Sports - Maria Sharapova #7: Because she`s reeking of talent and sex appeal! - Page 2

The Daywalker · 04-25-2008, 07:16 PM

Oh now you can tell that Domi and Iveta know they are hot

I LOVE that pic with Anna biting her lip giving us that sly, flirtatious smile.

I would be petrified of Team USA if the Williams Sisters were playing. They only beat themselves (rarely) or fall due to injury. Team Russian should cakewalk that matchup.

**Hot Rod** · 04-26-2008, 09:46 PM

Here`s an update from today`s Fed Cup matches.

First of all, Anna played in the first singles match, where she defeated Vania King 6-4, 7-5. It was a tougher match than expected for Anna, but with the way she has been playing lately, a win`s a win. So good job by Anna in helping Team Russia go up 2-0 against Team USA.

Meanwhile in the other ties, Italy and Ukraine are tied at 1-1. Alona defeated Karin Knapp 6-3, 6-3. Very good win there for Alona. Unfortunately we were deprived of an all hotties matchup with Flavia unable to play due to a groin strain.

I haven`t heard any news on whether she`ll be able to play tomorrow, but usually any groin injury is pretty tricky. Also Serbia and Slovakia went up 2-0 in their ties thanks wins by Domi and Jelena. Unfortunately Ana was unable to play due to a virus.

There`s a chance of her playing in the doubles match, but with the way the tie is going, she might not be needed to play.

So that`s the news from today`s Fed Cup matches. Anyway here are some pics of Anna.

Good job Anna.

The Daywalker · 04-27-2008, 07:22 AM

Anna's confidence is definitely in the toilet. Each win should bring that back up abit, but as a top 5 player, she expects to play her best and beat most players, so this horrible run for her has to be really getting to her.

BTW, doesn't it look like the coach is looking elsewhere?

**Hot Rod** · 04-27-2008, 03:26 PM

It`s pretty likely that he is.

Earlier today, Vera Z surprisingly got the call to play in the first reverse singles match, where she defeated Vania King 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. It was a tougher match than expected, but Vera did a good job of rebounding after losing the first set.

Vera`s win clinched the tie and a berth to the finals for Team Russia. Elena played in the last two matches and unfortunately went 0-2 as she was upset by Ahsha Rolle 3-6, 4-6 and then she and Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the doubles match to Vania King and Liezel Huber 6-7(3), 4-6. Even though the matches were meaningless, still it`s disappointing that Elena couldn`t get a win in at least one of them.

So it`s on to the Fed Cup finals again for Team Russia where they will play Spain in September. It is possible that Masha could play in the finals. So we`ll have to keep an eye on that.

In the other ties involving some of our favorite hotties, Slovakia completes a sweep of Uzbekistan 5-0, thanks in part to Domi, who defeated Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6(9), 6-4. Another good tough win there for Slovakia`s cutest star.

It`s great to see her continue her good play and picking up the slack with Dani out. Also Ana made her long awaited return to the court in the first reverse singles match, where she defeated Nika Ozegovic 7-5, 6-1 to clinch the tie for Serbia. Good win there for Ana.

This is a nice start to the clay court season for her. Meanwhile the Czech Republic defeated Israel 3-2 in their tie thanks mainly to Iveta, who upset Shahar Peer in the first reverse singles match and then teamed up with Kveta Peschke to the clinch the tie with a win in the doubles match. Great job there by Iveta of coming through for the team.

I`m also glad to see her continue her good play. Unfortunately it wasn`t all good news this weekend for a couple of our favorite hotties. The Bondarenko sisters got the call to play in both the singles matches and unfortunately Alona and Katerina were defeated in both matches, which clinched the tie for Italy. Obviously tough losses for Alona and Katerina, however i think this experience will help them. I think that the Ukraine has a lot of potential to be one of the best teams outside of Team Russia and i wouldn`t be surprised to see them move up the Fed Cup ladder in the next couple of years.

So that`s the story with the Fed Cup ties this weekend. The ladies return to tournament play this week at the ECM Prague Open. In fact here is the draw for it:

Zvonareva Vera [RUS] (1) vs. Qualifier
Shaughnessy Meghann [USA] vs. Rybáriková Magdalena [SVK] (WC)
Vinci Roberta [ITA] vs. Pliskova Kristyna [CZE] (WC)
Craybas Jill [USA] vs. Knapp Karin [ITA] (5)

Srebotnik Katarina [SLO] (4) vs. Meusburger Yvonne [AUT]
Qualifier vs. Qualifier
Arvidsson Sophia [SWE] vs. Benešová Iveta [CZE]
Amanmuradova Akgul [UZB] vs. Krajicek Michaella [NED] (7)

Kanepi Kaia [EST] (8) vs. Sprem Karolina [CRO]
Pliskova Karolina [CZE] (WC) vs. Qualifier
Dzehalevich Ekaterina [BLR] vs. Poutchek Tatiana [BLR]
Kvitová Petra [CZE] vs. Azarenka Victoria [BLR] (3)

Zakopalova Klara [CZE] vs. Errani Sara [ITA]
Dushevina Vera [RUS] vs. Muller Martina [GER]
Qualifier vs. Pironkova Tsvetana [BUL]
Lapushchenkova Anna [RUS] vs. Peer Shahar [ISR] (2)

Not a bad draw for Iveta and Vera Z. This is a great opportunity for Vera to get her first title in nearly a couple of years. Hopefully she can make it happen. Also i hope that Iveta can continue her good play of late with a nice run in front of the hometown fans.

Lastly Tati makes her long awaited return this week in the ITF
Open Gaz de France in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. I`m so glad that Tati will finally be back on the court. Hopefully she`s feeling much better now and can make a nice run in front of the hometown fans.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches.

jonspeaks22 · 04-28-2008, 05:16 PM

Shes a very talented young women, if she was more consistent she would be very dominant. Also being good looking doesn't hurt at all, really exciting to watch her play

**Hot Rod** · 04-29-2008, 12:38 PM

Welcome to the thread jonspeaks22.

Glad that you decided to join us here. I hope that you`ll be back here regularly. We need some more Masha fans here.

Tomorrow Tati makes her long awaited return to the court against Aurelie Vedy in the Open Gaz de France. I hope that she will do well tomorrow.

Anyway here are some new pics of Masha in Amelia Island and New York City and Dani at the Slovakia Fed Cup matches a couple of days ago.

Masha with her mom Yelena on her birthday

Here`s Masha with her parents, Yuri and Yelena.

**Hot Rod** · 05-03-2008, 09:06 AM

Here`s the first update in a few days.

In Prague, Vera Z has made it to the finals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Katarina Srebotnik. Good win there for Vera. Tomorrow she`ll play Victoria Azarenka, who is featured prominantly in the party pics from Miami with Elena and Anna, in the finals. Hopefully the fourth time will be the charm for Vera. I would love to see her finally win a title.

Meanwhile in France, Tati won her first match in a few months on Wednesday, but sadly was defeated by Maret Ani on Thursday 7-5, 6-7(2), 2-6.

Obviously it`ll take some time for Tati to work her way back to form. Still i`m glad that she`s finally back and able to play.

Also here`s an article regarding Masha and the WTA:

LONDON (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova hit out at the ruling body of women’s tennis (WTA) on Friday for making her take part in a publicity shoot on the eve of the Italian Open.

“I want all my fans to know that the WTA Tour is forcing me and several of the other top players to do a four-hour commercial shoot for WTA Tour marketing materials,” she said ahead of the tournament which begins on May 12.

“They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Rome tournament after flying 12 hours from LA,” the Russian added on her Web site (Official Website for Maria Sharapova).

“I have set my own personal rules when it comes to doing shoots and I never do shoots before tournaments because they are mentally draining and I want to just focus on my tennis.

“Now the WTA is telling me if I don’t do this shoot they will fine me over $300,000. As you can see the WTA Tour loves to fine players,” said the Australian Open champion.

“To be honest, I would love to do this and help promote the tour as much as possible, but to force me to do this shoot the day before a Tier I tournament is just not right.”

The WTA insisted players were aware of their obligations.

“Players have many obligations both on and off the court, and what is being asked of players in Rome is in the rules,” a WTA spokesman said in a statement.

I have to say that i agree with Masha. I understand the WTA needing her involvement in the publicity, but at the same time, they should`ve scheduled it in at a better time. Plus this crap about fining her is ridiculous.

So that`s the latest update with some of our favorite hotties. Here are some pics of Tati, Vera, Ana, and Dani.

Tati looks very lovely in her new outfit, which she will wear at the French Open.

It`s nice to see Lacoste giving her another nice outfit. They`ve put out some good ones for her this year.

Ana looks very gorgeous.

**Hot Rod** · 05-04-2008, 10:40 AM

Eariler today the fourth time proved to be the charm for Vera Z as she defeated Victoria Azarenka 7-6(2), 6-2 to win the Prague Open. Great job by Vera to win her first title in nearly a couple of years.

She has played well this year and it was only a matter of time before she would win a title and i`m glad that it happened today. Vera now joins Masha, Ana, Makiri, Anna, Elena, Flavia and the Bondarenko sisters in the hotties winner circle so far this year. Hopefully Dani, Domi, Nikki, Tati and Alize can get a title or two soon.

It`s been a while since we`ve heard anything about Nastya, but here`s a new article regarding her and someone new in her life:

Former World No.2 Myskina Has First Child

MOSCOW, Russia - Russian tennis pioneer Anastasia Myskina, who has been out of action on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for nearly a year now, became a first-time mother on Monday, April 28, 2008.

After missing most of last season with a left foot injury, Myskina announced she was pregnant, and on Monday afternoon in Moscow she gave birth to a son, Zhenya. She has not made any announcements on whether or not she will return to the Tour.

Although there has been strong Russian talent prior to this decade, most of the country's first big breakthroughs can be attributed to Myskina. The Muscovite, who turns 27 this summer, became the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title at the French Open in 2004, defeating Elena Dementieva in the first all-Russian Grand Slam final. She was also the first Russian to break into the Top 5 since the inception of computer rankings in 1975 (she went all the way to No.2, which has only been surpassed by Maria Sharapova, and equalled by Svetlana Kuznetsova).

Myskina has 10 career Tour singles titles, including Roland Garros in 2004 and two Tier Is at Moscow in 2003 and 2004. She also holds five Tour doubles titles, including one Tier I trophy at Moscow in 2004 (with Vera Zvonareva). She was also a member of Russia's first victorious Fed Cup teams, in 2004 and 2005.

Congrats to Nastya on her new baby.

Now she`s officially a MILF. I`ve been hearing rumors about her pregancy, but didn`t believe them until i saw a recent pic of her a while back. I`m still holding out a small glimmer of hope that Nastya will make at least one final return to the court. BTW i heard that Zhenya has some size on him, which means that he`s likely going to be a hockey player. Of course i`m sure Chris is hoping that he`ll be the first Russian born star at the U.

Anyway the next stop for the ladies on the clay court tour is Berlin for the German Open, where Ana is the defending champion. She will be returning to defend her title along with Makiri, Domi, Anna, Nikki, Elena, Carolina, Tati, Jelena and the Bondarenko sisters. I`ll have both the singles and doubles draws later today. In the meantime, here are some pics of Vera from her title win today and some new pics of Makiri in Warsaw, where she played at an exhibition tournament in the last few days.

Great job Vera

I wished that they would`ve given her a much better looking trophy.

]

The Daywalker · 05-04-2008, 03:19 PM

Wow, Ana looks great. I might have to take her home to meet mom

Vera's trophy is rather... suggestive.

**Hot Rod** · 05-04-2008, 11:35 PM

I agree with you on that Chris. I don`t know whether or not if it`s intentional, but it does stir up a lot of discussion.

Anyway as promised eariler by me, here is the draw for the German Open:

(1)HENIN, Justine BEL vs BYE
PARMENTIER, Pauline FRA vs QUALIFIER
KNAPP, Karin ITA vs QUALIFIER
wc-GOERGES, Julia GER vs (13)SAFINA, Dinara RUS
---
(11)RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL vs wc-KERBER, Angelique GER
QUALIFIER vs QUALIFIER
SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA vs CORNET, Alize FRA
(5)WILLIAMS, Serena USA vs BYE
---
(3)KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS vs BYE
QUALIFIER vs QUALIFIER
GARBIN, Tathiana ITA vs MEDINA GARRIGUES, Anabel ESP
CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK vs (15)BONDARENKO, Alona UKR
---
(12)VAIDISOVA, Nicole CZE vs DULKO, Gisela ARG
WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN vs GOLOVIN, Tatiana FRA
AZARENKA, Victoria BLR vs DELLACQUA, Casey AUS
(6)CHAKVETADZE, Anna RUS vs BYE
---
(7)DEMENTIEVA, Elena RUS vs BYE
BONDARENKO, Kateryna UKR vs PASZEK, Tamira AUT
GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR vs QUALIFIER
DUSHEVINA, Vera RUS vs (9)SCHNYDER, Patty SUI
---
(16)PETROVA, Nadia RUS vs SREBOTNIK, Katarina SLO
KIRILENKO, Maria RUS vs VESNINA, Elena RUS
PENG, Shuai CHN vs QUALIFIER 46
(4)JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB vs BYE
---
(8)BARTOLI, Marion FRA vs BYE
RAZZANO, Virginie FRA vs SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE
wc-MULLER, Martina GER vs YAN, Zi CHN
SEQUERA, Milagros VEN vs (10)SZAVAY, Agnes HUN
---
(14)PEER, Shahar ISR vs wc-LISICKI, Sabine GER
BAMMER, Sybille AUT vs KRAJICEK, Michaella NED
MAURESMO, Amelie FRA vs REZAI, Aravane FRA
(2)IVANOVIC, Ana SRB vs BYE

This is a very interesting looking draw with a lot of first round matchups between some of our favorite hotties. One of the more intriguing matchups is the match between Alona and Domi. Both ladies has been playing very well lately. Another intriguing match is the one between Makiri and Elena. Makiri is the favorite in the match, but we can`t rule out Elena, who has been playing much better as well. Also Ana obviously has the most favorable looking draw out of our favorite hotties. If she can play well constantly, then i can see her reaching the finals. So the action gets underway tomorrow with the Alona-Domi and Makiri-Elena matches. Also Alize will play Francesca Schiavone and in another all hotties first round matchup, Tati will go up against Caroline. The Tati-Caroline match looks pretty intriguing as well with both ladies returning after recent injuries. I really hope that our favorite hotties will do well in Berlin.

Anyway here are some pics of the beauties practicing in Berlin.

Nice to see more pokies from Kat.

Alona in those shorts =

and

**Hot Rod** · 05-05-2008, 03:30 PM

Here`s the first update from Berlin. We got a few all hotties matchups today.

First of all, Caroline defeated Tati 7-6(4), 6-2. Good win there for the very cute Caroline.

This is a nice return for her after the layoff. As for Tati, she had her chances in the first set, but unfortunately couldn`t take advantage of them. After that it was all downhill for her. I think it was a better performance from Tati than expected. It`s going to take some time for her to get back to good form.

Meanwhile in another all hotties matchup, Alona and Domi had a tight one in their match with Alona coming out with the win 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(9). Very good win there for Alona.

She really had to battle back in the third set. As for Domi, she rebounded nicely with a very impressive second set and had a couple of match points up 5-4 and 6-5, but unfortunately couldn`t convert either of them, which ultimately costed her the match. Obviously this is a tough loss for Domi. I hope that she won`t let it linger.

Alona wasn`t the only Bondarenko to have success in the first round today as Kateryna upset Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-3. Good win there for Kat.

It`s nice to see her have a good win in singles.

Unfortunately it wasn`t all good news as Alize was defeated by Francesca Schiavone 5-7, 6-4, 3-6. Tough loss there for Alize. Now France`s hottest stars are both out in the first round.

Another all hotties matchup played today was the Makiri-Elena match. Elena played very impressively in winning the first set 6-2. Then she was up 5-4 in the second set and had triple match point, but inexplicitly her serve deserted and Makiri took full advantage of it to win the next three games to win the second set 7-5. After that the match was suspended due to darkness. So it`ll be interesting to see how Makiri and Elena will do when the match resumes tomorrow.

In other matches tomorrow, Nikki makes her long awaited return against Gisela Dulko. This is going to be a tough match for Nikki, especially since it`ll be her first one since Miami, her first match under her new coach David Felgate and Dulko is a pretty good clay court player. Also Kat will take on veteran Elena Dementieva in her second round match. Then later on she and Alona will have their first round match in doubles against Maria Elena Camerin and Nadia Petrova. Also playing doubles tomorrow is Makiri and Elena. Makiri will be teaming up with Aga Radwanska, while Elena will reunite with Dinara Safina. I`m very glad to see Team Russia`s dynamic duo back together.

They`ll play Akgul Amanmuradova and Galina Voskoboeva. Also Makiri and Aggie makes for a very intriguing and cute team IMO. They`ll play Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Olga Govortsova. Hopefully our favorite ladies will do well tomorrow.

Also here`s Masha`s latest entry for her official site:

LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS
5/5/2008 12:19:00 PM

Well hello there!
Thought I would fill everyone in on what I have been up to in the last couple weeks! My birthday hoora felt like it had lasted for a whole week...well actually it did, considering the amount of times I blew out b-day candles, listened to b-day song messages, and the amount of flowers and phone calls I received. It's the day in the year when your close friends, and family tell you how much they love you, to the point where it's gets a bit ridiculous and you find yourself pressing the busy button on your phone. The birthday party itself was beautiful...very intimate ( unlike my 18th with sooo many people), great d�r, and funny funny times. It is very rare that most of my friends are in the same place at the same time...apart from a couple everyone was there to celebrate with me and that always gets REALLY entertaining! When I got back I had to do the few shoots that I couldn't do the week of Amelia, as I do every year after the Miami tournament. Of course on the 3rd day, ahead of an 8hr print shoot, I wake up feeling like I got run over by a bus...and have to call in a doctor on the shoot...only to hear that I got a really bad viral infection with a big fever and that I have to get on antibiotics...how original! I know I'm always against those things, but I kind of had no other choice because I haven't been that sick in a while. Quite ironic, as a few days before that I was trying to come up with some 'excuse' for pulling out of Berlin...next time I'll be careful what I wish for.

So now I'm back in training and boy oh boy do those things zap your energy out of you! But I'm getting better little by little, and going to play against some boys in the next few days...

I am sure many of you can tell that I am just a little frustrated with a couple of tour executives who don't ever listen to the players and want to do their own thing. For a sport that has so much potential to grow and get bigger, you would think that the players voice would be important but unfortunately that's not the case. They just do whatever they want and tell us what to do and how to do it. And on top of that walk around like they're the stars. I have tried to work with them, I have attended numerous amounts of meetings throughout the years, but they just do what they want and threaten to fine me. So since they will not listen to me, I am going to start giving my fans a behind the scenes look at life on tour...let the fun begin! I also want to thank everyone for voting...the number of people voting was way beyond our expectations.

Onto a few other notes:
In Amelia, I got my hands on the Wii bowling game. Not sure if it's had a worse player in the history of the game but after having the worst possible score, I somehow found a way to hit 4 strikes in a row!! After the second one Michael said he would go streaking on the streets along with his friends, after the third one he promised something else, none of which he did...thank God!

Quite a while ago ( but since I have not written much..) I saw a U2 concert in 3D at the I-Max theater....anyone that has one in the area must go see it! Highly recommend it!

After owning my house for the last 2 years, I have just realized I have a steamer unit on my stove. And now I can't stop making steamed artichoke...the small things in life..

Also not sure if I'm really behind but I just came across digital photo frames and being the gadget junky that I am, I think they are pretty awesome. You put your memory card inside and it just rotates all the pictures on that card.

Quote goes to Eric...at a hockey game he wasn't happy with the refs call and yelled 'go back to Footlocker' ( the store that's logo is a referee).

I am quite excited to be going to Rome, as I absolutely love Italy. Can't wait to get my hands on the gelato and mozzarella....and all the other amazing food (in small quantities of course!).

So bummed I can't go to the Met this year as I got 3 personal invitations ( the theme for this year is super heroes) and my friend is going....but of course work always comes first and I'm sure I'll have plenty of time once I'm retired!

But I will get to see the first couple games of Boston vs. Cleveland!! What a great series that will be! Go Cleveland!!

There is also one other thing that I am soo excited to report but have to keep my mouth shut...you just have to wait a couple weeks. xx Maria

The thing that stands out to me is her mentioning the Celtics-Cavaliers series. Hopefully we`ll get to see her at one of the first two games.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches along with a few offcourt pics.

This is Sabine Lisicki

She`s one of the hometown favorites in Berlin and eariler today she upset Shahar Peer.

Sabine looks mighty good in this pic.

We`re going to have to keep an eye on her.

The Daywalker · 05-05-2008, 03:37 PM

Sabine is nice indeed. I love that there are so many hotties in the draws that can actually play. This is a very welcome change from just 3 years ago.

I think the draw makers were playing a trick on us and wanted to see hotties lose early, why else pit Elena and Makiri against each other? Domi vs Alona? Come on!

Also, some major

on the shorts on Alona. I mean, wows.

**Hot Rod** · 05-05-2008, 04:50 PM

I also love the nice depth of talented hotties. It`s steadily getting better with up and coming hotties like Domi, Caroline and Alize getting better progressively.

I agree with you about the draw. I like to see all hotties matchups as much as the next man, but they put too many in the first round. I wished that they would`ve spread the hotties out more in the draw so that they can have a better chance of winning at least a match or two.

Anyway here are a few more pics from Berlin.

How can anyone not love a cutie like Domi?

**Hot Rod** · 05-06-2008, 09:36 PM

Here`s an update from Berlin.

Makiri and Elena played the third set of their match, which was suspended due to darkness, and Makiri won it 6-2 to clinch the match. Good job by Makiri.

She played well in the third set. As Elena, obviously it`s a tough loss for her.

She`s going to be kicking herself for blowing that golden opportunity to close out the match up 5-3, 40-0 in the second set.

Fortunately she channeled whatever frustration she had in the doubles match where she and Dinara Safina routed Akgul Amanmuradova and Galina Voskoboeva 6-2, 6-1. Also in doubles, the Bonarenko sisters defeated Maria Elena Camerin and Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-1 and Makiri and Aggie had a tough match against Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Olga Govortsova, but she managed to pull out a 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 victory. Nice showings there from the ladies in their doubles matches.

Unfortunately it wasn`t all good news for a couple of our favorite hotties. First of all Kat was crushed by Elena Dementieva 1-6, 2-6. Then Nikki was defeated by Gisela Dulko 6-4, 1-6, 2-6. She got off to a good start in winning the first set, but her play really went downhill from there.

So in all it was a good day for the most part for some of our favorite hotties in Berlin. Tomorrow Ana begins her quest to repeat as she will take on Akgul Amanmuradova. Also Jelena will play Shuai Peng, Caroline will face Gisela Dulko, Alona will take on Anabel Medina Garrigues and hometown hottie Sabine Lisicki will face Sybille Bammer. Meanwhile in a couple of intriguing matches, Anna will take on party buddy Victoria Azarenko and Makiri will face compatriot Nadia Petrova. Then later on, she and Aggie will play their second round match in doubles. I hope that our favorite ladies will do well tomorrow.

Anyway i haven`t been able to find any pics from today`s matches. In fact Yahoo! doesn`t even have any of our favorite hotties, but fortunately there are some more pics from yesterday`s matches along with a few more practice pics and a pic of Ana on a magazine cover.

Ana looks drop dead gorgeous on this cover.

Finally we get some pokies from Makiri.

What a welcome sight it is to see Tati back on the court.

BTW if anyone is wondering, so far no sign of Masha at game one of the Boston-Cleveland series eariler tonight. I caught the game on TNT and didn`t see her, which means that she likely wasn`t there. So we`ll have to see if she`s going to be at game two.

**Hot Rod** · 05-07-2008, 02:29 PM

Here`s the latest from Berlin.

Today`s matches was headlined by the Sexy Serbs. First of all Jelena defeated Shuai Peng 7-5, 6-0. Then Ana begin her quest to repeat with a 7-6(0), 6-0 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova. Good win by those two.

Obviously they had a tangle in the first set, especially Jelena, who started out down 1-4, but they did a good job of toughing it out to win it and then taking control of the rest of their matches.

Makiri continues her good play with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nadia Petrova. Another very good win for Makiri, especially considering that Petrova is a good clay court player.

Alona also had a good win over a clay court specialist today with a 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues. Good win there for Alona.

I`m very pleased with how she rebounded after getting bageled in the second set.

Unfortunately it wasn`t all good news for some of our favorite hotties.

First of all Anna was defeated by party buddy Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-7(1), 4-6. This is yet another tough loss for Team Russia`s cutest star.

Anna was up 4-1 in the third set, but sadly blew it and the match. This was a good opportunity for her to get out of the slump, but instead that isn`t the case.

Also Caroline was defeated by Gisela Dulko 2-6, 5-7 and hometown favorite Sabine Lisicki lost to Sybille Bammer 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(5). Sabine was up 5-1 in the third set, but unfortunately couldn`t hold on to that lead. Still she had match point up 6-5, but couldn`t convert it. Then she was up 5-2 in the tiebreaker, but blew that lead too. I can`t believe that Sabine would blow all those opportunities to win the match.

I have to be honest and say that she choked today.

So that`s the latest on the action in Berlin. It was a good day for the most part for some of our favorite hotties, but it could`ve been much better if Anna and Sabine had held on their good leads in their matches. Tomorrow we`ll have some intriguting matches. First of all we`ll get another all hotties matchup, this time it will between Makiri and Jelena. They split their meetings last year in a couple of pretty good matches. I think tomorrow`s match has a good chance of being another good tight one. After that match, Ana will take on Sybille Bammer. Also Alona will face the always dangerous Svetlana Kuznetsova. Obviously this will be a very tough match for Alona. I hope that she`ll play hard and give it her best. Later on, she and Kat will take on Gisela Dulko and Betina Jozami. Meanwhile Elena and Dinara Safina will face Casey Dellacqua and Patty Schnyder. As always i hope that our favorite ladies will do well tomorrow.

Finally i saw an update on Dani. She has withdrawn from next week`s tournament in Rome to rehab the stress fracture in her right foot. Obviously i`m sad for the folks in Rome that they won`t be able to see Dani, who will lose a lot of points she got in her run to the semifinals last year. Still the important thing in the long run is that Dani is taking her time rehabing the injury. In fact i`ve heard that she`s off the crutches. So there`s a chance of Dani maybe playing in Istanbul, which is one of the last warmoff tournaments before the French Open.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches along with a couple of pics of Ana at the Players` party in Berlin.

Good job Ana.