Player of the week: Serena Williams

Serena Williams captured her 3rd Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam title last week. Furthermore she also got her 9th Grand Slam doubles title along with her sister Venus.

Serena enjoyed an easy way to the quarter-finals defeating Silva, Groth, Vinci and Hantuchova in straight sets, dropping no more than 7 games on each match. Upcoming youngster and WTA #8 Victoria Azarenka was the first serious opponent she was facing, with the Belarusian looking revenge after having to retire in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open when she was leading Williams. And this time was easier for Serena, who defeated Azarenka by 6/2 6/3. Semifinal match against Elena Dementieva was a much tougher task. Dementieva had already defeated Williams in a few of their last meetings, including the Olympic Games semifinals last year. Both players are great fighters and the match was a real battle between them, with Serena winning by 8/6 in the third set after almost three hours and one match point saved.


In the final Serena had to face her sister Venus in the 8th Grand Slam final between them. Venus was the big favourite considering her great perfomance on grass with 5 Wimbledon titles, the last one last year defeating Serena in the final. And moreover considering her perfect way to the final, dropping no more than 5 games on each match, including an impressive 6/1 6/0 win over WTA #1 Dinara Safina in the semis, in contrast to the suffering of Serena with Dementieva. But maybe due this fact, Serena was more competitive and focused than sister Venus, and showing her best forehand took the match and the title by 7/6(3) and 6/2.

Although the official rankings still count Serena as #2, everyone around tennis know that, being the current title holder of US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon, she is the best player in the world.

WTA ranking as of 6-Jul-2009

Despite being the champion of 3 of the 4 last Grand Slams (US Open, Australian Open and wimbledon), Serena Williams is unable to reach WTA #1 and Dinara Safina even extends her lead after her semifinalist place at Wimbledon. Surprisingly there are no changes in Top-10. Virginie Razzano breaks into the Top-20 for the first time, moving from #23 to a career-high ranking at #17. Surprising quarter-finalists Sabine Lisicki and Francesca Schiavone climb 15 places up to #26 and #28 respectively. Good climbs also for Tatjana Malek (21 places to #80) and Polona Hercog (24 places to #89), although greatest gainer in Top-100 is young American Melanie Oudin, who gains 54 places to break into Top-100 and peak at #70 after progressing to Wimbledon Last-16 round as a qualifier upsetting Jelena Jankovic on her way.

Cur	Prv	Name	Country	Rank pts.	Tours.
1	(1)	Dinara Safina	RUS	10521	19
2	(2)	Serena Williams	USA	8758	17
3	(3)	Venus Williams	USA	6617	16
4	(4)	Elena Dementieva	RUS	6591	21
5	(5)	Svetlana Kuznetsova	RUS	6071	19
6	(6)	Jelena Jankovic	SRB	5980	22
7	(7)	Vera Zvonareva	RUS	5400	24
8	(8)	Victoria Azarenka	BLR	5066	17
9	(9)	Caroline Wozniacki	DEN	4780	28
10	(10)	Nadia Petrova	RUS	3300	25

Week #27 preview: Bastad, Budapest

Bastad (SWE), International, $220,000
The Swedish tournament presents one of the most interesting draws among the International level tournaments, headed by Danish WTA #9 Caroline Wozniacki. WTA #13 Dominika Cibulkova and WTA #15 Flavia Pennetta are the other top favourites, but the strong field is completed with other players to watch out such as Sorana Cirstea, Carla Suarez, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Gisela Dulko, Maria Kirilenko and Maria Jose Martinez.

Budapest (HUN), International, $220,000
Veteran Patty Schnyder and young clay specialist Alize Cornet are the top seeds in this International tournament, although local favourite Agnes Szavay will count on the crowd support and is also candidate for the title. Upcoming Russian Alisa Kleybanova and Ukranian beauty Alona Bondarenko are also among the favourites.

Week #25-26: Serena Williams gets revenge on sister Venus in Wimbledon

Serena Williams captured her 3rd Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam title and got revenge on sister Venus who defeated her in last year's final. This was the 8th Grand Slam final between the Williams sisters and the 2nd Grand Slam title for Serena this season, after the Australian Open. The semifinals featured WTA Top-4 players, with WTA #1 Dinara Safina being trashed by Venus 6/1 6/0. On the other semifinal Serena and WTA #4 Elena Dementieva played the best match of the tournament, which was decided by 8/6 in the third set after almost three hours of thrill and a match point wasted by Dementieva.

Upcoming youngsters Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Sabine Lisicki and Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone completed the quarter-finals. Unseeded Lisicki was one of the surprises of the tournament after defeating 32nd seed Anna Chakvetadze, 5th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and 9th seed Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the quarter-final. Dissapointment performances by Kuznetsova, 6th seed Jelena Jankovic and 7th seed Vera Zvonareva, who couldn't go further than 3rd round, and specially by Maria Sharapova, who was given a seed status by Wimbledon organizers despite her current ranking and was upsetted in the 2nd round by Gisela Dulko.

In the doubles event, Williams sisters domination continued and they added another Grand Slam title to their list. In the final, the American defeated Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs from Australia.

