Zheng Jie marked the beginning of the 2010 season with an Australian Open semifinal, but the Chinese will not get back to Melbourne to try to repeat the success, because of her left wrist injury. Zheng sustained the injury at the US Open, and worsened it by playing doubles all the way to the semifinals. Then she skipped all the post-US Open events because of the injury which even required a surgery.

Zheng is currently ranked 26th in the world, but her ranking will drop after the Australian Open, when she loses the points earned by the 2010 semifinal. (photo: Nick Bollettieri)

Thanks to our regular reader Maja J, we are learning about these sneak previews of adidas' WTA stars wearing their clothing for the 2011 Australian Open. We've already talked about the beautiful purple adilibria outfit Ana Ivanovic will be wearing Down Under, but now we're having the photo of the outfit on Ana herself (previously I thought it was a dress, but now I hear it's a skirt and a top), as well as the pictures of Justine Henin and Flavia Pennetta in the designs adidas prepared for them.

Justine Henin will be in more colors than usual with her new SS11 Barricade two-piece ensemble, but I have to say I prefer the less is more approach when it comes to Henin and colors. The outfit, consisting of a polo shirt and skort, will be available in two color combinations of "fresh pink", "intense green" and white.

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Just as the Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley hinted, Jelena Dokic has been awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the 2011 Australian Open. Tiley considers that Dokic deserves a wildcard because of the determination and good form she showed during the playoffs, which she lost in the final to Olivia Rogowska.

Here's how Dokic commented on her last week's form:

I had a pretty good playoff considering I didn't play a match in over two months, it was a good practice run for me and I'm very happy to receive the wildcard. I did play well and I got better with each match.

Dokic, who made a stunning run to the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2009, believes that surprises can always happen, especially in the beginning of the season:

Obviously the [Australian Open] draw will be very tough. You've got to go match by match, you never know what can happen. There's always been kind of underdogs that have come [through], especially early in the year as everyone still coming off their breaks, their off-seasons. My goal is not to just do well at the Australian Open, it's to play well.

(source: Australian Open, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Thanks to DeShawn Besabella I learned about two awesome videos showcasing Nike dresses and shoes tailored for Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova for the 2011 Australian Open. The apparel is presented by Nike staff themselves: Nike Tennis product line manager, Alex Chan, and Nike Tennis creative director, Janice Lucena.

Serena probably had the best tennis clothes in the season behind us, along with adidas adilibria representatives, and judging by this sophisticated Australian Open dress and Nike Air Max Mirabella 3 shoes, the year to come will be equally flattering when it comes to fashion. Only that Serena will not have much chance to wear it. It's already confirmed that she'll skip the Australian Open, and no one knows when she'll come back. Serena's white and blue Australian Open dress will probably be worn by Victoria Azarenka. But I suppose the dress would look better on Serena's bustier body.

Nike came up with a peach and light gray color scheme for Maria Sharapova's strap dress, Nike Lunarlon Speed 3 shoes and warm-up jacket. The dress is supposed to have the touches of Australia, especially the back part which should look like a boomerang. The dress is essentially nice, but is not breathtaking or innovative, unlike many past dresses of Maria Sharapova.

Everyone was talking about former world No.4 Jelena Dokic during the Australian Open playoffs and she reached the final, however, she didn’t manage to go all the way and was defeated  by 259th-ranked and eight years younger Olivia Rogowska 1-6 7-6(3) 6-3 in the rain-interrupted match.

Nevertheless, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley hinted that Dokic could receive one of the four discretionary wildcards, because she made the playoffs final, showed determination, good form and was working on her preparation.

"She's done everything that's been asked of her to give herself another real opportunity," said Tiley.

The 19-year-old Rogowska played the Australian Open two times, in 2009 and 2010, and lost in the first round on both occasions. Dokic, currently ranked 137th, won the playoffs for a wildcard into the 2009 Australian Open and was the story of the tournament when she reached the quarterfinals. Last year at the Australian Open, Dokic lost in the first round to Alisa Kleybanova. (photo: Stephane Martinache)