Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova suffered a speedy exit from the 2011 US Open giving her opponent Alexandra Dulgheru great assistance with 52 unforced errors in their first round match. The second set was especially devastating for the Czech who committed 20 unforced errors to her opponent's only one.

The fifth-seeded Kvitova lost 7-6(3) 6-3 on Dulgheru's first match point and allowed an all-Romanian second round match between the 49th-ranked Dulgheru and 70th-ranked Monica Niculescu.

Kvitova's loss marks the first big upset of the tournament. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Professional tennis instructor Florian Meier (OnlineTennisInstruction.com) is back reviewing the favorites for the 2011 US Open (his previous guest post on Women's Tennis Blog was an analysis of Sabine Lisicki's game). Even though world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki won the New Haven Open this weekend, the Dane is not high on Florian's list of favorites. Leaders are Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Enjoy Florian's introduction to the US Open!

The US Open starts on Monday and it looks like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have the best chances for the title. Let’s quickly review the recent action on the women’s tour and then look at the upcoming US Open, which is certainly one of the most exciting tournaments of the year.

The US Open 2011

The US Open Series

Over the last 8 weeks the US Open Series was played out and Serena Williams ended up in first place in the US Open Series rankings. In case she wins the US Open tournament she would receive a $1 million dollar bonus on top of the regular prize money.

Serena is back to top form and did not lose a match in the US Open Series until pulling out of the second round in Cincinnati to rest a troublesome right big toe. She won the tournament in Stanford and the week after she won the Premier-level event in Toronto.

Toronto finals highlights: Serena Williams in top form

US Open Preview

Looking at the upcoming tournament there is no doubt to me that Serena is the favourite to win the US Open.

Since she won the US Open Series, Serena can now compete for the biggest paycheck in tennis history. If she wins the US Open she will collect $2.8 million dollars. She would get $1.8 million for winning the US Open, and a $1 million dollar bonus for winning both the US Open Series and the US Open. I believe this provides some extra motivation for Serena, especially since she hadn’t played for almost a year.

The other player next to Serena that I see with good chances to win the title is Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova has improved consistently over the last few months. I think she has been working really hard in order to put herself in position to contend for another major. She did well in the US Open Series, winning the Premiere-level event in Cincinnati and she also has the belief and the experience that are usually necessary to win a Grand Slam tournament. For her a lot depends on whether she gets her serve going or not. Read more »

Maria Sharapova is starring in the follow-up to Novak Djokovic’s viral parody of Sharapova herself. The blond wig is now a standard part of Djokovic’s impersonation kit.

These comic videos are part of Head’s marketing campaign for their YouTek IG Instinct racquets. Read more »

A week ago we already showed you the 2011 US Open Nike looks, but now we have videos of the Nike staff talking in detail about Serena Williams' and Maria Sharapova's dresses and footware.

Creative designer at Nike Tennis, Janice Lucena, explained that as an all-American athlete Serena's colors for the US Open will be red, white and blue. The red dress is for the day, the blue dress is for night matches. Nike's objective was to make an outfit which provides Serena with freedom of movement and breathability. As for the shoes, footwear development director Gary McCourt presented Serena's Nike Mirabella 3, which have red accents to perfectly match the day dress. Read more »

Twice-defending champion Kim Clijsters will not play the 2011 US Open which starts August 29. The Belgian hasn't recovered from the stomach muscle injury which forced her out of the last week's Rogers Cup. The 28-year-old needs time for rest and treatment and is planning to miss the rest of the season.

"Two weeks of rehab was not enough. Obviously I'm very disappointed. I trained very hard this summer and felt in a good shape to play," said the three-time winner of the US Open.

Clijsters will now be focusing on 2012, says her official website.

The most important thing right now is that I should make a full recovery, so I will also drop the rest of the season. I'll pick up training slowly and carefully and prepare for 2012, but without a specific time frame or pressure. I had two tournaments to go this autumn, but they are not worth the risk. I would not be able to get enough points to compete in the WTA Championship anyway… I am now focusing on 2012, on the Olympics. Who knows? This time I might make it through without any injuries and I might feel up for a last US Open.

(photo: © Neal Trousdale)