Jelena Jankovic is now just one step away from defending her Internazionali BNL d’Italia title. The Serb was supposed to play Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, but the Russian withdrew before the match with a calf injury.

Sharapova believes that the injury is not serious and is expecting it to heal in a few days. Being ready for the French Open is her priority.

"The most important thing is recovery and to be ready for the French (Open), which is obviously a goal for every player," Sharapova, who will on Monday move to No.1 in the rankings, told a news conference.

"I'm going to Paris in a couple of hours. I'm going to get some treatment over there and try to be ready as soon as possible. I hope in two days I'll be able to be on court and be normal." Read more »

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic, seeded fourth, dismantled Venus Williams' power game and advanced to the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Jankovic defeated Williams 5-7 6-3 6-2.

"I was fighting for every point," said the world No.4. "Venus is really strong, and to win you have to really play your best."

I didn’t get to see the match, but as I can read in the news, Williams was let down by her forehand.

In the semis Jelena Jankovic will meet either ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder or second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who are now playing their quarterfinal. The other semifinal will feature French qualifier Alize Cornet, who advanced as injured Serena Williams withdrew, and sixth seed Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

Fifth-seeded Serena Williams withdrew from her Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarterfinal against French qualifier Alize Cornet due to a back injury.

Williams’ withdrawal gives world No.34 Cornet a walkover to the semifinals, where she'll face Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze, a 6-2 3-6 6-1 winner over Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova. Remember, Pironkova was the one who stunned top seed Ana Ivanovic. (photo via Getty Images)

Justine Henin surprised the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport on Wednesday, totally unexpectedly for everyone. Today, Henin’s official website published the full version of the Belgian's speech at the press conference.

It's a great day in my life, I believe that you can call it that. I'm here today to announce to you that I am putting a definitive end to my tennis career. I know that it is a shock for many people and a surprise, but for me it's decision I've thought about for sometime now. It is not a decision which I made because of a simple defeat in Berlin. I've thought about it in my head for sometime, for a few months already, since the latter month of 2007. It's an end to a beautiful adventure. Read more »

Now you can watch Russian tennis beauty Maria Sharapova all day long, both on your PC desktop and on your mobile phone.

On Sony Ericsson's website you can choose between seven PC wallpapers, in which you can see Maria Sharapova talking on her Z555i. Also, if you already have that mobile phone, you can download twelve wallpapers specifically tailored for the phone (I've heard the wallpapers can be used on many other mobile phones as well).

The 21-year-old Sharapova has a four-year sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson.

BTW: As Justine Henin has retired, Maria Sharapova will take over her No.1 singles ranking next Monday.

Justine Henin yesterday shocked everyone, except probably her family and closest friends, announcing her retirement while still being the highest-ranked women’s tennis player and just after a more than phenomenal year 2007.

The 25-year-old Belgian calmly announced her decision at a press conference at her tennis club. Her coach for twelve years Carlos Rodriguez wasn’t as strong and couldn't hold his emotions.

Seed No.1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia suffered a shock 6-4 5-7 6-2 loss to Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.

The fact that Ivanovic lost so early into a tournament would have been a much bigger news item, but now that Justine Henin has retired so unexpectedly, everything else in tennis will be in shade for some time.

Anyway, Ivanovic, who became top seed when Justine Henin pulled out, was never comfortable on the clay and committed 59 unforced errors to Pironkova's 26. Also, in the second set Ivanovic twice surrendered a break advantage.

Both the Williams sisters advanced on Wednesday – Serena defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-0, and Venus beat Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-1. Also, defending champion Jelena Jankovic beat Flavia Pennetta 6-1 6-4. (via BBC)

Justine Henin, top-ranked women’s tennis player, has shocked the world by announcing her retirement on Wednesday. Why did this come up so suddenly? The Belgian had mentioned she considered retirement and gave a time frame of two to five years, but who would have expected the world No.1 to retire just ten days after those statements.

Ok, this year hasn’t been so good for Henin, at least not by her standards, but it was far from being lost. I mean, she suffered some early losses and upsets, but she was still the best player out there in the majority of cases.

Anyway, I can’t say I'm stunned because I still can't believe the news, it hasn't reached my reason yet that Justine Henin has retired. Read more »

Maria Sharapova had vented her anger at the WTA Tour over a publicity photo shoot she claimed she was being forced into on the eve of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, one of the most important tournaments of the season. Sharapova’s brave actions, or more precisely her outspokenness, proved to be fruitful and on Monday the compromise between her and the WTA was reached. The photo shoot in question was significantly shortened – from 5 hours to just 90 minutes.

Earlier this month Sharapova launched her protest on her website, and asked for fans’ opinions. The Russian said she was threatened to be fined for not wanting to attend to photo shoot, and her reason for not wanting to do so was that she had to focus on tennis as the tournament in Rome is a big tournament.

Here's what the 21-year-old Sharapova said after the agreement with the WTA: "The compromise was still pretty difficult since it's before a very big event. (But) the time reduction definitely makes it a lot easier than going into a four or five-hour shoot, without (the time for) hair and make-up, which adds another hour." (via Down the Line)

Last week was one of the most memorable times in Dinara Safina's career, as she won the Qatar Telecom German Open beating three Top 10 players on the way. Today, the Russian has withdrawn from the tournament following the one in Berlin.

World No.14 Safina is out of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the official reason for her withdrawal is a back injury. Read more »