Check out the sexiest female tennis players at this year's French Open.
China's Li Na defeated a battling Venus Williams 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the final of the Cincinnati Open on Saturday after an enthralling two-hour nine minutes encounter.
Images from day three of the 2011 French Open in Paris, on Tuesday.
French Open champion Maria Sharapova held her perch atop the list of the world's highest paid women in professional sports for an eighth consecutive year, according to an annual survey released by Forbes on Monday.
Maria Sharapova saved a match point to beat Li Na 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in the Italian Open final on Sunday after a two-hour rain break effectively turned the match into a tiebreak shootout.
Victoria Azarenka retained her Australian Open title with a tense 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over China's Li Na, who suffered a sickening ankle injury in the second set and hit her head in the third when she twisted the joint for a second time.
Li Na hits the ball hard and flat, displays her emotions, cracks acerbic jokes, is relatively old at 29 and her landmark triumph at the French Open will be welcomed far further afield than China.
American eighth seed Mardy Fish, however, became the first men's top-10 player to depart the tournament when he crashed out in straight sets to Colombia's Alejandro Falla 7-6, 6-3, 7-6.
The Cincinnati Open claimed two more high-profile victims on Thursday with Grand Slam champions Li Na and Petra Kvitova crashing out, while Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva crunched their opponents en route to the quarter-finals.
China's Li Na made it a hat-trick of White Group victories, overpowering back-injury victim Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to march through to the semi-finals of the WTA Championship.
World No 1 Serena Williams showed her determination to defend her WTA Championships title by sweeping to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Angelique Kerber at the season-ending event on Tuesday.
The past, present and future of women's tennis will all come together at the Australian Open on Thursday when Serena Williams and Justine Henin square off against Chinese opponents for a place in the final.
China's Li Na showed plenty of character as she fought back to beat German Angelique Kerber 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 and win the Cincinnati Open title on Sunday.
Trailblazer Li Na already has the distinction of being Asia's first to break into a Grand Slam singles final after her brilliant run at the Australian Open in January.
Images from Day 9 at the French Open in Paris, on Monday.
French Open champion Li Na played like a 'junior' while Vera Zvonareva, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were all also sent packing after rusty performances in the third round at the Toronto Cup on Thursday.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters wasted little time in flattening second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3 with an awesome display of power tennis to reach her second Australian Open final on Thursday.
There are only a certain number of ways to avoid addressing your chances of winning the Australian Open but Kim Clijsters found yet another on Sunday at Melbourne Park.
French Open champion Li Na could so easily have slipped away from tennis but the first Chinese player to win a grand slam singles title was glad she stuck to the task after adding 500,000 followers to her blog in hours.
China's Li Na beat last year's champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 in the French Open final on Saturday to become the first player from an Asian nation to win a grand slam singles title.
A little bit of retail therapy is all Maria Sharapova needs to overcome her French Open disappointment before she turns her attention to her beloved grasscourt season.
China's Li Na overcame Maria Sharapova 6-4, 7-5 in Thursday's first semi-final and boosted her bid to become the first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles title, while Francesca Schiavone got the better of Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-3 in the second semi-final.
Li Na was pushed to the limit before she sealed a spot in the French Open quarter-finals on Monday but winning machine Novak Djokovic did not need to hit a ball to take his place in the men's last four.
Maria Sharapova and Samantha Stosur signalled their return to form ahead of Roland Garros after setting up a final showdown at the Italian Open on Saturday.
French Open champion and home favourite Francesca Schiavone lost in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Friday as Samantha Stosur gained revenge for defeat in last year's Roland Garros final.
French Open champion Li Na has blamed her perplexing slump on her sudden celebrity status -- and her irritation at being yelled at by her husband.
Belgian Kim Clijsters said she had finally earned her nickname "Aussie Kim" after beating China's Li Na 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to capture her first Australian Open title on Saturday.
Kim Clijsters recovered from a set down to beat Li Na 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Australian Open on Saturday after the Chinese imploded under pressure in the second set and took out her frustrations on her country's fans.
Notorious slow starter Li Na seems to produce her best tennis teetering on the brink of defeat but the Chinese hopes to hit the ground running against Kim Clijsters in Saturday's Australian Open final.
Serena Williams was left all alone trying to crush an unlikely uprising on Wimbledon's hallowed lawns on Tuesday as sister Venus and Kim Clijsters suffered shock defeats in the women's quarter-finals.
The Indian tennis ace was shown the door by her former doubles partner and No 23 seed Shahar Peer, the Israeli coming back strongly after losing the first set to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1.
French Open champion Li Na was upset 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 by Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska in the semi-finals of the New Haven Open on Friday. Cetkovska, ranked a career-high 40th, will face world number one Caroline Wozniacki in Saturday's final, the Dane having beaten Italy's Francesca Schiavone 7-6, 6-3 in the last four.
China's hopes of a first grand slam finalist were crushed by two of the greats of the women's game on Thursday but Li Na and Zheng Jie's brilliant Australian Open run marked another step in the country's inevitable rise.
Justine Henin thrashed China's Zheng Jie to reach the Australian Open final on Thursday.
Defending champion Serena Williams advanced to her fifth Australian Open final after a patient 7-6, 7-6 victory over China's Li Na Thursday.
Images from Day 12 at the French Open in Paris, on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova and Li Na set up a French Open semi-final clash of styles after Russian elegance and Chinese determination powered them past their last-eight opponents on Wednesday.
China's Li Na upset world number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.
Images from day ten of the 2010 Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, on Wednesday.
World number one Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start before advancing to the Australian Open semi-finals with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 victory over in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko on Wednesday.
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