Archive for: February 2009

Cutie pie Serena Williams of the USA made it into the semifinals of the WTA Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships played in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Feb. 15-22, 2009.

Williams, ranked No. 1 in the world, was also the No. 1 seed in the tournament. After a BYE into the 2nd round, Williams defeated Sara Errani in a 3-set match, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. She then cruised through the next two rounds, winning straight-set matches over No. 18 ranked Zheng Jie (6-4, 6-2) and Ana Ivanovic (6-4, 6-4).

Sexy, Serbian cutie pie, Ana Ivanovic, reached the quarterfinals of the WTA Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. The tournament was held Feb. 15-22, 2009 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Ivanovic, seeded 8th, had a BYE into the 2nd round where she defeated No. 26 ranked Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 7-5, 6-4. The 3rd round was a rather close match, with Ivanovic winning 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) over No. 92 ranked Camille Pin of France.

In the quarterfinals, she ran into the world’s No. 1 ranked player, Serena Williams of the USA. Williams won the match 6-4, 6-4.

Russian cutie pie, Elena Dementieva, advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships played Feb. 15-22, 2009 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with a win over No. 21 ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.

Dementieva had a 1st-round BYE, then defeated No. 27 ranked Sybille Bammer of Austria 75-62 in the 2nd round.

In the quarterfinals, Dementieva ran into No. 5 ranked Venus Williams of the USA. Williams won the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

This is the 1st out of 5 tournaments that Dementieva has not reached at least the semifinals. She is having a good year. I look for that to continue.

Jelena Jankovic, cutie pie from Serbia, was the 3rd seed in the WTA Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships played Feb. 15-22, 2009 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She reached the 3rd round before going down in defeat.

Jankovic had a BYE into the 2nd round where she easily defeated No. 51 ranked Monica Niculescu of Romania, 6-3, 6-2. In the 3rd round, she was pitted against No. 20 ranked, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. Kanepi won that match 6-2, 7-5.

Danish cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, reached the finals of the 2009 WTA The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & The Cellular South Cup played in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, Feb. 15-22.

Wozniacki, currently ranked 13th in the world, was the top seed in the tournament. She had an easy 1st round match, defeating Jelena Dokic 6-1, 6-2. The had a straight-sets win over Severine Bremond 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), and won her quarterfinal match over Michaella Krajicek in 3 sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Danish cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, reached the Quarterfinals of the WTA PTT Pattaya Women’s Open in Pattaya City, Thailand last week.

Wozniacki, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, defeated No. 60 ranked Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-3, 6-0 in the 1st round. In the 2nd round, Wozniacki’s opponent, No. 149 ranked Ksenia Pervak of Russia retired with a lower back injury in the 3rd set with Wozniacki leading 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 3-0.

Wozniacki met No. 47 ranked Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the Quarterfinals. Rybarikova won that match 6-4, 6-1.

Elena Dementieva, cutie pie from Russia, made it to the finals of the Open GDF Tournament in Paris, France. She didn’t lose a set in her first 4 matches, with the final being called a “walkover” when Serena Williams withdrew from the semifinals because of an injury.

In her final match, No. 4 ranked Dementieva lost a tough one to No. 19 Amelie Mauresmo 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 4-6.

Dementieva is scheduled to play Sybille Bammer in her opening match at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships this week. She has been playing great tennis so far this year. There is no reason to expect her to do any differently in this tournament.

Serbian cutie pie, Jelena Jankovic, celebrates after beating France’s Alize Cornet 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, during the quarterfinals of the Gaz De France tennis open match in Paris, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009.

Her win put her in the semifinals where she faced Amelie Mauresmo. Mauresmo won the see-saw match in 3 sets, 6-2, 0-6, 6-1.

Jankovic seems to be having a tough time in her matches. All 4 matches she played in this tournament went 3 sets. Of course, her opponents were ranked No. 36, 37, 11, and 19, which means they are good players. However, if Jankovic is want to win a Grand Slam, she is going to have to play better then she is at this point.

The world’s No. 1 ranked player, Serena Williams pulled out of the 2009 Open GDF Suez tournament played in Paris, France. She was scheduled to play Elena Dementieva in the semifinal match.

Williams cited a knee injury as the reason for her withdrawal. Williams was quoted in Argwus tennis blog, “At the end of the match (against Emilie Loit) I felt pain and this morning it was bad. My left knee has already often been injured and here it’s the right, that’s the good news… I really think it’s just a question of a few days of rest.”

Sexy tennis cutie pie, Maria Kirilenko, is one of three featured cutie pies appearing in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. Maybe it’s time to skip tennis and head to the beach.

Kirilenko was photographed by Walter Iooss, Jr. in Cap Cana, Juanillo, Dominican Republic. Her swimsuit is by Salinas Swimwear.

For her full gallery, go to Sports Illustrated.