The latest coaching novelty is that five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis is now working full-time with Russian Anastasia Pavlychenkova, with whom she has been cooperating as part of the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy, but this is the first time that she’s her personal coach. Hingis and the world No.19 Pavlyuchenkova are currently in Moscow, preparing for this weekend's Russia vs. Slovakia Fed Cup World Group semifinal clash in Sports Center Krylatskoye.

The Hingis-Pavlyuchenkova cooperation is planned for the 2013 claycourt season. This month the 21-year-old Pavlyuchenkova won the Monterrey title, beating top seed Angelique Kerber in the final. (source: Tennis.com, photo via Beyond the Baseline)

Fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat top seed Angelique Kerber in the final of the Monterrey Open and won the Mexican tournament for the third time. The Russian is now 15-0 in Monterrey, having won the title every time she entered: in 2010, 2011 and this year.

In the third set Pavlyuchenkova was leading 5-0 before Kerber got closer by winning two straight games, and then when Pavlyuchenkova was serving for the match at 5-2, Kerber won two more games. Eventually, Pavlyuchenkova closed it out 4-6 6-2 6-4.

Having won the $40,000 International-level trophy, the Russian has climbed from No.26 to No.20 in the WTA rankings. Kerber has remained world No.6. (source: Women Who Serve, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Serena Williams simply continued the momentum from 2012 and breezed to the Brisbane International title, her 47th career title, the most among active WTA players. Varvara Lepchenko was her victim in the first round (6-2 6-1), Alize Cornet in the second (6-2 6-2), Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals (6-4 6-3) and then after a semifinal walkover when Victoria Azarenka withdrew with an infected toe, Serena had just a 51-minute work against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.

From 2-all in the first set, the third-seeded Williams took seven straight games and quickly went all the way to a 6-2 6-1 victory and $162,987 in prize money.

Pavlyuchenkova, who upset No.6 seed Petra Kvitova and No.4 seed Kerber earlier in the tournament, was playing her first Premier final, but against the super-experienced Serena there was nothing she could do. Here's what Pavlyuchenkova said to Serena after the match:

I always feel like I don't know how to play tennis when I play against you!

I'm sure she's far from the only one with that problem.

In the off-season, Serena and Pavlyuchenkova practiced together in Mauritius as part of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy training camp.

Serena has now won 52 of her last 54 matches! (photo: sr_cranks)

One of the greatest singers of all time, Whitney Houston, passed away at the age of 48 on February 11, and the whole world was struck, including the WTA community. Therefore, I decided to make a WTA tribute to Whitney by compiling tweets of women's tennis players mentioning the voice behind so many timeless love songs.

Serena Williams

Caroline Wozniacki

Dinara Safina

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Victoria Azarenka

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After two days of rain troubled the US Open organizers and fans, women's quarterfinals finally took place and we have our final four: Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Samantha Stosur. Semifinals will be played on Saturday.

Serena Williams (28) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (1)

This semifinal will be especially interesting because it is an encounter of a supposed deserved No.1 and real No.1. Wozniacki has to win this one if she wants to prove all the doubters in her game wrong, this is a perfect opportunity to do so. Since Wozniacki overtook the top position in the rankings from Serena, the two haven't clashed, but in their last and only two meetings in 2009, Williams won.

Serena is yet to lose a set at the tournament. The quarterfinal with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova featured six breaks of serve in the beginning before Serena got on track and in the 12th game broke the Russian to take the first set. In the second set Williams lost just three points on her serve and ended the match with her sixth ace. Final score: 7-5 6-1.

Wozniacki advanced with a 6-1 7-6(5) win over Andrea Petkovic. Wozniacki let a 5-3 lead in the second set slip and ended up playing a tiebreak, in which Petkovic made five unforced errors and spoiled the comeback.

Samantha Stosur (9) vs. Angelique Kerber

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