Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was upset by Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4 4-6 6-1, who earned her second Top 10 win, having famously beaten then-No.6 Venus Williams at last year's Australian Open. Kuznetsova came back from a set and a break down to force the third set, but lost it very quickly and became the first No.1 seed in eight years to lose her first match at Indian Wells, since 2002 when Kim Clijsters fell to now-retired Nathalie Dechy.

Ana Ivanovic, seeded 24th this year, was defeated 6-2 6-4 by world No.63 Anastasija Sevastova in the second round, and Ivanovic won't be even a Top 50 player any more. The Serb hired a new coach, the former one of tennis legend Steffi Graf, but the light at the end of the tunnel is still nowhere to be seen.

Two-time Indian Wells champion Kim Clijsters defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 6-1, while seed No.21 Daniela Hantuchova, another former champion in this year’s draw, suffered a 6-3 7-5 upset by Roberta Vinci. (photo: Tidalist)

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The long-awaited Billie Jean King Cup in the BNP Paribas Showdown took place on Monday night in New York and the winner is seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.

Firstly, the one-set, no-ad semifinals were played at the Madison Square Garden. Kim Cijsters defeated Serena Williams’ replacement Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7-2), while Venus Williams took care of Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4. I would like to point out a non-promising statement of Ana Ivanovic, who has a new coach: "It was a tough match. I was actually very nervous, but it makes it an important match. I just wanted to do so well." I can't believe we are listening to the same old story.

The final between Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters followed. Williams, who lost in the finals to her sister Serena last year, defeated Clijsters 6-4 3-6 7-5 in front of the crowd of 11,702 and earned $400,000 of the astonishing $1.2 million prize money. Good on you, Venus, for earning $787,000 in prize money in the past two weeks and one day ($350,000 for Dubai victory, $37,000 for winning Acapulco, and now these latest $400,000).

Billie Jean King herself did not attend the event because she is recovering from a recent double-knee replacement. (source: ESPN)

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Heinz Gunthardt, former coach of tennis legend Steffi Graf, is about to coach player in crisis Ana Ivanovic and hopefully get her back where she belongs.

The world No.23 Ivanovic and Gunthardt will start their cooperation at the BNP Paribas Showdown on March 1, the exhibition event where the former world No.1 is replacing top-ranked Serena Williams.

Gunthardt helped Graf win 12 Grand Slams, and hopefully he can assist Ana to at least get that ball toss back. The 22-year-old has been changing coaches frequently, will the new one do the trick? (via Down the Line, photo: chascow)

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World No.1 Serena Williams will not take part in the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup on March 1 because of a left leg injury and will be replaced by Ana Ivanovic.

We were having a discussion here on Women’s Tennis Blog as to how they chose players for the one-night exhibition event at the Madison Square Garden in New York and now we can safely say that tennis results are not in the first place. Former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic didn’t win single WTA title in 2009, and not to mention a Grand Slam one. In addition, last year she had her first non-Top 20 season in five years.

The leg injury has forced 12-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams to miss tournaments in Paris and Dubai. (source: ESPN, photo: paddynapper)

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Ana Ivanovic will not be able to play the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships because of tendonitis in her shoulder.

The world No.23 had been aware of the injury for quite some time, but she aggravated it during the last week’s doubles match in the Fed Cup.

"I'm very frustrated about this. I've had so many small injuries these past few months and this is another," said Ivanovic, who can’t serve because of the pain in her shoulder.

The doctors have told Ivanovic that she should be fine in 10 days or so. (source: Ana Ivanovic's official website, photo: chascow)

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