Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova (born October 18, 1956) is a Czech American and former Czechoslovak tennis player and a former World No. 1. Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, "She's the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived."

Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She reached the Wimbledon singles final 12 times, including 9 consecutive years from 1982 through 1990, and won the women's singles title at Wimbledon a record 9 times. She and King each won 20 Wimbledon titles, an all-time record. Navratilova is one of just three women to have accomplished a career Grand Slam in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles (called the Grand Slam "boxed set") a record she shares with Margaret Court and Doris Hart. She holds the open era record for most singles titles (167) and doubles titles (177). She recorded the longest winning streak in the open era (74 consecutive matches) and three of the six longest winning streaks in the women's open era. Navratilova, Margaret Court, and Maureen Connolly share the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam singles titles (six). Navratilova reached 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, second all-time to Steffi Graf's 13. In women's doubles, Navratilova and Pam Shriver won 109 consecutive matches and won all four Grand Slam titles in 1984. Also the pair set an all time record of 79 titles together and tied Louise Brough Clapp's and Margaret Osborne duPont's record of 20 Grand Slam women's doubles titles as a team.

Originally from Czechoslovakia, she was stripped of her citizenship when, in 1975 at the age of 18, she asked the United States for political asylum and was granted temporary residency. At the time, Navratilova was being told by the Czechoslovakian Sports Federation that she was becoming too Americanized and that she should go back to school and make tennis secondary. Navratilova became a US citizen in 1981, but on January 9, 2008, she had her Czech citizenship restored. She stated she has not renounced her American citizenship nor does she plan to do so and that the restoration of her Czech citizenship was not politically motivated.
Navratilova is a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy. She also serves the Health and Fitness Ambassador for AARP in an alliance created to help AARP's millions of members lead active, healthy lives.

In September 1992, Navratilova played Jimmy Connors in the third Battle of the Sexes tennis match at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Connors was allowed only one serve per point and Navratilova was allowed to hit into half the doubles court. Connors won 7–5, 6–2.

statics
Country : Czechoslovakia
United States
Residence : Sarasota, Florida
Date of birth : October 18, 1956 (1956-10-18)
Place of birth : Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height : 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight : 65.5 kg (144 lb; 10.31 st)
Turned pro : 1975
Retired : 2006
Plays : Left-handed; one-handed backhand
Career prize money : US$21,626,089
(5th in all-time rankings)

Carmen Brady

Carmen began her career as a personal trainer in Santa Cruz, Ca. 1973 while attending college pursuing a degree in Physical Education. Eventually her experience landed her the head trainer position and she was hired as training director for the chain of gyms known as Spa Fitness Centers in Northern California. Her duties included teaching all employees at 4 facilities throughout Northern California how to evaluate clients and design a customized personal workout program for each individual. She also created some of the first aerobic classes for groups choreographed to music in the late 1970's. While working for the gym she designed classes called "swimnastics" which were formed to provide a low impact water based workout for individuals.

Throughout the 1980's she continued to teach aerobic classes while pursuing her career as a competitive bodybuilder. She has studied under many professional coaches including world renown professional bodybuilder, trainer Charles Glass. Charles was her coach, trainer, and mentor for 15 years (1990-2005.) Here is what he had to say regarding Carmen: "Carmen Brady is one of the most well rounded trainers in the industry. She is a quick learner, open to new techniques and very reliable. With her, you will reach your potential quickly."

Carmen obtained her current certification through the Private Trainers Association March 1st, 2007. She currently holds a CPR certification through the Red Cross of America. While dabbling into the realm of cinema (aka "Starla" in Napoleon Dynamite), television, magazines and music videos, her true passion at the age of 52, is to help each individual achieve their personal best. After 35 years experience in the fitness industry, she offers years of knowledge at your disposal.

Alice Braga

Alice Braga Moraes (born April 15, 1983) is a Brazilian actress. She has appeared in several films in her native Brazil, most notably as Angélica in 2002's highly acclaimed City of God and as Karina in 2005's Lower City. She has also starred in the Hollywood blockbusters I Am Legend (2007), Repo Men and Predators (both 2010).

In 1998, Braga debuted in a Portuguese-language short called Trampolim, then returned to her schooling. Her big break came in 2002, when she was cast as Angélica in the critically acclaimed film, City of God, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize. She took more time off, and attended university while appearing in a pair of well-regarded South American films—2005’s Lower City and 2006’s Only God Knows—and also played a role in the popular Brazilian television program Carandiru, Outras Historias. Braga made her English-language debut in 2006 with a starring role with Brendan Fraser, Mos Def, and Catalina Sandino Moreno in Journey to the End of Night, which premiered at the 5th Annual Tribeca Film Festival and eventually went straight to video in North America. In 2007, Braga was cast in the Will Smith blockbuster I Am Legend, and the drama Crossing Over (which stars Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, and Ashley Judd). She also appeared in the 2008 David Mamet film Redbelt alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor. Braga portrayed Beth in the science-fiction film Repo Men. She starred as Isabelle in Antal Nimrod's Predators, which was shot and produced by Troublemaker Studios and Robert Rodriguez.

