Maria Sharapova Wins Qatar Open

Maria Sharapova beat her fellow Russian opponent Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 to clinch the Qatar Open.

With this win, Sharapova has secured a winning streak of 14 matches this year.

It was a little scary with the second set resulting in a loss at 2-6, but Sharapova managed to stride back with a scintillating 6-0 in the third.

Amelie Mauresmo Talks of Quitting

Amelie Mauresmo, of France, has not been up to her best form for some time, and she is feeling discouraged by her mediocre performance of late.

In the Qatar Open second round she lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand - 7-6(9-7) 7-5. That seems to have made her feel really dispirited.

At the Australian Open, she made her exit in the third round, after being defeated by Casey Dellacqua. At that time she was already saying that she was losing her confidence.

She is now openly questioning whether she can motivate herself to get back properly into the game.

She was the former world no.1. Last year she lost her Wimbledon's singles title, and her performance has been rather pedestrain since then.

Mauresmo at her best at Wimbledon 2006 - Match Against Sharapova (Semi-finals)

Monica Seles' Offical Retirement

Monica Seles, from Yugoslavia, at the age of 34, has officially announced her retirement from professional tennis.

She was the holder of nine grand slam titles - two US Open, three French Open and four Australian Open titles.

Her last match was in the 2003 French Open.

In 1993, an unfortunate incident became headline news: a psychologically disturbed fan stabbed her during a match in Hamburg. Yet two years later, she made a amazing comeback and won the Canadian and Australian Open, and also got to the final in the U.S. Open.

Seles Retires

No Politics For Henin

Olympics Gold Medallist Justine Henin, who won her medal at Athens, is looking forward to the Beijing Olympics. Her passion is, of course, tennis, and she wants to play tennis not politics.

She responds to the fear that athletes at the Beijing Olympics may engage in political demonstrations or making comments about the Chinese government by saying that politics and sport must remain separate.

I strongly agree with that view. As guests and athletes attending the games in the host country, it would be abusing their status and privilege to adopt any political posturing. Leave that to others - if they're so minded.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Shines Through | Davis Cup

In the Davis Cup 1st Round, France defeated Romania 5-0.

In the match between Tsonga and Andrei Pavel, Tsonga won 3-1. Tsonga lost the first set but rebounded with three straight wins of 6-4 in each of the three following sets.

France has well chosen to have Tsonga take part in the Davis Cup.

Tsonga in the Davis Cup

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who surprised everyone with his brilliant performance in the Australian Open, though he lost to Djokovic in the final, has been called up to represent France in the upcoming Davis Cup.

The Davis Cup World Group 1^st Round will be from 8-10 February. France will be facing Romania. It will be interesting to follow Tsonga's progress. France has got a bright new star and all eyes will be focused on him.