Azarenka Withdraws against Serena, Williams Sisters Star in Iphone 5 Commercial - Tennis now news

Happy New Year tennis fans and welcome back to tennis now’s news update show. Gearing up for the Australian Open, the pros have been warming up and trying to overcome their off-season kinks in tournaments like Brisbane, Auckland, Chennai, and Doha while others are competing in exhibition matches or representing their country in the Hopman Cup. In Perth, the Hopman cup heads to the finals with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues attempting to take down the intimidating Serbians Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. Surprisingly, Djokovic lost a match to Australia’s Bernard Tomic, but thanks to some clutch play from Ivanovic the pair has fought their way into the finals. Andy Roddick may be retired but we certainly haven’t seen the last of him on the tennis court. During his off time he's padded his bank account with a few hit-a-rounds in between some golf and pigging out on once-forbidden foods. Roddick has been traveling around South America for a few well-paid exhibition hits with Juan Martin Del Potro. The matches will serve as the bulk of the Australian Open preparation for the Argentine Del Potro, who will make his final tune-up next week at the eight-man exhibition at Melbourne's Kooyong club. The most anticipated match leading up to the Australian Open was cancelled because of a bad pedicure. In Brisbane, the World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka withdrew from her semifinal match against Serena Williams citing an infected big toe and saying she was worried about aggravating the injury so close to the Australian Open. *Video clip* "It just got infected from a bad pedicure experience. I had somebody who gave me infection. The doctor said it happens a lot but it's never happened to me before.” –Victoria Azarenka With Azarenka’s withdrawal Serena Williams will advance to the finals where she will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. As she heads into the closing years of her career, Serena Williams is on track to bid for the title of oldest woman to ever hold the WTA top ranking. But the 31-year-old must first get past younger rivals Victoria Azaranka and Maria Sharapova over the course of the next few months. *graphic* Williams with 9,400 points is only 1,195 points behind the top ranked Azarenka. And unlike Azarenka and Sharapova, Williams faces relatively little rankings pressure at Melbourne Park and hasn’t had any injury problems recently. The Williams sisters appear in the latest commercial for the new iphone 5. You can see the commercial by clicking on the link below *serena and venus iPhone commercial*. That’s all for today’s news update, do you think Serena will re-take the World No. 1 ranking this year? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter or in the comments section, and we’ll see you next time, here on Tennis Now.