Unlike the boyish hairdos worn by professional golfers, their counterparts on the tennis court are known for their long, beautiful, healthy hair. They are the Rapunzels of sport, with swishing blond braids and ponytails that add a feminine touch to their athletic bodies. Some players even incorporate primping into their service motions: Witness the way Maria Sharapova tucks imaginary wisps behind each ear, despite the barrettes already pinning things down.

Healthy Hair Tips From Center Court
It’s no surprise that the best tennis players in the world prefer their hair long: They’re still girls at heart, in their late teens and 20s. (Thirty is retirement age in this sport.) Since the pros spend most of the day in workout clothes, they love fashion, dressing up at night and letting their hair down -- literally, by unwinding and releasing the braids into sheets of shiny waves.

We saw a lot of gorgeous hair at this year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., but one player in the top 10 stood out: 29-year-old Elena Dementieva, the Moscow-born, Olympic gold medalist. Her dark-blond, sun-streaked hair was striking because of its healthy shine and chic styling -- pulled back in a sleek braid tucked into the strap of her visor. Except for the visor part, it was a look straight from the Paris runways this spring.

We asked Dementieva how her hair stays in such good condition despite the rigors of sun, sweat and scrunchies. Since she spends 11 months of the year on the road with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, she should know.

Dementieva's top tip? She doesn’t settle for ordinary cleansers on the road. “I never use what’s in the hotel bathroom,” she says. “I carry my own shampoo, cream rinse and conditioner, and if I run out, I’ll buy more in that city. I wish I could do at-home deep-conditioning treatments, but when we’re flying from country to country, with practice followed by matches followed by more practice, there is no rest.”

As for Dementieva’s stylish updos on the court, it turns out that necessity is the mother of invention. “If the weather is temperate, I prefer to wear a ponytail,” she says. “But if it’s very hot, I do the braid, which keeps me cooler, and I tuck it up. But the reason for either style is the same: to keep my hair out of my face.”

How to Join the Braid Parade

• After shampooing, apply a serum and a mousse from roots to end. The serum delivers smooth, sleek shine while the mousse supplies hold. Blow-dry.
• Sweep hair up into a high ponytail, secured on the crown of the head with a snag-free elastic band.
• Braid the ponytail tightly and neatly, securing with a second elastic band an inch from the end.
• Loop the braid up and under, and pin it into place, leaving the tail of the braid free.
• For extra drama on a special occasion, snip a tiny amount of hair at the ends to give a blunted appearance.

If you want a head start on fall’s new hair trends, don’t touch the scissors. Judging from the looks shown at the recent New York designer fashion shows, long, sleek and bountiful hair is back.

New Hair Trend No. 1: Neat and on the Side
One of fall’s most important accessories will be a streaming, shiny ponytail, so start growing your hair now. The look is a continuation of the current spring hair trend for long braids, often worn to one side.

Ponytails were assembled from naturally long hair, color-matched extensions or a terrace of layers. The tried-and-true staple is one of the easiest hairstyles to copy from the New York runways.

Long, shimmery ponytails make way for big statements above the neck, including fur collars, thick neck scarves and hats of every variety. With fall’s must-have low side part (a look that already jumped from the runway to the red carpet, with Sandra Bullock and Kate Winslet showing it off at this year’s Oscars), generous ponytails took a sporty turn at DKNY and Lacoste.

Get this look: Apply a mist of frizz-taming serum and blow-dry hair super-straight. Part the hair in the center or extra-low on one side, and secure with an inconspicuous elastic band. For extra-sleek locks, smooth hair sections with a flatiron after drying.

New Hair Trend No. 2: The Pouf
“In fall and winter, you often see off-the-face hair, because there are more collars, high necks, scarves and hoods, so sometimes hair gets in the way,” says celebrity stylist Sam McKnight, who brought modern glamour to many runway shows with new hair trends, including those for Chanel, Mulberry, Prada, Vivienne Westwood and Fendi. McKnight is also responsible for creating the images of Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bundchen and Uma Thurman.

For Mulberry, a British luxury collection that showed in New York, McKnight piled hair into a slightly messy but still compact bouffant, a look that requires lots of back-combing and hair spray. Messy, mini-bouffants also decorated the heads at Vera Wang and Lela Rose.

Get this look: Back-comb just the sections of hair around the crown, gather into a mini-bouffant and secure with pins to preserve volume. Sections of hair left loose, especially around the face, make the look modern.

New Hair Trend No. 3: Shiny and Pretty
To complement the modified menswear silhouettes, hair was styled in a slicked-down sheen. Skip the greasy stuff and use a very fine bristled brush with a weightless oil or spray to give hair a glossy finish, says New York stylist Sam Brocato, who created the shiny, wavy ponytails for newcomer Nima’s presentation.

