WTA: July 17-23 2006 W&S Financial Open Tier III Lindner Tennis Center, Cincinnati, OH $175,000 - 30 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - results - order of play draws & schedule, .pdf - draws, .pdfs photos: tourney - Yahoo 1 - Yahoo 2 - WTA Cincinnati weather - radar QuickNews: Cleveland News Cincinnati Sports: Post - Enquirer # 8 Patty Schnyder, # 11 Anastasia Myskina # 17 Daniela Hantuchova, # 26 K Srebotnik & former # 1, # 140 Serena Williams Internazionali Femminili Tier IV Country Time Club, Palermo, ITA $145,000 - 32 players - outdoor: red clay draw, .pdf - order of play - draw, .html Palermo weather Italian Tennis Federation QuickNews: Italy News, Search, & Links # 18 Flavia Pennetta, # 24 A Medina Garrigues # 36 Michaella Krajicek, # 41 Lucie Safarova

Tourney pages: Cincinnati & Palermo: 2005 Cincinnati: 2004 Palermo: 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Cincinnati: #26 Katarina Srebotnik 5' 11", 137 lbs, RH 2H-BH Cincinnati: #52 Vera Zvonareva 5' 7¾", 130½ lbs, RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Cincinnati, in the final of the W&S Financial Open, former WTA # 9, 21-year-old # 52 Vera Zvonareva from Moscow, Russia, defeated 4th-seeded # 26 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia (who recently moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where, like Monaco, there is no personal income tax), 6-2, 6-4 (Katarina is shown in the only photo available of her hitting a ball during the match, sorry, Katarina, Vera is shown after match point).
    Vera said: I was fighting for every point. It was a long time since I last played [Katarina], and I didn't know what to expect so I just figured it out on the court. I had a few less errors than her too so that helped... No matter what the scores were, you always feel under pressure. The match can turn at any time." WTA story
    Katarina said: "[Vera has] been playing unbelievably since Birmingham. But I won the most games in one set from her this week, 6-4, so I'm happy about that. We play in the first round next week in Stanford, so I hope to get revenge then."

    The win raised Vera's WTA singles ranking to # 37. It was Vera's 5th WTA singles title and her 2nd this year; she is now 5-4 in WTA singles finals. Two of Vera's earlier titles came in not-so-far-away Memphis, Tennessee, maybe its something about soil in that part of the world. Vera also won the title in Birmingham in June; if she can keep winning one title a month she'll be back in the top 10 in no time.
    Vera now leads Katarina 2-0 in career matches. Katarina is now 4-4 in WTA singles finals, but reaching the final raised her rank to # 21, the highest ranking of her career.

    The Palermo final on Sunday, 2005, 2004, and 2001 Palermo champion, 2nd-seeded 23-year-old # 24 Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, added 2006 to her list of Palermo domination by defeating 29-year-old wild card # 56 Tathiana Garbin from Mestre, Italy, 6-4, 6-4.
    Anabel said: "I am really happy with this victory. I played a good game today and I did well, particularly at the important moments, not to allow my opponent back into the game." AP story
    Anabel now leads Tathiana 4-1 in career matches; their last match, in the 1st round of this year's Paris Indoor, was a close 3-setter, which Anabel won 6-3, 1-6, 7-5. Anabel is now 6-2 in WTA singles finals; Tathiana is 1-3.

    If you are a coffee fan like Patty Schnyder (see her Cincinnati player's blog), then you might enjoy the eight classic New York Times & Los Angeles Times articles from 1866 to 1899 (with more to come) at coffee.quickfound.net.

