Picture special: Sharapova and more attend WTA pre-Wimbledon party - The Sports Review

Stars from the worlds of tennis, celebrity and fashion came together on Thursday to celebrate the annual WTA Pre-Wimbledon party

Stars from the worlds of tennis, celebrity and fashion came together on Thursday night to celebrate the annual WTA Pre-Wimbledon party presented by Dubai Duty Free at The Roof Gardens, Kensington.

World No1 Serena Williams showed off her dazzling physique wearing a white dress by Burberry (Photo: WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party sponsored by Dubai Duty Free)

Celebrities including Cressida Bonas, Jesse Metcalfe, Jade Parfitt, Sam and Isabella Branson, Bianca Jagger, Henry Holland, Zoe Hardman, Heidi Range, Keisha Buchanan, Jasmine Guinness, Tamer Hassan and Henry Conway joined WTA stars Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Laura Robson, Ana Ivanovic and many others at the exclusive party commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Women’s Tennis Association and the beginning of Wimbledon.

Britain’s Anne Keothavong on the pink carpet (Photo: WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party sponsored by Dubai Duty Free)

Stars arrived in style with support of Infinity cars before walking the pink carpet. The evening was co-hosted by Sir Richard Branson, with guests treated to champagne, canapés and entertainment overlooking the stunning surroundings of The Roof Gardens in Kensington.

Maria Sharapova worked the red carpet like a pro, wearing a Burberry monochrome dress with a slim gold belt. (Photo: WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party sponsored by Dubai Duty Free)

Founded by Billie Jean King in 1973, the WTA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. As the global leader in women’s professional sport, WTA is represented by more than 2,500 players from 92 nations competing for more than $118m in prize money at the WTA’s 54 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries. More than 5.4 million people attended women’s tennis events in 2012 with millions more watching on television and digital channels around the world.

Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic wore a beautiful print dress by Matthew Williamson. (Photo: WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party sponsored by Dubai Duty Free)

Britain’s Laura Robson (left) wore a beautiful Burberry design, and Heather Watson dazzled the pink carpet (Photo: WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party sponsored by Dubai Duty Free)

Watson bounces back after being served a singles shock to claim victory for Great Britain in Fed Cup

PUBLISHED: 16:17, 8 February 2013 | UPDATED: 16:17, 8 February 2013

Heather Watson was happy to seal victory for Great Britain against Portugal at the Fed Cup today after suffering the side's first defeat of the week in singles.

The British number one was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Michelle Larcher De Brito, who is ranked almost 100 places lower than her, which set up a deciding doubles rubber after Laura Robson had opened the tie in Israel with a 6-2 6-1 win over Margarida Moura.

Captain Judy Murray opted to stick with Watson and Robson for the doubles rather than call on Anne Keothavong or Johanna Konta and the pair were dominant throughout against Larcher De Brito and Joana Vale Costa, winning 6-2 6-1.

Swings and roundabouts: Heather Watson lost her singles match to Michelle Larcher De Brito, who is ranked nearly 100 places below her

Watson said: 'I didn't play well at all today, I just didn't feel the ball well. My opponent on the other hand played fantastic and, when you mix those two, that's what happens.

'I'm very happy that I could turn it around in the doubles. I think Laura and I are a great team and we combine really well together. We were very excited to get the win.'

Watson, 20, and 19-year-old Robson are unbeaten together in Fed Cup doubles and extended Britain's record in Pool B to two wins from two matches in Europe/Africa Zone Group I.

Rusty: Watson has not played singles since her elimination from the Australian Open three weeks ago

United: Watson joined by the rest of her the Great Britain team

Robson only played doubles against Bosnia yesterday - not losing a game alongside Konta - and was happy to blow the singles cobwebs away after a three-week break following the Australian Open.

The teenager said: 'I'm very happy with the win. I felt quite rusty since I hadn't played a match since Melbourne. It was nice to get the team off to a 1-0 lead before Heather's match.'

Britain are likely to face a much stiffer test tomorrow in their final round robin match against unbeaten Hungary.

Leading from the front: Judy Murray faces the press as captain of the Great Britain ladies team

Timea Babos is a top-100 player while Greta Arn is hugely experienced, although both Watson and Robson will be favourites on ranking.

