Cibulkova dismisses Wozniacki, Pironkova sends Venus packing

No. 24 seed, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, played her heart out and narrowly defeated No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in round four at Wimbledon, 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.

Also, No. 32 seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria easily downed No. 23 seed, Venus Williams of the USA.

In the Quarterfinals, Dominika will face No. 6 seed, Maria Sharapova of Russia. Tsvetana will face No. 8 seed, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

With Wozniacki, and both Williams sisters out of the picture, it sure opens up the field for the remaining players. Perhaps this is the year Maria Sharapova will add another championship to her list of titles.

Sharapova has easy win over Chakvetadze in Wimbledon opener

No. 5 seed, Maria Sharapova of Russia, easily defeated her compatriot, No. 52 ranked Anna Chakvetadze in the opening round at Wimbledon, 6-2, 6-1.

Sharapova is beginning to show her old form and looking fully healthy again after being forced off the tour for 10 months with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Sharapova, with her signature loud shrieking, took apart her compatriot in the opening set with a pair of service breaks while facing hardly any threat to her own serve. In the 2nd set, Sharapova was far less effective on her own serve, with Chakvetadze having four break points. She converted on only one of them, and her own weak delivery was punished by Sharapova, who broke serve four times to make sure of her place in round two.

Sharapova narrowly escapes against Garcia

No. 7 seed, Maria Sharapova of Russia, had a close call in the 2nd round of the French Open with a 3-set win over Caroline Garcia of France, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Sharapova lost the first set 3-6, and trailed 1-4 in the 2nd set to 17-year-old wild card Garcia. With Garcia seeming in control of the match, Sharapova went on an eleven game winning streak to close out the match.

After the match, Sharapova said, “I relaxed and just let things happen… [I had been] way too concerned about the conditions, wasn’t moving my feet and was really slow, and Caroline was playing aggressively and hitting great shots—I felt flat-footed in the beginning, and I just hit the ball finally.”

Sharapova downs Stosur for title

No. 7 Maria Sharapova of Russia defeated No. 8 Samatha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-4 to win the championship at the Internazionali BNL d’ Italia Alice Cup in Rome on Sunday.

Sharapova was dominant from the start, winning 14 of the first 15 points in the match to take a 4-0 lead, finishing off that first set 6-2. Sharapova broke Stosur’s serve five times in all, winning the second set 6-4 to win the title.

Azarenka triumphs over Sharapova

No. 8 seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus easily triumphed over No. 16 seed, Maria Sharapova of Russia in a straight-sets victory, 6-1, 6-4, in the Final of the 2011 WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday.

Azarenka came out with guns blazing, while Sharapova hardly got her guns out of the holster, with the resulting match not really what we would expect from a WTA Final. Azarenka broke serve the first eight times Sharapova served, taking a 6-1, 4-0 lead before Sharapova held serve for the first and only time. Sharapova then broke Azarenka’s serve twice to bring it up to 4-5, giving a little glimpse of hope. But Azarenka closed it out at 6-4.

Azarenka and Sharapova reach final

No. 8 seed, Victoria Azarenka and No. 16 seed, Maria Sharapova, will face off on Saturday in the Final of the 2011 WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

They are tied at 2-2 in career matches, with Azarenka winning their last match in last year’s Stanford final, 6-4, 6-1.

Azarenka defeated No. 3 seed, Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-3 in her Semifinal match, while Sharapova took down Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Sharapova advances over Rezai at Indian Wells

No. 16 seed, Maria Sharapova advanced to the fourth round of the 2011 WTA BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells with an easy, straight sets win over No. 20 seed, Aravane Rezai of France, 6-2, 6-2.

Rezai was celebrating her 24th birthday, and was hoping for a win to cap it off, but it wasn’t to be. In just 73 minutes, Sharapova had put a damper on the birthday-girl’s hopes.

It took Sharapova a few games to get used to Rezai’s pace, but once she did, there was no stopping her. She benefited from her opponent’s missteps, but also played much better than in her last match, a three-set battle with Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Sharapova suffers 4th round loss to Petkovic

Former No. 1, Maria Sharapova, was sent packing in the 4th round at the 2011 Australian Open by No. 30 seed, #33 Andrea Petkovic of Germany.

Petkovic won the match in a surprisingly easy fashion in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. This is the first time the 23-year-old Petkovic has reached the Quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, and is the lowest ranked player remaining in the draw.

Petkovic had reached the fourth round when Venus Williams pulled out injured after just seven points, but looked right at home against a much more experienced Sharapova.

Sharapova survives scare from Georges in 3rd round

No. 14 seed, #16 Maria Sharapova of Russia, escaped in a three-set thriller against a determined, unseeded #38 Julia Goerges of Germany on Friday at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Final score: 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Sharapova, who won the Australian Open title in 2008, was forced to dig in deep to pull through in a match that lasted 2 hours and 29 minutes. Georges had outplayed the former World No. 1 throughout the first set and pushed her to the limit in the second.

Kim Clijsters – 2010 WTA Player of the Year

Kim Clijsters of Belgium was voted Player of the Year for the 2nd time in her career. She first earned that honor in 2005.

The 27-year-old from Belgium won five titles in 2010, including her second U.S. Open crown in a row. She won at Brisbane, Miami, Cincinnati, and the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, as well as taking her third title at Flushing Meadows.

Just one year after making a comeback following a break to rest injuries and start a family, Clijsters was voted the top honor in a balloting of players as well as the Player Service award given to the woman who did the most to support her fellow players through the WTA players’ council or other initiatives.