WTA Sept 25-Oct 1 Fortis Champ., Luxembourg, LUX Tier II $600,000 - 28 players - indoor: hard Live Scores - results - draws & OOP .pdf photos: tourney - WTA Europe radar - Lux. Weather # 6 Elena Dementieva, # 7 Nadia Petrova # 8 Patty Schnyder, # 11 Dinara Safina Int'l Women's Open, Guangzhou, CHN Tier III $175,000 - 32 players - outdoor: hard Live? Scores - draws & OOP, .pdf pics: tourney - WTA - Guangzhou weather # 17 Jelena Jankovic, # 23 Na Li # 27 A Chakvetadze, # 31 A Medina Garrigues Hansol Korea Open, Seoul, KOR Tier IV $145,000 - 32 players - outdoor: hard Live? Scores - draws & OOP, .pdf photos: Yahoo! news - tourney - WTA interviews - Seoul weather # 9 Martina Hingis, # 25 Maria Kirilenko # 26 Marion Bartoli, # 28 Ai Sugiyama

Tourney pages: Luxembourg, Guangzhou & Seoul: 2005 Luxembourg: 2004 - 2003 Guangzhou & Seoul: 2004 previous other tourney pages next Luxembourg: #58 Alona Bondarenko 5'6" 130lb RH 2H-BH Seoul: #53 Eleni Daniilidou 5'11½" 158½lb RH 1H-BH Guangzhou: #27 Anna Chakvetadze 5'7" 128lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Luxembourg, in the final of the Fortis Championships, unseeded 22-year-old # 58 Alona Bondarenko from Krivyi Rig, Ukraine, won her first WTA singles title by defeating 26-year-old 5th-seeded # 14 Francesca Schiavone from Milan, Italy, 6-3, 6-2 (Alona is shown after match point). The title completed the best week of Alona's career, including wins over # 18 Mary Pierce, # 24 Katarina Srebotnik, # 37 Nathalie Dechy, and # 73 Kveta Peschke.
    Alona said: "I'm just very happy now. This is my first WTA Tour victory and I hope it's not my last. I think I'm playing well right now. Yesterday I was very nervous [in the semi-final] but today I didn't think about it being a final. I just tried to play and concentrate on every point." Reuters story
    Francesca said: "I think [Alona] played great. She only gave me three or four chances in the whole match. So I'm not too disappointed."
    Alona and Francesca had met only once before, in the 1st round of this year's French Open, when Francesca won, 6-3, 6-4. Alona is now 1-1 in WTA singles finals; fiery Italian Francesca is 0-8 in that department--but she got some consolation by winning the Luxembourg doubles title, teamed with Kveta Peschke.

    Meanwhile in Guangzhou, in the final of the International Women's Open, 3rd-seeded 19-year-old # 27 Anna Chakvetadze from Moscow, Russia, also won her first WTA singles title, by defeating 4th-seeded # 31 Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, 6-1, 6-4 (Anna is shown hitting balls to the crowd after the match).
    Anna said: "I knew I had to be really aggressive today, and it worked. Maybe the score looked easy but it was a very difficult match. [Anabel] is a top player and it was not easy to beat her. I just took my chances; fortunately I came out on top today." WTA story
    Anabel said: "I was really tired from the three hour match yesterday. Anna also was playing really well... she deserved to win today."
    This was Anna's first WTA singles final; Anabel's finals record is now 6-3. Anna leads Anabel 4-0 in career matches, having defeated the Spaniard on three different surfaces, in straight sets each time.

    And meanwhile in Seoul, in the final of the Hansol Korean Open, unseeded 24-year-old # 53 Eleni Daniilidou from Thessaloniki, Greece, a former top-20 player, battled off leg cramps late in the match, and narrowly defeated 31-year-old 4th-seeded # 28 Ai Sugiyama from Kanagawa, Japan, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3) (Eleni is also shown after match point).
    Eleni said: "It was a tough match. I was not feeling my best on the court today, but a victory is a victory. Neither of us played our best. At the end, I was cramping; I am working on conditioning. I tried to play as aggressively as I could. [Ai] is a top player; I had to go for it. Thank God every ball was in." WTA story
    Ai held three match points when she led 5-4 in the 3rd set, but could not convert. Ai said: "In the first set I did what I had to do, but [Eleni] was hitting the ball deep and pushing me off the court. The second set, I think she got a bit tired. I was moving her around more and taking the ball early. In the tie-break, I really couldn't do anything. It was a really tough situation. I am disappointed."
    Ai still leads Eleni 4-3 in career matches. Eleni, who was ranked # 14 in 2003, is now 4-1 in WTA singles finals; Ai, who was ranked # 8 in 2004, is 6-7.

    Same day news photos from this week's tourneys, at least for the early rounds, are apparently only available from Seoul--the same strange media phenomenon occured last year. On Saturday, CBS Sportsline had just a few pics from the Bondarenko-Peschke match in Luxembourg.
    The Seoul tourney gallery, as of Saturday afternoon, only carries photos from 2005--and the Guangzhou tourney gallery pages, empty all week, on Saturday finally held photos--from Monday's player party.

    Seoul player's blog by Marion Bartoli

WTA SCOREBOARD: Luxembourg, Guangzhou & Seoul 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     Luxembourg: The main draw for Luxembourg 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.     CK Sport Center, Kockelscheuer, LUX - click for sat pic     Early round play at Luxembourg    begins at noon local time.     Daylight savings time in Luxembourg is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 2 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 6 hours, PDT+9 hours. Luxembourg news 1984 & 1988 Olympic and 1984,'85,'87,&'88 World Champion figure skater Katarina "Kati" Witt, looking like she still has some good tennis left in her, attended the draw on Saturday; on Sunday, Venus Willams practiced, while #187 Tatjana Malek defeated # 66 Rezai, # 121 Shvedova and, on Monday, # 78 Sucha, to reach the main draw; and, on Tuesday, top seed Elena Dementieva met the press. Among the players looking good at the party on Tuesday night were Kveta Peschke, Patty Schnyder, and Elena Dementieva; Kim Clijsters, who had to withdraw from the tourney due to a left wrist injury, made the trip anyway, and did the autograph thing for fans.

Luxembourg, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 1pm losers' prize: $4,175 US; points: 1 #14 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #34 Michaella Krajicek NED 6-4, 6-3 Tue *#44 Venus Williams USA d #15 s6 Ana Ivanovic CRO 6-3, 6-4 Wed Ana's forehand, and Venus belting a backhand *#135 q Karin Knapp ITA d #16 s7 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-0, 6-4 Tue Karin and Anna-Lena delivering backhand drives *#58 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #18 s8 Mary Pierce FRA 6-3, 6-3 Tue #19 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #22 Tatiana Golovin FRA 7-6(1), 6-3 Mon Daniela and Tatiana driving backhands, and Daniela at her post-match press interview #24 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #64 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 6-4, 6-1 Wed Maria Elena's service toss, and Katarina's forehand #30 Samantha Stosur AUS d #143 wc Anne Kremer LUX 6-1, 6-4 Mon Anne and Sam launching backhands *#98 q Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #32 Mara Santangelo ITA 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-3 Wed Agnieszka about to fire a forehand, and Mara's backhand #37 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #46 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 Tue Sybille's sinister (lefty) backhand, and Nathalie's dexter version *#NR wc Chanda Rubin USA d #38 Martina Muller GER 6-3, 6-0 Tue #72 Kveta Peschke CZE d #75 Julia Schruff GER 7-5, 6-1 Mon Kveta and Julia firing forehands #90 q Roberta Vinci ITA d #187 q Tatjana Malek GER 6-4, 6-3 Tue

