Top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia overcame Russian seed No.5 Vera Zvonareva 6-4 2-6 6-4 to reach the final of the China Open in Beijing.

The world No.2 Jankovic was in the China Open final last year too, when she was stunned by sixth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary after leading 7-6 5-1.

In this year’s championship match Jankovic will face either Svetlana Kuznetsova or local favorite Zheng Jie who are to play their semifinal later on Saturday. (photo: Getty Images)

Oh Ana, you haven't had a winning streak for so long. When was the last one, at Wimbledon? And even there you lost in the third round already, to the same player who conquered you today.

Ana Ivanovic lost in the quarterfinals of the China Open to home favorite Zheng Jie, ranked 30th in the world. The match was a tense three-setter with a final score 7-6 2-6 6-4 which came after almost three hours of play.

"This tournament has definitely been a step forward. I'm still working my way back and I just have to be patient," said Ivanovic. Haha, a step forward. This sounds so strange when you hear it from a recent world No.1. She won one match at the China Open!

Let’s quickly review Ivanovic’s results after Wimbledon in June. She reached the third round at Montreal, withdrew from the Olympics with right thumb injury, reached only the second round at the US Open, dropped opener at Tokyo, and lost in the quarterfinals of the China Open today.

Maybe the solution to Ana’s problems lies in changing that adidas outfit everyone has long been fed up with. Actually, everyone wanted the outfit to go since its introduction. (image via Great Tennis Photos)

Ana Ivanovic finally won a match.

The former world No.1 defeated Alize Cornet 6-1 7-6 in the second round of the China Open and earned her first victory since August 26th when she beat Vera Dushevina in the US Open first round. The top seed suffered a shocking loss in the second round already, as she fell to 188th-ranked Julie Coin of France.

Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie, who downed then top-seeded Ivanovic at the grass-court Grand Slam in the third round, will play the Serb in the quarterfinals.

The two are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head history. The world No.30 Zheng represents a significant threat, especially taking into account she’s a home favorite, and plus, the fourth-ranked Ivanovic is still wearing that monotonous adidas outfit in which she's never won back to back matches. (via Forty Deuce)

Top women’s tennis players attended the official reception at the China Open in Beijing, wearing traditional Chinese dresses.

Hm, look at Fernando Verdasco, he’s the third Spanish ATP player who seems to enjoy Ana’s company, joining Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo (OK, by now we know that the story about Robredo was not more than a rumor).

Oh, and it’s so nice to see Ana and Jelena together. They even seem to enjoy each other’s company.

More photos after the cut. Read more »

World No.20 Dominika Cibulkova defeated former No.1 Amelie Mauresmo in the first round of two successive tournaments.

The 19-year-old Slovak ended Mauresmo’s stay at the recent Toray Pan Pacific Open in the first round already, coming back from a first-set bagel and saving four match points. Today, Cibulkova repeated the upset in the first round of the China Open in Beijing taking the Frenchwoman out 3-6 6-4 6-3. (photo: cibulkova-dominika.com)

Hungarian teenager Agnes Szavay staged an astonishing comeback from a set and 5-1 down to beat world number three Jelena Jankovic 6-7 7-5 6-2 in an enthralling China Open final on Sunday.

Jankovic appeared to be cruising to the title after winning a tough first set in a tiebreak and then storming to a 5-1 lead in the second. But the 18-year-old Szavay took advantage when Jankovic began to show signs of fatigue, winning six consecutive games to snatch the second set. The sixth seed then dominated the last set to wrap up the title in three hours. Read more »

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic took revenge against Lindsay Davenport on Saturday by beating her in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the China Open final in Beijing.

The two players had faced each other earlier this month at the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, and then Davenport stunned top-seeded Jankovic 6-4 2-6 6-2. Eventually, the American was the champion of the tournament winning her fifty-second career title.

However, Jelena Jankovic is now on the way to her fifth title of the season. In the China Open final, the Serb will face Hungarian rising star Agnes Szavay, who has played the best tennis of her career over the past two months, finishing as the runner-up in New Haven and as a quarterfinalist at the US Open.

The 18-year-old Szavay, seeded sixth in Beijing, reached the final with a solid 6-1 6-2 victory over Peng Shuai of China. (source: On the Baseline)

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport will play second-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the semifinal of the 2007 China Open in Beijing. In the other semifinal match, Agnes Szavay of Hungary will face home favorite Pen Shuai.

Davenport, who won the last week’s Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, defeated Elena Dementieva 7-6 (1), 6-1, while Jankovic beat Akiko Morigami 6-3, 7-5.

World number three Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is aiming for her fifth WTA title this year, but also for the top of the singles rankings: "My ultimate goal is to be the world No. 1…Now my ranking is very close, but I still have a long way to go. I need to work hard and I hope I can make it one day."

Peng Shuai of China upset third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Peng will next meet rising star Agnes Szavay, seeded-sixth, who defeated Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. (source: Sports Illustrated)

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had to withdraw from the ongoing China Open because of an abdominal injury. The world number two reached the US Open final and then led Russia to victory in the Fed Cup in the last two weekends, and the injury has caught up with her. "It's getting worse and worse," said the 22-year-old Kuznetsova. "I came here and had treatment but I just cannot serve." The Russian at least had time to visit the Great Wall of China.

Third seed Amelie Mauresmo of France made an unspectacular return to tennis after a two-month layoff with a 6-2 6-2 win over Romania's Ioana Raluca Olaru at the Tier II tournament in Beijing on Wednesday. Mauresmo has been struggling during this season. She didn’t play for two months because of appendicitis in March, and had won just one title in 2007 at Antwerp before deciding to take some time off. Remember that last year the Frenchwoman won two Grand Slam titles, and was ranked number one in the world.

Lindsay Davenport, on the other hand, has quickly found her form. After being away for almost a year, and giving birth to son Jagger in June, Davenport won a tournament on her singles comeback in Bali last weekend, and has now reached the second round of the China Open by beating fellow American Julie Ditty 6-0 6-2 in just 48 minutes. (sources: Reuters, BBC, photo via WTAworld)

World number one Justine Henin won’t play at the next week’s China Open in Beijing because of breathing problems she has been suffering for a few months, which were diagnosed as chronic asthma.

These health problems haven’t prevented the 25-year-old Belgian from winning the US Open 2007, but her doctor has advised her to take a short break now. If everything goes as planned, Henin will play at three more tournaments this season: in Filderstadt, Zurich and Madrid. (source: Justine Henin's website)