Anna Chakvetadze bites the dust

Another of our featured cutie pies, Anna Chakvetadze has bitten the dust. In this case, it is the red clay of the French Open. Anna lost in the 2nd round to unseeded and 49th ranked Estonian, Kaia Kanepi.

Anna lost a close straight sets match, 4-6, 6-7 (7-2). She didn’t do well in the 2nd set tie-break. Had she been able to pull that out, the match may well have turned out much differently. She was gaining some momentum after the 1st set. Oh well, I guess there’s Wimbledon coming up soon!

Nicole Vaidisova upset in French Open

Cutie pie Nicole Vaidisova was the first of the seeded players to be upset in the French Open. Nicole was seeded 15th, and lost to unseeded 70th ranked Iveta Benesova in straight sets 6-7 (2-7), 1-6.

This is the 3rd tournament in a row that Nicole has lost in the 1st round. The three tournaments before that she was beat out in the 2nd round. Just an unbiased observation – I think she needs to do something different. It is difficult to build up the hardware on the trophy shelf when you don’t make it past the 1st or 2nd round.

Tatiana Golovin to miss French Open

Cutie pie, Tatiana Golovin, will miss the French Open this year. The world No. 21 player will not take part in the tournament as she recently underwent surgery in order to remove a cyst from her abdomen, according to Techtainment. She is now recovering from that operation.

Tatiana is from France. It has to be a big disappointment to miss a Grand Slam in her home country. Hopefully she’ll be recovered for the next Grand Slam.

Daniela Hantuchova withdraws from French Open

Cutie pie, Daniela Hantuchova, has withdrawn from the French Open because of a stress fracture in her foot. The World No. 9 player announced the news on Thursday at her official website.

In a statement reported at On The Baseline, Daniela said “A near heartbreaking day for me. After final consult with my team, I am sad to announce that I will be missing my first Roland Garros as a professional athlete. Every player’s dream is to compete in the Grand Slams and I so much wanted to make Paris happen.” We hope she’ll be healed up and ready for the next Grand Slam.

Elena Dementieva loses in final

Cutie pie Elena Dementieva might be feeling like pulling her hair out, wondering “What do I have to do to win?” after her 2-set loss to # 2 seed Agnieska Radwanska.

Elena was the defending champion at this tournament, but the # 1 seed was no match for Radwanska from Poland. Elena started off strong, but Radwanska took over early and never looked back. Runner-up isn’t bad, but I’m sure Elena was disappointed. No one likes to lose against someone seeded or ranked lower.

Elena is the 7th seed in the French Open which begins Sunday. This should have been a good warm-up for her. Good luck, Elena.

Maria Sharapova top seed for French Open

The draw had been made – it is official – cutie pie Maria Sharapova is the # 1 seed for the French Open which is set to begin on Sunday. Maria has already won Wimbledon, the US Open and Australian Open, but she has not yet won at Roland Garros. She was quoted at ABS-CBN News Online “It’s quite amazing to be 21 years old and have someone tell you it’s the only Grand Slam you haven’t won.”

Elena Dementieva # 1 Seed

Cutie pie, Elena Dementieva is the # 1 seed in the 2008 WTA Istanbul Cup. She had a bye into the 2nd round where she faced unseeded Liana Ungur. Elena defeated Ungur in 2 sets to advance to the quarterfinals. She will now face 7th seed, Jill Craybas.

Anna Chakvetadze out in semis

.Cutie pie, Anna Chakvetadze made a strong run in the 2008 WTA Internazionali d’Italia in Rome last week. However, she was defeated in the semifinals by unseeded Alize Cornet of France in a hard fought 3-set match 6-3, 4-6, 3-6. Cornet then lost to # 4 seed, Jelena Jankovic in the finals.

It was a good run for Anna in this tournament, but I guess sometimes all good things come to an end.

Maria Sharapova out with injury

Cutie pie, Maria Sharapova is out of the 2008 Internazionali d’Italia tennis tournament being played in Rome, Italy due to an injury.

Maria had made it to the semifinals with wins over Dominika Cibulkova, Caroline Wozniacki, and Patty Schnyder. She was scheduled to play Jelena Jankovic today, but pulled out of the match with a left calf strain.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, she doesn’t think the injury will affect her preparations for the French Open which begins next weekend. The injury is described as a strain. They will test it again after three days off.

Anna Chakvetadze into semifinals

Cutie pie, Anna Chakvetadze is the only one of our featured cutie pies remaining in the 2008 WTA Internazionali d’Italia Tennis Tournament currently being played in Rome, Italy. Anna is seed # 6, and will face unseeded Alize Cornet in a semifinal match today.

In making her way to the semfinals, Anna defeated Katerina Bondarenko, Agnieska Radwanska, and Tzvetana Pironkova who upset cutie pie, Ana Ivanovic in the 2nd round.