The Australian Open has released its official television commercial for the 2009 event. The ad is featuring last year’s finalists Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, plus a bit of Serena Williams. Of course, top men’s tennis players also appear in the ad.

Here is what Ana Ivanovic will probably wear at the first two Grand Slams of 2009 – Women's adilibria Dresses from adidas.

The dresses have a drop waist and pleats on the shoulder and bottom of skirt for movement and ease of the garment in motion.

The violet one is for the 2009 Australian Open, while the cyan version is for the 2009 French Open.

What do you think of the dresses? I find them somewhat conservative, would like them to be more open. The colors are nice, though. However, at first glance I don’t see Ana in those dresses. But who knows, I might change my mind when I see them on her.

The Australian Open might be in danger of disappearing, but they’re certainly not willing to give up.

Their aim is to take the Australian Open experience to a new level for both players and fans. Among other initiatives, record prize money will be offered in 2009.

The players at the Australian Open 2009 will be competing for a record AUD$22 million in prize money. The men’s and women’s singles winners will each win AUD$1.7m – an increase of more than 25 per cent.

The next Australian Open will take place from January 19th to February 1st, 2009. (source: Australian Open)

Justine Henin's clash with Maria Sharapova in this year's Australian Open quarterfinals was accompanied with something that proved to be an incident – Sharapova’s father Yuri ran a hand across his throat. Henin didn’t seem to like that and she even complained to the WTA Tour.

The world number one telephoned WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott after her quarterfinal loss to the eventual Australian Open champion. Read more »

May be strange but the best point of the recently finished Australian Open happened in the first round, and on the first day. It was in the match between third seed Jelena Jankovic and rising star Tamira Paszek, on Paszek's first match point, in the third set at 5-4. During the point, there were at least three occasions when I though it was over for Jankovic. But, she defended so well and stayed in the match eventually winning 2-6 6-2 12-10.

Jankovic could have lost in the first round, but her fighting and extreme determination won the match, and in the end she turned out to be the semifinalist, beating even defending champion Serena Williams in the quarters!