Mesh Tennis

IT was literally handbags at dawn for two brawling footballers wives last Friday night, after a long-running feud over Bec and Lleyton Hewitt finally got physical.

The war of the WAGs involved the “first ladies” of the Adelaide Crows AFL team, who staged a classic scrag fight at the club’s champion dinner after-party.

In one corner, Mandy Edwards, the wife of Tyson. In the other, Rachael McLeod, wife of Andrew, who fell out with his best friend Hewitt after the two fought out an acrimonious court battle over the copyright to a Hewitt DVD released last year.

Adelaide bar spies say the bitchfest happened about 4am, after a drink was thrown and the women began yelling. Daily Telegraph

I’m not even sure who these two bimbos are, but tennisd would be a lot more interesting if it started more fights like this. Kim Clijsters would have totally demolished Bec.

“ATP Confidential” provides an insider’s look at life on the professional tennis circuit from tour stops on five different continents. The 176-page book opens with Ivan Ljubicic ringing in 2006 at the players’ party in Chennai and concludes with this week’s blogs from popular Russian Marat Safin (posting from Moscow) and doubles superstar Jonas Bjorkman (posting from Stockholm, where he’s teaming with John McEnroe). The book also features a special blog tribute to Andre Agassi, written by tennis’ top journalists at the US Open. Tennisnews.com

TENNIS legend Pat Rafter says the Australian game is in crisis and that Lleyton Hewitt’s slide down the rankings may be attributable to him losing interest.

He hinted that the end may be approaching for the former world No. 1, who is now out to 19 - and losing ground.
Hewitt was “only just hanging in there”, Rafter said yesterday. Adelaide Now

Now Australian and US tennis are in decline…

Catching up on some old news…

Specific to Sharapova and the coaching, I think we need some context: This has been an ongoing issue since she’s been on Tour. We’ve written about it. She’s addressed it. She’s even been fined for it. I think part of why she’s gotten heat (deservedly, in my opinion) is that she and her camp have clearly made a conscious decision to flout the rules. SI

So why did the USTA back down in just getting this to stop (or ultimately deciding to ditch the no-coaching rule)?

Okay, I think we can agree that most of this article is crap, but it does accentuate the downturn in Roddick/Sharapova romance reports after the US Open.

STUNNING PARIS HILTON has found herself a new love match in tennis star ANDY RODDICK.

My snappers caught the couple flirting at Las Vegas’ trendy Tao nightclub this weekend.

Then two hours later, at 3am, they were spotted in the nearby Pure club getting very cosy on the VIP bed.

An onlooker told me: “They were snuggling up to each other while drinking Grey Goose vodka and shots of Patron.

“They were clearly a couple. She was very touchy-feely and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

“After a couple of hours they left together.”

Rumours about Andy, 24, and Paris, 25, started last week when the twice Wimbledon runner-up showed up at LA’s Hyde club on the same night Paris was there. The Sun

How we know this isn’t true:
1) Paris Hilton is not “stunning”.
2) No photos show them together, other than a photo of a guy’s back. Check out the article to see it.
3) It came from the Sun.