World No.5 Maria Sharapova needed three sets to beat fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 for the Qatar Total Open title, but the important thing is she won and kept her perfect season intact as she extended her match record this year to 14-0.

This is Sharapova’s second title at Doha, previously she won the tournament in 2005. Also, it’s her 18th career title and second of the year following her triumph at the Australian Open last month.

The fourth-seeded Sharapova quickly took the first set against unseeded Zvonareva, but it was not to be another easy win for Sharapova. World No.27 Zvonareva dominated the second set thanks to just three unforced errors, but things completely turned against her in the third. Sharapova gained a quick break for a 1-0 lead and broke again at love in the third game. Zvonareva never recovered, winning a total of just eight points in the decisive set.

The 23-year-old Zvonareva played her second final of the season, and was trying for her sixth singles title.

Winning the Qatar Total Open, Sharapova earned $414,000, while Zvonareva took home $211,000. (via Sports Network)

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Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova will face each other in an all-Russian final at the Qatar Total Open in Doha on Sunday. Unseeded Zvonareva reached her second final of the year with a 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over China's Na Li, while Sharapova avenged her tough 2007 US Open loss to Agnieszka Radwanska with a 6-4 6-3 victory over the Polish teenager.

To win the semifinal match against China's Na Li, world No.27 Zvonareva battled back from a break down in both the second and third sets. Zvonareva, who has won five titles in Tier III events, will tomorrow play the biggest final of her career. Read more »

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Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to fifteenth seed Sybille Bammer 6-3 7-6(8) in the third round of the $2.5 million Qatar Total Open.

Kuznetsova, who was runner-up last year in Doha, had her chances to stay in the match. In the second set she had multiple set points, and also managed to save three match points.

The fourth Bammer's match point, which in the end closed out the match, was very tense. In the windy conditions the players struggled — Kuznetsova to stay in the match, Bammer to finally finish it – and three times their long rallies were interrupted by a flying paper. The two of them were very concentrated, and didn’t seem to be distracted by this, but the rallies were so tense and long and the fact it was on the match point was stressful to watch.

In the quarterfinals, Austria’s Sybille Bammer will play Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, who beat eleventh-seeded Dinara Safina. (photo via Getty Images)

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Ana Ivanovic beat world No.50 Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-1 to move into the third round of the Qatar Total Open, but the top seed’s victory was accompanied with what seemed to be quite a serious ankle injury.

At the moment Ivanovic was only two points from victory, she fell and twisted her ankle. The world number three lay on the court with tears in her eyes and the face expression that suggested she was in great pain. However, after receiving a medical timeout, Ivanovic decided to try to finish the match, and she was fortunate to be able to finish it very quickly.

Olga Govortsova seems to be bringing bad luck to her opponents. The Belorussian advanced to the second round as India's Sania Mirza retired with cramps.

It’s likely that Ana Ivanovic won’t continue her participation at the Qatar Total Open. If this happens, it would be a pity, as Ivanovic is top-seeded at a tournament for the first time in her career. But of course, it's more important to think in advance, and withdraw from the tournament in order not to risk making the injury even worse. (photo via Getty Images)

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Fifth seed Anna Chakvetadze lost 7-6(7) 6-4 in the second round of the $2.5 million Qatar Total Open to China's world No.29 Na Li.

This is Chakvetadze's second consecutive early exit from a tournament since winning the Open Gaz the France earlier this month. Chakvetadze was upset in the second round of the last week’s Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp when she lost to Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson. Read more »

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