Thanks to our reader, Gregoire, I am learning about Aravane Rezai’s interview for Le Figaro entitled "Between me and my father", where the world No.21 talks for the first time about the issues that happened with her father during the Australian Open. Rezai didn’t entirely reveal the exact nature of the clash, despite journalist's persistence, but my understanding is that she wants more independence in making her own choices. The unwelcome situtation hit her emotionally and she needed some time to recover. Things seem to be settling down now.

Gregoire translated the interview for us:

Journalist: Aravane, what happened in Australia and why did you withdraw from the Fed Cup and the Open GDF-Suez?

Aravane Rezai: In Australia, I had some problems with my family. These are problems that happen in all families. I decided to take a break after this little family problem. For me it was a big earthquake in the head. So I decided not to play Fed Cup and the Open GDF-Suez. I want to apologize to the girls of the France team for not having been with them. They know what situation I’m dealing with. I really enjoyed representing my country, but being only 20% was impossible. I thank the captain (Editor’s note: Nicolas Escude) have respected my choice. My apologies also to GDF-SUEZ, which has always supported me as a partner. But this break was important to me, and it will allow me to come back stronger. I intend to return to the tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, if I have a wild card, or otherwise in Indian Wells.

Journalist: Why do you not you expressed earlier?

Aravane Rezai: I wanted to speak earlier, in Australia, but the WTA, my managers and the organization advised me not to do so because they thought I was not ready psychologically. I feel better today. I took a little rest and a lot of things fall into place. I am in the healing phase. Read more »

For the first time in history, all Top 10 players in the WTA singles rankings are from different countries. As for continents, four of them are represented, with Europe being dominant, and Australia, Asia and North America all having one representative (I counted Russia as a European country). We are having Denmark, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Australia, United States of America, China, Serbia, Belarus, and Poland.

These post-Australian Open 2011 rankings are significantly different from the ones preceding the tournament. Only three Top 10 players haven't changed their positions: Wozniacki is still No.1, Jelena Jankovic stayed at No.8 and Victoria Azarenka at No.9.

Serena Williams, who missed the Grand Slam, fell from No.4 to No. 12. Li Na’s Australian Open runner-up position led her to a new career-high of No.7, while champion Kim Clijsters returned to No.2 for the first time since August 2006. Francesca Schiavone reached her all-time best of No.4, which is also the highest ranking ever for an Italian women's tennis player. Agnieszka Radwanska returned to the elite 10.

Names of the recently retired players, Justine Henin, Elena Dementieva and Tathiana Garbin, are not listed any more. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The recent Australian Open final featured two great women whose tennis careers have been supported by their loving husbands. Benjamin Snyder of TenaciouslyTennis.com wrote a nice guest post for Tennis Served Fresh, paying tribute to the roles of Kim Clijsters' and Li Na's husbands in their successful careers.

Since marrying Brian Lynch, a retired American basketball player, Kim Clijsters won seven titles, including three Grand Slams and the WTA Championships in Doha. Brian is always there to support Kim in her matches and also helps with their wonderful daughter, Jada.

Here's the glowing Kim, now ranked No.2, showcasing her Australian Open trophy at Brighton Beach in Melbourne.

Li Na has been married to Jiang Shan for five years. Jiang is a former tennis player and he is coaching Li. After her loss to Clijsters in the final, Li had a message for her husband: "It doesn't matter if you are fat or skinny, handsome or ugly. I will always follow you and always love you."

Additional info: 2011 is probably the last Kim's full year on the WTA Tour. When asked whether this was maybe her last Australian Open, Kim answered affirmatively.

The top ranked doubles team of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta won seven titles last year, including the WTA Championships, and they upped one level by adding the Australian Open title, their first Grand Slam, to their successful partnership.

The win against Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko in the Australian Open women's doubles final didn’t come easily – actually the Argentinean-Italian pair lost the first set and faced match points at 5-4 in the second set. Dulko and Pennetta then won three games in a row to level at one set all, and powered through the third set to win 2-6 7-5 6-1.

Dulko and Pennetta played the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slams last year, and the semifinals of Wimbledon. Azarenka was a Grand Slam finalist in doubles two times, including the 2008 Australian Open with Shahar Peer. (photo AP via Yahoo)

At the 2011 Australian Open, Li Na made a great step for Chinese tennis, even though her first Grand Slam final went to the hands of Kim Clijsters, who won her fourth major title and her first away from New York.

