On the Baseline Tennis News

Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic was beaten in the third round at Rome on Wednesday by tenth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Jarmila Groth knocked out top seed Iveta Benesova on Wednesday in the second round of the Estoril Open.

The last five new No. 1s have won a paltry six Grand Slam singles titles between them. The first five, starting with Evert—who was No. 1 when the modern computer rankings were introduced in 1975—and running up to Steffi Graf, won a total of 67.
– Tennis.com

American tennis legends Billie Jean King and John McEnroe helped launch National Tennis Month in the United States on Wednesday by playing a friendly game of tennis in New York City.

King and McEnroe have played all over the world and on all surfaces, but they can add a new venue to their lists: a barge floating on the Hudson River.

The biggest story on Tuesday from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia was Patty Schnyder’s win over Serena Williams in the second round.

Only one day after professing herself to be the best player in the world, Serena Williams was dismissed from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in her opening round match.

Patty Schnyder beat the second seed in three sets 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 early Wednesday morning in Italy.

Serena Williams is known for hitting powerful aces on the tennis court, but last weekend she hit an ace with the launch of her Serena Williams Signature Statement collection on Home Shopping Network.

Second seed Maria Kirilenko needed over three hours to get past Canadian qualifier Sharon Fichman on Tuesday in Estoril.

“We all know who the real No. 1 is,” Williams said Monday at the Italian Open. “Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.”
– The Canadian Press

Fourth seed Venus Williams and sixth seed Victoria Azarenka advanced to the third round on Monday in Rome.

Top seed Iveta Benesova needed three sets to get past wild card Neuza Silva on Monday at the Estoril Open.

Jelena Dokic’s return to the WTA Tour’s Top 100 has been one of the most surprising and inspiring stories of 2009.

The former World No. 4 has moved on from a damaging relationship with her father, mended fences with Tennis Australia, overcome depression and worked hard physically to resurrect a career that many assumed to be over.

Russia’s Dinara Safina continued her reign as the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s number one player when the rankings were updated on Monday.

Safina’s countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova moved up to No. 8 on the rankings after beating Safina in the final at Stuttgart on Sunday.

Iveta Benesova, Maria Kirilenko, Sorana Cirstea and Sabine Lisicki are the top four seeds at the combined Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and ATP World Tour tournament in Estoril, Portugal.

Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo was beaten in the first round at Rome on Sunday by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.