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)

Don't they remind you of Shakira and Beyoncé in "Beautiful Liar"? Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko stunningly pulled off a J Lo look, enjoying their time in glittery clothes away from the sweat of the gym and tennis courts. The photo was taken in Pattaya City, where Hantuchova, the 2011 and 2012 Pattaya champion, will start her pursuit of a hat-trick with the first-round encounter with Olga Puchkova tomorrow. In last year's final, Hantuchova defeated Kirilenko 6-7(7) 6-3 6-3.

Hantuchova shared the photo on Facebook, saying:

.. and this is how we would like to dress… which one u guys like better?

Here's hoping that Fabio Fognini and Alex Ovechkin won't accidentally switch them?

All the seeded players in action at the PTT Pattaya Open on Tuesday advanced in straight sets: Maria Kirilenko, Sorana Cirstea, Sabine Lisicki and Heather Watson. Top seed Ana Ivanovic was saved by the rain which transferred the match to Wednesday while her opponent Ayumi Morita was leading 6-3 5-7 2-1, after Ivanovic had recovered from the verge of defeat at 2-5 in the second set.

World No.20 Daniela Hantuchova has retained her perfect record at the PTT Pataya Open in Thailand by beating Maria Kirilenko 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 in the final to win back-to-back titles at the tournament. Kirilenko sweated her way to the final, with more than nine and a half hours on court, and even though the following fact won't be remembered for long, Kirilenko was the first to take a set off Hantuchova in the Slovak's second participation in the event.

En route to her fifth career title and first since last year's Pattaya, the third-seeded Hantuchova defeated Nungnadda Wannasuk 6-2 6-0, Urszula Radwanska 6-3 6-2, seed No.8 Vania King 7-6(7) 6-4, Su-Wei Hsieh 6-4 6-1 and finally the fourth-seeded Kirilenko. Top seed at the tournament, Vera Zvonareva, had to retire in the quarterfinals because of a left hip injury. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

World No.32 Daniela Hantuchova followed her upset of top seed and twice defending champion Vera Zvonareva, with a convincing 6-0 6-2 victory over Sara Errani in the PTT Pattaya Open final. The fourth-seeded Hantuchova converted six of her 13 opportunities to break the Italian and clinched her first title in almost four years.

Hantuchova’s previous singles trophies include Indian Wells 2002 and 2007, and her latest prior to today’s in Thailand, Linz 2007.

As for the 44th-ranked Errani, she won two WTA titles in 2008 (Palermo and Portoroz), and this is the third final she has lost. (photo AP via Yahoo)

Twice defending champion and top seed Vera Zvonareva suffered a straight sets defeat to Daniela Hantuchova in the semifinals of the PTT Pattaya Open. To make matters worse for Zvonareva, the match point that Hantuchova converted came when Zvonareva was penalized for swearing (after having been warned for smashing a racquet).

The 7-6(3) 6-4 victory has enabled the fourth-seeded Hantuchova to be one match way from her first title since Linz 2007. Her last obstacle will be eighth seed Sara Errani.

The final at the Open GDF Suez in Paris will feature seed No.1 Kim Clijsters, who will become WTA No.1 on Monday, and fourth seed and world No.18 Petra Kvitova. Clijsters defeated Kaia Kanepi 6-1 7-5 in the semifinals, while Kvitova cruised past Bethanie Mattek Sands 6-2 6-0.

Both Clijsters and Kvitova have already clinched a title this season: Clijsters won the Australian Open, while Kvitova won the Brisbane International. So far they have faced each other two times, both matches were in 2010, and Clijsters was victorious on both occasions, losing a total of just five games. (photo: Stephane Martinache)