Serena‘s dress for Roland Garros: the Statement Nike Rally Dress

Serena’s shoes: the Nike Air Max Mirabella:

The London Underground Map has been redesigned for the Olympics, with each of the 361 stations named after an Olympic icon.

As part of London’s Olympic celebrations, the London Underground Map has been transformed, with stations renamed after legendary Olympic superstars.

The new map brings in famous Olympians from a variety of sports, including US swimmer Michael Phelps, gymnastics great Nadia Comaneci from Romania, Spaniard and five-time Tour de France champion Miguel Indurain and 1992 US Dream Team basketball players Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

Tennis players included on the map are: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Fernando Gonzalez, Laurence Doherty, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Nicolas Massu, Mark Woodforde, Todd Woodbridge, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Boris Becker, Michael Stich, Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

The Underground Olympic Legends Map was designed by Alex Trickett, international editor for the BBC sport website, and sports historian David Brooks.

The map not only celebrates multiple gold medal winning athletes but also features other extraordinary athletes who may not have won an Olympic gold medal but are recognised for their abilities or in some cases, famous defeats

To view an enlarged version of the map, click here.

Via insidethegames

Best of January 2012:

The Australian Open: 2 fantastic weeks of tennis.

Esther Vergeer‘s winning streak continues: she notched her 444th consecutive win, defeating Aniek Van Koot 6-0, 6-0 to capture the Women’s Wheelchair singles title.

Victoria Azarenka claims her first Grand Slam title and becomes the new WTA number 1.

Novak Djokovic has now won 4 or the last 5 Grand Slams.

Andy Murray hires tennis legend Ivan Lendl as his new coach, wins his first title of the year in Brisbane, and reaches the Australian Open semifinals. And there’s even more: he seemed to have fun on court!

Bernard Tomic: winner in Kooyong, semifinalist in Brisbane, he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. He’s perhaps the real after all…

Lleyton Hewitt‘s incredible run, and Nadal’s nice words about the Australian veteran.

I always liked him, his spirit of competition. Today he is an example to follow for a lot people. He deserves all the respect of the people who love this sport and respect and admiration of everyone

January tournament winners: Kaia Kanepi (Brisbane), Andy Murray (Brisbane), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Doha), Milos Raonic (Chennai), Zheng Jie (Auckland), David Ferrer (Auckland), Victoria Azarenka (Sydney), Jarkko Nieminen (Sydney), Mona Barthel (Hobart)

2 blogs to follow: The Grand Slam Gal and I have a tennis addiction

Worst of January 2012:

Margaret Court‘s well-known homophobia has reached new heights. Read more about it here: A disappointing irony behind Court’s comments. I mean, they really should rename the Margaret Court Arena into Evonne Goolagong Arena, it would sound so much better, no?

Caroline Wozniacki. No need to add more. At least, she’s not the number one anymore, a really good news for the WTA.

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Some extracts of Serena Williams interview by Sneaker Freaker

Welcome to Melbourne Serena. You’ve won the Australian Open so many times, you must enjoy it here.
I don’t know if it’s politically correct for me to say this, but it’s by far my favourite Grand Slam.

I bet you say that to all the boys.
No, I do… I say it to all the boys but not just about the Grand Slams!

I was listening to you talk before about your new Nike dress for this tournament and I realized you must live in summer all year long. Is that weird?
I know, it’s my job! I have an endless summer. Traveling the world constantly when it’s summer time is what I do. It’s cool, but it’s super hot here. (laughs)

I know you are an enthusiastic advocate for Black History Month, but it’s something that probably doesn’t mean a lot to anyone outside the USA.
I am. Well it’s in February, so it’s a great month, and it’s something I totally support. Nike now raise awareness for Black History Month internationally, which is cool because they could have just left this as strictly a United States thing. I think every Nike athlete in the United States will be playing in a Black History Month shoe, which is really cool as well. But in general it’s just about raising awareness – and that includes other minorities as well. It’s not just about black people. When you have athletes doing so well and becoming an inspiration and a role model for so many people, it’s an incredible positive.

Some athletes don’t like the idea of being a role model. Do you feel like a role model for women and other black American athletes?
Yeah I do. I love it, it’s important for kids to know that you can be successful and you can be strong, especially when you’re a female. You can still be sexy as well, you can be powerful, but you can still be smart.

With your background in fashion, did you have a role in the evolution of this year’s BHM pieces?
I can’t say I did. Nike came up with this great concept of the stripes on the side, where the colours represent different countries and stories. They represent Kenya, Mississippi, the state’s colours, and the other is Brazil. So it’s cool, it’s a mixture of a lot of different cultures and different aspects, and like I said, it’s international, so that’s why we brought Brazil and Kenya into the mix.

You famously grew up in Compton. Why has tennis been so utterly inaccessible for black American athletes? Aside from your sister, there’s Arthur Ashe of course, plus James Blake, Zina Garrison, Malavai Washington…
I know, but tennis is not an accessible sport in general. It’s always been a rich person’s sport, at least until it was taken to eastern Europe. No-one in eastern Europe is really that rich, but kids were able to get time on a tennis court which kinda knocked it off being an elitist sport. I think that had a lot to do with it. Tennis is expensive. You need to buy rackets, you need to get them strung every week, it takes a lot of money and dedication. But if you have a basketball, you can just hang out with your friends on the street and get good.

Read the complete interview on Sneaker Freaker

More on Nike Tennis x Serena Williams – Black History Month Pack

NIKE celebrates the 36th anniversary of Black History Month with a collection created exclusively for Nike Tennis star Serena Williams.

NIKE designers selected signature apparel and footwear silhouettes from Nike’s Design heritage and developed a unique pattern reflective of the vibrant colors and spirit of their distinct cultures. This year’s NIKE Black History Month 2012 Collection will feature this pattern throughout a collection of NIKE products that will be worn by various NIKE athletes during the month of February.

This NIKE Black History Month 2012 pattern will first come to life at the kick-start of the tennis season in Melbourne, Australia with former number one Serena Williams.

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To pay tribute to Nike’s 40th anniversary of tennis in 2012, designers asked five-time singles champ and fashionista Serena Williams to look back and select her most favorite dresses for modern interpretations. Her gorgeous Nike Rally Statement dress is directly inspired by one of her memorable all-white dresses. specifically a 2004 gladiator style.

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