Luxembourg, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 1pm Wed WTA story - Thu WTA story losers' prize: $7,820 US; points: 25 #6 s1 wc Elena Dementieva RUS d #30 Samantha Stosur AUS 7-5, 6-1 Wed Elena, eyeing a high, inside fastball, about to swing for the bleachers *#37 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #7 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-4, 6-3 Thu Nathalie's service toss, Nadia's forehand, Nathalie's forehand, and after winning a point     Nathalie said: "It was a really great match. I hit the ball well, I was moving well and I really enjoyed playing like this. It's a perfect day."     About her next opponent, Alona Bondarenko, Nathalie said: "She's playing a great tournament here and she's playing with lots of confidence. I'll try to play as well as I did today." #8 s3 Patty Schnyder SUI d #NR wc Chanda Rubin USA 6-0, 6-3 Wed Chanda and Patty delivering forehands, and Chanda's left ankle, which has kept her offcourt most of the past two years, being retaped #11 s4 Dinara Safina RUS d #19 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 7-5, 6-3 Wed Dinara swatting a forehand, Daniela reaching for a backhand, and Dinara after winning a point     Dinara said: "It was a tough match today. I had to be tough mentally and I'm happy with how I finished. The next match [against Kveta Peschke] is a pretty tough one. Kveta is dangerous and aggressive so I have to be focused and can't let her dictate the match." #14 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #90 q Roberta Vinci ITA 6-2, 6-1 Thu Roberta about to wallop a forehand and Francesca chasing one down     Francesca said: "It's very difficult for me to play someone I know well. We just won a big match together [to win the Fed Cup title]. But when you are on court you have to care about your game and you have to focus on doing the best to win. That's all." *#58 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #24 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Thu Alona and Katarina driving forehands *#98 q Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #44 Venus Williams USA 6-3, 6-0 Thu Agnieszka's forehand, and Venus driving a backhand     Venus was hampered by severe pain in her left wrist, which kept her from playing for three months before this tourney. Venus said: "I always had a big problem with my left wrist. There was nothing I could do about it today. I felt it at the end of the first set and couldn't hit my [2-handed] backhand anymore. I had a good slice, but I'm not used to having to play on a slice."     Agnieszka said: "It was my first match against Venus. The first few games were very tough but the second set was much easier. I could see she had problems, because she couldn't hit her backhand as well." #72 Kveta Peschke CZE d #135 q Karin Knapp ITA 6-4, 6-4 Wed Kveta and Karin driving backhands     Kveta said: "I feel pretty tired now. I can feel my body because the surface here is different from what I was used to. But I'm satisfied. I played two nice matches and am really happy that I'm in the third round."

Luxembourg, QFs, Fri 1pm WTA story losers' prize: $14,600 US; points: 49 *#98 q Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #6 s1 wc Elena Dementieva RUS 7-5, 6-2 Agnieszka waiting to wallop a forehand, and Elena driving a backhand     Elena said: "I was rushing too much, going for winners. I made so many mistakes on my forehand side which is my favorite part of the game. It's unusual for me. I feel like I was going for too much today, and [Agnieszka] was playing pretty solid the whole game."     Agnieszka said: "I don't know what happened. [This win] surprised me. It's a great feeling to beat a top player. I thought I could do it [after the first set] and I did. I think I played my best tennis." #14 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #8 s3 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-1, 6-1 Francesca's forehand, Patty's backhand, and Francesca after match point     Francesca said: "It may have looked fast, but every point was so close; every point I used correct tactic. I put so much pressure on [Patty]." *#72 Kveta Peschke CZE d #11 s4 Dinara Safina RUS 6-4, 6-3 Kveta's forehand, Dinara awaiting a backhand, and Kveta driving one     Dinara said: "I think today [Kveta] was just too good for me. I was trying to mix up my serve. I tried everything, but she had answer for every shot. I didn't know what shot she didn't like. I tried to play high, tried to play slice, but everything [Kveta hit] was a winner." *#58 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #37 Nathalie Dechy FRA 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 Alona's forehand, Nathalie's forehand, and Alona playing meet the press after the match     Alona said: "In the first two sets, I was nervous and played not so well. In the final set, I started to think more about my next point, and how [Nathalie] played."

Luxembourg, SFs, Sat 2:30pm WTA story losers' prize: $27,300 US; points: 88 #14 s5 Francesca Schiavone d #98 q Agnieszka Radwanska POL 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 Francesca's forehand, Agnieszka's backhand, and Francesca after winning a point     Francesca said: "I learned a lot of things, the most important being that even if you lose the second set, you can turn it around. I lost some energy in one service game early in the second, and [Agnieszka] broke me, and it was tough to fight. So I decided I would focus on coming back at the beginning of the third set...     "I hope to put it all out on the court tomorrow: my game and my personality. I'm so happy to be in the final. At the beginning of the week, when I saw all the players in the draw, I didn't think I'd reach the final."     Agnieszka said: "This was the best tournament of my career. But I was even tired in the warm-up. I tried everything I could. It was a good match and in the end I lost. But I'm still really happy." #58 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #72 Kveta Peschke CZE 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 Alona's service toss, Kveta about to swat a forehand, and Alona waiting to belt a backhand     Alona trailed Kveta 2-5 in the 3rd set. Alona said: "At 5-2 down in the third, I just started thinking I had to play better, that I could do it. I think [Kveta] got a little nervous, missed a few balls and the momentum quickly moved to my side."     Kveta said: "[Alona] just started playing better. At the beginning of the third set she was making a lot more easy mistakes, and at 5-2 I thought things looked good, but I guess I was wrong. This is tennis, though. There are lots of ups and downs. Only the top players seem to have more ups than downs. But it was a good match anyway. I have good memories from this tournament every year, and if I'm still playing next year I'll definitely be back."

Luxembourg, Final, Sun 2:45pm loser's prize: $51,000 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $95,500 US; points: 195 #58 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #14 s5 Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2 Alona firing a forehand, Francesca about to swat one, and Alona's backhand

Luxembourg, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $16,120 US winners' prize: $30,000 US cdr25 s3 Francesca Schiavone & Kveta Peschke d cdr34 s4 Anna-Lena Groenefeld & Liezel Huber 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 Kveta & Francesca after the match Luxembourg, Qual Finals, Mon Sept 25 11am losers' prizes: q1 $640 US; q2 $1,195 US; q final $2,230 US *#187 Tatjana Malek GER d #78 Martina Sucha SVK 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 #90 Roberta Vinci ITA d #101 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-3, 7-5 #98 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #167 Sara Errani ITA 6-3, 6-3 #135 Karin Knapp ITA d #161 Kathrin Woerle GER 6-3, 7-6(4) Luxembourg, Withdrawals #3 Kim Clijsters BEL left wrist #20 Flavia Pennetta ITA

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Guangzhou: The main draw for Guangzhou has 8 seeds., with NO 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw. Qualifying (2 rounds) starts on Sunday, qualifying finals are on Monday.     Fangcun Tennis Sports Center - click for sat pic     Early round play at Guangzhou    begins at 1pm local time.     The time in Guangzhou is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 8 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 12 hours, PDT+15 hours. China news     Back when Beijing was called Peking (and even earlier, Peiping), Guangzhou was known as Canton. It is about 182 kilometers from Hong Kong. At last count about 10.15 million people live there (and rising). "Tennis Courts of Fangcun Tennis Sports Center was built in 2001, covering an area of 53000 Square meters. It has total 17 tennis courts including one center court with a capacity of more than 3,500 seats..." Among the good girls looking pretty at the Guangzhou player's party: top: 2005 Champ Zi Yan, Meghann Shaughnessy & Alicia Molik, Jing Ren, Zi Yan again, Shuai Zhuang, Shanshan Song, & Ting Li; bottom: Russkis Anna Chakvetadze & Elena Vesnina, Spaniards Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Anabel Medina Garrigues & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Zi Yan once again, with Jelena Jankovic.

Guangzhou, 1st Rd, Mon 10am Tue-Wed 2:30pm losers' prize: $1,340 US; points: 1 #17 s1 Jelena Jankovic CRO d #110 Meng Yuan CHN 6-0, 6-2 Tue #23 s2 Na Li CHN d #88 Galina Voskoboeva RUS 6-3, 6-4 Tue #27 s3 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #209 wc Shuai Zhang CHN 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 Wed #31 s4 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #306 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Tue #41 s5 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d #138 Anne Keothavong GBR 6-3, 6-4 Mon *#59 Jelena Kostanic CRO d #42 s6 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-4, 6-4 Tue #54 s7 Elena Vesnina RUS d #73 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 Wed #56 s8 Anastasiya Yakimova RUS d #281 q Shengnan Sun CHN 6-2, 6-1 Tue #60 Shuai Peng CHN d #89 Yulia Beygelzimer UKR 6-4, 6-4 Wed *#240 wc Yanchong Chen CHN d #71 Melinda Czink HUN 6-1, 6-2 Wed *#231 Alicia Molik AUS d #86 Vania King USA 6(5)-7, 6-3, 7-5 Tue #85 Olga Poutchkova RUS d #100 Zi Yan CHN 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Wed #111 Tiantian Sun CHN d #215 wc Ting Li CHN 6-0, 6-3 Mon *#378 q Jing Ren CHN d #112 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 6-3, 6-4 Tue #131 Tzipora Obziler ISR d #234 Aniko Kapros HUN 6-2, 6-0 Mon #141 q Elise Tamaela NED d #474 q Jie Hao CHN 6-2, 7-5 Tue

