VIDEO: Serena on Tonight Show w/ Conan O'Brien

PART ONE:

VIDEO: Serena on Tavis Smiley Show

Serena's on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE (Tonight)

Serena will be a guest on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE tonight. Other guests include Dr. Drew Pinsky (Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew) and musical guest Eric Church. Check your local listings for time and station.

Serena to play Sydney International in January

Women's world number one Serena Williams is almost certain to play next year's edition of the Sydney International. Williams remains the subject of an International Tennis Federation investigation into her outburst at the US Open in August. But tournament director Craig Watson says he expects the reigning Australian Open champion to be cleared to play. "I don't think Serena would do that again," he said.

"I think that was an unfortunate incident and we're looking forward to having her play in Sydney again. "At the moment we're focused on her coming. I've been in communication with her people as late as yesterday and all indications are from them that they're on track to arrive in Sydney."

Williams will be joined in the women's draw by defending Sydney champion and world number five Elena Dementieva of Russia and world number eight Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. "Sydney is a good place to kick off the year," Williams said. "It's a great warm-up for the Australian Open."

More TV: Serena on Conan O'Brien TONIGHT

Serena is scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien tonight. Other guests include actor Ken Jeong and musical guest Rascal Flats. Check your local listings for time and station.

Serena to appear on Tavis Smiley Show

Serena will be a guest on the Tavis Smiley Show on Wednesday, October 14, 2009. Check your local listings for time and station.

She's BACK....(at #1)

As of today, Serena has secured the keys to the WTA Penthouse for the fourth time in her illustrious career, she's back at #1. Serena has replaced Dinara Safina, who held the position for 25 consecutive weeks since April 20. Williams is spending her 73rd week (overall) at #1, having held the top ranking for 57 weeks from July 8, 2002 to August 10, 2003; four weeks from September 8, 2008 to October 6, 2008; and 11 weeks from February 2 to April 19, 2009. Safina's second round exit at the China Open gave Serena an opportunity to recapture No.1, which she secured by defeating Ekaterina Makarova in the second round.

"2009 has been a very good season for me during which I enjoyed some of the best wins of my career," Williams said. "Attaining the world No.1 ranking makes me want to work even harder and is ultimately the icing on the cake." "Serena has achieved great results this year, impressing everyone with her gritty performances, especially at the Grand Slams. Regaining the world No.1 ranking has been a goal of Serena's and she has worked very hard all year. I congratulate her on achieving this feat for the fourth time in her career," said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Tour.

The 28-year-old American has had a stellar 2009 season, winning two Grand Slam singles titles (Australian Open and Wimbledon) and posting solid results at the other two Slams, falling to eventual champions at both (to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and to Kim Clijsters in the semifinals of the US Open). She held No.1 for 11 weeks earlier this year from February 2 to April 19. A finalist at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Williams has nine wins over Top 10 opponents this season and is the Tour's prize money leader for 2009 with $4,586,486 (through October 5).

Earlier this year in February, Williams became the first professional female athlete to eclipse the $23-million mark in any professional sports league and surpassed Lindsay Davenport ($22,144,735) as the all-time prize money leader on the Tour. In addition to her success in singles, Williams has also won four doubles titles this year with sister Venus, including three Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open) as well at Stanford. Williams turned professional at the age of 14 in November 1995 and played her first tournament in Quebec City, Canada.

In her 14-year career she has won every major title at least once for a total of 11 Grand Slam singles titles, becoming only the fifth woman, other than Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf, to achieve such a feat. Of the current players, only her older sister, Venus Williams, comes close to such an achievement, with seven Grand Slam singles titles to her name. Williams has won four Australian Opens (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009), one French Open (2002), three Wimbledons (2002, 2003, 2009) and three US Opens (1999, 2002, 2008). Also, Williams has won two Olympic golds, playing doubles with Venus at Sydney in 2000 and at Beijing in 2008, and is the owner of 34 singles and 17 doubles titles.

Nadia knocks Serena out of China Open

World number two Williams battled back several times but was unable to overcome Russian 13th seed Nadia Petrova, who won in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5). The 28-year-old Williams looked lethargic in the first set, with her ground strokes sailing long and her serve broken twice to hand the 27-year-old Russian the early lead. But the American bounced back in the second, putting a bit more pace on her shots and dictating play from the backcourt to gain a break late in the set and even the match.

In the deciding third set, Williams missed a golden opportunity to pull ahead at 4-4, blowing three break points on Petrova's serve. But she cranked up her serve to send it to a tiebreak. Petrova took an early 5-2 lead, but Williams battled back one final time before the Russian could close it out. Despite the loss, Williams will nevertheless take over the number one ranking from Russia's Dinara Safina when the new WTA list is issued on Monday.

China Open: 3rd Round (Thursday)

3rd Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS)
Serena leads Head-to-Head 6-1
5th Match of the Day on Center Court
Not before 7:00pm (7:00am EST)

Serena: "I have earned the #1 ranking"

BEIJING, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Serena Williams was in no doubt who deserved to top the women’s tennis rankings after wresting the number one spot back from Dinara Safina at the China Open on Tuesday. The American had made no secret of her incredulity that Safina, without a grand slam title to her name, should hold the top spot ahead of the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion.

