American Melanie Oudin, who came out of nowhere to reach the quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open, found it hard to carry the burden of high expectations and fell to the recently-married Alona Bondarenko in the second round this year. The 18-year-old Oudin made 38 unforced errors during her 6-2 7-5 loss to seed No.29 Bondarenko.

Second seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters had an easy task against Sally Peers, a 19-year-old qualifier ranked 201. Clijsters advanced to the third round with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Grand Slam debutant Peers, who recorded a 6-0 6-1 win over Aleksandra Wozniak in the first round.

Third-seeded Venus Williams struggled early in her match against 193rd-ranked qualifier Rebecca Marino, but beat her 7-6(3) 6-3.

French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur, seeded fifth, reached the third round of the US Open for the first time, even though it’s her seventh appearance at the tournament. Stosur defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6-1 6-4.

Sixth seed Francesca Schiavone, 2010 French Open champion, quickly won her match against fellow Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-2 6-1. Schiavone has now lost a total of just four games to advance to the third round of the US Open. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

You can finally buy items from Venus Williams’ EleVen clothing line as her partnership with the Gilt Group has materialized. Go to Gilt.com, sign up and you can add some of Venus’ famous dresses to your collection, like the white one, called the Goddess Dress, in which Venus won her fifth Wimbledon title in 2008.

Dress prices currently range from $79 to $99. As I can see they are on sale now and the sale ends August 30, 6 am CET. So use the opportunity if you want to "Look like a ten, feel like an EleVen".

Venus is happy that her designs have come to life again and said that new items will be available at Gilt.com in the future.

Additional info: Remind yourselves of Venus' 2008 and 2009 on-court outfits. (via Tennis Served Fresh)

Venus Williams will be at Macy's Herald Square in NYC this Thursday to celebrate POLO Ralph Lauren's new line of tennis apparel. The tennis champion will be on hand to meet with fans in the Men’s POLO Ralph Lauren department.

Starting at 6 pm, shoppers will have the opportunity to mingle with Venus Williams, and any customer who purchases $50 or more of Ralph Lauren merchandise will receive a signed photo of Venus Williams. Those still hungry for more can make a purchase of $100 or more and receive 2 tickets to Arthur Ashe Day at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

So, if you’re in New York make sure to catch the chance.

World No.4 Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup in Montreal due to a left knee injury. Williams was supposed to play in Montreal for the first time.

Top-ranked Serena Williams will also miss the event because of the right foot injury she sustained when stepping on broken glass at a restaurant. Another Top 5 player, Samantha Stosur, will not play the US Open warmup either, because of an arm injury.

Let’s recall the words of the Montreal tournament director, Eugene Lapierre, when he initially refused to give Ana Ivanovic a wildcard:

"If we didn’t already have the best players in the world, if we didn’t get all the players we think we can get, my choice would certainly be for the wild cards to go to international players, because you want to sell the attraction. But we have them, so it’s normal to give the chance to young players."

Fellow blogger C Note said it well: "But it's ok, you guys!  They have Stephanie Dubois and Valerie Tetreault!  They'll be fine." (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Serena and Venus Williams have committed to play for their country in the 6-7 November Fed Cup final against Italy. The sisters haven’t participated in the tournament since 2007.

The United States will host the event at the San Diego Sports Arena and other members of the team will be Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and doubles world No.1, Liezel Huber.

"I strongly believe that this team can win the Fed Cup title on our home soil,"  said US Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

The United States hasn’t won a Fed Cup title since 2000, and in last year’s final the US team didn’t win a single match against Italy. (photo: Emmett Anderson)