Venus Williams, seeded 23rd, beat second seed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3 without any major problems.

The first set was quite boring, the 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova made five double faults, twelve unforced errors, and not to mention her first serve percentage (58%).

In the second set the Russian played much better, but it was not good enough to defeat the three-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams. Sharapova had difficulty holding her serve, while Williams did that easily.

The third game of the second set, Sharapova’s serving game, was the most interesting part of the match – it lasted as much as 22.5 minutes, and Sharapova managed to hold her serve. However, Williams broke Sharapova in the seventh game of the second set, and from that point on her victory came very quickly.

All in all, I had expected a lot more excitement from this match.

Venus Williams will next face fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who defeated Tamira Paszek in the fourth round.

The ESPY Awards is an annual sports awards event created and broadcast by American cable television network ESPN. The winners are decided by fans that can vote online. The 15th ESPYS are held on Sunday July 15th at 9PM ET at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and LeBron James.

You can vote for many athletes in various categories, but I’ve singled out only female tennis players

In the Best Championship Performance category the only tennis player in the race is Serena Williams for her more than fantastic performance at the 2007 Australian Open — she entered the championship unseeded, defeated five top 20 players on her way to the title, and lost only five games in the final against Maria Sharapova.

Best International female athlete: Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova are two tennis players in the category.

Who is the Best Female Tennis Player in you opinion: Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, or Serena Williams?

Jelena Jankovic has been amazing this year – she reached a career-high No. 3 in the singles rankings, and collected titles from Auckland (hardcourt), Charleston (clay), Rome (clay), adding to them today’s Birmingham trophy (grass). Moreover, this year she has earned more points than any other WTA player.

I was definitely wrong when I said that she should have skipped the tournament in Strasbourg in order to relax a bit. I thought she was playing too much and that it would affect her game – but Jankovic proved me wrong. After Strasbourg, she reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros and now she defeated the 2004 Wimbledon Champion Maria Sharapova to win the DFS Classic in Birmingham. Her form is simply amazing. Read more »

Maria Sharapova, the No. 1 seed and a two-time champion in Birmingham, beat Marion Bartoli of France 7-5, 6-0 in a semifinal on Sunday. Bartoli, who completed her suspended quarterfinal earlier Sunday, defeated third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

The match between Sharapova and Bartoli was temporarily delayed when two spectators needed medical assistance – a woman was left unconscious after falling down a staircase, and a man in another part of the stadium fainted. The helicopter had to be sent to take the woman to the hospital.

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic reached the final by defeating Italy’s Mara Santangelo 6-1, 7-5.

The final will take place also on Sunday; I’ll keep you posted! (via ESPN)

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova (BTW, currently the highest-paid female athlete) had to win two matches on Saturday to reach the last four of the rain-hit DFS Classic. She beat Austria’s Tamira Paszek 6-3 4-6 6-2 in a much-delayed third-round match. Sharapova had an easier time against Elena Likhovtseva, seeing off her fellow Russian 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

"Mentally, you have to be ready for a very long day. You have to be ready no matter how many stops there are,” Maria, the 2004 Wimbledon champion, commented on the rain which constantly interrupted the tournament.

Sharapova missed two months earlier this year due to a right shoulder injury and hopes her crowded schedule doesn't make it worse. Read more »