Today's Page Six reports that blond Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova wants to follow in the footsteps of shirtless Vogue "intern" Sean Avery and work for Anna Wintour since "it's so inspiring to see a woman be so powerful."

According to the item, Ms. Kournikova made this plea on her blog, where she also name-checked Tom Ford as one of the "10 people she wants to work with after she retires."  read more »

Media Mob checked Ms. Kournikova's Web site, but couldn't find the quote or the list. We did, however, find a list made by Maria Sharapova, a different blond Russian tennis star, on her ]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/we-hear-all-russian-tennis-stars-look-same#comments Anna Kournikova Maria Sharapova Page Six Paula Froelich Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:15:47 -0400 Matt Haber 71234 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/morning-memo-4-25-08

Rumor has it that fashion label, Heatherette, is no more as Richie Rich may start his own line or move out to Los Angeles (gasp!) to pursue music and television projects. [N.Y. Daily News]

For John Varvatos, the real challenge of opening a store in the CBGB space was not crossing picket lines but getting the stench of punk out of the space.  read more »

A week ago today, Anna Chakvetadze won in straight sets in a little-noticed second-round match. She won a little bit after 12pm on a backcourt at a time when the majority of the gallery crowd was still in transit.

Afterwards, there was such little interest in the media in talking to her that her post-match press conference was conducted in a player’s lounge area—not an interview room—with two bloggers.

“There were more interesting matches to put on the show courts,” she said in her straightforward manner.  read more »

It’s a remarkable loss that caps a remarkably discouraging year for Maria Sharapova.

“I’m disappointed for Maria,” said no. 3 ranked Jelena Jankovic, who was stretching before a practice today. “She was a defending champion, so losing in the third round she could never have dreamed about it. It’s a nightmare.”  read more »

About 90 minutes after Agnieszka Radwanska became a national story, she was in the player’s dining room telling two adoring young ladies what she had for breakfast.

“Let’s see,” she said, bursting into a smile, braces and all. “I had a bagel. With cream cheese! And I had a piece of a lemon cake and orange juice.”

Her fans said they’d have the same breakfast tomorrow. Radwanska giggled, like the 18 year old she is, and then stood at the chef’s line wanting some lunch. Rafael Nadal moved right next to her in line but he didn’t say a word.  read more »

The biggest upset at the Open in years: The defending U.S. Open Champion Maria Sharapova has been eliminated. The unflappable 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska won in three sets, taking the third 6-2. It's the first time Sharapova hasn't made it to the second week at the Open since 2004.

I'll have updates on this unbelievable result shortly.

Learn the name: Agnieszka Radwanska, a 30th ranked Pole who is playing a lot like Maria Sharapova 2004.

She's taken the first set from Maria, 6-4, after breaking her twice.

And those serve stats we were talking about yesterday? It's undone Sharapova so far in the match. She has won only 20 percent of the points off her second serve and she's had 4 double faults. In the first set, she made 19 unforced errors.

We'll update you.

No player has gotten through the first two rounds more effortlessly than Maria Sharapova. If she's to continue at this pace, she'll need a big serve, the part of her game she said she's been working on most (especially after a nagging injury to her right shoulder).

Let's take a look at her serve stats, which we'll update match by match.

So much has been made of Maria Sharapova's breezy draw. (Last night, Tracy Austin called it "unfortunate.").

But it's anything but a walkover. Sure, there's no Henin. Or Serena. Or Venus. Or Ivanovic. Or Jankovic.

However: in the 4th round she could get Nicole Vaidisova, the 18-year-old Czech who Sharapova (remarkably) has never played before and who could most definitely cause some problems. Vaidisova has been waiting for her breakout match for more than a year and this could definitely be it. In the quarters, Sharapova could face Anna Chakvetzadze, the crafty Russian 6 seed who has been dubbed Martina Hingis 2.0. Then she gets Nadia Petrova, a top 5 player, in the semis.

Not a cakewalk, this.

Welcome to the New York Observer's U.S. Open blog.

For the next 14 days, Spencer Morgan and I will be in and around the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing gathering stories, game analysis and observations from the tournament.

Stay with us, and please keep in touch (as often as you like) about what we’re doing and what else you’d like to see. We’ll do our best to oblige.  read more »