World number 14 Maria Sharapova started the 2010 season at a positive note by beating Venus Williams 63 64 in an exhibition match held Saturday at a beachside resort in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The warm-up event event ahead of the Australian Open this month was a well-attended one with both players appearing to have trouble adjusting to the heat. In the end, it was Sharapova’s solid baseline game that led to the victory in 1 hour and 34 minutes.

“It’s good to be back. I’m glad to play against Venus in my first match of the year,” Sharapova said.

Russian Elena Dementieva suddenly became a strong contender in the upcoming U.S. Open after she won the prestigious Rogers Cup title last Sunday, beating compatriot Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3. The title win also propelled the Russian atop the US Open Series rankings.

This served as the first time for an all-Russian final in the tournament’s history. Dementieva stormed into the finals after defeating no. 2 Serena Williams, a sweet revenge after the former lost their previous encounter at the Wimbledon semifinals last month.

Comebacking Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova was ousted in the LA Women’s Tennis Championships on Saturday night by last year’s finalist Flavia Pennetta of Italy. The error-filled match ended in favor of the Italian with Sharapova commiting more than 60 unforced errors. The score: 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

“I did not feel physically fresh from the beginning of the match. I was surprised it actually went to the third. I had my opportunities, I just could not close it out,” Sharapova said after the match.

Former world number one Maria Sharapova struggled but still managed to win her first round match at the Bank of the West Classic against Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 on Monday. The $700,000 WTA Premier event is currently held at Stanford, California.

Sharapova, now ranked 62nd in the world, won her 12th out of 16th matches following her comeback last May.

For free, live Wimbledon 2009 online video coverage, click HERE.

Maria Sharapova interview transcript, Wimbledon 2009 on June 24, 2009.

Q. What are your thoughts?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uhm, no real thoughts. I lost the match (smiling).

Q. Do you, yourself, understand what happened this afternoon?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uhm, yes. I mean, if I’m smart enough, I should know. It took me a while to get going. It’s a little too late to start picking yourself up when you’re down a set and 3?0. You know, it’s a little late.

Q. Court playing fine, not slippery at all?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: What about it?

Maria Sharapova ended her campaign at the Aegon Classic in the semifinals after she lost to China’s Li Na 6-4, 6-4.

The former world number one dropped her serve six times during the match to virtually hand the victory to the tournament fourth seed. Li will face Slovakian player Magdalena Rybarikova in the final on Sunday.

Sharapova held a 5-0 record against Li prior to the match. The last time they played was in last week’s Roland Garros where the Russian outlasted the Chinese player in the fourth round.

Former world number one Maria Sharapova reached her first tour semifinal in more than 12 months at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.The 73rd ranked player beat Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

The Russian noticeably struggled with her serve during the second set but managed to recover in the third set by breaking her opponent’s serve twice to gain a 5-1 lead which guaranteed her victory.

Sharapova committed eleven double faults in the match which was attributed to her “remodeled” serve. This was done to protect her injury-prone shoulder.

The comeback of Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova is getting even more impressive after she made it through her third quarterfinals in only her third tournament since returning from a 10-month layoff.

At the ongoing Aegon Classic in Birmingham, Sharapova played two matches in one day to advance in the final eight in this grasscourt tournament.

First, she closed out the rain-delayed second round match against Alexa Glatch of the United States in just two minutes 6-3, 6-4. She needed just five points to end the match.

Returning Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova will face her toughest opponent yet since her comeback. The 102nd-ranked player will face compatriot and 11th seed Nadia Petrova in second round action at Roland Garros.

Both Sharapova and Petrova had reached the semifinal stage in this claycourt Slam thus making this match interesting to watch. It will determine if Sharapova has fully recuperated from the shoulder injury that sidelined her for that past ten months. There were signs of progress during her singles comeback last week in Warsaw where she reached the quarterfinals.

Maria Sharapova’s two-match winning streak in Warsaw Open ended when she was bundled out of the tournament by 2007 runner-up Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals 2-6, 2-6.

This served as the third meeting between the two, with the Russian prevailing in their first two encounters (2008 Indian Wells and Amelia Island). Sharapova, coming back from a ten-month layoff due to shoulder injury, was simply outplayed by her Ukrainian opponent who won more than 60 percent of the total points contested.

Returning Russian superstar Maria Sharapova stormed into Warsaw Open quarterfinals after easily dispatching lucky loser Darya Kustova of Belarus in two sets 6-2, 6-0. The Belarussian was a late replacement for tournament top-seed Caroline Wozniacki who had to pull out due to back injury.

Sharapova, who’s been on singles hiatus for the past ten months due to shoulder injury, showed some rust during her two-and-a-half hour first round match against Italian Tathiana Garbin. This time, everything’s working well for her, winning the match in less than an hour.

The highly anticipated singles comeback of former world number one Maria Sharapova resulted with a first round victory at the Warsaw Open, a $600,000 Premier claycourt event. However, it was a scary situation for the Russian, who squandered a total of nine match points thereby losing the second set, but eventually managed to defeat Italian veteran Tathiana Garbin in three sets 6-1, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3 . The match lasted more than two hours and thirty minutes.

This is certainly a great start for Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam winner who has been sidelined from tennis due to shoulder injury for the past eight months. Her world ranking slid to as low as 126th this week after missing a string of lucrative tournaments including the Australian Open, which she failed to defend, last January.Two months ago, she attempted to make a comeback via the women’s doubles event in Indian Wells but was bundled out in the first round.