Maria Sharapova squeezed past Samantha Stosur in a gruelling Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinal, in a match that was long and steady, mostly going with serve, where nuances decided the advantageous player.

Sharapova and Stosur were both solid in the first set, Stosur a bit more, and despite wasting two break opportunities, one of which was a set point at 5-4, in the tiebreak Stosur completed the task and took the first set.

The second set continued to go with serve until 3-3 and finally in the 19th game of the match Stosur stopped the pattern and broke Sharapova. However, that proved not to be the turning point, as the always-determined Sharapova complicated the matters and the tournament organizer's schedule plans. The fifth-seeded Stosur was serving for the match at 5-4, but Sharapova broke to level 5-5 and then we had another tiebreak in which the second-seeded Russian came out as a winner, considerably prolonging the match. Read more »

Less than two weeks after preventing Caroline Wozniacki from winning her third straight home tournament title in Copenhagen, German Angelique Kerber defeated the Dane again, this time in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Last year's Stuttgart runner-up Wozniacki, seeded sixth this time, went out in just 63 minutes, 6-1 6-2. Kerber was so solid that she didn't even face a single break point and won 92% on her first serve. Wozniacki, on the other hand, has some pretty embarrassing stats, like the 14% of second serve points won and just 8% of first serve return points won.

Kerber's opponent in the quarterfinals will be Petra Kvitova, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-2. Other quarterfinal pairs: Victoria Azarenka vs. Mona Barthel, Maria Sharapova vs. Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Li Na. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Because of a back injury, world No.12 Andrea Petkovic had been away from the competition from Sydney in the beginning of January to the last weekend's Fed Cup tie against Australia, which is full three months. And now playing only her second match in a WTA event since the comeback, the German suffered an ankle injury and retired in the second set against Victoria Azarenka.

The top-seeded Azarenka won the first set 6-2. With the score tied at 4-4 in the second set Petkovic twisted her right ankle and it swelled up immediately. Tomorrow's tests will show how great the damage is.

This Petkovic's quote assures me that she's staying positive:

It is definitely unlucky, but I will be back again.

After the three-month layoff Petkovic lost to Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-1 in the Fed Cup, then in the first round of Stuttgart she defeated Kristina Barrois 6-1 6-4, and now she's on the sidelines again. Hopefully the injury is not too serious! (photo: sr_cranks)

The 2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix champion Jelena Jankovic started her first round encounter with Caroline Wozniacki well, earning a 3-1 lead and even having chances to make it bigger, but the sixth-seeded Dane then went on a roll, won five straight games to take the first set 6-3. In the ninth game Jankovic had three break opportunities, but Wozniacki was not looking back and continued the momentum in the second set by breaking Jankovic's serve right away. The disappointment then struck, as Jankovic retired after 55 minutes of play.

Serbia lost another representative this Wednesday in Stuttgart, when Ana Ivanovic fell to wildcard Mona Barthel 7-5 7-6(4).

Another match was cut short by injury today – second seed Maria Sharapova advanced when Alize Cornet called it a day at 6-3 1-0 because of a right shoulder injury in their second round match. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Fila has recently released new photos they did with Vera Zvonareva. As you can see, there are plenty of colors in one place, but well matched. I'm a fan, especially for spring.

Fila is known for their classic apparel, and the biggest departure from the traditional Fila, as far as I remember, has been Kim Clijsters' Monica Seles-inspired outfit. But seeing these Zvonareva's clothes, I can conclude that Fila is testing new grounds. Do you like the new Fila? Read more »