Venus Williams was too strong for world No.1 Jelena Jankovic at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong, defeating the Serb 6-2 6-2.

Was Jankovic’s hard training during the off-season fruitful enough? This loss makes me doubt that, although, the excuse could be that Jankovic wasn’t motivated enough because the JB Group Classic is only an exhibition event. The Australian Open will definitely be the best place for players to show what they’ve really got.

When you look at the score, this is Williams’ most decisive victory over Jankovic, although she trails Jankovic 4-5 in head-to-heads.

Jankovic’s loss means that Team Americas and Team Europe are now leveled at 1-1, as Team Europe won doubles yesterday. The winner of the clash between Gisela Dulko (Americas) and Agnes Szavay (Europe) will face Russia in the gold group final of the JB Group Classic. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams still feels like she has a lot of things to achieve in tennis and doesn’t see herself retiring, despite watching many of her competitors hang up their rackets in recent years.

"I love my job. I love hitting balls, running, jumping, chasing after that ball. I love what I do, so that's what keeps me motivated," the 28-year-old Williams said Tuesday in Hong Kong ahead of the JB Group Classic exhibition event.

"I haven't won the French or the Australian (Opens), although I've come pretty close, so those are definitely on my list," said the world No.6, adding that reclaiming the No.1 ranking this year is a realistic goal.

In addition, Venus feels healthy and ready to start the new tennis season.

"Nothing to complain about right now," she said.

The JB Group Classic exhibition starts on Wednesday and it will be Venus’ only preparation for the Australian Open. The Team Americas' captain has apparently arrived in Hong Kong, despite not being seen at the players gathering.

Thanks to Venus' fan Bobby who told me about this story. (source: FOX Sports, photo: Tennis Channel)

Venus Williams graduated in fashion design from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and has her own EleVen clothing line which she herself wears on the tennis courts. Let’s see what our seven-time Grand Slam champion designed for the 2008 tennis season.

Here’s a short note: Venus Williams was switching back and forth with her outfits throughout the year and it gave me a hard time in compiling this retrospection. For example, at the US Open she wore the black dress she later sported at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. However, I worked a lot to make this retrospection as precise as possible.

At 2008 Roland Garros Venus sported two outfits, and the second one, without sleeves she also wore for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s "Looking for a Hero" campaign. Read more »

The J B • GROUP Classic 2009, a tennis exhibition in Hong Kong set to take place January 7th-10th, will have a star-studded lineup. There will be four groups of players and Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams and Zheng Jie will lead their groups.

The event will feature teams of three players from four regions of the globe, Team Europe, Team Russia, Team Americas and Team Asia Pacific. The third player in each group is a possible Star of Tomorrow.

Team Europe
Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) – World No.1
Agnes Szavay (Hungary) – China Open Champion 2007
Michelle Larcher De Brito (Portugal) – Portuguese No.1 Read more »

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has released the list of the fastest servers and Venus Williams tops both this year’s list and the all-time one.

The American first served her all-time record of 129 mph at the 2007 US Open, and then repeated it this year on her way to the Wimbledon title.

Top 15 Fastest Servers – 2008

1. Williams, Venus (129.0 mph – Wimbledon)
2. Groenefeld, Anna-Lena (128.0 mph – US Open)
3. Williams, Serena (125.0 mph – Miami)
4. Lisicki, Sabine (124.0 mph – Cincinnati)
5. Brémond, Severine (121.8 mph – Australian Open)
6. Bychkova, Ekaterina (121.2 mph – Roland Garros)
Petrova, Nadia (121.2 mph – Roland Garros)
8. Stosur, Samantha (121.0 mph – US Open)
9. Fedossova, Youlia (119.3 mph – Roland Garros)
10. Sprem, Karolina (119.0 mph – Amelia Island)
11. Ivanovic, Ana (118.1 mph – Roland Garros)
Tulyaganova, Iroda (118.1 mph – Australian Open)
13. Amanmuradova, Akgul (118.0 mph – Amelia Island)
Cavaday, Naomi (118.0 mph – Wimbledon)
Kleybanova, Alisa (118.0 mph – Wimbledon)

Note that the six fastest servers of all time have all emerged over the last three years. Tennis players train more and more, the physicality of the sport is increased, and faster serves are one of the proofs. Read more »