We were wondering whether Serena Williams would finally recover from an infamous visit to a restaurant and show up for the prestigious and luxurious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha where she is nothing less than a defending champion, but the American’s recent resurgence of her foot injury is still her reality and the latest news is that she won’t play tennis for the rest of the season. The fact implies that Serena will skip the Fed Cup final against Italy in San Diego in November.

Can someone who is better at maths than I am calculate how Serena’s skipping of Doha will affect the rankings? How much will it stabilize Caroline Wozniacki at No.1?

There’s one more thing, Serena’s withdrawal is leaving one spot open in the Doha draw and the top contender for that berth is China’s Li Na, who is ranked 10th in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships. (Update: Even though Li is ranked higher in the Race, Victoria Azarenka has now qualified and Li is the first substitute.)

Reminder: Serena’s sister Venus had also withdrawn from both the Sony Ericsson Championships and the Fed Cup final.

The $4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships start next week, on October 26th. (photo by our reader Jacob)

Venus Williams hasn’t competed since losing to Kim Clijsters in the semifinals of the US Open and it’s now official that the seven-time Grand Slam champion will not play until the start of the new season. The reason she put an end to tennis tournaments in 2010 is a left knee injury and you can see some recent photos of Venus walking with the help of crutches.

The fact that Venus will be out of the competition for the remainder of the season encompasses both the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha and the Fed Cup final against Italy.

Here’s what the third-ranked Williams said about the situation:

I have been getting treatment and therapy on my knee and have been making progress, but unfortunately must continue to keep weight off my knee for the short term and won't be ready to return to competition in 2010. I am looking forward to returning to full health in time for the start of 2011 season and hopefully having the opportunity to play in both the Fed Cup and WTA Championships next year.

(source: AP, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Arantxa Parra Sontonja, Carla Suarez Navarro, Nuria Llogostera Vives  and Lourdes Dominguez Lino are refusing to play the first round of 2011 Fed Cup competition against Estonia because of the "lack of support, communication and enthusiasm" of the Spanish Tennis Federation.

Last year, the Federation agreed to improve conditions for women’s tennis, including better medical care, more hard court surfaces and greater support for Spanish tournaments, but nothing has changed so far and the women feel forced to boycott playing for their country. A reduction in prize money is also something they are protesting against.

Update: the Spanish Tennis Federation has promised to take action and said that lack of support was due to the economic crisis. (sources: Women Who Serve, As.com)

Serena and Venus Williams have committed to play for their country in the 6-7 November Fed Cup final against Italy. The sisters haven’t participated in the tournament since 2007.

The United States will host the event at the San Diego Sports Arena and other members of the team will be Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and doubles world No.1, Liezel Huber.

"I strongly believe that this team can win the Fed Cup title on our home soil,"  said US Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

The United States hasn’t won a Fed Cup title since 2000, and in last year’s final the US team didn’t win a single match against Italy. (photo: Emmett Anderson)

There’s always something good in something bad. Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic wasn’t able to play the Fed Cup tie against Slovakia and her replacement, 18-year-old Bojana Jovanovski, who had her first main draw appearance on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour earlier this year in Kuala Lumpur, turned out to have used the opportunity to the full to get some experience and exposure.

The world No.117 Jovanovski lost her first singles match against world No.23 Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-2, but as I have already mentioned, the match was much tougher for the Slovakian than the result suggests. On the second day of play, the Serbian rising star beat Slovakian world No.53 Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 7-6(4), after a lot of long games and saved break points.

We had known Jovanovski has what it takes to beat Rybarikova, but the score in the first set was better than any supporter of the Serbian team could have asked for. In addition, even though inexperienced, Jovanovski won four successive games after trailing 2-0 in the second set. In the end, the winner was decided in a tiebreak and Jovanovski pulled it off despite cramps and tiredness.

The winner of the tie will be decided after the doubles match, as Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova defeated Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic in the first match on Sunday and the teams are now tied at 2-2. Whoever wins the doubles match and this Fed Cup World Group Play-offs, I am glad that Bojana Jovanovski had an opportunity and courage to give her best and gain exposure in the tennis world. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

During this weekend, Serbia and Slovakia are fighting to stay in the Fed Cup World Group, and after the first day of singles matches the countries are tied at 1-1.

World No.7 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated world No.53 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 7-6(5) 6-3. The following match featured Slovakian former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova and Serbian rising star Bojana Jovanovski, currently ranked 117th, and favorite Hantuchova won their first encounter 6-2 6-2.

The match between Jelena Jankovic and Magdalena Rybarikova featured ups and downs of both players, but in the end the Serb won the match despite the wrist injury which has been bothering her since the preparations for the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. Jankovic has always been there for her country, and she absolutely deserves the Fed Cup Heart Award which was handed to her today, during the opening ceremony.

