It’s always worth taking a look at the fashion choices of Russian fashionista Maria Sharapova who always introduces something completely new and impressive (check out my retrospection of her 2007 outfits). For the 2008 Australian Open Sharapova opted for the two khaki dresses.

The one with white top part will probably be her Australian Open day dress. For night matches, Sharapova will be wearing the dress with long center pleating in the front and back, pleating at the hem and a hint of a white slip underneath. Seems Sharapova is continuing the classy style of her Sony Ericsson Championships outfit, and I love it. Out of the two, I prefer the night dress because it’s much more unique, and has really interesting details. The photos are after the cut. Read more »

Australia's No.1 women's tennis player Samantha Stosur is forced to miss the Australian circuit because she didn’t have enough time to prepare. Stosur was unable to compete on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for most of the last half of the season due to two serious illnesses and she only resumed training three weeks ago.

The world No.46 has withdrawn from the Australian Open, as well as from her home event, the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts on the Gold Coast.

"I always love competing at home in Australia and have had some of my best results here, which makes the decision not to play especially hard," Stosur said. "But I need concentrate on the long-term goal of getting my health and fitness 100 percent again, so I don't want to start competing again until I'm fully ready." (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo via Sam Stosur's official site)

The 2008 Australian Open will be played on the new Plexicushion surface, as the old Rebound Ace surface was replaced, but lately there has been a lot of talk about the quality of the new surface. However, the latest news is that the new courts are fast and good enough. What the truth is, we’ll see when the tournament starts.

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Former world No.4 Jelena Dokic’s plans of reviving her shattered career through the Australian Open seem far away right now as the Serbian-born Australian tennis player had to pull out of the wildcard play-offs.

Dokic was competing in the play-offs, hoping to earn a spot in the Australian Open main draw. Everything started well, with the 24-year-old winning her first three matches and reaching the quarterfinals. But then, trailing teenager Olivia Rogowska 6-3 3-1, Dokic was forced to withdraw due to a left thigh injury. Read more »

Tennis Australia fears that the Australian Open may lose its Grand Slam status because of two reasons:

1) Melbourne Park needs to be invested in; it has now fallen behind it's Grand Slam counterparts based on a recent report undertaken into the facilities at Melbourne Park
2) a possibility of another Grand Slam event in the Asia Pacific region

With considerable financial influence and pressure coming from Asia and the Middle East, Tennis Australia is requesting $300 million of government funding to upgrade Melbourne Park. Tennis Australia, has expressed concerns that it is not only a possibility that the Australian Open may lose its Grand Slam status unless something is done regarding the facilities, but may also find another Grand Slam event introduced in the Asia Pacific region, therefore decreasing the profile of the event.

The Australian Open has been upgraded only very little since the introduction of the Vodafone arena in 2000, while all the other Grand Slams spent $195 million during the past two financial years on their tennis centers. (via BlogSport)