On a rain-interrupted first day of Wimbledon, top-seeded Justine Henin and seventh-seeded Serena Williams eased into the round two.

Justine Henin of Belgium needed just 55 minutes to beat Argentine qualifier Jorgelina Cravero 6-3 6-0.

The 25-year-old Belgian took the opportunity following her victory to dismiss suggestions that she was considering a retirement in two years time due to injuries. Read more »

Former champion Martina Hingis, seeded-ninth, had to save two match points in the second set against a British wildcard Naomi Cavaday. The Swiss reached the second round defeating the promising teenager 6-7 7-5 6-0.

At the moment when Hingis was so close to losing the match, her extensive experience had a major role; she didn’t seem nervous at all. On the other hand, her opponent Cavaday, ranked 232nd in the world, wasn’t strong enough to seal the victory when she had the two match points in her hands, and after the lost opportunity, she simply lost confidence and mental strength to eventually let Martina win the deciding set 6-0.

BTW, the court where Hingis played her opening match is sometimes called the “Graveyard of Champions” since many seeded players were upset there, which is what nearly happened to the Swiss today.

In the second round, world No.11 Hingis will face Aiko Nakamura of Japan.

It’s great that Jankovic is ambitious and determined, and I really enjoy watching her play, but I’m worried that she competes in too many tournaments — that might take a toll on her body.

In my opinion, she really didn’t need to take part in the Ordina Open. After winning Birmingham, she rushed to play in the Netherlands, instead of training and saving energy for Wimbledon, the major tennis event of the year.

And there, at the Ordina Open, she had that tiring final against Chakvetadze on Saturday – only two days before the start of the grass-court Grand Slam. The match against Chakvetadze lasted the whole day, due to many rain suspensions. The rain made the court slippery – a perfect place to get injured!

Should Jankovic have saved herself at least a bit for Wimbledon? Look at Sharapova for example – she played at the DFS Classis, but skipped the Ordina Open, and is getting ready for Wimbledon. To me this is much more reasonable.

But who knows. Maybe Jankovic feels that her body is perfectly fine with her playing that many matches. After all, she knows it better than me.

We all know how successful Jelena Jankovic has been in 2007. The Serb has risen to a career-high No. 3 and won titles on all surfaces — Auckland (hard), Charleston (clay), Rome (clay), and Birmingham (grass). There is only one player that Jelena has never defeated; that is world No. 1 Justine Henin, who was too strong for Jankovic in each of their six meetings.

At the Ordina Open on Thursday, defeating Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals, Jelena Jankovic won her 50th match of the year and became the first woman in over 30 years to achieve the feat that fast. In this way she has accompanied legends such as Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Read more »

Saturday was the finishing day of two grass-court events – the $600,000 International Women’s Open and the $175,000 Ordina Open. Finals at both tournaments were tough three-setters; at the International Women’s Open Justine Henin defeated Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), while at Ordina Open Anna Chakvetadze beat Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3.

Top seed Justine Henin of Belgium has defended her Eastbourne title assuring us that she’s a strong favorite for Wimbledon after defeating France’s Amelie Mauresmo, reigning champion of the upcoming grand slam.

To reach the final, the 25-year-old Belgian beat Agnieszka Radwanska, Nicole Vaidisova, and Marion Bartoli. Read more »

Women’s singles started to be played at Wimbledon in 1884, seven years after the foundation of the tournament. Women’s doubles and mixed doubles were first played in 1913. Here are some facts and records:

Youngest singles winner was Charlotte (Lottie) Dod who won Wimbledon in 1887 at the age of 15 years, 285 days. Later on she won four more Wimbledon titles, in 1888, 1891, 1892, 1893.

It’s unbelievable how times have changed. Take a look at Dod’s tennis outfit! I'm speechless.

And note this: besides playing tennis she was a member of the national field hockey team, British Amateur golf champion in 1904 and the archery silver medalist at the 1908 Olympics.

The youngest ever player at Wimbledon was Mita Klima of Austria, who was 13 years old in the 1907 singles competition.

Martina Hingis was the youngest doubles winner, being only 15 years, 282 days old when she became a champion in 1996. Read more »

Saturday is the final day of the last Wimbledon tune-up event, the $175,000 Ordina Open in the Netherlands. The winner will earn $25,870 and 140 points, the runner-up $13,630 and 100 points.

Top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia reached the final by defeating the last year’s runner-up Dinara Safina of Russia, seeded-fourth. Jankovic saw five match points slip through her fingers before finally sealing the 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) victory in the tie break of the third set. It was a tough match for both of them, lasting 2h 31min, but Jelena proved that she’s hell of a player by overcoming tough moments and winning the match despite problems with a hamstring which forced her to take a medical timeout. Read more »

Saturday we will watch a match of two superb players, seeds No. 1 and No. 2. Justine Henin – top-ranked player in the world and the defending champion at the Eastbourne International grasscourt tournament; Amelie Mauresmo — ranked fourth in the world and the 2006 Wimbledon champion.

Justine Henin of Belgium had a 59-minute-long semifinal match against No. 8 seed Marion Bartoli, seeing off her opponent 6-1 6-3 to reach the final.

If the Belgian wins the 2007 Eastbourne International she will be the first woman since Chanda Rubin in 2002 and 2003 to lift this trophy in successive years. Read more »

Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated the Ukranian eighth seed Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-1. Due to rain, the match was suspended for a few hours in the second set, with Jankovic leading 4-1. “It is not easy to wait for a few hours. Fortunately I could focus again from the start,” world No. 3 Jankovic said.

This was the seventh time Jankovic and Bondarenko faced each other, and Jankovic has increased her lead to 7-0.

Number four seed Dinara Safina beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-1 7-5.

FIRST SEMIFINAL: Jankovic vs. Safina >> Head-to-head 1-1, never played against each other on grass.

Third seed Anna Chakvetadze beat Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova overcame second-seeded Ana Ivanovic in straight sets 6-3 6-1. Ivanovic was broken in the seventh game and thereafter never performed to anything like her usual standard.

SECOND SEMIFINAL: Chakvetadze vs. Hantuchova >> In their head-to-heads Hantuchova leads 2-1, but they have never met on grass. (source: Ordina Open, photos: Getty Images)

It was announced on Tuesday that world No. 18 Na Li has high chances of recovering from her rib injury until Wimbledon. But today, Wimbledon officials have declared that she’s been added to the list of player withdrawals (alongside Anastasia Myskina, Vera Zvonareva, Romina Oprandi, and Jie Zheng).

There is no word yet on the extent of the injury and how long she will be off the Tour.

Na Li will be replaced by a lucky loser Alize Cornet of France. (via On the Baseline)