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)

Was Dinara Safina inspired my recent updates of the players' childhood pictures series when I added super cute photos of Samantha Stosur and Sara Errani last week? The Russian shared a number of family pictures on Twitter, including this gorgeous photo of herself. That face expression is so Dinara!

There are also many photos of her elder brother Marat when he was a kid and young photos of their parents, mother Raouza Islanova and father Michail.

Reminder: Three years ago Women's Tennis Blog showed you some photos of little Dinara and her family and also an adorable video of 3-year-old Dinara playing tennis.

Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva are in Taipei for their Thursday exhibition and both commented on the WTA schedule, now that the season is slowly approaching the end. The two Russians have opposing views: while Sharapova is satisfied, Zvonareva could use more rest, believing that the current schedule can be exhausting at times, thus provoking injuries.

Here's what the world number two Sharapova said:

(The schedule) is so much better than it was years ago. We finish two or three weeks before the men do. You can say that's nothing but it's huge in our sport, it gives us more time to take a breather whereas before after the season you could maybe take a week off. Now you can take two weeks off and not feel guilty about it.

The fourth-ranked Zvonareva would like to have more flexibility and choice:

With this kind of schedule we have to play every single weekend and sometimes you feel good but sometimes you don't feel good but you still push yourself hard and at the end of the day you could get sick or get injured.

Zvonareva added that there are players who want to play more and those that want to play less, but that it is important to discuss and find balance. My impression is that more players would side with Zvonareva. If it's difficult for me to follow all the events as a blogger, I can't even imagine how difficult it is to play so much and travel all the time. (source: Reuters, photos: sr_cranks)

Just a day after top seed Francesca Schiavone exited the Hanson Korea Open in the first round, second-seeded Marion Bartoli fell in the second round to Vania King 6-3 7-5.

Seventeen double faults and first serve percentage of 43 marked Bartoli's game and those weaknesses handed King almost half of the points on Bartoli's serve. The world No.98 King scored her first Top 10 victory.

King's opponent in the quarterfinals of the Hansol Korea Open will be Klara Zakopalova, who upset seventh-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-1. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

While the talks of Serena Williams’ outrage in the US Open final are still very much alive, and while a portion of the public believes her behavior is setting a bad example for the young tennis lovers, the American champion is appointed UNICEF's international Goodwill Ambassador especially dedicated to helping children.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake welcomed Serena to the family by saying: "Serena Williams isn't just a world tennis champion, she is a champion for children".

The 13-time Grand Slam singles titlist will use her popularity to support UNICEF's mission to provide good education for vulnerable children through the Schools for Africa program and the upcoming Schools for Asia initiatives.

Williams' first work with UNICEF was in Ghana in 2006. Also, along with the Hewlett Packard company, Serena opened a school in Matooni, Kenya in 2008. (photo via WTA Tour)

Top seed Francesca Schiavone lost in the opening round of the Hansol Korea Open to Vera Dushevina. It is actually Dushevina’s third victory over Schiavone in their four matches, but the first one in straight sets.

The world No.8 Schiavone, 57 places higher in the WTA rankings than Dushevina, lost the first set in a tiebreak 7-6(4) and succumbed in the second set 6-2.

The highest seed at the tournament is now No.2 Marion Bartoli, who defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2 6-2 in the first round and will play Vania King in the second. Bartoli won their last two meetings, including this year in Brisbane 6-1 6-2. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

WTA Tour revealed a behind-the-scenes video of Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams shooting the "Strong is Beautiful" campaign. The result of their modeling work can be seen here.

(click on the image above to watch the video)

By winning the 2011 US Open title, Samantha Stosur achieved a great thing for her career and for her home country of Australia, which is now giving back to its champion. The 27-year-old received a homecoming celebration in Gold Cost, her city of residence, and was handed keys to the city as a special honor.

Stosur used the opportunity to confirm participation at her home tournament of Brisbane International in January 2012, where she hopes to bring her US Open form. Then she will head to a quest for the Australian Open trophy.

It is a very exciting time for me and it is great to be able to come home and share what has been a huge achievement with my family and friends in Queensland. I don't get the chance to get home often so to have this time is very special.