Nothing can be said except absolute respect for Serena Williams who won her second straight Premier-level title with a convincing 6-4 6-2 victory over Samantha Stosur in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Serena doesn’t need months to get back in shape and warm up for big matches – after almost a year away from the courts Williams returned in style winning two of four tournaments she entered.

In the Rogers Cup final against tenth-seeded Stosur, Williams kept her serve throughout, faced just one break opportunity, won 89% of points on her first serve, and finished the match in style, firing four aces in the last game.

Ahead of the US Open, Serena is still cautious of calling herself a favorite: "I went through a lot of things physically, mentally and emotionally, and going through so much so I am just taking it one day at a time and kind of like one match at a time."

The unseeded Williams, whose rankings dropped because of her long time away from the Tour, crushed Alona Bondarenko 6-0 6-3 in the first round, and then Julia Goerges, Zheng Jie, Lucie Safarova, Victoria Azarenka and finally Samantha Stosur. The victory saw Williams propel from No.80 to No.31 in the rankings. Before her injury layoff Williams was ranked No.1. (via Reuters, photos via WTA Tour)

Serena Williams extended her winning streak to ten matches by defeating Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3 in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup. In her second straight final Williams will face Samantha Stosur.

The fourth-seeded Azarenka reached the semifinals having lost just six games, but Williams is in her Grand Slam-winning form ahead of the US Open. The American won eight of the last 11 points in the first set and 16 of the last 19 points in the second.

Samantha Stosur fell out of the Top 10 on Monday but with a 6-2 5-7 6-2 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup the Australian will regain the spot. Radwanska was on a nine-match winning streak, having won Carlsbad, and at the Rogers Cup she hadn't dropped a set all week.

Williams and Stosur have played each other five times so far, and Williams leads their head-to-head record 3-2. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Serena Williams' comeback is ever more impressive. Every day the American is reminding us of how unprecedented tennis player she is, and even though she looked tired in her last match, a win is a win, and she is now only two matches away from winning her second straight title in only her fourth tournament since a year-long layoff which included a persistent foot injury and a serious problem with a blood clot in her lungs. Williams reached the semifinals of the Premier-level Rogers Cup by overcoming also unseeded Lucie Safarova 4-6 6-3 6-2. Victoria Azarenka will be Williams' next opponent. In the quarterfinals Azarenka ended the run of 135th-ranked qualifier Galina Voskoboeva, who eliminated Marion Bartoli, Flavia Pennetta and Maria Sharapova from the tournament.

The other semifinal will feature Samantha Stosur and Agnieszka Radwanska. Stosur took out Roberta Vinci, who scored major upset early in the tournament by beating world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and later she defeated Ana Ivanovic. Radwanska reached the final four with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Andrea Petkovic. (photo courtesy of FIJI Water)

The Grand Slam-like field at the Rogers Cup is rapidly losing its biggest stars. Six major champions were in action on Thursday and only one survived – the mighty Serena Williams. The American returned only recently to competitive action and has already clinched a Premier-level title (Stanford) and is steadily making her way through the Toronto event.

Ana Ivanovic (Roland Garros 2008 winner), Li Na (Roland Garros 2011 winner), Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon 2011 winner), Francesca Schiavone (Roland Garros 2010 winner) and Maria Sharapova (three-time Grand Slam champion) all lost in straight sets in the third round of the Rogers Cup.

After defeating Alona Bondarenko 6-0 6-3 in the first round and Julia Goerges 6-1 7-6(7) in the second, Williams overcame Zheng Jie in an entertaining third round match for a 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory. The world No.82 Zheng, who is trying to improve her lost ranking, was two points from a 4-2 lead in the third set when Williams did her signature thing – brought her best game when it mattered the most.

