The WTA Tour unveiled a new ad campaign entitled "Strong is Beautiful", aimed at kindling greater engagement of fans around the world by showing all the beauty of women’s tennis players whilst also portraying them as individuals who needed to overcome various hurdles in life in order to come where they are and stay there.

The campaign features 38 WTA players and includes TV, print and digital advertisements, as well as social media applications. I like this campaign, it’s classy, artistic and doesn’t promote only the very top players. Also, I like the 30-second videos. Besides the nice music, unique styling and the wonderful scenery and atmosphere, I think it's great that some players are telling their life story in their native language. Read more »

The only tournament in Germany had four German players in the quarterfinals, but all of them that could go out actually did, and now we have only Julia Goerges representing the country in the semis of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki was 4-1 behind in the first set against German world No.19 Andrea Petkovic, but the Dane rallied to win 10 straight games en route to a 6-4 6-1 victory. Wozniacki’s semifinal opponent will be Agnieszka Radwanska, who took out another German, Kristina Barrois, 7-5 6-3.

The quarterfinals also featured an all-German battle between Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki, and as Goerges won 6-4 6-4, she will be the only German representative in the final four, while playing her first Premier-level semifinal. Goerges is ranked 32nd in the world, and after Petkovic she is the second-ranked German player. Goerges’ opponent in the final four will be fifth seed Samantha Stosur, who pulled out a 2-6 6-3 7-6(3) win over world No.3 Vera Zvonareva. Stosur considers the match her best match of 2011.

There will be no play at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Friday, because it's a holiday. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Adidas made a nice presentation of their designs for Roland Garros 2011 in the form of an e-magazine called Adizene. There our beautiful player photos accompanied by a short interview embedded on the page.

You are certainly already familiar with these outfits, we've been seeing them around for months already. Ivanovic will wear her beautiful Adidas Adizero, only the pink and orange version with green details this time. I always love when clothing brands match the unmatchable colors. I especially love when for the red clay they use colors that resemble the red color of clay, and you think it would bland too much, but what you actually get is an intriguing and compatible combination. Read more »

German Andrea Petkovic came to the semifinal against struggling Maria Sharapova with the confidence of upsets over world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round and sixth seed Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals, but in the second and third sets the Russian showed the form that brought her so many titles and number one ranking to win the match 3-6 6-0 6-2.

Petkovic was dominant in the first set and it looked as if we were in for another Petko Dance. However, the match turned into a one-sided affair, to Sharapova's advantage. The Russian won 11 straight games, building a 5-0 lead in the third set, and Petkovic’s inspiring performance at the Sony Ericsson Open had a rather flat end. And this amazing result for Sharapova came despite her grueling 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(5) win in the previous round against Alexandra Dulgheru, and an ankle injury she suffered then.

All in all, Sharapova forced a perfect revenge for her shockingly easy 6-2 6-3 loss to Petkovic at the 2011 Australian Open.

World No.23 Petkovic will crack the Top 20 when the new rankings are released on Monday, while the 13-ranked Sharapova is ensured a spot in the Top 10 again.

Even though Sharapova played the Sony Ericsson Open final in 2005 and 2006, she will try to win her first title at the tournament, either against Vera Zvonareva or 2009 champion Victoria Azarenka.

Reminder: Do join our contest for a chance to win Maria Sharapova’s Nike dress! (photos: Tidalist, © Neal Trousdale)

In a long and closely-fought rain-interrupted Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinal, Andrea Petkovic followed up her win over world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki with a 2-6 6-2 6-4 upset of sixth seed Jelena Jankovic, Miami runner-up to Serena Williams in 2008.

In the first set, the seventh-ranked Jankovic faced no break points and won 80% of points on her serve, compared to Petkovic's 49%. Also, she won 51% of return points, compared to Petkovic's low 20%.

German world No.23 Petkovic established a 2-0 lead in the beginning of the second set and even though Jankovic had multiple break points in the third game, after a long fight Petkovic increased the lead to 3-0 and solidly went on to win the set 6-2.

In the decider, it was Jankovic who was first in the better position, leading 4-2, but it was obvious it wouldn't be an easy job for her. Petkovic took charge and even though Jankovic kept fighting, and maintained the match thrilling until the end, Petkovic won four straight games to reach the semifinals of the $4,500,000 tournament. (photo: sr_cranks)