“It’s just a little pain and the strapping usually helps the pain go away sometimes,” Serena said.

Sean Randall takes a look at what’s to come on the WTA tour in 2010.

Boy did Brisbane hit the jackpot in players.

That’s like the USTA calling up the ITF and telling them that Andy Roddick accepted appearance money and should be suspended. Dumb-ass Belgians!

One day the WTA appears to have no depth, the next, more than enough depth.

“During the match, I had confidence, and, I mean, I was right there with her the entire time,” said the 17-year-old Oudin, who repeatedly received treatment for a wrapped leg injury. “She wasn’t blowing me off the court. She wasn’t hitting winners left and right on me.”

Lower seed Maria Sharapova was also a winner, featured in the night match due to her new Nike dress and Rafael Nadal headband, beating Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-0.

“Elena is a grinder and gets a lot of balls back, so the most important thing against her is execution. I just wasn’t able to do that,” said Sharapova, who had 48 unforced errors. “I wasn’t as fresh as I was in the first round, but it was the final, and you can’t really think about it. It was a really great week for me, though. Playing six matches was great leading up to the US Open. This was really good preparation.”

The first year of Cincinnati’s new Premier 5 WTA event gets underway today.

Venus has won five of the last eight against Serena…

Venus steamrolled the No. 1-ranked Safina 6-1, 6-0, with the Russian exhibiting the throat-clutching tennis she usually saves for Grand Slam finals, where she is 0-3 career. It was the first appearance in a Wimbledon semifinal for Safina.

The Williams sisters are attempting to put at least one sister in the final for an amazing nine of the last 10 years.

Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama topped No. 24 seed Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-4, and Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone outlasted No. 23 seed Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 2-seeded Serena Williams pummeled Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-0, while No. 3-seeded Venus Williams barely escaped a rain-delayed three-set encounter, beating Czech Lucie Safarova 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-5.

Sean Randall breaks down the men’s French Open draw.