Maria is through to the quarters of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo as she defeated Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.  Maria won 2-6 6-2 6-2 in 2 hours and 4 minutes.

Maria got off to a slow start as she dropped the first set 6-2 but she re-grouped and raced into a 5-0 lead in the 2nd set but at that point Kleybanova took a long injury time-out and came back to take the next 2 games, Maria held her nerve and took the 1 game she needed to win the set.  Maria kept up the pressure in the 3rd set as she took the set 6-2.

In the quarters to be played on Thursday, Maria will face Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.  They have played once before at Roland Garros on clay in 2006 and Maria won 6-4 6-1.

In the rankings, Maria provisionally moves up to #22 with 2080 points.

Maria didn't waste much time in Tokyo as she scored a 6-0 6-1 victory over #12 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia to advance to the 3rd round.  The win took 57 minutes as Maria won her 6th straight match against the Australian.

Maria did have a chance to score a double bagel but Stosur held her serve at 5-0 in the 2nd set.  Maria's serve was on fire throughout the whole match and she had 6 aces to only 1 double-fault.

In the 3rd round to be played on Wednesday, Maria will play Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.  They have played once before in Toronto in August and Maria won in 3 sets.

Maria is through to the 2nd round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo as she defeated Francesca Schiavone of Italy.  Maria won 4-6 7-5 6-1 in 2 hours and 22 minutes.

Maria was down 4-6 2-4 but from that point on only dropped 2 more games as she booked her place in the 2nd round. 

After the win Maria said: "I did a great job of hanging in there.  I was a down a break in the second set. It was really important to stay patient. What I have learned is that it takes a really long time to come back and I'm okay with that.  I've been playing catch-up. I know that I've got to push myself more than I ever have in my career."

In the 2nd round to be played on Tuesday, Maria will play #12 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia.  They have played 5 times before and Maria leads the series 5-0.  The last meeting was at this event in 2006 when it was played indoors and Maria won in straight sets.

Maria has been knocked out of the US Open by 17 year old Melanie Oudin of the United States in the 3rd round.  Maria lost 3-6 6-4 7-5 in 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Maria took a 2-0 lead in the 1st set but let Oudin back into the match as Oudin levels the set 2-2.  Maria breaks back in the next game and started to take control of the set as she taok a 5-2 lead.  Oudin then breaks Maria's serve but Maria breaks back immediately to take the set 6-3 in 52 minutes.

Oudin took a 5-1 lead ...

There was a 17-year-old American girl kicking up a lot of buzz with a major upset at the U.S. Open Thursday, but Maria Sharapova made sure it was not at her expense.

Hours after Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., took out the No. 4 seed, Elena Dementieva, in the day session, Sharapova launched the late-night portion of the program by overpowering Christina McHale, the 17-year-old from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 6-2, 6-1, at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Night-session ticket holders had to wait about two...