WTA Sept 18-24 China Open, Beijing, CT Tier II $600,000 - 28 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - draws & OOP, .pdf photos: Yahoo news - WTA Beijing forecast # 1 Amelie Mauresmo, # 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova # 7 Nadia Petrova, # 10 Nicole Vaidisova Sunfeast Open, Kolkata, IND Tier III $175,000 - 32 players - indoor: greenset Live Scores - draws & OOP, .pdf - order of play photos: news: Kolkata - Sunfeast; tourney - WTA Kolkata: radar - forecast - map # 9 Martina Hingis, # 50 Karolina Sprem # 64 Yuliana Fedak, # 66 Aravane Rezai Slovenia Open, Portoroz, SLO Tier IV $145,000 - 32 players - outdoor: hard draws & OOP, .pdf - main draw, .pdf photos: tourney - WTA Portoroz: radar - forecast - map # 24 Katarina Srebotnik, # 45 Sybille Bammer # 46 Martina Muller, # 48 Romina Oprandi

Tourney pages: Beijing, Kolkata & Portoroz: 2005 Beijing: 2004 Shanghai: 2003 previous other tourney pages next Kolkata: #9 Martina Hingis 5' 7", 130 lbs, RH 2H-BH Beijing: #5 Sveta Kuznetsova 5' 8½", 161 lbs, RH 2H-BH Portoroz: #258 Tamira Paszek 5' 5", 132 lbs, RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Beijing, in the final of the China Open, the 2004 US Open champ, 21-year-old 2nd-seeded # 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (residence: Barcelona, Spain), defeated the 2006 Aussie Open & Wimbledon champ, top-seeded # 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France, 6-4, 6-0 (photo shown).
    The score was 4-4 in the 1st set when play was interrupted by rain; after the delay, Svetlana won 8 straight games to take the title.
    Svetlana said: "After the rain, we both felt a little nervous on court. I knew [Amelie] would change her tactics after the rain. I had a break, tried to calm down and thought about what I could do later. I played consistently after the rain, and broke her several times. I could see that she had a lot of pressure, and she made some easy mistakes. But I did pretty well." interview fragment
    Amelie still leads Svetlana 4-3 in career matches. However, Amelie won the first four times they played, and Svetlana the last three, all this year: in the Dubai quarterfinals, 7-6(11), 6-4, in the Miami semis, 6-1, 6-4, and now in the Beijing final. Svetlana is now 8-7 in WTA singles finals; Amelie is 23-19.

    Meanwhile in Kolkata, India, in the final of the Sunfeast Open, 25-year-old top-seeded # 9 (and former # 1) Martina Hingis from Trubbach, Switzerland, a 5-time Grand Slam tourney champion, defeated upwardly-mobile 19-year-old # 97 Olga Poutchkova of Russia, 6-0, 6-4 (photo shown). It was their first meeting.
    After Martina handed Olga the 1st set bagel, the Russian's play improved, and she broke Martina to take a 3-1 lead in the 2nd set. But Martina quickly recovered, breaking Olga twice to go up 5-3.
    Martina said: "I had to re-focus then. She was playing to my forehand which took me by surprise a bit. At one point I even believed she had a chance. She is very talented and I wish her a great career." Reuters story
    Olga said: "It was my first final and I was very nervous. I was very excited to play Martina. She is a great player and I look up to her. I had taken a picture with her when I was 10." That was in 1997, when 17-year-old Martina won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open (Martina fell off her horse and was injured on April 21st that year, and lost to Iva Majoli in the French Open final 5 weeks later).
    Martina has now won 42 WTA singles titles; this is the first time Olga, who has 5 ITF singles titles, had been past the quarterfinals of a WTA event.

    In the Portoroz final on Sunday, 15-year-old qualifier # 258 Tamira Paszek from Dornbirn, Austria, defeated 24-year-old 6th-seeded # 53 Maria Elena Camerin from Venezia, Italy, 7-5, 6-1. It was their first meeting.
    Neither had yet won a WTA singles title. Maria, who has 6 ITF singles titles, was playing in her 2nd WTA final. Young Tamira, who has 1 ITF singles title, playing in only her third WTA main draw, won 8 straight matches, including qualifying, to take her first WTA title.
    Tamira said: "I played eight matches in nine days. It was hard, but unbelievable. I am very happy." AP story

    The China Open site links to match and interview video excerpts served by Sohu.com. Instead of short highlights, a continuous section of the match is shown: (392 kbps--you may be prompted to download an activeX control, needed to see the video).
Sunday: Kuznetsova d Mauresmo
Saturday: Mauresmo d Jankovic - Kuznetsova d Peng
Friday: Mauresmo d Davenport - Peng d Sugiyama
Thursday: Davenport d Zheng - Mauresmo d Sun
Wednesday: Peng d Kirilenko - Zvonareva & Peng d Yan & Zheng
Tuesday: Kirilenko d Dulko - Na Li d Dushevina interview in Chinese

Beijing Player's Blog by Jelena Jankovic

WTA SCOREBOARD: Beijing, Kolkata & Portoroz s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Beijing: The main draw for Beijing has 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw. Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Saturday, qualifying finals are on Monday.     Beijing Int'l Tennis Centre - click for sat pic     Early round play at Beijing    begins at 12:30pm local time.     The time in Beijing is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 8 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 12 hours, PDT+15 hours. China news 2005 China Open champion Maria Kirilenko practiced in Beijing on Saturday; Nadia Petrova, Amelie Mauresmo, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Lindsay Davenport and Nicole Vaidisova attended the official reception at the Shangri-La Hotel (on Tuesday?), as did Zi Yan

Beijing, 1st Rd, Mon 12:30pm-Wed 12:30pm losers' prize: $4,175 US; points: 1 #12 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA d #27 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5 Wed Lindsay serving, and Anna and Lindsay driving backhands #17 s6 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #40 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 6-0, 6-1 Mon Jelena about to wallop a backhand, and testing the haberdashery at XiuShui Street Market (on Tuesday, probably)     Jelena said: "I played really well. The first round is always tough for me, because you have to get used to the court and the condition. I’m happy about the way I played." interview fragment #21 s7 Na Li CHN d #92 q Vera Dushevina RUS 6-3, 6-4 Tue Na driving a backhand Na Li postmatch interview video in Chinese #25 s8 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #38 Gisela Dulko ARG 7-6(6), 6-3 Tue Maria firing a flying forehand, and following a backhand (I usually try to show both players, but photos of Gisela and other 1st-round non-winners have not been available this week)     Maria said: "It was a difficult match, and it’s always difficult in the first game. [Gisela] played tough as well. The weather was so black, so it was hard to see the ball. We made some double faults. But I’m happy about the way I played." interview fragment     The China Open site links to match and interview video excerpts served by Sohu.com. Instead of short highlights, a continuous long section of the match is shown; in this case almost 17½ minutes covering Maria breaking Gisela, who was serving for the 1st set, to force the tiebreaker, and the tiebreaker itself: Kirilenko d Dulko match video (392 kbps--you may be prompted to download an activeX control, needed to see the video). #26 Marion Bartoli FRA d #31 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-3, 6-3 Wed #28 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #209 q Alicia Molik AUS 6-2, 7-6(2) Tue Ai driving a forehand, and following a backhand *#107 wc Tiantian Sun CHN d #29 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 Mon #32 Jie Zheng CHN d #52 Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 6-3 Tue Jie's service toss, and forehand drive *#55 q Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #35 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-4, 6-1 Tue *#61 wc Shuai Peng CHN d #44 Catalina Castano COL 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 Mon #49 Elena Vesnina RUS d #68 Emma Laine FIN 7-6(0), 5-7, 6-3 Mon #60 q Jelena Kostanic CRO d #89 wc Zi Yan CHN 7-5, 6-2 Tue

Beijing, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 12:30pm WTA Wed story losers' prize: $7,820 US; points: 25 #1 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #107 wc Tiantian Sun CHN 6-3, 6-2 Thu Amelie's forehand, and Tiantian driving a backhand #5 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #60 q Jelena Kostanic CRO 2-1 retired-- right thigh strain Wed #7 s3 Nadia Petrova RUS d #55 q Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-1, 6-2 Thu Eleni's forehand, Nadia's backhand, and after match point *#28 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #10 s4 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 Wed Ai's forehand, Nicole's backhand, and Nicole, now with some spare time, visiting the Great Wall of China     Ai said: "I started good and had very good rhythm in the first set. Nicole served and returned well in the second set, and I couldn’t find my rhythm. The third set was really tough... I tried to fight for every point, and I’m really happy that I won." interview fragment     The China Open interview pages appear to be the result of translations into Chinese, and then into English, which might lead to some errors. At any rate, according to the text posted, Nicole said: "I played a stupid game today. I had some chances in the first set. But I played badly in the second set[?], and lost in the third set as well. Sugiyama played very well." interview fragment #12 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA d #32 Jie Zheng CHN 6-2, 7-6(4) Thu Lindsay's forehand, and Jie's backhand     Lindsay said: "It was a close match, especially in the second set. Zheng played better in the second set. I played well in the tie break." interview fragment     Jie was slowed by an ankle injury. Jie said: "I was a little bit nervous in the first set; I would like to make [Lindsay] move during the match. But she was very aggressive today, and I could not move fast because of my injury. I thought of withdrawal, but the audience supported me very much, that made me stick to the end." interview fragment #17 s6 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #26 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-3, 6-2 Thu #21 s7 Na Li CHN d #49 Elena Vesnina RUS 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 Thu Elena considering after losing a point, and Na's backhand drive *#61 wc Shuai Peng CHN d #25 s8 Maria Kirilenko RUS 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 Wed Shuai serving, Maria taking it easy while the trainer examines her right wrist, and Shuai after match point

Beijing, QFs, Fri 12:30pm losers' prize: $14,600 US; points: 49 #1 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #12 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA 6-4, 6-3 Amelie firing a forehand, and Lindsay's backhand     Amelie said: "I’m happy about the match. I broke early, and tried not to give [Lindsay] the opportunity to come up again." interview fragment     Lindsay said: "Amelie played well today... I made a few errors at the 1st set, and that changed the match... Mauresmo is a top player. So I didn’t feel sorry after losing to her. I’d like to raise my game one more level." interview fragment #5 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #21 s7 Na Li CHN 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Svetlana's forehand drive, and Na launching a backhand *#17 s6 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #7 s3 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Nadia's forehand (only photo available), and Jelena following a backhand     Jelena said: "It was a really tough match. I was fighting hard and giving my best to win. It was a little difficult to breathe on court. I’m happy that I can be in the semi-final." interview fragment *#61 wc Shuai Peng CHN d #28 Ai Sugiyama JPN 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2 Ai's toss and a cannonball serve, Shuai's backhand, and after match point     Shuai said: "[Ai] was really tough. It was a long game. Sugiyama is more experienced. I’ve decided from the start that no matter I was in the lead or not, I would keep calm and keep fighting. I took some key points in the first set. But in the second set, I didn’t succeed to break her serve. I did well at the beginning of the third set. I really want to thank all the fans supporting me. It was of great help for me." interview fragment

Beijing, SFs, Sat 12:30pm losers' prize: $27,300 US; points: 88 #1 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #17 s6 Jelena Jankovic SCG 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(3) Amelie fielding a drop shot, Jelena slicing a backhand, Jelena after losing a tough point, and Amelie saying "I got it" as she tracks a high fly ball deep to left center field--no, wait, that's after match point #5 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #61 wc Shuai Peng CHN 6-0, 6-2 Svetlana firing a cannonball, Shuai's backhand, Svetlana's primary weapon, her forehand drive, and after match point

Beijing, Final, Sun 7pm loser's prize: $51,000 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $95,500 US; points: 195 *#5 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #1 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-4, 6-0 Svetlana serving, Amelie and Svetlana driving forehands, and Amelie congratulating Svetlana after match point

Beijing, Doubles Final, Sun 3pm losers' prize: $16,120 US winners' prize: $30,000 US cdr26 s2 Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suarez v cdr146 Anna Chakvetadze & Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-4 Beijing, Qual Finals, Mon Sept 18 12:30pm losers' prizes: q1 $640 US; q2 $1,195 US; q final $2,230 US #55 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #309 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-1, 6-1 #60 Jelena Kostanic CRO d #111 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 7-6(8), 6-4 *#92 Vera Dushevina RUS d #62 Marta Domachowska POL 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 *#209 Alicia Molik AUS d #116 Lilia Osterloh USA 7-5, 6-0 Beijing, Withdrawals #2 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL #14 Francesca Schiavone ITA #16 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER #NR Elena Bovina RUS r shoulder

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Kolkata: The main draw for Kolkata has 8 seeds. There are NO 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw; the two qualifying rounds are on Saturday and Sunday.     Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata, India - click for sat pic     Early round play at Kolkata    begins at 1pm & noon local time.     The time in Kolkata is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 5½ hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 9½ hours, PDT+12½ hours. India news     2005 was the first year of the tourney in Kolkata, sometimes still called Calcutta, capital of the West Bengal state of India. Top seed Martina Hingis is shown leaving the court after practicing on Friday, the day she arrived in Kolkata; Sunitha Rao met the press to announce that she has signed with Globosport; and Sania Mirza made an appearance with the Sunfeast tourney mascot on Monday

Kolkata, 1st Rd, Mon 1pm, Tue noon, Wed losers' prize: $1,340 US; points: 1 #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI d #84 Melinda Czink HUN 6-1, 6-2 Mon Martina's service toss, and running down a backhand     Martina said: "I love playing indoors and it was nice to get off to a good start. Hopefully I can preserve myself for the rest of the week." *#180 Casey Dellacqua AUS d #50 s2 Karolina Sprem CRO 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 Tue Casey's lefty forehand, and Karolina driving a backhand *#127 Alberta Brianti ITA d #64 s3 Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-4, 6-2 Tue Alberta's one-handed, and Yulia's two-handed, backhands #66 s4 Aravane Rezai FRA d #361 wc Ankita Bhambri IND 6-2, 7-6 Mon #70 s5 Sania Mirza IND d #457 q Rushmi Chakravarthi IND 6-0, 6-4 Tue Sania driving a forehand, and waiting to wallop a backhand *#124 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #72 s6 Kaia Kanepi EST 6(10)-7, 7-5, 6-0 Mon #80 s7 Nicole Pratt AUS d #221 wc Sunitha Rao USA 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tue *#186 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #82 s8 Anastassia Rodionova UKR 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tue *#123 Sandra Kloesel GER d #87 Galina Voskoboeva RUS 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-4 Wed *#130 Tzipora Obziler ISR d #88 Yulia Beygelzimer UKR 6-2, 6-3 Mon #97 Olga Poutchkova RUS d #188 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-1, 6-0 Tue #113 Tatiana Poutchek BLR d #139 Anne Keothavong GBR 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 Mon #132 Hana Sromova CZE d #194 wc Shikha Uberoi IND 6-4, 6-3 Tue #218 Abigail Spears USA d #170 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-3, 6-4 Mon #321 Angelique Widjaja INA d #691 q Sanaa Bhambri IND 6-2, 6-3 Tue *#346 q Iroda Tulyaganova UZB d #225 q Chia-Jung Chuang TPE 6-4, 6-1 Tue

Kolkata, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 1pm Wed WTA story - Thu WTA story losers' prize: $2,275 US; points: 16 #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI d #130 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-2, 7-5 Wed Martina lining up a forehand, Tzipora's backhand, and Martina waiting to wallop one     Martina said: "I was having problems with consistency in the second set. In the first set I was on top of things, but I let [Tzipora] back in, was hitting the ball a little short and she stopped making errors... I think sometimes it's just in the head. There was no reason that I wasn't playing as well in the second set. I had so many chances in the 4-4 game, but couldn't get the break. The last game on my serve was almost perfect with four first serves and backhand winners. I almost couldn't play a better game than that. So why I couldn't play that well a few games earlier, I don't know." #66 s4 Aravane Rezai FRA d #113 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-1, 6-2 Wed #70 s5 Sania Mirza IND d #123 Sandra Kloesel GER 7-5, 6-3 Thu Sania swatting a forehand, Sandra driving one, and Sania's backhand     Sania said: "I was glad to get out with a win in two sets. [Sandra] played much better than her ranking. I was down 15-40 on my serve at 6-5 in the first set and managed to come back to take the set. This was a key game. I also fought back from being down 1-3 in the second set. The game to break for 2-3 was important, as there is a big difference from being down 2-3 or 1-4 with two breaks...     "I'm taking it one match at a time. I'm really happy to be here in the quarterfinals in front of a great Kolkata crowd. I play Rezai next and she's had a great year. It's going to be a tough match, but I'm looking forward to it." *#97 Olga Poutchkova RUS d #80 s7 Nicole Pratt AUS 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 Thu Olga and Nicole firing forehands     Olga said: "I started playing so well in the second set. My serve wasn't working as well. Pratt is a great player and she put on the pressure. In the third set, I really focused and my game was fantastic. But I got nervous when serving for the match. I try to play every ball and point as if it were the same, but the crowd was calling out "match point" and it made it more difficult. I'm happy that I refocused and won the match." #124 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #218 Abigail Spears USA 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 Wed #127 Alberta Brianti ITA d #321 Angelique Widjaja INA 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 Thu     Alberta sprained an ankle early in the 2nd set. Alberta said: "I was playing so well and then I fell. It hurt so much to move initially but the tape helped. The more I played, the better it felt. By the third set, the pain virtually stopped and I was able to move better and get the match back on track. Right now I don't feel any pain, but I'll get some preventative treatment tonight so that I'm at my best for the quarterfinals." *#186 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #132 Hana Sromova CZE 6-2, 6-0 Thu *#346 q Iroda Tulyaganova UZB d #180 Casey Dellacqua AUS 6-3, 6-2 Thu     A right elbow stress fracture sidelined Iroda for most of the last two years. Iroda said: "I'm so happy to be back and playing. I love being out here and winning. The surface here [indoor: greenset] is really good for me."

Kolkata, QFs, Fri 2pm losers' prize: $4,230 US; points: 30 #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI d #124 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-5, 6-2 Martina swatting a forehand, and Tammy's backhand #70 s5 Sania Mirza IND d #66 s4 Aravane Rezai FRA 6-4, 7-5 Sania's forehand drive, Aravane about to connect with one, and Sania lining up a backhand #97 Olga Poutchkova RUS d #127 Alberta Brianti ITA *#346 q Iroda Tulyaganova UZB d #186 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS Iroda being adorned with bangles at the players party

Kolkata, SFs, Sat 5pm losers' prize: $7,900 US; points: 55 #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI v #70 s5 Sania Mirza IND 6-1, 6-0 Martina and Sania firing forehands, and Sania congratulating Martina after match point     Sania held 5 break points against Martina in the fourth game of the 2nd set, but could never convert. After the match, Martina apologized to the crowd for crushing their # 1 player so completely, but, Martina said: "The match wasn't that easy as the scores suggest. I scored some important points at vital moments by raising the level of my game. I tried to keep moving, as Sania has a great forehand, but she missed some shots in the second set." AP story #97 Olga Poutchkova RUS d #346 q Iroda Tulyaganova UZB 6-4, 6-4 Olga lining up a forehand, and Iroda launching one     In the Kolkata final on Sunday, Olga will play 5-time Grand Slam tourney champion Martina Hingis. They have never before met on the field of combat. Martina has won 41 WTA singles titles; this is the first time Olga, who has 5 ITF singles titles, has been past the quarterfinals of a WTA event.     Olga said: "I remember when was 10-years-old watching Martina play on TV. For me, it will be a big honour to play against her tomorrow." Reuters story

Kolkata, Final, Sun 6pm loser's prize: $15,000 US; points: 85 winner's prize: $28,000 US; points: 120 #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI d #97 Olga Poutchkova RUS 6-0, 6-4 Martina's forehand, Olga driving a backhand, Martina after match point, and Olga congratulating Martina after the match

Kolkata, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $4,380 US winners' prize: $8,250 US cdr49 s1 Sania Mirza & Liezel Huber d cdr88 s2 Nicole Pratt & Anastassia Rodionova 6-4, 6-0 Sania & Liezel Kolkata, Qual Finals, Sun Sept 17 losers' prizes: q1 $365 US; q final $680 US #225 Chia-Jung Chuang TPE d #554 Sandhya Nagaraj IND 7-6(4), 6-4 #346 Iroda Tulyaganova UZB d #399 Sandy Gumulya INA 6-1, 6-3 #457 Rushmi Chakravarthi IND d #958 Tara Iyer IND 7-5, 6-4 *#691 Sanaa Bhambri IND d #495 Sabine Lisicki GER 7-6(4), 7-5 Kolkata, Withdrawals #68 Emma Laine FIN Beijing #91 Virginie Razzano FRA #101 Olga Savchuk UKR #114 Conchita Martinez Granados ESP #116 Lilia Osterloh USA Beijing #142 Lioudmila Skavronskaia RUS #151 Antonella Serra Zanetti ITA

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Portoroz: The main draw for Portoroz has 8 seeds, with NO 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw. Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Saturday, qualifying finals are on Monday.     SRC Marina Portoroz, Slovenia - click for sat pic     Starting times in Portoroz: Mon noon; Tue-Fri, 11am; Sat, 1pm; Sun 2:30pm.     The time in Portoroz is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 2 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 6 hours, PDT+9 hours. Slovenia news     2006 is the second year of the Portoroz tourney. Slovenia, north of Croatia, west of Switzerland, south of Austria, and east of Hungary, became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991 after a 10-day war. Portoroz is located on the Adriatic Sea; Italy is on the opposite shore. Slovene Tennis Royalty: 1977 French Open champ and Slovenian (then Yugoslav) Mima Jausovec, Katarina Srebotnik, Maja Matevzic, Tina Krizan, and Andreja Klepac-- 26-year old Maja, who reached a rank of # 38 two years ago, is retiring after this tourney due to a string of injuries; she has won $593,143 in prize money during her 6-year pro career; Katarina Srebotnik, current Slovene # 1, is also shown at a pre-tourney press conference on Sep 13.

Portoroz, 1st Rd, Mon noon-Tue 11am Tue WTA story losers' prize: $1,035 US; points: 1 *#79 Martina Sucha SVK d #24 s1 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Tue     Slovene # 1 Katarina said: "Sucha played really well today. I had to fight for every point. This year I have played a lot of equal matches like this, but I won them all. This time I did not despite the fact that I left my heart on the court. I gave my best on the court and hoped I could win until the very end." *#73 Iveta Benesova CZE d #45 s3 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Mon #46 s4 Martina Muller GER d #134 q Karin Knapp ITA 6(6)-7, 6-2, 7-6(0) Tue #48 s5 Romina Oprandi ITA d #75 Julia Schruff GER 6-3, 7-5 Tue #53 s6 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #140 Ivana Lisjak CRO 6-1, 7-6(0) Tue #57 s7 Emilie Loit FRA d #NR wc Masa Zec Peskiric SLO 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 Tue #63 s8 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #69 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-3, 7-5 Tue Tathiana serving, and Klara's backhand drive     Tathiana said: "It's always hard to play against Klara, especially on hardcourts, because she is hitting very flat and hard. She is always putting pressure on you, but today I made it. I served well in the decisive moments in the first as well as in the second. I also played well from the baseline. That's why I'm very pleased." #67 s9 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK d #78 Eva Birnerova CZE 6-3, 6-1 Tue *#108 Zuzana Ondraskova CZE d #76 Ekaterina Bychkova RUS 7-6, 6-6 retired Tue #81 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #159 Sanja Ancic CRO 6-1, 6-1 Mon #93 Maret Ani EST d #96 Camille Pin FRA 6-4, 7-6(3) Mon #118 Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI d #121 Katerina Bohmova 7-5, 6-3 Tue *#168 LL Renata Voracova CZE d #119 Kristina Barrios GER 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Tue #190 Margalita Chakhnashvili GEO d #162 LL Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-3, 6-4 ppd-Wed #264 wc Andreja Klepac SLO d #752 q Tadeja Majeric SLO 6-4, 7-5 Tue #258 q Tamira Paszek AUT d #316 q Karolina Kosinska POL 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 Tue

Portoroz, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am losers' prize: $1,925 US; points: 12 #46 s4 Martina Muller GER d #168 LL Renata Voracova CZE 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 Wed *#264 wc Andreja Klepac SLO d #48 s5 Romina Oprandi ITA 75 46 61 Thu #53 s6 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #81 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-3, 6-3 Wed #57 s7 Emilie Loit FRA d #108 Zuzana Ondraskova CZE 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 Thu #63 s8 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #118 Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 Wed #67 s9 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK d #190 Margalita Chakhnashvili GEO 6-2, 6-4 Thu Jarmila about to wallop a backhand, and Margalita's forehand *#258 q Tamira Paszek AUT d #73 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-1, 6-2 Thu #79 Martina Sucha SVK d #93 Maret Ani EST 6-3, 6-4 Wed Martina's forehand, and Maret lining up a backhand

Portoroz, QFs, Fri 11:30am WTA story losers' prize: $3,580 US; points: 24 *#63 s8 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #46 s4 Martina Muller GER 6-2, 7-5 Tathiana's backhand, and Martina lunging for a forehand     Tathiana said: "Every round I'm playing better, so I'm happy. I live very close by, and I can speak Italian here, so it's really good to be here. My family lives two hours away by car, so they come every day. You have your family around, it's great.     "Maria Elena is also my friend, I am looking forward to playing her. As I'm getting older, I've been trying to play less tournaments to make each one special. I'm just trying to have fun on court." #53 s6 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #79 Martina Sucha SVK 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 Maria Elena's backhand drive     The match lasted over three hours. Maria Elena said: "I practice almost every day for that long, so it was okay, and this is my work. I was fighting a lot in the last set. Mentally, I was able to win.     "It will be tough to play Garbin; she is my friend, and it's hard to not think about who you are playing. But I think you'll all enjoy our match tomorrow." #57 s7 Emilie Loit FRA d #67 s9 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK 6-3, 6-3 Jarmila about to launch a backhand, and Emilie firing a high lefty forehand     Emilie said: "I feel very good. I love this tournament. It's a nice place, nice food, and everything is just perfect.     "I'm happy to be in the semis, and I'll do my best. Paszek is very young; I'll watch her quarterfinal and we'll see how it goes." #258 q Tamira Paszek AUT d #264 wc Andreja Klepac SLO 6-4, 6-2 Tamira and Andreja's backhand drives     15-year-old Tamira is playing in her 3rd WTA main draw. Tamira said: "The key to the match was at the end of the first set, when [Andreja] broke me back to get it to 4-all, but I just refocused and kept going. It was a tough game. She played really well. We had some tough exchanges, and it was a great match. It was a tough game for the mind, too, because I was against the crowd and not only my opponent. But I'm happy with my game, and happy here in Slovenia."     Tamira went through qualifying, so she has already won 6 matches in the past week. Tamira said: "I've played this many matches in a junior tournament before; of course, this is a totally different category. The players are playing so well, so each match is a tough one. But, I won't change anything. I'll try to play my game, focus, and we'll see what happens. Physically, I feel good. I hope to have some reserve left."

Portoroz, SFs, Sat 2pm losers' prize: $6,650 US; points: 43 #53 s6 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #63 s8 Tathiana Garbin ITA 7-5, 6-2 Maria Elena serving, and Tathiana and Maria Elena driving forehands *#258 q Tamira Paszek AUT d #57 s7 Emilie Loit FRA 4-6, 2-0 retired-- left wrist sprain Tamira's backhand, and lefty Emilie's forehand

Portoroz, Final, Sun 2:30pm loser's prize: $12,345 US; points: 67 winner's prize: $22,900 US; points: 95 *#258 q Tamira Paszek AUT d #53 s6 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 7-5, 6-1 Tamira about to lightly tap a forehand, Maria Elena firing one, and Tamira after match point

Portoroz, Doubles Final losers' prize: $3,640 US winners' prize: $6,750 US cdr171 s4 Lucie Hradecka & Renata Voracova d cdr119 s2 Eva Birnerova & Emilie Loit walkover--Loit left wrist sprain Portoroz, Qual Finals, Mon Sept 18 noon losers' prizes: q1 $175 US; q2 $300 US; q final $555 US #134 Karin Knapp ITA d #199 Angelika Bachmann GER 6-4, 7-5 *#752 Tadeja Majeric SLO d #162 Lucie Hradecka CZE 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 *#316 Karolina Kosinska POL d #168 Renata Voracova CZE 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 #258 Tamira Paszek AUT d #NR Polona Hercog SLO 6-1, 6-3 Portoroz, Withdrawals #33 s2 Mara Santangelo ITA back injury #49 Elena Vesnina RUS Beijing #52 Jill Craybas USA Beijing #54 Anna Smashnova ISR #56 Severine Bremond FRA #71 Kveta Peschke CZE #85 Vania King USA #86 Meilen Tu USA #90 Roberta Vinci ITA #100 Victoria Azarenka BLR

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