maria sharapova

If there’s one thing Maria Sharapova doesn’t sweat out on the tennis court, it’s her updated fashion sense. Her WTA matches are virtual  runway shows featuring different takes on the tennis dress.

Her recent entry into the hallowed pages of fashion as one of Vogue’s best-dressed makes us forget her injury-plagued 2009 season, with nary a shadow of a Grand Slam. But you could tell her fans have forgiven her paltry performance, and they don’t slice up the errors of her game as much.

In fact, if Sharapova ever makes career-changing headlines at all these days, it’s in the realm where people as tall and long-legged as her need no backhands or forehands to punctuate victory. They just need that classic model pout.

The model-like bearings of Masha, as she is fondly called, have made her the sport’s unofficial glamour girl. Nike, her long-time sponsor, wasted no time mulling over this title. They dressed her up like a winner, and she showed them the goods by actually winning titles.

And Maria on the move isn’t a lithe, tight-fisted ingenue in a sloppy ponytail. She’s a tight-fisted champion grinding in feminine athletic couture for the well-earned win.

Off-court, she’s flanked by famous faces and a long string of endorsements. Tag Heuer and Cole Haan, two luxury brands to which she has lent her image, never depict her as the languid doll but a sports icon with resounding vigor that’s louder than her on-court grunts.

Her ascent into the most fashionable list is well-deserved, simply because she can adopt any good dress as her own. Or maybe it’s the image switching, the instant makeovers between tennis matches to walk the red carpet with equally fashion-conscious girls like Camilla Belle.

She looks like she could start swinging her racquet in anything above the knee, such as the Stella McCartney sweetness that caught Vogue’s attention.

Ranked 6th in the list, she’s testament that fashion need not be so finicky no matter the conditions, and that the hardworking girl can dress up for the night. (Frances R)

Sources: Vogue, Maria Sharapova