Some of the WTA Tour players dressed elegantly last night for the annual Ralph Lauren Sony Ericsson Pre-Wimbledon Party hosted by Richard Branson at The Roof Gardens.

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Third seed Venus Williams saved a match point against Lucie Safarova in the second round, but today the American succumbed to Agnes Szavay’s first match point to lose in the third round of Roland Garros third time in a row.

Szavay, who was winless in the first two months of the season, upset the world No.3 Williams with an impressive score of 6-0 6-4. A bagel! Wow! We can now officially say that Szavay, once a rapidly rising tennis star, is back where she should be.

Szavay, the 29th seed, scored her seventh Top 10 win defeating a player she lost to in three sets in the quarterfinals of Acapulco in February.

The Hungarian's next opponent will be 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova, who defeated Gisela Dulko 6-4 6-2 in the third round.

As we’ve already posted, holder Ana Ivanovic went safely through to the fourth round, while 16-year-old Portuguese wunderkind Michelle Larcher de Brito didn’t manage to scream her way into the fourth round and fell to Aravane Rezai 7-6 (3) 6-2 after an interesting match. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Third seed Venus Williams saved one match point in the deciding set and soon after converted her first to defeat 46th-ranked Lucie Safarova 6-7(5) 6-2 7-5 in the second round of the 2009 French Open.

The match between Williams and Safarova began yesterday, but after the world No.3 Williams lost a first-set tiebreaker the chair umpire called it a night.

The match point Williams faced was while trailing 5-4 in the final set, but the seven-time Grand Slam champion managed to hold serve, break the Czech and hold again for the win.

Williams was runner-up at Roland Garros in 2002, but since then she hasn’t gone further than the quarterfinals. Moreover, the American exited in the third round in three of the last four years.

Williams will next play Agnes Szavay, who moved into the third round on Wednesday, beating Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-0. Notice, Szavay is winning again.

No.13 seed Marion Bartoli was upset today by Tathiana Garbin 6-3 7-5. Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova all advanced to the third round in straight sets. Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva will play their matches later today. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Wearing a new colorful EleVen dress, Venus Williams made her way into the second round of Roland Garros. The seven-time Grand Slam champion beat fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1 4-6 6-2. Maria Sharapova also progressed in three sets, defeating world No.64 Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 3-6 6-1 6-2.

Williams has never won the French Open, and was upset in the third round in three of the last four years, but she was a runner-up to her sister Serena in 2002. In addition, she holds a 36-12 record at Roland Garros, which makes her the player with most wins in the women's draw at the tournament.

Sharapova, now ranked only 102nd, lost the first set, but stormed through the next two to reach the second round of Roland Garros and book a meeting with seed No.11 Nadia Petrova, who will be Sharapova's toughest opponent since her recent comeback to competitive tennis. The third-seeded Williams will face Lucie Safarova in the second round.

Upsets: So far on Day 2, seed No.14 Flavia Pennetta and seed No.23 Alisa Kleybanova lost in the first round. Pennetta was upset by American world No.116 Alexa Glatch 6-1 6-1. Did anyone see what happened to Pennetta to have won only two games? Kleybanova lost to Slovenia's Polona Hercog, ranked 167th, 6-2 4-6 6-1. (source: AP, photos via Roland Garros, Yahoo)

The draw for the 2009 French Open is out and here’s my analysis of contenders. I would just like to mention that despite all the facts, I'm sure we all deep inside feel that the women’s field is wide open.

Dinara Safina is my top favorite to win the title. She is coming to Paris with back-to-back titles in Rome and Madrid, plus the Stuttgart final before that (and all the three tournaments mentioned are played on clay). And not only that, the world No.1 Safina was last year’s runner up at the French Open.

The Russian is in impressive form, but she shouldn’t give herself the luxury of making matches longer than they should be (although she’s great at coming back from behind), in order to be fully fit as long as it takes to claim her first Grand Slam.

