Archive for: March 2009

German cutie pie, Nicole Vaidisova, won her way into the 3rd round of the 2009 WTA Sony Ericsson Open being played in Miami, Florida, USA, March 25 – April 4.

Vaidisova, ranked No. 71, had a relatively easy time winning her first two matches. She defeated No. 79 ranked Patricia Mayr of Austria, 6-4, 6-2 in round one. In round two, she beat No.36 ranked Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine, 6-1, 6-0.

Russian cutie pie, Maria Sharapova, made her long awaited return to tennis after seven months off because of a shoulder injury with a doubles match at the 2009 WTA BNP Paribas Open.

Sharapova teamed up with compatriot Elena Vesnina for the match. Unfortunately it was a one-match tournament for her comeback. They lost to the team of Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus, 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 in the 1st round.

Serbian tennis cutie pie, Ana Ivanovic, had a good showing in the WTA BNP Paribas Open March 11-22, 2009 in Indian Wells, California, USA, making it all the way into the Final match. Unfortunately, the No. 7 ranked player’s run was cut one match short of the championship by the No. 5 ranked Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

Ivanovic won quite easily through the first rounds. After a BYE, she defeated Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus, 6-4, 6-3, and then Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-3, 6-3.

Russian cutie pie, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, won her way into the semifinals of the WTA BNP Paribas Open played March 11-22, 2009 in Indian Wells, California USA, without dropping a set.

Round one brought Pavlyuchenkova up against No. 97 ranked Marta Domachowska of Poland. Pavlyuchenkova won the match easily 6-1, 6-3. Round 2 was a great win for Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 6-4, against the world No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. The 3rd round was another 2-set win over No. 59 ranked Karin Knapp of Italy, 6-2, 6-4.

Eighteen year-old Danish cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, is shown here returning a shot to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden March 15, 2009 in Indian Wells, California, USA. Wozniacki made it all the way to the Quarterfinals.

Wozniacki, the 9th seed in the tournament, had a BYE into the 2nd round where she defeated 88th ranked Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-1. Her victim in the 3rd round was No. 19 ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in a 3-set match by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. In the 4th round, Wozniacki was the victor in a 2-set match over 83rd ranked Urszula Radwanska of Poland 7-5, 6-3.

Russian cutie pie, Maria Sharapova, has announced that she make her long anticipated return to tennis this week in the 2009 WTA Indian Wells tournament at Indian Wells, California, USA March 11-24.

However, it appears she is sneaking in the back door to test out her shoulder. She will not be playing singles, which has been her primary focus the past four years. According to Sharapova’s Official Site, she will be playing doubles with fellow Russian, Elena Vesnina. Vesnina is ranked No. 15 in doubles, whereas Sharapova, who hasn’t played doubles in four years, has no current doubles ranking. Perhaps Sharapova has found someone to carry her.

Maria Kirilenko, cutie pie from Russia, retired during the 2nd round of the WTA Monterrey Open March 5, 2009, in Monterrey, Mexico. She had an inflamed left knee and was not able to continue play. Kirilenko had lost the first set 4-6, and was down 1-4 when she withdrew.

Kirilenko also withdrew from the doubles tournament which she was playing with Flavia Pennetta.

That was a tough break for Kirilenko. This was the 1st tournament this year that she had advanced beyond the 1st round in singles. Hopefully she will be able to recover fully and be ready for the next tournament. She is scheduled to play Indian Wells March 11, 2009.

Russian tennis cutie pie, Anna Chakvetadze, turns 22 today. She was born March 5, 1987 in Moscow, Russia where she still resides.

Chakvetadze is pictured here during her win over No. 130 ranked Zi Yan of China, 6-1 6-2, which helped lead Russia over China in the first round of the 2009 Fed Cup.

Chakvetadze is currently ranked No. 24 on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking has been No. 5 on September 10, 2007. That was the year she did her best in the Grand Slams, reaching the Quarterfinals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros, and the Semifinals of the US Open. She has never won a Grand Slam.

Russian cutie pie, Maria Kirilenko, is through to the 2nd round of the 2009 WTA Monterrey Open being played in Monterrey, Mexico Mar 2-8.

The No. 8 seed, currently ranked 38th in the world, defeated No. 70 Marina Erakovic of Croatia. It was a straight sets victory, 6-4, 6-3.

Kirilenko has lost in the 1st round of three of the four tournaments she has played in this year. She made it to the 3rd round of the Australian Open, the only tournament she has advanced past the 1st round.