Rome: Semifinal (Friday)

Semifinal

[1] (WC) Serena Williams vs. [7] Jelena Jankovic (SRB)

Serena leads Head-To-Head (4-3)

1st Match of the Day

Center Court

Serena slams Kirilenko; Advances to Semifinal

ROME (AP) -- Top-ranked Serena Williams dispatched Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4 Thursday, then waited to see if she will meet sister Venus in the Italian Open semifinals. "I have a really tough opponent next match whether it's Venus or Jelena," Serena said. "Obviously, 'Go V!"' Serena had been out with a left knee injury since winning the Australian Open in January. "My knee is feeling good so far," she said. "I can't believe I'm still in the tournament -- it's weird."

After cruising through the first set and taking a 4-0 lead in the second, Serena lost three straight games before regaining control on her service games. She blasted aces at 123 mph and fired baseline winners at will. Serena had an 8-1 edge in aces and 19-7 in winners. She attributed the brief lapse in the second set to a lack of "match toughness."

"I definitely should have been up 5-0," she said. "Hopefully as I start playing more, I'll start to close these games out better." Serena won this clay-court warmup for the French Open in 2002 en route to her only title at Roland Garros.

Roger and Serena: Calendar Slam?

When asked whether she and Roger Federer could win the calendar slam, Serena responded, “We definitely have the same chance as we both won Australia. We are starting on the same ship and I just hope at least one of our ships goes the whole way.”

Rome: Quarterfinal (Thursday)

Quarterfinal

[1] (WC) Serena Williams (USA) vs. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)

Serena leads Head-To-Head (2-0)

2nd Match of the day

Center Court

Serena Defeats Petkovic; Advances to Quarters

The world number one admitted that she was still blowing away the cobwebs from her long absence recovering from a knee injury after toiling to beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. The American had a sticky patch against unseeded Petkovic, after having taken her time to get going against Swiss Timea Bacsinszky on Tuesday in her first match since winning January's Australian Open.

However she has already shown in Rome an ability to raise her game when needed, an attribute she is likely to have to call upon at this month's French Open. "I don't get frustrated because I have to think I've had a long time off," she said. "I definitely felt extremely rusty today.

"It went crazy in the second set. I was glad I was able to win because at least I can be guaranteed another match. I think I definitely need it because I was definitely rusty." "But that's the great thing about playing matches (rather than just training) and I was glad to win because you're guaranteed another match and I need it because you could see today I was rusty."

However she insisted that she is already in better shape ahead of the French Open than she was last year when she lost in the quarters to eventual winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. Last year she lost in her opening match in three successive clay events leading up to Roland Garros. "I'm better than I was this time last year. I lost in the (second) round (after a first round bye) and wasn't doing so well. "My goal is to do better than last year and so far it's going well."

Serena looked comfortable in the first set, reading her opponent's beefy serve well and using Petkovic's power to crack some sizzling return winners, although only a smattering of Romans had braved the drops of light rain to see them. She was swinging the racket with gusto at the start of the second set, with a gorgeous net volley and an emphatic smash helping her to hold to love in the second game.

Serena then began attacking the ball too early, leading to unforced errors that let the German off the hook when she was under pressure in the following game. The world number one's rhythm suddenly went astray and she was broken twice on the way to losing the second set, bouncing her racket on the ground in frustration when a netted forehand clinched it for Petkovic. Serena regained her concentration though to win the decider without dropping a game. With an eye on Roland Garros, she said that, despite the problems, her claycourt game was better than at the same stage last season, when she lost here in her first game.

Rome: 3rd Round (Wednesday)

3rd Round

[1] (WC) Serena Williams (USA) vs. Andrea Petkovic (GER)

1st Meeting

1st Match of the Day @ 1pm

Center Court

Serena RETURNS with 2nd Round win in Rome!

Serena Williams defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets (7-6, 6-1) to win her first match since January at the Italian Open on her return from injury.

Serena was down 4-1 and saved three set points at 5-4 before going to a tiebreaker. After dominating the tiebreaker, she ran off the next four games to secure the match.

Serena said she didn't quite know what to expect in her first match since January.

"I had been spending a lot of time on court,'" admitted Serena. "My body is fine. It's feeling better. When you first come back, you're never really 100%. At first you just have to start playing some tournaments to see how it goes."

