The Williams sisters, seeded second, have won their third doubles title of the season, beating Chan Yung-Jan of China and Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-4 6-1 in the final of the Bank of the West Classic.

Serena's and Venus' two previous 2009 doubles titles came at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Shortly before winning in doubles, Venus had lost to Marion Bartoli 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the singles final. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No.14 Marion Bartoli of France beat seven-time Grand Slam champion and world No.3 Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 6-4, after 2 hours and 43 minutes of play in the final of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

Bartoli took the first set and had a 5-3 lead in the second set, but didn't manage to end the match then, and Wililams won the set 7-5 to take the encounter to the decider.

Bartoli established a 2-0 lead in the third set, but Williams later leveled at 3-3. Bartoli then broke Williams once again, the break which turned out to be crucial, as all the following games went with serve and Bartoli capitalized on her first match point, in the 10th game of the third set.

The last year’s Stanford finalist won her fifth WTA singles title and second this year, while Williams has now lost her fifth out of seven finals at the tournament.

As for the prize money, the winner earned $107,000 and the runner-up $56,000.

Additional info: Venus Williams is scheduled to play doubles final later today, partnered with sister Serena Williams, and against the pairing of Yung-Jan Chan and Monica Niculescu. (photos courtesy of Colleen and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No.3 Venus Williams is now just one step away from her third Bank of the West Classic title, having reached her seventh final at the tournament. Her opponent in the title match will be last year's finalist, France's Marion Bartoli.

The second-seeded Williams crashed third seed Elena Dementieva 6-0 6-1 and scored her ninth win, and sixth straight, in 11 career encounters with the Russian.

In the other semifinal, eighth seed Marion Bartoli won a see-saw match against Samantha Stosur 6-3 1-6 6-1. Bartoli took control of the deciding set by winning four games in a row en route to the two-hour, four-minute victory.

Williams and Bartoli have met only once before, in nothing less than the final of Wimbledon, and the American won 6-4 6-1.

Additional info: Along sister Serena, Venus Williams is also competing in the doubles final at Stanford. (photo courtesy of our reader Colleen)

Eleven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams has won her second ESPY Award, beating out world number one Dinara Safina and 2009 Roland Garros champion Svetlana Kuznetsova to receive the award.

Serena's first ESPY award was for Best Female Athlete in 2003, and now she has won the Best Female Tennis Player Award.

Besides Serena, tennis stars Venus Williams and Bethanie Mattek-Sands graced the ceremony at the Nokia Theater L.A. where the winners of the 2009 ESPY Awards were announced.

The Williams sisters presented former South African president Nelson Mandela the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Mandela's daughter Zindzi Mandela and grandson Zondwa Mandela were at the Nokia Theatre to accept the award, which is presented annually to individuals whose contributions transcend sports.

The ESPYs, short for the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, are US cable sports network ESPN's annual player awards. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Here are some entertaining videos featuring Elena Dementieva, Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki. The videos are part of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s "Hero Challenge" Campaign.

I bet you want to serve like Elena Dementieva. No, it’s not a joke. Look at this accuracy!

Although I know you have never doubted Venus Williams’ powerful serve – take a look at how she destroys big American football players.

And check out Caroline Wozniacki playing against a pair of men, showing great speed and anticipation.