The winner of tomorrow's decider will progress to a play-off on Sunday against the winners of Pool D, with the winners of that going forward to a World Group II promotion play-off in April.

Britain got to that stage last season in Murray's first year as captain but lost to Sweden and have high hopes of going one better this time.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2275711/Tennis-Heather-Watson-Laura-Robson-seal-victory-Great-Britain-Fed-Cup.html#ixzz2KLL1yiQm
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Robson and Konta dish out whitewash as Britain thrash Bosnia in Fed Cup opener

By STEVEN DONALDSON

PUBLISHED: 15:20, 7 February 2013 | UPDATED: 15:43, 7 February 2013

Great Britain started their Fed Cup Group One campaign with a resounding 3-0 win over Bosnia in Eilat, Israel.

Anne Keothavong defeated Dea Herdzelas 6-4 6-2 in the first rubber before British No 1 Heather Watson claimed a 6-3 6-4 victory over Anita Husaric to set up a 2-0 lead.

Laura Robson and Johanna Konta then finished things off with a comprehensive 6-0 6-0 whitewash of duo Jelena Simic and Jasmina Kajtazovic as Britain completed a perfect start.

All smiles: Judy Murray clearly enjoyed Laura Robson and Johanna Konta's doubles victory in Israel

High five: Konta and Robson celebrate with British team after their doubles victory on Thursday

The Pool B games had been delayed after heavy rain yesterday, which meant Great Britain could only begin their tournament today.

However, it did not disrupt their preparations as they started off in the best possible style ahead of tomorrow's scheduled meeting with Portugal.

On form: British No 1 Heather Watson (above) and team-mate Anne Keothavong (below)

Flying the flag: British fans watch the action at the Municipal Tennis Club in Eilat

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2275058/Fed-Cup-Laura-Robson-Johanna-Konta-dish-whitewash-Great-Britain-thrash-Bosnia.html#ixzz2KGZZPL5U
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Meet the Red Cup girls! Laura and Heather dazzle Israel ahead of return to Fed action 

By MIKE DAWES

PUBLISHED: 16:50, 5 February 2013 | UPDATED: 06:42, 6 February 2013

Great Britain's Fed Cup team open their 2013 campaign in Israel this week, and let's hope their tennis proves as dazzling as their dresses.

Judy Murray's team, including British Nos 1 and 2 Heather Watson and Laura Robson, looked stunning as they posed ahead of their official team dinner in Eilat on Tuesday night, and Murray tweeted: 'Ladies In Red. GB best looking team in Eilat. No question.' We couldn't agree more.

The team start their campaign with a Europe/Africa Pool B fixture against Bosnia-Herzegovina before clashes with Portugal and Hungary. But they looked determined to enjoy a glamorous night before getting down to the real competition.

Ladies in red: Robson (left) posted this picture of herself and Watson on Instagram with a message reading: 'Heather and I are ready for the team Fed Cup dinner. #Boom

The only disappointment for the British team this week is that they have missed out on the excitement of seeing David Beckham training at their National Training Centre headquarters in Roehampton.

While the likes of Robson and Watson have been preparing for this week's group matches, Beckham has been a regular visitor to the LTA's base in South West London, using its state-of-the-art gym facilities as he prepares for his move to Paris Saint-Germain.

With LTA staff used to having the likes of Beckham's management stablemate Andy Murray in their midst the footballer has been allowed to quietly go about his business in the absence of the country's top female players.

Under the captaincy of Judy Murray they are all in the resort of Eilat, where in the next four days they will try and launch Britain back into the elite World Group of the women's equivalent to the Davis Cup for the first time in twenty years.

The only way is up: Both Robson and Watson have broken into the world's top 50

Having a ball: The Great Britain team posed for photos before their official dinner on Tuesday night

With Watson up to 41 in the world and Robson just behind her at 45 Murray believes that at long last GB, who face Bosnia in their opening round-robin match today, have a chance of making an impact in the competition after so long in its basement division.

'Laura and Heather have had a very exciting twelve months and I think we are ready to challenge,' she said. 'I think we are in a very strong position in that we have three young players who are very much on the up, while in Elena (Baltacha) and Anne (Keothavong) give us a super blend of youth and experience. It's a great opportunity for us to move forward.

