Lindsay Davenport

Lindsay Davenport lost to Marion Bartoli in straight sets at the 2008 U.S. Open in the third round. Could this be the final appearance for the American stalwart?

Ana Ivanovic

The biggest surprise thus far in the 2008 U.S. Open is the second-round loss of No. 1 seed Ana Ivanovic. It's the earliest exit from the tournament by a top seed since 1968. Ivanovic lost to Julie Coin, ranked No. 188 in the world, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.

Elena Vesnina

Russian Elena Vesnina is the No. 71-ranked player in WTA singles going into the 2008 U.S. Open.

Venus Williams

Venus Williams gives a wave as she is introduced during the past champions stroll prior to the 2008 U.S. Open.

Dominika Cibulkova

Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia won her first-rounder at the 2008 U.S. Open over Jill Craybas in straight sets. Perhaps she celebrated with a cocktail.

Kateryna Bondarenko

That's Kateryna Bondarenko on the left, with her sister - and doubles partner - Alona. Kateryna had the misfortune of drawing Serena Williams in Round 1 of the 2008 U.S. Open and, well, you know what happened.

Samantha Stosur

Australian Samantha Stosur fell in the first round of the 2008 U.S. Open to Venus Williams.

(photo via The Age)

Sorana Cirstea

Sorana Cirstea of Romania opened her 2008 U.S. Open with a victory over Lucie Safarova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Cirstea's best showings of the year are four trips to the quarterfinals. Her WTA singles ranking at the time of this writing is 53rd.

Gabriela Sabatini

Gabriela Sabatini is another of the past champions who got to wave to the crowd on Day 1 of the 2008 U.S. Open.

Chris Evert

Chris Evert was among the past champions introduced to the crowd on Day 1 of the 2008 U.S. Open.

Caroline Wozniacki

Young up-and-comer Caroline Wozniacki won the U.S. Open tuneup in New Haven, Conn., the Pilot Pen, over the weekend. Wozniacki def. Anna Chakvetadze, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the final. It was the second tournament victory for Wozniacki this August.

Melanie Klaffner

Melanie Klaffner is a young Austrian tennis player who has enjoyed success on the ITF Tour. Melanie has two career ITF singles titles (Lenzerheide/2007; Bals/2006) and five career ITF doubles titles, including two in 2008 (Antalya-Manavgat in Turkey, and Galatina in Italy).

Her WTA world rankings at the time of this writing are 237 in singles and 200 in doubles.

Melanie has also been a member of the Austrian Fed Cup team since 2006. In January, she went 1-1 for Austria in a Fed Cup match against Argentina, securing her team's only point in the match.

Vera Zvonareva

Photo by Matthias Vriens/New York Times Magazine)

Russia's Vera Zvonareva was the bronze medal winner in Beijing, defeating China's Na Li, 6-0, 7-5. The 23-year-old has reached four WTA finals in 2008, winning the Prague Open in one of them. Unfortunately, in one she had to withdraw with an injury, and she ran up against Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in the other two. But Zvonareva has moved up to 11th in the world rankings at the time of this writing.

Gold for Serena and Venus

The Williams sisters had a disappointing Olympics in singles, Serena and Venus each getting knocked out in the quarterfinals. But as a doubles team, they won gold in Beijing, just as they did eight years ago in Sydney. Serena and Venus dominated the Spanish duo of Anabel Medina and Virginia Ruano in the gold-medal match, 6-2, 6-0. Because the last photo of one of the Williams girls we ran was of Venus, we offer Serena Williams above for this post.

Dementieva Does It

Olympic gold for Elena Dementieva in Beijing. Dementieva defeated Dinara Safina in the gold-medal match, 3-6, 7-5 6-3.

Alona Bondarenko

Playing doubles for Ukraine with her sister Kateryna, Alona Bondarenko has advanced into the semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympic draw.

Na Li

Na Li of China gave the Beijing Games home crowd something to cheer about, booting Venus Williams out of the Olympic draw, 7-5, 7-5. Na has one WTA tournament championship in 2008 and has reached the finals in two other tourneys. She is No. 43 in the WTA singles rankings.

Elena Dementieva

Big win for Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals at the Olympic draw. Dementieva ousted Serena Williams, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the singles semifinals.

Ivanovic WDs at Olympics

Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic is out of the 2008 Summer Olympics, without playing a match. Ivanovic withdrew on the first day of play in the Olympic tennis draw, citing a thumb injury.

"It was just too painful," the Serb said. "I haven't played at all the last 10 days. It's one of the hardest moments in my career. I'm very, very disappointed."

So are we, Ana, so are we.

Dominika Cibulkova

Dominika Cibulkova is a Slovakian who turned professional in 2005. She won once each on the ITF circuit in 2005 and 2006, and made her Grand Slam singles debut at the French Open in 2007. She has represented Slovakia in the Federation Cup multiple times. Cibulkova has moved up steadily in the WTA world rankings, climbing all the way to No. 20. She has reached two finals in 2008, losing to Maria Sharapova at the Bausch & Lomb Championships on clay, and falling to Dinara Safina at the Rogers Cup on hardcourts.

Sesil Karatantcheva

Bulgarian tennis player Sesil Karatantcheva turned pro at age 14 in 2003. She has been ranked as high as No. 35 in the world in singles, and has six ITF circuit singles titles.