In another good day for the host nation, Gael Monfils and Nicolas Mahut triumphed in their respective Round 2 duels to join fellow countrymen Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Guillaume Ruffin in the quarterfinals of the Open Sud de France at Montpellier. Also booking their designated last eight slots were top seed Tomas Berdych, a runaway winner over qualifier Florent Serra, and eighth seed Jarkko Nieminen who beat the former world No.12 Paul-Henri Mathieu.

In the first singles match on Court Central, the unseeded world no. 78 Nicolas Mahut upset sixth seeded German Florian Mayer 7-6, 6-3 in an hour and 22 minutes. The German, ranked 21 in the world, was playing in his first tournament of the year after having pulled out from the Australian Open due to a hip strain and had defeated Luxembourg's Gilles Muller in two tough sets in Round 1 of the event. On the other hand, Mahut had entered his home event on the back of a creditable performance at the Australian Open where he had lost to the eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the third round. He had booked a place in Round 2 here with a routine 6-3, 6-2 win against Spain's Albert Ramos.

The accolades - be it the No.1 ranking in the WTA list released on Monday or the Order of the Motherland medallion from the government of Belarus - have just started pouring in for the 22-year old Victoria Azarenka. After all those years of near misses, of injury breakdowns and psychological blow-ups, her triumph at the 2012 Australian Open is a definite signal of the transformation of the temperamental girl into a mature lady.

Her reaction after winning the 2012 Australian Open said it all. Overwhelmed with disbelief at what had just transpired, the still very young Azarenka almost went into a trance. After regaining consciousness, she ran across to her box and thanked her coach Sam Sumyk who, as if to assist in the 'sinking in' process, repeatedly reminded her that it was her moment.

Mona Barthel of Germany has been crowned the 2012 Moorilla Hobart International Singles Champion. The world No. 64 won her first WTA title this evening after she defeated world No.29 and top seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

Barthel came through the tournament as a qualifier, winning eight matches in a row and knocked off four seeds in total including Wickmayer, No.2 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP), No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber (GER) and No.5 seed and defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS). Barthel thus became the first qualifier to win a title since Tamira Paszek at Québec City in September 2010.

In a refreshing change from the usual, it was youth which triumphed over experience in a battle of nerves. The young Victoria Azarenka recovered from a mid match slump to prevail over the Defending Champion Li Na in 3 sets in the final of the APIA Sydney International, heading into next week's Australian Open as a serious contender to challenge for the title.

Both players had taken different paths to the final. Li Na had dropped the first set in her second round match against the South African qualifier Chanelle Scheepers, won a tough quarter-final against the left-handed Lucie Safarova and wriggled her way out of a difficult position against the World No.2 Petra Kvitova in the semi-finals to make her way into the final. The Belarusian on the other hand, barring her semi-final against the No. 7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska , had a relatively smooth ride to the grand finale.

Defending Champion and No. 4 seed Li Na, and the third seed Victoria Azarenka raised their games when it mattered the most to advance to the final of the APIA Sydney International on Thursday. Both the women’s singles semi-finals today not only went the full distance but even followed a similar pattern: the eventual winner losing the first set only to comeback all guns blazing in the next two to dispose off her opponent.

Heading into the match in sublime form after demolishing the Brisbane runner up Daniela Hantuchova in the quarters, the world no.2 Petra Kvitova started off on a strong note, winning the first set comfortably 6-1 with the help of some powerful groundstokes. It seemed all but over for the 29-year old Chinese when she was broken in the second set and trailed 3-1. However, like a true champion, she came back strong and at 4-5, reeled off 3 consecutive games to win the set 7-5. Showing tremendous gumption throughout the match in saving 10 of the 14 breakpoints she faced and pressurising the Kvitova second serve, winning 63% of the 2^nd serve points, Na eventually emerged victorious 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Day seven at the Moorilla Hobart International saw German qualifier Mona Barthel maintain her impressive form, upsetting defending champion and No.5 seed Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals. Barthel has won the last six matches in a row and will meet No.4 seed and fellow German, Angelique Kerber, in the first semi-final tomorrow morning.

Kerber was slightly lucky to win her match against Romania's Sorana Cirstea after the last set see-sawed for a while before eventually going the German's way for a lopsided 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 win.