Serena Williams Ousted At Australian Open Quarterfinals
01.22.2008 Melbourne-- Serving and moving slower than her normal, Serena Williams lost Tuesday (Monday night USA) in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to Jelena Jankovic(3) of Serbia. Williams lost set one in 35 minutes and set two in 64 minutes. Serena took an injury timeout to get treatment for a blister on her big toe and basically was not able to play at anywhere near the high level of tennis she displayed in Melbourne in 2007. Williams doublefaulted and sent a forehand wide to end the match and post her final 36th unforced error.

"I didn't move the way I traditionally want to move, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent. But as an athlete you know not every day you're going to feel 100 percent, and some days you have to win feeling 30 percent. I was definitely feeling it, I would say throughout the whole match from the first game," Williams said. "I wasn't moving the way I wanted to and the way I was in the previous rounds and I wasn't able to serve the way I wanted to, so I think maybe that could have affected my serve, at least. But I think Jelena played some good tennis and she hung in there. She played really solid. It's not really an issue. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses. I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors."

In the third round Serena defeated Victoria Azarenka(26) 6-3, 6-4 and in the fourth round Serena defeated Nicole Vaidisova(12) 6-3, 6-4. After her singles quarterfinal loss, Serena also lost in the doubles with her sister Venus Williams.
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Serena Williams Wins, Moves Into Third Round
01.16.08 Melbourne-- Serena Williams Tuesday night USA time in the second round defeated Meng Yuan 6-3, 6-1 and plays 26th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus Friday (Thursday night USA) in the third round. Serena has never played the 18 year old before. Azarenka could be tough to play as she reached the Gold Coast final this month.
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Serena Williams Wins Monday At Australian Open
01.14.08 Melbourne-- Defending Australian Open champion Serena Williams won her opening singles match 6-3, 6-3 versus Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia Monday. Williams showed some rust, but played better as the match moved on. In round two most likely Wednesday(Tuesday night USA) Serena takes on Meng Yuan of China. Serena, who is also entered in doubles with her sister Venus Williams, has never played Yuan before.

USA Defeats Serbia To Win Hopman Cup
01.04.2008 PERTH-- Serena Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic by walkover due to a Jankovic leg injury to give the USA a 1-0 lead. Novak Djokovic then beat American Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-7(4-7), 7-6(7-4) to draw even. In the deciding mixed doubles Williams/Fish defeated Jankovic/Djovic 7-6(7-5), 6-2 for the 2-1 team win. "The Serbian team, they really deserve a big round of applause because they were both fighting with injury," said Williams. Serena next plays the week of January 14 at the Australian Open.
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Serena Williams/USA Reach Hopman Cup Final
01.03.2008 PERTH-- The United States will play Serbia on Friday in the Hopman Cup final, a mixed teams non-WTA Tour exhibition tennis tournament. Serena Williams and Mardy Fish won singles matches Thursday to give the United States a victory over Australia and a 3-0 record in the round-robin matches. Williams will play Jelena Jankovic in singles.

Thursday Williams beat Alicia Molik 6-2, 7-6(9-7). Williams broke Molik's serve to open their singles match, but had more difficulty in the second set, failing to capitalize on seven breakpoint opportunities. The match ended when Molik double-faulted on match point. Williams became upset with her play in the final set, throwing her racket to the court after failing to break Molik's service in the final game before the tiebreaker. "It was a match in itself," Williams said of the second set. "Alicia played well, it was very tough out there."