Maria Sharapova has had a very good stretch on clay and extended it today with a 7-5 7-5 victory over Christina McHale in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The Russian has won 17 of her last 19 matches on clay, and those wins include the 2011 Rome and 2012 Stuttgart titles.

Her opening match in Rome this year was a tricky affair, as the second-seeded Sharapova trailed in both sets, especially in the first set when she had to recover from a 4-1 deficit, overcoming numerous unforced errors. The victory came after two hours and 12 minutes. Read more »

Maria Sharapova got engaged to Sasha Vujacic in October 2010, and there was a long period of silence, no mention of the wedding. Finally, we have a new piece of information, revealing that the couple is supposedly planning to get married on November 10th, 2012, in Istanbul.

Maria and Sasha picked the Turkish metropolis probably because it's convenient for them, given that Sasha plays basketball in Istanbul, while Maria's WTA Championships will take place October 23-28 in the city.

Maria and Sasha started dating later in 2009. (source: Beyond the Baseline, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Maria Sharapova came to Taiwan to play a charity exhibition match with fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva on Thursday. Sharapova had a glamorous arrival at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, was welcomed by screaming fans, and finished her journey successfully – with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Zvonareva at the Taipei Arena.

Both the players are now traveling to Tokyo for the $2,050,000 Toray Pan Pacific Open where Sharapova is seeded second and Zvonareva fourth. Sharapova has won the tournament two times, in 2005 and 2009.

E!News' TV presenter Marijana Rancic made a week-long profile of Sharapova during the US Open. She interviewed the Russian about fashion, especially her collections with Cole Haan and Nike, about her fiancé Sasha Vujacic (Maria revealed she'd prefer a small wedding), about the popularity of her Facebook page, there is a mention of Sharapova's and Novak Djokovic's cooperation on the famous Head commercial, and a walk through Sharapova's favorite places in New York City. (source: Maria Sharapova's official website)

Justin Cohen, one of my tennis friends that I met thanks to my blog, attended the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and took a close picture of Maria Sharapova's hand adorned with a beautiful engagement ring reportedly worth $250.000. The picture was taken after she won the Cincinnati title with a hard-fought victory over Jelena Jankovic in the final.

We learned about Sharapova's engagement to LA Lakers basketball player Sasha Vujacic last October and our first spotting of the huge ring was when the pair took the streets of LA. Any input on when the wedding will take place? During Wimbledon a commentator here was mentioning she would marry in an Orthodox church in Los Angeles in July, but apparently it was just a rumor.

One more photo of the ring after the jump. Read more »

Maria Sharapova will be on the cover of December 2010 issue of InStyle Russia. The magazine of course features more nice photos from the photo shoot and an interview with the tennis star.

It will be interesting to see what the bride-to-be is saying about the time she spends with her fiancé. Despite the engagement to Sasha Vujacic, marriage plans still do not overshadow Sharapova’s tennis objectives as the WTA Tour says, based on the interview, that Sharapova’s goal has always been to be the best in tennis and that will not change in 2011.

Besides life and tennis, Sharapova also talked about fashion, her love of beautiful clothes and photo shoots such as this one.