Confident: Judy Murray thinks her Fed Cup team is ready to perform

Improving: Laura Robson made it all the way to the third round at the Australian Open, before losing to Sloane Stephens

'We've also got four players who can play doubles pretty well, and that is often the tiebreaker in this competition. Doing well in the game's biggest team event could be a very good platform for getting more girls and women to play tennis.'

The third young player is Australian-born Johanna Konta while Baltacha has been taken along as a non-playing supporter. The former British number one has not played since the Olympics but is on her way back from ankle surgery and is now back on court with the intention of returning to the circuit in April.

Moving up: The last year has been fantastic for Heather Watson, and she reached a career high ranking of 40 last month

Britain have been drawn in a group with Bosnia, Portugal and Hungary, and will be favourites to make it to Saturday's promotion playoff, which is the gateway to a further playoff in April - the same stage they reached twelve months ago - that could see a return to the World Group.

The team have been amusing themselves in the evenings with board games and Charades as part of Murray's effort to bring together players more used to competing against each other.

Strong team: Robson and Watson will be joined by Anne Keothavong, Johanna Konta and Elena Baltacha

'We've been playing Pictionary and you should see what a talented artist Heather is,' said Murray. 

'We have got a great team atmosphere and have made that bond again. That was a big part of our success in the group stages last year.'

Hoping to improve: Last year the team made it to the World Group II play-offs, where they lost to Sweden

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2273932/Laura-Robson-Instagram-picture-Heather-Watson.html#ixzz2KGZHkT3e
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Seven British medal hopefuls, proving they’re worth their weight in gold

GOLDEN WONDERS: In this awesome photoshoot, Andy Hooper immortalises seven British medal hopefuls, proving they’re worth their weight in gold

By SIMON CABLE

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 27 July 2012 | UPDATED: 22:30, 27 July 2012

JENNA RANDALL, Synchronised swimmer

Jenna, 23, was swimming at two and took up synchronised swimming at seven. At 5ft 8in, her long limbs help her glide through the water while her incredibly strong hands are crucial for the 750 moves in a three-and-a-half minute routine. Lean and graceful, she maintains her physique with ten-hour pool and gym training sessions six days a week, and her diet includes crumpets and turkey for breakfast and big pasta dinners.

Jenna Randall

RACHEL CAWTHORN. Sprint canoeist

Born in Guildford, Rachel, 23, first got into a kayak at 15... but fell out. It didn’t put her off though, and she’s since become the first British woman to win canoeing medals – a Gold and a Bronze – at both European and World Championships. Her muscular frame combines strength and flexibility, and her 5ft 9in height allows for a longer stroke in the water. Rachel eats yoghurt, muesli and fruit for breakfast,with added honey to help burn excess fat.

Rachel Cawthorn

TONIA COUCH, Diver
Plymouth-based Tonia, 23, has been diving for more than ten years since quitting gymnastics after dislocating an elbow. She and partner Sarah Barrow are the most successful British women’s pair
in 74 years, winning Gold at this year’s European Championships. Tonia has built immense core strength by training six hours a day, six days a week. She watches what she eats but still enjoys Chinese meals and McDonald’s.

Tonia Couch

ANNE KEOTHAVONG, Tennis player
After taking up tennis at the age of seven and enduring two career-threatening knee surgeries, Londoner Anne is now Britain’s No 2 female player. Standing 5ft 9in tall, the 28-year-old works on the
strength in her lower body, where huge amounts of power can be generated in the legs and hips before being transferred into a shot. Off court she is keen to pursue a career in the media and has done work with Sue Barker as a pundit.

Anne Keothavong

MO FARAH, Distance runner
Somali-born Mo, 29, fled his war-torn country and moved to Britain with his family aged eight. He began running at school in London, winning five English junior titles. Famous for his sprint finish,
he runs 120 miles a week at an average of 5.4 minutes per mile, and uses an underwater treadmill and a cryogenic chamber cooled to -104°C to aid recovery. Mo, who is 5ft 9in tall, has no strict diet but loads up on carbohydrates before a race.

Mo Farah

TOM JAMES, Rower
Tom, 28, from Cardiff, won Olympic Gold in the coxless four in Beijing, and has won the Boat Race with Cambridge. His 6ft 2in frame gives him tremendous reach and pulling power, while his perfect rowing technique is founded in his muscular back. He was diagnosed with a heart complaint just before Christmas, but medication and careful observation have allowed him to recover. Rowers like Tom eat oatmeal and grains three hours before racing.

