Sharapova beats Kuznetsova in Cincy tennis

Maria Sharapova has survived a second-set lapse and delivered a dominant third set to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Cincinnati Women's Open.

While Kuznetsova's triumph in San Diego on Sunday pushed her ranking to 14, one higher than Sharapova, her fellow Russian had a 31-11 edge in winners to overcome 39 unforced errors to win in her Cincinnati debut.

Sharapova reached the second round, while top seed and defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia followed her on court and booked a third-round berth with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Russian Vera Dushevina.

Kuznetsova received treatment from a trainer on her back and left knee, and left the court briefly after three games of the third set for treatment.

She was unable to convert eight of her 10 break point opportunities.

"It's definitely tough to have a night flight then come and play the day after a final, but it's just bad luck, I cannot change it," Kuznetsova said. "I just need to get my ranking higher and then I can get a bye. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Maria. She played really well in the third."

Sharapova said she didn't press hard enough once she had pocketed the opening set.

"I let her off the hook in the beginning of the second set, and she went with it. Against a player with a lot of experience, you can't do that," Sharapova said. "I had to earn it. The only way I was going to win was by being aggressive."

In other second-round action, Akgul Amanmuradova advanced 6-2, 6-0 win over Bojana Jovanovski.

Sixteenth-seeded Marion Bartoli also reached the third round, beating Alona Bondarenko 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

Fifteenth-seeded Nadia Petrova tumbled out of the two million-dollar event, retiring with heat-related symptoms while trailing Christina McHale.

America's McHale had won the first set 7-6 (7/4) and was up 5-3 in the second when the 21st-ranked Russian called it quits.

She became the second player to retire because of the steamy conditions. Olga Govortsova retired against 13th-seeded Shahar Peer on Monday.

"I'm not really sure what happened," said McHale, whose biggest career win came at Charleston in April when then-number nine Victoria Azarenka retired from their match.

"I know she called the trainer, but I wasn't sure what she called the trainer for. I didn't try to focus too much on that. I'm just excited to move on to the next round."

Kuznetsova ends drought with WTA tennis title

Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova squndered four match points before outlasting Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 on Sunday to win the WTA San Diego Open.

"This just made me stronger. It didn't kill me," Kuznetsova said. "I didn't kill myself in the third set."

Kuznetsova captured her 13th career title at the 700,000-dollar hardcourt event, a tuneup for the US Open, and it was the first crown for the 21st-ranked veteran since she beat Radwanska in the Beijing final last October.

The two-time Grand Slam champion botched four match points in the second-set tie-breaker after squandering leads of 4-0 and 6-3, double-faulting twice on match point to open the door for 10th-ranked Radwanska to force a third set.

"I think I did choke for the very first time in my life," Kuznetsova said. "I never had this choke before. I don't know why it happened. Here I couldn't make a ball. My knees were shaking."

It was the first final for both players since 10 months ago in China.

Kuznetsova, who won three titles in 2009, will jump back into the WTA's top 20 with the title after reaching only one prior quarter-final this year. She had not tumbled outside the top 20 since February of 2004.

Radwanska will advance to ninth but that was little consolation.

"It's always disappointing when it's a long, very tough match," Radwanska said. "I think it's much easier to lose 6-1, 6-1 and have no chance. But if it's a match like this, it hurts."

Svetlana Kuznetsova Challenges Nadia Petrova

Svetlana Kuznetsova Challenges Nadia Petrova to a Round of ‘Promenade Tennis’

Head to The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) this Saturday evening. Witness two of the world’s most famous tennis stars, top seed WTA stars Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova battle it out on 13 February at 7:00pm, in a bout of offbeat ‘Promenade Tennis’.

You can watch them live, click photos , get their autographs and might even be lucky enough to play a serve with them at the Sony Ericsson ‘Live’ Zone.

Seed 4 Kuznetsova and Seed 19 Petrova are in Dubai for the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship, a premier tournament on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour that is backed.

Their exclusive appearance at JBR comes as part of a series of Sony Ericsson’s largely popular tennis interactivity that aims to bring the fun to the public.

The Sony Ericsson ‘Live Zone’ at Jumeirah Beach Residence is the place to be from 11-15 February, where you could either muster courage for a live game or scoop yourself for a simulated match with Sony Ericsson’s stars the uber-cool ‘Yari’handset that links directly with consoles to give a superior gaming experience or ‘Satio’ and ‘Aino’ for a live and interactive entertainment experience.

Keen amateurs can also look forward to receiving tips and techniques from a professional coach. And, if your winning streak continues amidst all the tennis frenzy, you could even stand to win some exciting prizes.

To add to the spirit of tennis excitement, Sony Ericsson will give away freebies. Sony Ericsson has hosted amazing tennis stunts at various venues across the world.

Some of the memorable stunts pulled off by the brand include ‘Traffic Tennis’ where Serena Williams and Andy Murray played tennis atop cars in Miami, as well as ‘Desert Island Tennis’ that saw Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva matching skills on a Desert Island in the Doha Bay.