The biggest draw in women's tennis, Russian beauty Maria Sharapova, has promised to reveal a sexy new outfit to liven up the Australian Open when it gets underway on Monday.
MELBOURNE: The biggest draw in women's tennis, Russian beauty Maria Sharapova, has promised to reveal a sexy new outfit to liven up the Australian Open when it gets underway on Monday.
The 19-year-old world number two earned an estimated $22 million in endorsements last year, including the promotion of fashion products, and is a regular magazine covergirl, contracted to IMG Models since 2003
What she wears is watched as closely as how she plays.
Last year she set the Open on fire with her power blue baby doll nightie look, which became a must-have fashion accessory, and she said more was in store this week.
"Fashion-wise, I'm not doing baby doll any more. Baby doll has gone out the window," she said.
On what she had planned, she said: "It's a pretty classy dress. It's like a lemon chiffon colour. "Bottom of the dress, it's like a little high-waisted. I tend to pay a lot of attention to detail.
"There's a little corset detail in the back, there's a bow. My warm-up (outfit) is also really cute. You got to see it."
Earlier this month Sharapova denied she was better known for her looks than her tennis, pointing to her two Grand Slams.
"I'm happy with the way my career is going at the moment," she said. "I'm working hard on my game and I can hardly say that for the modelling.
"I have won two Slam tournaments -- I think it's all a matter of perception and opinion. I have been a tennis player since I was four years old."
Another to watch in the fashion stakes this week will be Serena Williams, known for taking on-court fashion to places others fear to tread.
At the 2002 US Open she sported a now infamous black lycra catsuit, while at the Australian Open in 2005 she unveiled a lime-green and white costume that included knee-high space-boots with a detachable leg section that could be removed before play commenced.
Last year she confined herself to a mint-green pleated skirt and regulation-issue tank-top.
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