Maria Sharapova defeated San Diego champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 1-6 6-2 in the first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.

Players had to deal with extreme heat and humidity, which even forced Nadia Petrova to retire from the tournament, while Elena Vesnina claimed to have experienced one of the hottest days of her life. However, it was not the weather conditions that largely affected Kuznetsova’s performance, but rather the fact that she had a sore leg and was coming off just winning the Mercury Insurance Open over the weekend and didn’t have time to rest.

"It's definitely tough to have a night flight then come and play the day after a final, but it's just bad luck, I cannot change it," said the world No.14 Kuznetsova. "I just need to get my ranking higher and then I can get a bye. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Maria. She played really well in the third."

Sharapova commited much more unforced errors, 39 to Kuznetsova's 17, but also hit more winners, 31 to Kuznetsova's 11.

Fashion note: Masha is wearing a Nike Women's Maria Sharapova Lawn Top and Skort. So that my perception of colors doesn’t interfere, Tennis Warehouse states the outfit is filament green with armory (and there is also a white with anthracite version). (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, ESPN; photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Svetlana Kuznetsova choked for the first time in her life and blew four match points in the second set tiebreak (two of those with double faults), but still the Russian managed to defeat fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska and win the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego. Final score: 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3.

"My knees were shaking and I couldn't push on my serve and now I know why people double fault on match points," said the unseeded Kuznetsova who wasted leads of 4-0 and 6-3 in the tiebreak.

"She's a great player, a top player," said the world No.10 Radwanska. "Now, she's lost some points and she's behind me [in the rankings]. But in the important moments, she was better."

Both Kuznetsova and Radwanska were playing their first final since Beijing in October, when Kuznetsova beat Radwanska 6-2 6-4. By winning her first title in 10 months, Kuznetsova is projected to rise from No.21 to No.14 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings.

The victory at the Mercury Insurance Open came at the perfect time for Kuznetsova, just ahead of the US Open, the Grand Slam she won in 2004. (source: Reuters, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Wimbledon may have strict dress code but there still is enough space for players and their brands to experiment and bring something new and exciting. Let's see how successful they've been this year.

Let's start with Venus and Serena Williams. We've already paid close attention to both Venus' Eleven dress and Serena's Nike dress, but it's worth mentioning them again – Venus was definitely unique with fringes all over the bottom part of the dress, while Serena wore a more classic design inspired by strawberries and cream and a cute narrow headband. Just to use the opportunity to mention that the sisters, twice defending champions, lost in doubles quarterfinals today to Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Chinese brand ANTA and Jelena Jankovic were simple and classy at this year's Wimbledon. JJ also sported a customized racquet bag and was fully equipped for the greatest Grand Slam.

Once my favorite tennis fashion designer Stella McCartney seems to be lacking inspiration as Caroline Wozniacki has been wearing pretty much the same dress for months. Now I can't blame her, why bother when you're going to lose your match in 46 minutes (sorry, Caro). Talking about Stella, we have to mention Maria Kirilenko who looks awesome even in the simple adidas BARRICADE top and skort. Read more »

Svetlana Kuznetsova may have survived four match points against Andrea Petkovic in the second round of the French Open, but the defending champion was not as lucky in the next round and fell on the third match point by fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova had a point for a 3-0 lead in the third set, but seed No.30 Kirilenko won four games in a row. Kuznetsova then had a chance to level at 5-5, but that was not to happen as Kirilenko held her nerve and recorded one of the best wins of her career to finish the match 6-3 2-6 6-4 and reach the fourth round of the French Open for the first time.

"I mean, it was very hard to defend my title with the tennis I have been playing this season," said Kuznetsova, who also lost to Kirilenko in the second round of Rome earlier this month.

Kirilenko’s opponent in the fourth round will be Italy's Francesca Schiavone, seeded 17th. (source: Reuters, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Germany’s No.1 player Andrea Petkovic had four match points against defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, but the Russian scraped through the rain-affected match to reach the third round of the French Open. Kuznetsova had actually lost to Petkovic one, their last meeting in Tokyo in 2009.

The world No.41 Petkovic had triple match point at 6-4 5-4 and another one in the same game. The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova saved them all and won the second set 7-5. The Russian then stormed into a 5-2 lead in the third set, but the decider didn't end so quickly, as Petkovic saved three match points before Kuznetsova eventually won 4-6 7-5 6-4.

Next for Kuznetsova is fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, seeded 30th, who beat Yvonne Meusburger 6-3 6-3 in the second round. (photos: Stephane Martinache)