CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, EVA LONGORIA AND SERENA WILLIAMS. THE BEST PIC

With these beautiful ladies in Monaco 
@evalongoria @serenawilliams

MARIA SHARAPOVA IN FT MAGAZINE

Maria Sharapova is the best-paid female athlete in the world, with a flair for business that has made her one of tennis’s biggest brands.

Maria Sharapova appears in the hotel lobby in canary yellow shorts and a grey sweater, her face still flushed from an hour-long workout in the gym. “Hi, I’m Maria,” she says, extending a hand. The introduction is polite, but hardly necessary. Sharapova has one of the most recognisable — and marketable — faces in the world. She became an overnight sensation more than a decade ago, as the tall, blonde, preternaturally cool tennis player who won her first Wimbledon title aged only 17. In the years since, she has added another four grand slam titles to her name, becoming one of just 10 female players to win at least once in Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon and New York — the most coveted titles in tennis.

 Moore: http://www.ft.com/

Maria Sharapova in Paris 2015. This city is so special. #Travel #Paris

This city is so special. Just spent the early evening browsing the bridges and all their lovely #lovelocks 
#Travel 
#Paris 
#Instagram

News Women's Qualifying Singles. Roland Garros 2015. 21 May.

Teliana Pereira may not be a household name even in her native Brazil, but she lived up to her No.1 seeding and world No.77 ranking in seeing off French veteran Stefanie Foretz 7-5, 6-1. Ditto Mariana Duque Marino (No.2 / No.102) of Colombia who defeated Nigina Abduraimova for the loss of just three games, and Sesil Karatatancheva (No.3 / No.104), who bested Elitsa Kostova in three in the battle of the Bulgarians. 
 The biggest seed to fall was Zhu Lin (No.4 / No.107) who was thrashed 1 & 2 by Italy's Nastassja Burnett, despite a ranking disparity of over 600 places between the two. 

 Americans in Paris 

 Maria Sanchez (No.187) had far too much power for Risa Osaki, winning 1&1, and she is joined in the second round by Alexa Glatch (No.184), who ousted No.8 seed Olga Govortsova 8-6 in the decider, and Jessica Pegula (No.381), who was similarly clinical against Yulia Beygelzimer. It was the end of the road however for CiCi Bellis, Katerina Stewart and Sachia Vickery. 
 British interest was kept alive by Johanna Konta, with the Australian-born six-footer seeing off Jovana Jaksic with the minimum of fuss. 

 Best name in tennis 

 Remember this name - Tessah Andrianjafitrimo. Come on, it's not that hard... The French 15-16 age group junior champion was given a wild card into qualifying and lived up to her billing, sweeping aside the vastly experienced Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2, 6-4. And as she told reporters afterwards, she "wasn't even nervous" and "just wanted to have fun". Ah, the exuberance and insouciance of youth... And for those of you struggling with her name, then she has two nicknames. "Tessouille" is probably no help to non-French speakers but "Turbo" sounds fair enough. Austrian supporters will still have Tamira Paszek to cheer on however after the 24-year-old continued her comeback from multiple injuries with a very impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over No.21 seed Hsieh Su-Wei. In other French news, Clothilde De Benardi overcame rain, wind, occasional dazzling sunshine and most importantly Portugal's former rising star Michelle Larcher De Brito to make the second round. The French world No.315 is another wild card beneficiary proving that she is a worthy recipient, knocking out the No.17 seed 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Like Laurent Lokoli, De Benardi is from Corsica, and like Lokoli last year, she will be looking to sweep through qualifying and into the main draw.

ROLAND GARROS PARIS, FRANCE MAY 24 - JUN 07, 2015. TOURNAMENT INFO

TOURNAMENT INFO 
 TIER: Grand Slams 
PRIZE MONEY: $15,980,135 
SURFACE: Clay 
DIRECTOR: Gilbert Ysern 

In the last week of May, the greats of the tennis world descend upon Paris for the year's second Grand Slam and the climax of the European clay court season - the French Open. Named after renowned French aviator Roland Garros, the tournament, under its various guises, dates back to 1891 and has long been viewed as one of the highlights on the tennis calendar. In its formative years the competition, then staged at the capital's Stade Français club, was open only to members of French clubs, and it was not until 1925 that the French Tennis Federation decided to open its doors to overseas entrants. With this expansion, and the growth in popularity of the sport on the continent, came the need for a new site. And in 1928 the tournament made the short journey to Porte d'Auteuil, where it has stayed ever since. 
The newly internationalized event saw winners from nine countries in the inter- and post-war period, including the USA, Great Britain, Germany and, naturally, France. Another important milestone in the evolution of the tournament came in 1968, when Roland Garros ushered in the Open Era by becoming the first Grand Slam to embrace professionalism. The 1970s and 1980s proved to be a golden period in the tournament's history, with seven-time champion Chris Evert, six-time winner Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova all vying for supremacy on the terre battue. The following decades saw new names write themselves into French Open folklore, as Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Justine Henin and Serena Williams all captured the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen on multiple occasions. Maria Sharapova became the sixth player of the Open Era to capture the career Grand Slam with her run to the title in 2012, and she was victorious again in 2014. Other 21st century winners include Jennifer Capriati and Li Na, who became the first Asian Grand Slam champion in 2011. In 2006, the tournament furthered its reputation for breaking the mold by announcing that main draw action would commence on Sunday, as opposed to the usual Monday start day and to date remains the only Grand Slam that conducts play on three consecutive Sundays.

SportsPro has ranked Eugenie Bouchard No.1 on its World's 50 Most Marketable Athletes 2015 list

SportsPro has ranked Eugenie Bouchard No.1 on its World's 50 Most Marketable Athletes 2015 list, saying she could become the face of the sport in the next few years. 

Athletes were ranked against criteria including age, home market, charisma, willingness to be marketed and crossover appeal, following several weeks of analysis by SportsPro and external industry experts. 

"These rankings are not about pinpointing the most commercially valuable athlete in the world today, but rather they are an attempt to identify marketing potential over the next three years," SportsPro editorial director James Emmett said. "Genie Bouchard has struggled on the court since a standout season in 2014, but she has time on her side, and all the attributes to succeed Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams as the face of the most commercially successful women's sport on the planet.

News Roland Garros 2015. Women's Qualifying Singles

Sorana Cirstea, the French Open fan In 2009, Simona Halep was merely the previous year’s girls’ singles champion – the rising star coming out Romanian tennis at the time was Sorana Cirstea. With her ready smile and outrageous forehand, she made it all the way to the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros at just 19, defeating Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic en route to the second week. Unfortunately for her, she maintained the kind of inconsistency expected in teenagers well into her 20s. Six years on, and Cirstea still only has one WTA title to her name, which she picked up in Tashkent back in 2008. The memory of her thrilling run at the French Open in 2009 seems to inspire her every year upon her return however, and she has reached the third round in Paris on three separate occasions since then (in 2011, 2013 and 2014). So even though she is languishing at No.145 in the world, Cirstea has a reputation to maintain here – particularly since the only players ever to beat her here are either Grand Slam winners and/or world No.1s. Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Li Na, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic – that’s quite a list that Cirstea has made for herself! 

 Krystina Pliskova, the forgotten twin Meet the Pliskovas and you think you are seeing double. Not only are Karolina and Krystina twins, but they had almost identical junior careers. Karolina, the righty, was junior world No.1 in 2010 after winning the Australian Open. Krystina, the lefty, was also junior world No.1 in 2010 after winning Wimbledon. But while the former is now No.12 in the WTA rankings and knocking on the door of fame and fortune, the latter is having a harder time of things, struggling at No.111 and never having risen above No.86. Her 2015 form thus far, with three ITF titles and another final, should see her into the top 50 sooner rather than later. And who would bet against them taking on the world at doubles – another set of twins, after all, have had a fair deal of success in the men’s game...

Magical Diamonds & Dragons themed player party in Nürnberg 2015

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Nürnberg party 2015

Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki were among the WTA stars who shone at the magical Diamonds & Dragons themed player party in Nürnberg.

Stay tuned on wtatennis.com this week for all the latest from on and off of the court in Nürnberg!!   

SIMONA HALEP IN ROLAND GARROS 2015. what's the next step for her?

Simona Halep has made a meteoric rise to the top of women's tennis over the last two years - 11 WTA titles, her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, a career-high of No.2 in the world. 

So what's the next step for the Romanian trailblazer? Winning her first Grand Slam title, of course, something she could very well achieve at the French Open, which kicks off in just five days. She came very, very close last year - she made it all the way to the final without losing a set, and then battled Maria Sharapova for more than three hours before finally going down, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4. 
 Halep shed a few tears before the trophy ceremony, showing just how much she wanted it - and then she showed her incredible maturity by turning it into a positive, something she explained afterwards. "I was crying at that moment for a few minutes, and then I was smiling because I told myself it was my first Grand Slam final, and I have to be happy and smile, because I did everything on court," Halep said. "I played very good tennis, a very good level, and I'm really proud about these two weeks. 
They were incredible weeks here and it was an incredible tournament. It was an amazing feeling today."

Maria Sharapova: Paris, you are so photogenic!

Paris, you are so photogenic! 
#Travel 
#Instagram 
#InstaDaily

Eugenie Bouchard Sexy. @flaremag out May

@flaremag out May

MARIA SHARAPOVA IN PARIS 2015. ROLAND GARROS

Once calling herself a “cow on ice” in terms of how she moved on the famed red clay of Europe, the Russian world No. 2 is now a two-time Roland Garros champion and will arrive in Paris this week as one of the favorites again, this time for a third title. 

She emerged victorious in Rome over the weekend at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Sunday a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 winner over surprise finalist Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. 
 “I’m really happy that I stayed with it,” said Sharapova after her victory, a 35th career title. “I felt like the fresher one at the end.
” The figures speak for themselves: Sharapova has now won 62 of her last 68 matches on clay and her win in Rome gives her 11 career titles on the surface, tying her with Serena Williams for the most on the surface among active players. “It wasn’t an overnight success,” Sharapova said of her improvement on red clay.
 “It took a lot of work, both physical and mental to get to this stage and put myself in this position.”

NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP. NÜRNBERG, GERMANY MAY 17 - MAY 23, 2015

TOURNAMENT INFO 
 TIER: International 
PRIZE MONEY: $226,750 
SURFACE: Clay 
DIRECTOR: Sandra Reichel 

Those who want to get one last chance to play on the dirt the week before the French Open can participate in the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP. 
 First added to the WTA calendar in 2013, Nürnberg is held at the Tennis-Club 1.FC Nürnberg and is the only German city besides Stuttgart to currently host a WTA event. Romania's Simona Halep captured her maiden WTA title at the inaugural edition, and Eugenie Bouchard became the first Canadian to win a WTA title in over five years at the 2014 staging. 
 Situated on the Pegnitz River and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, Nürnberg is located about 170 kilometers north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. Famous for three castles that tower over the city, Nürnberg was an early mecca of humanism, science, printing and mechanical invention.

INTERNATIONAUX DE STRASBOURG, FRANCE MAY 17 - MAY 23, 2015

TOURNAMENT INFO 
 TIER: International 
PRIZE MONEY: $226,750 
SURFACE: Clay 
DIRECTOR: Denis Naegelen 

Many players get their last bit of pre-French Open clay court work in at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, which has been played the week before Roland Garros since its debut in 1987. Silvia Farina Elia, who was victorious from 2001 to 2003, and Anabel Medina Garrigues are tied for the most titles in event history with three each. 
Other past champions include superstars such as Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Steffi Graf, Jana Novotna and Maria Sharapova. Strasbourg has had two French champions - Aravane Rezai in 2009 and Alizé Cornet in 2013. The tournament moved from HautePierre to the Tennis Club of Strasbourg - in front of the European Parliament and convenient to downtown - in 2011. The event prides itself on being eco-friendly, adhering to a variety of green initiatives that among other benefits, have decreased CO2 emissions.

