Ana Ivanovic lost another match at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha – on Tuesday the French Open champion fell to fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic, while on Wednesday she lost the first career three-setter against Russian Vera Zvonareva.

Eighth-seeded Zvonareva defeated fourth-seeded Ivanovic 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 after two hours and 28 minutes of play.

It was the second match at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Championships for both players. Zvonareva went past compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova on Tuesday.

Ivanovic and Zvonareva have one more round-robin match in their White Group.

Just like in the match against Jankovic, Ivanovic again had breathing problems. Near the end of the first set today, Ivanovic received medical help, and I hear it was due to a virus.

Before today's clash at the Sony Ericsson Championships, the last time Ivanovic and Zvonareva met was in the final of the Generali Ladiez Linz ten days ago, and the Serb was victorious then in straight sets.

Gossip info: Fernando Verdasco was again in the stands supporting Ana. (photos: Getty Images)

Share This

American Venus Williams recovered from a 5-2 deficit in the opening set to defeated Russian Dinara Safina 7-5 6-3.

Safina, the debutant at the Sony Ericsson Championships, let the two-time semifinalist Williams win five straight games to take the first set. Williams had little trouble in closing out the win in the second.

Second seed Safina will play Serena Williams in her next round-robin match, while seventh-seeded Venus Williams will play Olympic champion Elena Dementieva. (photo: Getty Images)

Share This

This is supposed to be Martina Hingis' new boyfriend. Judging by appearance only, the former world No.1 made a major upgrade considering she was engaged to Radek Stepanek.

When will Vaidisova move forward? (via fandhingis)

Share This

Serbian world No.1 Jelena Jankovic defeated compatriot Ana Ivanovic 6-3 6-4 in their opening round-robin match at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.

The top-seeded Jankovic established a 3-0 lead in the first set, and even though Ivanovic managed to break back in the fifth game, Jankovic rebroke right away for 4-2. That break was enough to secure Jankovic victory in the first set. The 23-year-old Jankovic started the second set confidently, too. But even though Ivanovic’s game improved, at no point was Jankovic’s victory challenged.

Ivanovic, seeded fourth, didn’t lead for one moment in the match. Her best score actually was when she evened at 3-3 in the second set.

Also victorious on day 1 was Vera Zvonareva who went past fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3 in the opening round robin match. Venus Williams and Dinara Sadina are playing at the moment.

Additional info: Ivanovic appeared to have sustained some injury near the end of the match, but she didn’t use medical time-out. I don’t know what the problem was, but I hope Ana is healthy and will be able to play her best in Doha.

BTW: I’m now pretty sure Verdasco and Ana are dating. He was again watching her from the stands. One thing only, he should have been talking on the phone less, and watching Ana’s struggle more.

And also, I have to say this: Ana looks great in that purple dress by adidas. It suits her very well, I was expecting less.

UPDATE: Ivanovic didn't get injured, she had breathing problems. (photo: Getty Images)

Share This

From the January of 2009 you will be able to watch both women’s and men’s tennis matched on a new online video streaming website TennisTV.com.

The website will offer live streaming of more than 700 matches, highlights, exclusive interviews and behind the scenes features from more than 40 tournaments around the world.

Share This