Maria Sharapova defeated Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 7-5 in a thrilling first match of the red group at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid.

The match started with an exchange of breaks. Then, the players held their serves until Sharapova took a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve for the first set, thanks to her brutal string of groundstrokes. Russia's world number six made use of her third set point to win the opening set 6-4.

In the second set Hantuchova won her first service game and then Sharapova handed her three break points with a series of errors. But the Russian didn’t give up, and aided by a few high-quality shots on top of her opponent’s unforced errors, Sharapova held her serve and broke Hantuchova for a 2-1 lead. Later on in the set the Russian had three match points on Hantuchova’s serve, but lost all the chances. Then, Sharapova served for the match, but when she thought she scored a victory on her fourth match point (the first one on her serve), Hantuchova challenged the call and was right! The match was not over yet! Hantuchova evened the result in the second set to 5-5. However, battling Sharapova wanted the victory as soon as possible, broke her opponent right away, and then won the second set 7-5 using her fifth match point.

Top-seeded Justine Henin claimed an opening round-robin victory at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid defeating seventh-seeded Anna Chakvetadze 6-1 7-6(4).

The Belgian world number one quickly took the first set, in which she had two break points and made use of both. In the second set, both the players made two breaks (note that Chakvetadze realized both of her break points with Henin's double faults). Eventually, there was a tie-break which Henin won 7-4.

By the way, Justine was wearing make-up! That's new.

The season-ending Championships begin on Tuesday, November 6, and here’s what the order of play for the day one looks like:

From 18.00hrs (Madrid time, of course)

1. Justine Henin vs. Anna Chakvetadze
2. Maria Sharapova vs. Daniela Hantuchova (not before 20.00hrs)
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Ana Ivanovic

The 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships begins on Tuesday, and the round-robin draw has been announced today, so let's remind ourselves of the past champions of this tournament.

1971: Billie Jean King
1972: Chris Evert
1973: Chris Evert
1974: Evonne Goolagong
1975: Chris Evert Read more »

The draw for the 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships has been announced today in Madrid. There are two groups of four players, which play in a round-robin format. The leader of the yellow group is world number one Justine Henin, while Svetlana Kuznetsova leads the red group. Read more »

Venus Williams, originally in seventh place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships points standing, has been forced to withdraw. Williams suffered dizziness during the US Open earlier this year and has been told by doctors not to play in the November 6-11 Madrid event.

As you know, only eight singles players can compete for a share of the $3-million prize purse at the world’s richest annual women's sporting event. Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze had qualified before. In my previous post I wrote that Maria Sharapova didn’t qualify because Daniela Hantuchova won the Generali Ladies Linz title, but now that Venus Williams has pulled out of the tournament, both the Russian and the Slovakian will play in Madrid.

This will be Sharapova’s fourth and Hantuchova’s second appearance in singles at the Sony Ericsson Championships. Sharapova was a champion at the event in 2004 and has been a semifinalist each of the last two years.

World number seven Anna Chakvetadze is the sixth player to qualify for the season-ending Championships, which will take place in Madrid, Spain from November 6-11. This great achievement was expected from the Russian taking into account her fantastic 2007 season in which she won four singles titles (Hobart, 's-Hertogenbosch, Cincinnati, Stanford).

“I’m so excited to play in my first Sony Ericsson Championships,” said Chakvetadze. “I love the beautiful city of Madrid and I’m hoping to perform very well. This has been an amazing year for me, having reached the Top 5 in the world, and I am looking forward to finishing strongly in Madrid.”

Two more players can qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships and join Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, and Anna Chakvetadze. Those two players will probably be Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova. (photo via WTA Tour)

World number six Serena Williams is the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending Championships, after Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic. By reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Williams has achieved this feat for the seventh time in her career.

The Sony Ericsson Championships will take place in Madrid form November 6-11. It is the richest annual women's sporting event in the world which gathers the Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the season to battle it out for a share of the $3-million prize purse. And don't forget that from 2008 prize money will be even greater. (source: WTA Tour)