The Russian’s loss to the 226th-ranked Chinese wildcard Zhang Shuai on Monday evening left Serena with the straightforward task of beating world number 55 Ekaterina Makarova, which she did with ease. “I think I’ve earned it,” the 28-year-old told reporters after her 6-3 6-2 victory. “I won two grand slams, and I should have got more. But you know what, I’m just excited to have those two, which is great. “I just played consistent for all the year. I felt like especially the beginning of the year I did well. I was bothered a little bit by injury but I kept fighting. “I kept showing up and doing the best I could do. Sometimes there were unfortunate losses, but I really tried. And I think at end of the day that’s what matters.”

Serena has made frequent jokes about what she thought was the unfairness of ranking, most notably after her Wimbledon triumph. So did she feel vindicated that she will be back at the top of the list when they are issued on Oct. 12? “I definitely feel better,” she said. “I’d be lying if I sat here and said I didn’t. “But I just feel like I would say the ranking will come, you know, I’m not focus on being number one. And I would rather have won the titles that I have won this year, as opposed to have the ranking. “But fortunately now, for next week at least, I have it.”

WTA Tour CEO speaks on Serena returning to #1

“Serena has achieved great results this year, impressing everyone with her gritty performances, especially at the Grand Slams. Regaining World No.1 ranking has been a goal of Serena’s and she’s worked very hard all year. I congratulate her on achieving this feat for the fourth time in her career.”

--- Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

When the new rankings are released on Monday, Serena will be spending her 73rd (nonconsecutive) week as World #1. Serena held the top ranking for 57 weeks from July 8, 2002 to August 10, 2003; 4 weeks from September 8, 2008 to October 6, 2008; and 11 weeks from February 2 to April 19, 2009.

Serena advances at China Open; Returns to #1

BEIJING - Serena Williams reclaimed the world number one ranking on Tuesday with an easy 6-3, 6-2 second round win over Russia's Ekaterina Makarova at the China Open. The path to the top spot was cleared for the 28-year-old Williams, who last held the top ranking in April, when current number one Dinara Safina crashed out of the tournament on Monday, losing to Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai (ranked 226th in the world). By besting Safina's performance here, Williams - the current world number two - is now mathematically assured of moving up to the top of the WTA rankings when the new list is issued Monday.

Williams first held the number one ranking in July 2002, staying at the top for more than a year until August 2003. The 11-time Grand Slam winner again rose to the top in September last year for four weeks, and again earlier this year for 11 weeks from early February until mid-April. Williams, the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, won the China Open in 2004. She also won Olympic doubles gold with sister Venus here last year.

Serena's ESPN Magazine "Body Issue" Cover

China Open: 2nd Round (Tuesday)

2nd Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)

Head-to-Head 0-0

3rd Match of the Day on Court 1

Not before 3:00pm (3:00am EST)

Serena: Beijing arrival photos

Serena returns with win at China Open

BEIJING (Reuters) – Serena Williams made a stuttering start to her bid to topple Dinara Safina from the world number one spot with an error-strewn 7-5 6-4 win over Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the first round of the China Open on Sunday. Safina, who must at least match Williams' progress over the next week in Beijing to retain the number one ranking, was equally unconvincing in her 6-4 6-4 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci earlier in the day. Williams missed last week's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo with knee and toe injuries and looked far from her best on Sunday. It Williams' first singles match since her rant at a lineswoman in her semi-final loss to Belgian Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open last month.

The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion made nine unforced errors with five double faults in the 83-minute encounter against the big-hitting Kanepi, who broke the American three times. The second seed, though, always looked to have the edge on the big points and claimed her place in the second round of the $6.6 million event with a fifth break of serve when world number 48 Kanepi went long.

Williams only needs to have a better result than Safina in Beijing to claim the number one ranking, according to WTA officials. While the Russian said she did not think about the points race, the American has her sights firmly set on the top spot. "It's definitely on my radar," Williams said. "I would love to be number one but I also want to pay the price to be number one. And it'll come eventually."

From The Daily Reviewer....

"Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 tennis Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included!" - The Daily Reviewer

Top tennis Blogs

Thanks to each of you for supporting my Serena Williams blog.

China Open: 1st Round (Sunday)

1st Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Kaia Kanepi (EST)
Serena leads Head-to-Head 2-0
4th Match of the Day on Center Court

1st match starts at 11:00am Sunday (11:oopm Saturday est)

Serena featured in ESPN Magazaine "Body Issue"

ESPN The Magazine's inaugural “Body Issue,” on newsstands Friday, Oct. 9, will feature nearly 80 athletes (Serena included) from a variety of sports in a celebration and exploration of the athletic form. The issue honors athletes of diverse shapes, sizes, genders and races within the boundaries of taste and frontiers of creativity upon which ESPN The Magazine and ESPN have built their reputations. It is a testament to the work the athletes do, the effort they exert and the price they sometimes pay in reliance on their most important asset – their bodies.

Features in the Body Issue explore the athletic form, inside and out – literally. Body Issue editorial topics include: the largest genetic test of current and former athletes to examine their genetic mapping, athletes’ use of sexuality to promote themselves, a first-hand look at an athlete’s ACL surgery, insuring the athletic body and what video game companies know about the athletic body and the process they go through to create the video game representation of star athletes.