How Emma Raducanu Won the Fashion World Over in 2021 . . . While Women's Tennis Shakes

How Emma Raducanu Won the Fashion World Over in 2021 . . . While Women's Tennis Shakes AOC Fashion

Before 2021, not even the most ardent of tennis fans would recognize the name of British star Emma Raducanu. Today, she’s far more than a sports celebrity, catching the eye of the red carpet press at events around the world.

The 18-year-old from Kent arrived in New York for the late August-early September US Open tennis tournament, having already captured hearts at Wimbledon, as the first British woman in 42 years to get to the fourth round.

Bets weren’t being placed that Raducanu would win the US Open, even though she was wearing lots of public good will on her back. And then lightening struck in tennis world. Days later publicist Mark Borkowski said Raducanu was poised to become “a billion-dollar girl”, scoring a raft of sponsorship deals.

“I think Emma will earn well over $100 million [in the next calendar year]. She’ll eclipse all the men,” said Jonathan Shalit, the chairman of InterTalent Group, a London-based talent management agency.

Naomi Osaka Says She's Not God, Could Drop to 84 in Rankings After Australian Open

Naomi Osaka was overflowing with sass this week, heading into the Australian Open, after her early withdrawal from the warmup tournament Melbourne Summer Set 1. Osaka has said that her primary goal in 2022 is to have fun and never cry again in front of the press.

Losing her third round match Friday night to the promising 20-year-old, 60th-ranked American Amanda Anisimova, Osaka was disappointed but also looking on the bright side of things.

Osaka: “I’m Not God. I can’t win every match, you know.”

“I fought for every point; I can’t be sad about that,” Osaka said. “You know, like, I’m not God. I can’t win every match, you know. So I just have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament, but that’s, like, really special.”

Having fun was also important to Anisimova, who said that by the third set against Osaka, she was no loner nervous.

“I love playing in these high-pressure moments, and I think it’s really fun to play in Melbourne in front of a crowd like that. So I was just trying to enjoy every moment really. I kept reminding myself, ‘I’m at a Grand Slam playing against Naomi Osaka, just try to enjoy it, because it’ll be over soon.’”

Naomi Osaka, the defending champion of the Australian Open lit up digital space earlier in the week, saying that she has proved herself enough and that she doesn't give a f--- anymore about those who have something negative to say about her.

Osaka responded directly to a fan who wrote on Instagram: "Enter every match in this tournament like you have something to prove.” It’s not clear that the remark was so snarky or disrespectful, but Osaka fired back:

"Respectfully I don't have anything to prove," Osaka said. "Before my first slam I was told I had potential but probably not gonna capitalize on it. After my first slam I was told I got lucky and I was a one-hit wonder.

After my second Slam I was told I could be great but I was unsure. After my third and fourth slams I was told I will only be good on hard courts. Moral of the story - people are always gonna have something to say and idgaf [I don't give a f***] anymore."

Naomi Osaka Pulls Out of WTA Semi-Final After Body Gets 'Shock' Over Playing Tennis

Australian Open champion, and women’s sports’ highest-paid athlete ever Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Melbourne WTA tournament, considered a run-up to the Open starting January 17 in Melbourne. The Japanese tennis superstar, with a difficult year behind her, entered the semi-finals looking like her mojo was coming back. Osaka left the US Open last September and took four months off from the game of tennis.

“Sad to withdraw due to injury from my match today, my body got a shock from playing back-to-back intense matches after the break I took,” Osaka said on Twitter. “I’ll try to rest up and I’ll see you soon!”

Osaka’s statement continued:

“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne. Unfortunately, I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the Australian Open.”

Related: Naomi Osaka becomes highest-paid female athlete in history after earning $37 million last year CNN

How Naomi Osaka Became Everyone’s Favorite Spokesmodel New York Times

Read all the details about Naomi’s return to tennis.

Naomi Osaka Set to Warmup in Melbourne Summer Set, Play Australian Open

Naomi Osaka via personal IG for Tag Heurer.

