Nadia Petrova started both sets against Ana Ivanovic with a deficit, but the early advantage wasn't enough for the Serb to end up victorious and the Russian won 6-3 7-6(4) at the Western & Southern Open.

The 15th-seeded Ivanovic had a comfortable 6-0 6-2 victory over qualifier Alexa Glatch in the first round, and against Petrova in the second round Ivanovic started the match by breaking her opponent (she quickly lost that advantage, though, when Petrova broke back in the following game) and in the second set Ivanovic established an initial 3-0 lead. However, no advantage was enough to counterbalance Ivanovic's numerous errors, including eleven double faults.

Petrova's next opponent will be Christina McHale, who made the biggest news of the tournament by defeating world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The US Open is approaching and it's time for reviewing what tennis stars will be wearing at the final Grand Slam of the season. The most famous brands, Adidas and Nike, are always the first to grab attention, so let's see what they have prepared for their biggest names.

Ana Ivanovic has been sporting a beautiful blue Adidas Fall Adizero Dress and at the US Open the 23-year-old Serb will wear the same dress, only in pink, or as they officially call it, in "sharp red". The dress has an open back and a delicate design on torso.

Serena Williams will finally give credit to her Nike clothes at a major and her two recent victories at Premier-level events will insure she pays back to all the time Nike made an outfit for her even though she didn't play a tournament.

Serena has two dresses for the 2011 US Open. During the day she will wear Autumn Smash Hard Court Dress in red, and for night matches she is expected to wear the blue version.

Maria Sharapova is also equipped for both day and night. The 2006 US Open champion has a Maria Ace Day Dress in gray and light purple with fluorescent red linings. Sharapova's night dress is not the same as the day one just with a darker color scheme, the style is compatible but different. Read more »

Kim Clijsters was playing her first match since ’s-Hertogenbosch in June and a right ankle injury, but her comeback lasted for only a set and a half as she retired from her opening match at the Rogers Cup against Zheng Jie with left abdominal injury. Clijsters won the first set 6-3, and retired in the second at 1-2.

Clijsters already had an ultrasound and she was diagnosed with partial tear in her left stomach muscle, which she first felt during her warmup for the match.

Serena Williams’ comeback is still fresh and she has already clinched a title at Stanford and in her first-round match against Alona Bondarenko at the Rogers Cup Serena won stunning 100% of points on first serve and 76% on the second. Also, in the 6-0 first-set win Serena lost only four points. Not to mention that the set lasted just 16 minutes! Final result: 6-0 6-3.

Ana Ivanovic also advanced to the second round, not troubled by qualifier Zhang Shuai en route to a 6-1 6-1 victory. Another Serbian, Bojana Jovanovski, got past the first round, but it was a retirement win – Jelena Dokic withdrew while trailing 2-0 with right shoulder injury. Last week’s titlist at Carlsbad Agnieszka Radwanska also won her first round, with a 6-4 6-1 win over Elena Vesnina. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Ana Ivanovic squeezed in the company of Top 3 seeds – Vera Zvonareva, Andrea Petkovic, Agnieszka Radwanska - in the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open.

After starting with a 4-1 deficit against fourth-seeded Peng Shuai, Ivanovic won 11 of the next 13 games and finished the match by winning the last 14 points. Final score: 6-4 6-2. Her next opponent will be top seed Vera Zvonareva who, as expected, had a tough test against Sabine Lisicki. In a marathon third set which lasted more than an hour, Zvonareva saved 7 of 8 break points and finally defeated Lisicki 6-3 3-6 6-4 on the fifth match point.

Injured Agnieszka Radwanska recovered from a bagel in the first set and defeated Daniela Hantuchova 0-6 6-4 6-4. In the semifinals she will play Andrea Petkovic who took out first time WTA quarterfinalist Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-1. (photos courtesy of John Bolan)

Last week at Stanford Ana Ivanovic played her first match since Wimbledon and her first since partnering with coach Nigel Sears and lost to Ayumi Morita 6-3 7-5. Ivanovic blamed nerves for the early loss and said she was trying to impress her new coach.

At her very next tournament Ivanovic's opening match happened to be against the same opponent and the 23-year-old didn't repeat the disappointment. She came back from 5-0 down in the second set to advance to the third round of the Mercury Insurance Open. It was the first time in Ivanovic's career that she has done so. Let's also mention that Ivanovic's comeback took place after her on-court consultations with Sears. Final score: 6-1 7-6(5).

Alberta Brianti will be Ivanovic's opponent in the third round. Brianti upset tenth-seeded Flavia Pennetta in the first round. (photo: sr_cranks)

Women's tennis players dominate the Forbes magazine Top 10 list of the highest-paid female athletes and Maria Sharapova is the leader for the seventh year in a row. Forbes included earnings from salaries, prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and exhibitions between July 2010 and July 2011.

The 24-year-old Maria Sharapova did make the final of Wimbledon, but the greatest share in her $25 million fortune earned in the one-year period came from lucrative deals with Nike, Head, Evian, Clear Shampoo, Sony Ericsson, Tiffany, Tag Heuer, and Cole Haan.

World No.1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki occupies the second position in the list with twice smaller earnings of $12.5 ($6 million from tournaments and $6.5 million from sponsors). The 21-year-old Wozniacki has deals with Adidas, Yonex, Compeed and Oriflame.

THE HIGHEST-PAID FEMALE ATHLETES

1. Maria Sharapova
2. Caroline Wozniacki
3. Danica Patrick (auto racing driver)
4. Venus Williams
5. Kim Clijsters
6. Serena Williams
7. Kim Yu-na (figure skater)
8. Li Na
9. Ana Ivanovic
10. Paula Creamer (golfer)

Read more »

Ana Ivanovic is intensively working on building a strong coaching base for her hopeful tennis resurgence. The Serb recently appointed Nigel Sears as her full-time coach and Scott Byrnes, who was Ivanovic's fitness trainer during the most successful time of her career, is back in the team.

Australian Byrnes, whose previous cooperation with Ivanovic lasted from July 2006 to July 2009, is looking forward to helping bring Ivanovic where she belongs. His statement:

We have some unfinished business on the WTA tour.

As a tribute to the good old times, check out the photo of Ivanovic's team, including Byrnes, dressed in Ivanovic's red Adidas dress in front of the Arc de Triomphe, after her 2008 Roland Garros victory. (photo: sr_cranks)

Maybe Andy Murray is that golden link between the Serbian sisters and success? Together with Andy’s brother Jamie, Jelena Jankovic won her first and only Grand Slam title, the magical 2007 Wimbledon mixed doubles, and today we got the news that Ana Ivanovic will be coached by Nigel Sears, father of Andy’s girlfriend Kim.

Nigel Sears will be Ivanovic’s full-time coach. He has quit his job as Head of Women’s Tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association and will travel with Ivanovic wherever she goes. Remember how important it was for Ivanovic to find a fully-dedicated coach?

"I couldn’t be happier," said Ana. "I’ve admired Nigel for some time now, and I can’t wait to start working with him on court." (photo: Ralf Reinecke)