Sharapova loses in first round of Pan Pacific Open

No. 15 ranked Maria Sharapova of Russia was sent packing today by No. 67 ranked wildcard Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan in the first round of the 2010 Pan Pacific Open being played in Tokyo, Japan.

The 23-year-old Maria was the defending champion of this tournament, but was shown the exit door by a local resident and all-time Japanese # 1 Kimiko who turns 40 tomorrow.

Long-time Japanese crowd favorite Kimiko stunned the former world No. 1 Maria 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Kimiko advanced in 2 hours, 9 minutes, as Maria, still struggling with her serve, piled up 11 double faults and had her big serve broken five times.

Serena Williams pulls out of China Open, may lose No. 1 ranking

World No. 1 Serena Williams of the USA has pulled out of yet another tournament, the China Open in Beijing while she continues to recover from surgery on her right foot. The injury will keep her from competing at the Pan Pacific Open and China Open tournaments over the next two weeks.

At the beginning of the week, the 13-time Grand Slam champion revealed to fans on her website that she had stopped wearing a protective boot around her injured foot. “While I have continued to make progress in the recovery of my foot injury, unfortunately I am still not ready to compete at the upcoming Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and China Open in Beijing,” Williams said in a statement.

Serena Williams pulls out of Pan Pacific Open. Surprised?

Tournament organizers say top-ranked Serena Williams has pulled out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo scheduled for Sept. 26-Oct. 2.

Most of us are probably not surprised this time, since this is the fifth tournament Serena has missed since cutting her foot on some glass in an accident at a restaurant back in July. It doesn’t seem to really be news anymore when she pulls out of a tournament. Many don’t expect her to play. It will be news if she ever returns to action.

Clijsters wins U.S. Open but drops two spots in rankings

Yes, you read it correctly. In spite of winning the 2010 U.S. Open, one of the biggest events in the sport, Kim Clijsters slipped from No. 3 to No. 5 in the WTA rankings.

Here’s how that happened. Clijsters earned 2,000 rankings points for winning this year’s tournament, but it had no net effect on her old ranking because she was defending 2,000 points because of her win in 2009. No matter what she did in New York, she couldn’t earn any more points.

Clijsters claims her third U.S. Open Title

Kim Clijsters claimed her third U.S. Open Title today in convincing fashion, defeating Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.

Kim served to open the match. Both players held serve for the first five games, with Kim holding only a slight edge in the quality of play, which was high.

Kim held serve at love in the 5th game, to make the score 3-2. When Vera served, she put the ball into the net with a forehand at 30-40 to bring up the first break point, the sent the ball long with a backhand to give Kim the break.

Clijsters defeats Venus Williams for spot in U.S. Open Final

Defending champion Kim Clijsters reached the final again at the U.S. Open by defeating the No. 3 seed and 2-time U.S. Open champion, Venus Williams 4-6, 7-6(7-2), 6-4.

Kim won her 20th straight U.S. Open match in the 2-hour, 23-minute semifinal match at the National Tennis Cernter in New York. She knocked off Venus last year in the fourth round of the U.S. Open and then beat her sister in the semifinals when Serena Williams was given a point penalty to end the match after berating an official over a foot-fault call.

Zvonareva downs Wozniacki for berth in U.S. Open Final

Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva from Russia pulled a huge upset by defeating No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

With the win, Vera has reached her second successive Grand Slam final, the last at Wimbledon where she lost to Serena Williams.

While everyone has been keeping an eye on Caroline, Vera has been doing just as well, having yet to lose a set in the tournament. Caroline also had not dropped a set in reaching the semi-finals and had only lost 17 games in total, but was immediately in trouble in this match, having to save two break points in the opening game of the match.

Zvonareva vs. Wozniacki in semifinal

No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva will face No. 1 seed, Caroline Wozniacki in one of the semifinals of the 2010 U.S. Open.

This is Zvonareva’s first time in the semifinals, having never made it past the 4th round in seven tries, while Wozniacki was a finalist here last year on her third try.

Zvonareva defeated 31st seed, Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semifinal. Wozniacki continued her winning form downing Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 7-5. Wozniacki hasn’t dropped a set nor played a tie-break in her first five matches, allowing just three games in her first three matches. Zvonareva has struggled a little more, surviving two tie-breaks in her matches.

Kim Clijsters vs. Venus Williams in semifinal

No. 2 seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters will face No. 3 seed Venus Williams in one semifinal at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Both Clijsters and Williams have two U.S. Open titles to their name. Clijsters has won the last two times she played here, in 2005 and then again after coming out of retirement last year in 2009. Williams won in 2000 and 2001, but has struggled in the past years here.

However, Clijsters was really out of form for much of her 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over fifth seed Samantha Stosur in the last round on Arthur Ashe court, but found just enough composure to emerge victorious for the 19th time in a row at Flushing Meadows.

Wickmayer over Schnyder for berth in 4th round

No. 15 seed Yanina Wickmayer and unseeded No. 53 ranked Patty Schnyder dueled it out right to the end, with Wickmayer coming out on top 7-6(7-5), 3-6, 7-6(8-6) at the 2010 U.S. Open today.

Belgian slugger Wickmayer inched closer to a second semifinal appearance at Flushing Meadows with this narrow win over Swiss veteran Schnyder. Schnyder, at 31 the oldest in the women’s draw, gained match point at 6-5 in the 3rd set tie-break. But Wickmayer saved that match point, and won the next point to go up 7-6. Schnyder then committed an untimely double fault to end the match. Schnyder had six double-faults, while Wickmayer had seven. Schnyder’s last one just came at a really bad time.