Seed No.3 Clijsters had the advantage of more experience, but Li was a great competitor and despite her nervousness, she didn’t melt down as we have seen with other first-time finalists on grand stage. The ninth-seeded Li won the first set 6-3 and kept the match uncertain almost until the end. When Clijsters had three match points at 40-0, it was pretty clear who was to become the latest Australian Open champion, and the humble Belgian won on her first match point. Final score: 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Li has nothing to regret: she gave resistance in the final, made history for China by becoming its first Grand Slam finalist, came to the championships match with a perfect 11-0 record in 2011, which included the victory over Clijsters herself in the Sydney final and the victory over world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semis of the Australian Open.

I’m mentioning Li’s achievement more, because Clijsters’ post-retirement achievements are so amazing that whatever I would say would not be enough. Three Grand Slam titles, including the defense of the US Open one, and now back-to-back Grand Slam titles, all that while being a mother – Kim, you deserve utmost appreciation.

To reach the final Kim defeated, in order: Dinara Safina, Carla Suarez Navarro, Alize Cornet, Ekaterina Makarova, seed No.12 Agnieszka Radwanska and second seed Vera Zvonareva.

I’d like to add one more thing about this final. There were no screams, overexpressed emotions (including the trophy ceremony), flashy outfits – it was a simple and enjoyable encounter of two nice ladies doing what they do best. (photo: AP via Yahoo)

As our reader Brenda from Argentina asked for my overview of the 2011 Australian Open tennis fashion, here it is – a little bit of every brand, a little bit of good and bad.

Let's not save the best for the last. Let's start with by far the biggest fashion attention-grabber of the tournament – Venus Williams. The American played three matches (actually two, but she started her third one) and showcased the same number of outfits. The following one is the unofficial ugliest tennis outfit of the decade.

Venus, a graduate in fashion design and the person behind clothing line EleVen, made the outfits herself.

Believe it or not, Venus' dresses, or whatever they can be called, have gained a fan base. Whoever likes Venus' latest EleVen dresses, please leave a comment! I'm sure the world would love to hear your reasoning.

I'd like to continue with Nadia Petrova, the representative of Ellesse. Petrova has also had some colorful and imaginative styles (remember her US Open 2010 outfit that had stripes of all the possible colors?). There might be sound logic behind Petrova's support of EleVen.

Another fashion favorite is always Aravane Rezai. Even though this time her family drama attracted more attention than her dress, the Frenchwoman stayed faithful to the touch of crazy uniqueness. Although, she definitely can do better!

Let's move on to adidas – plenty of it. Read more »

China’s Li Na has retained her perfect match record this season by upsetting world No.1 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki and becoming the first Asian player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam final in singles.

The victory didn't come without excitement – Wozniacki took the first set as Li made 17 unforced errors to 7 winners, and then the Dane had a match point at 5-4 in the second set. The thing that makes tennis amazing is that it's never over til it's over – Li shot a risky forehand, saved the match point and eventually won the set 7-5. In the third set Li again had more unforced errors than winners, although only two more, but Wozniacki hit zero winners! Can't beat that!

The ninth-seeded Li won the match 3-6 7-5 6-3 and continued to write tennis history for China.

Li’s opponent in the championship match will be Kim Clijsters, who has played in the finals of three of four Grand Slams, although she was victorious only at the US Open. With a 6-3 6-3 victory over second seed Vera Zvonareva in the semis, third-seeded Clijsters closely approached her second straight Grand Slam title.  But before the Belgian holds the winner's trophy, she'll have to overcome Li, who defeated her this month in the Sydney final. As for overall career record, Clijsters leads Li 4-2.

Additional info: Reuters has a great factbox about the progress of Chinese tennis. (photos: Tidalist)

Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters joined Caroline Wozniacki and Li Na in the semifinals of the 2011 Australian Open, after the Russian second seed defeated Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-4 and the Belgian third seed defeated Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 7-6(4). This means that we have the top three seeds in the semis, and Li who is yet to lose a match this season.

Zvonareva reached her third successive Grand Slam semifinal, in straight sets, but not before Kvitova, who had upset Samantha Stosur and Flavia Pennetta earlier in the tournement, went from 0-4 to 2-4 in the first set, and more importantly, from 0-3 to 4-3 in the second. Clijsters also advanced in straight sets against Radwanska, who was playing her first tournament in three months.

The semifinal pair of Zvonareva and Clijsters has met 9 times in their careers. Clijsters won their first five meetings, until 2006, but from then on Zvonareva won three of their four matches, all happening in 2010. (source: WTA Tour, photo: Upali)