Ana Ivanovic defeated six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in her career. The final score was 7-6 6-4. Ivanovic’s next opponent will be Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia who ended the remarkable run of Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska beating her 6-2 6-2.

The first set of the Ivanovic vs. Williams match was pulsating, with six consecutive breaks of serve. It was taken to a tiebreak which fourth seed Ivanovic won 7-3. Eighth seed Williams got to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but wasted it with inconsistent play while Ivanovic woke up and the former world No.1 couldn’t stop her from closing out the match. Read more »

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What? This was supposed to be Maria Sharapova’s Australian Open outfit! Even though the dress is called Nike Sharapova Australian Open Flora dress, slender Daniela Hantuchova is the one working it these days at the Medibank International in Sydney.

I'm confused now. Will both of them wear it at the Australian Open?

The outfit fits Maria’s style, but if I were Hantuchova I would have opted for something completely different. And, even though I admire both the design and color of the dress, I find the sweat marks totally unflattering. (via Down the Line)

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World number nine Daniela Hantuchova saved five set points and eventually won the opening set, and after that the Slovakian quickly overcame Russian world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova. Final result: 7-6(7) 6-0.

Kuznetsova started the first set with a 3-0 lead, but battling Hantuchova fought back and took the set to a tiebreak. The tiebreak was tight, but the Slovakian stayed strong and won it. Hantuchova was clearly dominant in the second, and here’s the fact — Kuznetsova scored only four points in the first four games of the second set. How disappointing from the second-ranked player in the world. (photo via Getty Images)

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Ana Ivanovic secured her second win at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships with a 6-2 7-6 (9) victory over Daniela Hantuchova.

The 20-year-old Ivanovic almost won the first set 6-0, but the Slovakian broke Ivanovic at 5-0, and prolonged the set. The second set was much more dramatic, there were many very long games and not to mention the tie-break! Hantuchova was a break down for the first part of the second set, but managed to even the result to 4-all. The hard-serving Serb later broke the Slovakian for a 6-5 lead, but Hantuchova didn’t give up and took the match to a tie-break. Ivanovic eventually won the long tie-break in which both the players had multiple match/set points. (photo via Getty Images)

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Venus Williams, originally in seventh place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships points standing, has been forced to withdraw. Williams suffered dizziness during the US Open earlier this year and has been told by doctors not to play in the November 6-11 Madrid event.

As you know, only eight singles players can compete for a share of the $3-million prize purse at the world’s richest annual women's sporting event. Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze had qualified before. In my previous post I wrote that Maria Sharapova didn’t qualify because Daniela Hantuchova won the Generali Ladies Linz title, but now that Venus Williams has pulled out of the tournament, both the Russian and the Slovakian will play in Madrid.

This will be Sharapova’s fourth and Hantuchova’s second appearance in singles at the Sony Ericsson Championships. Sharapova was a champion at the event in 2004 and has been a semifinalist each of the last two years.

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