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.

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!

Schiavone upsets Stosur for French Open Title

Francesca Schiavone won her first Grand Slam title at age 29, downing Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) at the 2010 French Open in Paris. In doing so, Francesca became the first Italian woman ever to win a Grand Slam title.

It was a thriller of a match, pitting Francesca’s one-handed powerful backhand against Samantha’s two-handed powerful backhand, two great forehands, two great servers, two great players. In the end, it was 17th seeded Schiavone who was able to stay with her game and upend 7th seeded Samantha. The only other time the French title was won by a woman not seeded in the top 10 was in 1933.

The French Open Final

The 2010 French Open will produce a first-time Grand Slam winner as Francesca Schiavone of Italy faces Samantha Stosur of Australia.

Neither 29 year-old Francesca nor 26 year-old Samantha have ever won a Grand Slam event. Neither have ever even been in a Grand Slam final before. It was only the 2nd time Samantha reached a semifinal (the French Open in 2009), and Schiavone has never been beyond a quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament.

Samantha leads their head-to-head series 4-1, including the past four times they have met. All five matches have been straight sets victories. Francesca won their first matchup in 2005. Samantha won the past four, including two on clay.

Stosur destroys Jankovic to gain berth in Final

Samantha Stosur, the 7th seed from Australia, totally dominated 4th seed, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the 2010 French Open semifinals, winning 6-1, 6-2.

It was Samantha’s third straight win over a player who has held the #1 ranking. She defeated 4-time French Open champion and former #1 Justine Henin of Belgium in the 4th round, and 2002 Roland Garros champ and current #1 Serena Williams of the USA.

Stosur stuns Serena Williams at French Open

No. 7 seed, Samantha Stosur of Australia stunned the tennis world by taking out World No. 1 Serena Williams of the USA in a 3-set thriller, 6-2, 6-7(2), 8-6 in a quarterfinal match at the 2010 French Open in Paris.

Samantha came out strong, dominating play on her serve and against Serena’s serve. Samantha played patiently, slicing her backhand deep, waiting for the short one which she could put away with her powerful forehand. Serena was obviously frustrated throughout the match with Samantha’s backhand slice.

Venus Williams routs Shahar Peer to reach Madrid Masters Final

Venus Williams made quick work of her Semifinal match against Shahar Peer of Israel to reach her first Madrid Masters final. The match, which was over in two quick sets, 6-3, 6-0, took just 66 minutes.

Williams, seeded 4th in this tournament, has built an impressive record of 12-1 on clay this year. Earlier in this tournament, she defeated No. 21 ranked Vera Zvonareva of Russia, No. 15 seed, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, and No 8 seed, Samantha Stosur of Australia.

Henin Wins Championship at Stuttgart

Former World No. 1 Justine Henin of Belgium won her first tournament after coming out of an 18-month retirement, showing she is serious about her comeback, and someone to be reckoned with heading into the French Open. Henin took three sets but was able to defeat Australia’s Samantha Stosur 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the final of the 2010 WTA Tour Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany on Sunday.

Henin finally made the breakthrough after being beaten in two previous finals this year. Henin was also the champion in Stuttgart in 2007.

Stosur wins 2nd WTA Career Title

Samantha Stosur of Australia won her 2nd WTA career title by soundly defeating Vera Zvonareva of Russia in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3 on Sunday at the 2010 WTA Tour Family Circle Cup in Charleston. South Carolina, USA.

Stosur was very dominant throughout the match, but especially in the first set, allowing Zvonareva only 5 points in the entire first set. Throughout the match, Stosur won 86% of her 1st serve points; Zvonareva won only 37% of her 1st serve points. That’s one-sided dominance!