Hungarian teenager Agnes Szavay staged an astonishing comeback from a set and 5-1 down to beat world number three Jelena Jankovic 6-7 7-5 6-2 in an enthralling China Open final on Sunday.

Jankovic appeared to be cruising to the title after winning a tough first set in a tiebreak and then storming to a 5-1 lead in the second. But the 18-year-old Szavay took advantage when Jankovic began to show signs of fatigue, winning six consecutive games to snatch the second set. The sixth seed then dominated the last set to wrap up the title in three hours. Read more »

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic took revenge against Lindsay Davenport on Saturday by beating her in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the China Open final in Beijing.

The two players had faced each other earlier this month at the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, and then Davenport stunned top-seeded Jankovic 6-4 2-6 6-2. Eventually, the American was the champion of the tournament winning her fifty-second career title.

However, Jelena Jankovic is now on the way to her fifth title of the season. In the China Open final, the Serb will face Hungarian rising star Agnes Szavay, who has played the best tennis of her career over the past two months, finishing as the runner-up in New Haven and as a quarterfinalist at the US Open.

The 18-year-old Szavay, seeded sixth in Beijing, reached the final with a solid 6-1 6-2 victory over Peng Shuai of China. (source: On the Baseline)

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport will play second-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the semifinal of the 2007 China Open in Beijing. In the other semifinal match, Agnes Szavay of Hungary will face home favorite Pen Shuai.

Davenport, who won the last week’s Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, defeated Elena Dementieva 7-6 (1), 6-1, while Jankovic beat Akiko Morigami 6-3, 7-5.

World number three Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is aiming for her fifth WTA title this year, but also for the top of the singles rankings: "My ultimate goal is to be the world No. 1…Now my ranking is very close, but I still have a long way to go. I need to work hard and I hope I can make it one day."

Peng Shuai of China upset third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Peng will next meet rising star Agnes Szavay, seeded-sixth, who defeated Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. (source: Sports Illustrated)

In her latest diary entry, Ana Ivanovic informed her fans that she has officially finished high school, and has enrolled on a course at a private university in Belgrade called FEFA where she will study finance.

“I’m very impressed with the organization of the course so far, and I’m sure I’m going to spend many hours studying in player lounges over the coming years,” said the Roland Garros runner-up.

The tennis beauty, as many people call her, spent a busy week in her home town. She did a ten-hour-long photoshoot for her sponsor Verano Motors, she was inaugurated as a UNICEF ambassador and visited the Vladimir Rolovic School as well as the Ministry of Sport where there were ceremonies for her. Ivanovic, however, found some time for herself too, so she drove around Belgrade in the Peugeot that the sponsor had given to her.

Israel’s Shahar Peer, ranked No.16 in the world, is wearing an olive green military uniform now. Israel has mandatory military service for both men and women, and the tennis star hasn’t tried to avoid it like some other celebrities.

"There was no question," the 20-year-old Peer said. "All my friends are going and I wanted to be a part of it…When I am home, I have to go. I want to do my part."

Peer is a part-time soldier, and serves as a military administrative secretary. The army has awarded her an "outstanding athlete" status which allows her to serve a few hours a day at her own convenience. Peer, who will complete her compulsory two-year service in October, said that the military service has not interfered with her playing career.

"It's obvious that Shahar Peer is not going to be sent off to protect the state's borders," said Peer's direct commander Maj. Shirley Shapira. "But service in the army is a mission in Israel, and everyone gives as much as they can." (via Canadian Press, photo via WTAworld)

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had to withdraw from the ongoing China Open because of an abdominal injury. The world number two reached the US Open final and then led Russia to victory in the Fed Cup in the last two weekends, and the injury has caught up with her. "It's getting worse and worse," said the 22-year-old Kuznetsova. "I came here and had treatment but I just cannot serve." The Russian at least had time to visit the Great Wall of China.

Third seed Amelie Mauresmo of France made an unspectacular return to tennis after a two-month layoff with a 6-2 6-2 win over Romania's Ioana Raluca Olaru at the Tier II tournament in Beijing on Wednesday. Mauresmo has been struggling during this season. She didn’t play for two months because of appendicitis in March, and had won just one title in 2007 at Antwerp before deciding to take some time off. Remember that last year the Frenchwoman won two Grand Slam titles, and was ranked number one in the world.

Lindsay Davenport, on the other hand, has quickly found her form. After being away for almost a year, and giving birth to son Jagger in June, Davenport won a tournament on her singles comeback in Bali last weekend, and has now reached the second round of the China Open by beating fellow American Julie Ditty 6-0 6-2 in just 48 minutes. (sources: Reuters, BBC, photo via WTAworld)

Members of Russia's winning Fed Cup team have questioned the motives of Maria Sharapova who attended the final against Italy to show her support.

Maria Sharapova has never played Fed Cup for Russia, having had her injuries as a reason, but she has always underlined that she wants to play for her native country. But is Sharapova telling the truth? Many people believe that the 20-year-old from Siberia is just making herself available for Fed Cup in order to be eligible to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Kuznetsova, whose victory brought Russia third Fed Cup title on Sunday, made an interesting statement:

"She said she wanted to be our practice partner but if you can't play how then can you practice?" Read more »

Two tennis legends, Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova, played an exhibition match in Bucharest, Romania, on September 16. A nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles defeated an eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.

These two greats of tennis are missed a lot, and I see many people asking will Seles ever return to competitive tennis. Unfortunately, I don't believe that will happen. (via Down the Line)

Russia won their third Fed Cup title in four years with the victory over last year's surprising champions Italy in the final at Moscow's Luzhniki arena. On Sunday, Svetlana Kuznetsova saved two match points in a second-set tiebreaker before beating Italy's Francesca Schiavone 4-6 7-6 7-5 in the first reverse singles and giving the home team an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Italy.

Heavy favorites Russia had enjoyed a 2-0 lead after day one when Anna Chakvetadze beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Mara Santangelo 6-1 6-2.

In the picture you can see Maria Sharapova celebrating with the Russian team, but she didn't participate in the competition, her role was just that of a supporter. Actually, Sharapova has never played in the Fed Cup, and she was heavily criticized for that.

Here you can see the list of all Fed Cup champions since 1963. (photo via Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog)

World No.234 Lindsay Davenport defeated second seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 3-6 6-2 to win her fifty-second career singles title and become the lowest-ranked player to win a tournament this season. Congratulations!

The victory at the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali is one of the most unlikely title victories of Davenport’s career, since she was playing her first singles event in almost a year and had not known what to expect as she began her tentative comeback. The 31-year-old American had been ready to lose in the first round but instead beat world number three Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals. Read more »