Cincinnati: The main draw for Cincinnati has 8 seeds, with 2 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers and 3 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Monday.     Cincinnati (daylight savings) time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) minus 4 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US, =PDT +3 hours. There is no live scoring.     The Cincinnati tourney is a wee bit odd, inasmuch as 30 ladies (+ qualifiers) play for $175,000, and a few weeks later 64 men (+ qualifiers) play at the same place, in a tourney run by the same folks, for $2,450,000.     The men are paid, on average, over 7 times as much per person as the ladies. This rarely is mentioned, which is strange considering the ruckus over equal pay at Wimbledon, where the discrepency is much smaller. Apparently everyone ignores this because the tourneys are not simultaneous.     Early round play at Palermo begins  at 3&4pm local time. Cincinnati time is the same as EDT.     Palermo: The main draw for Palermo has 8 seeds, with NO 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers and 3 wild cards in the main draw.     Palermo (daylight savings) time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) + 2 hours (US Pacific Daylight Time +9, EDT +6).     Lindner Family Tennis Center - click for sat pic & street map NWS area weather radar: Cincinnati current conditions:   Country Time Club - click for sat pic & street map

WTA SCOREBOARD: Cincinnati & Palermo s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? On Saturday in Cincinnati, 2005 champ and 2006 top seed Patty Schnyder participated in the draw ceremony, while former WTA # 1 Serena Williams, returning from prolonged knee and ankle injuries, prepared to play in her first tourney in many months Marta Domachowska practiced being pretty at the players party on Sunday, as did Shenay Perry, Carly Gullickson, and Bethanie Mattek, and on Monday Anastasia Myskina was once again playing Meet the Press

Cincinnati, 1st Round, Mon-Wed 11am WTA Mon story - WTA Tue story loser's prize: $1,300 US; points: 1 #8 s1 Patty Schnyder SUI d #108 Lilia Osterloh USA 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(1) Mon Patty driving a backhand     Patty said: "The way I got out of this tough situation gives me a lot of confidence. It is a great feeling coming back from 4-1 down, playing some good tennis too. I just kept fighting. I knew that I was still in the match. At the end it was really close. Once it comes to the big points, you just play; you cannot really explain how you come through these tough moments...     "It takes me a little while to adapt, but I like the heat and the hardcourt game. I try to change my serve a little bit, flatten out my backhand a little more; I like the high bounce on my forehand, so that works well. I'm sure I can step it up in the next match." Patty's Cincinnati Player Blog *#140 wc Serena Williams USA d #11 s2 Anastasia Myskina RUS 6-2, 6-2 Tue Anastasia and Serena chasing forehands     It was Serena's first match since she lost to Daniela Hantuchova in the 3rd round of the Australian Open in January. Since then, Serena has been sidelined by the knee and ankle injuries which have troubled her for over a year and a half.     Serena said: "I probably caught her by surprise... my unforced errors were much lower than usual. Anastasia often plays really well, so going into the match I knew my errors had to be very low. There's definitely some rust, but mentally I did better than expected." WTA story     As the 2nd seed, Anastasia should have played a much easier opponent in the 1st round, but Serena's unusually low rank permitted the odd draw-- and Anastasia often scores love in the luck department.     Anastasia said: "Serena played great. She stepped forward and just attacked. I was down the whole match; it was going by so quickly and I was under a lot of pressure. I didn't play my best, but it was tough... It's hard to play so comfortably after six months off, but she did that." #26 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #270 q Rossana de los Rios PAR 6-3, 7-6(3) Tue Katarina's forehand #27 s5 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #101 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-3, 6-2 Tue Jelena at ready #29 s6 Marion Bartoli FRA d #170 q Chin-Wei Chan TPE 6-2, 6-3 Tue *#52 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #32 s7 Tatiana Golovin FRA 6-3, 6-0 Wed Tatiana and Vera delivering forehands on the run #33 s8 Gisela Dulko ARG d #64 Marta Domachowska POL 7-5, 6-3 Tue #40 s9 Sania Mirza IND d #454 LL Alexandra Stevenson USA 6-1, 2-0 retired-- r shoulder strain Tue Sania about to toss for her serve, and Alexandra's toss *#66 Emma Laine FIN d #44 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-3, 6-1 Mon *#105 Bethanie Mattek USA d #51 Shenay Perry USA 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 Tue #58 Amy Frazier USA d #188 wc Jessica Kirkland USA 6-3, 6-4 Mon Amy's backhand #60 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #216 LL Carly Gullickson USA 6-1, 6-1 Tue *#109 q Vasilisa Bardina RUS d #95 Hana Sromova 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 Tue #100 Meng Yuan CHN d #112 Mariana Diaz-Oliva ARG 6-3, 7-5 Tue #125 Varvara Lepchenko UZB d #179 LL Natalie Grandin RSA 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 Tue *#299 q Abigail Spears USA d #242 wc Alexa Glatch USA 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 Tue Abigail following her backhand

Cincinnati, 2nd Round, Weds 11am-Thu 3pm WTA Wed story - WTA Thu story loser's prize: $2,200 US; points: 16 #8 s1 Patty Schnyder SUI d #299 q Abigail Spears USA 6-1, 6-0 Wed Patty's left-handed 2-handed backhand drive, Abigail's right-handed version, and Patty after match point--applauding her Head Liquidmetal Prestige--she has tried to play with the newer Flexpoint version, but she has not become comfortable with it     Patty said: "I knew I had to work on some things after the first match. I really didn't expect such a big difference in my level of play after just one day." #26 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #100 Meng Yuan CHN 7-6(3), 6-1 Wed Katarina's mobile forehand, and Meng's stationary version     Katarina said: "[Meng] didn''t make many unforced errors in the first set. I didn''t play my best, and I was lucky to be able to pull it off and get some momentum." India Daily story #27 s5 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #60 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 6-4, 6-4 Thu Maria Elena reaching for a backhand (her balance and poise are always reminiscent of Louise Brough), and Jelena's backhand drive #29 s6 Marion Bartoli FRA d #109 q Vasilisa Bardina RUS 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 Thu Marion and Vasilisa belting backhands *#58 Amy Frazier USA d #33 s8 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 6-1 Wed Gisela slicing a backhand as she tries to slow Amy down, and Amy following her fast flat forehand     Amy said: "I felt really good today. I don't think [Gisela] played as well as she can, and a lot of the games were close, so the score wasn't indicative of how close it was. But I was hitting my groundstrokes well." #40 s9 Sania Mirza IND d #66 Emma Laine FIN 6-1, 0-6, 6-1 Wed Sania chasing a backhand, and Emma's lefty forehand drive #52 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #125 Varvara Lepchenko UZB 6-0, 6-2 Thu Vera nailing a forehand, and Vavara's lefty 2-handed backhand *#140 wc Serena Williams USA d #105 Bethanie Mattek USA 6-3, 6-1 Thu Serena after lightly tapping a backhand that was below 30,000 feet, Bethanie flying after a fleeing forehand, and Serena after match point     Serena said: "Bethanie was playing really well. Both players I've played so far have been competitive and tough... I've been doing a lot of off-court work; hopefully it'll pay off, because I hate it. I feel fine. I'm moving faster, but I can still get quicker. Obviously, winning these matches is one of the right steps in my comeback."     About Bethanie's togs, which featured knee-high green socks, Serena said: "I thought it was cute. I've worn knee-high socks before, at the French Open. I've always been for people who are different, and who use different motifs. I liked the socks and the skirt too."     About her quarterfinal opponent, 33-year-old # 58 Amy Frazier, Serena said: "I tell you what, she's no pushover. She's been playing since I was really young, and she still looks and plays like she's really young. She's so steady. It's gonna be a tough match."

Cincinnati, QFs, Fri 3pm WTA story loser's prize: $4,050 US; points: 30 #8 s1 Patty Schnyder SUI d #40 s9 Sania Mirza IND 7-6(7), 7-5 Sania serving or smashing, Patty's forehand drive, and Patty after winning a point     Patty said: "[Sania] put on a good performance. She was playing more aggressively than me. Against those players I usually feel I can read them, but this time I didn't feel that way. I just kept fighting. I played it safe a lot, and this time it worked out, but I'd like to be the one that's more in control in my coming matches." #26 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #29 s6 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-2, 6-1 Katarina's forehand, Marion following her backhand, and Katarina after match point *#52 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #27 s5 Jelena Jankovic SCG 6-1, 6-1 Vera posing for an even finer forehand photo than her 2nd round pic, and Jelena doing likewise *#140 wc Serena Williams USA d #58 Amy Frazier USA 6-2, 6-2 Serena's forehand, Amy's backhand, and Serena about to lob some Penn balls to the crowd after the match     Amy was playing in her 90th WTA singles quarterfinal. Amy said: "I was defensive from the start because [Serena] was playing so aggressively. I got beat pretty handily tonight. No matter where she is in her career, she's always going to be such a tough opponent; obviously right now she's playing really well. The problem when you play someone like her, you don't have any room to change things up."     Serena said: "It feels good. I've come this far, I don't want it to end now. I'm definitely getting better. I just need to keep moving forward with my game."

Cincinnati, SFs, Sat 3pm loser's prize: $7,700 US; points: 55 Cincinnati, SFs, Sat 3pm WTA story loser's prize: $7,700 US; points: 55 *#26 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #8 s1 Patty Schnyder SUI 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) Patty's backhand drive, Katarina volleying a backhand, and after match point of her first win over Patty Schnyder     Katarina said: "I feel very honored to be in the final. Winning my first two matches was my goal this week. To make it to the quarterfinals was my goal. If you look at who was in the final four, I'm very happy to reach the final. No matter what happens tomorrow, I'm happy."     Patty said: "It was [Katarina's] day today. She was playing really well; her serve was on, she attacked everything, and played a perfect match. I played okay too, and I was fighting the whole time, but I didn't make the best decisions at key moments. Also, I felt a little lucky even winning the first set. I never felt safe. That's just the way it goes sometimes."     Patty also said: "I give a lot of credit to Katarina. Some people underestimate her, but we all really know how much she has been improving all these years. She's at her best now and is still improving." Patty's Cincinnati Player's Blog *#52 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #140 wc Serena Williams USA 6-2, 6-3 Vera kneeling for a backhand, Serena reaching for one, and Vera after match point of her first win over Serena Williams     Vera said: "I just always go on court and fight and try to win. Today, everything was working really well for me. That's what was important. I never think about what's going to happen on the court before I go on the court."     Serena said: I made about a thousand unforced errors. I kept fighting, but I couldn't get them in. I think I was aiming at the ball kids and the umpire, when I should've been aiming at the court. I expected to at least be here on Sunday; but I guess Vera was also expecting to be here on Sunday."

Cincinnati, Final, Sun 1pm loser's prize: $14,650 US; points: 85 winner's prize: $28,000 US; points: 120 *#52 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #26 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-2, 6-4 Vera, apparently volleying a backhand, Katarina reaching for one, and Vera driving another

Cincinnati, Doubles Final, Sun loser's prize: $4,350 US winner's prize: $8,250 US cdr63 s1 Maria Elena Camerin & Gisela Dulko d cdr163 s3 Marta Domachowska & Sania Mirza 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 Gisela, Maria Elena, Marta, & Sania Cincinnati, Qual Finals, Mon Jul 17 loser's prize: $650 #109 Vasilisa Bardina RUS d #216 Carly Gullickson USA 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 #170 Chin-Wei Chan TPE d #454 Alexandra Stevenson USA 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 *#270 Rossana de los Rios PAR d #179 Natalie Grandin RSA 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 #299 Abigail Spears USA v #521 Julia Cohen USA 6-4, 4-6, 6-1     6' 2" WTA veteran Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands reclaimed the all-time women's service speed record on Saturday. During her loss to Julie Cohen in the 1st round of qualifying, Brenda unleashed a serve clocked at 130 miles per hour. The previous record had been a 127 mph serve by Venus Williams in 1998.     Brenda, a holder of 7 WTA singles titles who retired in 1999 due to back trouble, has been attempting a comeback this year-- at the age of 35.     Brenda said: "This is great, it's very exciting. It was difficult to hear people say I used to have the fastest serve, or that I'm the second-fastest ever; this is definitely something I wanted to do in my comeback." WTA story     Brenda in s'-Hertogenbosch, June 20 Cincinnati, Withdrawals #17 s3 Daniela Hantuchova SVK r foot injury #48 Akiko Morigami JPN #57 Laura Granville USA #70 Jill Craybas USA #78 Yuliana Fedak UKR Palermo #NR Elena Bovina RUS r shoulder #84 Melinda Czink HUN l shoulder strain #134 Mashona Washington USA left knee strain

