On the eve of the French Open, Andrea Petkovic claimed her second WTA title and a new career-high ranking of No.12. In the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, which was the only International-level final in nine years that top two seeds played, the 15th-ranked Petkovic had a retirement victory over seed No.1 Marion Bartoli.

France’s Bartoli lost just 11 games en route to the final and earned a 2-0 lead at the start of the match with Petkovic, but the German took the first set and won the first game of the second when Bartoli retired with a left thigh injury, at 6-4 1-0.

The first Petkovic’s title also came at an International-level clay court event, at Bad Gastein in 2009.

Regarding the French Open, Petkovic has never progressed past the second round, but this year she's among the players who are marked with the big expectations label. However, the 15th-seeded German faces a stiff challenge in the very beginning. Her first-round opponent will be Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski who is a hard-hitter and is capable of making an upset at any moment.

Another player crowned her lead-up to the French Open today – world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Peng Shuai in the final of the Brussels Ladies Open. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Top two seeds at the inaugural Premier-level tournament of the Brussels Open, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva, both advanced to the quarterfinals, but not without considerable effort.

Zvonareva found herself 6-2 3-2 down against Galina Voskoboeva, before rallying back to beat the Kazakh qualifier 2-6 6-4 6-3. The Russian said she needed some time to get accustomed to the new court and new atmosphere, while her opponent got that sort of preparation during qualifying.

As for the world No.1 Wozniacki, she rallied from a break down in both sets to defeat American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4 7-6(5) on the fifth match point. In their only previous meeting, which was also on clay, Wozniacki was much more productive, defeating Lepchenko 6-3 6-1 in Madrid in 2009. Read more »

Top seed Maria Sharapova has made an excellent introduction to the French Open, which starts tomorrow, with a title at the claycourt International-level tournament in Strasbourg.

The Russian reached the final by defeating fifth seed and three-time Strasbourg champion Anabel Medina Garrigues, and then went on all the way to the title with a 7-5 6-1 win over first-time WTA finalist Kristina Barrois.

The Internationaux de Strasbourg title is the 22nd singles title in Sharapova’s career and her first on red clay. The world No.13 is $37,000 richer now.

In the first round of the French Open, No.12 seed Sharapova will play Russian qualifier Ksenia Pervak, ranked 110th in the world. Four-time French Open champion Justine Henin could be Sharapova’s opponent in the third round. (photo: sr_cranks)

Second seed Elena Dementieva suffered her third loss in five matches of the European clay season, falling to Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova at the Polsat Warsaw Open. Maria Sharapova’s warm-up for the French Open is doing good, as the Russian lost only three games to advance at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, another tournament played this week.

Dementieva lost her second-round match at the Premier-level event to the world No.100 Pironkova 7-5 4-6 6-4 after almost three hours of play. The Russian was twice a break up in the deciding set, but didn’t manage to use that advantage to the full and handed Pironkova her fourth Top 10 win.

Sharapova was made to work in her first match at the International-level event in Strasbourg, but the top seed had a straightforward victory in the second round, defeating qualifier Dia Evtimova 6-3 6-0. Sharapova’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be world No.81 Julia Goerges, who upset No.6 seed Sybille Bammer 6-1 7-6(6). (photo: Stephane Martinache)

A little more than a week ago, at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Maria Sharapova lost the first match of her return from elbow injury. The Russian's her next appearance, which was today at the Strasbourg International, brought the Russian a much needed victory, and her first one since March and Indian Wells.

The top-seeded Sharapova fought for two hours and 14 minutes to defeat world No.67 Regina Kulikova 6-3 3-6 6-1 and advance to the second round of the $220,000 event in France.

"Regina has a similar game to mine – big first serve, hits pretty big and attacks. I played well enough to win. It was a high-quality match, especially for a first round," said three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who is hoping to use the Strasbourg tournament to tune up for the French Open. (source: BBC, photo: Stephane Martinache)

France’s Aravane Rezai won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, defeating world No.84 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-6(2) 6-1.

Both Rezai and Hradecka were unseeded, and both only dropped one set each en route to the final.

The 75th-ranked Rezai rallied from 5-3 down in the opening set and even saved two set points down 6-5 to push it to a tiebreak, where she prevailed easily, 7-2. Rezai’s serve was broken right away at the beginning of the second set, but since then she won six consecutive games to win her first title in her third singles final.

The 22-year-old Rezai has become the first French player to win the singles title in Strasbourg, as well as the lowest ranked player to win the tournament. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Getty Images via Yahoo)

Top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, who was aiming for her fourth Strasbourg title and third consecutive there, pulled out from the claycourt event due to a lower back injury.

Medina Garrigues lost the first set 6-4 to Kristina Barrois of Germany, and then withdrew from that second-round match. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues won her third title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg beating Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-0.

Sixth-seeded Medina Garrigues faced eight break points in the first set, and fifth-seeded Srebotnik broke her twice to take early control. In the second set, both players lost serve three times, but Medina Garrigues was better in the tiebreaker. The Spaniard then absolutely dominated in the deciding set.

Medina Garrigues has eight career titles. The one she won on Saturday in Strasbourg is her first since winning that same tournament last year. (source: ESPN, photo via Yahoo)

Former world No.4 Jelena Dokic, currently ranked 318th, which is by the way good, won two back-to-back titles at challengers – Florence and Caserta – but today her run has ended. Dokic, who received a wildcard for the Tier III tournament in Strasbourg, lost in the first round. World No.71 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland defeated her 6-4 6-2. (image via Great Tennis Photos)

World No.21 Tatiana Golovin has withdrawn from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Internationaux de Strasbourg, and from her home Grand Slam, Roland Garros.

It's a pity, Golovin skipped Roland Garros last year too, the reason was an ankle injury. This year, she has withdrawn, presumably, because of a failure to recover completely from surgery — she had to remove a cyst from her hip. Well, at least Tati has a boyfriend to lick her wounds.

At this week’s Qatar Telecom German Open, Golovin lost in the first round, to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The next tournament the Frenchwoman should be playing is the International Women's Open in Eastbourne. (via Women Who Serve, photo: Getty Images)