Wimbledon (GBR), Grand Slam, £4,275,000
Singles final: Serena Williams (USA) def Venus Williams (USA) 7/6 6/2
Doubles final: S.Williams/V.Williams(USA) def S.Stosur/R.Stubbs(AUS) 7/6 6/4
Mixed doubles final: A.L.Groenefeld/M.Knowles def C.Black/L.Paes 7/5 6/3

Hot shot: New Wimbledon babe Gisela Dulko sexy photoshoot

Despite being around WTA Tour for several years, it seems that Wimbledon's crowd has just discovered the sexiness of Argentinian player Gisela Dulko. And it was after Dulko defeated big WTA star Maria Sharapova in the 2nd round, a match that was named "Battle of the babes" by British newspaper The Times. And after her victory, Dulko was named "new glamour queen of SW19" by Daily Mail. No surprise, as I have considered Dulko a real hottie for a long time, but I must admit that Gisela looked incredibly hot in that outfit.


Also last week, Argentinian magazine Brando published an interview with Gisela, which also features a photoshoot were Dulko models in sexy poses. You can see here a sample, but you can check the whole interview and photoshoot on Brando's website

Hot stuff: Wimbledon fashion

Wimbledon's strict dress code does not give much chance to designer's creativity as only white is allowed in player's outfits. Therefore the tournament never stands out regarding fashion as much as the other Grand Slams. Most of the outfits are plain and simple, but sometimes the complements get the attention. For example Nike designed an ellegant jacket for Maria Sharapova and a classy coat Serena Williams.

Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova were also among the players that got more attention, all with simple but nice white dresses.

Hot gossip: More of Azarenka, Chakvetadze, Bondarenko & Cibulkova bikini photoshoot on FHM

After being featured in the July French edition of FHM magazine during Roland Garros, the August issue of the British men's magazine international edition, on shelves July 2 coinciding with the Wimbledon tournament, will reveal more sexy pictures from the bikini photoshoot of WTA stars Victoria Azarenka, Anna Chakvetadze, Alona Bondarenko and Dominika Cibulkova.
Of course we will bring you the best pics as soon as we get them, but until then you can watch two making-off videos on FHM's website
http://www.fhm.com/girls/wimbledon-beauties-pose-for-fhm-20090622

Player of the week: Tamarine Tanasugarn

32 years old Tamarine Tanasugarn has shown that she's turning into a grass-court specialist and for the 2nd year in a row she has captured the title in 's-Hertogenbosch.
Tanasugarn started the tournament focused on defending her title and sweeped Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova and 7th seed Iveta Benesova in the 1st and 2nd round respectively, losing just 4 games on each match. The quarter final looked more difficult, as she was facing 3rd seed and WTA #15 Flavia Pennetta. And it really was, as Tanasugarn lost the first set and had to come back to win the match in three sets. The semifinal was the major test for the Thai player, as she had to face WTA #1 Dinara Safina, in a repetition of 2008 final. And like last year, Tanasugarn overcame Safina. Everything looked then easier for Tanasugarn to successfully defend her title, but she was still a step away. And she took it defeating young Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the final in straight sets.

WTA ranking as of 22-Jun-2009

No changes on WTA Top-10 this week. Eastbourne runner-up Virginie Razzano climbs from #25 to #23, while semifinalists Marion Bartoli and Aleksandra Wozniak move from #12 to #11 and from #23 to #21 respectively. 's-Hertogenbosch runner-up Yanina Wickmayer is the greatest gainer in Top-100 moving 16 places up to #56, while semifinalist Francesca Schiavone climbs from #50 to #43.

Cur	Prv	Name	Country	Rank pts.	Tours.
1	(1)	Dinara Safina	RUS	9801	19
2	(2)	Serena Williams	USA	8158	17
3	(3)	Venus Williams	USA	7217	16
4	(4)	Elena Dementieva	RUS	6591	21
5	(5)	Svetlana Kuznetsova	RUS	6191	19
6	(6)	Jelena Jankovic	SRB	6100	22
7	(7)	Vera Zvonareva	RUS	5360	24
8	(8)	Victoria Azarenka	BLR	4746	17
9	(9)	Caroline Wozniacki	DEN	4680	28
10	(10)	Nadia Petrova	RUS	3520	25

Week #25-26 preview: Wimbledon

Wimbledon (GBR), Grand Slam, £4,275,000
The grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club will host once again the most traditional, famous and ellegant Grand Slam. 5 times champion (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 & 2008), Venus Williams feels really confortable on the grass of Wimbledon and will be the big favourite for the title. Her sister Serena Williams, champion in 2002 and 2003, will be her major threat, and another all-Williams final seems more than likely. Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina were the best players in the last few months, but that was on clay and they don't cope especially well with grass. Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva seem far from their best tennis, while Vera Zvonareva is just back from a two months absence due to an ankle injury. With this view, it can be expected some big upsets in the early rounds, and youngsters such as Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki or Agnieszka Radwanska, veterans such as Nadia Petrova, Amelie Mauresmo or Virginie Razzano and grass specialists like Marion Bartoli, Samantha Stosur or Tamarine Tanasugarn could get a place in the decissive rounds. Finally Maria Sharapova's performance is unpredictable, as it's only few weeks she's just back from a 9-month injury break and, although she reached the quarter-finals in Roland Garros, she still looks a little bit far from her best.