At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, top seed and defending champion Justine Henin had to work really hard to overcome Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-7(6) 6-3, while Ana Ivanovic confidently defeated Nicole Vaidisova 6-4 6-0.

Belgian world No.1 Justine Henin, who won the tournament in Dubai four times in five years, was pushed hard in her opening match on Wednesday. World No.28 Srebotnik lost the first set after a tough battle, and one could have easily expected that being disappointed she would lose the second set much easier. But that was not the case. Srebotnik continued to fight and took the match to the third set. The decider was also very close, and nuances decided the winner. After three hours, Henin advanced to the quarterfinals where she'll meet Francesca Schiavone. Read more »

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the $1.5 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships citing a viral illness.

On her official website, Sharapova, who won the Qatar Total Open two days ago and is unbeaten in 2008, revealed that she was playing with a bad cold throughout the last week's tournament in Doha.

The 20-year-old Russian explained the cause of her withdrawal:

I flew to Dubai right after my final and woke up this morning feeling really fatigued and stuffed up with a cough. After trying to hit a little bit this evening I came to the conclusion that I'm realistically not going to be ready to play 5 matches in the next 5 days.

It's been such a great and healthy start to the year, and I don’t want to jeopardize that by making the wrong decisions, as I have in the past. The plan is to have a nice week of 'nothing' and start up training for Palm Springs healthy and fresh.

Ana Ivanovic injured her ankle last week in Doha, in her second round match with Olga Govortsova, while only two points away from advancing to the third round. In the latest diary entry on her official website, Ivanovic gave us an update on the injury, while also telling us her feelings and her perspective on it.

The 20-year-old said that injuring her ankle was the most painful thing that happened to her on the tennis court, but it made her a more experienced player and also lifted her confidence as she's now proud of herself for finishing and winning the match despite the pain.

Sustaining an injury at that point was very frustrating, as Ivanovic felt exceptionally physically prepared for the tournament. However, she’s also happy as it could have been a lot worse, and she is aware of the fact it’s a normal part of being a professional athlete.

Even though her ankle is much better now, Ivanovic is yet to determine whether she'll play on Wednesday in Dubai, where she’s seeded third.