Here’s a list of players that pulled out from the Acura Classic in San Diego and the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Stockholm, together with the reasons for their withdrawals.

• SAN DIEGO

Severine Bremond (FRA) Illness
Justine Henin (BEL) Right wrist ligament injury
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) Knee injury
Li Na (CHN) Right rib injury
Mara Santangelo (ITA) Plantar fascitis
Samantha Stosur (AUS) Illness
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) Viral illness
Serena Williams (USA) Left thumb injury
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) Left wrist injury

• STOCKHOLM

Jarmila Gajdosova (SVK) Knee injury
Tzipora Obziler (ISR) Wrist injury (source: Tennis X)

Hahaha, I’m sorry Renata, but your serve is really funny! I quite quickly got used to Marion Bartoli’s awkward serve, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw yours.

Voracova is 24 years old. Her singles ranking is 123, while in doubles she’s ranked 45th.

Another attractive exhibition match is on the way — two extraordinary tennis players Justine Henin and Steffi Graf will face each other in Mannheim, Germany, on October 27. The match will be a part of a children’s festival hosted by Children for Tomorrow, a charity founded and chaired by Steffi Graf. (source: On the Baseline)

I was first interested in watching this video when Diane commented on it as “I laughed until I cried”. Unfortunately, I had to wait until it was published on You Tube to see it, being unable to watch it in Windows Media Player for some reason (probably because my internet connection isn’t fast enough). Anyway, it really is funny!

The same thing was happening to me yesterday while I was promoting some hair colors – I kept saying COROLS! Believe me, saying sentences that you’ve learned by heart is not as easy as it seems (even if they are short), especially when you’re in front of many people.

A few days ago Jelena Jankovic appeared at the Hyundai presentation in Belgrade, Serbia, wearing an elegant white dress. The car company has been JJ’s sponsor since April, when they gave her a Hyundai (at the presentation she got another one!).

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Anna Chakvetadze of Russia defeated Sania Mirza of India in straight sets 6-3 6-2 to win the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California. This victory earned Anna the fourth title of 2007; earlier this year the 20-year-old had won Hobart, 's-Hertogenbosch, and the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open.

Additionally, Chakvetadze improved to an amazing 6-0 lifetime in finals. Moreover, when the new rankings get released on Monday she will take the place of Amelie Mauresmo and become No. 6 for the first time. Sania Mirza, on the other hand, will be back at her career high ranking of 31.

Funny moment at the final: Chakvetadze lost one point because her long plait got stuck in her racket!

We might have the pleasure of watching an encounter of two second ranked tennis players Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. That should be interesting! The exhibition match could happen in the inaugural Merdeka Tennis Challenge at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam on November 18-25.

Actually, Rafael Nadal will probably play either against Marcos Baghdatis or Maria Sharapova (the two are expected to participate in the event, but are not confirmed yet). What is certain is that two big names Roger Federer and Pete Sampras will meet in one of the exhibition matches on November 22. (source: NST Online)

Top seed Francesca Schiavone beat Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-1 6-4 to finally win her first WTA Tour title (the 27-year-old Italian had lost eight previous finals!). Additionally, she became the first winner of this new tournament on the WTA Tour calendar.

“A great relief … but I didn't put pressure on myself," world No. 31 said. "I'm a different player now and I just went out today to enjoy myself and hopefully win."

"The match was much closer than the result shows," said the 82nd-ranked Meusburger, who was also beaten by Schiavone in the first round of this year's French Open. "Anyway, the final was a good experience for me and it will help me to further raise my game."

It’s worth mentioning that the winner took home $25.840 and 140 points, while the runner-up earned $13.520 and 100 points. (source: CBS Sports Line)

In order to raise money for charity, Wilson has released limited edition versions of their (K) Factor tennis rackets which are inlaid with gold leaf designs. They are well-known because they were used by multiple Grand Slam champions Venus and Serena Williams at this year’s Wimbledon. Only 650 of each model will be available at a recommended retail price of $500; ten percent of the proceeds go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Serena and Venus signed an additional ten rackets of each model which are to be auctioned for the charity. Note: Venus used the white frame, Serena the black one. (via Down the Line)

Nicole Vaidisova is known as a player who always carries many books in her tennis bag. That was the reason the Czech was chosen for Get Caught Reading, a nationwide public service campaign launched by the Association of American Publishers in 1999 to promote the joy of reading. Vaidisova is now spreading the literacy word by being photographed reading Mitch Albom's bestselling Tuesdays with Morrie.

Other celebrities that have also appeared in the campaign include Whoopi Goldberg, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifa, Robin Williams, NY Yankee Johnny Damon, The Miami Heat, etc. To see what their posters look like click here.