Clijsters replaces Wozniacki at No. 1

Kim Clijsters has taken over the World No. 1 ranking, as the new rankings will reflect when they come out on Monday.

Clijsters achieved the honor after defeating Jelena Dokic of Australia in the Quarterfinals, 6-0, 6-3 at the WTA Open GDF Suez in Paris, France. She will replace the current No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

It has been 256 weeks since Clijsters’ last stretch at No. 1. That is the second longest in ATP or WTA history, beaten only by Serena Williams at 265 weeks.

Li upsets Wozniacki in semifinal

No. 9 seed, Na Li of China, upset World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in a thrilling 3-setter, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the 2011 Australian Open.

Wozniacki won the 1st set 6-3, looking like she would easily take the match. She continued looking good in the 2nd set, serving for the match at 5-4. Wozniacki reached match point at 40-30, but Li won the point and the game to break even at 5-5. Li went on to win the set 7-5.

Clijsters and Li reach semifinals of 2011 WTA Medibank International

World No. 3, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, and World No. 11, Na Li of China, are the only seeded players to reach the semifinals of the 2011 WTA Medibank International being played Jan. 10 – Jan. 16 in Sydney, Australia.

Kim ousted World No. 10, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-2. Kim has been playing well, and remarked: “I think it’s a lot to do with feeling comfortable on the surface—I think I see the ball better on the blue courts.”

Serena Williams withdraws from Australian Open

Two-time defending champion, Serena Williams, has withdrawn from the 2011 Australian Open, according to tournament director Craig Tiley.

Williams is blaming her foot injury for the withdrawal. It is the 2nd consecutive Grand Slam tournament that Williams will miss, and the loss of 2000 ranking points will cost her her place in the top 10 rankings.

Williams has played only one exhibition match since winning Wimbledon in July. She had surgery after cutting her foot on broken glass at a restaurant following her win at the All England Club. She returned to practice in September, but twice put off her comeback, missing the U.S. Open, the season-ending WTA tournament, the Fed Cup and a handful of tour events.

Serena Williams calls it quits for this season

Serena Williams has made it official – she is out for the season.

The former world number one announced the news that she was pulling out of the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas final on Tuesday.

Not that many of us expected anything different. After all, the last half of this year she has been claiming to start up again for the next tournament, then just a few days later saying she is withdrawing from that tournament.

Serena Williams bails out again, withdraws from Generali Ladies Linz

Serena Williams has done it again, withdrawing just days before the beginning of a tournament she had agreed to play. She is claiming it is because of recurring pain in her right foot, according to tournament organizers.

Williams has not played competitively since she was injured in an off-court incident in Munich, following her 13th career Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon this July. She received stitches immediately and then had surgery when she returned to the United States.

Wozniacki takes over World No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark officially will take over the World No. 1 ranking when the new rankings are released on Monday. In doing so, she has dethroned Serena Williams of the USA.

The 20-year-old will become the first player from Denmark, male or female, to hold the top ranking after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Petra Kvitova at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday.

“This is a real big step for me. To be the world No. 1 has always been a dream for me,” Wozniacki said at the Beijing Tennis Center. “It doesn’t feel like it’s real.”

Serena Williams actually plans to return to tennis next week

Serena Williams is returning to the WTA Tour at next week’s Generali Ladies Linz after spending the time since July sidelined by a cut on her right foot. The event will be played in Linz, Austria.

Prior to her injury, Williams cruised to her fourth career Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam.

Organizers of the Linz event said the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion confirmed her entry Thursday, the same day she lost her No. 1 ranking. It makes one wonder if that was just a coincidence, or if Williams didn’t like being dethroned.

Wozniacki and Dementieva set for Tokyo final

No. 2 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and No. 11 seed, Elena Dementieva of Russia are set to face each other on Saturday in the final of the 2010 Pan Pacific Open being played in Tokyo, Japan.

Wozniacki withstood a late comeback in her semifinal match to defeat 8th seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Friday, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 to reach the final. Dementieva had a little easier time defeating this year’s French Open champion, 5th seeded Francesca Schizvone of Italy in the other semifinal in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

Serena Williams pulls out of China Open, may lose No. 1 ranking

World No. 1 Serena Williams of the USA has pulled out of yet another tournament, the China Open in Beijing while she continues to recover from surgery on her right foot. The injury will keep her from competing at the Pan Pacific Open and China Open tournaments over the next two weeks.

At the beginning of the week, the 13-time Grand Slam champion revealed to fans on her website that she had stopped wearing a protective boot around her injured foot. “While I have continued to make progress in the recovery of my foot injury, unfortunately I am still not ready to compete at the upcoming Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and China Open in Beijing,” Williams said in a statement.