Photo by REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE SPORT TENNIS) via Daylife
Gisela Dulko and Maria Sharapova caused quite a frenzy (and some controversey) when they took to Centre Court this year in what the London Times called a “Battle of the Babes” and others called good looks-ism. The two WTA beauties are cashing in on the attention this week in South America, where they are taking part in “The Maria Sharapova South American Tour” a.k.a the “Beauty Challenge.”
Maria and Gisela were in Santiago, Chile earlier this week, where Maria avenged her second round loss at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 6-3 win over the Argentine. (Did someone forget to tell Maria it was an exhibition?) On Saturday, the two play again in Sao Paolo, Brazil. A third appearance in Argentina was canceled due to “commercial reasons” – perhaps Sharapova’s rumored million dollars in appearance fees were causing a strain.
Here’s some footage from Sharapova vs. Dulko in Chile, complete with a leg pan:
While in Santiago, Maria took part in some awkward catwalk moments at the Cachantun Fashion Show:
She also told reporters that she sees a future in fashion design:
“I love designing. I love the fact that it’s very creative. The world of tennis has opened up many doors in my career and I’ve been able to experience many of them and fashion is certainly one of them and I definitely hope that after my career I’ll be able to expand on that.” (via Reuters.)
What do we think of Maria’s dress? It doesn’t look like the kind of thing you should be playing tennis in. . .unless you’re Maria Sharapova playing “The Beauty Challenge” and allowing your opponent only 4 games. That’s what makes her Million Dollar Masha, I guess:
Photo via Tennis Forum/Videos via examiner.com
In other exhibition news, The Billie Jean King Cup will return to Madison Square Garden on March 1. Serena and Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Kim Clijsters will battle for $1.2 million in prize money in a series of one-set singles semifinals followed by a best-of-three-set final. Click here for ticket info.
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