Rachel Roberts

Rachel Roberts (born April 8, 1978 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian model and actress. She has appeared in numerous ad campaigns, most notably for Biotherm and well known as the titular character in the film S1m0ne.

She began to work for magazines such as Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Marie Claire and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue of 2000.

Signing on to be skin-care line Biotherm's official model, she gained even more popularity by posing in campaigns for labels such as Ralph Lauren, Gap, Bottega Veneta, Ferre, Sisley, and Victoria's Secret. She has walked for countless designers such as Chloé, Valentino, Givenchy, Fendi, Blumarine, Roberto Cavalli, Comme des Garçons, Paul Smith and Balmain.


Film/TV roles
She was the title character of Andrew Niccol's movie S1m0ne (2002). She has guest-starred on such television series as Entourage, Ugly Betty and Numb3rs. Roberts is set to star in How to Seduce Difficult Women. She has a recurring role on the ABC one-hour drama, FlashForward , created by David Goyer.

Catherine Keener

Catherine Ann Keener (born March 23, 1959) is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress twice, for Being John Malkovich (1999) and Capote (2005).

Keener's first film appearance was one line in About Last Night (1986). Although she struggled professionally over the next few years one low-quality project had an unexpected dividend. Keener met her future husband, actor Dermot Mulroney in 1987 while working on Survival Quest (1989), after Mulroney became stuck while attempting to scale a cliff.

She also guest-starred as an artist on an episode of Seinfeld called "The Letter". She played Jerry's girlfriend, an artist who painted the infamous portrait of Kramer. Keener then earned her first starring role in Johnny Suede with the then unknown Brad Pitt. Her performance gained critical acclaim and earned her her first Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. She went on to work with director Tom Dicillo, again, in Living in Oblivion (1995). Two years later she was once again nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in Walking and Talking, an independent cult-comedy film directed by Nicole Holofcener. Critics fell in love with Keener's naturalness onscreen.

In 2000, Keener earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Being John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze. In 2001, she worked with director Nicole Holofcener in Lovely and Amazing garnering her a third Independent Spirit Award nomination. In 2002, she co-starred with Edward Norton in the off-Broadway revival of Burn This and the films Full Frontal, and S1m0ne, both of which were box office disappointments when released.

In 2005, she made a huge comeback starring in the political thriller The Interpreter, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, opposite Daniel Day-Lewis, and was cast as the love interest of Steve Carell in Judd Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Keener's performance as writer Harper Lee in Capote (also 2005) earned her several awards and nominations, including her second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 2006, she starred in the film Friends with Money, directed by Nicole Holofcener.


In 2007, Keener played Jan Burres in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed film Into the Wild, based on Jon Krakauer's best-selling book of the same name. In 2008, her film An American Crime, the true story of Gertrude Baniszewski, a middle-aged mother who tortured and killed Sylvia Likens in her Indiana home, was aired on Showtime. Keener plays Baniszewski and her portrayal earned her an Emmy nomination in the Best Actress in a TV Mini-Series or Movie category. In 2008, Keener portrayed Philip Seymour Hoffman's wife Adele in the critically acclaimed Charlie Kaufman directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York. Keener played the title character's mother in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, based on the series of books by Rick Riordan.

Özgü Namal

Özgü Namal (born 28 December 1978 in İstanbul) is a Turkish actress. She become the most famous by debuting as Güllü (Serap) in Turkish TV series "Hanımın Çiftliği", very popular TV series in Turkey, as well as worldwide.

Özgü Namal starting acting as a child at the Masal Gerçek Theatre. She graduated in theatre from the State Conservatory of Istanbul University. She made her television debut in Affet Bizi Hocam and then appeared in the TV series Karete Can, Yeditepe İstanbul and in Kurtlar Vadisi as Elif Eylül.

Namal made her film debut in Sır Çocukları in 2002. Since then, she has appeared in several other films such as Anlat İstanbul, Büyü, Organize İşler, Polis, Beynelmilel and O... Çocukları. She was awarded the Golden Orange for Best Actress for her performance in Mutluluk in 2007. She played Güllü (Serap) in the series Hanımın Çiftliği

Carice van Houten

Carice Anouk van Houten ( born 5 September 1976) is a Dutch stage and film actress. She won four Golden Calves for her roles in Suzy Q (1999), Undercover Kitty (2001), Black Book (2006) and most recently for De Gelukkige Huisvrouw (2010). Her role in Black Book launched her international career. She acted in the American films Valkyrie (2008), and Repo Men (2010).

