Hi people, I’m back from Belgrade and Serbia vs. Japan Fed Cup tie and I’ll share some of my impressions with you.

First of all, not surprisingly, it was not much of a challenge for Serbia to beat Japan and reach the Fed Cup World Group play-offs for the first time.

Serbia cruised to an unassailable 3-0 lead with world No.3 Jelena Jankovic beating world No.26 Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-2 in the Belgrade Arena. On Saturday, Serbia had established a 2-0 lead with world No.8 Ana Ivanovic defeating Ai Sugiyama 6-4 6-4 and Jelena Jankovic cruising past Ayumi Morita, ranked 86th in the world, 6-1 6-0.

In the fourth dead singles rubber, Ivanovic notched up her second win of the weekend by romping past Morita 6-1 6-2. Team Japan, consisting of Rika Fujiwara and Aiko Nakamura, won the doubles match, when the Serbian team of Jelena Jankovic and Ana Jovanovic retired after the second set, so the final score of the Serbia vs. Japan Fed Cup tie was 4-1. Read more »

Serbia's Jelena Jankovic replaced the injured Maria Sharapova in the main draw of next week's Open GDF SUEZ.

World No.3 Jankovic joins top-ranked Serena Williams and Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva in the Paris tournament.

As you know, Sharapova, who hasn’t competed for six months, withdrew because of her shoulder injury. In her latest diary entry the Russian talks about her rehab. Here's just an extract:

I have been training in Florida the last few weeks and really working hard on getting the strength back in my arm […] And the only way to get back into good shape is by playing tennis. Unfortunately just because the doctor fixes the problem and gives you the green light to practice doesn't mean that you can just go out there playing tournaments. Yesterday I played my first few points with serves in about 6 months which was pretty exciting! Right now I'm aiming for Palm Springs, or Miami, depending on how things shape up.

(photos: Ralf Reinecke)

Hi everyone,

Women’s Tennis Blog is back from our four-day break. While we were inhaling the fresh mountain air, the tennis world wasn’t sleeping, and here’s what we’ve missed to report while relaxing in the Bosnian snow.

Serena Williams reached a landmark 10th Grand Slam singles title crushing Dinara Safina 6-0 6-3 in the Australian Open final. I watched the match and Dinara really "was just a ballboy on the court". Don’t forget that Serena’s achievement is even better than reaching her fourth Australian Open title, as she won women’s doubleswith her sister Venus too. And even more, Serena has climbed back to the No.1 spot in the rankings.

Sania Mirza has become India's third – and first female – Grand Slam tennis champion by winning the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open paired with Mahesh Bhupathi.

In her latest diary entry Ana Ivanovic is defending the Australian Open – its location, facilities and its position in the tennis calendar. As for modeling, more photos for Ana's sponsor Rolex are out. If it hadn’t been published on her official website, I probably wouldn’t have recognized her.

Also, there are rumors that Dave Rineberg might become Ana's new coach.

You’ve probably heard about Jelena’s World, the documentary movie about Jelena Jankovic. Now you can watch it on YouTube.

Dinara Safina has a new official website, with everything you need including a section where fans can e-mail her.

And last but not least, Maria Sharapova, who has slipped to No.17 in the rankings, might be continuing to skip tournaments. Supposedly, she’ll miss Paris and Dubai. Remember, she has been expected to make a comeback at the GDF Suez Open? Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be surprised if the rumors proved to be true. However, if she really pulls out of those events, than her claims that she simply hasn’t trained enough seem unreliable.

If I’ve missed something in this overview, feel free to mention it in the comments below.

Glad to be back,

Marija

Seed No.16 Marion Bartoli crushed top seed and world No.1 Jelena Jankovic 6-1 6-4 in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Bartoli’s performance was impressive. She was moving well and ruthlessly used every Jankovic’s second serve. Jankovic, on the other hand, was only occasionally coming into the match, and seemed blocked throughout.

Bartoli won the first set so fast that I thought I was dreaming. Before you knew it she was leading 5-0. Jankovic gave more resistance in the second set, coming back from a break down two times, but at 4-4 Bartoli broke once again and in the following game she earned three successive match points.

Bartoli was dominating the whole match, while Jankovic was constantly saving herself from embarrassment. I don’t know what happened to Jankovic, but the best she could do was to at least win a few games. Jankovic’s proving to everyone that she can win a Grand Slam ended with a straightforward loss. Too bad.

Bartoli, who was a Brisbane finalist this year, will face either Nadia Petrova or Vera Zvonareva in the Australian Open quarterfinals. (photos: Getty Images)

Four WTA players have a chance of being ranked No.1 after the 2009 Australian Open.

Current No.1 and top seed at the Australian Open, Jelena Jankovic, is defending 900 points, having reached the semifinals last year. World No.2 Serena Williams reached the quarterfinals in 2008, and is hence defending 500 points. Dinara Safina, currently ranked third in the world, is defending only 4 points this year, as last year she lost in the first round. And finally, world No.4 Elena Dementieva is defending 280 points, having lost in the fourth round last year.

The winner of the 2009 Australian Open will receive 2000 points. The top four ranking positions are very close and here are some ranking projections:

• If Jelena Jankovic wins, she will remain No.1 regardless.

• If Dinara Safina wins, she will become No.1, regardless.

• If Serena Williams wins, she will become No.1 IF… she does not play Jankovic in the finals.

• If Elena Dementieva wins, she will become No.1 IF … she does not play Jankovic in the finals.

Moreover, with Jankovic winning her first round match at the Australian Open, Safina would need to reach AT LEAST the semifinals, while Serena Williams and Dementieva would need to reach the finals in order to have a chance to become the No.1 in the world. (photos: Ralf Reinecke)