Former world number one Lindsay Davenport swept to a 6-2 6-2 victory over fifth seed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece at the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Davenport has returned to the singles after being away for almost a year after giving birth to son Jagger in June. Before this singles match, the American had played doubles at the Pilot Pen tournament in August, and is also playing doubles in Bali this week.

In her career, Lindsay Davenport has earned $21 million in prize money. She has three Grand Slam singles titles to her credit, as well as an Olympic gold medal.

As for the tournament in Bali, she was a champion in 2005. (via BBC)

It was a big surprise to see Maria Sharapova at the US Open 2007 men’s final sitting in Novak Djokovic’s box, and clearly rooting for him.

Everyone was perplexed, but luckily, we didn’t have to wait long for an explanation from the Serb himself: “No, let’s not go too much with Maria. It’s just a friendship we have. It was nice for her to come and support me. As well, Robert, he was yesterday on the match, and today. I mean, it’s amazing feeling to see such successful people, you know, in my box supporting me, playing with me I can say, living every emotional moment. It’s great. It’s great.” Read more »

In their first tournament together, Dinara Safina of Russia and Nathalie Dechy of France won the US Open women's doubles title on Sunday. The seventh-seeded duo beat Taiwanese fifth seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung 6-4 6-2.

However, Dechy said she and Safina had not yet talked about playing together in the future.

"We have time," she said. "But definitely, the way we played, it means we can do some great things also in the future."

Dechy also won last year's doubles championship at Flushing Meadows, but with Vera Zvonareva as her partner – and Safina was the runner-up, pairing with Katarina Srebotnik. (via Fox Sports, photo via BBC)

Maria Sharapova attended the 2007 US Open men’s final on Sunday, and was sitting in the box of Novak Djokovic! Wow, it seems that she’s not at all angry at Nole for all the hilarious impersonations he has done of her. Additionally, not only was she sitting in the Serb’s box, but she was eagerly rooting for him. By the way, you can see legendary actor Robert DeNiro in the picture too.

At this year’s US Open, Maria Sharapova suffered a surprising loss to Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round.

According to a Serbian tabloid newspaper called Svet, tennis beauty Ana Ivanovic and Spanish world number eight Tommy Robredo are in love.

Everything started at this year’s Australian Open. Tommy Robredo is a close friend of Novak Djokovic, who is, as we all know, Ana’s very good childhood friend. Robredo started hitting on Ana, but she didn’t take him seriously since he’s famous for being a joker. But now, at the US Open, the Serbian beauty has succumbed to the charm of the Spaniard realizing that his love signals are for real. In addition, the 19-year-old Ivanovic has her mother’s support, which was concluded because of the fact that Robredo was watching Ana’s match against Vera Dushevina while sitting in the VIP, not far from Ana’s mother. Read more »

Amelie Mauresmo has skipped some very significant tournaments lately: the Rogers Cup, Pilot Pen, and above all the US Open. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion will compete in the China Open, which starts September 17 in Beijing.

Last week, Mauresmo started training for the tournament in China, but her main goal remains to make the next season much more satisfying than the current one. Loic Courteau, the Frenchwoman’s coach, said that Mauresmo’s main objective is to find her rhythm again.

In the next WTA Tour rankings, Marion Bartoli will become the French number one, taking the place of Amelie Mauresmo who will be world number eleven. (via Ace 2007)

Media-favorite Ana Ivanovic has become a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia. The world No.5 will be inaugurated at a special ceremony in Belgrade next week, and will take a special interest in the fields of education and child protection.

The 19-year-old Ivanovic is delighted by the invitation: “This is one of the greatest honors I’ve ever received, and I’m going to do my best to support all the great work that UNICEF does, both in Serbia and worldwide.

“I love children, and I relish this opportunity to help them in some small way. I’m looking forward to supporting UNICEF’s ‘child-friendly schools’ concept. It’s about valuing children as people, not just learners, and making absolutely sure that the environment is best suited to allow them to develop their talent to the full.”

Part of Ana’s job will include visiting schools in Serbia, and she is looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids.

Note: Ivanovic has already donated CAN$11,000 to a UNICEF charity last month. (source: The Ana Ivanovic website)

Justine Henin beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 6-3 in the women’s final on Saturday to clinch her second US Open title. Here’s a video of the post-match ceremony (it’s in Spanish).

Belgian Justine Henin claimed her seventh Grand Slam title with a 6-1 6-3 victory over former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia at the US Open.

Top-seeded Henin opened the match with a break, and added two more to take the first set. Fourth-seeded Kuznetsova didn’t use her opportunities, and that’s a must if you want to defeat a number one. For example, Kuznetsova wasn’t able to break Henin even in the games in which the Belgian double-faulted two times.

I had expected a closer match even though I knew that Justine Henin plays by far the highest quality of tennis. At this moment, with players such as Sharapova and Jankovic achieving less than they could, Henin's brilliance is evident more than ever. Another fact that shows Henin's dominance is that she won the US Open 2007 without losing a set. (photo via BBC)

Top-seeded Justine Henin, who is yet to drop a set in this year’s US Open, will face fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday night in a title match featuring two past Open champions.

The Belgian has a chance to become the first player to beat both Williams sisters on the way to a Grand Slam title. In her semifinal match against Venus Williams, little Henin displayed preciseness in placing balls on the lines and in the angles, as well as athleticism and belief in herself. Venus was a tough opponent, there’s no doubt about it, but I had never doubted that Henin would win. Final result: 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Earlier in the day, Svetlana Kuznetsova beat compatriot Anna Chakvetadze 3-6 6-1 6-1. The Russians struggled immensely throughout the match. Take a look at this fact: Kuznetsova lost the first set even though Chakvetadze hit only one winner! Throughout the semifinal both players couldn’t put the ball in the court, while also having problems with the nerves.

Henin goes into the final with a daunting 14-2 record against Kuznetsova, although the Russian did win their last match earlier this year. The 25-year-old Henin is seeking her seventh Grand Slam title, while Kuznetsova is hoping to add to the lone major she won in New York in 2004. (photos via BBC)