Tennis stars from Serbia, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, are welcoming the new season with tough losses and illness.

Jankovic is lacking match practice ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year, having played only one singles match in 2009.

"I have been feeling weak and sick for a couple of days," said Jankovic, who pulled out of the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong with flu. "I really have been trying my best to go on the court but I feel slow."

The world number one, still seeking her first Grand Slam title, added: "It's disappointing because I take care to try to play some matches and try to work on my game and get ready for the big Grand Slams but sometimes it's bad luck. What can I do?"  Oh, poor JJ.

As for the world number five Ivanovic, she has been suffering from stomach illness, and partly blames it for her quarterfinal loss to Amelie Mauresmo at the Brisbane International.

The 21-year-old, who has already arrived in Melbourne, said she would rest before playing practice matches to build momentum for the Australian Open.

"I had a little bit of a stomach illness but now I feel better," Ivanovic said.

"I think it was very long match the night before. It was hot and humid and I was dehydrated and just felt very dizzy. But I'm feeling OK.

"I'll have a few days off just to calm down. I don't want to take anything away from Amelie, because she played a great match and is a great player."

Despite health problems, Ivanovic is certain she will enter the Australian Open well-prepared.

I wish both Jelena and Ana fast recovery! It would be a shame if they weren't able to play their best at the Australian Open. (sources: BBC, Herald Sun, photos: Ralf Reinecke)

Elena Dementieva beat fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-1 at the ASB Classic in Auckland to win her first title of 2009, and 12th in her career.

The top-seeded Dementieva had a slow start in her 25th Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final. The unseeded Vesnina broke Dementieva in the third game of the match and built triple break point in the fifth game, sitting on the verge of a 4-1 lead. But the more experienced Dementieva won five of the next six games, stole the first set from Vesnina, and then cruised through the second set.

Dementieva didn’t drop a single set en route to the trophy, although in her first match of the week against Chan Yung-Jan she did trail 5-1 in the first set.

This week in Auckland, the world No.76 Vesnina, who was playing her first singles final, scored her seventh career win over a Top 20 player, it was against Caroline Wozniacki, and surpassed $1 million in career prize money. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Second seed Victoria Azarenka defeated Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-1 in the final of the Brisbane International to claim her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

Prior to the final in Brisbane, the 19-year-old Belorussian reached four WTA finals, but always ended up as runner-up: in Estoril and Tashkent in 2007 and Gold Coast and Prague in 2008.

However, this time it was different. Azarenka dominated the third-seeded Frenchwoman, breaking serve six times and winning in 71 minutes.

Azarenka didn’t drop a set on her way to the Brisbane International title, but that doesn’t mean she was unchallenged. The world No.15 was pushed to the limits by Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round (76(4) 75) and by Lucie Safarova (76(5) 64) in the quarterfinals. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo via Brisbane International)

Ana Ivanovic was upset by Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International, but the Serb is not giving up and has already landed in Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open.

By the way, Ana is looking awesome in casual jeans and black tank top. (via Forty Deuce)

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty won the 2009 Hopman Cup with victory over the Russian brother-sister team of Dinara Safina and Marat Safin in Perth on Friday.

Russia had been the favorites to win the mixed team event since world No.3 Dinara Safina and No.29 Marat Safin were ranked much higher than their respective singles opponents. However, not everything goes in accordance with the ranking.

World number 19 Cibulkova beat Safina 6-7(3) 6-1 6-4 for the first time, while world number 250 Hrbaty edged out the two-time Grand Slam champion Safin 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(3).

The Slovak Republic have won their third Hopman Cup title. (sources: Reuters, Hompan Cup)

Hard-hitting Venus Williams defeated Anna Chakvetadze 7-6(1) 6-3 at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong, while Vera Zvonareva came from behind to beat Gisela Dulko 6-4 0-6 6-3 which means that Team Americas and Team Russia are tied at 1-1 in the JB Gold Group.

Chakvetadze played well in the first set, but the Russian couldn't maintain her form in the second.

Williams will play Zvonareva and Dulko faces Chakvetadze on Saturday, before a final doubles match.

Just for the record: Don’t forget that Williams crushed world No.1 Jelena Jankovic on Thursday. And by the way, Team Europe captain Jankovic, paired with Michelle Larcher de Brito, lost to Zheng Jie and Sania Mirza 6-1 6-1 in doubles on Friday. Also, Mirza upset Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-3 6-4, so Team Asia-Pacific beat Team Europe 2-0. (source: ESPN, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The final of the ASB Classic in Auckland will feature two Russians and two Elenas. It will be the 17th all-Russian singles final in Tour history. Elena Dementieva played eight of the previous 16, while Elena Vesnina appears in a singles final for the first time.

Top-seeded Dementieva advanced to the title match defeating last year's runner-up Aravane Rezai 6-2 6-2 in just over an hour. The other semifinal was a much tighter contest as unseeded players Vesnina and Anne Keothavong went toe-to-toe for just under three hours. Vesnina eventually won 67(3) 61 75.

The Auckland final will be only the second career meeting of Dementieva and Vesnina. Their first encounter was in 2006 and Dementieva won it 61 46 64. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photos: vesnina-elena.com, Tennis Channel)

Second seed Victoria Azarenka beat Italian Sara Errani in the Brisbane semifinals, while Marion Bartoli advanced when Amelie Mauresmo retired hurt during the first set of their semifinal.

"I'm obviously very happy – I just want to do better than the last time and win my first title," said the last year’s finalist Azarenka who went past Errani 6-3 6-1 in just over an hour. "I will fight for every point. It's the last match so you have to give everything you have and stay positive no matter what."

In the other semifinal, Mauresmo, who beat top seed Ana Ivanovic in the Brisbane quarters, retired trailing 0-4 to fellow Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. During the match, Mauresmo received medical treatment to her left thigh and lower back.

"It's frustrating and not how you want to end the tournament but I guess it's more sensible to make sure I'm 100% for Melbourne," said Mauresmo whose participation in next week’s Medibank International in Sydney has become uncertain.

Azarenka and Bartoli have played just once so far, in the second round of the 2007 Australian Open, and the Belorussian won in straight sets. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photos by Elsa/Getty Images via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

As you know, world No.1 Jelena Jankovic was demolished by Venus Williams on Thursday at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong.

Knowing how tough Jankovic’s preparations were, it was natural for us to expect at least a close fight, while the outcome was just close to embarrassment for Jankovic. According to the Serb herself, she is still not warmed up, while the American claims she has always been good right when season starts.

"I've always been a good player off the jump. That's always been the way I've played throughout my career," said Williams.

On the other hand, here's what Jankovic said after her first singles match of the 2009 season: "It was very hard to get into the match. I felt very slow on the court and didn't really get my rhythm out there. But it's the first match of the season so I can't expect myself to play the best tennis, which is normal."

Was this gap what made the score 6-2 6-2? We will get the best answer in Melbourne! (via Fox Sports, image: TennisPhotos)

World number two Serena Williams has arrived in Sydney and will shake off the Christmas-New Year rust at the Medibank International. The American declared she was fully fit to start competing.

"I don’t think I have any hammy problems. I’m good, yeah," said Williams, who withdrew from the Hopman Cup citing hamstring injury.

Serena also promised to reveal her new line of tennis clothes in Melbourne, where she will be fighting for her fourth Australian Open title.

The Medibank International starts January 11th in Sydney and Serena Williams is the top seed, ahead of Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova. (source: Australian Open, photo: Ralf Reinecke)