Just like Adidas for Ana Ivanovic, Fila opted for navy for the upcoming French Open, one of Fila's signature colors which perfectly suits the red clay. The contrast is provided by pink and white. The Summer 2013 Baseline collection features various types of shirts, two versions of the Summer Baseline dress, skorts in white, pink and navy, a hooded jacket and matching pants, wristbands and a pink visor.

Jelena Jankovic, the most recognizable face of Fila, will wear the dress with thick straps, racer back and laser cut mesh overlay on upper back and skirt. Other high-profile Fila representatives Julia Goerges and Nadia Petrova are expected to sport the separates – the skort and tank – Goerges in pink and Petrova in navy. (source: Tennis Identity)

At the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Romanian world No.64 Simona Halep is scoring huge victories one after the other and she’s s now through to the biggest semifinal of her career where the concrete wall of Serena Williams is likely to end her dream run. However, we have to mention that their last and only meeting of two years ago, even though on grass, was a tough three-setter, won by Williams 3-6 6-2 6-1.

After going through qualifying and beating former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova to enter the main draw, Halep dispatched two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round, fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the second, seed No.13 Roberta Vinci in the third and today she triumphed over former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic after coming from the brink of defeat in the third set, always catching up with Jankovic’s leads, and saving two match points to eventually win 4-6 6-0 7-5. Halep’s semifinal opponent, reigning No.1 Serena, eased past Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-0 and recorded the best winning streak of her career with 22 successive matches.

As for the other semifinal, seventh seed Sara Errani received a walkover when two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova withdrew with a viral illness. Still, she stayed at the tournament long enough to have the opportunity to wish her recently-publicly-confirmed boyfriend a happy 21st birthday (it was after her Thursday's third-round win over Sloane Stephens). Errani's semifinal obstacle will be third seed Victoria Azarenka, who defeated ninth Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 6-3 in the last quarterfinal. (photos by Francesca Moscatelli, Beyond the Baseline)

In the golden period of her career Jelena Jankovic won back-to-back Internazionali BNL d’Italia titles (2007 and 2008) and after years of predominantly weak results, the Serb has been experiencing a revival of sorts recently, with this spring’s Miami semifinals and Charleston final, and today’s triumph in the grinder against fifth seed Li Na is another reminder that the former world No.1’s abilities should not be given up on. In two hours and 39 minutes, the unseeded Jankovic eliminated Li 7-6(2) 7-5. After resisting Li’s initial 2-0 lead, then her recovery from 5-3 down and the saving of five set points, Jankovic won the first set in the tiebreak, while in the second set she did not let the victory slip away when Li recovered from the brink of defeat, saved a match point and leveled to 5-5. Jankovic broke her serve again and closed the match in the following game.

Jankovic’s quarterfinal opponent will be Simona Halep who relentlessly keeps progressing – after victories over Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the Romanian upset seed No.13 Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-2. Read more »

The quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix will feature four Grand Slam champions, three of which have won Roland Garros (Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Li Na).

Top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova played her first match on clay this season and it was a very tough victory for the Russian, as she needed three hours and nine minutes to get past Lucie Safarova with a 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3 score. Sharapova made eight double faults in the match and counterbalanced them with eight aces, while she converted just five of her 19 chances to break Safarova's serve. In the quarterfinals, Sharapova's opponent will be fellow Roland Garros champion Ana Ivanovic, who defeated Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-3.

The second-round clash of two unseeded players Jelena Jankovic and Sabine Lisicki was a highly entertaining and great-quality affair, with the home player advancing, but only after Jankovic saved an astonishing six set points in the first set and two match points in the second (actually, on the first match point Lisicki made her one and only double fault of the match). Throughout the encounter it was Lisicki who had the upper hand, but Jankovic was constantly hanging in there and causing the aggressive Lisicki much trouble, not allowing her to easily capitalize on her leads. At first, Lisicki broke Jankovic to lead 5-3 in the first set, but Jankovic broke right back and amazingly saved three set points to level to 5-5. When Lisicki was 6-5 40-0 up, Jankovic again showed her heart and excellent current form, but in the end she fell in the tiebreak. In the second set Lisicki was again constantly leading, but in the tenth game Jankovic leveled to 5-5, before eventually succumbing to the German's pressure 7-6(3) 7-5. Despite the loss, Jankovic has every reason to celebrate her current tennis, her first-round win over Samantha Stosur and her extraordinary performance today against Lisicki. It's almost midnight and the winner of the late encounter between Bethanie Mattek Sands and fourth seed Sara Errani will be Lisicki's quarterfinal opponent.

Second seed Li Na swept past qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1 6-2 and will next play fellow Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova, who recovered from 2-6 0-1 to beat Julia Goerges 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2. Third seed Angelique Kerber defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0 6-4 and her quarterfinal rival will be Yaroslava Shvedova, who recorded a 7-5 6-4 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro, the winner over Caroline Wozniacki in the first round. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Jelena Jankovic recorded a 6-4 6-4 victory over sixth seed Samantha Stosur, favorite on paper, in the high-profile match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to wrap up the first round of the $795,707 tournament. Coming off two excellent results at the recent Premier-level Miami (semis) and Charleston (final), the world No.18 Jankovic displayed solid form against Stosur, whose recovery from a calf strain is still questionable.

The match started with Stosur's serve, and both players held up to 4-4, when Jankovic earned her first and only break point of the set, but it was enough for her to seal the deal, even though she did struggle to close the set, as she saved one break point, on her second set point she double-faulted, while the third chance she didn't waste. Jankovic was great on winning points when her first serve was in, winning 19 of 22.

In the second set Jankovic quickly built a 3-1 lead, and the break in the third game of the set proved to be crucial. Jankovic did have an opportunity to finish the match on Stosur's serve in the ninth game, leading 5-3, but Stosur fought off two match points, before Jankovic finally finished in the next game, after one hour and 36 minutes of play.

Next for Jankovic is Sabine Lisicki, whom she's played and defeated three time so far, but all the meetings were in 2009.

In other notable first-rounders, fifth seed Petra Kvitova barely won against Annika Beck (who was coming off the Katowice semis), scoring a 7-5 6-7(0) 6-3 victory by finishing the match with 110 points won to Beck's 109, while seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki fell to Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(6) 6-1. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)