Kirilenko loses to Zheng in quarter-final

Kirilenko through after Safina withdraws

Maria Kirilenko has advanced to her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final after Australian Open 2009 runner-up Dinara Safina was forced to withdraw from their fourth round match on Sunday night.

Kirilenko was leading 5-4 in an opening set that had lasted just over an hour when the world No.2 quit with a back injury.

“It suddenly hit me. It was getting worse and worse. I have no idea really how it could happen. It's really, really terrible,” a teary Safina explained after the match.

The No.2 seed said she could no longer continue to play the match as she struggled to move, and described the pain as the same she suffered in Doha last year.

“I just cannot move anywhere. I mean, the physio asked me to lie on the table. I said, I cannot lie. I cannot make any movement. Whatever I try to move, it hurts terribly,” she said.

Before her withdrawal, Safina looked dangerous in the opening game of the match as she came out charging, breaking Kirilenko’s serve with a powerful backhand cross-court winner. She continued to apply pressure on Kirilenko’s serve in the third game, pushing her far behind the baseline as she could with deep groundstrokes. The second seed had a chance to gain a double break, but could not convert as Kirilenko held, securing the game with a forehand volley winner.

In an intense sixth game, Kirilenko worked Safina hard, ramping up the pressure on her compatriot. The 58th-ranked Kirilenko blew her chances to break as Safina managed to stave off six break points, eventually holding her serve with a smash to lead 4-2.

Kirilenko, who upset Maria Sharapova in the first round, clawed her way back into the match, winning the next three games to jump to a 5-4 lead. With Kirilenko at set point, Safina suddenly walked off the court, retiring from the match.

Post-match, Kirilenko said that she was left with bittersweet feelings after making the final eight of a major for the first time.

“Yeah, I mean, of course it's nice [to reach the quarter-final]. I'm first time actually in the quarter-final. But I prefer, you know, to win and get ‑ like to win all match and get to the quarter-final than to win like this,” Kirilenko said.

Kirilenko, who turns 23 tomorrow, will meet China’s Jie Zheng, who is the first Chinese player ever to make the Australian Open singles quarter-finals. Zheng holds a 4-1 head-to-head lead over the Russian, and has won their past three encounters.

Fast facts

- Kirilenko had 13 winners to Safina’s 10.

- Safina made 22 unforced errors, one more than her opponent.

- Kirilenko won all nine points when she came to the net, while Safina was 1-for-6 on net approaches.

Current Match on Hisense Arena Hisense Arena - Women's Singles - 4th Round Maria Kirilenko RUS 40 5 Retired Dinara Safina RUS (2) 30 4 Match Statistics Serve Statistics

Kirilenko plays a backhand against Maria Sharapova

Maria Kirilenko of Russia plays a backhand in her first round match against Maria Sharapova of Russia during day one of the 2010 Australian Open.

Maria Kirilenko of Russia plays a shot

Maria Kirilenko of Russia plays a shot

Kirilenko gestures to the crowd after winning match point

Sharapova upset, Roddick advances at Aussie Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Maria Sharapova was upset by Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, her worst performance at a Grand Slam event since 2003.

The 14th-seeded Sharapova was unable to defend her 2008 Australian Open championship while sidelined 10 months because of right shoulder surgery. She then failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals in the other three majors last year.

The loss to Kirilenko was her earliest exit at a major since her first-round loss at the 2003 French Open.

``Just didn't win the match ... bottom line,'' said Sharapova, summing up the match in a matter-of-fact manner. ``Certainly had my chances and just didn't execute.

``I felt like I was - when she was up and then I'd get back there, back in the game - I just didn't take advantage of that and let her ... control the situation again.''

Kirilenko advanced to the second round with Dinara Safina, who had a 6-4, 6-4 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the first match completed on a rainy day at Melbourne Park. The second-seeded Safina was the runner-up to Serena Williams last year.

Kim Clijsters played on Rod Laver Arena immediately after Sharapova's loss and needed less than an hour to beat Valerie Tetreault of Canada 6-0, 6-4.

Clijsters won the U.S. Open in September in her third tournament back from time off after getting married and having a baby.

Sharapova kept going for winners despite twice being only two points away from losing the match. She ended up with 72 unforced errors and 11 double-faults.

