Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and Czech Petra Kvitova will play for the Generali Ladies Linz title as they upset top seed Flavia Pennetta 7-6(5) 6-3 and second seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-2 respectively.

Both Wickmayer and Kvitova have won one WTA Tour singles title so far in their careers, and both came this season. Wickmayer was victorious in Estoril, while Kvitova claimed her maiden title in Hobart.

Wickmayer was a surprise semifinalist at the 2009 US Open, and even beat Kvitova en route to that career achievement. The Belgian leads the Czech 2-1 in career meetings. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Third seed Samantha Stosur edged defending champion and top seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 4-6 6-4 to advance to the HP Open final where she will face fourth seed Francesca Schiavone, who beat Sania Mirza 6-2 6-1 in the semifinals in just 59 minutes.

The world No.15 Stosur has earned her sixth shot to win her first WTA Tour singles title, and it’s not that Schiavone’s record is any better – the Italian is 1-9 in WTA Tour singles finals (her lone title came in the Gastein Ladies in 2007). However, both Stosur and Schiavone have plenty of doubles titles - Stosur has 22, Schiavone has 7.

Stosur won the last three matches played against Schiavone, all in straight sets, and two of those three came this year. (photos via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Jelena Jankovic, together with Orbit and Wrigleys, helped collect photos of people’s smiles in Serbia and the result is the largest such mosaic in the world, consisting of 137.264 photos.

The mosaic has 960 square meters and bares the image of Jelena Jankovic, who was the face of the campaign called "We collect smiles and we need yours".

The campaign started March 1 and ended September 20, while the ceremony of presenting the mosaic was held Thursday at the Belgrade Arena and was hosted by Jelena Jankovic.

"I am proud because I motivated such a great number of people to send their photographs and we have broken the Guinness record together. Smile has always been my trademark and from now on it will be a symbol of Serbia," said the Serbian tennis star.

The record was previously held by the Great Britain. (source: Blic)

Tennis players come from all over the world, and hence the pronunciation of their names is often a difficult and confusing task. The following video is therefore a precious reference, as native speakers read aloud the names of players from their countries.

Here you can see a list of the names in order. (via Forty Deuce)

Kuala Lumpur, Malasya, will welcome Russians Elena Dementieva and Maria Kirilenko, Indian Sania Mirza and Chinese Zheng Jie at the Showdown of Champions 2009, an exhibition event set to take place December 18-19.

The exhibition is a nice intro to the Malasya Classic, a new International-level tournament added to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendar to be hosted by Kuala Lumpur in February 2010. (source: HCFoo's Tennis Blog, photos: chascow, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Ralf Reinecke)

This is hilarious. Dinara Safina will be No.1 during the Sony Ericsson Championships, returning to the top spot after Serena Williams took it over this week.

Last year’s Sony Ericsson Championships points will come off the Monday of this year’s Sony Ericsson Championships points, which will make Safina 155 points ahead of Williams.

Having in mind all the pressure and criticism Safina had to face for not living up to the role of being the No.1 in the eyes of many, funnily, the Russian is now seen as being in an unfortunate situation. I love the following remarks made at tennis blog called Forty Deuce.

Commentator LadyRain said:

Aww. Poor Dina. All this after she worked so hard to not be number one. She really can't catch a break.

Commentator TheSkinny said:

Now imagine, she ends the year No.1 *shock* That would guarantee for an off-season full of trash talking!

I like Dinara, but the off-season is too long and needs some spice!

(photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Justine Henin has been granted a wildcard entry to the 2010 Australian Open, the Grand Slam she won in 2004.

The Belgian is planning to revive her tennis career at the start of the 2010 season, and her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, said last week that she would probably kick it off at the Brisbane International starting January 3rd.

The seven-time Grand Slam titlist, who was ranked No.1 for 117 non-consecutive weeks, including the day she retired (May 14, 2008), will need wildcards or qualifications to play in the main draw. (source: AFP, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-4 to win the China Open and inspiring $775,500. It’s the Russian’s third title of the season, the first two came at Stuttgart and Roland Garros, and the 12th of her career.

Radwanska was playing in a singles final for the first time since June 2008, and now she will return to the Top 10, although her perfect record in career finals has been ruined.

This latest success seems to have motivated Kuznetsova: "Normally I feel really tired at the end of the season, but now I feel great."

Kuznetsova had already qualified for the $4,550,000 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha (October 27 – November 1, 2009) and before going to the Persian Gulf one week prior to the event in order to acclimatize, she will spend some time practicing in Moscow. (sources AP, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnieszka Radwanska will face each other in the title match of the $4,500,000 China Open.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova booked her place in the final with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Nadia Petrova, No.13 seed. Kuznetsova broke Petrova five times, while she dropped her serve only once, early in the second set.

In the other semifinal, No.12 seed Radwanska defeated No.14 seed Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-3, and is now projected to return to the Top 10. The Pole rallied from early breaks in both sets, and has now won the last eight sets against Bartoli.

Kuznetsova won the China Open in 2006 and was a runner-up in 2004 and 2008. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Defending champion Venus Williams and first-time qualifier Victoria Azarenka secured berths at the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar.

"Qualifying for the year-end tournament is always a goal I set for myself at the beginning of the season and I am excited to have an opportunity yet again to compete with the best players in the world," said the world No.3 Williams, who has qualified for the ninth time in her career.

The world No.9 Azarenka said: "Winning my first Tour title and reaching the Top 10 for the first time in my career has really made my year and I couldn’t think of a better place to finish it than in Doha. Having an opportunity to travel to the year-end Championships is an accomplishment I am very proud of."

As the top eight singles players of the season are competing at the season-ending Championships, and as five have already qualified (Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova), there is just one more berth left to fill.

Additional info: Venus Williams has also qualified for the doubles competition at the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships. (source: On the Baseline)