Top seed Maria Sharapova defeated Germany’s Julia Georges 7-6(2) 6-1 in the delayed quarterfinal of the Internationaux de Strasbourg this morning, and then beat three-time Strasbourg champion Anabel Medina Garrigues in the afternoon to advance to the final. Sharapova scored a 4-6 6-2 6-2 victory over Medina Garrigues and will face Germany's Kristina Barrois in the final. The world No.77 Barrois, who defeated Vania King 2-6 6-2 7-6(6) in the semifinals, will play her first WTA final and will have a chance to become the first German winner of the tournament since Steffi Graf in 1997.

At the Polsat Warsaw Open, Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru spoiled the hopes of an all-Chinese final by defeating Li Na, at No.3 the highest seed left in the draw. The 32nd-ranked Dulgheru is now 12-0 at the Polsat Warsaw Open and is looking for her second title at the tournament (which would also be her second career WTA title).  To reach that goal Dulgheru will have to get past fifth seed Zheng Jie of China, who put an end to Greta Arn's successful week in the second semifinal with a 6-4 7-5 win. If Zheng wins the Polsat Warsaw Open, she will become the first Chinese to win a Premier-level title. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki was forced to leave her Polsat Warsaw Open quarterfinal against Zheng Jie because of the right ankle injury sustained in Charleston in April which has been bothering her ever since. The world No.3 Wozniacki lost the first set 6-3 and then retired, increasing Zheng’s record in their career meetings to 3-1.

Even though Wozniacki said a little more than a week ago that she expected to be ready for the French Open, the injury is still causing her pain and her French Open appearance is very uncertain (the tournament starts in three days).

Here’s the Dane’s statement after the loss to the 26th-ranked Zheng.

"I felt some pain from the beginning of the match today. I spoke to the physio and she said it would only get worse. I'm really sad. I wanted to win this match. I wanted to win the whole tournament. But health is the most important thing, and I didn't want to risk having a worse injury." (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Stephane Martinache)

Second seed Elena Dementieva suffered her third loss in five matches of the European clay season, falling to Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova at the Polsat Warsaw Open. Maria Sharapova’s warm-up for the French Open is doing good, as the Russian lost only three games to advance at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, another tournament played this week.

Dementieva lost her second-round match at the Premier-level event to the world No.100 Pironkova 7-5 4-6 6-4 after almost three hours of play. The Russian was twice a break up in the deciding set, but didn’t manage to use that advantage to the full and handed Pironkova her fourth Top 10 win.

Sharapova was made to work in her first match at the International-level event in Strasbourg, but the top seed had a straightforward victory in the second round, defeating qualifier Dia Evtimova 6-3 6-0. Sharapova’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be world No.81 Julia Goerges, who upset No.6 seed Sybille Bammer 6-1 7-6(6). (photo: Stephane Martinache)

I am happy to announce that last week I had the honor of chatting with tennis great Chris Evert about the changes in women’s tennis in the past decades, about the best players on clay and the favorite for the upcoming Roland Garros, and about women’s tennis in the US.

I would use this opportunity to point out just a few facts from Chris Evert's astonishing career, lasting from 1972 to 1989 (and really this is just a small selection of all her achievements).

• owns the highest winning percentage in pro tennis history
• winner of 154 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles
• winner of 18 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles titles
• winner of 18 Grand Slam titles: 2 Australian Open titles, record 7 titles at Roland Garros, 3 Wimbledon titles, and 6 US Open titles
• reached semifinals or better of 52 of last 56 Grand Slams
• No.1 ranking in singles
• has the best record on clay of any player for any single surface with a 125-match win streak set from August 1973-May 1979, until Tracy Austin defeated her 6-4 2-6 7-6 in 1979 Rome semifinals
• holds Open Era record for most consecutive Grand Slam semifinals or better with 34 from 1971 US Open through 1983 Roland Garros
• won at least one Grand Slam title per year for 13 years, 1974-86
• inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995

I would like to thank Chris for being such an amazing and pleasant person to talk to, and for giving so comprehensive and straight answers. Also, I would like to thank Jim from KEF Media Associates for arranging this interview for me and for being so great to cooperate with. Remember, Jim also connected me with Lindsay Davenport in February.

Queen Elizabeth II will attend Wimbledon this year, and it will be her first visit to the tournament since 1977. The exact day of her visit will be June 24. The tournament starts June 21 and lasts until July 4. (source: Wimbledon, photo: james_jhs)

A little more than a week ago, at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Maria Sharapova lost the first match of her return from elbow injury. The Russian's her next appearance, which was today at the Strasbourg International, brought the Russian a much needed victory, and her first one since March and Indian Wells.

