Eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was the first to enter the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open by overcoming Danish 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1.

The 2006 Miami titlist defeated Wozniacki in 2 hours 54 minutes and will next play the winner of the Victoria Azarenka vs. Samantha Stosur quarterfinal, set to take place later on Tuesday.

Other quarterfinalists will take the courts on Wednesday. They include Serena Williams against Li Na and Venus Williams against Iveta Benesova. (photo by our reader Jacob)

Jelena Dokic’s career-reviving run to the 2009 Australian Open quarterfinals has brought her some additional financial fruits in the form of an endorsement deal with Lacoste, believed to be potentially worth close to $4.4 million over three years.

We could see the 25-year-old Dokic dressed in Lacoste at the ongoing Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she reached the second round, but her further progress was stopped there by Caroline Wozniacki.

After becoming the most-talked about person at this year’s Australian Open, Dokic, who is now represented by management giant IMG, also entered into a lucrative arrangement with Australian budget airline Jetstar. (source: The Age, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki added fourth seed Elena Dementieva to the list of top players who exited the tournament too early, which already includes Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

While the four women lost in the third round or earlier, Dementieva was a bit better,  falling to the WTA Tour's newcomer of the year 2008 7-5 6-4 in the fourth round.

The 18-year-old Dane, ranked 12th in the world, came back from a break down in both sets to reach her sixth quarterfinal of the season.

Wozniacki’s next opponent will be world No.8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, who comfortably won her match against fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 6-1. (source: Reuters, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Second seed Dinara Safina and seventh seed Ana Ivanovic are being as blue as their adidas outfits at the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, as both exited the tournament in the third round already.

The Russian world No.2 Safina lost 6-1 6-4 to Australian Samantha Stosur, while last week’s finalist at Indian Wells, Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, fell to unfortunately almost-forgotten Agnes Szavay of Hungary.

"It just bad match for me, it was just a disaster match," Safina commented.

After being upset Ivanovic said: "I hardly did anything well today. I was trying to come in and I was volleying pretty well at times, but I was really disappointed. I couldn't really hold my serve." (source: BBC, photos via Ana Ivanovic's website, Sony Ericsson Open)

Jelena Jankovic’s terrible 2009 season is rapidly going even more downwards. After losing her opening match at the previous tournament, the BNP Paribas Open, Jankovic succumbed to Gisela Dulko in her opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open. Venus and Serena Williams, on the other hand, continued to do well, and both advanced to the third round in straight sets.

We have to mention that Dulko didn’t defeat the third-seeded Jankovic easily. Jankovic led 4-2 before losing the first set, and then in the second led 5-2 with two set points in that game and another at 5-3, and also led 5-2 in the tiebreak. The last year’s runner-up eventually lost 6-4 7-6(5).

Five-time Sony Ericsson Open champion Serena Williams, the No.1 seed, defeated American wildcard Alexa Glatch 6-2 6-3, while fifth-seeded Venus Williams was down a break in both sets against Shahar Peer, but won 6-3 6-3. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Seeded players were mostly successful as the bottom half of the draw played the second round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Two of the Top 8 seeds in action cruised, No.2 seed Dinara Safina and No.7 Ana Ivanovic. Seed No.4 Elena Dementieva and No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova survived their three-setters.

No.11 seed Victoria Azarenka defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-2, the player who was shining last week at Indian Wells. Wildcard Jelena Dokic reached the second round, but couldn’t overcome Caroline Wozniacki, and lost 6-3 5-7 6-2.

Seed No.15 Flavia Pennetta edged doubles partner Maria Kirilenko, while No.12 seed Marion Bartoli became the first big upset of the week, falling to qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova 6-4 6-3 and enabling Yakimova to score her first Top 20 win.

Seed No.27 seed Sybille Bammer and No.28 seed Alona Bondarenko were also upset, falling easily to Samantha Stosur and Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-1 and 6-1 6-0, respectively.

Others advanced well, including: No.18 seed Patty Schnyder, No.20 seed Amelie Mauresmo, No.22 seed Anna Chakvetadze, No.24 seed Alisa Kleybanova, No.25 seed Agnes Szavay and No.31 seed Carla Suarez Navarro. (source and photo: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Top-ranked Serena Williams has been named the WTA Tour Player of the Year for the second time in her career.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion, who won the same award in 2002, claimed the US Open title last year and reached the Wimbledon final. She also won Bangalore, Miami and Charleston, as well as a gold medal with sister Venus in the doubles at the Beijing Olympics.

Other awarded players:

Cara Black and Liezel Huber – Team of the Year

Dinara Safina – Most Improved Player of the Year

Zheng Jie – Comeback Player of the Year

Caroline Wozniacki – Newcomer of the Year

Ana Ivanovic – Humanitarian of the Year

Elena Dementieva – Karen Krantzcke sportsmanship award

Liezel Huber – Player Service Award

The ceremony to honor the award winners was held Thursday at the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams didn’t attend it.

Remind yourselves of who won the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Awards for 2007. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

It’s official: Kim Clijsters will again play on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Her return from retirement is planned for the US hardcourt season.

The former world No.1 has asked for Cincinnati, Toronto and US Open wildcards. According to the plans, the tennis player who retired in May 2007 will make her comeback on August 10, at the Cincinnati Open.

"When I started preparing for the Wimbledon game with Steffi Graf I felt this drive. I wanted a new challenge. This is just for fun for now to see if I can do it," said the 25-year-old Clijsters, the winner of 34 singles titles.

"I don't need to be number one again. I have done that and I don't need to do it again. I am just going to see how things evolve."

After retiring from tennis, Clijsters married basketball player Brian Lynch and gave birth to daughter Jada. (source: Reuters, photo: Stephane Martinache)

Serena Williams's collection of accessories and clothing called Signature Statement will debut on Home Shopping Network on April 30th.

"I always want to make a statement, both on and off the court," said the world No.1. "One of my dreams has always been to share gorgeous gifts of fashion and luxury with the world. Off the court, my passion is fashion. Signature Statement is my own line of accessories and fashion, complete from jewelry to dresses."

The collection will retail from $29.95 to $100. Serena describes the accessories as "feminine, classic, statement pieces." Read more »

Venus Williams and Andy Murray played tennis on top of cars to promote the Sony Ericsson Open, while Ana Ivanovic and Rafael Nadal did something less extraordinary for the same cause: they promoted the Miami tournament by playing golf.

The event took place on the 11th green at Crandon Golf, Key Biscayne, Florida. (via Down the Line)