Unlike the No. 1 ranking… Thanks to Chris for tipping us off about Caro Wozniacki being the new face of the adidas by Stella McCartney line. I guess the folks in Portland finally realized that while Maria Kirilenko has the best face/bod combo to show off the British designer’s amazing pieces, the Russian’s game (and thus the fashion show that should come with it) has relegated Stella’s designs to the outer courts (and early rounds) of most tournaments.

And all that will change now that the Woz has exclusive opportunities to wear the collection, starting with the fall/winter 2009 tennis range — including apparel and shoes — at this year’s U.S. Open.

“I feel like I have everything any fashionable female tennis player always dreams about: cutting-edge adidas technologies combined with Stella’s unique designs that actually perform,” said the current world No. 9 via a press release.

And with this partnership, McCartney finally gets to design for someone who wins. “It’s very rare for a fashion designer to dress one of the top 10 players in the world. I couldn’t be more thrilled and happy to be given that opportunity.”

Along with key styles from the tennis collection (Performance Dress, Hot Pant, Bra, etc. in pinks and purples), Caroline will also wear the Skynde, whose Barricade V base is redesigned in a seed pearl/dark grape/white colorway.

She’s been with adidas for a while, of course, joining the company’s Player Development Program back in 2007. The PDP helps nurture young tennis talent through a unique mix of advice and support, giving an extra helping hand towards building a successful career. And FYI, Wozniacki has two titles this year: the MPS Group Championship (on clay, in Florida) and the AEGON International (grass, Eastbourne).

More later: We’re in the process of getting a lookbook for the collection. When it shows up, we’ll post!

What about Maria? Wozniacki will be the only player wearing adidas by Stella McCartney. From the folks at adidas: “Maria Kirilenko continues to be an excellent tennis ambassador for the adidas brand and remains part of the adidas tennis family. From the U.S Open onwards Maria will move out of the range and start wearing the adidas Competition tennis products.”

(image courtesy of adidas)

We’d be happy, too: Oh, a smile and a sigh of relief for Serbian Ana Ivanovic, who’s languished in (top) tennis purgatory since that French Open title win in 2008. The 13th seed saved two match points to beat Lucie Hradecka 5-7, 6-2, 8-6 and looked faaaaaaabulous in her adidas whites. TSF’s relieved that she’s finally gotten rid of her boob mash dress, instead giving way to some tiered tulle (ala Masha’s French Open outfit — but with much better results).

Scoreline: Next up for Ana is Sara Errani of Italy.

Buy: adidas adilibria Wimbledon Dress, white/red, $75, adidas.com.

(image via Getty Images)

I have added the Adidas photoshoot  of Maria Kirilenko in this post as well. You know just to please you people!

I have been receiving a bunch of comments the last couple of days and I would like to thank you people for taking the time to comment on my posts. I will answer them one by one.

Here is one from lola who posted a comment on “Maria Sharapova Gets All Leggy”:

Ana is alot prettier. Maybe it’s because on the inside she’s a more beautiful person than Sharapova, who gives off a very cold and arrogant air. Ana is a much more likeable and affable person.

I don’t know how Ana is on the inside but I am liking the outside.  Though I have to agree with the rest of your comment I do have to say that reading Maria Sharapova’s blogs she comes off to me as a nice girl with a great sense of humour.  Also from what I have heard from other tennis journalists, Maria seems to be a very nice and humble young woman.

gvfdgf replied to lola’s comment in a rather unfashionable manner which I had to edit. Next time remind me to give you some soap so you can go wash your mouth.  It’s the comment policy here on TennisGrandstand: No swearing or cussing!

Manfred Dushku left a comment on “I Heart Ana Ivanovic” and said the following:

Awesome pics! I think she is hotter than Sharapova. You need to post more pics of her (and some Dementieva pics too please!).

Thanks for liking the photos Manfred. You sure you are not just Manfred Wenas? No I wait I asked and he denied.  I will do my best to post more photos of Ana in the future and will look for Elena Dementieva photos to post  in the nearby future. Perhaps I can interest you in some Gisela Dulko pics?  As for the rest of you, feel free to make requests. I’ll do my best to find them!

There is a little poll after the photos and I’d like you to participate in that.

Maria Kirilenko had a super-brief stint at this year’s Australian Open; as the 27th seed, she bowed out to Italian Sara Errani 6-0, 6-4.

Still, it gave us a look into the spring/summer 2009 adidas by Stella McCartney collection, a marriage of the designer’s thematic inspiration (Edwardian petticoats) with looks from her archive, plus an infusion of the color du saison.

Something old: Stella took inspiration from the silhouettes of English Edwardian petticoats and nightgowns for the empire-waisted Tennis Performance Dress. She pairs this with jersey and cotton shorts reminiscent of long johns. And for the season’s blouson, McCartney combines feminine rouching/gathering with fluted sleeves.

Something new: After playing with skirt hems for last season’s dress, she goes further by moving floral cutouts all the way to the hem’s edge. Lavish embroidery!

