Category: Results

Qualifier Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic ousted top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia Tuesday night in the 2nd round of the 2010 WTA Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada.

This win over No. 3 ranked Jankovic in straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-3, was the biggest victory of Benesova’s career. After the match she said: “It was almost a perfect match for me… I was in the zone and focused on my game.” Her previous best win was over then No. 10 ranked Vera Zvonareva in 2005.

Jankovic has played only four matches in three tournaments this month after missing two weeks with an ankle injury she claims is completely recovered.

It was 4th seed former #1 Kim Clijsters battling it out with 10th seed former #1
Maria Sharapova in the final of the WTA Tour Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA yesterday, Aug. 15th, 2010. The fans got their money’s worth at the 3-set match in which Kim came out the victor, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Maria held three match points with Kim serving at 3-5 in the second set just before rain interrupted the match. Maria was unable to convert and the tension and drama of the moment heightened as play was halted.

Russian third seed, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, defeated compatriot Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday to capture the WTA Istanbul Cup title in Istanbul, Turkey.

At 19-years-old, Pavlyuchenkova is ranked No. 24, the highest-ranked teenager in the world. It was her second career championship after Monterrey earlier this season.

Pavlyuchenkova did it the hard way, taking the victory after three hours and 10 minutes on the court in the final match, rallying from 0-4 in the second set and 1-3 in the third.

Vesnina, who celebrated her 24th birthday on Sunday, came into Istanbul on a seven-match losing streak, having not won a match on the Tour since Charleston in April.

Eight seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus overwhelmed Russian fifth seed,
Maria Sharapova 6–4, 6-1 in Sunday’s 2010 WTA Tour Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA.

A day after her 21st birthday, Azarenka broke the Russian three times in the first set then took advantage of Sharapova’s 16 unforced errors in the second set while committing only one to win the hardcourt event.

“I haven’t lost a match yet since I turned 21,” Azarenka said. “It’s great. I can have cake now.”

Lindsay Davenport, playing in her first WTA tournament since the 2008 U.S. Open, has won the doubles title in the 2010 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, California, USA, on Sunday afternoon.

She teamed up with Liezel Huber and defeated Yung-Jan Chan and Jie Zheng in the final Aug. 1, 7-5, 6-7 (8), (10-8).

Playing together for just the second time since teaming up for a quarterfinal showing at the 2008 Olympics, Davenport and Huber padded their impressive career doubles marks with the victory. Davenport has now won 38 career doubles titles overall while Huber has claimed 43 career championships.

Ekaterina Makarova of Russia won the women’s final against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the 2010 WTA AEGON International held in Eastbourne, England June 14-19. Ekaterina won the match in straights sets, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Ekaterina is ranked No. 103, and was a qualifier, while Victoria was also unseeded but ranked much higher at No. 15.

Ekaterina defeated #10 Flavia Pennetta, #13 Nadia Petrova, #19 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and #7 Samantha Stosur on her way to the final, making this by far the best week of her career. She did not lose a set along the way.

Justine Henin of Belgium won the championship of the 2010 WTA Tour UNICEF Open played in s’Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands June 13-19. She defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

After dropping the 1st set, Justine was down a break in the 2nd, and again trailed 0-3 in the 3rd.

After the match, Justine said, “When I was down a break in the second, I don’t think many people would have thought I could come back. It’s the kind of match you really like to win. Today was harder than my other matches, because I really wanted to win, my mind was already in Wimbledon, and Andrea played a great match. She has a good game for grass—she hits the ball really flat and hard.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was among the early upsets at the 2010 WTA AEGON International being played June 14-20 in Eastbourne, England. The No. 1 seed was defeated in the 1st round by Aravane Rezai of France 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

The Wimbledon warmup claimed other top seeds in the 1st round, including No. 2 seed and 2010 French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone of Italy who was eliminated by Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-5, 6-3.

It appears the warmup is getting the unseeded players more warmed up than the top seeds. It could be an interesting Wimbledon. Warm up your TV sets by Monday, because here we go!

On Sunday in Birmingham, England, top-seeded Na Li of China defeated 2nd seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia in the finals of the AEGON Classic 7-5, 6-1.

Maria, who had served well in her previous matches this year at Birmingham, hit seven double faults with only once ace (Na: 3 aces, 0 DFs). Na coverted 4 of 10 break point opportunities against Maria; Maria reached break point against Na only once, though she did score on that occasion.

Fifth seeded Jie Zheng of China advanced to the Semifinals of the 2010 WTA Polsat Warsaw Open Thursday when No. 2 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark could no longer continue after the 1st set due to pain from an ongoing ankle injury. The matched ended “6-3 retired”.

Caroline sprained her right ankle in the semifinals in Charleston on April 17, and has gone 2-4 since then, with losses to Lucie Safarova, Maria José Martinez Sanchez, and Alona Bondarenko. She is playing with her ankle taped.