The Marias, both Russian and both 22, clubbed 71 winners and made 110 unforced errors between them as they traded heavy ground strokes in a match that lasted 3 hours, 22 minutes and allowed the No. 58-ranked Kirilenko to even their four career head-to-head matches.

The crowd favored Kirilenko but a few voices chimed in to support Sharapova, or express exasperation. ``Come ON Sharapova,'' one shouted after the three-time major winner chased down a forehand but returned it to the net.

The former No. 1-ranked Sharapova rallied from 2-5 down in the deciding set, holding serve and then breaking Kirilenko to stay in the match. She dropped her own serve after giving Kirilenko double match point, though, her last forehand landing out.

``It's never easy. I'm good friends with Maria,'' Kirilenko said, but ``I tried my best to win today - I came here quite confident.''

Kirilenko, who lost in the first round last year, will play Austrian qualifier Yvonne Meusburger, who beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Safina was erratic at times, but had no serious problems handling the No. 47-ranked Rybarikova in her second tournament since a back problem forced her out of the season-ending championship in October.

``I had some good moments and bad moments, but overall I'm happy I went through, and I'm pretty satisfied with everything,'' Safina said.

``It was a solid game by me. Just from this I can start to build up much more confidence and using more my shots,'' she said.

Safina and Kirilenko played on the two covered courts at Melbourne Park. Matches on outside courts were delayed 45 minutes by rain, a change to the heat that usually confronts players at the first Grand Slam event of the season.

Police were busy despite the rain, ejecting 11 people from Melbourne Park for disruptive behavior and smuggling flares onto the grounds.

In another incident, police said a group of Croatian supporters were denied entry to the grounds Monday after setting off a flare.

In between rain delays, No. 11-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and Florian Mayer had an impressive comeback to beat Philipp Petzschner 0-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 6-2.

No. 24 Ivan Ljubicic had a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win over 16-year-old wild card entry Jason Kubler, the youngest player in the draw.

On the women's side, No. 30 Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine had a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Romania's Raluca Olaru, Zheng Jie rallied to beat Peng Shuai 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an all-China match, and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-4.

Justine Henin, a seven-time major winner, makes her Grand Slam comeback against fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens at Hisense Arena, the other main show court. Henin lost to Clijsters at the Brisbane International on Jan. 9, Henin's first tournament since she quit while holding the No. 1 ranking in May 2008.

U.S. Open winner Juan Martin del Potro, No. 5 Andy Murray and No. 7 Andy Roddick highlight the early men's action. Del Potro withdrew from an exhibition tournament at Kooyong last week because of an injured wrist, but his agent said he's expected to be fine.

Rafael Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in five sets in the final last year to win his first major on hardcourts, will start the night session at Rod Laver Arena against Australian Peter Luczak.

Sports Illustrated photo shoot peaks: Kirilenko, Hantuchova + Golovin

I'm sure every guy and his dog would have known by now that Russian beauty Maria Kirilenko posed for Sports Illustrated back in November, with the photos set to appear some time in February 2009. Well now some sneak peaks have arrived via WTA world and it turns out that not just one, but THREE WTA HOTTIES posed for the new SI edition! OMG hyperventilating!!!!!

Maria Kirilenko, Daniela Hantuchova and Tatiana Golovin got together in their bikinis and posed for the cameras on the beach in Dominican Republic. Kirlienko was there for 3 days, so they must have taken heaps and heaps of snaps :yummy:

Read more for the pics!

Interesting observations: Slutati looks sluttier than usual in these pics from offthebaseline and Daniela's boobs look a bit plumper than normal.



I obviously don't need to add that I'll be posting the real full pics as soon as I get them :duh: can't wait!!!!!!!!!! UPDATE: find the pics here, including some hidden and bonus pics not shown on the SI website mwahahahah.

Maria Kirilenko Tennis Player

Maria Kirilenko picture

Maria Kirilenko best player tennis

Maria Kirilenko and friend

Maria Kirilenko Sexy Picture

Maria Kirilenko beautiful girl

Maria Kirilenko sweet smile

Maria Kirilenko bikini picture

Maria Kirilenko sexy wallpaper