World number one (still) Ana Ivanovic arrived in Beijing to take part in the 2oo8 Olympic Games and here are some photos of the tennis star at the airport.

Two more photos after the cut. Read more »

Russia’s Maria Sharapova withdrew from this week’s Rogers Cup because of her persistent shoulder injury and stated that her participation in both the Beijing Olympics and the US Open was under question. Well, the 21-year-old Russian has just announced that as far as the Olympics are concerned, she'll have to overcome the disappointment of not playing at that great event.

After yesterdays match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder. After taking a few different exams and MRI's this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder. Read more »

Maria Sharapova defeated Marta Domachowska 7-5 5-7 6-2 in her opening match at the Rogers Cup in Montreal but after the victory the three-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the tournament with a shoulder injury which could prevent her from playing at the US Open and the Olympics.

The 21-year-old Sharapova will have an MRI scan and the test results will determine whether she will be able to compete at the US Open and the Olympics, two great events coming up in August.

The world No.3 twice required treatment on a right shoulder in the second-round match against Domachowska which was nearly three hours long, and Sharapova served 17 double-faults in that time. (source: BBC)

Ana Ivanovic was greeted by the President of Serbia Boris Tadic as part of the Serbian Olympic team in Belgrade. The world No.1 was the only tennis player at the reception as the others were away at tournaments. Read more »

The International Tennis Federation has released a 140-page publication called "Journey to Beijing – Tennis celebrates the Olympics" to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympic Tennis Event. Read more »

Top-ranked women’s tennis player Justine Henin is concerned about pollution levels in Beijing, the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games. The Belgian has breathing problems and she fears that high pollution in the Chinese capital might prevent her from taking part in the Olympics.

Because of her asthma, Henin has already withdrawn from one tournament organized in Beijing.

The level of air pollution in Beijing and its possible effects on athletes' health has been one of the biggest issues facing organizers of next year's Olympics. They, however, claim that everything will be fine by the time of the Games.

Henin said that she was hopeful the conditions would improve enough to allow her to take part in the Olympics to defend the gold medal she won in 2004 in Athens.

"It's true that Beijing is going to be tough at the Olympic Games with the problem I have but now it seems that everything is under control which is important because the Olympic Games are a very important goal for me in 2008," she said. (source: Reuters)

The tennis stadium for the Beijing 2008 Olympics is all set up and we’re only 316 days away from the huge sports event.

All over Beijing you can see cute little cartoon mascots. They are called “fuwa”, which is literally translated as “good luck dolls”. There are five types of these mascots, and each kind represents a different element of the natural world. They draw their individual colors from the Olympic rings.

Tennis is being represented by Yingying, the earthy yellow male figure, depicting health. Its animal is the Tibetan antelope.

Check out the other mascots too, they are sooo cute. I really like this Chinese style. (via Off the Baseline)

The tennis venue for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is under construction, and it has been announced that a DecoTurf surface will be used. DecoTurf is the same hardcourt surface used at the US Open.

The Olympic tennis tournament takes place from August 10-17 next year. The US Open, the year's final Grand Slam event, starts on August 25. (via Sporting Life)