(Reuters) - Maria Sharapova may not have won a grand slam title since 2008, but the Russian tennis player remains unchallenged as the world’s highest paid woman in professional sports.

For the seventh straight year, Sharapova topped the annual list provided by Forbes magazine, despite failing to add to her three grand slam titles, although she did make the Wimbledon final in July.

Sharapova’s earnings, mostly off-court endorsements, were estimated at $25 million, twice as much as her nearest rival, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the current women’s world number one.

American racing driver Danica Patrick was third with $12 million followed by tennis players Venus Williams, Belgium’s Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams. Read more »

Wimbledon starts today.  But before the WTA stars get into action, they had their traditional pre-tournament party. No Wimbledon whites there. Loved Serena Williams’ and Maria Sharapova’s glamorous looks. Not to disappoint her fans, American pro Bethanie Mattek-Sands arrived in a ball gown, literally. Her dress was comprised of bright florescent tennis balls. You can read more about Maria’s  style here.

(Photos: gettyimages)

Serena Williams is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after undergoing emergency treatment for a blood clot in her lungs. This is a quite serious condition and we wish her speedy recovery. Read more about it here.

Maria Sharapova will be playing Nike Knockout event on August 25th in New York City.  According to the organizers, it will be a star-studded event with the participation of the biggest names in tennis with the hottest celebrities in entertainment for head to head doubles. The event will feature Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Victoria Azarenka, John McEnroe, Madison Keys and more. There will also be live-streaming.

According to In Touch magazine, world tennis number 1 Serena Williams and her boyfriend rapper Common have broken up. Everything seemed to be going great for the couple. Common talked about Serena as recently as last week. Whatever is happening between them, we hope that it will not affect Serena’s performance in Paris, where she has managed to advance to the third round of the French Open.

Female tennis world number one Serena Williams will visit Kenya for three days next week to inaugurate a school built with her funds and several other partners, local media reported on Thursday.The school, which is located in Makueni district of eastern Kenya, was built through partnership between Hewlett Packard (HP), one of the world’s largest technology firms, and Build African Schools (BAS) initiative — an American non-profit making organization.

The school will give chance to hundreds of primary school pupils in the area to continue with their education and an opportunity to pursue secondary school education. Read more »

Q. How are you feeling at the moment? Could you tell us something about the match?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I feel amazing. I feel like it happened but it hasn’t happened, so it’s really kind of cool. I really am in the moment right now.

Q. Was it a tough match mentally and physically?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It was definitely a tough match mentally and physically. I felt like we both were out there trying to kind of prove something. I think we both did at the end of the day.

Read more »

The tennis world, except China perhaps, is anxiously hoping for a grand slam final between Justine Henin and Serena Williams. But before that Justin and Serena have to square off against Chinese opponents Zheng Jie and Li Na for a place in the final. Nobody from China has ever reached a grand slam singles final. So this must be a huge event there! Serena and Henin never played in a grand slam final against each other.  Who will be the ONE?

P.S. I love this photo. Both of them show Number 1. In Europe, when you do finger counting, you start with your thumb. Holding up your thumb means 1. I wonder how they do it in China?

photo: wtatour.ru

Today tennis royalty met with real royalty. Prince William made a surprise visit to watch Roger Federer play a second round match at the Australian Open. Federer acknowledged Prince William in the crowd after the win against Romanian opponent, Victor Hanescu. “Your Royal Highness, welcome to the world of tennis. Thanks for coming,” Federer said.

Prince William stayed for the final match of the evening between Casey Dellacqua and Karolina Sprem  and also posed for pictures with both Federer and Serena Williams.