As Serbia’s second best-ranked player Ana Ivanovic wasn’t able to join her team this weekend, Bojana Jovanovski, the hope of Serbian tennis, took the stage against the highest-ranked Slovakian. The 18-year-old Jovanovski gave good resistance to Daniela Hantuchova, even though the 6-2 6-2 result doesn’t show it.

One more thing I should mention: the first day of matches played in Belgrade, Serbia, was very poorly attended, and it’s a pity because players gave their best to make it to the tournament and represent their countries. I have to admit, though, that even I didn’t travel to Belgrade this time, because I have one exam to prepare for my job. However, I supported the girls via TV and the matches were really enjoyable, especially the one between Jovanovski and Hantuchova, even though the one between Jankovic and Rybarikova was more thrilling. (photos: sr_cranks)

Ana Ivanovic is desperately trying to find her form and the Serbian tennis star who was always there for her Fed Cup team has decided to skip the next month’s tie against Slovakia, believing that it is the right thing to do having in mind her current bad career situation.

The Serbian Tennis Federation and the world No.58 discussed the issue and agreed that it would be best for her not to play this time.

"We all know that Ana has been through some very tough experiences lately and we support her in her efforts to do everything possible to return to the top. Ana has all the time in the world, she is only 22, and she’ll be back soon," said the President of the Federation Slobodan Zivojinovic. (source: Ana Ivanovic's official website, photo: Twenty90seven)

The first day of the Fed Cup meeting between Russia and Serbia ended with both teams winning one match. Somewhat surprisingly, especially after the talks about her injury, Jelena Jankovic upset Svetlana Kuznetsova on Day 2, which gave Serbia a 2-1 lead on home soil. Congratulations to Jankovic for winning both her singles matches!

So, Jankovic defeated Kuznetsova 6-3 4-6 6-3, but her countrywoman Ana Ivanovic couldn’t finish off the tie and lost to Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 6-3 in the following match. Ivanovic’s free fall ended a long time ago, but the sad thing is that she is still lying wounded on the ground.

With the result tied at 2-2, the decisive doubles match was played, and as Jankovic and Ivanovic are not used to playing doubles, they were knocked out by Kuznetsova and Kleybanova 6-1 6-4.

Four-time Fed Cup champions Russia thus entered the Fed Cup semifinals which will be played on 24-25 April. Their opponent will be the US, who won 4-1 in France, without the Williams sisters. (photo via Blic)

I was supposed to go to Fed Cup tie between Serbia and Russia in Belgrade, but the weather conditions are so bad that there was no way I could travel 86 km. Anyway, I watched it on TV from my cozy room and I could see Ana Ivanovic getting crushed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Jelena Jankovic recovering from a set and 4-1 down to beat Alisa Kleybanova.

World No.4 Kuznetsova defeated Ivanovic 6-1 6-4 in the first match of the day. After blowing the Serb in the first set, Kuznetsova rallied from 4-2 down in the second to seal the first win for Russia. Once ranked No.1 now No.23 Ivanovic made 50 unforced errors and six double faults.

The second match of the day looked to be heading in the direction of Russia’s victory as well, but world No.8 Jankovic overturned the result while trailing 4-6 1-4 and won 11 games in a row to defeat 31st-ranked Kleybanova 4-6 6-4 6-0.

As you can see, after the first day of the Serbia vs. Russia Fed Cup quarterfinal the countries are tied at 1-1. Reverse singles and doubles will be played tomorrow, on Sunday. (photos via Blic)

Russia and Serbia will face each other in this weekend's Fed Cup first-round tie played in Belgrade, Serbia.

The latest news is that Russia’s team will be stronger than previously planned, as their highest ranked player world No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova changed her mind and joined world No.31 Alisa Kleybanova, No.38 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No.40 Vera Dushevina in the team.

However, Serbia’s team is likely to be weaker than expected because of Jelena Jankovic’s health problems. It should have consisted of former world No.1s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, along with Ana Jovanovic and Bojana Jovanovski, but now we will see what will happen.

Here’s what Jankovic told her official website:

No, I haven't come to Belgrade yet, and I'm still in Florida, where I'm fighting with back injury received in Melbourne. I didn't want to speak in public about the problems that struck me in Australia, about the cold and the back injury that occurred during a practice while trying to change the way I served, because many would describe it to as a justification for the lost match […] Unfortunately, the situation got complicated, so I'm still in Florida, sad and in great uncertainty whether I would start the journey to my home town.

Serbia is making its World Group debut. Russia won the Fed Cup four times between 2004 and 2008 and Kuznetsova was part of three winning Russian teams. (photo by our reader Elisa)