Argentinean world No.37 Gisela Dulko defeated seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, while British qualifier Elena Baltacha upset seventh seed Li Na of China.

The 31st-seeded Dulko broke wildcard Henin’s serve three times in the third set, converting every break point she had, before scoring a 6-2 1-6 6-4 win. When Dulko won the match, after two hours, she fell to her knees as spectators applauded to congratulate her on this amazing victory over Henin, who was a Grand Slam finalist less than two months ago.

The 26-year-old Baltacha achieved her first Top 10 victory by beating tenth-ranked Li Na in the second round. Baltacha’s win came after two hours and 50 minutes, two saved match points, recovery from 5-1 down in the third set tiebreaker and after the Briton "fought her heart out". World No.65 Baltacha's final result was 7-6(6) 2-6 7-6(7).

Dulko’s opponent in the third round will be fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, while Baltacha will play wildcard Alicia Molik. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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Fellow tennis blogger, HCFoo from Malaysia, was privileged to attend surprise birthday bash for China's Li Na.

Together with line judges, ballboys and ballgirls, media and organizers, HCFoo sang a birthday song for the 28-year-old Li, both in Malaysian and in English.

The bouquet of flowers you see in front of Li Na is from our fellow blogger.

Happy birthday from Women’s Tennis Blog as well. We're wishing you to advance further within the Top 10!

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China’s Li Na, who has risen to No.10 in the rankings after reaching the Australian Open semifinals, lost 6-1 5-7 6-2 to Germany’s Tatjana Malek in the first round of the inaugural Malaysian Open.

Chinese first ever Top-10 women’s tennis player and second seed in Kuala Lumpur, converted all three of her break points, but lost her own serve three times and world No.81 Malek thus scored her first Top 10 win. Li’s compatriot Zheng Jie, seed No.3, advanced to the second round by beating qualifier Elena Bovina 6-4 6-3.

Top-seeded Elena Dementieva progressed to the second round. The Russian defeated Ekaterina Bychkova 6-2 6-1, in a less straightforward match than the score suggests. Interestingly, Dementieva’s next opponent will be young Serbian star Bojana Jovanovski, who you remember was jury member here on Women’s Tennis Blog when we held the contest to award one of our readers with the racquet signed by Justine Henin. Good luck, Bojana! (photo: chascow)

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Chinese tennis stars Zheng Jie and Li Na have arrived home after their enormous success in Australia and were welcomed by crowds of fans and media.

Zheng and Li made history for China when they reached the 2010 Australian Open semifinals. Actually, never before had two Chinese players been in the second week of a major at the same time. Moreover, Zheng and Li are now both within Top 20 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings – Zheng is No.20 and Li has become the first Chinese Top 10 player by reaching No.10.

The national celebration of Zheng’s and Li’s arrival took place in Beijing. They answered questions from fans and media, and donated their equipment to the Chinese Tennis Association's Youth Foundation. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications China President Roger Eriksson presented Zheng and Li with special gifts for their achievements. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

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World No.17 Li Na went bungee jumping for the first time during this month’s ASB Classic in New Zealand and I thought it would be nice to share the video clip, as the Chinese is a player to watch at the moment.

I’m wishing Li Na to jump into the Australian Open final, Serena’s years are odd ones anyway. The two are facing each other in a few hours. Serena has a 3-1 record against Li. They faced each other at the Australian Open once, and although it was four years ago we can mention that Serena won, but in three sets.

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