It was a very windy day in Toronto, but top-ranked Justine Henin managed to beat Nadia Petrova in straight sets 7-6 6-3. The Belgian will next meet Chinese qualifier Yan Zi, famous for defeating defending champion Ana Ivanovic in the second round. Yan Zi reached the semis, when her opponent in the quarterfinals, Marion Bartoli, retired because of a virus while trailing 6-2 3-0.

The other semifinal pair is Jelena Jankovic vs. Tatiana Golovin. In the quarterfinals the second-seeded Serb beat Virginie Razzano 7-5 6-2, while the Frenchwoman advanced to the semis with the 2-6 7-5 6-1`win over third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Weather conditions were a real problem to the players. "I can tell you it was terrible out there," said Henin. "Here the wind turns all the time, it's hard to play good tennis. It's tough, very tough." Jankovic was also bothered by the wind: "Today was the strongest I have ever experienced". (via BBC)

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World No.5 Ana Ivanovic extended her head-to-head superiority over Jelena Jankovic to 4-1 defeating her 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-Serbian semifinal at the East West Bank Classic.

The Ivanovic vs. Jankovic match was a real thriller in which Ana showed her fighting spirit, and off course, her powerful serve, shooting 12 aces. I think that the best thing about Ana is that she plays point by point, which enables her to recover when she’s losing. In the Saturday’s semifinal, the 19-year-old fought off two match points, and came back from near-defeat on numerous other occasions throughout the match. She was as fantastic as in the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Nicole Vaidisova. Congratulations! Read more »

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Two-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova needs to win more titles if she wants to silence the critics. In 2007 the 20-year-old Russian has been victorious at only one tournament, the Acura Classic in San Diego.

"She's still the No. 2 player in the world, and only winning one title is not something I think you should see from the No. 2 player in the world," Jelena Jankovic, who is ranked one spot behind Sharapova, said Monday. Read more »

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In contemporary tennis world, personalized sneakers are a must-have. The customization is a symbol of success, but can also minimize confusion in the locker room – Jelena Jankovic won’t accidentally put on Shahar Peer’s tennis shoes any more, since Reebok has customized the gear of both players. Maria Sharapova, of course, isn't legging behind, she has her distinctively designed sneakers as well.

Anyway, if I were a tennis player, I wouldn't have written my name on my gear. I don't like self-centered people in love with their name, their image in a picture, people who promote themselves all the time. Ok, I understand that in tennis it's all part of the industry, but still,… it's kind of cheesy. (Tennis Served Fresh and Tennis Country, thanks for the inspiration)

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In a dramatic third round match of the Acura Classic in San Diego, Maria Kirilenko earned the biggest victory of her career with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win over second seed Jelena Jankovic. The Russian, unseeded and ranked 42nd in the world, booked her place in the Friday quarterfinals where she will face ninth seed Elena Dementieva.

World No. 3 Jankovic, however, won’t be losing ranking points since she had been sent home in the third round of the Acura Classic in the past two years. Additionally, despite the loss, the Serb has already qualified for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, together with Justine Henin.

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