Naomi Osaka, currently ranked No. 13 in WTA rankings, is on track to return to playing professional tennis. The four-times Grand Slam champion Osaka returned to the practice court in early November, after leaving the US Open with the announcement that she needed to step away from the game. Osaka also took a two-month mental health break before the Open.

As of Christmas, Naomi Osaka is scheduled to return to professional tennis at the Melbourne Summer Set, the first week of 2022. Melbourne is a warm-up tournament for the Australian Open, playing January 17-30. Osaka defeated Jennifer Brady in the 2021 Open — her second Melbourne trophy — and is a narrow favorite to win in January 2022, with Brady ranked No. 2.

Emma Raducanu, bringing momentum from her shocking US Open victory in September, is ranked third to win in Australia. Tennis great Serena Williams has confirmed that she will not be playing in Australia.

"While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete," Williams said in confirming her not playing the Open. "Melbourne is one of my favorite cities to visit and I look forward to playing at the AO every year. I will miss seeing the fans, but am excited to return and compete at my highest level."

The Australian Open 2021 was delayed due to COVID and eventually took place February 8 to 21. Omicron has exploded in Australia in recent days — although Delta continues to hospitalize more Aussies. Almost 20 percent of Christmas Eve flights were cancelled today, writes Reuters.

News: Regina King on Vanity Fair US | Amanda Gorman @ Estee Lauder | Marie Claire US

Regina King Covers Vanity Fair US October 2021

Actor, director, producer Regina King covers the October 2021 issue of Vanity Fair Magazine wearing a Balenciaga gown and earrings by Taffin. Nicole Chapteau styles King in the cover and accompanying fashion story lensed by Jackie Nickerson.

Jesmyn Ward interviews Regina King about her current role as Trudy Smith in ‘The Harder They Fall’. AOC will excerpt the interview and fashion story but you can read it now.

For those of us who love Regina King to death, watching her incorrigible chic cowgirl ‘Treacherous’ Trudy Smith character ride up to the front of a train, stopping the conductor to shoot him dead before he can utter a racist slur, is a bit unsettling. Still, we’re not dreaming. Reginia King is riding in great company. Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, LaKeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz really are starring with King as a band of outlaws.

Marie Claire US Ceases Print Publication

The US print edition of Marie Claire is ending its 27-year-run. The magazine was sold by Hearst to British publisher Future Media in May, with news breaking September 10 that Marie Claire’s Summer 2021 issue would be its last in America.

Harper’s Bazaar EIC Samira Nasr made the announcement, adding that Marie Claire subscribers will instead receive a print copy of Harper’s Bazaar US, a Hearst publication. Nasr added that Marie Claire would publish select special editions sold on newsstands.

In breaking the story, the New York Post reminded readers that the pandemic has only accelerated trends already playing out in a fractured media landscape.

Hearst quietly reduced Marie Claire’s frequency from 11 to 7 times a year in 2020. In May 2020 Hearst reported that Marie Claire’s total circulation hovered around 900,000 with newsstand sales hitting just around 11,000 copies sold. Just three years earlier, Marie Claire’s circulation totaled 1.1 million, according to the Alliance for Audited Media., a nonprofit media audit firm.

Marie Claire’s most recent circulation figures were not available, but whatever they are, they are likely to give the smaller Harper’s Bazaar a much-needed bump. Bazaar’s total circulation totals roughly 740,000 with less than 25,000 copies sold at the newsstand, the glossy said.

Daily French Roast . . . Anne is Reading:

US Open Tennis Women’s Final

Emma Raducanu, [left], 18, from Britain and Leylah Fernandez [right], 19, from Canada.

Update: Emma Raducanu Defeats Leylah Fernandez for the U.S. Open Title New York Times

Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu Steal Some Grand Slam Spotlight New York Times

Emma Raducanu, 18, of Britain and Leylah Fernandez, 19, of Canada will now play in Saturday’s singles final at the US Open.

Before Wimbledon, Raducanu was only the 10th ranked player in her own country, but she will be British No. 1 on Monday and potentially the first British woman to win a major singles title since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in 1977.

