Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and Hungarian sensation Agnes Szavay lost in the first round of the Australian Open. I didn't expect these two members of the top 20 to leave Melbourne so early.

No.10 seed Marion Bartoli, France’s best-ranked WTA player, lost to world No.80 Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

As for Agnes Szavay, the 2008 Australian Open was her first, but no one expected her to say goodbye so early. She started the last year ranked 185th and by the end of it she was in the top 20 with two titles and a quarterfinal appearance at the US Open. Still, the Fila-clad Hungarian, seeded 20th at the Aussie Open, lost to world No.110 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Other seeds to fall on day 2 were No.16 Dinara Safina and No.22 Lucie Safarova. (photo via Getty Images)

At her official website, Serena Williams very openly blogged about getting dumped and her disappointment in men. Since the confession received much more attention than she thought it would, she decided to delete the post. But of course, the entry from Serena’s diary didn't disappear from the internet. If you're a celebrity you should definitely keep such things to yourself, even if you would like to share certain emotions with your fans. Too bad, but that's the way it is.

So, here’s what the tennis star decided to delete: Read more »

Until she showed up on court to play her first round match at the Australian Open we didn’t know for sure which dress Maria Sharapova would be wearing.

First, we were convinced it would be the brown dress called Nike Sharapova Australian Open Flora dress. But no! Daniela Hantuchova sported it at the last week’s tournament in Sydney, so we thought there was no way the Russian fashionista and last year's Australian Open runner-up would wear something non-exclusive at a Grand Slam.

Finally, the mystery is resolved — Sharapova is wearing that same dress, but the color is different. Good enough.

BTW: In the first round, fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova defeated Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4 6-3, and will next play Lindsay Davenport, who has just climbed to the top of the list of the highest earners in women’s sport. (via Tennis Served Fresh)

Third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia advanced to the second round of the Australian Open after a long and totally undecided encounter with Austrian prodigy Tamira Paszek.

Except for a few moments in the match when she really shined, Jankovic made lots of double faults and unforced errors, easily lost her service games, nothing went her way, and on top of all that, struggled with the injury she sustained in the Hopman Cup. The 17-year-old Paszek, on the other hand, was strong, her shots were fast and precise, and overall played much better.

Read more »

Own the Zone Sporting Goods is a company that designs and distributes innovative and fun sports products that help players reach their zone of peak performance.

OTZ band vibration dampeners for tennis racquets are being sold at the world famous Sanchez- Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain, and the players and coaches love the great feel and sound of the OTZ bands on their racquets.

"Having not used traditional vibration dampeners for over 10 years, I recently tried the durable and colorful Own the Zone Band – and I haven't taken it off my racquet since. Many of our players and coaches have followed," said Andrew Burgess, Head of Player Development at the Sanchez-Casal Academy. "People are always asking for more bands, this is certainly the best endorsement a product can receive. Our players love the way the OTZ band makes the ball feel off the racquet and it gives a great sound off the strings." Read more »

The Australian Open was run by just four full-time staff members sixteen years ago, while today that number is 140.

Sarah Clement, who is now Tennis Australia’s general manager of operations and events, was one of those four people and she shared with the public what it was like to organize the Australian Open back then.

"We were responsible for everything – players, sponsors, staffing, site, contractors, media, you name it," she explains.

"It was the four of us and we did everything. You literally did have a nervous breakdown. It’s a bit blurred, I think I literally ran for three weeks."

Can you imagine that a Grand Slam was prepared in this way? How things have changed. The 2008 Australian Open is organized by 140 full-time staff members, and a total of over 4000 people will work around the clock to deliver what is planned to be the biggest and best Australian Open ever. (source: Australian Open)

Former world number four Jelena Dokic failed to qualify for the 2008 Australian Open, and now she’s angry at Tennis Australia (TA) for not giving her a wildcard.

Besides criticizing them for not supporting her in times of crisis, she also questioned the wildcard selection policy.

"The issue is who they (TA) gave it to. They didn't even wait to see how I would play in Hobart. The wildcards were announced after the first day of qualifying in Hobart, so I was disappointed they didn't even take me into consideration," said the 24-year-old Dokic, who was hoping to revive her career through the Australian Open.

"I definitely think I deserved a wildcard into the main draw, I think I've done more in one week and had more big wins in one week than some of those girls have in their whole careers."

Dokic also said that some selectors were bias and unfair because they gave the wildcards to their trainees. (source: DNA, photo: Getty Images)

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has signed an exclusive four year sponsorship agreement with Maria Sharapova, who will become the company’s first global brand ambassador.

Not only will the Russian fashionista undertake a series of innovative new consumer brand campaigns, but she will also be working with Sony Ericsson’s design team on a range of products and accessories. I believe in Sharapova’s taste and I’m waiting for some really nice things to come out.

Dee Dutta, Corporate Vice President and Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson, said: "Maria’s iconic status, determination, dynamism, success and charm match strongly with the Sony Ericsson brand, which prides itself on innovative and cool design with substance."

Maria Sharapova added: "Even though most people know me as a tennis player, I have so many passions beyond the sport like fashion, music, film and design; which Sony Ericsson and I are going to be exploring together through our partnership."

The off-court agreement with the tennis superstar confirms Sony Ericsson’s great interest in women's tennis, as the company already has a 6 year $88 million sponsorship deal with the WTA Tour. That deal was signed in January 2005 and is the biggest in the history of women’s sport. (via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog, photo via Maria Sharapova's site)

Nicole Vaidisova and Radek Stepanek allegedly applied for a marriage license on December 10, but none of them has commented on that yet. After a long period of silence, the story develops, well, kind of. People are speculating whether this is Vaidisova’s engagement ring, but still nobody knows the answer. When will this mystery end?

World No.31 Sania Mirza gets sued for this act!

The Indian player allegedly dishonored her country’s flag by putting her feet right in front of it while watching a match at the Hopman Cup in Perth. A lawyer in Madhya Pradesh has filed a case against the darling of Indian sports. If she is found guilty, she could receive a sentence of up to three years in prison, plus a fine. Read more »