Carice van Houten played her first leading role in Martin Koolhoven's TV film Suzy Q. Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her part as Suzy. She also won the Pisuisse Award and the Top Naeff Award for her stage acting and another Golden Calf for her part as the kitten that becomes a girl in Undercover Kitty (2001). The first time she could be seen in cinemas in the USA was when Martin Koolhoven's AmnesiA (2001) got a small theatrical release.

Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her performance as Rachel Stein in the 2006 film Black Book at the Netherlands Film Festival. Black Book's director Paul Verhoeven says about her in a television interview: "Never in my life I have worked with an actress this talented." and when he is asked to compare her with Sharon Stone he says: "Carice can really act". The international press is also enthusiastic about her role in Black Book. Dick Schümer writes in his review of the film in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that Carice van Houten is "not only more beautiful, but also a better actress than Scarlett Johansson".

In December 2006, Van Houten withdrew from a theatre production of Alex van Warmerdam due to personal reasons. According to a theatre spokesman it was because of a work overload.

Carice's first English spoken movie was Dorothy from French director Agnès Merlet.

Her performance in Black Book led to roles opposite Tom Cruise in Valkyrie and Jude Law and Forest Whitaker in Repo Men. She has acted in three movies directed by Dutch director Martin Koolhoven.

In 2008, she starred in the non-commercial short movie Zingen in het Donker, a drama on domestic violence. In January 2008, Van Houten was named Woman of the Year by New York Magazine. She appeared in the magazine Vanity Fair in the issue for March 2008, photographed by Wayne Maser.
Van Houten at the premiere of Dorothy


On 4 October 2008 filming began on From Time To Time, directed by Julian Fellowes. It is based on the children’s literature classic The Chimneys of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston. Van Houten is attached to star as Maria Oldknow.

In April 2009 it was announced that Van Houten would star in Black Death by UK director Christopher Smith and in the highly anticipated Dutch film Love Life (Komt een vrouw bij de dokter), based on the celebrated novel of the same name by Ray Kluun. She also starred in the Science-Fiction thriller Repo Men.

Tamira Paszek

Tamira Shelah Paszek (born December 6, 1990 in Dornbirn, Austria) is a professional tennis player from Austria. As of September 11, 2009, she is the third ranked tennis player from Austria in the WTA ranking, at No. 88.

She was introduced to tennis by her mother, Françoise Paszek, at age four-and-a-half. Her mother is Chilean born, and her father is Ariff Mohamed, who is Tanzanian-born, Kenya-raised and lived in Canada. Both her paternal grandparents are from India. She is currently being coached by Angel Giminez having previously been coached by Larri Passos (former coach of former ATP No.1 Gustavo Kuerten).

She then entered 2010 Wimbledon, qualified but lost to Kurumi Nara in second round 7-5 6-4.

She tried to qualify in Budapest defeating Eleni Danilidou and Jessica Moore but lost to Andreja Klepac 5-7 6-2 6-1. Her next tournament will be 2010 ECM Prague Open. She entered qualifing. Tamira defeated Tadeja Majeric 6-4 6-0 and then crushed first seed Anastasia Rodionova. She than lost to Liana Ungur 2-6 3-2. After losing the first set 6-2, Tamira went to play better breaking Ungur serve and lead 2-0.On the other side Ungur came back broke twice to lead 3-2. Tamira then retired because of heat and stomach inyuri.But,because Gisela Dulko withdrew Tamira gained her chance to enter to the main draw. She faced French star Alize Cornet and lost 7-6 6-7 6-4 in match that last 3 hours and 40-minutes.

Her next tournament will be 2010 Banka Koper Slovenia Open where she defeated Jelena Kostanić Tošić 7-5 6-2 for her first main draw win since Ponte Vedra Beach in 2009. She faced Stefanie Voegele and lost 7-5 6-4.

After some bad losses in qualifying of the Premier tournaments, Tamira found her form in the 2010 US Open where she entered qualifying. She defeated Michaella Krajicek, Koreas Kim So- Jing and Russias Evgeniya Rodina to reach the main draw. In the final qualifying round, Paszek trailed Rodina 2-6 after the first set before coming back to win the second and blank the Russian in the third. In the 1st round of the main draw, she defeated 26th seed Lucie Šafářová despite being down 2-6 1-4 in the second set. She lost to Chan Yung-jan in the second round.