"I went in there thinking I can win or I can lose," she said. "You never know what can happen and I didn't put too much pressure on myself. I got off to a little bit of a slow start, but it was good and I was able to fight it off."

"I don't think anything went wrong. I thought she played excellently. She was really playing well so I just had to pick up the level of my game. I hope by the time I get to Roland Garros, I'll be playing really well. It (Tuesday's match) is definitely a start."

Rome: 2nd Round (Tuesday)

2nd Round

[1] (WC) Serena Williams (USA) vs. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)

1st Meeting

3rd Match of the day

Center Court

Serena ready to return at Italian Open

ROME — Serena Williams is ready to return at the Italian Open after a knee injury has kept her sidelined since winning the Australian Open in January. The top-ranked player has been preparing for her comeback with practice time on clay.

"I had been spending a lot of time on court,'" Williams said. "My body is fine. It's feeling better." Williams won the Italian Open in 2002 and followed the victory with her only French Open title two weeks later. Winning the tournament again after so much time off may be a challenge.

"When you first come back, you're never really 100 percent," Williams said. "At first you just have to start playing some tournaments to see how it goes."

The Williams sisters are in the same half of the draw at the Foro Italico and could meet in the semifinals. Both players have opening-round byes. A month ago, Serena wasn't sure when she would return and did not enter this tournament. But she asked for and received a wild-card entry two weeks ago.

"I still haven't gone on vacation because I have been focusing on my rehab — gym, practice and sleep," Serena said. "I really felt as if I was Bill Murray in 'Groundhog Day.' I was even teased about it because I was so frustrated, and so I'm really glad to be out of the United States for a while."

Serena won her fifth Australia Open title after a hard-fought, three-set win over old rival Justine Henin. She indicated that the knee was also bothering her in the warm up tournament in Melbourne. "After Australia, I was amazed even how I was able to win the tournament," she said. "I had to totally recover from that whole Australia bonanza."

Serena makes 2010 TIME 100 List

Serena is #19 on the 2010 TIME 100 "Heroes" List:

Serena Williams is one of those rare champions who have transcended sports and impacted our society. In tennis, she is as focused as she has ever been at any point in her career, and it shows. (She recently picked up her 12th Grand Slam title, the same number I won.)

But in addition to the people who follow her on the court, she has a growing legion of fans outside the sport. Serena, 28, is committed to making a difference in the lives of others. Her work with children in Kenya and here in the U.S. stresses the importance of education.

Through her charitable efforts, people are seeing her in a larger context. She has several interests — yes, tennis is one of them — but it is this new combination of success on the court and stability in her life that is creating new opportunities, for her and the people whose lives she touches.

By: Billie Jean King

King, a tennis champ and social-justice pioneer, is a co-founder of World Team Tennis and the founder of the Women's Sports Foundation.

Serena spends 100th week at #1

Nineteen players have held the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's No.1 ranking, but only six of them had done it for 100 weeks - until now. Serena Williams became the seventh player ever to hit triple digits at the top this week.

Williams spent her first 57 weeks at No.1 from July 8, 2002 to August 10, 2003; it took her over five years to return to the top of the rankings but she did it, spending four more from September 8 to October 5, 2008; 11 more from February 2 to April 19, 2009; two more from October 12 to 25, 2009; and now, having returned there on November 2, 2009, her 26th straight (and 100th overall).

Williams is preceded in the '100 Club' by fellow Tour legends Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Chris Evert (260), Martina Hingis (209), Monica Seles (178) and the still active Justine Henin (117).

Williams is a 12-time Grand Slam champion, winning five Australian Opens (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010), one French Open (2002), three Wimbledons (2002, 2003, 2009) and three US Opens (1999, 2002, 2008).

Article courtesy of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour website

Serena attends opening of "American Idiot"

Serena Williams attends the Broadway Opening of "American Idiot" at the Roseland Ballroom on April 20, 2010 in New York City.

Venus and Serena to speak at Best of Preps

Two of the world's most recognized professional athletes, Venus and Serena Williams, will be the guest speakers for this year's Chattanooga Times Free Press Best of Preps awards banquet.

The annual banquet, which honors hundreds of area high school athletes, will be held June 10 at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Tickets go on sale today and you can purchase them directly by clicking this link to our best of preps web page. Last year the event featured record-smashing swimmer Michael Phelps, who has won 14 Olympic gold medals.