Something borrowed: The salmon color of seasons past, which McCartney uses to accent her usually neutral fabric colors, returns as “Neon Red”. A lotus green also adds some punch.

Something blue: well, purple. The one bold dash of color in this collection comes in purple grape, which is the other color of the Performance dress.

A word from Stella: “This collection tries to provide for all the needs of a modern woman. Style meets performance is crucial for women today, and I’ve tried to address this in my most recent collection. Remembering you’re alive is key, health is wealth!”

Full collection: See all the pieces from the show (including the rest of the sports covered by the range — golf, running, yoga, gym, dance, swimming — via style.com.

Buy: Items should drop by February. We want to see the Mibi Bag up close.

Further reading: Above, images from McCartney’s s/s 2009 resort collection.

Reading, pt. 2: The six images above are highlights from the s/s 2009 ready-to-wear collection.

(show images via wireimage.com and style.com; lookbook images courtesy of adidas)

Not a surprise, but the spring/summer 2009 adidas women’s competition line keeps low-key, staying with that bumblebee shade that we’ve been trying to expunge from the tennis palette for two years (Yonex is keeping adidas company during this sit-in).

The bright yellow is broken up by black lines around the back of both the tank and the cap sleeve top, while the standard three-stripe detail makes an appearance on the sleeve of the latter.

There’s a diamond in the rough, though: continuing with the Asian-inspired Australian Open top, adidas has produced this red mock wrap cap sleeve tee to kick of its players’ 2009 campaign. (With Anna Chakvetadze defecting to Fila, Dinara Safina and Patty Schnyder will be the highest-ranked women playing in these pieces.)

Buy: adidas Competition Tank and Cap Sleeve Top, neon yellow/black, starting at $45; Competition Skort, white, $45; all items available at shopadidas.com in January 2009.

Adidas’s customary “sneak peek” into the early 2009 wardrobe of Ana Ivanovic left us a little disappointed. The violet adilibria dress suffers the same fate as her other dresses from 2008; they look good on the mannequin but fail to maintain elegance in action (see: the bubble skirt, the petal skirt). The diagonal detail across the bust looks messy.

It didn’t help Ana’s aura that she fizzled out at the Year End Championships, getting knocked out of the round robin portion by Russian Vera Zvonareva, whom the Serb handily beat the week prior in Linz.

But she still finished the season in the top 5, nabbed herself a hot Spaniard (ever girl’s dream, no?) — hers in the form of Fernando Verdasco — and she’s already in Australia getting ready for the start of the 2009 season.

Ana’s shoes, the adidas Barricade V, will be white with metallic grey — a perfect complement to her purple dress!

That being said, the rest of the adilibria line is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaabuluos (it’s almost McCartney-esque), so I have a feeling Ms. Ivanovic might defect to the separates sometime before Roland Garros…

Shop: adilibria dress, violet, $70; Barricade V, white/metallic grey, $120; all the gear will drop in January at shopadidas.com.

While Ana’s adilibria dress keeps me thinking about messenger bag boob mash, I must say the rest of the season’s Edge line hits the mark.

Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who ended last season at a career-high No. 12, will sport separates from the line: the Edge Tank, with its layered bust and slits down the side (for better movement); and the big-pleated Edge Skort. I hoped for them to use a more subdued shade of yellow (like Jankovic’s U.S. Open Reebok dress), but you can’t have it all.

The other pieces stay true to the Edge line’s feminine and fashion-forward vision: the Cap Sleeve Top, accented with an empire waist and an oversized banded hem (!) that slopes down from left to right; and the Warm-Up Top, with a ribbed cuff stretching all the way from wrist to elbow. Warm-up pants are also available.

Buy: adidas Edge adilibria Tank, neon yellow and white, $45; adilibria Skort, Cinder Beach (slate), $50; Edge adilibria Cap Sleeve Top, white, $42; Edge adilibria Warm-Up Top, white/Cinder Beach, $52; Edge adilibria Warm-Up Pant, $39; Barricade V, Running White/Cyan, $120. All items available in January 2009 at shopadidas.com.

(Wozniacki image courtesy of adidas; adilibria images via prodirecttennis.com)

McCartney drew inspiration from Victorian-era embellishments for the prints and cuts of the tennis pieces, all made in the Brit’s usual muted pallete. This season’s colors: White, Rubia Grey (black), Dark Concrete (grey), and Pale Salmon (pink).

Note the floral cutout adhered to the bubble skirt of the Tennis Print Dress (with its racerback top).

Here is the season’s skirt with the corset-like Tennis Mesh Tank.

And Stella’s fall warmup jacket features a drawcord around the gathered neckline, making room for the wide turtleneck tee. There’s also a separates version of that Tennis Dress.

Fit to print: McCartney muse Maria Kirilenko won the Hansol Korea Open last week.

Buy: Cover-up Blouson, $170; Tennis Print Dress, $120; Cover Up Tennis Tee, $100; Tennis Mesh Tank, $90; Tennis Woven Shorts, $80.

Browse: See McCartney’s other designs — for yoga, golf, running, dance, and winter sports — at the adidas e-shop.

(images via adidas.com)