We have the final verdict on Serena Williams’ outburst in the US Open 2009 semifinal – the world No.1 has been fined $175,000 and put on probation for two years.

If she makes further major offences at a Grand Slam in the next two years, she will be suspended from the US Open in 2010, 2011 or 2012. If she makes no major offence during the period mentioned, her fine will be reduced to $82,500.

Williams had already been fined $10,500 for the misconduct which included an expletive-laced rant at the official. It is the biggest fine given to a women’s tennis player since record began in 1990.

The $175,000 fine includes the $10,500 penalty. (source: Reuters, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

The second retrospection of tennis outfits we're doing this off-season is dedicated to unquestionably the best player of the year – world No.1 Serena Williams.

Serena started the season in an elegant and neutral Nike dress for the Medibank International Sydney, and followed up with blue tones at the Australian Open, and slightly less stylish cut, if I may say. Still, she won the tournament, and that's the most important thing.

The Paris and Dubai dress looks appalling at first glance, but I got used to it after some time, and it actually accentuates Serena's strong temperament and experimental nature. Read more »

Most sources of information now indicate that Serena Williams will be fined as much as 1 million dollars for her misconduct in the 2009 US Open semifinal against Kim Clijsters.

Williams is not likely to be banned from the 2010 Australian Open, but could lose her US Open ranking points and be obliged to give back her US Open prize money. Also, she could be suspended from playing the next US Open.

The ITF's Grand Slam Committee is expected to announce a final verdict very soon.

Reminder: Williams has already been fined $10,500 for the incident. (source: Women Who Serve, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Jelena Dokic will warm-up for the 2010 Australian Open, hopefully equally successful for her as the last one, at the January 8-16 Moorilla Hobart International.

At the 2009 Australian Open the former world No.4 reached the quarterfinals as a wildcard and 187th-ranked player, defeating three seeded players on the way. Since that unprecedented success Dokic hasn't made such major headlines concerning her on-court results, but she did win two ITF tournaments, in Athens (Greece) in September and Poitiers (France) in October.

The 26-year-old Dokic is currently ranked 57th. (source: Reuters, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour interviewed Vera Zvonareva, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Samantha Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova about their favorite place for a holiday.

Poor Samantha Stosur, she had to go to Bali instead of Hawaii.

Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova will play the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup.

The $1.2 million tennis exhibition will take place on March 1, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There will be two one-set semifinals, followed by a best-of-three-set final.

Last year's participants at the event were the Williams sisters and Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. Serena was the winner.

Tickets will go on sale December 2, 2009 and range from $25 to $1000. (source: Simply Serena Williams)

Only yesterday were we speculating what WTA players would be wearing at the start of the 2010 season, and now we already have one confirmation – Ana Ivanovic will certainly sport the yellow and red adidas adilibria dresses in the year to come.

Ivanovic will wear the yellow version of the dress at the Australian Open, while the red one is planned for the French Open.

The dresses are made of 100% recycled PES (polyester) and are part of the adidas sustainable Better Place range. ClimaCool® moisture management technology is included in the upper back and neck area, which keeps player’s body as cool as possible.

The adidas Barricade V will be Ivanovic's shoes of choice.

Jacob, thank you for telling me about the video!

Nothing of this is confirmed, but here are some previews of what women's tennis players may be wearing at the start of the 2010 season. Apparently, the new season is just around the corner.

Ana Ivanovic will supposedly wear this orange adidas adilibria dress, which has a yellow version as well.

Jelena Jankovic may be looking like a lemon and strawberry ice-cream if this is really her new ANTA outfit.

Dinara Safina will stick with classic adidas look. Read more »

As already mentioned here on Women's Tennis Blog, Kim Clijsters will be featured in the UK's most widely read women's magazine YOU!, to be out November 22. You may have already seen the first part of the photo shoot, and now Kim is sharing the behind the scenes with her super cute daughter Jada and one of her five dogs, Diesel, the Great Dane.

Here you can watch the video preview with Jada, and here with Diesel.

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour made an analysis of the presence of countries on the women's tennis scene and of course Russia is the leader.

Players from Russia had more than twice as many Top 100 players in the 2009 year-end rankings as the second-place country and won more than twice as many Tour singles titles as the second-place country.

I remember Kim Clijsters’ observation when she returned to the Tour: "A lot of Russian is being spoken in the locker room."

Players Ranked in 2009 Year-End Top 100 (As of November 9, 2009)

Russia: 15
Czech Republic: 6
France: 6
Germany: 6
Italy: 6
United States: 5
Romania: 4
Spain: 4
Belarus: 3
Belgium: 3
China: 3
England: 3
Slovakia: 3
Switzerland: 3
Ukraine: 3
Australia: 2
Austria: 2
Chinese Taipei: 2
Croatia: 2
Hungary: 2
Japan: 2
Poland: 2
Serbia: 2
Argentina: 1
Bulgaria: 1
Canada: 1
Denmark: 1
Estonia: 1
India: 1
Israel: 1
Kazakhstan: 1
Latvia: 1
Slovenia: 1
Uzbekistan: 1

Additional info: The United States has the record with six players in the year-end Top 10 in 1981, 1982 and 1983.

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Titles in 2009

Russia: 13
France: 5
United States: 5
Belarus: 4
Italy: 4
Denmark: 3
Spain: 3
Belgium: 2
Israel: 2
Germany: 2
Hungary: 2
Serbia: 2
Australia: 1
Austria: 1
Czech Republic: 1
Japan: 1
Romania: 1
Slovakia: 1
Switzerland: 1
Thailand: 1

Additional info: Russians won eight of the 19 Premier-level events in 2009, while no other country captured more than two Premier titles. (photos: Ralf Reinecke, Elisa)