Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova can often be found competing on the tennis court. (See: Last weekend's semifinal dust-up, won by Serena, in Doha, Qatar.) They're not going up against each other this week—Serena's out with a bad back—and also aren't exactly competing for attention on two decidedly different magazine covers.
Serena landed on the cover of the March 2013 issue of <em>Fast Company</em>, along with Nike CEO Mark Parker, in a piece that lauds the Nike FuelBand. To the surprise of no one, Serena also practically sells the fitness-monitoring wrist device via Twitter. And she says in the <em>FC</em> piece, which has her sponsor at No. 1 on its Most Innovative Companies list, "When I first came to Nike I said, 'I don't care how I feel; I just want to look good.' And they said, 'We're going to make you look good, and we're going to make it comfortable.' Last year at the French Open, my dress was almost like a Herve Leger [bandage] dress, really tight fabric. But I was able to perform, I was able to move. It was really functional, but it was also bringing design and style."
Unfortunately for Serena, observers and fans barely got to see her 2012 French Open dress. She was ushered out of that tournament unceremoniously by home-nation journeywoman Virginie Razzano.
Elsewhere, Sharapova finds herself peering out from the cover of <em>Conde Nast Traveller Russia</em>, in a shoot in Java, Indonesia. "Such a special place full of culture, spiritual experience, and warm people," she says on Facebook. Here's her own favorite photo (and outfit?) from the shoot, also featured on her Facebook profile, where she counts close to 9.6 million "likes."
Thoughts on these covers, and the content?
Both magazines are on newsstands now.
Got a thought, a tip, or an argument to make? Hit me on Twitter @jonscott9.