Nicole Vaidisova news

Russian veteran Nadia Petrova arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Open with little to get excited about after back-to-back first-round losses in 2010 but she suddenly looms as a chance to go all the way.

The 27-year-old has announced herself as a contender for the crown with consecutive wins over comeback queen Kim Clijsters, who she thrashed 6-0 6-1 in the third round, and No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who she downed in three sets in the fourth round on Sunday.

Nicole Vaidisova, a former top 10 player and a 2006 semifinalist at the French Open, is boosting the marquee value of the Cellular South Cup tennis tournament next month at The Racquet Club.

Vaidisova, 20, has accepted a wild card to play in the Sony Ericsson Women's Tennis Association event, joining world No. 12 Maria Sharapova and rising American Melanie Oudin, the highest-ranked U.S. player behind Venus and Serena Williams.

If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, Serena Williams should be pumped up, or more so than usual, when the Australian Open starts Monday, or Sunday, depending on where you live. Yes, tennis junkies in the U.S. and Europe are in for some crazy hours until the end of January. Let's hope the excitement comes close to matching the Packers-Cardinals thriller last weekend, making the long nights worthwhile. Williams, of course, was involved in the single biggest incident at the U.S.

Former top-10 player Nicole Vaidisova hasn't been playing much tennis lately - no good tennis, no bad tennis. No tennis.

But apparently she and 11-years-older boyfriend Radek Stepanek are still going strong.

Here is Vaidisova (above) watching Stepanek play Novak Djokovic in the Basel semi-finals Saturday (that's Daddy Djokovic on the far left of the left photo; with the Djoker's entourage so big, it spilled out of their box a little).

Standing 6-foot-2, Maria Sharapova could post-up most players on the WTA Tour and the Los Angeles Times reports Sharapova is now playing pick-and-roll with Lakers reserve guard Sasha Vujacic.

L.A. Times Laker beat writer Mike Bresnahan reports the Sharapova and Vujacic, aka "Sashapova", are dating.

"Yes, I'm happy," Vujacic told The L.A. Times. "Everything's good."

For those still interested in who would finish the year as women's No. 1, well, you got your answer earlier than expected in Doha.

It has been a season of returns on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but don't look for Martina Hingis to join Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Kimiko Date Krumm on the comeback trail.

The 29-year-old Hingis, who completed a two-year suspension for a positive test for cocaine on September 30th, shot down suggestions she would consider a competitive comeback.

Russian Elena Vesnina, the popular finalist from Auckland's 2009 ASB Classic, has confirmed her return for January's tennis tournament.

After starting the 2009 tournament at No 79 in the world and working her way to the final of the ASB Classic, she was eventually stopped by top-10 countrywoman Elena Dementieva.

The 23 year-old now has a ranking of No 22, a career-high after some great results during the past 12 months.

Auckland was her career-first final featuring wins over Aiko Nakamura, Nicole Vaidisova, Caroline Wozniacki and Anne Keothavong.

Nicole Vaidisova was a superstar waiting to happen. A big-hitting, six-foot-something blonde, the Czech teenager made a stunning start to her career which seemed destined to always be lit up by flashbulbs.

Vaidisova had won five titles before her 17th birthday - a feat achieved by only five players before her, four of whom - Tracy Austin, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis - would win grand slams.

Eurosport-Yahoo! blogger Simon Reed argues that women's tennis is in an awful state, but that it could be saved by Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.

I thought it was interesting, not just that Kim came back and beat everyone at the US Open, but also that Kimiko Date Krumm, who is 39-years-old, won the title in Seoul last week having previously not won a match all year (see link under picture).

Caroline Wozniacki is not quite the player of the moment in women’s tennis. But she is the one most assigned to future moments. The revolving search for the next big thing has landed on her.

It may be because, at 19 and ranked No. 9 in the world , she is the only teenager among the top 20.

It may be because she is from Denmark, a relative black hole in top-line tennis, or that she is the highest ranked of the Western European players, who have ceded power in recent years to women from former Soviet republics.

Ins and Outs

When Czech No.1 Iveta Benesova woke up on Thursday morning, she might well have expected that both she and her friend Petra Kvitova would win their respective second round matches at the ECM Prague Open, thereby setting up a meeting in Friday's quarterfinals. But, while the left-handed No.3 seed edged crafty Monica Niculescu in just over two hours to make the date, her next opponent will be a 15-year-old surprise packet making her debut on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia eliminated Nicole Vaidisova from the first round of the Prague Open on Tuesday, beating the Czech player 7-5, 6-2.

Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland also advanced, beating sixth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-6 (5), while seventh-seeded Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic defeated Ksenia Pervak of Russia 6-3, 6-2 and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat Anna Lapuschenkova of Russia 6-1, 6-0.

In the second round, Kudryavtseva will play second-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria.

Kim Clijsters' highly-anticipated comeback isn't the only reason to visit Cincinnati next month.

The commitment list announced today for the 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters & Women’s Open features what tournament organizers call "the strongest (field) in the 111-year history of the event."

Only 44 men and 45 women are given direct acceptance into each singles draw, and the last man on the preliminary list is ranked No. 44 while the last woman is ranked No. 49.