Top seed Venus Williams overcame a string of double faults to beat fourth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-3 1-6 6-4 and win the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships on Sunday.

Williams reached the final without losing a set, but she had to work to improve to 3-0 in her career against Kirilenko.

The Wimbledon champion finished with 11 double-faults for the match. After taking the first set, she had five double-faults and was broken three times in the second set. However, she broke Kirilenko in the seventh game of the third set, before going on to claim the title. (source: BBC)

Twelfth seed Venus Williams of the USA set up a semifinal clash with Justine Henin at the US Open 2007 with the triumph over third seed and last year’s semifinalist Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

Williams’ fast serve was not a big problem for Jankovic who made a break twice in the first set. However, she won it 6-4 because she didn’t hold one of her serves. Second set completely belonged to the American, who stayed in the match with a decisive 6-1. In that set Jankovic kind of surrendered, and began to save energy for the third set. The decider was a thrilling tie-breaker, and Venus won it 7-6 (4). Read more »

World number five Ana Ivanovic still hasn’t found the way to beat six-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams. In their fourth round match on Sunday, twelfth-seeded Williams won 6-4 6-2.

Ivanovic had no trouble defeating her opponents on the way to the round-of-16, but the reigning Wimbledon champion was too much for her. The 19-year-old Serb’s well-known forehand and serve were on a good level, but her net approaches were unsuccessful, which is 22 % compared to Venus’ 75 %. Read more »

World No. 7 Amelie Mauresmo withdrew on Monday from both the Rogers Cup (August 13-19, Toronto, Canada) and Pilot Pen (August 19-25, New Haven, CT, USA). The Frenchwoman said that she still hasn’t fully recovered from an appendectomy in March (this surgery really ruined her season). "I rushed back too quickly because there was a lot at stake for me, especially on grass," Mauresmo said. "Unfortunately my body did not cooperate.” There is even a chance that the 28-year-old will miss the US Open!

On Tuesday, world No.14 Venus Williams too pulled out of the Rogers Cup and the reason is tendonitis in her right knee. "I should have planned my schedule better. I'm feeling maxed out," she said. Next tournament for the four-time Wimbledon champion is the US Open. (sources: ESPN, Reuters)

In the quarterfinals of the Acura Classic in San Diego third seed Anna Chakvetadze earned the biggest win of her career with a 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory over the reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams.

Williams looked sure to put Chakvetadze away, but she double-faulted on match point and was not the same afterwards. Read more »