Women’s tennis players dressed up and looked beautiful at pre-Wimbledon party held at the Kensington Roof Gardens and hosted by Sir Richard Branson.

Some of the tennis stars present: Venus and Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchova and Sania Mirza. Read more »

American Lindsay Davenport and Indian Sania Mirza have withdrawn from the 2008 French Open which starts May 25 in Paris.

Davenport cited personal reasons, while Mirza withdrew because she has not yet recovered from her wrist surgery.

Tatiana Golovin, Na Li and Eleni Daniilidou had withdrawn earlier because of injuries and surgeries, and world No.10 Daniela Hantuchova will probably withdraw due to her foot injury.

The claycourt Grand Slam will be missing so many top players: Golovin is currently ranked 21st, Davenport 26th, Mirza 32nd, Daniilidou 35th, and Li 36th. Plus No.10 Hantuchova may be added to the list. And not to mention four-times French Open champion Justine Henin who retired from professional tennis just before her favorite Grand Slam. (photos: Getty Images)

Twice champion and holder Daniela Hantuchova reached the quarterfinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells by beating India’s Sania Mirza 6-1 7-6.

Fifth-seeded Hantuchova took the first set in 39 minutes, breaking Mirza in the second and fourth games. In the second set both players made two breaks so there was a tiebreak which world No.8 Hantuchova won 7-4.

Last year the Slovakian won the Indian Wells title with a victory over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)

On day two of the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Marion Bartoli lost in the second round (in the first round she had a bye), while Agnes Szavay and Sania Mirza left the tournament in the first round.

France’s Marion Bartoli still hasn't managed to replay her fantastic performance from Wimbledon where she was the runner-up. At the Qatar Total Open, the eighth seed lost in straight sets 6-2 6-3 to 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who is seriously making her way to the top. Wozniacki is one of the young players to watch. Taking into account her attractiveness, her fruitful tennis career is likely to be accompanied with marketing success. Actually, Wozniacki already did a commercial for Sony Ericsson. Fellow blogger Juan has a nice little article about Wozniacki’s achievements and future career prospects. Read more »

India’s Sania Mirza has been dragged into a series of controversies at home so she decided to boycott all Indian tournaments, including March’s Bangalore Open.

Firstly the 21-year-old Mirza was criticized for her tennis clothes which were termed un-Islamic by religious Muslim groups (of course, Mirza was wearing regular tennis outfits, not those like Bethanie Mattek’s). Then, she had to apologize to mosque officials in her hometown for shooting an advert on its premises after a complaint of trespass was filed against her to the police. The most recent problem Mirza faced, and the one that even made her consider retiring from tennis, happened in January, when she was allegedly showing disrespect to the Indian flag (see the photo). Because of this last incident, Mirza may even end up in jail.

The tournaments are definitely at loss because India's youth icon Mirza will bypass them. But who can blame her, she went through a lot! However, I must notice she seems surprisingly strong, especially if we take into account she’s only 21. She dealt with all the incidents very well. (source: Reuters, photo via Freedom Express)