Some women’s tennis players have united to raise funds and morale of those affected by bushfires in Victoria, Australia.

Dinara Safina, Casey Dellacqua, Daniela Hantuchova, Ana Ivanovic, Samantha Stosur, Rennae Stubbs, Ai Sugiyama and Serena Williams have donated personal items of value, which will be auctioned off to raise money for the Tennis Bushfire Relief Appeal.

"What has happened in Australia is shocking and so sad, and I would like to send my deepest sympathies to everyone who has been affected by this tragedy," said 2008 Australian Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic.  "I have family in Melbourne and was very concerned for the safety and welfare of their friends in Victoria.  Australians have a great spirit, and my thoughts are with them."

"My prayers go out to everyone involved. It's such a sad and unfortunate event to happen and the loss of life has been tragic," said 2009 Australian Open champion Serena Williams.  "I admire the heroism of those who risked their lives to help others." (source: Tennis Australia, photos: Ralf Reinecke)

Thanks to the Off the Baseline website we’re able to see the highly-anticipated 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photos prior to their official release.

Russian Maria Kirilenko, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova and French Tatiana Golovin were photographed by Walter Iooss. As for Kirilenko, we know she enjoyed posing on the beach in the Dominican Republic.

We still don’t know who will appear on the cover; it will be announced on Monday’s episode of David Letterman. The 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is dropping on Tuesday the 10th.

Women’s tennis players that had previously appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue include: Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Here’s the overview of all Daniela Hantuchova's 2008 Nike tennis outfits, at request of out reader Jacob, who also helped us in the making of this retrospection. Previously we featured Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Kirilenko, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.

In terms of fashion, 2008 didn’t start well for Hantuchova. In Sydney she wore Nike Sharapova Australian Open Flora dress and got us totally confused. Plus, the dress didn't really look good on the Slovak. In the end it turned out Maria Sharapova didn’t wear that same brown dress, but a white version of it.

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Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daniela Hantuchova lost on the third day of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

The fifth-seeded Kuznetsova was beaten by Patty Schnyder for the first time in more than three years. Schnyder advanced into the second round with a 6-4 4-6 7-5 victory over the Russian.

Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, runner-up in Stuttgart in 2002, lost 6-3 6-2 in the first round to seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

Schnyder, who is seeking her second title of the year after winning in Bali, will face Russian Nadia Petrova in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The Olympic bronze medalist Zvonareva will next face Marion Bartoli of France. (photo: hantuchova-daniela.com)

Some women’s tennis players visited the New York Fashion Week to see what the trends for Spring 2009 will be, while some modeled at the Bali Fashion Show. Let's see how it all went out.

Newly-crowned US Open champion Serena Williams joined Ivana Trump backstage at the Luca Luca show. Read more »