Fifth-seeded Serena Williams withdrew from her Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarterfinal against French qualifier Alize Cornet due to a back injury.

Williams’ withdrawal gives world No.34 Cornet a walkover to the semifinals, where she'll face Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze, a 6-2 3-6 6-1 winner over Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova. Remember, Pironkova was the one who stunned top seed Ana Ivanovic. (photo via Getty Images)

World No.17 Dinara Safina first upset No.1 Justine Henin at the Qatar Telecom German Open, and on Friday the Russian has continued her impressive run winning a thrilling three-setter over another Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams.

The result shows the excitement of the quarterfinal — 2-6 6-1 7-6(5) — Safina came back from a set down and pulled off the victory in the tiebreaker. Safina described the win over world No.6 Serena Williams as "one of the best matches of my life".

In the semifinals, seed No.13 Safina will face unseeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus who defeated the 15th seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-6 6-2.

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic played a quarterfinal against Agnes Szavay, but at one set all, the match was called off due to bad light. They will continue the match on Saturday. The winner of the match between Ivanovic and Szavay will meet Elena Dementieva after she beat Jelena Jankovic in an up-and-down 6-3 2-6 6-3 win. (source: BBC, photo via Craig Hickman)

Serena Williams helped to unveil Nike's 2008 Women's Fall Line in Venice, California. The presentation included a full range of sports apparel including track suits, t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, gym bags, sneakers, and accessories.

Additional info: Serena is said to have a $55 million dollar deal with Nike. Read more »

It’s really nice of Serena Williams to share her thoughts and feelings on her official website, I’m all for interaction with your fans. It’s also nice that she wrote a love poem! But after reading it, I just hope she won’t quit playing tennis for becoming a poet.

Have u been in love before
So much you want to cry
Have u been in love before
So much u never wanna die
Because if you do
U won't be with him Read more »

We’re still talking about Miami's Sony Ericsson Open, well it's not often called the fifth Grand Slam for nothing. As you know, Serena Williams won this last one and collected her fifth title at the prestigious event. So what’s the secret behind Serena’s domination at the Sony Ericsson Open? Here’s what she herself says:

Ok so I had a pretty decent tournament and people want to know why I have won there 5 times… Hummm well I have so many friends that come out to the tournament! All my friends from Palm Beach everything. So when I come to play in Miami if I lose too many people will be mad at me! So that's my secret!

Serena also stated how she has never been angrier after winning a tournament and added: "I feel like I should have won that final easier, but after all a win is a win right???" That's right, Serena. (source: Serena's official site, photo via Yahoo)