Top-ranked Serena Williams has been named the WTA Tour Player of the Year for the second time in her career.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion, who won the same award in 2002, claimed the US Open title last year and reached the Wimbledon final. She also won Bangalore, Miami and Charleston, as well as a gold medal with sister Venus in the doubles at the Beijing Olympics.

Other awarded players:

Cara Black and Liezel Huber – Team of the Year

Dinara Safina – Most Improved Player of the Year

Zheng Jie – Comeback Player of the Year

Caroline Wozniacki – Newcomer of the Year

Ana Ivanovic – Humanitarian of the Year

Elena Dementieva – Karen Krantzcke sportsmanship award

Liezel Huber – Player Service Award

The ceremony to honor the award winners was held Thursday at the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams didn’t attend it.

Remind yourselves of who won the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Awards for 2007. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Serena Williams's collection of accessories and clothing called Signature Statement will debut on Home Shopping Network on April 30th.

"I always want to make a statement, both on and off the court," said the world No.1. "One of my dreams has always been to share gorgeous gifts of fashion and luxury with the world. Off the court, my passion is fashion. Signature Statement is my own line of accessories and fashion, complete from jewelry to dresses."

The collection will retail from $29.95 to $100. Serena describes the accessories as "feminine, classic, statement pieces." Read more »

Venus Williams and Andy Murray played tennis on top of cars to promote the Sony Ericsson Open, while Ana Ivanovic and Rafael Nadal did something less extraordinary for the same cause: they promoted the Miami tournament by playing golf.

The event took place on the 11th green at Crandon Golf, Key Biscayne, Florida. (via Down the Line)

Venus Williams and Andy Murray played a game of traffic tennis on Ocean Drive prior to the Sony Ericsson Open which starts this week in Miami, Florida.

So far we’ve seen tennis matches on a desert island, on water court, and in many other strange places (the two came to my mind first) and I was wondering what would be next. Read more »

Maria Sharapova had made a little comeback, playing only doubles at Indian Wells last week, but this week we’re already hearing she’ll skip the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

After her first-round loss in doubles, the Russian admitted her form was not on high-enough level to play singles, so the withdrawal from Miami didn’t come as a shock.

We’re still wondering when Sharapova will be ready to return to playing normally. She’s been injured since April 2008 and has not played a tournament in singles since the Rogers Cup in Montreal in the summer of 2008. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

We’re still talking about Miami's Sony Ericsson Open, well it's not often called the fifth Grand Slam for nothing. As you know, Serena Williams won this last one and collected her fifth title at the prestigious event. So what’s the secret behind Serena’s domination at the Sony Ericsson Open? Here’s what she herself says:

Ok so I had a pretty decent tournament and people want to know why I have won there 5 times… Hummm well I have so many friends that come out to the tournament! All my friends from Palm Beach everything. So when I come to play in Miami if I lose too many people will be mad at me! So that's my secret!

Serena also stated how she has never been angrier after winning a tournament and added: "I feel like I should have won that final easier, but after all a win is a win right???" That's right, Serena. (source: Serena's official site, photo via Yahoo)

Jelena Jankovic went out to dinner with Hollywood stars Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Read more »

The Sony Ericsson Open final between Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams was extremely fun to watch. Tennis writer Peter Bodo wrote an article just as interesting. I suggest you to read the whole piece, but I'll present you the quotes I like most.

Peter Bodo seems to be equally impressed as me by Jelena Jankovic’s athleticism and her fantastic defense. I like the way he put it: "Just because she's gone off your TV screen or out of your peripheral vision doesn't mean the ball she's chasing won't come spinning back, sky-high over the net." Haha, so true. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy watching Jankovic’s matches so much. Read more »

What a final! Before saying anything I must congratulate both players, especially Jelena Jankovic for not giving up and making the Sony Ericsson Open final more than worth watching. Still, better tennis was definitely displayed by Serena Williams and the final score 6-1 5-7 6-3 shows it.

This match was so fantastic, that I could write five pages about it, but will try to make it short.

The first set started calmly, with both players holding their first service games without trouble. But from the third game onwards, eight games in a row belonged to Williams, that was up until 6-1 3-0. World No.3 Jankovic rarely shot winners, made many errors, wasn't moving as well as she can, and her weak serve was killing her. Williams’ serve, on the other hand, worked exceptionally well, she hit winners, and the Serb won only few points on Williams' serve. Read more »

World No.3 Jelena Jankovic didn't look back in her semifinal against world No.20 Vera Zvonareva and beat the Russian 6-1 6-4 to set up a meeting with defending champion Serena Williams in the Sony Ericsson Open final.

Fourth seed Jankovic started the match with her service game, which she won after quite a long fight. But as soon as JJ warmed up nothing could hold her back, and she quickly established a 4-0 lead in the first set. Then Zvonareva, seeded 19th, broke Jankovic without losing a point, but her luck was short lived. Jankovic rebroke right away, and decisively took the first set.

Nothing seemed to go Zvonareva's way. She made unforced errors and double faults. Jankovic's game, on the other hand, was very solid. After losing the first set, demoralized Zvonareva broke her racquet in frustration. Read more »