Russia’s newest sensation was in top form on Wednesday and top seed Jelena Jankovic paid the price.

At the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego, the Round of Sixteen play begins today as two Russians, Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova, battled to victory on Tuesday.

Encouraged by her mother, Vera Zvonareva began playing tennis for fun at age six. Her mother, Natalya Bykova, a Russian field hockey player who earned a bronze medal in the 1980 Olympics, enrolled the future star in the famed Russian State Academy of Physical Fitness.

Rezai reached her highest ranking of sixteen prior to the French Open and on the heels of her impressive win at the Madrid Open.

Rafa Nadal and Justine Henin, the two best clay court players in their divisions, powered to first round wins as other in-form players strutted their stuff on Tuesday.

While the landscape of women’s tennis is changing, the men’s field seems a bit more predictable. Early-line odds makers strongly favor Spanish clay court magician, Rafa Nadal while the current unranked favorite on the women’s side is Belgian Justine Henin. Too bad the odds makers and the ranking committees can’t get together. We might have more balanced events.

Elena Dementieva has had to endure the label so many tennis players and golfers dread: the best player never to win a major. Spain’s Sergio Garcia is widely regarded as the male golfer who ought to have won a prestigious championship by now, but hasn’t. In men’s tennis, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko are battling for that double-edged distinction, which carries with it both a compliment and a deficiency.

The Belgians - both of them - are back. Dinara Safina’s not the top-ranked female tennis player in the world. Serena Williams hasn’t promised to shove a ball down the throat of a linesperson… yet. Intrigue and anticipation are coursing through Melbourne in the final 30 hours before the start of the new year’s first […]

There they were, two players who - at this point on the calendar 12 months ago - were out of tennis and in search of themselves. In January of 2009, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin stood to the side of the stage in women’s tennis, with Clijsters raising a toddler and Henin exploring life off […]

Dinara Safina was the top seed for all four Grand Slam events in 2009. Nobody was buying it. In fact, not many players or fans are convinced Dinara deserves to be seeded second heading to Melbourne. Serena Williams was and still is the best female tennis player and competitor on the planet. Despite Serena’s meltdown […]