Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic was almost dumped out of Wimbledon 2008 by France’s Nathalie Dechy in the second round on Wednesday. It has been the most thrilling women’s match at the tournament so far, and the peak of the encounter was on Dechy's second match point when Ivanovic had an immense stroke of luck having the net for an ally.

In the following video you can see match highlights, including the famous netcord point.

These two quotes of disappointed Nathalie Dechy additionally illustrate how fortunate Ivanovic was: Read more »

Top seed Ana Ivanovic won an epic battle against France’s Nathalie Dechy in Wimbledon second round. The Serb saved two match points as she battled to a 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 10-8 victory.

World No.1 Ivanovic had a 5-2 lead in the first set, but in the end the tie-break was played and Dechy won it 7-2. Ivanovic’s struggle continued in the second set with the top seed facing two match points when serving at 4-5 down. The third set was also tough, but Ivanovic survived and clinched victory in three hours and 24 minutes.

The most thrilling moment was on world No.97 Dechy’s second match point when Ivanovic’s shot thumped into the net and just when it seemed that it would fall back towards her, the ball rolled over into her opponent's side of the court. After the match Ivanovic kissed the part of the net that saved her existence at Wimbledon.

"My heart skipped a beat because the ball was in the air for a while and I didn't know where it was going to bounce," said Ivanovic, who was a favorite heading into the encounter with Dechy. (source: BBC, photo: Getty Images via Yahoo)

Japan's Ai Sugiyama has become a player with most successive Grand Slam appearances, 57, surpassing South Africa's Wayne Ferreira's record of 56.

World No.38 Sugiyama achieved this feat when she contested the first point in her first round match against Wimbledon debutant Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. Sugiyama defeated Wickmayer 6-4 6-2.

"I'm very happy. When I heard the number of Grand Slams I have played, it's actually really huge numbers," said the 32-year-old Sugiyama, who is currently playing her 16th Wimbledon.

Sugiyama’s best performance at the grass-court Grand Slam was reaching the quarterfinals in 2004. (source: Reuters, photo via Yahoo)

This year I decided to write about Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon 2008 outfit the moment I see it, so as to avoid all the speculations that usually accompany Masha's Grand Slam dresses.

For the grasscourt Grand Slam the Russian fashionista went for the Nike Sharapova Wimbledon Sleeveless Top and the Sharapova Wimbledon Woven Short from the White/Gold Collection. The 2004 Wimbledon champion debuted the outfit in her first round match against Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz, whom she defeated 6-1 6-4. Read more »

World number three Jelena Jankovic still hasn’t won a Grand Slam, and is probably the best active player never to have won one, but Wimbledon is her first pick if she were to choose.

The 23-year-old, seeded second in the women's singles at Wimbledon 2008 said:

"For me if I could choose which Grand Slam I would like to win I would choose Wimbledon. It's a very special place. I don't think there is a place like this. It's just an amazing tournament overall and all of the players love coming back here and we all would love to do well and have a great result." Read more »