Mona Barthel claimed her first Premier title at the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris, beating top seed Sara Errani in the final, while on the other side of the globe Maria Kirilenko celebrated her first title since 2008, surviving Sabine Lisicki in an epic PTT Pattaya Open final.

Unseeded at the tournament, Barthel eliminated fifth seed Roberta Vinci in the second round, third seed Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals, and in the last match the German was ahead in each set, but always struggled to close them out as Errani clawed back, from 3-5 to 5-5  in the first and from 2-5 to 5-5 in the second, before succumbing 7-5 7-6(4).

Barthel is projected to rise to a new career-high ranking of No.28. Here's what Errani said of her opponent, who hit 53 winners (50 unforced errors) to her 16 winners (18 unforced errors):

Mona serves so well, plays so well from the baseline and physically moves so well – I just couldn't beat her today.

In doubles, however, Errani had a reason to celebrate. As part of the No.1-seeded doubles team, with Roberta Vinci she routed No.2 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Liezel Huber in the final 6-1 6-1.

Meanwhile in Thailand, Maria Kirilenko improved on her last year's performance at the PTT Pattaya Open. Playing the 2012 final against Daniela Hantuchova, Kirilenko lost after three hours and 14 minutes, but this time, after multiple swings in the match, the second-seeded Kirilenko went all the way against fifth seed Sabine Lisicki for a 5-7 6-1 7-6(1) victory. Initially, Lisicki led 7-5 1-0, almost 7-5 2-0, before Kirilenko won 11 of the next 13 games and earned two match points, but Lisicki stole the momentum and won four straight games to lead again, 6-5 in the third set. Kirilenko then broke her at love and decisively won the tiebreak. Total match time: two hours and 37 minutes. (photos: Ralf Reinecke)

It's been almost three months since I last updated the WTA Childhood Photos series. Now I'd like to show you how the emerging tennis star Mona Barthel looked from the days she was a baby to the period of her first tennis trophies.

Mona, now 22, started playing tennis at the age of three because her older sister Sunna played, but even though her sister did reach the professional level, a shoulder injury stopped her career.

Fortunately, Mona's progress is on the right track. After making a Top 100 debut in 2010, in January 2011 Mona won her first WTA title in Hobart and and reached a career-high ranking of No.31 on April 30th that year.  Read more »

For the sixth year in a row, Women's Tennis Blog is using the relaxed off-season period to review the on-court styles of our top players and brands. Of course, who else will kick off the series than our fashion darling Maria Sharapova. Let's see what the Russian wore in the year that saw her complete a Career Slam and win the Olympic silver.

In 2012, the Nike-clad Sharapova continued her subdued sporty femininity. Glamour, layers, frills and popping details have not described the Russian's tennis style since last year. Of course, Masha is still the most glamorous WTA player, but on court that glamour is toned down now, fitting the simple, everyday wearable category. There still are details in her designs, but you have to look deeper to find them.

White with electric green accents was Sharapova's color combination for the Australian sun and it transcended to the indoor hardcourt of Coubertin Stadium in Paris.

At Indian Wells, the 25-year-old wore a blue dress with light blue scales on the sides and in the back, matching the color of the straps.

*Visit the full list of retrospections of WTA players' yearly outfits*

Very ordinary red tanks followed for four tournaments, paired with simple white and black skirts. Read more »

The 27th-ranked Angelique Kerber scored her first Top 10, more precisely a Top 5, victory against top seed Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals of the Open GDF Suez, and after beating Yanina Wickmayer in the semis 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4, Kerber completed the career milestone week by overcoming second seed and home force Marion Bartoli in the final to win her first title on the WTA Tour. It's not that the early rounds were easy for the ninth-seeded Kerber. First she faced an always-tricky Lucie Safarova and in the second round Monica Niculescu pushed her to 6-3 4-6 6-3.

Bartoli is world No.7, so the victory in the title match is Kerber's second against a Top 10 player. But it wasn't a simple task, as the two fought for two hours and 39 minutes until Kerber won 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3. The first set contained four service breaks, two on each side, and Bartoli was 100% successful on break point conversions, but Kerber came out strong and took the set in a tiebreak. The German was on a roll until 5-2 in the second set, when Bartoli took charge and won five straight games to take the match to the third set. Kerber then again established a lead and this time she kept it alive until the final point to her advantage. (photo: Upali Wickramasinghe)

After surviving a set and 4-1 down in the second set, and then 5-2 down in the third set of her Paris quarterfinal against Roberta Vinci, Marion Bartoli overcame her semifinal challenge against Klara Zakopalova, coming back from 4-2 down in the first set to win the set in the tiebreak, before bageling her opponent in the second set and winning the match 7-6(3) 6-0. Bartoli is now in her first ever final at the Open GDF Suez and obviously it means a lot to her to go that far at her home tournament.

Angelique Kerber, who ousted top seed Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, will be Bartoli's opponent in the title match, having defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4. Note that Kerber has played four tournaments this season and this is her third semifinal in 2012, after Auckland and Hobart. (photo: Lawntennisnews)