Seeded players Kuznetsova, Hantuchova, Shvedova, Peer, Rezai, Oudin, and Jie fall in 2nd round at Wimbledon

Shahar Peer of Israel was the highest seed to be eliminated in the 2nd round at Wimbledon 2010. The 13th seeded Shahar lost to No. 54 ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

It was a round that saw many seeded players fall to much lower ranked players. Some of the higher seeds included No. 18 seed, Aravane Rezai of France, who lost to No. 66 ranked Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 19 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who was defeated by countrywoman Anastasia Rodionova 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Stosur upset by Kanepi at Wimbledon

French Open runner up, Samantha Stosur of Australia, is already packing to go home after a 1st-round loss at Wimbledon on Tuesday. The lady who sent her packing is 80th-ranked qualifier, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who took care of the upset in stunning fashion in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

This was the fourth first-round exit in eight appearances at the All England Club for the sixth-seeded Samantha. She came to Wimbledon with a tour-leading 35 match wins in 2010 and with her career-best ranking. She reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open this month, beating current No. 1 Serena Williams and former World No. 1 Justine Henin and another former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic along the way.

Will Serena Williams lose her No. 1 ranking at Wimbledon?

According to OnTheBaseline, the No. 1 ranking is up for grabs at Wimbledon. Serena Williams could theoretically be dethroned by No. 3, Jelena Jankovic, by her sister, Venus Williams ranked No. 2, by Caroline Wozniacki ranked No. 4, or even by Samantha Stosur ranked No. 6. Elena Dementieva is currently ranked No. 5, but is not playing Wimbledon due to an injury.

With Serena being the defending champion, she has all her points to defend. Stay tuned to Wimbledon 2010. It could get interesting!

Makarova defeats Azarenka for title at WTA AEGON International

Ekaterina Makarova of Russia won the women’s final against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the 2010 WTA AEGON International held in Eastbourne, England June 14-19. Ekaterina won the match in straights sets, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Ekaterina is ranked No. 103, and was a qualifier, while Victoria was also unseeded but ranked much higher at No. 15.

Ekaterina defeated #10 Flavia Pennetta, #13 Nadia Petrova, #19 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and #7 Samantha Stosur on her way to the final, making this by far the best week of her career. She did not lose a set along the way.

Henin wins championship of the UNICEF Open

Justine Henin of Belgium won the championship of the 2010 WTA Tour UNICEF Open played in s’Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands June 13-19. She defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

After dropping the 1st set, Justine was down a break in the 2nd, and again trailed 0-3 in the 3rd.

After the match, Justine said, “When I was down a break in the second, I don’t think many people would have thought I could come back. It’s the kind of match you really like to win. Today was harder than my other matches, because I really wanted to win, my mind was already in Wimbledon, and Andrea played a great match. She has a good game for grass—she hits the ball really flat and hard.

Safina pulls out of Wimbledon

Dinara Safina of Russia has decided to pull out of the 2010 Wimbledon, following the lead of countrywoman, Elena Dementieva who withdrew because of a calf injury on Tuesday.

“I had to pull out today,” tweeted Safina on her Twitter feed. “My back injury came back and I can’t play… I tried but I can’t…sorry.”

Safina’s exit from the Grand Slam opens the way for Stephanie Dubois of Canada to enter the draw as a lucky loser.

In 2009, Safina reached the semifinals of Wimbledon before being crushed by Venus Williams of the USA in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.

Wozniacki, Schiavone, Radwanska and Pennetta among upsets at the 2010 AEGON International

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was among the early upsets at the 2010 WTA AEGON International being played June 14-20 in Eastbourne, England. The No. 1 seed was defeated in the 1st round by Aravane Rezai of France 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

The Wimbledon warmup claimed other top seeds in the 1st round, including No. 2 seed and 2010 French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone of Italy who was eliminated by Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-5, 6-3.

It appears the warmup is getting the unseeded players more warmed up than the top seeds. It could be an interesting Wimbledon. Warm up your TV sets by Monday, because here we go!

Dementieva pulls out of Wimbledon

World number five, Elena Dementieva of Russia, has pulled out of Wimbledon due to an injury. The calf injury that forced Elena to quit her French Open semifinal against Italian Francesca Schiavone will cause her to miss this year’s Wimbledon which starts next Monday.

Elena announced on Tuesday on her Website that she hasn’t fully recovered from the problem and would skip the year’s third tennis major.

Elena reached the semifinals of Wimbledon the past two years. In 2008 she lost to Venus Williams who went on to win the title, and in 2009 she lost to Serena Williams who also went on to win the title.

Na Li wins championship over Sharapova

On Sunday in Birmingham, England, top-seeded Na Li of China defeated 2nd seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia in the finals of the AEGON Classic 7-5, 6-1.

Maria, who had served well in her previous matches this year at Birmingham, hit seven double faults with only once ace (Na: 3 aces, 0 DFs). Na coverted 4 of 10 break point opportunities against Maria; Maria reached break point against Na only once, though she did score on that occasion.

Lindsay Davenport coming out of retirement to play at Wimbledon

Former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport of the USA announced last week that she would be coming out of retirement to play in two WTA Tour events.

She’ll be playing in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University in the final week of July, and the Mercury Insurance Open in La Costa, California in August.

At age 34, Davenport hasn’t played in a tournament since the 2008 U.S. Open and claims that she’s not coming back, just playing for fun. She stated: