Jelena Jankovic recorded a 6-4 6-4 victory over sixth seed Samantha Stosur, favorite on paper, in the high-profile match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to wrap up the first round of the $795,707 tournament. Coming off two excellent results at the recent Premier-level Miami (semis) and Charleston (final), the world No.18 Jankovic displayed solid form against Stosur, whose recovery from a calf strain is still questionable.

The match started with Stosur's serve, and both players held up to 4-4, when Jankovic earned her first and only break point of the set, but it was enough for her to seal the deal, even though she did struggle to close the set, as she saved one break point, on her second set point she double-faulted, while the third chance she didn't waste. Jankovic was great on winning points when her first serve was in, winning 19 of 22.

In the second set Jankovic quickly built a 3-1 lead, and the break in the third game of the set proved to be crucial. Jankovic did have an opportunity to finish the match on Stosur's serve in the ninth game, leading 5-3, but Stosur fought off two match points, before Jankovic finally finished in the next game, after one hour and 36 minutes of play.

Next for Jankovic is Sabine Lisicki, whom she's played and defeated three time so far, but all the meetings were in 2009.

In other notable first-rounders, fifth seed Petra Kvitova barely won against Annika Beck (who was coming off the Katowice semis), scoring a 7-5 6-7(0) 6-3 victory by finishing the match with 110 points won to Beck's 109, while seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki fell to Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(6) 6-1. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Thanks to reader Frank Lambert, Women's Tennis Blog can share with you the pictures of pregnant Kateryna Bondarenko. The news of the Ukrainian tennis player's pregnancy appeared online some months ago, but now we have the photo proof. Apparently, we will very soon have another tennis baby. Just a month ago Belgian WTA legend Justine Henin gave birth to a baby girl.

The 26-year-old Kateryna got married in September 2011, to Kiev businessman Denis Volodko. She hasn't played on the Tour since losing to Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the 2012 US Open. Kateryna's highest singles ranking was No.29 and she's won one WTA title, the 2008 Birmingham. Read more »

Ana Ivanovic followed her successful weekend in Stuttgart, during which she scored great victories over Top 2 German WTA stars – world No.6 Angelique Kerber and world No.28 Mona Barthel – in the Fed Cup World Group Play-offs (even though the Serbian team eventually lost to Germany 2-3), with a good start at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament in the same city, also on indoor clay and also against a high-profile German player, this time Andrea Petkovic, who is trying to come to terms with injuries.

Ivanovic beat Petkovic 6-3 6-2 in the first-round match and will next face eighth seed Nadia Petrova, who beat German Dinah Pfizenmaier 7-6(2) 6-4. If Ivanovic gets past Petrova, which she managed to do in four of their last five meetings, three of which were on clay, she will have a potential clash with top seed Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. (photo: sr_cranks)

The sky's the limit for Maria Sharapova. The Russian trophy-winning and money-making machine has become the first ever Porsche's global endorser, signing a three-year deal with the German sports car manufacturer. The timing of the cooperation announcement couldn't be better, as the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament is on schedule this week and Sharapova won the title last year as well as a white Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet.

Buyers of the luxury car are predominantly men, but Sharapova's appeal, brand power and reputation are a perfect choice for any target audience and Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller considers the 26-year-old's profile and charisma an ideal fit for the company.

Porsche joins the long list of Sharapova's high-profile sponsors: Cole Haan, Evian, Head, Nike, Samsung, Tiffany & Co. and Tag Heuer.

At the 2013 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Sharapova is top seed and after a first-round bye she'll play the winner of the match between Mona Barthel or Lucie Safarova. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Two singles victories of Roberta Vinci, including the deciding one today, and one triumph of Sara Errani, ensured Italy’s place in the 50th anniversary Fed Cup final which will take place on November 2-3 in Italy.

The Fed Cup semifinal tie between Italy and the Czech Republic was extended to Monday and the team playing on home soil capitalized on the commanding 2-0 lead they earned on Saturday. Czech Petra Kvitova kept her country in the game with a victory over Sara Errani on Sunday, but Roberta Vinci battled past Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 to earn Italy a 3-1 triumph. After sealing the opening set and leading 2-0 in the second, Vinci handed the momentum to Safarova and allowed the Czech to serve for the second set at 5-3. Having missed that chance, Safarova forced a decider in the tiebreak. In the third set Vinci gave up a 2-0 lead but then broke serve to lead 5-3 and brought her team to victory on the third match point.

Italy’s opponent in the Fed Cup final will be Russia, whose team astonishingly recovered from a 0-2 deficit that pressured them after the first day of action against the Slovak Republic. (via Fed Cup)