Williams' opponent in the quarterfinals will be Lucie Safarova, who defeated eighth seed Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-3 in the third round. Other quarterfinal pairs: Roberta Vinci vs. Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Andrea Petkovic and Galina Voskoboeva vs. Victoria Azarenka. (photo courtesy of FIJI Water)

Kim Clijsters was playing her first match since ’s-Hertogenbosch in June and a right ankle injury, but her comeback lasted for only a set and a half as she retired from her opening match at the Rogers Cup against Zheng Jie with left abdominal injury. Clijsters won the first set 6-3, and retired in the second at 1-2.

Clijsters already had an ultrasound and she was diagnosed with partial tear in her left stomach muscle, which she first felt during her warmup for the match.

Serena Williams’ comeback is still fresh and she has already clinched a title at Stanford and in her first-round match against Alona Bondarenko at the Rogers Cup Serena won stunning 100% of points on first serve and 76% on the second. Also, in the 6-0 first-set win Serena lost only four points. Not to mention that the set lasted just 16 minutes! Final result: 6-0 6-3.

Ana Ivanovic also advanced to the second round, not troubled by qualifier Zhang Shuai en route to a 6-1 6-1 victory. Another Serbian, Bojana Jovanovski, got past the first round, but it was a retirement win – Jelena Dokic withdrew while trailing 2-0 with right shoulder injury. Last week’s titlist at Carlsbad Agnieszka Radwanska also won her first round, with a 6-4 6-1 win over Elena Vesnina. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Women's tennis players dominate the Forbes magazine Top 10 list of the highest-paid female athletes and Maria Sharapova is the leader for the seventh year in a row. Forbes included earnings from salaries, prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and exhibitions between July 2010 and July 2011.

The 24-year-old Maria Sharapova did make the final of Wimbledon, but the greatest share in her $25 million fortune earned in the one-year period came from lucrative deals with Nike, Head, Evian, Clear Shampoo, Sony Ericsson, Tiffany, Tag Heuer, and Cole Haan.

World No.1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki occupies the second position in the list with twice smaller earnings of $12.5 ($6 million from tournaments and $6.5 million from sponsors). The 21-year-old Wozniacki has deals with Adidas, Yonex, Compeed and Oriflame.

THE HIGHEST-PAID FEMALE ATHLETES

1. Maria Sharapova
2. Caroline Wozniacki
3. Danica Patrick (auto racing driver)
4. Venus Williams
5. Kim Clijsters
6. Serena Williams
7. Kim Yu-na (figure skater)
8. Li Na
9. Ana Ivanovic
10. Paula Creamer (golfer)

Read more »

Women's Tennis Blog is back from summer vacation! Glad to be back with you and tennis. Thanks for all your emails and comments of support, it's nice to know you've been missed.  Before proceeding with regular reports from the world of women's tennis I would like to take a very quick look on the ten days behind us.

The biggest news was Serena Williams' Stanford title. In only her third tournament after a year-long absence Serena won a Permier-level event beating Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3, Sabine Lisicki 6-1 6-2 and in the final Marion Bartoli 7-5 6-1. The victory saw Serena rise in the rankings from No.169 to No.79. Serena has once again proved her undeniable quality and silenced much of the tennis world!

Elsewhere, Nadia Petrova won inaugural Citi Open by beating top seed Shahar Peer in the final 7-5 6-2. The Russian entered the tournament as a wildcard and was seeded second. It's her tenth career title and first since 2008. Read more »

Don't be surprised when you visit the WTA Tour rankings page and don't see Serena Williams there. She's on page 2 now!

Having failed to defend her Wimbledon title, falling in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli, Serena Williams dropped from No.25 to No.175! No doubt she can just as quickly climb back, but still, what a slump! It's Serena's lowest ranking since 1997!

Serena's sister Venus suffered a much milder fall. Now she is No.34, and prior to Wimbledon she was No.30.

Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, has risen from No.8 to No.7, while Caroline Wozniacki, who lost in the fourth round along with Serena and Venus, remains No.1.

Reminder: Remember when Kim Clijsters won the US Open and ended by being ranked lower afterwards? (photo: Tidalist)