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Star athletes Maria Kirilenko and Alex Ovechkin have called off their engagement.

Maria Kirilenko And Alex Ovechkin Break-Up

Ovechkin, a three-time NHL Mvp who plays for the Washington Capitals, and Kirilenko, 27, were engaged in December of 2012 and began dating after meeting at the 2011 Us Open. And Kirilenko, Russian tennis player, announced the news in an official statement from the Russian Tennis Federation.

“I have decided to terminate the engagement. There are many reasons, but I do not want to go into details. I’ll say one thing: our relationship completed, but I respect Sasha as a person and athlete and I sincerely wish him continued athletic success. …At this moment, I’m concentrating on getting prepared for the nearest tournament. And I’m hoping that soon I’ll make my fans happy with news not only about my personal life, but also about my sports achievement,” Kirilenko said in her statement.

Dating in the spotlight is never easy—even when your fame stems from your athletic prowess. Tennis star Maria Kirilenko and former fiancé Alex Ovechkin have split, according to multiple reports. The Russian-born beauty and the professional hockey player were first romantically linked in 2011, shortly after Kirilenko ended her relationship with fellow tennis player Igor Andreev. R Sport Russia was the first to report the news, citing an official release from Kirilenko's camp which was distributed by the Russian Tennis Federation. The blond beauty, who won her first Wta tour title in 2005, subsequently retweeted the story. "I have made a decision to break up our engagement. There are many...

We’ve only just started the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, but already it seems like there has been some rather slim pickings and a sense of doom for the home country fans. Whilst Andy Murray is still a red hot favourite for the title, there were few “good news” shocks for the majority of the British contingency, with all seven of the wildcard players being knocked out in the first round, many of them without as much as a whimper.

But those watching both at home and abroad have been kept entertained by the many shocks, spills and thrills that have taken place at SW19 so far in the contest, with a huge number of seeds tumbling in the early rounds meaning that we’re looking likely to have a very unpredictable conclusion to the tournament in a little over a week’s time. Here’s a look at some of the...

Naked Communications Melbourne has helped sports giant Adidas with the launch of the new tennis apparel range, Adidas by Stella McCartney Barricade.

In a media event that took place last night female players and Cdidas ambassadors Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Kirilenko and Laura Robson played on a mirrored court 11.4m long, 8.5m wide and 3m high which gave off a kaleidoscopic effect.

The launch aims to mirror the fusion of high end technologies of materials within the pre-existing barricade range mixed with McCartney’s design.

A video of the event was created by production company Colour Me Films and will be pushed out through social and online channels, with PR by Esp and Nac tomorrow. Fashion photographer Astrid Salomon shot the event.

Naked Melbourne was appointed by Adidas to creative and strategic duties in December.

The court was built in a warehouse in West Melbourne.

The players will be wearing the...

After two weeks of fierce tennis and tense rain delays, Novak Djokovic and Samantha Stosur emerged from the 2011 Us Open bearing hard-earned trophies. Whereas all eyes were on Serena Williams rather than Stosur in the women’s field, Djokovic, as the newly minted World No. 1, was under immense pressure to perform well. Here’s how things went down during a very dramatic tournament.

With crisp groundstrokes and flawless movement, the Djoker has always been a joy to watch, but eighteen months ago he was a distant World No. 3 renowned for retiring-mid match due to fatigue or cramping. Improved physical conditioning helped him rise up and contend with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, but it has been his attitude which has helped his steal the No. 1 ranking. His new-found confidence was on display during his semi-final tussle with Federer. Down a match point in the fifth set, Djokovic blasted back a service-return winner,...

Due to heavy rainfall in New York city yesterday, all scheduled matches were cancelled so today the fourth concludes up and the quarter-finals begin. The year’s final Grand Slam, situated in the hectic Flushing Meadows grounds, has seen the “big four” male players – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – sail through the draw smoothly, while upsets and withdrawals have littered the women’s field.

Djokovic has been impressive playing in his first slam as the World No. 1. This season, the Djoker has proved extra pressure that comes from heightened expectations is no problem, winning his first 43 matches of 2011 and compiling an impressive record of 61 wins and just one loss. Djokovic whizzed through his four matches without losing a set, his only challenge coming from the unorthodox Ukrainian Alexander Doglopolov who stretched him in a 31 point first set tie-break before going down 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic next...