2008 Australian Open – Women's Singles 2008 Australian Open – Women's Singles Serena Williams was the defending champion, but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Jelena Janković. Maria Sharapova, the runner-up to Williams in 2007, won in the final 7–5, 6–3, against Ana Ivanovic to win her third Grand Slam title and her first at the Australian Open. She was also the first Russian woman to win this tournament. Ivanovic lost in a Grand Slam final for the second time, though she would eventually win the French Open a few months later. This was the first Australian Open appearance for future 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki, she
2009 LA Tennis Open Open Series. In addition to the singles and doubles events, a Legends Invitational Singles competition was held, featuring Michael Chang, Stefan Edberg and Jim Courier, winner of the competition at the 2008 Countrywide Classic. The LA Tennis Open kicked off with the "Millennium Challenge" featuring Pete Sampras returning to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to play Marat Safin in a rematch of their 2000 US Open final, won by the Russian 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Sampras, who held the World No. 1 ranking for a record 286 weeks, was recognized as the 2009 LA Tennis