The US Open run of Laura Robson may have ended at the hands of defending champion Samantha Stosur in the fourth round, but the 18-year-old Brit's success in New York was such a confidence booster that she can't wait to challenge "the top girls" at the upcoming tournaments, including the next year's Australian Open.

After taking out Kim Clijsters, three-time US Open champion and one of the best players ever, then Li Na, last year's French Open champion, Laura fell to Stosur 6-4 6-4, but only after saving eight match points! Not only was this a huge achievement for her, but also for her country, who hadn't had a WTA player in a Grand Slam round of 16 since 1998.

Despite the lifted confidence, Laura is yet to embrace her increased celebrity status. On the morning of her match with Stosur, in her hotel there was a camera crew waiting for her, and she herself got excited thinking that there was some famous person in the hotel!

Robson believes that Asian courts will suit her well and is now heading to Guangzhou, China, to be followed by Tokyo, Beijing and Osaka.

How much of Robson's success can be attributed to her new coach, the intense Zeljko Krajan, who joined Robson's team after his short recent cooperation with Jelena Jankovic and Dominika Cibulkova? According to Robson, a lot, especially his specific tactics. On the other hand, Krajan believes that Robson has limitless potential and one of his tasks is to open her eyes and show her how much she has.

At No.89, Robson is the youngest player in the Top 100, while after the US Open her ranking is expected to rise to about No.75. (photo: Moo's Tennis Blog)

Defending champion Samantha Stosur was close to joining Yaroslava Shvedova in achieving a golden set, but at 4-0 40-0 in the first set, the Australian double faulted and spoiled the opportunity. Still, nothing can diminish her perfect start of title defense, as the seventh seed needed just 51 minutes to beat Petra Martic 6-1 6-1 in the first round of the US Open.

As I write this, only ten women's singles matches have finished and two Germans, two seeded Germans, are already out – No.18 seed Julia Goerges and No.16 seed Sabine Lisicki.

Kristyina Pliskova took Goerges out 7-6(4) 6-1. The world No.125 Pliskova, 20 years old, has qualified for the US Open for the firs time. Goerges hasn't won more than two matches per tournament since losing the Dubai final to Agnieszka Radwanska in February, while this is her first first-round Grand Slam exit since Wimbledon 2010, when she was ranked 72nd.

As for Lisicki, her US Open loss came at the hands of Sorana Cirstea, who is now 4-0 head-to-head against Lisicki. After an up-and-down three-setter, Cirstea came out on top 4-6 6-2 6-2.

Another German, Andrea Petkovic, whose comeback is still very fresh, is in action today. At the moment, she trailing Romina Oprandi 1-5 in the first set.

So far this Monday, one more seed went out – No.27 Anabel Medina Garrigues fell to Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-3.

Update: Andrea Petkovic lost to Romina Oprandi 6-2 7-5, while all the seeds in action on Day 1, besides the three previously mentioned, advanced to the second round. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Unexpectedly, it was Venus Williams who continued to progress at the Western & Southern Open, while Serena Williams fell in the quarterfinals, ending her 19-match winning streak with only her fourth defeat of the season.

Serena came to Cincinnati having won 36 of her last 37 matches, but her quarterfinal opponent, Angelique Kerber, was too solid, winning both of her two break point opportunities, while Serena's conversion remained 0%. Serena was 21% better than Kerber on first serve points won, but only 48% of her first serves went in, while she hit just four aces. Kerber, who has played at least the quarterfinals in 12 of 17 tournaments this year, will face Petra Kvitova in the semis. Kvitova is also on a winning streak, 8-0, having won Montreal and now three matches in Cincinnati, her last one a 6-3 7-6(4) victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Venus beat Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 for her first semifinal of the year. Venus cruised through the first set, then didn't lose hope after losing the 61-minute second set and wasting the opportunity to serve it out at 5-2 in the third, completing the match while serving at 5-4 in the deciding  set. Next for Venus is Li Na, who took out top seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 6-1.

Additional info: Excited about their triumphs at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, the Williams sisters will team up for women's doubles at the  US Open.

Fashion info:  Stosur was wearing a custom Asics tennis dress. A dress of the similar cut will be available in 2013, while the orange and gray print will not be available for worldwide customers. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Looks like Women's Tennis Blog's Kiddie Pics section inspired the theme of the ITF's Olympic Book, aiming to promote the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Tennis Events. Aspire, Inspire: Celebrating Tennis at the Olympics 2012 includes 36 world's leading players posing with photos of themselves as a child and talking about their heroes. Of course, there are other features such as players talking about their expectations from the upcoming Olympics and words of wisdom from tennis legends.

The commemorative book is not for sale, but you can win a signed copy and ahead of the Olympics an online version will be available. There is a 20-day competition already at large at the ITF website. Your task is to give a correct answer to whose childhood photo is in the picture and you could be one of the lucky winners. Every day a new photo is presented. Hint for today: Gael Monfils (photos via HCFoo's Tennis Blog)

Last year fashion was the topic of Wimbledon with Bethanie Mattek Sands' tennis-ball jacket and Venus Williams' awkward zipper-outfit, but this year tenniswear is in the safe zone, except for Serena Williams' color challenge. Let's have a closer look.

Serena Williams challenged the White Clothing Rule by pairing the Nike Women's London Statement Baseline Dress with cerise shorts/knickers and a matching headband, while Wimbledon requires the outfits to be without solid mass of coloring and little or no dark or bold colors. Nike was not pushing the boundaries with defending champion Petra Kvitova, who was traditionally wearing a sporty, ordinary outfit.

Maria Sharapova, the fresh proud owner of a career Grand Slam, is always fully-prepared for fashion scrutiny, thinking out her outfits in detail from head to toe with the Nike team. For the touch of color that the white Wimbledon allows, Sharapova chose liquid lime. Here you can see how the Nike Women's Maria Slam Statement Dress looks from the back.

My favorite of the tournament is Maria Kirilenko in the Adidas Adipure line. The white dress with a pleated skirt features craft emerald contrasting stripes. Read more »