A very bad day for women’s tennis at Indian Wells today – first Samantha Stosur withdrew with a right calf injury and now top seed Victoria Azarenka is out with a right ankle injury. Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki are profiting on the withdrawals, reaching the semis with walkovers. The other semifinal features two Russian Marias, Kirilenko and Sharapova.

Stosur expressed her disappointment in the press conference:

I hurt my right calf muscle in the last game of my match against Mona Barthel when I was serving for the match, so I don’t know if you can get any more unlucky than that… I think this is only the second time I’ve ever pulled out of a match in my career, and unfortunately there isn’t anything I can do about it.

Here’s what Azarenka, undefeated in 17 matches this season, said about her unwelcome situation:

I tried absolutely everything I could do, but I have been advised by the doctor, by my own team, that it’s just a very, very high risk already. I mean, it’s already really painful, but it’s very high risk to make it much worse. It’s a right foot injury, and there is a big inflammation in both and tendinitis.

(interviews: BNP Paribas Open, photos: © Neal Trousdale)

In January this year, Women's Tennis Blog's faithful contributor John Bolan was brave enough to share with the world his predictions about the 2012 year-end ranking and asked you to join him in foretelling the WTA standings, offering the best predictor among you one Top 10 WTA player autograph. Isn't it exciting to see now how John and about 30 of you who joined did?

John was absolutely correct in placing two players – John's No.1 Victoria Azarenka and No.2 Maria Sharapova have finished No.1 and No.2. He misplaced Serena Williams by just one spot, Li Na by two, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska by three and Caroline Wozniacki by four.

Three of John's Top 10 players didn't make the cut. Kim Clijsters was John's No.3, but in the middle of the year she decided to retire and actualized the decision after the US Open, while injuries pushed John's No.8 Vera Zvonareva and No.10 Sabine Lisicki to No.96 and No.37 respectively. Year-end No.5 Angelique Kerber and No.6 Sara Errani are the biggest top surprises of the season. Let's give the word to John!

I'm thrilled with the outcome since seven of the predicted players finished as final Top 10 players. The fact that my first two picks were exactly correct is a feat I have not been able to do in previous years. The fans using the comment section to submit their own picks also did better than in 2011.

Injuries were once again the biggest issue for great players not finishing in the Top 10. Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, Sabine Lisicki, Venus Williams and Andrea Petkovic were casualties during 2012. The hardest part of picking the Top 10 is the big unknown of which players will not be able to compete for the entire season. Read more »

Yesterday we told you about the withdrawals of Flavia Pennetta, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kaia Kanepi and Elena Baltacha, and now we're learning that Vera Zvonareva will also miss the US Open, due to a viral illness. This is the third Grand Slam of 2012 that the Russian is pulling out from – from Wimbledon she retired in the middle of her third-round match with upper respiratory illness, while Roland Garros she skipped entirely due to a right shoulder injury.

The 2010 US Open runner-up's replacement in the draw will be Casey Dellacqua of Australia. The Olympic Games were Zvonareva's last event and she lost in the fourth round to eventual gold medalist Serena Williams. (source: ESPN, photo: sr_cranks)

Fila has revealed the Olympic collection, containing different outfits for each country: Serbia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Spain, Romania, Italy, Belgium, Slovenia, New Zealand, etc.

Serbian Jelena Jankovic will wear a predominantly red Essenza Dress, with touches of the other two colors from the Serbian flag – blue and white. On the chest, besides the Fila logo, there is Serbian coat-of-arms, while the back features Serbian flag.
Read more »

A rematch of the 2010 US Open was cut short when seed No.12 Vera Zvonareva retired with respiratory illness while trailing 6-3 4-3, easing Kim Clijsters' progress into the fourth round of her last Wimbledon. Clijsters converted just four of 15 break points, but her deep shots in the corners constantly challenged the serve of her lethargic opponent and she actually had break points in the first six service games of Zvonareva. Clijsters'  next match will be the first clash with Angelique Kerber, seeded eighth, who advanced by beating Christina McHale 6-2 6-3.

World No.1 Maria Sharapova eased past Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1 6-4, in their first encounter since the juniors when the Taiwanese was driving the Russian crazy with slices and drop shots on clay. Sharapova's fourth-round opponent will be Sabine Lisicki, who defeated  Sloane Stephens 7-6(5) 1-6 6-2 for her third straight victory after losing four openers before coming to Wimbledon.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska brushed aside Heather Watson 6-0 6-2 and will next play Camila Giorgi, while Peng Shuai took out Arantxa Rus, the conqueror of fifth seed Sam Stosur in the second round, and will next play Maria Kirilenko. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)