The Australian Open website is not the only virtual place where you can get involved with the first Grand Slam of the year. If you can’t visit the Melbourne Park in real life, you can do it in Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world. Plus, there is a competition in this cyber world where you can even win some money, virtual money though.

You can test out your designing skills at IBM's competition. The person who designs the best virtual tennis outfit will win $250,000 Linden dollars, virtual currency used in Second Life. Of course, you can’t use this money in the real world, but with it you can buy plenty of things in the universe of Second Life.

The winner of IBM's competition will be announced on January 25. I'm looking forward to the results of the competition, I suppose there will be some inspiring, fresh, and futuristic designs. (source: Australian Open)

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic reached her second career Grand Slam final after ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova let slip a 6-0 2-0 lead to eventually lose 0-6 6-3 6-4. Hantuchova was annoyed with Ivanovic’s behavior during the match and accused the Serb of intentionally distracting her in serving by squeaking with her feet.

Only after 45 minutes did Ivanovic take her first game, but then she settled and took the second set 6-3. The third set went with serve until 4-4 when three errors from the Slovak helped Ivanovic to break, and the Serb closed things out 6-4.

Hantuchova criticized Ivanovic of using tactics to distract her. As Hantuchova was preparing to serve Ivanovic was shuffling her feet which resulted in loud squeaking. Read more »

Former world number one Maria Sharapova of Russia wasn’t as perfect as against top seed Justine Henin, but she defeated Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-1 without much struggle.

From the start of the match up until the very end third-seeded Jankovic was weak and without solution to Sharapova’s aggressive play. Injured and with tears in her eyes Jankovic wasn't happy even when she made a perfect shot. She was disappointed and in the last game of the match she evidently gave up as she didn’t fight as in the matches that brought her to the semifinal.

We can say that tiredness and countless injuries have finally caught up with Jankovic, who took four pain killers to be able to play the match. I hope Jankovic will now take a long break and come back fresh and in top form. Read more »

Ana Ivanovic defeated six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in her career. The final score was 7-6 6-4. Ivanovic’s next opponent will be Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia who ended the remarkable run of Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska beating her 6-2 6-2.

The first set of the Ivanovic vs. Williams match was pulsating, with six consecutive breaks of serve. It was taken to a tiebreak which fourth seed Ivanovic won 7-3. Eighth seed Williams got to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but wasted it with inconsistent play while Ivanovic woke up and the former world No.1 couldn’t stop her from closing out the match. Read more »

Maria Sharapova ended Justine Henin's 32-match winning run to advance to the Australian Open semifinals for the fourth straight year. In one of the most consistent performances of her career, fifth-seeded Sharapova thrashed the world number one 6-4 6-0.

Henin, who suffered her last 6-0 rout back in 2002, hasn't been playing her best tennis in Melbourne and her shaky performance enabled powerful Sharapova to finish the match with such an impressive score. I'm sure the final result surprised everyone!

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Jelena Jankovic seems to have combated exhaustion as she impressively beat defending champion Serena Williams 6-3 6-4 to move into the Australian Open semifinals.

Seventh seed Williams was prone to errors, while third seed Jankovic played courageously, defended and attacked very well, something not many people believed she was capable of doing having in mind her injuries and tiredness. Read more »

Ana Ivanovic has a chance for revenge as in the Australian Open quarterfinals she clashes with Venus Williams, the woman that knocker her out of the last two Grand Slams, and in straight sets.

Fourth-seeded Ivanovic moved into the quarters with a 6-1 7-6 victory over 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki. To defeat the Danish teenager, a girl with loads of potential to reach the very top, Ivanovic had to save three break points in the first set and a set point in the second. Read more »

During her third round match against Virginie Razzano Jelena Jankovic was supposedly illegally coached from the stands by her mom. Jankovic claimed her innocence saying her mom was only encouraging her to keep fighting and not giving her any coaching tips. Jankovic also questioned the umpires decision as she doesn't understand Serbian, so how did she know what her mom told her. Despite her explanations, the world number four received a $2000 fine, the heaviest of the Australian Open so far!

"She just said, 'C'mon' in Serbian. I don't know what else she said afterwards. My coach is sitting right there next to her and he was very quiet," said Jankovic who will face Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

"I mean, it was the umpire's decision, but it was not right because she doesn't understand what my mom told me in Serbian."

Serena Williams was another female tennis player fined at this year's Australian Open, $1000 for swearing. (source: AFP)

Third seed Jelena Jankovic ended the impressive run of Australian Casey Dellacqua defeating her 7-6 6-1 in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Jankovic could have finished the first set much earlier. At 5-2, as she served out to take the set, Dellacqua broke her and went on to level to 5-all. Then the players exchanged breaks to take the set to a tie-break in which the Jankovic dominated. In the second set the Serb didn’t waste her chances and finished it off in 31 minutes.

So far, Casey Dellacqua’s best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the second round at the US Open 2007, so the world No.78 can be more than happy despite losing to Jankovic. Not to mention that the 22-year-old Dellacqua will become the best-ranked Australian female tennis player, overtaking Samantha Stosur.

In the quarterfinals, Jelena Jankovic will face defending champion Serena Williams, seeded-seventh. (photo via Getty Images)

Top seed Justine Henin had no trouble with Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipei, beating the world number 158, 6-2 6-2 to advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals. Her opponent will be Maria Sharapova who also quickly finished her fourth round match as she lost only two games to fellow Russian Elena Dementieva.

This quarterfinal clash promises a lot at least judging by their last meeting, in the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid. Read more »