No illness, lack of match play or low ranking can take away from Venus Williams, seven-time Grand Slam champion and three-time winner of the Sony Ericsson Open. After routing Kimiko Date Krumm 6-0 6-3 in the first round, practically Williams' first match in seven months, the former world No.1 eliminated third seed Petra Kvitova in the second round, 6-4 4-6 6-0.

The first set went with serve until the last game when Williams broke to take the set 6-4. In the second set, Kvitova made a crucial break to lead 3-2, and eventually 6-4. In the deciding set, however, Williams was relentless, routinely winning Kvitova's service games and bageling the Czech in 34 minutes.

"The third set was very cruel for me," Kvitova said after the match. While Venus, currently ranked 134th, said: "I actually didn't really realize the third set was 6-0… I was just trying to win the match, trying to get to six."

This Williams' victory is significant for one more reason – it's her 600th career win. (via WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Nineteen-year-old American Christina McHale, ranked 35th, is still the luckiest in her home country. McHale produced the biggest upset so far at Indian Wells by beating world No.3 Petra Kvitova in the third round 2-6 6-2 6-3, while her previous Top 10 wins – over Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli – also took place at the US tournaments.

After losing the first set, McHale took the match to the decider with four straight games won from 2-2 in the second set. McHale raced to a 4-1 lead in the decider, and even though Kvitova approached her to 3-4, McHale finished the match to her advantage.

Another young American is making her mark at Indian Wells – Jamie Hampton didn’t stop after upsetting Jelena Jankovic in the second round, and defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-7(1) 6-2 in the third.

Top seed at the tournament, world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, advanced with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, which is her 19th win to zero losses this season. (source: WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Three top players, Petra Kvitova, Li Na, and Vera Zvonareva, have announced withdrawals for the $2,000,000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, while Serena Williams will skip the Whirlpool Monterrey Open.

World No.3 Kvitova announced on her Facebook page that she had pulled out of Dubai due to illness. The reason for Li's withdrawal is a low back injury, while Zvonareva continues to suffer from her left hip injury which caused her retirements at Pattaya and Doha.

Kaia Kanepi will also not play Dubai, due to a right shoulder injury, and Andrea Petkovic is staying away from the tennis courts because of a low back stress fracture.

You know that world No.1 Victoria Azarenka sustained an ankle injury in her Doha semifinal, and even though the ill effects were not noticeable en route to her title win, we'll see how her leg will react in Dubai.

As for the Monterrey Open, Serena Williams has pulled out due to the ankle she hurt during a recent practice. Nevertheless, Serena was capable of entertaining the Monterrey crowd with an on-water exhibition hitting with Gisela Dulko. (photos © Neal Trousdale, Monterrey Open)

Omair, our favorite and most productive guest poster this Australian Open, is not slowing down and now he followed up his pre-match analysis of the semifinal between Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova with a post-match review of Sharapova's 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory.

Both Kvitova and Sharapova took the Rod Laver Arena today knowing that they both had a lot on the line: the No.1 ranking and a spot in the championship match. Kvitova had an edge coming into the match, for it was Kvitova who beat Sharapova on Center Court at Wimbledon in the title match last year in straight sets. Sharapova had revenge on her mind, and revenge was what she got at the end, along with a chance to grab the top spot and a chance to earn her second Australian Open trophy and fourth Grand Slam title.

Sharapova started the match on fire, walking away with the first set 6-2, and it seemed that Kvitova would bow out in straight sets. But we have seen that Kvitova is a fighter and she comes back to win matches. It was Kvitova's turn to show why she is world No.2 as she took the second set to send the match to a decisive third set. Again, it was Kvitova who looked sharper and on a roll, but Sharapova hung in there long enough to let the nerves get the better of Kvitova. Kvitova had a lot of chances to move ahead in the third set, but she just could not capitalise on them. In the end nerves got the better of Kvitova as her forehand sailed long to hand Sharapova the game, set and match. Both played some jaw-dropping tennis throughout the match. Read more »

Our busy tennis fan and loyal contributor Omair has already provided us with a preview of the first Australian Open semifinal on the schedule, the one between Victoria Azarenka and Kim Clijsters, and now let's see Omair's preview of the semifinal clash between Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova.

When Kvitova and Sharapova meet for their semifinal, a lot of things will be out there on the line. They are both aware that whoever emerges victorious out of this encounter will keep alive her hope of attaining the top spot. Whoever wins the Australian Open other than Kim Clijsters will be the world No.1 when the rankings are released on Monday.

Sharapova has so far made it to the semifinals of the Australian Open four times (excluding this year's result), and has gone to the final twice. The two times she lost in the semis it was in three sets: in 2005 to eventual champion Serena Williams and in 2006 to Justine Henin. Will she make it to the finals this time and keep her hopes of regaining the top spot alive or will she bow out to the Czech power tower Kvitova?

As for Kvitova, this is her third Grand Slam semifinal and her first at the Australian Open. How will she fare in Melbourne? She obviously has the experience of playing and winning at the biggest stages of tennis, so she will not be fazed by the stage tomorrow. Read more »