Dior at Brooklyn Museum

‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ Comes to Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn Museum

After stops in London, Shanghai and Chengdu, Dior’s exhibition, “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams,” now has an American twist: being reinvented by curator Florence Müller in collaboration with Matthew Yokobosky. the exhibition opens in New York at Brooklyn Museum from Sept. 10, 2021 until Feb 20, 2022.

Amanda Gorman Aligns Herself with Estee Lauder

Biden Inauguration Poet Amanda Gorman will become the first Estée Lauder “Global Changemaker”. In this new role — presumably created for Gorman, she will be an ambassador or “face’, even a spokeswoman. These are all roles currently in the Estée Lauder family performed by women like Liz Hurley and Carolyn Murphy.

Gorman’s new role steps up that role while bringing Gorman into the corporate offices under the philanthropy umbrella.

The Harvard graduate and first person named National Youth Poet Laureate will also work with the beauty industry giant to create Writing Change, a set of grants worth $3 million to promote literacy among girls and women — and with it access to equity and social change.

This step for Gorman in her carefully-planned entry into major halls of power and influence in the business world is what she calls “the space I now occupy”.

According to Jane Hertzmark Hudis, the executive group president of the Estée Lauder Companies, she called Ms. Gorman’s agent as soon as the poet walked offstage, and they first spoke within an hour of her appearance, writes Vanessa Friedman for NYT.

“I felt as committed and passionate about creating a partnership as I’ve been about anything,” Ms. Hudis said — and she has been with the group for 35 years. “We essentially came to them with a blank page, because we knew we could do something that hadn’t been done before.”

Serena Williams Narrates NIKE 'Dream Crazier' Commercial Debut At 2019 Academy Awards

Following in the footsteps of Colin Kaepernick’s compelling commercial to debut the 30th anniversary of NIKE’s ‘Just Do It’ Campaign, Serena Williams is the narrator in the brand’s new ‘Dream Crazier’ commercial, which aired Sunday night during the 91st Academy Awards. The newest ‘Just Do It’ ad features prominent trailblazing female athletes including including Williams herself, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and other women sports figures expressing emotions including frustration, exhiliaraiton, anger, joy and more during their sporting events.

"If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic," Williams says in the ad. "If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, we’re delusional. When we stand for something, we’re unhinged. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just being crazy.

"But a woman running a marathon was crazy. A woman boxing was crazy. A woman dunking, crazy. Coaching an NBA team, crazy. A woman competing in a hijab, changing her sport, landing a double-cork 1080, or winning 23 grand slams, having a baby, and then coming back for more, crazy, crazy, crazy, and crazy.

"So if they want to call you crazy, fine. Show them what crazy can do."

Amen, Serena! Thank you, NIKE!

Adidas Three Stripes Campaign by Pharrell Williams Implores Us | Don't Be Quiet Please

adidas Three Stripes Campaign by Pharrell Williams Implores Us | Don't Be Quiet Please AOC Fashion

Pharrell Williams, tennis legend Stan Smith and adidas Tennis want to reinvigorate the world through the power of love and positivity. The Three Stripes  (Don't Be) QUIET PLEASE campaign launched Saturday at Frederick Johnson Community Court in Harlem. adidas brought together some of its most talented tennis athletes: Garbiñe Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Sascha Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the local youth to launch its new campaign.

Three Stripes collaborator Pharrell Williams’ is launching his first performance tennis collection, bringing tennis into the modern world -- much as the Williams sisters have done. As a huge Hillary Clinton supporter and 2016 presidential campaigner, Pharrell Williams knows that equality, community, and sportsmanship are core to everything he stands for -- and citizen activism is a must. Three Stripes is a tennis collection that seeks to elicit an emotional connection around our shared humanity through art and design. The premium collection will be available at adidas and Billionaire Boys Club flagships, adidas.com, and select retailers globally August 31st.

Adidas and Pharrell Williams announced a community program including the restoration of a New York City tennis court through a donation to the NYC Parks and children's tennis scholarships in partnership with Court16 and Horizons.