Kuznetsova is the defending champ, and Wozniacki could take over the No. 1 spot on the WTA Rankings this week with a deep run. Wozniacki is 0-6 career against the Williams sisters. The only four Top 20 players missing are the Williams sisters, Clijsters and Justine Henin.

Excluding the ill Ivanovic, 16 of the Top 16 players are in Beijing this week. Jankovic is the defending champ, and Serena Williams is projected to take over the No. 1 ranking if she can progress further in the draw than Safina.

A gold medal is likely as valuable to a top tennis player as any title not among the 4 Grand Slams. The Masters Cup or a Masters Series event with deep history such as Rome might be deemed more valuable than gold by various top players. Depending on the nation and mindset of a player Gold may or may not be as valuable as winning the Davis Cup. I got the sense that Carlos Moya was extremely happy to win TMS Rome and the Davis Cup in 2004. Those are accomplishments a player can share with family, friends and fans. So too is an Olympic Gold medal.

When the Olympic Games fall between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, it creates the havoc we have seen this Summer.

Ginepri opens against world No. 3 Novak Djokovic, while Querrey has two winnable matches before a potential third-round meeting against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Blake, the No. 8 seed, opens against big-serving Aussie Chris Guccione, and hopes to make a quarterfinal meeting against world No. 1 Roger Federer.