The first opponent at the French Open won’t be easy for Safina, as she’s meeting Anne Keothavong who reached the semifinals of this week’s Warsaw Open. Other big names such as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Alisa Kleybanova, Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka, Carla Suarez Navarro and defending champion Ana Ivanovic are also in her quarter.

Serena Williams still hasn’t won a singles match on clay this season. The world No.2 dropped openers of Marbella, Rome and Madrid, and hence it’s hard to put her as the favorite. However, knowing her impressive resume which includes the 2002 French Open title, and her ability to show her best at majors, the younger Williams sister can never be written off.

To make things more interesting, Serena Williams is playing Klara Zakopalova in the first round, the player she lost to in Marbella in April. Serena is looking at another potential tough match in the fourth round against Flavia Pennetta.

Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, and although she has never been victorious at Roland Garros, she played the final in 2002, and just like her sister Serena, she’s a threat anywhere and anytime.

Williams is the top seed in her quarter of the draw. Her first-round opponent will be fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. In the second round Williams could meet Sabine Lisicki, who beat her en route to the title in Charleston last month. Read more »

Roland Garros starts May 24, and some players are already there, preparing for the second Grand Slam of the season.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, who will try to win her first French Open title, was seen training for the greatest claycourt tournament. Her sister Serena Williams, who won the event in 2002, was also busy trying to finally adapt to clay this season, with the help of father Richard.

Jelena Jankovic was seen practicing with coach Ricardo Sanchez, but as you may have heard, she will most probably change her coach if she doesn't make a good result at the French Open. Just to remind you, earlier this year Jankovic fired conditioning coach Pat Etcheberry.

JJ is exceptional on clay, but having in mind her recent problems with form and conidence, I don't expect her to claim her first Grand Slam title this time.

Also spotted was Amelie Mauresmo, who still hasn't got past the quarterfinals at her home Grand Slam.

Additional info: The draw will be available starting Friday, May 22. (photos via Roland Garros)

Fifth seed and world number three Venus Williams went down to Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 3-6 7-5 in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic also played on Tuesday, but the Serb was victorious against world number 39 Daniela Hantuchova.

The 19- year-old Kleybanova fired seven aces and broke Williams' serve seven times in the match that lasted two hours and 12 minutes. The world No.26 Kleybanova, who is yet to win a WTA singles title, is now 1-1 with Williams in head-to-head statistics.

Remember? The Russian scored her first Top 10 win at this year’s Australian Open by upsetting Ana Ivanovic.

Jankovic beat Hantuchova 7-5 6-2. The Slovak was a tough opponent in the first set, but failed to convert any of seven break points in the second. Also advancing was seed No.9 Caroline Wozniacki, who had little trouble in seeing off Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-1.

Besides Venus Williams, one more seed fell on Tuesday: No.15 seed Zheng Jie lost 6-2 7-5 to Amelie Mauresmo in the second round. (photo by our reader Bobby)

Magnificent Dinara Safina beat magnificent Venus Williams 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 in a powerful battle of two hard-hitters and one of the best matches of the season, to reach the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The semifinal lasted three hours and nine minutes, and I believe that tells enough.

The fourth-seeded Williams won the first set after a one hour and 10 minutes long fight. Safina had come back from a break down to level at 5-5, but lost in the tiebreak (isn’t it horrible when a player recovers from a bad situation only to lose in a tiebreak?). Nevertheless, Safina took the match to the third set. The decider was full of breaks, with Williams always coming back from behind, but as I said, always coming back, Safina never kept the lead for long. Finally, at 5-4 Safina was serving for the match and after saving some break points, the Russian world No.1 finally converted her third match point to beat the American.

It’s a real joy to watch Safina play when she has consistency, and against a great opponent such as Venus Williams, there’s nothing more you can ask for.

In-form Svetlana Kuznetsova, who ended her title drought in Stuttgart last week, reached her second consecutive final by defeating sixth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-2 6-4 in the semifinals. The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova will be Safina’s opponent in an all-Russian final in Rome.

As for world No.5 Venus Williams, she will retake the No.3 ranking on May 11. She hasn't been ranked that high in six years. (photos: Tennis Channel)