wins to him and said events like this give her more perspective on life and how she should try to make the most of every minute.

Sara's been a little unsettled in her choice of tennis apparel in recent years, moving from Sergio Tacchini to Lacoste and now to Nike. Her latest outfit looks to be among her best though - the Nike Women's Rally Knit Tennis Tank and Skirt suits her perfectly and gives her top rated performance features too. Her women's tennis shoes are Nike's Zoom Breathe 2K11, Nike's first proper tennis shoe to allow customization should you wish.

With this win, Sara will rise to a career high of 28 in the WTA rankings, and with plenty of clay play to come from now to June, she may well be contemplating a top twenty place in the near future. That'll put Italy on a par with Germany, with four players in the top 25, and make for some interesting Fed Cup match ups in future. As if to highlight this point, one of Germany's big four, Angelique Kerber won in the other tournament of the week in Copenhagen.

Small Is Beautiful For The Women On The Red Clay Of Barcelona

Dominika Cibulkova Stands Tall In Barcelona

This is one of the most interesting times of the women's tennis calendar, as the tennis outfits and shoes change for the start of nearly two months of clay court tennis. It's eagerly awaited not just for the tennis fashion, but by many European and South America players who grew up on and excel on the surface. It's their chance to change gear in more than one sense, as fitness, patience and stamina come more to the fore with the change of ball pace the red clay ensures.

Equally, it's a time of dread for many of the hard/grass court specialists like the Williams sisters, who lose some of their edge on the loose, shifting surface. For some, the bigger they are, the harder they fall on clay. I think it's a double whammy for Venus and Serena as they hate to see their lovingly created tennis outfits covered in sweaty red clay.

With recent results, it's clear that being 30 years plus isn't necessarily going to signify the end of the Williams' sisters dominance, so now is the best time of the year for the others to revel in their clay season discomfort.

It's already clear in Barcelona, that a changing of the guard is occurring, with the smaller, nimble, feisty types seeing off the more statuesque women. Players like Dominika Cibulkova, Sara Errani and Carla Suarez Navarro (remember her?) are dominating. Sara's the tallest of these three at 5ft 41/2 inches. Recent winners of the tournament suggest that being diminutive is if anything an advantage with 5ft 5 inch Francesca Schiavone and 5 foot 4 inch Roberta Vinci winning in the last three years.

Dominika got to meet some of the Barcelona soccer players this week including the world's most talented player, Lionel Messi, and she seems to have been suitably inspired. Unfortunately for Dominika, she now faces Sorana Cirstea in the semi finals, who also met the Barcelona team.

Now Sam Stosur has moved to ASICS, Dominika is the highest flying WTA star to be sponsored by Lacoste. She's looking good as always in the Lacoste women's spring tennis attire, and unusually, it's quite readily available to buy at the moment. According to the poll on my website, Lacoste is the third most popular women's tennis wear after the big two, Nike and adidas at the moment.

Maria Sharapova's Faultless Tennis Apparel But Flawed Tennis

Maria Sharapova Deliberates On The Next Point

Maria Sharapova stands head and shoulders above her opposition, literally, and when it comes to her appearance on court, according to a poll on my website, Women's Tennis Apparel, when asked to rate 10 of the top tennis dress wearers today. She's currently polling more votes than the next three most popular women combined - Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams respectively.

That's quite an achievement when you consider that numbers 2 to 4 are no slouches in this area too, as they each are the public face of many of the world's top brands. Ana even has a lifetime sponsorship arrangement with adidas, so happy are they with their 'charge'.

It's going to be a near impossible task to remove Maria from the top spot though, as she never looks less than immaculate on or off court. Like Ana, Caroline and Serena, she has a say in the development of her tennis wardrobe and she instinctively knows what's going to look just right on her. In contrast, Caroline's dropped from two to three recently as the partnership with Stella McCartney seems to be a little hit and miss lately.

Part of Maria's success is her pretty face and perfect proportions, but a vital part too is that she loves dressing up - it's very much part of her DNA. You get the feeling that some other players like Francesca Schiavone, Marion Bartoli and Nadia Petrova find delving through the tennis wardrobe to be a bit of a chore.

In the Miami final, Maria was yet again near faultlessly attired in her Nike Maria Spring Tennis Tank in orange chalk/fruit punch/liquid lime, with white Maria Spring Tennis Skirt and Nike Lunar Speed 3 Tennis Shoes. There's four other tank colors and three for the skirt, so Maria's never going to feel limited in her choices.

If only Maria's tennis could achieve the perfection of her tennis clothing, she would have doubled her collection of Slams by now. Her serve is much improved following the shoulder surgery and she's moving around the court better, but her powerful tennis strokes can unravel when subject to the relentless retrieving of other top five players like Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska.

The Williams Sisters Join The Legendary Tennis Player Vegan Ranks

Serena Looks Lean And Mean On Her New Vegan Diet

It would be all too easy to assume that Venus Williams' dramatic fall in the rankings due to her developing Sjogren's Syndrome at 31 years of age, was going to be the last Act in her legendary career. She has her very successful tennis fashion business EleVen, already, and probably doesn't need the money, so why push her body any further when she now has two challenges every time she steps on court - her opponent and her illness?

The answer is likely the love of competition: Serena, Venus and world number 2, Maria Sharapova are already financially set for life, but can't resist the thrill of the victory and being the best.

There's a growing realization in sport and elsewhere that diet is key to getting the best out of one's body, but also in the treatment and prevention of illness. Top stars like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have made adjustments to their diets recently to try to get an edge, and now Venus has been forced to be careful with her diet to allow her to compete at all.

She's been advised that a vegan diet is the best option if she wants to overcome the debilitating side effects of her condition, and her sister, Serena has joined her eating habits to lend support in her battle.

We've all been subject to a lot of mis-information about the necessary requirement to eat meat in order to get the required protein to engage in sport at the highest level. It's actually quite easy to get protein from non-animal sources like nuts and beans. Also many green plants have protein - in fact broccoli has more protein than steak if measured by calorie, not weight (the current measure that favors meat marketers everywhere).

Many of the world's best athletes have excelled on a meat free diet including Carl Lewis, Ed Moses and in the tennis sphere, some of the greatest women tennis players like Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Carl even claims he had his best competition year ever when he became vegan.

If recent results are anything to go by, this new vegan diet is suiting both Venus and Serena, as they seem to be casting aside the current pretenders to their tennis thrones in Miami. They could even meet in the final, though Venus would have to get past unbeaten-this-year, Victoria Azarenka.

They might be unaware of the full implications of their change of diet yet, but last year's compelling film, 'Forks Over Knives', suggests they will likely gain a multitude of health benefits from their new regime, not least of which is a significantly increased lifespan. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining.