Wozniacki takes home the championship at Tokyo

No. 1 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark captured the championship at the 2010 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, by defeating No. 7 seed,
Elena Dementieva of Russia, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Caroline had something to prove this year, because she had lost her opening matches in both of her previous appearances at this event. This year was different, as she lost only seven games en route to the semifinals, then added back-to-back three set wins in her last two matches, first defeating No. 8 seed, Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4, then Elena in the final.

Wozniacki and Dementieva set for Tokyo final

No. 2 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and No. 11 seed, Elena Dementieva of Russia are set to face each other on Saturday in the final of the 2010 Pan Pacific Open being played in Tokyo, Japan.

Wozniacki withstood a late comeback in her semifinal match to defeat 8th seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Friday, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 to reach the final. Dementieva had a little easier time defeating this year’s French Open champion, 5th seeded Francesca Schizvone of Italy in the other semifinal in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

No. 10 seed, Azarenka, collapses during U.S. Open match

Victoria Azarenka collapsed on Wednesday during her 2nd round match at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Azarenka collapsed and fell to the ground while chasing down a ball on the baseline and had to be taken off the court in a wheelchair, withdrawing from the sweltering U.S. Open with what tournament officials said were “headache-like” symptoms.

The 10th-seed from Belarus was trailing Gisela Dulko 5-1, 31 minutes into her match on another steamy day at Flushing Meadows, when she crumpled to the ground. She was taken to the hospital for tests.

Azarenka defeats Sharapova for first WTA title of the year

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.”

Makarova defeats Azarenka for title at WTA AEGON International

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.

Wozniacki, Schiavone, Radwanska and Pennetta among upsets at the 2010 AEGON International

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!

Dulko upsets No. 10 seed Azarenka at French Open

Unseeded, No. 45 ranked Gisela Dulko from Argentina embarrassed No. 10 seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-1, 6-2, in the 1st round of the French Open being played in Paris, France.

The commentators thought Victoria’s play was so bad, they wondered why she even showed up on the court. Gisela had 14 winners and 18 unforced errors, while Victoria hit 14 winners but with 25 unforced errors. Gisela converted 5 of 11 break points against Victoria; Victoria scored on only 1 of 4 break points she held against Gisela.

Kuznetsova, Safina, Azarenka, Dementieva, Wozniacki, Radwanska among top 10 seed upsets in Rome

Maria Kirilenko of Russia is making her way through the draw at the 2010 WTA Internazionali BNL d’Italia currently being played May 2-9 in Rome, Italy. In reaching the Quarterfinals, she knocked off No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in round 2. In round 3, she defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Kirilenko now faces No. 1 seed, Serena Williams of the USA in the Quarterfinals.

Another big upset in Rome was achieved in round 2 by Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania who defeated No. 3 seed, Dinara Safina of Russia, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1. Dulgheru was then ousted by No. 14 seed, Nadia Petrova of Russia, 0-6, 6-3, 2-6.

Can the WTA solve the injury plague?

Injuries have long been a part of the sports scene. Lately, however, injuries seem to be a plague on both the women’s and men’s side of the tennis court.

The WTA tried to address that problem last year, when after years of debate and struggle, the season was shortened by two weeks – that is, the offseason was shortened from seven to nine weeks before they had to start up again in 2010. The WTA also reduced the number of required events for the top players. These two changes were designed to do two things: 1) keep the biggest stars from getting injured, and 2) get them to face off against each other more often.

Sharapova, Safina, and Serena Williams Drop Out of Sony Ericsson Open

Two of the top Russian tennis players in the world, Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina, plus the current No. 1 ranked player in the world, Serena Williams of the United States, have all withdrawn from the 2010 WTA Sony Ericsson Open running in Miami, Florida, USA on March 23 – Apr. 4 because of injuries.

Sharapova, who won earlier this year in Memphis and was looking forward to playing in Miami for the first time since 2007, was forced to withdraw after an MRI revealed a bone bruise on her right elbow. She is expected to miss 3-6 weeks of competition.