Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic are the first known semifinalists of this year’s Barleys Dubai Tennis Championships and they will play each other on Friday. In the quarterfinals, Kuznetsova defeated Amelie Mauresmo, while Jankovic advanced with Anna Chakvetadze retiring before even starting the second set.

Second-seeded Kuznetsova beat Mauresmo 6-1 7-6(4). Former world No.1 Mauresmo won the Dubai title in 2002 and finished runner-up last season. This defeat means that the Frenchwoman still hasn’t won three matches in a row since losing her Wimbledon title eight months ago.

Fourth-seeded Jankovic advanced to the semis when her opponent, sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze, retired with a left thigh injury. Jankovic confidently took the first set 6-1.

Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova and Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic are tied at 2-2 in their career meetings. The last time they played each other was last year in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, when Jankovic won the title. (photos via Getty Images)

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At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, top seed and defending champion Justine Henin had to work really hard to overcome Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-7(6) 6-3, while Ana Ivanovic confidently defeated Nicole Vaidisova 6-4 6-0.

Belgian world No.1 Justine Henin, who won the tournament in Dubai four times in five years, was pushed hard in her opening match on Wednesday. World No.28 Srebotnik lost the first set after a tough battle, and one could have easily expected that being disappointed she would lose the second set much easier. But that was not the case. Srebotnik continued to fight and took the match to the third set. The decider was also very close, and nuances decided the winner. After three hours, Henin advanced to the quarterfinals where she'll meet Francesca Schiavone. Read more »

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Belgian former world number one Kim Clijsters gave birth to a daughter on Wednesday, nine months after retiring from tennis at the young age of 23.

The former US Open champion and her husband, US basketball player Brian Lynch, got married last year in July, and shortly before that, Kim’s father had announced Kim’s pregnancy.

The couple named their baby daughter Jada, and everyone is feeling fine in this family.

"The parents and the baby are in great shape," spokesman Jeroen Jespers said.

The baby was born at a hospital in Tongeren, Belgium. (source: Chicago Sports, photo via Clijsters' official website)

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Top seed and defending champion Venus Williams was upset in the opening round of the Cellular South Cup on Tuesday by Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova. Earlier in the day, the tournament's No. 2 seed, Tatiana Golovin, was beaten by American Bethanie Mattek.

Defeating the six-time singles Grand Slam champion 2-6 6-4 6-3, Kvitova won only the second WTA Tour match of her career. Additionally, the 17-year-old, ranked 143rd, played in only her 14 career WTA match.

"She had a good serve and she was left-handed," world No.8 Williams said. "She mixed it up really well. I'm not happy about the result of the match, but she played well."

In the other upset, Mattek, a 22-year-old ranked 131st, played one of the best matches of her career defeating France’s world No.13 Tatiana Golovin 6-4 6-4.

"Honestly, I was really seeing the ball really well and I was there to every shot she hit," Mattek said. "I just stuck to my game plan. My goal was to get on top and get as many points right away as I could. I just came out firing." (source: ESPN, photos: Getty Images)

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Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the $1.5 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships citing a viral illness.

On her official website, Sharapova, who won the Qatar Total Open two days ago and is unbeaten in 2008, revealed that she was playing with a bad cold throughout the last week's tournament in Doha.

The 20-year-old Russian explained the cause of her withdrawal:

I flew to Dubai right after my final and woke up this morning feeling really fatigued and stuffed up with a cough. After trying to hit a little bit this evening I came to the conclusion that I'm realistically not going to be ready to play 5 matches in the next 5 days.

It's been such a great and healthy start to the year, and I don’t want to jeopardize that by making the wrong decisions, as I have in the past. The plan is to have a nice week of 'nothing' and start up training for Palm Springs healthy and fresh.

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