Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open was Maria Sharapova’s first appearance at the Premier Mandatory event, as well as her first tournament since pulling out of Indian Wells in March, and it was cut short by Lucie Safarova.

Safarova, who beat world number two Caroline Wozniacki in Stuttgart last month, charged into a 4-0 lead in the first set, and even though Sharapova leveled at 4-4, Safarova took the next two games and won the set. The second set went with serve until Safarova took one break and it was all she needed to win the set and match. Final score: 6-4 6-3.

The opening-round meeting of Sharapova and Safarova in Madrid was also their first career meeting.

Sharapova’s first tournament on clay this season didn’t start well, but the Russian is heading to Strasbourg to get more practice on clay before Roland Garros. (photo: sr_cranks)

Not much is happening in the tennis world today, so I’ll use the opportunity to post one more article that shows women’s tennis players when they were kids. Yesterday we featured little Amelie Mauresmo, and today I am sharing with you a part of the match between Russia’s Maria Sharapova and China’s Peng Shuai from the 2000 final of the junior clay-court tournament Torneo dell’Avvenire in Italy.

Sharapova was 13 years old, while Peng was 14. Sharapova lost the final 6-1 6-2, but only four years later she won Wimbledon, then the next year she reached the No.1 ranking, and two more Grand Slam titles followed in her career (her total of singles WTA titles is 21). Peng, however, has no singles titles on the WTA Tour to this day, and her highest ranking was No.31. Sharapova and Peng are currently tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head statistics.

For our complete collection of pictures and videos of women’s tennis players when they were still children, visit this page.

Seed No.18 Zheng Jie overcame tenth seed Maria Sharapova 6-3 2-6 6-3 after two hours and 43 minutes of topsy-turvy marathon in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Sharapova made 14 double faults, 62 unforced errors and was broken seven times during the match. Zheng broke Sharapova's serve three times in the first set, then the Russian leveled after the second set which lasted one hour and eight minutes, and finally, Zheng came back from 3-1 down in the decider to win the match.

"She's like a ball machine. She hits a lot of balls back, hits them hard and deep. I should have done a much better job on her serve because that is definitely one of her weaker parts of the game," said the world No.13 Sharapova, who received treatment for her right elbow during the match.

The 26-year-old Chinese, a surprise semifinalist at this year's Australian Open, will next play Australian wildcard Alicia Molik. (source: Reuters, photo: Nick Bollettieri)

Here’s our monthly update on Maria Sharapova’s relationship with Sasha Vujacic. In February the couple was spotted enjoying a casual day in Los Angeles, and now Sasha is following Maria in her career obligations, accompanying his Russian girlfriend in Indian Wells. These photos were taken on March 13.

Maria is seeded 10th at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. She had a bye in the first round, while in the second round she defeated Vera Dushevina in three sets. Right now Masha is playing her third-round match against seed No.18 Zheng Jie of China. (source: Great Tennis Photos)

Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova and second-ranked ATP player Novak Djokovic will face each other in a mixed doubles exhibition match on March 23 during the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Sharapova’s doubles partner will be music star Jay Sean, while Djokovic will line up alongside former Spice Girl Mel B. Therefore, we will have a celebrity match of epic proportions, guaranteeing lots of fun, as always when Sharapova and Djokovic are next to each other.

The video is showing the reactions of Jay Sean and Mel B when they found out who their tennis partners would be.

Russian three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, top seed at the International-level event in Memphis, eased past Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 6-1 to claim her first title of the 2010 season and 21st career title.

The year started with disappointment for Sharapova, as she lost in the first round of the Australian Open, but then the Russian entered this smaller tournament with the only wish to win some matches and gain confidence, and that’s what she did. Not only did the former world No.1 win the tournament, she didn’t drop one set on her way to the title, and in the final match she took nine games in a row from 2-2 to beat world No.102 Arvidsson.

The 26-year-old Arvidsson failed to win her second career title and her second at this very tournament in Memphis. (photo via Regions Morgan Keegan Champs / Cellular South Cup)

Maria Sharapova reached the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Champs / Cellular South Cup and is now just one win away of her first title of the season and the 21st of her career.

The top-seeded Russian won a tight first set and then rallied from 0-2 in the second set to beat fifth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-3 in the semifinals. Sharapova’s opponent in the title match will be qualifier Sofia Arvidsson, who battled past Anne Keothavong 6-4 4-6 6-4.

The 102nd-ranked Arvidsson won the Memphis tournament four years ago, and has also taken out second seed Melanie Oudin at this year’s quarterfinals.

Sharapova defeated Arvidsson in the only match they played so far, but it was a long time ago, in 2003. (photo: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)

Top seed Maria Sharapova advanced to the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & the Cellular South Cup, while home favorite and second seed Melanie Oudin got eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Sharapova beat eighth seed Elena Baltacha 6-2 7-5 and will next have No.5 seed Petra Kvitova for opponent. Kvitova defeated third seed Kaia Kanepi 1-6 6-3 7-6(0) after a tough match.

Unseeded 2006 Memphis champion Sofia Arvidsson was the one who upset American Oudin, with the final score 6-1 6-3. Arvidson's opponent in the final four will be Anne Keothavong, the Briton who reached her second straight semifinal in Memphis but is now playing her first WTA main draw event, having been sidelined by knee injury for more than six months. (photo: harjanto sumali)