Her next tournament will be 2010 Bell Challenge. She defeated Marina Erakovic 6-0 6-4 and Jill Craybas in the second round 6-2 6-3.In her first quarter-final of the 2010 she defeated No.8 seed Sofia Arvidsson 6-3 6-4.She than crushed Christina McHale in the semifinal to book her place in the final where she won the title by beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6(6) 2-6 7-5.
She will be in the 100 rankings again.



stats
Country : Austria
Residence : Dornbirn, Austria
Date of birth : December 6, 1990 (1990-12-06)
Place of birth : Dornbirn, Austria
Height : 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight : 60 kg (130 lb; 9.4 st)
Turned pro : October 26, 2005
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Melanie South

Melanie Jayne South (born 3 May 1986 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey) is an English tennis player. She is currently the British number 8 and ranked 259 in the world (as of 4 October 2010). So far in her career she has won a total of 6 ITF singles titles, 15 ITF doubles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world number 99 (achieved 2 February 2009).

Her greatest success in a Grand Slam so far came in the first round of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships when she came back from one set down to beat the world No.14, Francesca Schiavone, 3–6 6–3 6–4, in a match witnessed by tennis legend, Martina Navratilova. At the time, South was ranked at 305 in the world and had reached the main draw courtesy of a wild card. Not since the third round of the 1998 tournament, when Samantha Smith beat the world No.7 Conchita Martínez, had a British woman beaten an opponent of a similar ranking at Wimbledon. She lost in the second round to Shenay Perry, the world No. 62, 6–7(5) 2–6. Outside of Wimbledon, South reached the first round of the 2009 Australian Open without needing to qualify and without a wild card. This was the first time in her career that her ranking was high enough to grant her access to a Grand Slam main draw without a wild card. She lost to world No.17, Marion Bartoli in round one.

South's style of gameplay centres around her powerful serve and her aggressive ground strokes. She regularly serves aces and gets many more free points from other serves which can't be returned, making her a difficult player to break when she's playing at her best. However because her serve is so high-risk, at times she serves a large number of double faults and when a couple of these come in the same game it puts her at a sizable disadvantage. In her first round match at Wimbledon 2008 against Alona Bondarenko she served a total of 10 aces, 7 double faults and won 68% of the points behind her first serve. She also hit 45 winners and 48 unforced errors during this match, a statistic which demonstrates her aggressive, high-risk attitude to tennis. Renowned tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri, saw Mel play during her first round match against his charge, Michelle Larcher de Brito, in the 2008 French Open and commented: "She can serve well and has good ground strokes. She moves well for a big girl but you can see that lateral movement is a problem for her. Whenever she's pushed out wide she can struggle."




stats
Country : United Kingdom Great Britain
Residence : England New Malden, Surrey
Date of birth : 3 May 1986 (1986-05-03)
Place of birth : England Kingston, Surrey
Height : 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro : 2004
Retired : Active
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Casey Dellacqua

Casey Dellacqua (born 11 February 1985) is an Australian professional tennis player who currently resides in Perth, Western Australia. After the 2008 Australian Open, she became Australia's highest-ranked women's player. She was previously coached by former Australian player Nicole Pratt, before the two decided to part ways prior to the Australian Open 2009.
She is of Italian descent through her father and Irish through her mother.

She received a wildcard to the Brisbane International, but lost in the first round to Sesil Karatantcheva 2-6, 6-0, 6-7 (1).

She received a wildcard to the Medibank International tournament in Sydney, but lost in the first round to Vera Dushevina 2-6, 2-6.

In the first round of the Australian Open, she defeated Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. She faced a tougher opponent in her second round match against Karolina Šprem, but eventually won through in straight sets 7-6, 7-6. Casey was eliminated in the third round by sixth seed Venus Williams 6-1, 7-6.

After representing Australia at the Fed Cup with Samantha Stosur, Alicia Molik and Rennae Stubbs, Dellacqua entered a $25,000 ITF tournament in Mildura, which she won in both singles and doubles (with Jessica Moore).

Her next tournament was a $25,000 ITF tournament in Sydney. She was defeated in the second round in singles, but won the doubles title with compatriot Jessica Moore.

Dellacqua's next tournament will be Wimbledon, where she'll use her protected ranking to gain direct entry into the main draw. Dellacqua was beaten in the opening round 6-1, 6-0, by Bojana Jovanovski.

Dellacqua will be taking the rest of the tour year off and will most likely miss the 2011 Australian Open due to another surgery.












stats
Country : Flag of Australia.svg Australia
Residence : Perth, Western Australia
Date of birth : 11 February 1985 (1985-02-11) (age 25)
Place of birth : Perth, Australia
Height : 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight : 68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Turned pro : 2002
Plays : Left-handed (two-handed backhand)