Hats off to the ATP officials who talked some of the worlds beat male tennis players into shedding their clothes, and into posing for some sexy photographs that have been put together for the Official 2009 ATP Calendar. Twelve players from twelve different countries modelled for French photographer Corrine Dubreuill, who has produced a series of striking classic monochrome photographs. As Ivan Ljubicic, Mr. July said, “it shows us in another way, not on court and not dressed……… in tennis gear.” For just $13 this is a calendar for every lady tennis fan to have stuffed into her Xmas stocking!
Here are the models:

Mr. January, Tommy Robredo
Mr. February, Fernando Gonzalez
Mr. March, Tommy Haas
Mr. April, Marcos Baghdatis
Mr. May, Thomas Berdych
Mr. June, Fernando Verdasco
Mr. July, Ivan Ljubicic
Mr. August, Juan Monaco
Mr. September, Mikhail Youzhny
Mr. October, Paradorn Srichaphan
Mr. November, Paul-Henri Mathieu
Mr. December, Dimitry Tursunov

Now the question on every male tennis fan’s mind is when will the WTA produce a similar calendar featuring 12 of the sexiest female players? The problem is that many of the female players have exclusive contracts with modelling agencies, clothing sponsors etc. which precludes them from modelling for alternate or competitive organizations. But it would be fun to speculate as to who would make it to the pages of the 2009 Ladies Calendar. If we follow a similar format to the men, the 12 ladies must come from 12 different countries, this of course would mean only one Russian lady, only one from Serbia etc. I’ll make my selections, you’re welcome to make yours.

Maria Sharapova, Russia. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia. Ashley Harkleroad, USA. Maria Kirilenko, Ukraine. Flavia Pennetta, Italy. Tamira Paszeic, Austria. Sorana Cirstea, Roumania. Gisela Dulko, Argentine. Sabine Lisicki, Germany. Sania Mirza, India. Agnes Szaway, Hungary. Daniela Hautuchova, Slovakia

Now we have to find a photographer. I have a camera and I’m available! The men’s calendar sells for $13, and in order to comply with the ‘equal pay for equal work’ credo of both tennis tour associations, the lady’s calendar would have to sell for the same $13.

The new 2009 men’s calendar will be on sale at the 2009 Australian Open in Melbourne, and unless I’m mistaken it will sell like proverbial hot cakes. The ATP will keep a record of their sales and hopefully will make the numbers available to the WTA to encourage their sister organization to emulate their lead, and to produce their own calendar in future years. As John McEnroe often says, “Tennis has to follow the lead of other sports to attract more fans, and more players, especially among the young. The best way to achieve this is through marketing.”

What better way could there be than to have a pair of sexy calendars to rival that of SI magazine?
Post your list under comments, and see if we can agree on the 10 sexiest female players.