Top seed Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 7-6(9) 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The 16th-seeded Russian came back from an early break of serve but wasted three set points in the first set tiebreak. One break of serve was enough for Williams to take the second set and hence the match. The defending champion’s serve is still in a rocking form and Sharapova confirms it: "She served extremely well, the best she's ever served against me, and that was the difference." Read more »

Top seed Serena Williams secured her place in the fourth round of Wimbledon with a 6-0 7-5 victory over Dominika Cibulkova, the defending champion’s third successive match in which she bageled her opponent in the first set. Serena’s next opponent will be the 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova who took a lot of effort to beat world No.68 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-5 6-3 in the third round.

Cibulkova was absolutely stunned by Serena’s serve and said it was the best serve she had ever faced, even better than Venus’. However, world No.1 Serena thinks her serve was the only good part of her game and believes she must improve for her match against 16th-seeded Sharapova. In the 18-minute first set, the unseeded Cibulkova scored just six points, while Serena lost only six points on her serve in the entire match.

Serena is 5-2 head-to-head against Sharapova, winning their last four meetings. (photos: Stephane Martinache, Tidalist)

Just ahead of Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova signed a multiyear agreement with Groupe Danone SA’s Evian water brand, and will be the face of their Rollerbabies campaign.

For the world famous campaign, Sharapova is wearing a t-shirt with a printed figure of a baby and a bottle of Evian water. Sharapova was chosen by the brand because she embodies the Live Young motto of Evian’s philosophy.

Evian is the sponsor of all the three Grand Slams Sharapova has won in her career – Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open – and the Russian will promote Evian at all the three.

I have only one regret about this – why didn’t Evian pick JJ? SHE was the one washing her face and teeth solely with Evian water on her first visit to India, Bangalore in particular, and spoke about it publicly. (sources: Great Tennis Photos, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Wimbledon is just days away and the annual party celebrating the tournament was held at the Roof Gardens in West London's Kensington last night. As usual, the WTA players gave their best to look good and glamorous, and oh well, as usual, their success was sporadic.

Let's start with the bright examples. Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova were spot on. Their dresses are perfect fits and just right for the occasion.

Defending champion Serena Williams looked like a pop star and I'm sure this profile picture will stay remembered for a while. Dinara Safina was having one of her better appearances, although I'm convinced this is not the best she can offer. Read more »

Nike is one of the best producers of tennis apparel and here’s a special about the outfits their top players will wear at Wimbledon 2010.

Maria Sharapova’s dress I’ve already talked about, and now I’ll just say that its official name is apparently the Lawn Rose Dress and its inspired by English rose petals.

Defending champion Serena Williams will wear the Control Lawn Dress, inspired by the Wimbledon tradition of strawberries and cream. The dress features piping in Voltage Cherry against the traditional white palette.

Li Na will wear a top and a skirt, in colors similar to Serena’s dress.

You can visit Nike’s 2010 Wimbledon lookbook, a site dedicated to the clothes for the grass court Grand Slam.