Maria Sharapova has exited the $220,000 Aegon Classic before having a chance to capture her first title of 2009.  The former No. 1 was eliminated after dropping straight sets to fourth-seeded Li Na on the grass-court of the pre-Wimbledon event.  Li won with 6-4, 6-4 in just under 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Sharapova has had a hard time with her most recent title occurring more than a year ago at the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships in Florida.
With the semifinals behind her, Li will now go on to face Magdalena Rybarikova in tomorrow’s finals.  Rybarikova advanced by defeating Sania Mirza 3-6, …read more

It was a day of upsets in tennis at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday. First top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland was defeated by James Blake of the United States. Then both Venus and Serena Williams of the United States lost their respective matches.
Serena, seeded #4 in the women’s singles competition, was defeated by Russia’s Elena Dementieva (pictured above), the #5 seed, in three sets.

Venus played China’s Li Na, losing in two close sets, 5-7, 5-7.
Venus and Serena Williams are partners and still in the women’s double competition. They won the Gold Medal in doubles at the 2000 Games in Sydney.