"It's healthier to laugh than to cry…from the MRI center last night" is the caption below the latest photo on Maria Sharapova's Facebook page showing the smiling Russian with a wrapped leg in a wheelchair.

Sharapova twisted her ankle while serving midway in the first set of her quarterfinal against Petra Kvitova in Tokyo. Her leg got seriously swollen very soon, but fortunately, closer medical examination proved the injury was not serious.

Hi everyone! Good news is that the MRI showed no big damage in the ankle. Will do my best to recover in time for Istanbul. It better recover soon because I can become quite the annoying patient! I will keep everyone posted with my progress.

Here's how the second-ranked Sharapova fell and hurt her ankle which forced her to retire from the tourament:

Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska will meet in the final of the Premier-level Tokyo tournament. They are tied at 2-2 in head-to-head stats, but Radwanska won their last two matches and both were this summer (Carlsbad final and Toronto). On the other hand, Zvonareva, who will be No.2 in the world again if she wins the title, played 29 finals in her career, as opposed to Radwanska’s more modest seven.

The fourth-seeded Zvonareva clawed back from a 5-1 deficit in the first set against Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and ended up winning the semifinal match in straight sets 7-6(2) 6-0. At those 5-1, it was Kvitova’s serve and the Czech had three set points. However, Zvonareva’s key to success was to focus on her game and not worry about the score:

I don't even remember being down 5-1 in the first set! I wasn't really thinking about it at all. I was just trying to find my rhythm – I couldn't find it in the beginning, and she was playing really well.

Despite the loss, Kvitova will make a Top 5 debut in the new rankings on Monday.

As for the semifinal between No.9 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and No.3 seed Victoria Azarenka, Radwanska first took the lead and looked to be close to a straight set victory at 6-3 4-2. However, Azarenka won four straight games and forced the third set. Still, Radwanska was the eventual winner, 6-3 4-6 6-2. (source: WTA Tour, photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Maria Sharapova injured her ankle while serving at 3-4 against Petra Kvitova in Tokyo quarterfinals and was unable to continue the match because her ankle showed immediate signs of swelling. In other Tokyo news, Maria Kirilenko, who knocked out newly-crowned US Open champion Samantha Stosur in the second round and then 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, was eliminated by fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva in the quarters.

Sharapova had a chance to possibly overtake the No.1 ranking from Caroline Wozniacki if:

1) she reached the final in Tokyo and

2) followed it with a Beijing title.

Read more »

Unseeded Maria Kirilenko continued her surge through the Tokyo draw, following up her upset of fresh US Open champion Samantha Stosur with a 6-3 6-1 victory over 12th seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round.

One break of serve was enough for Kirilenko to take the first set, in which she herself fended off three break points. The 27th-ranked Russian then dominated the second set, winning 91% of points on first serve and breaking Ivanovic three times.

Another seeded player is Kirilenko's next obstacle – her quarterfinal opponent will be fourth seed Vera Zvonareva, who beat Iveta Benesova 6-1 6-2 in the third round. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The Partizan Tennis Club and Serbian Tennis Association will organize a WTA event in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2012. Prize money will be $220,000. The exact date of the tournament is still under consideration, but it will take place just before the French Open or US Open.

Participation of Serbian tennis stars Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Bojana Jovanovski is expected, as well as of former Serbian representative, now an Australian national, Jelena Dokic, who has reconciled with her family, primarily with her father Damir who lives in Serbia. (source: Blic)

Millionaire athletes Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy have been dating for a couple of months and they like to share a portion of their relationship with the media. In August we witnessed a very public kiss and now Caroline is bragging on Twitter about a personalized golf club her golfer boyfriend gave her.

Is this a new trend, to make up a couple name? This couple is called Wozzilroy and Caroline is already using it on Twitter with a hashtag. Read more »

After all the drama that had happened, it comes as a surprise that Jelena Dokic and her father Damir are again in good relations and he will even coach her, alongside another coach, a woman from Tennis Australia. Damir believes that women’s tennis is weak right now, which offers an ideal opportunity for his daughter to get back to the top.

The former world No.4 Dokic is in Serbia after a long period of deliberation (about two years), enjoying her settled private and professional life. Time heals all wounds, and after a lot of family talks, Jelena’s relationship with father Damir is better than ever, and a great week is behind them now. Dokic’s priorities in life come in this order: family, health and tennis.

"In order to be successful in career, any career, you have to have a settled private life, which has finally happened to me," said the Australian, who has a great desire to enrich her tennis résumé.

Dokic’s goal is to finish 2012 in Top 20, while her long-term goal is to reach the Top 10 and play a Grand Slam final. The 28-year-old is encouraged by the trend of Grand Slam finals being won by more experienced, older players.

Next tournament for Dokic is the Generali Ladies Linz, which starts October 10.

Here you can watch Dokic's interview in Serbian. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Samantha Stosur and Maria Kirilenko met in the fourth round of the US Open this month and played one of the most exciting matches of the tournament featuring the longest tiebreak in Grand Slam history. Then the winner was Stosur with a 6-2 6-7(15) 6-3 score and afterwards the Australian defeated Vera Zvonareva, Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams to claim her first major title.

In today's match at the $2,050,000 Toray Pan Pacific Open Kirilenko found revenge and defeated the sixth-seeded Stosur in what was another close encounter, 6-2 4-6 6-4. The 27th-ranked Kirilenko moved to the third round where she will face Ana Ivanovic, even though Stosur came back from a break down to win the second set and from a 4-2 deficit to 4-4 in the third set. (source: WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Russian Anna Chakvetadze would like to try something new aside from her tennis career and is one of the three parliamentary candidates of the Right Cause Party, a pro-business party which has the support of about 2% of population.

Women’s rights and children’s sports are areas Chakvetadze would focus on. Here’s what the 24-year old said about her political engagement:

I joined the Right Cause party because it's a young party. All of its members are young people, who have many fresh ideas. I believe I also can bring some fresh ideas into this project. I'd like to be involved in deciding the questions concerning the sports sphere in case we manage to enter the State Duma. I am especially interested in children's sports. I believe the state should support the children's sports activity, making it completely free of charge.

In 2007 the fifth-ranked player in the world, Chakvetadze is now number 157, having not played because of health problems since losing in the first round of Wimbledon to Maria Sharapova. In March, April and May she had also skipped tournaments because of illness.

Recently I read some rumors that Chakvetadze might retire. No mention of that now, but if she gets really absorbed in politics it will be hard to balance it with tennis career, and fellow Russian Maria Sharapova stated she was "not really sure" whether Chakvetadze was still going to play or commit herself to politics. (source: Fox Sports, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

A year after her elder sister Alona got married, 25-year-old Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko married Kiev businessman Denis. There are many photos from the wedding online at this Ukrainian news source. Read more »