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Alona Bondarenko had too much for Jelena Jankovic to handle in their 3rd round match up today. Bondarenko, seeded 31, pulled a huge upset over the 8th seeded Jankovic, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. It was the first time Bondarenko has beaten Jankovic in 10 meetings between the two. Bondarenko had managed to take only one set against Jankovic in their previous nine matches. This was a great time to break the drought against Jankovic and is perhaps the biggest win of Bondarenko’s career.

Serena Williams is seen here at her book signing at Harrods department store in London, on November 2, 2009. Now it’s time to put the books away and focus on tennis. Williams, who is currently ranked No. 1 on the WTA Tour is seeded No. 1 for the 2010 Australian Open set to begin Jan. 18 in Melbourne. Yes, Grand Slam tennis is about to get under way.

Tournament officials could have used a discretionary seeding to place Justine Henin in the draw, but they chose not to. So the Belgian former champion playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since announcing her return from retirement will be a dangerous threat, possibly meeting some of the top seeds in the opening rounds.

The current world No. 2, and 3-time Grand Slam finalist, Dinara Safina of Russia, is pulling out of the Brisbane International scheduled for January 3-10, 2010, because of a lingering back injury. The back pain forced Safina to quit in tears after just 12 minutes and two games into a match against Jelena Jankovic at the WTA Championships at Doha in October. Going into the tournament she was ranked No. 1, and was working to end the year at that spot. The meltdown caused her to eventually lose the top WTA ranking to Serena Williams.

Amidst controversy and spectacular play, Serena Williams of the United States ends 2009 ranked No. 1 in the world on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Once before in her 14 year career she achieved the No. 1 year-end ranking, seven years ago in 2002.

Just three years ago, in 2006 she had dipped to No. 95 at year’s end following an injury-plagued season. She lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open to Daniela Hantuchova. Williams then withdrew from all events until summer with a left knee injury, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She spent 18 weeks outside of the top 100 during that time. Then after starting up again, she lost at the U.S. Open in round four, ending the year at #95. In 2007 she started her climb back up the rankings, moving up to No. 7 at the end of the year, and finishing 2008, No. 3.[SonyEricssonWTATour.com]

Serena Williams solidified her World No. 1 ranking by winning the Sony Ericsson Championships on Sunday, November 1, 2009 in Doha, Qatar. She claimed the championship with a straight-sets win over her sister, Venus Williams, and a 5-0 record for the tournament. Venus was back to defend her title from last year, but Serena made sure that did not happen.

The Final was competitive between the two sisters. However, both were struggling with injuries and had heavy taping on their left legs. Serena was dominate in the opening set, winning 6-2. Venus then stepped up her game in the second set, managing to force a tiebreak. However, Serena came out on top, winning the match 6-2, 7-6(4).

Serbian cutie pie, Jelena Jankovic, is finally smiling as she holds her first trophy of the year after defeating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3 3-6 6-3 at the Andalucia Tennis Championships in Marbella, Spain, on April 12 2009. No wonder she is smiling. This is the first time she even made it to a Final match this year. It took two 3-set matches and a big scare in the Quarterfinals, but the world No. 4 ranked Jankovic finally got the job done.

Jankovic breezed through her first two matches winning 6-2, 6-1 over No. 44 ranked Francesca Schiavone of Italy, and 6-3, 6-0 over No. 174 ranked Selima Sfar of Tunisia.

Jelena Jankovic, cutie pie from Serbia, was the 3rd seed in the WTA Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships played Feb. 15-22, 2009 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She reached the 3rd round before going down in defeat.

Jankovic had a BYE into the 2nd round where she easily defeated No. 51 ranked Monica Niculescu of Romania, 6-3, 6-2. In the 3rd round, she was pitted against No. 20 ranked, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. Kanepi won that match 6-2, 7-5.

Serbian cutie pie, Jelena Jankovic, celebrates after beating France’s Alize Cornet 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, during the quarterfinals of the Gaz De France tennis open match in Paris, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009.

Her win put her in the semifinals where she faced Amelie Mauresmo. Mauresmo won the see-saw match in 3 sets, 6-2, 0-6, 6-1.

Jankovic seems to be having a tough time in her matches. All 4 matches she played in this tournament went 3 sets. Of course, her opponents were ranked No. 36, 37, 11, and 19, which means they are good players. However, if Jankovic is want to win a Grand Slam, she is going to have to play better then she is at this point.

Jelena Jankovic reacts after a point in her fourth round match against Marion Bartoli of France during day seven of the 2009 Australian Open.

Jankovic reached the 4th round by defeating 26th seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Jankovic didn’t drop a set through the first three matches of the tournament. However, that’s where it ended as she was defeated by 16th seeded Marion Bartoli of France, 1-6, 4-6. Jankovic just never really got into the match.

Serbian cutie pie, Jelena Jankovic, smiles during a press conference at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia.

Jankovic is seeded No. 1 and showed her seeding is well deserved, at least in the opening round. She defeated No. 104 ranked Yvonne Meusburger of Austria , 6-1, 6-3.

Jankovic has been working hard to be in better shape. That will prove helpful in the hot, humid weather they are experiencing at Melbourne. Many players are falling victim to severe cramping during the opening round.