This year's retrospections of WTA players' outfits we opened with fashion queen Maria Sharapova and her Nike designs, but right after her I think it's most fair to feature the great tennis champion Kim Clijsters who hung up her racket after the 2012 US Open, causing her clothing sponsor Fila to lose its most recognizable endorser.

Fila signed Clijsters eleven year ago and in 2005 the company decided to sponsor the Belgian for the duration of her career. The Italian sportswear brand was aware that they would lose their brightest star, so early this year they concluded new contracts, with Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic. Of course, Svetlana Kuznetsova is still with them, she's also their long-time endorser.

Let's move on to the overview of Fila 2012 style. As you can see, their signature clean lines, sporty designs and colors of red, blue/black and white were predominant. Just a note, at the Australian Open, besides the black skirt and white V-neck shirt, Clijsters wore an all-black outfit with lime details. Read more »

For the sixth year in a row, Women's Tennis Blog is using the relaxed off-season period to review the on-court styles of our top players and brands. Of course, who else will kick off the series than our fashion darling Maria Sharapova. Let's see what the Russian wore in the year that saw her complete a Career Slam and win the Olympic silver.

In 2012, the Nike-clad Sharapova continued her subdued sporty femininity. Glamour, layers, frills and popping details have not described the Russian's tennis style since last year. Of course, Masha is still the most glamorous WTA player, but on court that glamour is toned down now, fitting the simple, everyday wearable category. There still are details in her designs, but you have to look deeper to find them.

White with electric green accents was Sharapova's color combination for the Australian sun and it transcended to the indoor hardcourt of Coubertin Stadium in Paris.

At Indian Wells, the 25-year-old wore a blue dress with light blue scales on the sides and in the back, matching the color of the straps.

*Visit the full list of retrospections of WTA players' yearly outfits*

Very ordinary red tanks followed for four tournaments, paired with simple white and black skirts. Read more »

After Grand Slams, you are used to our contributor Omair giving unofficial titles to players based on their performances, and for the recently-finished US Open he did the same, but with a little twist, he gave names to players inspired by animated movies. We hope you'll like it!

SERENA WILLIAMS – RANGO

Serena not only won her 15th major, but proved again that she is not done yet with tennis by winning the second straight Grand Slam and the Olympics in between. Serena lost a total of 19 games en route to the US Open final, where she was pushed hard by Victoria Azarenka, who even served for the championship in the third set, but Serena showed her superior class and experience to bring her opponent back to earth and win her fourth US Open title. In doing so, Serena showed everyone that "No man can walk out of his own story", just like Rango.

VICTORIA AZARENKA – VECTOR

Vector from "Despicable Me" tried in every way to let Gru down, but in the end he lost and Gru won. Azarenka gave everything she had, but she came up short to one of the best players in tennis history. Don’t take it negatively. By giving Azarenka the title of Vector, I don’t refer to the vicious methods Vector used in the movie, I am thinking of the positive side of it, that she fought with her whole heart and body, but in the end she had to satisfy herself with the runner-up trophy.

MARIA SHARAPOVA – TANGLED

Sharapova was not at her best in her last three matches, yet she never gave up, fighting hard to stay alive in the fourth round against Nadia Petrova, then in the quarters against Marion Bartoli, and then in the semis she finally got tangled in her service demons and succumbed to the pressure of Victoria Azarenka. Read more »

Grand Slam are always the most exciting venues for tennis glamour and the US Open is the unofficial fashion queen of all the four majors, so let's see what the best brands put on their brightest WTA stars.

Let's start this fashion overview with maybe not the biggest fashion star, but definitely the player who marked this US Open – Kim Clijsters, whose inspiring career has come to a close at her favorite tournament where she had lifted the trophy three times. To honor the Belgian's last event, her clothing sponsor Fila produced a special collection with a symbolic star pattern.

Ana Ivanovic (who reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since her title win at Roland Garros 2008), Angelique Kerber (last year's semifinalist) and Laura Robson (besides Clijsters, the biggest story of the tournament) were all sporting Adidas Adizero. The bright yellow Adidas outfits may have ruled the US Open courts, and the three players mentioned here all played the fourth round, but the next brand we'll cover is clothing all the four semifinalists!

Of course, it's Nike! Champion Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova traditionally have both day and night dresses. Serena wore navy and pink with lime details, while Sharapova went for more subtle tones – liquid pink and solid dark without many loud contrasts.

PREVIOUS US OPEN FASHION OVERVIEWS

2011 - A look at the beautiful colors at Flushing Meadows
2010 - Fashion hits and misses of tennis in New York

Victoria Azarenka and Sara Errani prefer separates. The world No.1 is popping in a yellow and black combination, while the Italian, sharing the look with Julia Goerges, wore a pleated navy skirt with pink and yellow stripes and a tank. Read more »

Serena Williams was just seventeen when she won her first Grand Slam, at the very stage of the US Open, and now as a 30-year-old she's triumphant yet again, defeating world No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6-2 2-6 7-5 in the final and winning her 15th Grand Slam singles title and her fourth at the US Open.

In the beginning it looked like Azarenka would end up just like all the other Serena's opponents, crushed, but in the second set the Belarusian put all her assets on display, taking the match to the thrilling third set, in which she earned an early lead and later even served for the match, but it's not over til it's over, especially when Serena is on the other side.

En route to her 60th career final, Williams lost just 19 games and spent an average of just one hour and eight minutes on court per match, and after the first set against Azarenka, it seemed that the numbers wouldn't build up much after the final either. Serena opened with a dominant 6-2 first set, closing it out by breaking Azarenka's serve to love, while Azarenka barely won more than one point in Serena's service games.

The situation changed completely in the second set, though. Azarenka lifted her game, Serena's forehand went off, and the Belarusian saw herself leading 5-1 and quickly winning the second set, mirroring the first-set scoreline, 6-2. Now the things got complicated, especially as we knew Azarenka's 12-0 record in three-set matches this season. Read more »

Our guest blogger Omair was correct in his US Open semifinal predictions. He said that Victoria Azarenka would have the edge over Maria Sharapova and take her out in three sets, and that's exactly what happened in the intense match that absolutely lived up to the expectations, while Serena Williams cruised past Sara Errani in the other semifinal, as fearfully predicted. Let's see what Omair is saying about the upcoming championships match between Serena and Vika.

A great showdown of two Grand Slam champions, one the winner of the first Grand Slam of the season (Australian Open), the other the winner of the last Grand Slam concluded (Wimbledon), a reigning world No.1 and a deemed world No.1. This will be a rematch of the pair's last year's US Open third-round encounter, whose second set was one of the best tennis sets ever.

The pair has already met ten times, with Azarenka managing to win just one of those ten encounters, and winning just one set in the nine encounters she lost. This will be their fourth meeting this year and Serena has won all the previous three in straight sets (however, none of the three were played on hardcourts).

Let's see the average stats of Serena and Vika in their last five US Open matches leading up to the final:

Azarenka has lost two sets this fortnight, while Williams is yet to lose more than four games in a set. Azarenka has shown the firepower and she tends to push Serena hard, but the match can come down to serve and return, and our stats show that Serena has been better than Vika in both. Read more »

Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka entered their US Open semifinal with perfect 12-0 and 11-0 record in three-setters in 2012 respectively and their encounter went the distance, with the world No.1 Azarenka catching up with Sharapova after a 3-6 6-2 6-4 victory in two hours and 42 minutes.

Sharapova used to be 3-0 against Azarenka in three-set matches, but today it was the Belarusian who was much more confident on her serve, while her returns were out of this world. Even though the lack of tiebreaks may suggest that sets were not that long, a lot of the games were very tense, several lasting about 10 minutes, and tennis fans had their hearts full with the two power-hitters giving each other the perfect conditions to show their outstanding force and preciseness.

Five double faults didn't prevent Sharapova from winning the first set, but in the second set it was Azarenka who took charge, going up 4-1 and working her way to taking the most beautiful game of the match, the seventh game of the second set, in which Sharapova did have break points. Azarenka finished the job in the following game, even though Sharapova was 40-0 on her serve – an excellent winner, two double faults and an unforced error by Sharapova gave Azarenka a set point. Sharapova saved that first one, but succumbed on the second.

The third set lasted 74 minutes and had no breaks of serve until the very end! The length of the set was mostly due to Sharapova's struggles on her own serve, but also her determination not to give them up. Azarenka looked pretty cool and relaxed, while Sharapova seemed tense and a bit panicky, especially towards the end, truth be said, she had every reason for that. It was just a matter of time when she would not be able to save herself and that moment came in the tenth game of the deciding set.

Congratulations, Omair, for predicting the right winner of this semifinal! (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Today at the US Open is a day of relaxation for women's singles, but a perfect occasion for us to collect our thoughts about the upcoming semifinals. Our contributor Omair is once again up for the challenge, previewing the clash of Sara Errani and Serena Williams. Will Serena continue to brush her opponents aside? Let's see what the stats are saying.

Serena Williams, reigning Wimbledon champion and reigning Olympic gold medalist, will face Sara Errani, reigning Roland Garros runner-up, for a spot in the 2012 US Open final. This promises to be a great match, given the contrasting styles of players. As the only semifinalist yet to win a Grand Slam title, Errani will face an uphill battle against Williams on her home court.

*Read Omair's preview of the 2012 US Open semifinal between Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova*

The three-time US Open champion Williams is the only semifinalist who is yet to lose a set, actually, she has lost at most four games in a set so far in the tournament, and that happened only in two of the ten sets. She has lost the fewest games of the semifinalists, just 16!

Let's have a look at the average stats of Errani and Williams in their five matches leading up to the 2012 US Open semis:

The tenth-seeded Errani will have to play the match of her life if she is to beat Williams for the first time. Williams has beaten Errani in all their three prior encounters, however, Errani was never ranked in the Top 30, let alone the Top 10, in those losses. Read more »