Maria Sharapova was today playing her first match on grass since last year's Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round.

Sharapova is back on her beloved grass, although the claycourt season was everything but unsuccessful for her, and beat Stephanie Dubois 6-4 6-2 in the first round of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. The Russian was victorious at that tournament in 2004, just before winning Wimbledon, her first Grand Slam title.

Sharapova, who has climbed from No.102 to No.73 in the world, will next face Alexa Glatch of the United States, who upset Flavia Pennetta at the recently-finished Roland Garros. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

World No.45 Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine squeezed past Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer in the final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham to win her first WTA Tour title. Twelfth-seeded Bondarenko needed two tie-breaks to defeat Wickmayer 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) in a match lasting nearly three hours.

The 18-year-old Wickmayer, ranked 66th in the world, injured her knee in the second set, but was a tough opponent nevertheless. The Belgian No.1 blamed her defeat on her lack of experience and expressed hope that the injury will not ruin the rest of her grasscourt season.

Here’s what former Wimbledon junior champion Kateryna Bondarenko said after the DFS Classic final:

"It feels great, finally I have my own title,"

"I never expected it to be on grass. It was a really tough match. I think we both played really well. Maybe I got lucky in the tie-break." (sources: BBC, Reuters, photo via Yahoo)

Last year’s Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli may miss the 2008 Championships because of a wrist injury.

Top-seeded Bartoli was upset in the second round of the DFS Classis on Wednesday and after the loss she said her participation at Wimbledon 2008 is under question.

"It’s been bothering me since before the French Open," said the Frenchwoman.

"I’ve been having treatment but it’s tendinitis, and there is only so much you can do for that. It seems like 2008 doesn’t want me to be in great shape. I am always having something, some illness or injury."

Bartoli said that she will skip Wimbledon "if it’s not getting better."

"Missing a Grand Slam, especially Wimbledon, is a huge disappointment," the world No.10 added.

After losing 5-7 6-4 6-0 to Petra Cetkovska in Birmingham Bartoli’s 2008 match record fell to 8-14. (source: On the Baseline; photo: Getty Images)

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic, last year's finalist Maria Sharapova, and the 2008 French Open finalist Dinara Safina have all decided to skip the DFS Classic in Birmingham, a Wimbledon warmup event which starts June 9.

World No.3 Jankovic withdrew from the grass-court tournament with the same arm injury that caused her to fly home to Belgrade after losing to Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals of the French Open.

Sharapova, who has won the DFS Classic twice, will skip the event after five consecutive years in the draw in order to be able to focus on Wimbledon better. The Russian world No.1 has also withdrawn from Eastbourne which means she will play no competitive grass-court tennis before Wimbledon.

Safina, ranked 14th in the world, pulled out of Birmingham with a bad back. (sources: ESPN, Reuters; photos: Tennis Channel, Getty Images)

Jelena Jankovic has been amazing this year – she reached a career-high No. 3 in the singles rankings, and collected titles from Auckland (hardcourt), Charleston (clay), Rome (clay), adding to them today’s Birmingham trophy (grass). Moreover, this year she has earned more points than any other WTA player.

I was definitely wrong when I said that she should have skipped the tournament in Strasbourg in order to relax a bit. I thought she was playing too much and that it would affect her game – but Jankovic proved me wrong. After Strasbourg, she reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros and now she defeated the 2004 Wimbledon Champion Maria Sharapova to win the DFS Classic in Birmingham. Her form is simply amazing. Read more »

Maria Sharapova, the No. 1 seed and a two-time champion in Birmingham, beat Marion Bartoli of France 7-5, 6-0 in a semifinal on Sunday. Bartoli, who completed her suspended quarterfinal earlier Sunday, defeated third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

The match between Sharapova and Bartoli was temporarily delayed when two spectators needed medical assistance – a woman was left unconscious after falling down a staircase, and a man in another part of the stadium fainted. The helicopter had to be sent to take the woman to the hospital.

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic reached the final by defeating Italy’s Mara Santangelo 6-1, 7-5.

The final will take place also on Sunday; I’ll keep you posted! (via ESPN)

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova (BTW, currently the highest-paid female athlete) had to win two matches on Saturday to reach the last four of the rain-hit DFS Classic. She beat Austria’s Tamira Paszek 6-3 4-6 6-2 in a much-delayed third-round match. Sharapova had an easier time against Elena Likhovtseva, seeing off her fellow Russian 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

"Mentally, you have to be ready for a very long day. You have to be ready no matter how many stops there are,” Maria, the 2004 Wimbledon champion, commented on the rain which constantly interrupted the tournament.

Sharapova missed two months earlier this year due to a right shoulder injury and hopes her crowded schedule doesn't make it worse. Read more »

The DFS Classic has started on Monday, and world No. 2 Maria Sharapova is glad to be back on the grass courts of the Edgbaston Priory Club.

Maria, the No. 1 seed, is a regular in Birmingham – this is the fifth year in a row that she plays at this event; she was the champion in 2004 and 2005.

“It brings back so many good memories, especially here because before I won my first Grand Slam at Wimbledon I won here, so that was pretty exciting,” said the Russian star.

“I always see the same people here every year. The same volunteers and members of the club and it’s great. When you don’t see people for a year and you come back (and) they were around when you had great results, it makes it home away from home in a way,” Maria added.

We all know that during this year Maria had problems with injuries, especially with her right shoulder. However, she doesn’t think that it will cause her any problems this week. “I’ll have to monitor it. At the French Open I felt it from time to time in certain matches. But I don’t think it limited me too much. We’ll see how it is.”

Birmingham is the first event of the grass season before Wimbledon which begins in two weeks time. (via DFS Classic)