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)

Rumors about the relationship between Victoria Azarenka and Redfoo have been out there for a while, especially after her recent breakup with Sergei Bubka. In a telephone interview for ESPN, with Vika by his side, Redfoo talked his love of tennis and music and in the end the interviewer was direct about whether he and Vika were officially a couple, and here's what Redfoo answered:

Yeah, I think so. It’s pretty out there. I hope so! We don’t talk about it that much, but if I saw her with another dude, I wouldn’t be happy about it. We just try to do our thing and have fun and laugh.

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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 »

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.

Ever since her mother Oracene introduced her to the Australian underwear brand Berlei, Serena Williams has been their faithful customer and now she’s become their ambassador. Their sports bras have been one of Serena’s best clothing discoveries and she’s been wearing exclusively them underneath her Nike apparel for eight years, as the "first bra she’s seen that’s made for real breasts".

Apparently, Nike doesn’t mind that Serena finds Berlei bras more suitable than theirs, actually, Nike dyes them to match their outfits. Now she will join the development process to help create personalized high-performance bras to match her tennis dresses.

Another WTA star is the face of an underwear brand – Caroline Wozniacki for Danish JBS – while some players prefer to be underwear-free, like Marta Domachowska for the February 2013 cover of Polish Playboy. (source: The Slice)