Ana Ivanovic squeezed in the company of Top 3 seeds – Vera Zvonareva, Andrea Petkovic, Agnieszka Radwanska - in the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open.

After starting with a 4-1 deficit against fourth-seeded Peng Shuai, Ivanovic won 11 of the next 13 games and finished the match by winning the last 14 points. Final score: 6-4 6-2. Her next opponent will be top seed Vera Zvonareva who, as expected, had a tough test against Sabine Lisicki. In a marathon third set which lasted more than an hour, Zvonareva saved 7 of 8 break points and finally defeated Lisicki 6-3 3-6 6-4 on the fifth match point.

Injured Agnieszka Radwanska recovered from a bagel in the first set and defeated Daniela Hantuchova 0-6 6-4 6-4. In the semifinals she will play Andrea Petkovic who took out first time WTA quarterfinalist Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-1. (photos courtesy of John Bolan)

Maria Sharapova won her ninth straight match on clay, the streak featuring her Rome title, by defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round of Roland Garros 7-6(4) 7-5. The Russian will be playing her fifth quarterfinal at the tournament, but only once did she make one step further, in 2007 when she reached the semis.

The three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who has a chance to complete a career slam this week, came back from 4-1 down in the first set, leveled to 4-4, then both players held their serves to take the set to a tiebreak. In the second set Sharapova faced set points, but saved all five of them and finished the job in that set.

It’s interesting to compare Sharapova’s and Radwanska’s stats because of contrasts in most departments. Sharapova hit 7 aces to Radwanska’s 1, but also 7 double faults to Radwanska’s 0. When it comes to winners and unforced errors the situation is equally unbalanced. Sharapova hit almost 4 times more unforced errors (44 to Radwanska's 12), but also much more winners, 47 to 13.

Andrea Petkovic, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2 2-6 6-4 in the fourth round, will be next Sharapova's opponent. Other quarterfinal pairs are: Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Marion Bartoli, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Francesca Schiavone, and Li Na vs. Victoria Azarenka. (via Sharapova's official website, photo courtesy of our reader Tony)

The semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open are shaping up. By defeating Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday, Vera Zvonareva became the third Miami semifinalist this year, and her opponent in the final four will be either Kim Clijsters or Victoria Azarenka.

In the match against ninth-seeded Radwanska, Zvonareva double faulted at 4-5, 30-all in the first set to give the Pole a set point. However, she saved it with an ace and won three games to win the set. The second set was easier for the Russian, who has a chance to return to No.2 ranking, and she advanced to the semis with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

The other semifinal will feature Andrea Petkovic, who toughed it out against Jelena Jankovic, and Maria Sharapova, who had her fair share of hard time against Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarterfinal match that lasted almost three and a half hours. (source: WTA Tour, photo: sr_cranks)

Player parties provide a perfect venue for players to get in touch with their glamorous side (if they have one) and the blue red carpet on Tuesday night at the Paris Theater in Miami was one of the best such occasions.

Let's start with my favorites. Russian Anna Kournikova simply knows what to wear and how to work it, while her countrywoman Vera Zvonareva looks very pretty in a romantic purple dress.

Although I've been in the mood for floral prints lately, Anastasia Plavyuchenkova's dress is too much for my taste. Maria Sharapova is still faithful to her vintage-oriented style. Read more »

The 2009 Australian Open finalist, Dinara Safina, was eliminated from the Australian Open big time – in the first round, after just 44 minutes, without winning a single game and without earning a single break point. The conqueror on the other side of the net was another former world No.1 and third seed at the 2011 Australian Open, Kim Clijsters. It must be devastating for Safina, especially because this year she lost in the first round of all the three tournaments she played.

Safina, whose 2010 was one of the worst of her career, will have some thinking to do:

To lose two tournaments in a row 6-0 6-1 and 6-0 6-0 — it's really to scratch the head and to think what the hell am I doing. I want to come back and I want to play better, but now to find answers how I can come back.

All the other seeds in action on Day 2 advanced, except for seed No.27 Alexandra Dulgheru and No.19 Ana Ivanovic who fought hard, saved five match points, but lost to Ekaterina Makarova 3-6 6-4 10-8. The world No.49 Makarova won her first WTA title last year in Eastbourne, as a qualifier and without dropping a set.

Serbia may have lost one of their big names in the women's draw, but their new hope advanced to the second round — 58th-ranked Bojana Jovanovski beat Kai-Chen Chang 7-5 6-1 and will next play second seed Vera Zvonareva.

Besides a thrilling match, the encounter of Agnieszka Radwanska and the oldest player in the draw, Kimiko Date Krumm, featured this funny racquet breaking incident. The 12th-seeded Radwanska won the match 6-4 4-6 7-5 after receiving treatment for a back problem. Thanks DeShawn Besabella for sharing the video! (photo Patrik Nemes)