I was supposed to go to Fed Cup tie between Serbia and Russia in Belgrade, but the weather conditions are so bad that there was no way I could travel 86 km. Anyway, I watched it on TV from my cozy room and I could see Ana Ivanovic getting crushed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Jelena Jankovic recovering from a set and 4-1 down to beat Alisa Kleybanova.

World No.4 Kuznetsova defeated Ivanovic 6-1 6-4 in the first match of the day. After blowing the Serb in the first set, Kuznetsova rallied from 4-2 down in the second to seal the first win for Russia. Once ranked No.1 now No.23 Ivanovic made 50 unforced errors and six double faults.

The second match of the day looked to be heading in the direction of Russia’s victory as well, but world No.8 Jankovic overturned the result while trailing 4-6 1-4 and won 11 games in a row to defeat 31st-ranked Kleybanova 4-6 6-4 6-0.

As you can see, after the first day of the Serbia vs. Russia Fed Cup quarterfinal the countries are tied at 1-1. Reverse singles and doubles will be played tomorrow, on Sunday. (photos via Blic)

Serena Williams will face Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova will play Venus Williams in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, exhibition event to take place March 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The semifinal pairs were determined according to the 2009 year-end rankings. The highest-ranked player was paired with the lowest ranked, and the remaining two are to face each other.

The exhibition features no ad scoring format, and each participant will compete in a one-set semifinal with the winners advancing to a best of three-set final.

Russia and Serbia will face each other in this weekend's Fed Cup first-round tie played in Belgrade, Serbia.

The latest news is that Russia’s team will be stronger than previously planned, as their highest ranked player world No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova changed her mind and joined world No.31 Alisa Kleybanova, No.38 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No.40 Vera Dushevina in the team.

However, Serbia’s team is likely to be weaker than expected because of Jelena Jankovic’s health problems. It should have consisted of former world No.1s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, along with Ana Jovanovic and Bojana Jovanovski, but now we will see what will happen.

Here’s what Jankovic told her official website:

No, I haven't come to Belgrade yet, and I'm still in Florida, where I'm fighting with back injury received in Melbourne. I didn't want to speak in public about the problems that struck me in Australia, about the cold and the back injury that occurred during a practice while trying to change the way I served, because many would describe it to as a justification for the lost match […] Unfortunately, the situation got complicated, so I'm still in Florida, sad and in great uncertainty whether I would start the journey to my home town.

Serbia is making its World Group debut. Russia won the Fed Cup four times between 2004 and 2008 and Kuznetsova was part of three winning Russian teams. (photo by our reader Elisa)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour interviewed Vera Zvonareva, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Samantha Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova about their favorite place for a holiday.

Poor Samantha Stosur, she had to go to Bali instead of Hawaii.

Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova will play the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup.

The $1.2 million tennis exhibition will take place on March 1, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There will be two one-set semifinals, followed by a best-of-three-set final.

Last year's participants at the event were the Williams sisters and Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. Serena was the winner.

Tickets will go on sale December 2, 2009 and range from $25 to $1000. (source: Simply Serena Williams)

World number three Svetlana Kuznetsova will start her 2010 season and the Australian Open campaign at the Medibank International Sydney.

The Russian is the fifth Top 10 player to join the Sydney field after No.1 Serena Williams, No.5 and defending champion Elena Dementieva, No.4 Caroline Wozniacki and No.7 Victoria Azarenka.

It will be Kuznetsova’s fifth straight participation at the event. In 2008 she was runner-up to then world No.1 Justine Henin. (source: Medibank International Sydney, photo by our reader Jacob)

Jelena Jankovic had a very easy route to the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Championships. After falling to Victoria Azarenka in her first round-robin match, the Serb won her second round-robin match with Dinara Safina retiring after just 12 minutes of play, and today her opponent was weary Caroline Wozniacki, who practically barely survived her yesterday’s match.

Prior to the encounter with Wozniacki, Jankovic had spent just 95 minutes on court, while the Dane spent five hours and 48 minutes. Jankovic beat Wozniacki 6-2 6-2. However, Wozniacki could  advance to the semifinals too, if Victoria Azarenka loses to Agnieszka Radwanska in the match which is currently in progress.

In the other match of the day, Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-2, and has thus sent Venus Williams into the semifinals.

The third secured semifinalist is Serena Williams, who has earned a perfect 3-0 result at this year’s Championships.

To sum up: Maroon Group semifinalists are Venus and Serena Williams and White Group semifinalists are Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki/Victoria Azarenka. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-4 to win the China Open and inspiring $775,500. It’s the Russian’s third title of the season, the first two came at Stuttgart and Roland Garros, and the 12th of her career.

Radwanska was playing in a singles final for the first time since June 2008, and now she will return to the Top 10, although her perfect record in career finals has been ruined.

This latest success seems to have motivated Kuznetsova: "Normally I feel really tired at the end of the season, but now I feel great."

Kuznetsova had already qualified for the $4,550,000 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha (October 27 – November 1, 2009) and before going to the Persian Gulf one week prior to the event in order to acclimatize, she will spend some time practicing in Moscow. (sources AP, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnieszka Radwanska will face each other in the title match of the $4,500,000 China Open.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova booked her place in the final with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Nadia Petrova, No.13 seed. Kuznetsova broke Petrova five times, while she dropped her serve only once, early in the second set.

In the other semifinal, No.12 seed Radwanska defeated No.14 seed Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-3, and is now projected to return to the Top 10. The Pole rallied from early breaks in both sets, and has now won the last eight sets against Bartoli.

Kuznetsova won the China Open in 2006 and was a runner-up in 2004 and 2008. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Last year’s runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the semifinals of the China Open, while Elena Dementieva fell at the same tennis complex where she won her Olympic gold medal 14 months ago.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova defeated fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, 6-3 6-3, and will next face No.13 seed Nadia Petrova, who followed up her victory over soon-to-be No.1 Serena Williams with a quarterfinal win over Peng Shuai.

The Russian fourth-seeded Dementieva was upset by 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3. The Pole will play 14th seed Marion Bartoli in the semis, who advanced by upsetting seventh seed Vera Zvonareva.

The 2009 China Open champion will collect $775,500. (photo: Jean-Sebastien Marceau)