Palermo, 1st Round, Mon-Wed 5pm & 4pm WTA Tue story loser's prize: $1,035 US; points: 1 *#62 Julia Schruff GER d #18 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-1, 7-5 Wed #24 s2 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #113 q Laura Pous Tio ESP 6-3, 6-1 Tue #36 s3 Michaella Krajicek NED d #119 wc E Gagliardi SUI 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-5 Mon #41 s4 Lucie Safarova CZE d #183 q Ivana Abramovic CRO 6-3, retired--     l ankle injury Tue #42 s5 Anna Smashnova ISR d #78 Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-3, 6-2 Mon #45 s6 Klara Koukalova CZE d #96 Stephanie Foretz FRA 6-4, 6-2 Mon #46 s7 Iveta Benesova CZE d #124 Antonella Serra Zanetti ITA 6-2, 7-5 Tue #47 s8 L Dominguez Lino ESP d #86 M Sanchez Lorenzo ESP 6-3, 1-0 retired Tue #56 wc Tathiana Garbin ITA d #258 Alice Kanepi EST 6-2, 6-1 Mon #59 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR d #176 Timea Bacsinszky SUI 6-1, 6-3 Tue *#76 Romina Oprandi ITA d #63 Martina Sucha SVK 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 Tue *#102 q Aravane Rezai FRA d #68 Ekaterina Bychkova RUS 6-4, 6-2 Tue *#135 LL Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #69 M Muller GER 6-4, 6-4 Tue #72 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #82 Maret Ani EST 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 Tue #89 Roberta Vinci ITA d #85 Kaia Kanepi EST 7-5, 6-4 Mon *#241 q Karin Knapp ITA d #116 Nathalie Vierin ITA 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-1 Tue

Palermo, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 5pm WTA Wed story loser's prize: $1,925 US; points: 12 #24 s2 A Medina Garrigues ESP d #59 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 Thu *#102 q Aravane Rezai FRA d #36 s3 Michaella Krajicek NED 6-4, 6-3 Wed #41 s4 Lucie Safarova CZE d #72 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 Thu *#56 wc Tathiana Garbin ITA d #42 s5 Anna Smashnova ISR 7-5, 6-3 Wed *#89 Roberta Vinci ITA d #45 s6 Klara Koukalova CZE 6-2, 7-6(5) Wed *#241 q Karin Knapp ITA d #46 s7 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-4, 6-4 Thu *#135 LL Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #47 s8 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 6-7(0), 6-1, 6-2 Thu #62 Julia Schruff GER d #76 Romina Oprandi ITA walkover-- left wrist tendonitis

Palermo, QFs, Fri 2:30pm loser's prize: $3,580 US; points: 24 #24 s2 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #241 q Karin Knapp ITA 7-5, 7-6(2) #41 s4 Lucie Safarova CZE d #135 LL M-J Martinez Sanchez ESP 6-4, 6-4 #56 wc Tathiana Garbin ITA d #62 Julia Schruff GER 6-1, 6-4 #89 Roberta Vinci ITA d #102 q Aravane Rezai FRA 6-3, 5-7, 6-1

Palermo, SFs, Sat 4:30pm loser's prize: $6,650 US; points: 43 #24 s2 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #41 s4 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-4, 6-4 #56 wc Tathiana Garbin ITA d #89 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-2, 6-2

Palermo, Final, Sun 7pm loser's prize: $12,345 US; points: 67 winner's prize: $22,900 US; points: 95 #24 s2 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #56 wc Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-4, 6-4

Palermo, Doubles Final, Sat loser's prize: $3,640 US winner's prize: $6,750 US cdr 162 Janette Husarova & Michaella Krajicek d cdr1253 Alice Canepa & Giulia Gabba 6-0, 6-0 Palermo, Qual Finals, Mon Jul 17 loser's prize: $555 US #102 Aravane Rezai FRA d #342 Corina Corduneanu ROM 6-3, 6-3 #113 Laura Pous Tio ESP d #229 Giulia Gabba ITA 6-3, 6-3 *#241 Karin Knapp ITA d #135 Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 #183 Ivana Abramovic d #218 Zsofia Gubacsi HUN 7-6(4), 6-4 Palermo, Withdrawals #47 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP #49 Karolina Sprem CRO #50 Emilie Loit FRA #83 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP #94 Galina Voskoboeva RUS ITF Cuneo, ITA champ #104 Virginie Razzano FRA

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