It wasn’t enough that Indian tennis star Sania Mirza announced her new marriage only a couple of months after separating from her previous fiancé, and it wasn’t enough that her new love is from Pakistan which has tricky relations with India, but the story had to become even more intriguing with suspicions that her future husband Shoaib Malik might already be married.

Now you’re thinking it’s unbelievable, but wait, it’s getting even better. The 28-year-old Malik got married over the phone in 2002, to a woman he met on the Internet and saw only in a photograph! The woman’s name is Ayesha Siddiqui, and she is from Hyderabad, the hometown of Sania Mirza.

"I was made to believe the girl in the photograph was the one I was speaking to," Malik said about his Internet relationship. "The truth is, I haven't, to this day, met the girl in the photographs Ayesha sent me."

Here’s what the 23-year-old Sania Mirza, who should marry Malik in less than 15 days, said about the bizarre situation: "I know, we know what the truth is and it will come out and we believe in justice".

Police are now conducting investigation because Siddiqui’s family is claiming that Malik is already married to her. It is still not known whether his marriage is legally valid under Islamic law.

I suppose everything will end up fine for Mirza. All the things in her life always have to go through that dramatic stage. (source: BBC, photo: Stephane Martinache)

You know we love sharing photos of women's tennis players when they were kids and here's one of probably five-year-old Jelena Dokic that I came across a few days ago. It's totally her, she hasn't changed a bit in her face, although her expression seems much more troubled by worries now.

This cute kid was to become the fourth ranked singles tennis player in the world in 2002, and tenth ranked doubles player that same year. Dokic's career has been crowned by five WTA singles titles and four doubles titles. Also, she had a Wimbledon semifinal appearance in 2000, and three Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, including the surprising one last year at the Australian Open.

Dokic is a 26-year-old now, trying to revive her tennis career. She is ranked 101st and is expected to play the GP de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fes, Morocco, starting April 26th.

Do check out our precious collection of childhood photos of other tennis stars and have fun this weekend!

Former world No.1 Kim Clijsters took less than an hour to beat Venus Williams 6-2 6-1 and claim her 37th career title and her second one at the Sony Erisson Open in Miami.

Clijsters faced no break points throughout the final. In addition, she won 17 points in a row in the second set, while Williams won only eight points throughout the set.

The third-seeded Williams was one victory away from winning her fourth title at the Sony Erisson Open and also her third straight title, but the 14th-seeded Belgian ended the 15-match winning streak of the American seven-time Grand Slam champion. The two are now leveled at 6-6 in career meetings, with Clijsters winning both their encounters since returning to the Tour.

Clijsters defeated the following players on her way to the $700,000 prize in Miami: Petra Kvitova, Shahar Peer, last year's champion Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur, Justine Henin and finally Venus Williams.

The 26-year-old Clijsters is expected to climb to spot No.10 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings next week, which will be her highest ranking since coming back to professional tennis. (photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Kim Clijsters won her 24th matchup with fellow Belgian former world No.1 Justine Henin 6-2 6-7(3) 7-6(6) to advance to the Sony Ericsson Open final where her opponent will be third seed Venus Williams.

Nobody expected a thriller when the 14th-seeded Clijsters held a point for a 6-2 4-0 lead. However, Henin, a wildcard, fought back and won the second set in a tiebreak. The third set was a see-saw ending up with another tiebreak, which Clijsters won after ups and downs of both players.

Clijsters will have a chance to win her second title at the Sony Ericsson Open and even her head-to-head record against three-time Miami champion Williams to 6-6. (photo: Twenty90seven)

Dear readers,

I would like to inform you that Women’s Tennis Blog will be changing the hosting company in the coming days which may cause the site to be down. So if you try to access the site and you find it unavailable, do know it is due to the works on changing the server.

I had to make this step because I’ve been having a lot of problems lately with my blog crashing too often, and I don’t even know the reason behind it. I will migrate to a completely new hosting company and I sincerely hope that the change will be for the better, that their service will be more reliable.

The transfer is a delicate process, so wish me luck that everything progresses fine.

All the best,

Marija

Three-time Sony Ericsson Open champion Venus Williams defeated Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-4 to advance to the finals of her neighborhood tournament.

Seed No.13 Bartoli had made notable results in Miami by losing only three games to top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round and knocking out Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets in the quarterfinals, before falling to seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. The Frenchwoman now has to find satisfaction in reaching her first semifinal in Miami and making her best result of this season.

The world No.5 Williams, seeded third in Miami, has extended her winning streak to 16 matches and is just one win away from claiming her third title in a row (after Dubai and Acapulco). In the final the American will face the winner of the high-profile semifinal between Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. (photo: Emmett Anderson)

Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, two former Belgian world No.1s  that have nine Grand Slam singles titles between them, will face each other for the 23rd time in their fruitful careers and the occasion will be the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open semifinals. Their head-to-head record is very close – Henin leads the series 12-11.

Justine Henin, wildcard entry into the tournament, has beaten her fourth seeded opponent in a row with a 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 triumph over seed No.2 Caroline Wozniacki in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals, while No.14 seed Kim Clijsters defeated No.9 seed Samantha Stosur 6-3 7-5 in the second quarterfinal of the day.

The world No.33 Henin, who is projected to return to the Top 30 next week, had committed 31 unforced errors in the first set, before her game became more stable. In the third set she lost only two of 22 service points and closed out the match against Wozniacki with a love game.

Clijsters, currently ranked 16th, played her quarterfinal aggressively and Stosur, who pulled off come-from-behind wins in her first two matches in Miami and then upset No.7 seed Jelena Jankovic in the last round, couldn’t overcome the power of the two-time Grand Slam champion.

"It has always been special and it will always be special," Henin said on the rivalry with Clijsters. "Kim and I grew up together, arrived on the tour at the same time, played well at the same time, retired at the same time, and now we came back at the same time. It's amazing. We have never stopped respecting each other. Never, ever, ever."

Additional info: The other semifinal at the Sony Ericsson Open features Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli. (photos: Twenty90seven)