RANKING WTA 18 MAY 2015. TOP 40

MARIA SHARAPOVA CONQUERS ROME 2015. INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

Maria Sharapova battled more than two and a half hours to make it past Carla Suárez Navarro and win the milestone 35th WTA title of her career at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

She came very close to losing, though - Suárez Navarro not only won the first set, 6-4, but she stayed close in the second set, catching up from 1-3 to 3-all, and 3-5 to 5-all, just two games from victory. But the No.3-seeded Sharapova shifted into another gear from there, winning back-to-back love games to sneak out the second set, 7-5, and then running away with it in the third set to finish off the No.10-seeded Suárez Navarro after two hours and 35 grueling minutes on center court, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Sharapova finished it off on an inside out forehand winner - her 39th winner of the match. 
 "It wasn't easy to find a rhythm out there, with the way she plays, and the wind - I really had to adjust," Sharapova said. "But I'm proud I was able to stay in there. I never felt I was playing very clean until the end of the third set. 
So it shows that it's good to hang in there and just stay positive out there.

Caroline Wozniacki: Making it burn! #gym #RolandGarros

Making it burn! 
#gym #RolandGarros

SIMONA HALEP ADVACES TO SEMIS INTO ROMA 2015

In her first two matches this week, Halep dropped a grand total of six games, and from the outset it was clear that Dulgheru, whose own journey to this juncture had taken five matches and eight hours, would struggle to add to this total. Buzzing around the court with real purpose, Halep never gave Dulgheru room to settle, and a succession of pin-point forehands allowed her to break in the fourth game. 
The two are long-time friends, but there was little room for sentiment as Halep rattled through the remainder of the set. She was even more ruthless in the second, her precise groundstrokes dragging a helpless Dulgheru to all corners of the court. After just 56 minutes she put Dulheru out of her misery, running down a drop shot before conjuring up a miraculous angled winner to complete a 6-1, 6-0 win in style. "Today it was a pretty good match, I was very solid," Halep said.
 "She was tired as well because she had many long matches before today, so I had an advantage over her.

MARIA SHARAPOVA ADVANCES INTO ROME 2015. INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA,

Sharapova and Azarenka have had a long, close history - coming into this one they were 7-7 - but Sharapova always had the edge on clay, winning all three of their previous meetings on the surface, and this one went the same way as the No.3-seeded Russian was just too powerful and just too accurate, battling an hour and 32 minutes to get past the unseeded Azarenka in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

Ana Ivanovic sexy pink. THE ORIGINAL PIC

Ana Ivanovic When going for pink.
THE ORIGINAL PIC

Simona Halep signs autographs for young fans. Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2015

Simona Halep of Romania signs autographs for young fans on the The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2015

MARIA SHARAPOVA IN PRESS CONFERENCE. INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA 2015

Maria Sharapova of Russia faces the media during a press conference on Day Three of the The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2015

DARIA GAVRILOVA WIN OVER ANA IVANOVIC INTO 2 ROUND OF THE INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA 2015

IVANOVIC_GAVRILOVA 75 67 67
TIME MATCH 3H 04 MIN

MATCH STATS

ANA IVANOVIC AND CAROLINE WOZNIACKI. PRESS CONFERENCE IN THE INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA 2015

Caroline Wozniacki shares an inpromptu press conference with Ana Ivanovic in the The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2015 at the Foro Italico.

SERENA WILLIAMS IN PRESS CONFERENCE. INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA 2015

Serena Williams of USA is interviewed in the The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2015 at the Foro Italico.