Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated the Ukranian eighth seed Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-1. Due to rain, the match was suspended for a few hours in the second set, with Jankovic leading 4-1. “It is not easy to wait for a few hours. Fortunately I could focus again from the start,” world No. 3 Jankovic said.

This was the seventh time Jankovic and Bondarenko faced each other, and Jankovic has increased her lead to 7-0.

Number four seed Dinara Safina beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-1 7-5.

FIRST SEMIFINAL: Jankovic vs. Safina >> Head-to-head 1-1, never played against each other on grass.

Third seed Anna Chakvetadze beat Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova overcame second-seeded Ana Ivanovic in straight sets 6-3 6-1. Ivanovic was broken in the seventh game and thereafter never performed to anything like her usual standard.

SECOND SEMIFINAL: Chakvetadze vs. Hantuchova >> In their head-to-heads Hantuchova leads 2-1, but they have never met on grass. (source: Ordina Open, photos: Getty Images)

It was announced on Tuesday that world No. 18 Na Li has high chances of recovering from her rib injury until Wimbledon. But today, Wimbledon officials have declared that she’s been added to the list of player withdrawals (alongside Anastasia Myskina, Vera Zvonareva, Romina Oprandi, and Jie Zheng).

There is no word yet on the extent of the injury and how long she will be off the Tour.

Na Li will be replaced by a lucky loser Alize Cornet of France. (via On the Baseline)

The first known semifinalist of the Eastbourne International grass-court tournament was the defending champion Justine Henin, who crushed fifth-seeded Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 6-2.

I had expected much more from this match. Vaidisova serves well, so I thought the match would be much more undecided, but her serve had let her down, and she had no other weapons to use against the Belgian top seed. Within the first 20 minutes Vaidisova was 5-0 down, having held only one game point.

In the second quarterfinal match eight-seeded Marion Bartoli defeated fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-1 6-0. This is Bartoli’s second consecutive win over the Russian, the previous one having been in this month’s Roland Garros. Furthermore, the Frenchwoman is now even with Dementieva on grass, 1-1.

FIRST SEMIFINAL: Henin vs. Bartoli >> So far, they’ve played only once, and that was four years ago. Henin defeated Bartoli on the hard-courts of Toronto. But in this case, the stats are not necessary; it’s clear who the favorite in this match is. Read more »

Seeds for the UK’s favorite sporting event have been released. Unlike the other grand slams where the top 32 seeds in the men's and women's singles are decided purely on world rankings, Wimbledon takes into account results on grass in the past two years.

However, you will notice that player seeds are pretty much in accordance with their world ranking. The only major exception is Venus Williams who is ranked 31st in the world, but is seeded 24th.

Here's a list of ladies' singles seedings:

1. Belgium’s Justine Henin is seeded at the top. She's the world’s best player on clay, having four French Open titles as a proof. At the moment she is definitely in form, and therefore has high chances of completing a career slam. The only grand slam title she misses is one from Wimbledon, where she was a finalist in 2001 and 2006.

2. Russia’s Maria Sharapova considers the grass-court grand slam her favorite tournament and this year she is confident that she can repeat her 2004 success when she took the Wimbledon trophy. The 20-year-old Sharapova has been a semi-finalist since then.

"Grass definitely suits my game. With the power and the big first serve I feel I can get a good start on the point," she said.

Let me remind you that last week Sharapova reached the finals of the DFS Classic (played on grass), where she was defeated by Jelena Jankovic. Read more »

No more late-night chocolate boxes for Henin, at least if she is to listen to her nutritionist’s advice.

"I've had to stop eating a lot of things," world No. 1 said on her arrival in Eastbourne for this week's International Women's Open. "I can't eat sugar any more before going to bed. I miss Belgian chocolate a lot." (Do you remember that severe stomach problems even forced Henin to retire in the middle of the Australian Open final against Amelie Mauresmo?)

Despite winning her fourth Roland Garros title only 10 days ago, Henin feels ready for Wimbledon. "I felt very good in Paris," she said. "I won all my matches in two sets. I think I feel fresher than I was before Wimbledon last year."

Maybe she feels so fresh because she has a new physical coach and a different training program.

BTW, I’ve chosen this photo because Justine really looks like: “Give me some chocolate, I was a good girl.”