World No.58 Maria Kirilenko, who took out Maria Sharapova in the first round of the Australian Open, reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal through Dinara Safina’s misfortune of a recurrent back injury.

The second-seeded Safina retired down 5-4 in the opening set of the fourth-round match, with the same low back injury that forced her out of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha at the end of last season.

Safina’s injury is extremely painful: "I just cannot move anywhere. I mean, the physio asked me to lie on the table. I said, I cannot lie. I cannot make any movement. Whatever I try to move, it hurts terribly." And to make things worse, Safina thinks she may have even worsened the injury because she continued to play the match.

Kirilenko, on the other hand, has problems of her own. She turns 23 on Monday, but will have to postpone her birthday celebrations: "I don't want to get drunk before my next match. It's going to be difficult for me to play then."

Unseeded Kirilenko will play China's Zheng Jie, also unseeded, in the quarterfinals. Zheng holds a 4-1 head-to-head lead over the Russian. (photo via Australian Open)

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Once again there was more fuss about a tennis dress than we actually got the chance to watch it in action: seed No.14 Maria Sharapova was defeated on the first occasion she wore her long-anticipated two-layer Nike dress.

The 2008 Australian Open champion lost the battle of two Russians and two Marias 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4 as Maria Kirilenko advanced to the second round.

Sharapova, who missed last year's Australian Open because of a shoulder injury, committed 77 unforced errors and made her earliest exit at a Grand Slam since 2003, struggling with her serve and mobility.

"A bad day's not going to stop me from doing what I love. I'm still going to go back on the court and work hard and perform. I'll be back here on a Saturday of the second week, so you'll watch," said Sharapova, who is ranked 44 spots higher than Kirilenko. (photo: Getty Images)

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Elena Dementieva, Maria Kirilenko, Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie took part in an annual exhibition tournament the Glam Slam – Showdown of Champions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our friend HCFoo attended the meet-the-fans session held on Friday and followed the rest of the event at home.

Dementieva and Kirilenko defeated Mirza and Zheng 3-0. The Russians won in doubles on Saturday 6-4 5-7 10-8. Then on Sunday, Kirilenko beat Zheng 6-3 4-6 6-4, and Dementieva completed Russian domination by downing Mirza 6-4 7-6 (7-0).

HCFoo's overall impression is that the Glam Slam – Showdown of Champions wasn't actually glamorous and that the organization should have been much better. In addition, the attendance was bad and there was lack of publicity. Still, the matches were worth watching, as the players took them seriously and fought hard.

Elena Dementieva left a lovely impression on HCFoo:

I've never met a player so friendly… she would look deep in your eyes, greet you and give you a big smile! *faint*

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World No.10 Agnieszka Radwanska lost her chance to take the final qualifying spot for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, losing to 61st-ranked Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Kremlin Cup.

Radwanska’s defeat means that Jelena Jankovic and Vera Zvonareva will fight it out for the eighth spot at the season-ending Championships. Still, Radwanska will be an alternate for Doha, along with the loser of the qualifying battle between Jankovic and Zvonareva.

World No.12 Flavia Pennetta had a shot at being an alternate at the Sony Ericsson Championships, but she retired from her first-round match at the Kremlin Cup and her chance has thus been removed. The Italian won the opening set against Agnes Szavay 6-4, but after losing the first three games of the following set she retired with a left knee injury. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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Kuala Lumpur, Malasya, will welcome Russians Elena Dementieva and Maria Kirilenko, Indian Sania Mirza and Chinese Zheng Jie at the Showdown of Champions 2009, an exhibition event set to take place December 18-19.

The exhibition is a nice intro to the Malasya Classic, a new International-level tournament added to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendar to be hosted by Kuala Lumpur in February 2010. (source: HCFoo's Tennis Blog, photos: chascow, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Ralf Reinecke)

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