The draw for the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells has been released and Maria is the #4 seed and has a bye in the 1st round and will play either Lilia Osterloh of the United States or a qualifier.    Maria has played Osterloh twice before and won both matches without dropping a set.

The 1st seed Maria can meet is #25 seed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the 3rd round.  Maria can meet #15 seed Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine in the 4th round.  Last year's champion Daniela Hantuchova is Maria's projected opponent in the quarters and Maria is in #2 seed Svetlana Kusnetsova's half.  Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic round off the draw in the top half.

Maria Sharapova swapped her sporty tennis gear for a floaty gilry dress for the US premiere of 10,000 BC last night.

The tennis champion looked stunning in this sheer two tone chiffon dress that showed off her toned athletic figure perfectly.

The nipped in waist created her a great curve and the floaty A-line skit gave her a cute feminine look which is just what a professional sportswomen needs away from the game.

Russia's Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the $US1.5 million ($A1.62 million) Dubai Championships citing a viral illness.

The Australian Open champion, who also won in Doha last week, is unbeaten in 2008 and had been scheduled to play her first match in Dubai on centre court in Tuesday's evening session.

"Unfortunately I have been battling a virus for several days and it's reached a point where I'm unable to compete," the world number five said in a statement.

Maria Sharapova claimed her second title of the year and the 18th of her career when she defeated unseeded Vera Zvonareva 6-1 2-6 6-0 in an all-Russian final at the Qatar Open on Sunday.

Playing in a packed 5,000-seat stadium, fourth seed Sharapova made a dreadful start, dropping the opening game to love.

But she repaired the situation immediately, levelling at 1-1 and then overwhelming her opponent with her deep groundstrokes and powerful forehand.

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova extended her unbeaten run to 13 matches with victory over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the Qatar Open semis.
The Australian Open champion controlled proceedings as she came through 6-4 6-3 to set up a final against her fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva.

"It was a good opportunity for me to go out and play against a player who had beaten me," Sharapova said. "I think she did a good job early in the match, but I was able to get ahead and play good tennis."

Sharapova had two breaks to Radwanska's one in the first set, and broke the Pole three times in the second set.