Out of four matches played to wrap up the fourth round of the Australian Open, two were finished with players retiring. To my great disappointment, Zheng Jie and Victoria Azarenka had to give up their fight for the quarterfinal spot because of health problems.

The No.22 seed Zheng sprained her left wrist and was forced to retire trailing 4-1 in the first set against eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

As for Azarenka, No.13 seed, she won the first set against seed No.2 Serena Williams 6-3. In the second set, trailing Williams 4-2, Azarenka was visibly suffering under the hot conditions, and with tears in her eyes retired from the match due to dizziness and gastrointestinal illness.

In the other two matches, Dementieva, the fourth seed, remained undefeated in 2009, crushing No.18 seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-2, while Carla Suarez Navarro won an all-Spanish encounter against No.21 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-2. Suarez Navarro upset one of the favorites for the title Venus Williams in the second round, coming back from 5-2 down in the third set and saving match points to win the match.

American Serena Williams will meet Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals, and is 4-1 against the Russian, while Dementieva will play Suarez Navarro for the first time in her career. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photos: Getty Images)

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 »

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Zheng Jie in a tight two-setter to set up a clash with top seed Jelena Jankovic in the final of the $600,000 China Open in Beijing.

The Russian fourth seed, last week's runner-up in Tokyo, defeated Chinese crowd favorite Zheng Jie 7-6 (3) 7-5. Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng reached the final four with a triumph over second-seeded Ana Ivanovic.

Kuznetsova leads Jankovic 4-2 in their head-to-head. This year they have met twice, in Dubai and Tokyo, and both times the Russian was victorious.

The 2008 China Open titlist will earn $95,500. (photo: Getty Images)

Oh Ana, you haven't had a winning streak for so long. When was the last one, at Wimbledon? And even there you lost in the third round already, to the same player who conquered you today.

Ana Ivanovic lost in the quarterfinals of the China Open to home favorite Zheng Jie, ranked 30th in the world. The match was a tense three-setter with a final score 7-6 2-6 6-4 which came after almost three hours of play.

"This tournament has definitely been a step forward. I'm still working my way back and I just have to be patient," said Ivanovic. Haha, a step forward. This sounds so strange when you hear it from a recent world No.1. She won one match at the China Open!

Let’s quickly review Ivanovic’s results after Wimbledon in June. She reached the third round at Montreal, withdrew from the Olympics with right thumb injury, reached only the second round at the US Open, dropped opener at Tokyo, and lost in the quarterfinals of the China Open today.

Maybe the solution to Ana’s problems lies in changing that adidas outfit everyone has long been fed up with. Actually, everyone wanted the outfit to go since its introduction. (image via Great Tennis Photos)

Second seed Jelena Jankovic advanced to the fourth round of the US Open with a hard-fought victory over Wimbledon semifinalist Jie Zheng of China, ranked 37th in the world. I’m joking about this "hair stays intact" part because of a recent funny statement of Jankovic (you can read it below).

As always, Jankovic had problems with holding her serve so being a break up wasn’t a big deal for the world No.2. You see, Jankovic converted eight break points, Zheng six. The Serb finished the match on her fifth match point with a final score 7-5 7-5. All those match points were in the final game of the second set which featured 11 deuces.

And here’s the part with Jankovic’s perfect hair. Haha, I read this quote yesterday. When asked what question she has never been asked but wants to answer Jankovic said: "They never ask me why my hair never moves. I use tons of hairspray because of my bangs. Even if I used 100 pins it would all fall out. So I wish they would ask me about my perfect hair!" Jelena, you’re a gem!

In the fourth round Jankovic will meet 14th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Caroline Wozniacki, the Danish 21st seed. (photo via AFP)

Sixth seed Serena Williams will play her elder sister Venus, seeded seventh, in Wimbledon finals for the third time, after ending an impressive run of China's world No.133 Zheng Jie. Final score: 6-2 7-6(5).

Williams’ serve was impressive throughout the semifinal and Zheng could barely win a point on her opponent’s serve. The exception to this rule was only the second part of the second set, when Zheng even managed to break strong Williams for a 4-2 lead. However, Zheng’s lead didn’t last long, Williams broke back right away. Zheng, however, had one more chance to stay in the match — when she had a set point to force the third set. Disappointingly, Zheng netted a backhand and Williams gave her no more such opportunities from then on. In the tiebreak, Williams scored victory on her first match point with Zheng double-faulting. Unfortunately, this was a poor end of Zheng's otherwise great performance. Read more »

Serena Williams brushed aside the challenge of Agnieszka Radwanska to book her place in the Wimbledon final four where she will face unexpected semifinalist Jie Zheng of China, whose impressive run has continued as she overcame Nicole Vaidisova.

Sixth seed Serena Williams defeated Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska with a dominant 6-4 6-0 victory. Williams posted only six unforced errors in the match, and by the end of the fifty-one minute quarterfinal, she hit twenty-seven winners and only dropped two service points during the second set. Chinese wildcard Jie Zheng, who upset world No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the third round and beat seed No.15 Agnes Szavay in the next round, got past 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 5-7 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Read more »

World No.1 Ana Ivanovic became the second shock of this year’s Wimbledon when she was upset in the third round by Zheng Jie, ranked 133rd.

In her previous match Ivanovic was on the verge of defeat but luck was on her side and she reached the third round. However, the Serb couldn't pass another test and superb Zheng demolished her 6-1 6-4. Read more »

Chinese number one Na Li will miss this month's China Open because of a right rib injury which has been bothering her since June. Everything started at the DFS Classic, a tournament in Birmingham, when Na Li couldn’t stop coughing because of her pollen allergy. Since then, we haven’t seen her on court at all.

Another Chinese player will miss China Open. World No.129 Jie Zheng, Wimbledon 2006 doubles champion, won’t play in Beijing because of an ankle injury.

These persistent injuries prevented Na Li and Jie Zheng from taking part in both Wimbledon and US Open, and there is little hope that they will recover soon.

"It is very bad news," Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) vice president Gao Shenyang told China Daily.

"Their rehabilitation is slower than we expected, I am not sure when they will be back." (via Reuters)