Zheng Jie

Is her name Zheng Jie or Jie Zheng? In Western countries we put our surnames last; in some Eastern and Asian countries, the family name goes first. Zheng appears to prefer the "Zheng Jie" format, rather than "Jie Zheng." So there you go.

Anyway, Zheng is into the semifinals at the Australian Open after beating Maria Kirilenko.

Nadia Petrova

19th-seeded Nadia Petrova continued her good run in the 2010 Australian Open, beating the third seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the fourth round.

Alona Bondarenko

Alona Bondarenko definitely wasn't napping on the court during the third round of the Australian Open. The No. 31 seed defeated 8th-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 6-2, 6-3.

More Alona Bondarenko pics

Ana Ivanovic

An early exit from the 2010 Australian Open for former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. She lost in the second round to Argentina's Gisela Dulko, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4.

More Ana Ivanovic pics

Sesil Karatantcheva

I originally had this image labeled as Alberta Brianti, but that ain't Alberta Brianti. It's Sesil Karatantcheva, and thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who set me right.

Slowplay Poker Hands

One of the most common strategies players use when playing online poker, specifically Texas Holdem and Omaha poker, is slowplaying a big hand. Chances are, you know what this is, or at least have been a victim of a slowplay, but here is a little background on the concept.

A slowplay is when a player is dealt a monster hand, and instead of betting large and playing the value of their hand known, they bet small, play passive, and get their opponents to commit chips to the pot before them.

This can be in regular poker

tournaments or online poker tables For example, if you have a pair of pocket aces, call before the flop, and an ace hits on the flop, you check. Then, when your opponent bets, you just call. This would be an example of a slowplay.

A slowplay is a great way to extract the maximum amount of chips from your opponent. More often than not, when you have a big hand, your opponents end up folding and you don’t get maximum value. When this happens, it is a wasted opportunity.

However, slowplaying can get you into trouble as well. When you slowplay a big hand, you are giving your opponents the chance to stay in the action with their drawing hands, and the chances of them drawing out against you go up drastically. That is why it is very difficult to execute a slowplay correctly.

You should only attempt a slowplay when you know the playing habits of the other players at the table well and can predict what they are going to do.

Otherwise, you could find yourself in trouble.

Head over to Littlewoods poker and practice your online poker slowplaying ability. It will help you extract more chips from your opponents and win! "

Elena Baltacha

Elena Baltacha is currently the top-ranked Briton in the women's pro ranks. In the second round of the Aussie Open, she def. Elena Baltacha def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-2, 7-5.

Maria Kirilenko

Maria Kirilenko ousted former No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open. You go girl.

More Maria Kirilenko pics

Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin met in a final. What is this, 2005? Both are Belgian, both retired from tournament tennis only to return after significant time off. And here they are meeting in finals again. This time, at the Brisbane International, Clijsters came out on top, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.