The top-seeded Sharapova fought for two hours and 14 minutes to defeat world No.67 Regina Kulikova 6-3 3-6 6-1 and advance to the second round of the $220,000 event in France.

"Regina has a similar game to mine – big first serve, hits pretty big and attacks. I played well enough to win. It was a high-quality match, especially for a first round," said three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who is hoping to use the Strasbourg tournament to tune up for the French Open. (source: BBC, photo: Stephane Martinache)

Unseeded Aravane Rezai played some magical tennis on the clay of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open and defeated fourth seed Venus Williams 6-2 7-5 in an entertaining and competitive Premier-level final to win the biggest title of her career. The world No.24 Rezai played a game of powerful and precise groundstrokes, and her determination and self-confidence were on just as high level.

By breaking Venus in the third and seventh games, Rezai won the first set 6-2 in just about half an hour. But the second set was the one which has probably given Rezai plenty of new fans. Rezai was trailing Venus 5-2, but giving up was the last thing on her mind. The Frenchwoman won five successive games to win the match on her first match point, but only after saving six set points, five of which were at Venus’ 5-4 lead.

Here is Rezai’s far from easy route to victory: Justine Henin in the first round, then Klara Zakopalova, Andrea Petkovic, seventh seed Jelena Jankovic, Lucie Safarova (retired), and finally Venus Williams.

World No.3 Venus, who will as of tomorrow be No.2, was denied her 44th career title, while Rezai won her third (after Strasbourg and Bali in 2009). Not only did Rezai win the biggest title of her career, but she won an inspiring sum of money, €620,000, while Venus took home €310,000 with her runner-up finish in singles.

Venus had previously won the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open doubles title with her sister Serena, as they ended the great streak of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta with a 6-2 7-5 victory over the Argentinean-Italian pair in the final. The recent victories of Dulko and Pennetta include Miami, Stuttgart and Rome titles. (photos: Stephane Martinache)

Venus Williams and Aravane Rezai reached the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open on Saturday.

Venus, at No.4 the only seeded player in the semifinals, has retained her perfect career record against Shahar Peer by beating the Israeli for the fifth time to reach the Madrid final. Williams and Peer traded breaks to take the score to 3-3 in the first set, but then the American won nine straight games to win the match. After this 6-3 6-0 victory, Williams is 5-0 against Peer in career meetings.

In order to win her 10th clay court title, Williams will have to get past France’s Aravane Rezai, ranked 24th in the world, who advanced to the final when her semifinal opponent, Lucie Safarova, retired with a left thigh injury after Rezai won the first set 6-1. Williams and Rezai faced each other twice before, both times in 2007, both times on clay, and are tied at 1-1.

Venus Williams has also reached the doubles final at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Together with her sister Serena she will play against Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta. (photos: Stephane Martinache and reader Tony)

Venus Williams eased past Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-3 and reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Venus is now 4-0 against Stosur and has maintained the pattern of never losing more than four games in a set against the Australian.

Venus’s opponent in the semifinals will be Shahar Peer, the Israeli who will bear the burden of being the one who defeated No.13 seed Li Na at the Madrid Open. Why am I saying this? Because Li is donating all her Madrid money to earthquake-hit Yushu County in northwest China. Li will help the county with $57,500, and had the Chinese reached the semis, the amount would have been more than twice as high.

Lucie Safarova, coming off quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Rome, continued her fine form and upset No.16 seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 1-6 6-4 in Madrid quarters. Next for Safarova will be Aravane Rezai, the winner over seventh seed Jelena Jankovic, 7-5 6-4. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The left foot injury Kim Clijsters sustained during the Fed Cup tie against Estonia last month has taken its toll and now it’s confirmed that the Belgian will miss the 2010 French Open.

The world No.10 Clijsters hasn’t played the French Open since reaching the semifinals in 2006 and will be replaced by Stephanie Dubois this year. However, the Belgian two-time Grand Slam champion is working on being ready for the season on grass and is expected to play at Easbourne prior to Wimbledon.

The latest news is also that Sania Mirza, Urszula Radwanska, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Sabine Lisicki will also miss Roland Garros and will be replaced by Katie O’Brien, Anne Keothavong, Ekateryna Bychkova and Johanna Larsson. (source: On the Baseline, photo by our reader Tony)