Williams meets Vanderbilt in tennis raunch-fest

Anyone for tennis? Yes please, at least if it involves watching the advert for Top Spin 4, the latest instalment of the Wii tennis game from 2K Sports. The ad shows Serena Williams as you've never seen her before, dressed in thigh-high boots and a leotard that leaves little to the imagination.

Against a soundtrack of thumping music and febrile groaning, Williams slugs it out against Rileah Vanderbilt, the American actress dubbed 'The World’s Sexiest Gamer'. Vanderbilt is wearing fishnets and a PVC bra, not the sort of apparel one is likely to see at Wimbledon this summer, but she still manages to pull off a couple of tasty ground strokes.

What with all the slow-mos and close-ups, the advert has divided opinion in the world of women’s sports. Johanna Adriaanse, who co-chairs the International Working Group on Women and Sport, questioned whether the 29-year-old Williams should be using her ample curves in such a way.

"There's a difference between being good looking and looking after your body and actually using the body just as a sexualised object to gain media coverage," said Adriaanse.

"I really think that sportswomen, with great bodies, with great performances, they should first and foremost be valued and respected for their performances on the fields, like they do with sportsmen usually."

But Kay de Bry, president of America's Women In Sport Foundation sees nothing wrong in Williams making the most of her assets: "She didn't have to do this to get attention. She played good tennis and that's where she got all the attention and she's just having a bit of fun, I'd say. In a way it doesn't hurt women's sport and it lifts the profile because basically you're dealing with the media and they like to see sensational things. I don't think it's harming women's sport in any way."

Williams, who's won 13 Grand Slam titles during her glittering career, hasn't played a competitive game of tennis since winning her fourth Wimbledon title last year. She cut her foot on some glass shortly after, an accident that required two surgeries. When the cast was removed following the second operation she suffered a pulmonary embolism and the whole experience left her depressed.

"I cried all the time. I was miserable to be around," she said in an interview earlier this month, adding that she had no idea when she would make her comeback.

Clearly Williams hasn't been idle during her enforced lay-off and her appearance in the ad for Top Spin will further enhance her reputation as one of the world’s most glamorous tennis players. Ironically, 2K Sports decided not to go with the video ad when the game was launched because they thought it was too raunchy. But according to American sports site NESN, Vanderbilt liked the ad so much she leaked it online via Twitter. Ace!

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