Good to see that a shocking third-round Wimbledon loss hasn’t hampered Ana Ivanovic’s desire to pose for a sexy magazine shoot.

ERRATIC MAGIC alerts us that the Serbian swinging sensation has a sweet spread coming out in the August issue of FHM. The British edition is already on sale, with other international editions soon to hit newsstands. If you can’t wait to get your own local copy, have some friends in England ship you an issue or three.
Unlike certain other camera-shy tennis temptresses, Ivanovic tells the DAILY TELEGRAPH that she had a ball on the shooting set (with more photos after the jump): Read more…
I couldn’t let this day pass without wishing Bolivian bombshell baller Claudia Porras Happy Birthday.

Claudia, a basketball player at UTEP, turned 24 today as she winters in her native Bolivia. And on such an occcasion, SbB is here bearing gifts (new pics after the jump). Read more…
That rumbling sound you hear is the avalanche of sportscasters around the world quipping in unison,”Ana Ivanovic has finally shed the comparisons to Anna Kournikova!” That’s so clever! Because they’re both pretty communists!

Okay, they’re not really communists. Anyway, Ivanovic trounced fellow hottie Dinara Safina to win the French Open earlier today. Viva Serbia! Or something.
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Elka Graham is an Aussie swimmer whose life is heading upstream. She’ll be racing for gold at this summer’s Olympics in Beijing. She’s already had some small-screen stardom as a contestant on Australia’s version of “Dancing With The Stars”. She’s engaged and will be married later this year. And McDonald’s has just signed her to a big marketing deal.

And as if things couldn’t be better for Elka, she’s just achieved a new honor - being named as the “face” of a horse breeding group.
Wait, what? Read more…
We’re glad to see the continuing trend of female athletes quite proud to show off their sexy side - from Aussie basketballer Erin Phillips to Belgian sprinter Kim Gevaert; from Norwegian runner Kristine Engleset to British cyclist Victoria Pendleton; from Bolivian b-baller Claudia Porras to British footballer Natasha Hughes. Why, even tennis pro Ashley Harkleroad is getting in on the act!
And now, a new name can be added to this pretty and prestigious list of international athletic hotties: Laisa Andrioli.

Andrioli is a member of Brazil’s national women’s soccer team. And the 20-year-old striker struck some provocative poses for a recent photo shoot - many without wearing any cumbersome uniform.
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We were unaware of the scholarly bent of the ORLANDO SENTINEL, specifically their SPORTSSTUFF memorabilia blog. We do not know if writer Chris Olds attended one of the top Universities in the country, but we do see that he has a passion for his work and a research jones that beats Indy by miles.
Upon hearing that young Ashley Harkleroad has chosen to accept Hugh Hefner’s 40 pieces of gold for an appearance in PLAYBOY, Chris Olds spent a late night and early Memorial Day morning compiling a list of recent athletes, near-athletes, and people near athletes that have graced the pages of that fine upstanding publication.

He even bagged the magazines for us and put the receipt inside. Clearly, this was a labor of love. Chris Olds may be the greatest American ever. (He’s American, right? Maybe? Sure, why not?)
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Since the Ameri-centric coverage of the Olympics on NBC and other outlets deprives us of learning about our foreign counterparts, we’re taking on some of that burden of delivering these athletes and their stories to you.

Such an athlete would be Kim Gevaert, the Belgian sprinter who took care of business over the weekend in the FBK Games in the Netherlands. Read more…
One of the great international disputes of our time has happily been settled - Maria Sharapova finally agreed to do a photo shoot.

The tennis titaness caused a stir earlier in the month when she complained about doing a shoot the day before the Italian Open. Sharapova wasn’t pleased about participating in a four- to five-hour photo op right before a big tournament. Meanwhile, the WTA was ready to fine her $700,000 if she didn’t show up.
Luckily, a compromise was finally reached. Read more…
It would seem odd that tennis champ Maria Sharapova would take issue with any kind of publicity shoot. We could expect that much from someone who has posed for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s swimsuit issue and done extensive endorsements for Nike and Canon, yes?