Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic was lucky to scrape through her first two rounds of the 2010 US Open, winning 6-4 4-6 7-5 against Simona Halep and 6-4 3-6 6-2 against Mirjana Lucic, but fell in straight sets in the third round to seed No.31 Kaia Kanepi, despite having a very good opportunity to take the match to the decider.

Jankovic lost the first set to Kanepi 6-2 in 32 minutes and found herself one game from defeat when the Estonian was serving at 5-3 in the second set. However, Jankovic won three games in a row and was serving to win the second set. Still, the comeback proved to be brief and Kanepi broke Jankovic to force a tiebreaker in which she quickly earned a 6-1 lead before converting her first match point. Final score: 6-2 7-6(1).

By reaching the fourth round of the US Open, Kanepi has recorded her best result at the tournament. Her next opponent will be either Patty Schnyder or seed No.15 Yanina Wickmayer. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Women's tennis fashion is attracting a lot of attention, especially at Grand Slams when clothing sponsors and players try to showcase the best they have. So let's see what they've come up for the 2010 US Open.

I'll start with adidas, my overall favorite, as they always make outfits that have a glamorous touch but can also be easily worn at everyday practice.

Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic are sporting pink adidas Women's Fall adilibria Dress.

Russians Dinara Safina and Maria Kirilenko are clad in adidas Barricade Top and Skort.

Caroline Wozniacki is looking great in Stella McCartney Tennis Performance Dress, contrasting nicely with Tennis Performance Bra Top. Elena Dementieva and Yonex once again failed to impress with design and fellow blogger C Note, who saw the dress live at the US Open, said that it even looks two sizes too big on Dementieva.

As usual for a Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova has two versions of a Nike dress – one for day matches and a darker piece for night. When we reviewed the dresses from the photos prior to the Open they looked somewhat questionable, but when seen on Sharapova they are a perfect match. You can see the dresses closer here and here.

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Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic had a tough opening match at the US Open against world No.96 Simona Halep of Romania. As Jankovic said, she wasn’t playing her best tennis, but was able to get through.

The 2008 US Open finalist Jankovic lost the first set and found the 18-year-old Halep serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider. Halep was actually two points away from victory, but Jankovic then broke her serve and won all the remaining games to advance to the second round. Final score: 4-6 6-4 7-5.

Halep made her Grand Slam debut at this year’s French Open and lost in the first round as well.

Seed No.11 Svetlana Kuznetsova was pushed to three sets, 6-2 4-6 6-1, in her first round match against Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm, whose last match in the US Open’s main draw prior to her this year’s appearance was a loss in the first round in 1996.

Kateryna Bondarenko sent home eighth-seeded Li Na with a 2-6 6-4 6-2 victory. Li, who reached at least the fourth round in her last three appearances at the US Open, blamed the heat for the defeat and her inability to cope with it. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The New York Times Magazine used various forms of media to show how power has changed women’s tennis. The feature including an article by Michael Kimmelman, extraordinary photos and awesome short slow motion videos by Dewey Nicks has attracted a lot of positive attention in the tennis world, so make sure to check it out.

The article mentions a number of women’s tennis players and their stories, the expansion of the WTA to the Chinese market, the increase in prize money and equal pay at Grand Slams, the difficulties tour pros (or "independent contractors" as Stacey Allaster, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, likes to call them) can face in earning a living, the influence of Serena and Venus Williams, etc.

The slideshow and videos include Serena Willams, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonareva. I love how Dementieva's grace accompanies the delicate music of the video. Also, it's a nice surprise to see Sam looking like a ballet dancer. (via Down the Line)

Qualifier Iveta Benesova recorded the biggest victory of her 12-year pro career by upsetting top seed and world No.3 Jelena Jankovic in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The world No.75 Benesova, in 2009 ranked as high as No.25, defeated Jankovic 7-6(3) 6-3, even though the Serb had a 5-3 lead in the first set.

After having to retire from matches at both Wimbledon and Portoroz, with back and ankle injuries respectively, Jankovic hasn’t been playing well. She lost her opening match at San Diego and her second match at last week’s tournament in Cincinnati, and at both events she was top-seeded.

Having not played many matches lately, Jankovic is not very confident for the US Open, the only Grand Slam she reached the final of. (photo courtesy of Fiji Water)