Dokic upsets Schiavone at Malaysian Open

Very recently, world number 5 Francesca Schiavone told the tennis media that she probably needed to take some time off but felt that she couldn't. She entered the Malaysian Open as a wild card and became the top seed, but she lost today in the first round to Jelena Dokic. There was a rain delay in the match, and, in the third set, Schiavone injured her ankle. She said, after the match, that perhaps she made the injury worse by continuing to play, but she didn't want to retire.

Now the Italian star will probably get some time off. Dokic's 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 win included fifteen double faults, three of which were made consecutively. She also managed to hit eight aces (Schiavone hit eleven).

Marion Bartoli is seeded 2nd in Kuala Lumpur. The draw also includees Alisa Kleybanova, Jarmila Groth, Bojanai Jovanovski, Lucie Safarova, Kimiko Date Krumm, and Dinara Safina.

Dulko wins Mexican Open

She did it the hard way, but Gisela Dulko defeated 6th seed Arantxa Parra Santonja today to win the Acapulco final. Dulko, seeded 4th at the tournament, took the first set 6-3 and quickly went up 5-1 in the second, and served for the match, only to have Parra Santonja stage a comeback that resulted in a tiebreak, won by Dulko. Both players struggled with their serves. Dulko is one of those players who has a really good serve--when it's working. Today, it gave her trouble, but she was nevertheless able to win her fourth singles title. The Argentine player is ranked number 1 in the world in doubles.

Parra Santonja took home the runner-up trophy in doubles, too. She and partner Lourdes Dominguez Lino were defeated 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 in the final by Mariya Koryttseva and Ioana Raluca Olaru.

Zvonareva wins Doha championship

Vera Zvonareva, known for her command of windy conditions, put that command on display today in the Qatar Ladies Open final in Doha. Never wavering in the presence of top seed Caroline Wozniacki's relentless ball retrieval and accuracy, Zvonareva eventually wore Wozniacki down. Zvonareva broke Wozniacki four times to achieve a 6-4, 6-4 victory, her first tournament win since February of 2010.

Zvonareva, seeded 2nd at the tournament, was clearly delighted with her victory, and hit balls into the stands for an unusually long time. The Doha win was not easy. In the quarterfinals, the Russian had to play for over three hours and nine minutes to defeat Daniela Hantuchova, and in a very competitive semifinal match against Jelena Jankovic, she won a game in which she served at 4-all, 0-40 in the final set.

Top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik won the doubles title, defeating 2nd seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova  7-5, 6-7, 10-8.

Parra Santonja to play in both Acapulco finals

Arantxa Parra Santonja, the 6th seed in Acapulco, has reached the final by defeating Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals. Her opponent will be 4th seed Gisela Dulko, who defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0, 6-2.

With partner Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Parra Santonja has also reached the final in doubles. Dominguez Lino and Parra Sontonja will play Mariya Koryttseva and Ioana Raluca Olara.

Josie Kuhlman wins SMASH Junior Cup, gets Charleston qualifying wild card

15-year-old Josie Kuhlman of Ponte Vedre Beach, Florida has been awarded a wild card into the qualifying rounds of the 2011 Family Circle Cup. Kuhlman, who was unseeded at the SMASH Junior Cup at the Family Circle Tennis Center , defeated 5th seed Leyla Erkan 6-1, 6-3 in the final on Tuesday. Kuhlman did not even find out about the tournament until the last minute, and thought she had waited too late to register. She lost 15 games in six matches, and now she will play in her first professional event. Kuhlman was given a wild card into last year's Ponte Vedre Beach event, but an injury caused her to withdraw.

The SMASH Junior Cup, presented by Dunlop Sports, is one of only two tournaments in the U.S. in which players compete for a wild card into a WTA Tour Premier event. Last year's winner was Shelby Rogers, who lost in three sets to Christina McHale in the first round of qualifying. Rogers, who is from Daniel Island, also played in an exhibition match, and enjoyed a lot of fan support.

Past SMASH Junior Cup winners include Mallory Cecil and Alison Riske.

Dunlop Sports also sponsors the annual Club Doubles Championship, which will be held during the Charleston tournament. This year, for the first time, there will be preliminary tournaments in eight cities.The Club Doubles Championship is a mixed doubles event.

Wozniacki and Zvonareva go to Doha final

Marion Bartoli, who played exceptionally well this week in Doha, broke that pattern (sound familiar?) today when she played top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. Wozniacki defeated the error-prone Bartoli 6-1, 6-1. Her opponent in the final will be 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva, who defeated 5th seed Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in a rather interesting match.

Jankovic injured her knee yesterday, and seemed to be moving a bit gingerly on it at first. However, she got into the groove of the match and put her signature backhand down-the-line shot on display over and over to dominate in the second set. At 4-all in the third, Zvonareva served at 0-40, but Jankovic was not able to break her. Instead, Jankovic was broken in her next game. This was, in general, a good week for the Serbian player, and one hopes her knee problem is minor. (She also got stuck on the surface and hurt her ankle slightly and momentarily, but it wouldn't be a JJ match without some type of spill.)

Zvonareva hit nine aces in the match. She will need to keep serving well because she has her work cut out for her in the final. Wozniacki is now shifting from outstanding defense to aggression when she needs to, and it's getting harder and harder to beat her. The Great Dane's timing and accuracy have become laser-like this season.

The doubles final will also feature the top two seeds: Number 1 seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik will compete against number 2 seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova. Peschke and Srebotnik defeated 4th seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Anastasia Rodionova in the semifinals. Huber and Petrova defeated 3rd seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie.

Passing shots

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the March 8 Nike Clash of Champions exhibition. Williams has been replaced by Victoria Azarenka. (It should be noted, however, that Williams is now walking without her boot.)

Rebecca Marino has withdrawn from the Monterrey tournament because of the abdominal injury that forced her to retire in the Memphis final.

Note to Tennis Channel and Fox Sports: The USSR does not exist; it was dismantled a couple of decades ago, and Ukraine is a country, not "the Ukraine."

Could the commentary of the Doha semifinal between Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic have been more sexist? Kevin Cusick and his fellow commentator continually referred to the players as "girls" and "young ladies." Cusick also delivered a speech about how important it is for the "young ladies" to receive support, and not be pushed by their coaches, when they do not play well. Any reasonable person will acknowledge that an athlete needs to get both support and to be pushed hard by a coach, but Skinner's implication--he went on and on about it--was that the "girls" really need that paternal care. Well, what they need is to be treated like adult athletes. (This post corrected to reflect correct Kevin; it was Cusick talking down the tour, and Skinner talking down Ukraine.)

WTA live scores are now available free on Android mobile devices.

You can get to know Greta Arn, who blogged this week from Acapulco.