Tom James

BRYONY SHAW, Windsurfer
At 29, Londoner Bryony is the only British female to have won an Olympic medal in her sport – Bronze in 2008. She learnt to windsurf aged nine, and in 2004 postponed her architecture degree to windsurf full-time. At 5ft 4in, Bryony is small for a windsurfer but has supreme balance. Her diet includes porridge for breakfast, light lunches of sandwiches or fruit and highprotein dinners – and she treats herself to a chicken tikka masala after competitions.

Bryony Shaw

They look like shimmering statues, perfectly cast in 24-carat gold – the ultimate tribute to the physical perfection of Britain’s Olympians.

More...

• Cut-price Kate sports a £35 dress from Hobbs as she joins the country in countdown to Olympic Games
• After the abuse that weightlifter Zoe Smith and swimmer Rebecca Adlington received on twitter it's no WONDER 60% of females are shunning sport because they suffer from chronic self-esteem
• David Walliams carries the torch as relay makes its way past London landmarks on penultimate day of country-wide tour

But beneath their glittering exteriors lie the flesh, blood and beating hearts of some of our leading medal contenders.

GB Diver Tonia Couch gets painted in gold by make up artist Natasha

Our awe-inspiring photographs are the result of an 18-month odyssey by the Daily Mail’s award-winning photographer Andy Hooper, who set out to ‘immortalise’ our athletes. 

Dismissing the idea of a conventional shoot, Andy persuaded them to take time out from their gruelling training schedules to be covered from head to toe in gold paint and turned into living sculptures. Visa, The National Lottery and the Exchequer, who fund Team GB, helped Andy gain access to them.

‘I wanted to showcase as broad a range of athletes as possible and do something totally different to what had been done before,’ says Andy. ‘I wanted to immortalise them. It was amazing to see how they were transformed once they were painted – Mo looked like an Egyptian pharaoh.’

Andy enlisted the help of leading  make-up artist Natasha Bloom who, despite years working with top models on cutting-edge fashion shoots, found this to be her biggest challenge. 

When the athletes found a window in their intense training regimes, Natasha had to drop everything. ‘I went from one extreme to the other – from working on fashion shoots which can take a whole day, to suddenly having only an hour to prepare these athletes,’ she says.

‘We travelled to the Pyrenees where Mo Farah was doing altitude training in an old ski chalet. I was constantly checking to make sure I had all the kit I needed and that I hadn’t left anything behind as I knew we wouldn’t get a second chance.’

Andy enlisted the help of leading make-up artist Natasha Bloom who, despite years working with top models on cutting-edge fashion shoots, found this to be her biggest challenge.

Achieving the authentic solid gold look Andy wanted was made more complicated by his insistence that the paint didn’t make the athletes feel uncomfortable or restrict their movement in any way – a problem with most standard body paint. He also wanted them as shiny as gold bullion.

Natasha came up with the idea of using ultra-fine gold pigment powder mixed with baby oil. She applied it with a sponge and used gold spray to colour their hair, going through more than 150 cans.

Painting their kit, she explains, was the most time-consuming part of the process and was done weeks in advance, with coat after coat needed for the perfect effect.

Of course there were several Olympians who couldn’t find time to commit to the project and even some superstitious contenders who declined to take part, feeling that being painted gold would add to the already sizeable pressure upon them ahead of the Games. 

Tom Daley was one of those who politely turned down the offer.

‘I think once they see the end result, the ones who didn’t take part will be kicking themselves,’ laughs Andy. ‘One or two were a little apprehensive when the paint was going on, but they all enjoyed doing it. It was brilliant that they agreed to give up their precious time to take part.’

Natasha agrees. ‘The way they’ve been immortalised like this is spectacular.  When they all looked in the mirror and  saw themselves, they were stunned. Thankfully, none of them behaved like divas. I’m used to that in my job, but given the task in hand, they were all fantastic.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2179337/GOLDEN-WONDERS-In-awesome-photoshoot-Andy-Hooper-immortalises-seven-British-medal-hopefuls-proving-worth-weight-gold.html#ixzz21w4zw8h9