Zheng Jie and Li Na welcomed home in Beijing

Zheng Jie and Li Na welcomed in Beijing

Chinese tennis stars Zheng Jie and Li Na have arrived home after their enormous success in Australia and were welcomed by crowds of fans and media.

Zheng Jie and Li Na welcomed in Beijing

Zheng and Li made history for China when they reached the 2010 Australian Open semifinals. Actually, never before had two Chinese players been in the second week of a major at the same time. Moreover, Zheng and Li are now both within Top 20 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings – Zheng is No.20 and Li has become the first Chinese Top 10 player by reaching No.10.

The national celebration of Zheng’s and Li’s arrival took place in Beijing. They answered questions from fans and media, and donated their equipment to the Chinese Tennis Association's Youth Foundation. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications China President Roger Eriksson presented Zheng and Li with special gifts for their achievements. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Fila designs at Australian Open: Spring 2010 Heritage collection

Kim Clijsters in Fila spring 2010 Tennis Heritage CollectionAn the 2010 Australian Open Fila debuted spring 2010 Tennis Heritage Collection through women's tennis stars such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kim Clijsters, Agnes Szavay and Anna Chakvetadze.

This season Fila is featuring its signature design features – crimson, Chinese red, peacoat and white, boldly accented by contrast piping, stripes and diagonals. The shoe of choice was Fila Alfa performance tennis shoe, a modern complement to the classic style of the Heritage collection.

I like the way Fila is preserving its classic style, which makes it easily distinguishable from other brands. My favorite Fila representative is Svetlana Kuznetsova, and I can't imagine the Russian wearing anything else.

Below you can see some pieces from the new Fila collection.

Fila spring 2010 Tennis Heritage CollectionFila spring 2010 Tennis Heritage CollectionFila spring 2010 Tennis Heritage Collection

What do you think of Fila tennis apparel and Spring 2010 Heritage collection?

Fila spring 2010 Tennis Heritage CollectionFila spring 2010 Tennis Heritage Collection

Serena Williams claims fifth Australian Open crown

Serena Williams wins 2010 Australian Open titleWorld No.1 and top seed Serena Williams won her twelfth Grand Slam and her fifth Australian Open one by ending Justine Henin’s hopes of a comeback title with a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory in the final.

Serena used to win the Australian Open only on odd-numbered years, but today she ended the tradition and also became the first woman in the Open Era to win it five times.

In addition, Williams leveled Billie Jean King’s record in the number of major titles. The two are now ranked sixths in the list; Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, Helen Wills Moody, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert are ranked better.

Henin was playing only her second tournament after her 18-month retirement and reached the final in both of them. Serena Williams wins 2010 Australian Open titleStill, she didn’t manage to match the achievement of fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters who won the 2009 US Open, her first Grand Slam appearance after returning to competition.

"It has been a very emotional two weeks for me. I thought it would never happen again," said the 27-year-old Henin. Later, the seven-time Grand Slam champion assured the audience that she is here to stay: "I'll see you next year."

The former world No.1 Henin,who entered the Australian Open as an unranked wildcard, will remain without a world ranking for one more tournament, but her performance so far convinced us all that the heights of women’s tennis are reserved for her.

As for Serena Williams, what can we say, there is no greater champion in women’s tennis right now. Not only did she win in singles at the 2010 Australian Open, but she won the doubles competition a day earlier (for the fourth time in Melbourne!), and not to mention that she won both singles and doubles last year as well. Serena's taping on right thigh and left knee couldn’t stop her hunger to win and I am certain the American will add more Grand Slam trophies to her already impressive collection. (photos via Yahoo)

Venus and Serena Williams win fourth Australian Open doubles title

Venus and Serena Williams win 2010 Australian Open doubles title

Venus and Serena Williams defended their Australian Open doubles title by beating Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-4 6-3 in the final.

The Williams sisters have now won the Australian Open doubles competition four times, and collected their eleventh Grand Slam doubles title, which makes them the third most successful women’s doubles partnership in the Open era.

The top-seeded team of Black and Huber headed to the Australian Open with victories in Sydney and Auckland in the beginning of the season, but the second-seeded Williamses have now beaten the top-ranked pair in all three of their meetings. Serena and Venus actually have a perfect record in Grand Slam finals, and are 16-1 in finals overall.

The sisters now regret they didn’t focus on doubles earlier in their careers. "We were talking today about how we wished we had have played more when we were younger," said Serena, who is awaiting her Australian Open singles final against Justine Henin. (source: BBC, photo: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

Serena Williams, Justine Henin to meet in Australian Open final

Serena Williams at the 2010 Australian OpenJustine Henin at the 2010 Australian Open

Top seed Serena Williams and returning wildcard Justine Henin eliminated their Chinese semifinal opponents to book their first meeting in a Grand Slam final.

World No.1 Serena Williams advanced to her fifth Australian Open final after a tense victory over seed No.16 Li Na. The Chinese showed great resistance to take the defending champion to two tiebreaks, but crumbled in both to lose 7-6(4) 7-6(1).

Unseeded former world No.1 Justine Henin blew Zheng Jie off court in just 51 minutes with a 6-1 6-0 victory in the semifinals. The 35th-ranked Zheng had very good first serve percentage of 81, and the score was that bad. Imagine what would have happened if her serve was worse.

Williams and Henin faced each other for the first time nine years ago. Only four of their encounters were in a WTA final in which they are tied at 2-2, and they are about to have their first one in a major. Williams leads their head-to-head record 7-6. (photos via Australian Open)


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