Belgrade, Serbia, to host a WTA tournament

The Partizan Tennis Club and Serbian Tennis Association will organize a WTA event in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2012. Prize money will be $220,000. The exact date of the tournament is still under consideration, but it will take place just before the French Open or US Open.

Participation of Serbian tennis stars Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Bojana Jovanovski is expected, as well as of former Serbian representative, now an Australian national, Jelena Dokic, who has reconciled with her family, primarily with her father Damir who lives in Serbia. (source: Blic)

New York fashion – women's tennis US Open edition

New York and fashion go hand in hand, and tennis outfits are no exception, especially when we have a high-profile event such as the US Open. So let's see what the manufacturers of tennis clothes prepared for our WTA stars and there is no better way to start than with American Bethanie Mattek Sands who integrated patriotism in her attire.

Don't you love the American-flag tube socks and the accompanying red shoes? Bethanie looks awesome in her Under Armour outfit with accessories that perfectly match the US Open occasion.

Bethanie is known for her experiments with fashion and her most recent took place before and during Wimbledon, when she incorporated tennis balls in her player party and on-court outfits.

Venus Williams shocked with her EleVen US Open dress as much as she did with her subsequent abrupt withdrawal due to a long-undiagnosed syndrome.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Stella McCartney absolutely failed to inspire with a white dress much more suitable for Wimbledon. Why not use colors for the US Open when you can?

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New Haven stadium evacuated during Jelena Jankovic's match

During the third game of the first-round match between Jelena Jankovic and Elena Vesnina, the Yale University campus, venue of the New Haven Open, was shaken by an earthquake which originated in Richmond, Virginia. The main stadium was evacuated as a precaution.

Spectators felt three waves of shaking and players' water bottles were upended. The earthquake was also felt at Flushing Meadows, where the US Open starts next week.

Play has resumed and the world No.43 Vesnina defeated Jankovic 6-4 2-6 6-4. Over the weekend another victory slipped away to the 12-ranked Jankovic, when she lost the Cincinnati final to Maria Sharapova. Vesnina's opponent in the second round will be Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Was it a coincidence that the stadium started shaking during the match of our Drama Queen? :)  (photo by our reader Tony)

Maria Sharapova edges Jelena Jankovic for Cincinnati title

Victory in the title match of the Western & Southern Open was so close to the 2009 Cincinnati champion Jelena Jankovic, but last year’s runner-up Maria Sharapova is never defeated until she loses the match point and her well-known willpower gave her the edge in the crucial second-set tiebreak when the Russian won five successive points.

The match featured 20 double faults and 16 service breaks (8 on both sides), most prominently in the third set in which both players failed to hold their serve in the first six games. Sharapova was the first to stop that trend for a 4-3 lead. An extra break later gave her the set and the match 4-6 7-6(3) 6-3. Read more »

Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic to meet in Cincinnati final

In the title match of the Western & Southern Open, Maria Sharapova will face the 2009 Cincinnti champion Jelena Jankovic, which will be their first meeting in two years and their fourth meeting in a WTA final.

Sharapova started slow in the semifinal against Vera Zvonareva and lost the first set 6-2. But after dominating the beginning, Zvonareva's concentration dropped, some double faults creeped in and Sharapova's energy level raised. Sharapova won 2-6 6-3 6-3.

As for Jankovic and her semifinal against Andrea Petkovic, after surviving the first set and winning it in a tiebreak, the Serb dominated the second set to advance with a 7-6(4) 6-1 victory.

Sharapova leads Jankovic 5-1 in career meetings, including 2-1 in finals. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Qualifiers upset three seeds on first day of Rogers Cup

Monday at the Rogers Cup was a bad day for seeded players, as only one advanced and three of the other four fell to qualifiers in their opening matches.

The first in action was the winning seed, Samantha Stosur, but even her victory came only after she lost the first set 6-4 to Ayumi Morita. Final score: 4-6 6-2 6-3.

No.9 seed Marion Bartoli had won 19 of her last 23 matches, including her Eastbourne title, and had a perfect 4-0 head-to-head record against Galina Voskoboeva, but in the first round of the Rogers Cup the Kazakh qualifier was better and took Bartoli out 6-3 6-3. It is Voskoboeva's first Top 10 victory and at the recent Baku Cup she played her first WTA semifinals. Read more »

Spring tennis fashion, Roland Garros edition

Traditionally, Women's Tennis Blog is doing Grand Slam fashion overviews, so let's see what major sports brands have on display at Roland Garros 2011.

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki brought nothing new to the fashion table of Roland Garros – the 20-year-old Dane, who bowed out of the tournament in the third round already, wore the adidas by Stella McCartney Ruffle Dress which she debuted at Indian Wells in March.

Adidas impressed with an array of bright colors that perfectly contrast/match the red clay of Roland Garros. Above you can see the variety of pink, orange and green combinations on Daniela Hantuchova, Sorana Cirstea, Andrea Petkovic, Maria Kirilenko and Arantxa Rus. Here you can read more about Adidas' French Open collection.

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Francesca Schiavone works her way into Roland Garros quarterfinals

Defending champion Francesca Schiavone resisted the challenge of Jelena Jankovic and advanced to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. On her tournament debut ten years ago she reached the quarterfinals, and together with her last year's title, this is her third appearance in the final eight of Roland Garros.

The fourth-round match between Schiavone and Jankovic was tense and could have gone either way, but the Italian's good serves and aggressiveness gave her that extra something needed to defeat the Serb who played Roland Garros semifinals in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

The world No.10 Jankovic has a lot to regret, at times she was leading in the third set, and both the players were pretty much equal, but the moment Jankovic allowed Schiavone to break her at 4-4, her fall was strongly suggested. Schiavone didn't let the opportunity slip away and won the match 6-3 2-6 6-4.

Schiavone's opponent in the quarterfinals will be Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who advanced with a 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 victory over third seed Vera Zvonareva. With top seed Caroline Wozniacki and second seed Kim Clijsters already out, this is the first French Open since 1968 that none of the top three seeds are in the quarterfinals! World No.4 Victoria Azarenka is now the highest-ranked player left in the draw.

Pavlyuchenkova, who is 11 years younger than her next opponent Schiavone, will be playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. (photo courtesy of our reader Tony)


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