Serena Williams currently is ranked as the No. 1 women's singles tennis player in the world, while her sister is No. 4. The Williams sisters have combined to win 32 Grand Slam titles -- including 11 as a doubles team -- and three Olympic gold medals. Serena has won more than $30 million playing tennis, and Venus has earned more than $25 million in prize money, making them the top two female money winners in professional sports history.

They won 2009 doubles championships at three of the four Grand Slam events -- the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open -- and Serena is the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon singles champion. She has won more Grand Slam titles than any other active female player (12). The sisters have played each other in 23 professional matches dating back to 1998, with Serena winning 13 of those. Their meeting in the final of the 2001 U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters in the open era.

"It's an honor for the Chattanooga Times Free Press to have the ability to bring world-renowned athletes to town for our annual 'Best of Preps' awards program," said Jason Taylor, president of the newspaper. "We know that these experiences assist in shaping athletes as they prepare themselves for the future. Nothing pleases us more than being able to honor the region's top athletes, and we look forward to welcoming Venus and Serena Williams to Chattanooga.

Serena approaches another milestone

Her cranky left knee prevented her from playing recent tournaments in Miami and Charleston, but Serena Williams continues to close in on a milestone.

Next week, she will surpass Lindsay Davenport's career weeks as the No. 1-ranked player (98) and is projected to become the seventh player in Sony Ericsson WTA history to reach the century mark. She'll join Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Chris Evert (260), Martina Hingis (209), Monica Seles (178) and Justine Henin (117).

Serena first reached No. 1 in July 2002, when she wrested it from her sister Venus in the midst of four consecutive major victories. Then, after reigning for 57 weeks, Serena was supplanted at the top by Kim Clijsters.

It was more than five years before she returned at No. 1, in the wake of her 2008 U.S. Open victory. The 265-week gap between holding the No. 1 ranking is the longest in tennis history. Andre Agassi went 177 weeks, between February 1996 and July 1999, while Evert (156 weeks) and Davenport (144 weeks) also experienced prolonged sabbaticals.

- Article by: Greg Garber / ESPN.com

FINALLY: Serena to make return at Italian Open

ROME — Top-ranked Serena Williams has asked for and received a wild-card entry for next month's Italian Open, signaling that she's ready to return from a lingering knee injury. Having been sidelined since her Australian Open title in January, Williams originally did not enter the tournament in Rome, which begins May 3 and is a key clay-court warmup for the French Open. Williams won the Italian Open in 2002 en route to her only title at Roland Garros. Tournament organizers announced the wild card for Williams on Tuesday, adding that nine of the top 10 women have entered, with No. 10 Kim Clijsters the only exception.

Serena withdraws from Family Circle Cup

Serena Williams has pulled out of this month's Family Circle Cup for a second straight year, this time due to a continuing knee injury. Williams hasn't played since winning the Australian Open earlier this year, when she beat Justine Henin in the final. Williams won the Family Circle Cup in 2008.

"I was really hoping my knee would heal in time to play the Family Circle Cup, as it's one of my favorite stops on the Tour," said Williams. "Unfortunately my knee has not fully healed in time and I am now looking forward to returning to the WTA Tour in Europe. I wish the tournament, players and fans a great week." Last year, Williams pulled out of the event due to a left leg injury.

Defending champion Sabine Lisicki of Germany also withdrew due to a left ankle injury. Last year, she upended Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in the final in Charleston. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to defend my title. It's heartbreaking for me to not be able to come back," said Lisicki. "I'm sorry, but I hope to be back next year to get the great support in Charleston and win the nice trophy again."

I saw Serena earlier today (kinda) LOL

As I was traveling to Charleston, South Carolina (accompanying a friend to a doctor's appointment) we were talking and suddenly saw Serena! We were passing through Daniel's Island (the site of next week's Family Circle Cup). After the appointment, we traveled to the actual facility to "walk along the road of Champions"(images of previous champions flapping in the wind from light poles) and took the follow pics:

Serena and Common attend "Date Night" Premiere

Serena Williams and her boyfriend (rap star) Common, real name Lonnie Rashid Lynn, made an appearance at the opening of his new movie, Date Night, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York. Common plays Detective Collins in the new comedy.

Serena back at the beach