Get this look: Rub a few drops of light hair oil or smoothing balm into palms, and run hands lightly down the midshaft and ends of hair. Work into hair with a fine, natural-bristle brush. For curls, use a large-barrel curling iron and wind small sections of hair along the barrel. Pull hair to one side and toward the front and secure with an elastic band. Tame flyaways with a light-hold hair spray.

New Hair Trend No. 4: Undone Buns
Strands and ends are now purposely left untucked with fall’s new hair trend, the chignon . Models at Yigal Azrouel wore buns loose with the new low side part. Designer Jason Wu, who created Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown, instructed stylist Odile Gilbert to give his chignons an effortless quality for a look he called “untamed hair on a grown-up girl.”

Get this look: To pull off the hair trend, create a low, loose ponytail with the front sides pulled slightly out of the elastic band to create volume. Wrap the ponytail with a 10-inch elastic band or thin, stretchy headband, and pin into a coil at the nape of the neck.

New Hair Trend No. 5: Flowing Waves
Diane von Furstenberg’s models sported chunks of waves that looked like seawater-drenched layers left to air-dry. Long, wavy ribbons of hair that flow across the shoulder were key looks with several designers, including Ports 1961, where big curls looked like a good ’80s perm.

Get this look: Brocato calls the new hair trend with curls “edgy texture,” partly because few locks adhere to a regular pattern. Instead, ends are smooth and uncurled while the midshaft is curled or bent, usually with a curling iron held at mixed-up angles, he says. Alternatively, McKnight gets the look by spraying a light coat of hair spray before creating one or several thick braids. Run a hot flatiron down the braid to set the bend; unbraid and spray to hold the curl.

No matter what the hairstyle -- ponytails, waves and chignons alike -- always finish with a final mist of hair spray: It’s essential to keep these new hair trends frizz-free and as polished as fall’s new clothes.

What better way to celebrate coupledom than with a stress-relieving spa experience? No need to splurge. You can create your own relaxing, rejuvenating -- and romantic -- retreat right at home.

Courtesy of some of the best spas around the country, here are seven tips to help you plan the perfect Valentine’s Day at-home spa escape.

1. Add luxurious details.
Have plenty of soft, fluffy towels and “his” and “hers” robes handy. Toss them in the dryer for a few minutes just before your spa session so they’re warm and cozy. You’ll need just three other products: a massage oil, a skin scrub (e.g., a salt rub) and a scented bath product.

2. Explore each other.
When it comes to couples’ spa treatments, it’s all about the shared experience, says Robert Vance, spa director at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz. Customize these experiences to fit your own preferences: If you don’t like the invigorating exfoliation of a salt scrub, do a mud or clay skin treatment instead, and slather each other in slippery body mud.

3. Set the mood.
Turn off your cell phones and computers for the night, and make a pact not to talk about work. Turn off the overhead lights and use reading lamps or candles to create an inviting glow. “Use whatever’s available in the environment of your home to make things feel quiet and private,” says Jenny Helling, spa director at Cavallo Point Spa in Sausalito, Calif. “If you have a big bathroom with an oversize tub, bring in some candles, pull in a soft rug and create a retreat right there.”

4. Feature food.
For maximum sensuality, go for food that’s slippery or involves dipping or spreading. You might start with fresh fruit -- such as grapes, strawberries or raspberries -- that can be dipped in whipped cream. Or try bread or crackers with soft spreads like goat cheese and hummus. The final bubbly touch: Create a romantic cocktail by dropping pomegranate seeds into champagne, suggests Shane Bird, spa director at Aji Spa at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix.

5. Make things scent-sual.
Light a scented candle or a stick of incense, and drop aromatherapy oil directly in the bathwater or sprinkle on the sheets. If you have a fireplace, throw a few juniper logs on the fire, suggests Camelback’s Vance. The wood contains essential oils that scent the room with a southwestern straight-from-the-desert aroma that will make you feel like you’re camping under the stars.

6. Pamper like a pro.
Nothing is sexier than a full-body massage. There are two basic ways to approach massage. Some like to start with a neck, shoulder and back massage, since that’s where most people experience aches and pains. Another technique is to start with the feet and hands, and work inward to the center of the body. Choose a massage oil with a grapefruit oil base: It’s lighter and less greasy, which allows you to get a bit more grip than do massage oils with an olive or vitamin E base.

7. To each his/her own.
It often works best if there’s a variety of offerings on your home spa “menu” and each of you picks what you like best. Maybe your partner would like a foot rub in the tub, but you want an all-over body massage. Try making a menu of experiences that you can offer each other. Write them on a whiteboard -- or on cards, which you can then pick one by one from the deck. The happy ending? You and your honey feel closer than ever.