On the same day it became known Serena Williams would lose her number one ranking to Caroline Wozniacki, it was announced that the American would return to the Tour for the first time since July. The tournament Williams is scheduled to play is the Generali Ladies Linz which starts on Monday, October 11.

Serena hasn't been playing competitive tennis because of a foot injury and surgery she had to have as a consequence of stepping on glass at a restaurant. Having been very selective as to which tournaments she would play and also because of the injury, Serena has approached the end of the 2010 season with only six tournament appearances (Sydney, Australian Open, Rome, Madrid, French Open, Wimbledon). However, her winning percentage is awesome: out of the six tournaments she has played so far this year, Serena has won two, and those were none other than Grand Slams.

Now that Serena is returning, Caroline Wozniacki’s top ranking could be short-lived, because Serena has qualified for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha as well. (source: ESPN, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Two weeks ago Serena Williams gave Oprah Winfrey a pedicure and they chatted about how doing nails has always been Serena’s passion (of course, they also talked about love, how it sucks , and other things). Well, when you are Serena Williams you can realize whichever dream very quickly – the latest news is that the American tennis star, who just got her nail-tech license, is working with OPI on a line of nail polishes. Teen Vogue's beauty director Eva Chen has spread the word about it on Twitter.

(sources: Tennis Served Fresh, New York Media)

Now we know half of eight players who will compete in the singles competition of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, the tournament which will mark the end of the women’s tennis season.

Caroline Wozniacki was the first to qualify at the end of last month, and shortly after Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters joined. Williams and Clijsters have both won the tournament twice.

Russia’s Vera Zvonareva earned her place in the Sony Ericsson Championships thanks to her great 2010 season which featured back-to-back finals appearances in Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US Open), two Premier-level finals (Charleston and Montreal), title at the PTT Pattaya Open, and the achievement of reaching the career-high ranking of No.4 where she stands now. Zvonareva will make her third consecutive trip to Doha, which will be her fourth appearance at the prestigious season-ending event.

American world No.1 Serena Williams will have a chance to defend her title in Doha. It will be her seventh appearance at the WTA Championships. In 2010 Williams won two of the four greatest tennis tournaments – Australian Open and Wimbledon, and was a runner-up in Sydney.

Another Grand Slam winner qualified together with Williams, Belgian Kim Clijsters, who added the third US Open title to her resume this year. Clijsters hasn’t lost a final this year, and besides winning the US Open she won Brisbane, Miami, and Cincinnati. (photos: © Neal Trousdale, Emmett Anderson)

Kim Clijsters underwent a surgery to remove a mole from her right foot and the wound got infected so the US Open champion will have to skip next month’s Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing. In case you’re eager to see Kim’s infected foot, enjoy the sight from Kim’s very own Twitter photo of her foot.

Serena Williams, with her own foot problem, will also not play the $4.5 million China Open which starts on October 2. (via BBC, photo: sr_cranks)

World number one Serena Williams is still not able to play tournaments as she continues to recover from her foot injury sustained at a restaurant. Serena was supposed to return for the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, but it’s now official that that will not be the case. She hasn’t competed since winning Wimbledon in the beginning of July.

Scheduled to play the Toray Pan Pacific Open are Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, world No.2 Caroline Wozniacki and defending champion Maria Sharapova. (source: BBC, photo: brett marlow)

Fellow blogger Rich from Down the Line stopped by Nike Primetime Knockout Event that featured Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer playing doubles with actor Bradley Cooper, model Bar Refaeli and New York Giant Justin Tuck on Pier 54 in New York City.

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The New York Times Magazine used various forms of media to show how power has changed women’s tennis. The feature including an article by Michael Kimmelman, extraordinary photos and awesome short slow motion videos by Dewey Nicks has attracted a lot of positive attention in the tennis world, so make sure to check it out.

The article mentions a number of women’s tennis players and their stories, the expansion of the WTA to the Chinese market, the increase in prize money and equal pay at Grand Slams, the difficulties tour pros (or "independent contractors" as Stacey Allaster, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, likes to call them) can face in earning a living, the influence of Serena and Venus Williams, etc.

The slideshow and videos include Serena Willams, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonareva. I love how Dementieva's grace accompanies the delicate music of the video. Also, it's a nice surprise to see Sam looking like a ballet dancer. (via Down the Line)

Watch where you’re stepping – that’s what we can learn from Serena Williams’ situation, as the 13-time Grand Slam champion and three-time US Open champion won’t be able to compete at this year’s US Open because she still hasn’t recovered from the foot injury she sustained at a restaurant in July, when she stepped on broken glass.

The world No.1 said that missing the tournament is one of the most devastating moments of her career. She hasn’t played competitive tennis since winning Wimbledon.

Williams’ withdrawal means that world No.2 Caroline Wozniacki will be the top seed at the 2010 US Open. (via Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog, photo: sr_cranks)