Guangzhou, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 3pm Thu WTA story losers' prize: $2,275 US; points: 16 #17 s1 Jelena Jankovic CRO d #60 Shuai Peng CHN 6-2, 6-3 Thu     Jelena said: "It was a tough match tonight. Even though the score looks like it might have been easier. It was hot out there, but I feel I'm playing well at the moment. Peng is a good player and she's beaten a lot of top players, so I was lucky to have beaten her tonight. The crowd was on her side, of course, so I was really playing against the whole stadium. It was a good atmosphere." #23 s2 Na Li CHN d #111 Tiantian Sun CHN 6-2, 6-1 Thu     Na said: "It's great for me to play in my home country. The fans are so great to me. My husband is here with me as well, so that's really nice. I feel like I'm playing very well and I feel I have a chance to win the title. If I played the final against Jankovic, that would be great. We are good friends. I know I have two more matches to play before I could get to the final, so I'm still just concentrating on my quarterfinal match for now." #27 s3 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #141 q Elise Tamaela NED 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 Thu #31 s4 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #378 q Jing Ren CHN 6-0, 6-1 Wed *#231 Alicia Molik AUS d #41 s5 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 7-6(3), 6-0 Wed *#131 Tzipora Obziler ISR d #54 s7 Elena Vesnina RUS 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 Thu *#240 wc Yanchong Chen CHN d #56 s8 Anastasiya Yakimova RUS 6-1, 6-4 Thu *#85 Olga Poutchkova RUS d #59 Jelena Kostanic CRO 6-1, 6-1 Thu

Guangzhou, QFs, Fri 3pm WTA story losers' prize: $4,230 US; points: 30 #17 s1 Jelena Jankovic CRO d #231 Alicia Molik AUS 6-3, 7-5     Jelena said: "[Alicia] played really well. I had a hard time breaking her. I stayed focused on the job I had to do. She is a very tough player; I know she's coming back from an injury [actually an inner ear infection which disrupted Alicia's balance and vision], but she's very dangerous and I had to play really well to beat her." *#131 Tzipora Obziler ISR d #23 s2 Na Li CHN 6-3, 6-2     Tzipora said: "This was my best win. I'd never seen [Na] play before so I didn't know what to expect. I think we both made a lot of mistakes, but I managed to stay in the points longer than her. That was the key to the match. She had a lot of expectations, playing in front of her home crowd. I am very happy to reach the semifinals here." #27 s3 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #85 Olga Poutchkova RUS 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-1     Anna said: "I played pretty well in the first and third sets, and kind of lost my concentration in the second. Against Jankovic I will have to be at the top of my game because she's really fit, and has been playing unbelievably lately. I'll have to hold serve, and break her whenever I can. It should be a good match and I'm looking forward to it." #31 s4 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #240 wc Yanchong Chen CHN 1-6, 6-0, 6-2

Guangzhou, SFs, Sat 3pm WTA story losers' prize: $7,900 US; points: 55 *#27 s3 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #17 s1 Jelena Jankovic CRO 7-5, 2-0 retired--heat illness     Anna said: "I'm really excited to be in my first WTA singles final. It was not the way I'd have preferred to arrive there, but I am here, so I hope to win my first title.     "I think I was playing very well today although I know Jelena was having problems. I felt I had a good game and I look forward to Sunday's final." #31 s4 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP f #131 Tzipora Obziler ISR 7-5, 2-6, 6-4     Anabel said: "It was really tough today. [Tzipora] was a tough opponent and played really well. I had a tough time in the opening set, but managed to win. Then, she came back strong in the second set. After the heat break I was able to come back and take the match. I'm looking forward to playing my third final this year; I hope to win the title."

