INDIAN WELLS (California): Former champion and 10th seed Maria Sharapova of Russia was knocked out of the Indian Wells WTA tournament this morning, losing an error-strewn marathon to China's Zheng Jie 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Zheng, a surprise semifinalist at the Australian Open in January, broke Maria three times in the final set before clinching victory in just under three hours with a searing forehand winner that clipped the baseline.

PETALING JAYA: Come rain or shine, the weather did not deter the smooth flow and scheduling of the WTA
Malaysian Women's Open final as it came to a fitting climax. Russian Alisa Kleybanova beat compatriot and top seed Elena Dementieva to claim her first ever WTA title at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Club yesterday.

DUBAI: Marin Cilic, the sixth-seeded Australian Open semifinalist, became the latest in a long line of leading players to fall by the wayside. Cilic's 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 quarterfinal loss to Jurgen Melzer, the world No 31 from Austria, left only Novak Djokovic of the world's top 10 surviving in the US$2 million (RM6.8 million) Dubai Open here this morning.

Brilliant and clever though Melzer's performance was, the outcome extended the sequence of promotional blows for an event which usually contains all the leading names and has often won ATP World Tour popularity votes.

PETALING JAYA: Some people dream. Some people achieve. Some people, however, are simply deprived of either without any justification. It is very well documented that some people from around the world are made to suffer for no apparent reason.

Regrettably, yes ... but there's only so much these people do to improve the situation. However, the smallest thing can sometimes brandish the biggest significance.

Which is exactly why South African Chanelle Scheepers believes it is vital for people to do whatever they can to make the less fortunate feel more appreciated.

DUBAI: Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko overcame an early fright to beat France's Florent Serra 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 this morning in an error-strewn first-round battle at the Dubai Championships.

Sixth seed Marin Cilic had an easier time, thriving in the sweltering conditions to power past Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-4. Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had just won the first set 7-6 when his opponent, fellow Frenchman and last week's Marseille Open winner Michael Llodra, pulled out with a hamstring injury.

PETALING JAYA: The rain didn't hinder the flow of things at the WTA Tour Malaysia Open yesterday as there was little surprise in the qualifiers at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Club.

BOGOTA: Colombia's 2007 French Open junior finalist Mariana Duque Marino won her first WTA title here this morning as she beat fifth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 6-3.

The 20-year-old Colombian — ranked a lowly 143 in the world — was her country's first winner of the tournament since Fabiola Zuluaga won her third successive title in 2004.

DUBAI: Venus Williams retained her Dubai Championships crown by defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 7-5 in yesterday's final.

MARSEILLE: Top seed Robin Soderling had to battle for almost two hours to overcome Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4 and reach the quarterfinals of the Marseille Open this morning.

Swede Soderling only managed to create two break points, both of which he converted, against world No 69 Stakhovsky.

"I've always had good results in Marseille and I can remember I reached the final here in 2004," he added.

MARSEILLE: Holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga struggled for form in his first match since his Australian Open semifinal defeat before overcoming Josselin Ouanna 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 in the Marseille Open this morning. 

In Memphis, fourth-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany lost to Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the opening round of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. 

DUBAI: Israel's Shahar Peer is comfortable with the tight security surrounding her at the Dubai Championships and confident about her chances against top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the third round, she said this morning.

Shahar has been isolated from the other players for security reasons. Asked if it felt odd, she said: "No, I've got used to it ... it's pretty nice.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ayam A1 Junior Open is back! Sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM), the age-group tournament is scheduled for March 14-18 at the National Tennis Centre along Jalan Duta.

Tournament director Norman Woo is anticipating more entries this year including from neighbouring countries.

"We've invited several academies abroad including Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. They have showed positive signs of coming over for this year's tournament," said Norman.

PARIS: Germany's Andrea Petkovic ended French interest in the WTA Paris Indoor Open this morning by beating fifth-seeded Aravane Rezai to set up a quarterfinal clash with top seed Elena Dementieva of Russia.

PARIS: Russian Elena Dementieva lamented the absence of world No 1 Serena Williams after moving smoothly into the quarterfinals of the Paris Indoor Open this morning.

"It's very disappointing for the tournament because she is a great player," Elena said after defeating 18-year-old compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4.

PARIS: American teenager Melanie Oudin marched into the second round of the Paris Open with a 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Romania's Sorana Cirstea this morning.

In spite of a sore throat, the 18-year-old, who won both her singles matches in the United States' surprise Fed Cup victory over France at the weekend, was in sparkling form.

"I was playing really well at the weekend and I played really well today (this morning)," said Oudin, who enjoyed a dazzling run at last year's US Open when she reached the last eight.

PARIS: Eighth-seeded Elena Vesnina of Russia and Agnes Szavay of Hungary both reached the second round of the Open GDF Suez tournament this morning.

The 34th-ranked Agnes was leading 6-3, 1-0 against Olga Govortsova when the Belarus player retired, and the 29th-ranked Elena advanced 6-1, 6-4 against Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.

LONDON: Fed Cup holders Italy overcame two stern tests this morning to beat Ukraine 4-1 in Kharkiv and book their place in the semifinals where they will play the Czech Republic.

Russia will play the United States in the other semifinal. Former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic's poor form continued from Saturday as she lost her singles and doubles matches to hand Russia a 3-2 triumph over Serbia in Belgrade.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tennis fans wanting to watch Maria Kirilenko sweating it out at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort would be disappointed to learn that the Russian beauty may opt out from the WTA Malaysian Open scheduled Feb 23-28.

Mailsport learnt that Kirilenko, who turned 23 on Jan 25, has cited ‘busy schedule’ as the reason for not playing in the inaugural Malaysian tournament.

MELBOURNE: Andy Murray believes he is closing in on his maiden Grand Slam title, despite another disappointing straight sets defeat at the hands of Roger Federer in the Australian Open final yesterday.

As was the case when the pair met in the 2008 US Open decider Murray, who boasts an overall winning record against the Swiss champion, was unable to take a set as Federer won 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11).