In 2008, the winner of the most prestigious event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will receive a record $1,485,000, the largest single guaranteed payout in women’s tennis today. The total tournament prize money will be incredible $4.45 million. All this means that women will earn as much money as men in their season-ending Championships, which is the Tennis Masters Cup.

This year in November the eight-woman event will take place in Madrid, after which it moves to Doha where it will be held from 2008 to 2010, while Istanbul will be the host from 2011 to 2013.

Enrique Iglesias, the boyfriend of Anna Kournikova, was interviewed by SI writer Richard Deitsch and I’ve singled out some parts of the interview. Note that my comments are in italics.

SI: Is there a sport you can beat Anna at?

Iglesias: Anything except tennis and wrestling. Her reflexes are disturbingly good. You throw anything at her, and she catches it.

I didn’t know Anna is so good at wrestling, lucky her! Read more »

Some time ago, thinking it would be interesting to make a post that would consist of photos of female tennis players when they were kids, I started searching the Internet. Unfortunately, the only childhood photos I found were ones of Ana Ivanovic, so I gave up the idea. Now, completely unexpectedly, browsing the website of newly-wed and mother-to-be Kim Clijsters, I've come across some of her first photos with a tennis racket. Isn't she cute? Read more »

Justine Henin is now on a vacation and due to wrist injury won’t play at the Acura Classic in San Diego, which starts on July 30. Fresh-looking world No. 1 will return to court no sooner than August 5, and if everything goes well, the tournament she’ll compete in before the US Open will be the Rogers Cup in Toronto, starting August 13. (via Justine Henin’s website)

What a makeover! Justine has never been my favorite considering the looks, but she definitely found the right track, i.e. the makeup artist and stylist found it for her. Here are the photos of her posing for next week’s issue of Le Soir.

I hope she’ll continue to look this good. (via Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog)

Amelie Mauresmo’s coach Loic Courteau told the French newspaper L'Equipe that it’s not certain that Mauresmo will compete in the last Grand Slam of the year which starts on the 27th August.

World No. 6 has had disappointing results lately, and one thing is for sure — she will have fifteen days off in order to rest from the world of tennis.

“She really needs to completely recharge her batteries, to re-energize, to come back with new ambitions and goals," said Loic Courteau.

Mauresmo is already thinking about the next season: "The first date will of course be the US Open, but I must already start to think about 2008." (via Lawn Tennis News)

BBC is offering masks of tennis players. You can download Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Tim Henman, and Anastasia Myskina (the only woman in the crowd). Check them out here.

I only wonder why they didn’t choose some more popular female player than Myskina. She’s ok, but wouldn’t masks of some other players be more interesting at the moment?

Maybe they are planning to expand the list.

This short video is a compilation of Maria Sharapova's action during the ESPYs. You can see her giving an interview, talking about her shoulder injury and how she deals with it, there are also some backstage scenes after her winning both the awards she was nominated for, and some more.

Note: Masha doesn't want to reveal what her US Open dress looks like, but I'm sure it's unique and inspiring.

Lindsay Davenport has been out of action since the end of last year, awaiting the birth of her first child. On June 10 she gave birth to her son Jagger, and now she’s planning to get back to the pro tour, being especially eager to play in next year's Beijing Olympics.

The 31-year-old Davenport will play her first match since September on Saturday in World Team Tennis.

"It's been so much fun preparing. I've been hitting with my husband.”

She will bring her son and other family members to the weekend team match in Sacramento.

"I'm hoping he'll bring me even more joy on the road and more fun," she said. "The challenge for me is about balancing everything. I totally understand the working mom's guilt. If I go practice, I feel bad."

The good thing is that Davenport has the full support of her husband: "He thinks it's great; he's totally encouraging me to do whatever I want." (via Herald Tribune)

Retired tennis star Kim Clijsters married US basketball player Brian Lynch in a secret wedding ceremony in Brussels, on July 13th. She got married only a few days after the announcement of her pregnancy. I found these photos via wodjo, but you can see some more photos at Kim's official website.