Guangzhou, Final, Sun 3:30pm loser's prize: $15,000 US; points: 85 winner's prize: $28,000 US; points: 120 #27 s3 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #31 s4 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-1, 6-4 Anna signing autographs and alerting the media after the match

Guangzhou, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $4,250 US winners' prize: $8,000 US cdr65 s2 Tiantian Sun & Ting Li d cdr218 Jelena Kostanic & Vania King 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 Ting and Tiantian signing autographs in Guangzhou, possibly on Saturday Guangzhou, Qual Finals, Mon Sept 25 10am losers' prizes: q1 $365 US; q final $680 US #141 Elise Tamaela NED d #443 Lei Huang CHN 6-1, 6-0 *#378 Jing Ren CHN d #158 Chin-Wei Chan TPE 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 #281 Shengnan Sun CHN d #422 Chunmei Ji CHN 6-3, 7-5 #474 Jie Hao CHN d #561 Shanshan Song CHN 6-0, 6-0 Guangzhou, Withdrawals #33 Jie Zheng CHN #50 Karolina Sprem CRO #78 Martina Sucha SVK Luxembourg #87 Meilen Tu USA Seoul #101 Olga Savchuk UKR Luxembourg #120 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP #NR Elena Bovina RUS r shoulder

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Seoul: The main draw for Seoul 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.     Olympic Park, Seoul, Korea - click for lo-res sat pic     Early round play at Seoul    begins at 1pm local time.     The time in Seoul is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 9 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 13 hours, PDT+16 hours. Korea news Severine Bremond, Caroline Wozniacki, Marta Domachowska, Eleni Daniilidou, and Maria Kirilenko were looking good at the Seoul player's party on Monday night; Martina Hingis did not arrive until Tuesday, when she was called upon to entertain reporters at the Inchon airport. On Tuesday night, at the "sponsor's dinner," Ai Sugiyama, Maria Kirilenko, and Sania Mirza were among the players being pretty.

Seoul, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 11am losers' prize: $1,035 US; points: 1 #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI d #293 q Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-3, 6-2 Wed Martina driving a forehand, and thanking the friendly fans after the match     Martina only arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, following a 14-hour flight from Kolkata to Incheon. Martina said: "It was stressful to get here from India. I was able to step up my game even though I was tired." AP story     Martina also said: "The slower the court is, the more it favors me. This is the same surface as the Australian Open [Rebound Ace] and I made quarterfinals there, and I also had good results on clay. So I think it's good, for me, that the surface this year is slow." tourney story *#92 Vera Dushevina RUS d #25 s2 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 Tue Maria nailing a forehand, and Vera belting a backhand #26 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA d #51 Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 6-1 Tue Marion driving a backhand #28 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #349 q Ioana Ralucca Olaru ROM 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 Tue Ai's backhand, and after match point #29 s5 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #95 Camille Pin FRA 6-1, 6-2 Tue *#96 Akiko Morigami JPN d #35 s6 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-0, 6-4 Tue *#228 Paola Suarez ARG #39 s7 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-1, 6-3 Tue Paola's backhand drive *#68 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #40 s8 Lucie Safarova CZE 7-5, 6-4 Tue #45 Catalina Castano COL d #162 Sanja Ancic CRO 6-3, 6-2 Mon #47 Severine Bremond FRA d #87 Meilen Tu USA 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1 Mon *#53 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #48 Jamea Jackson USA 7-5, 6-4 Mon *#81 q Anastassia Rodionova RUS d #61 Marta Domachowska POL 6-4, 6-3 Tue #67 Emma Laine FIN d #344 wc So-Jung Kim KOR 6-3, 6-2 Mon #70 Sania Mirza IND d #379 wc Ye-Ra Lee KOR 3-6, 6-0, 6-0 Wed #83 Aiko Nakamura JPN d #179 Mariana Diaz Oliva ARG 7-6(3), 6-3 Mon #277 wc Angelique Widjaja INA d #254 q Natalie Grandin RSA 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) Tue

Seoul, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am Thu WTA story losers' prize: $1,925 US; points: 12 *#70 Sania Mirza IND d #9 s1 Martina Hingis SUI 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 Thu Sania and Martina driving forehands, and Martina after an error     Martina had defeated Sania twice this year: last week in the Kolkata semifinals, 6-1, 6-0, and last March in Dubai, in their only other previous meeting, 6-3, 7-5.     Martina said: "[Sania] played very well today, much better than last week. I gave her too many chances. Her forehand is really amazing." AP story     Sania said: "My forehand is my favorite shot; I love hitting it. Since I was a little kid it has always been my best shot. My timing is better on my forehand than my backhand...     "We've played two other times. Third time lucky. This is the fittest I've ever been, best I've felt...     "The last time I played Hingis, I was surprised by her angled serve on the deuce court. She was pulling me wide and opening up the court. I was not really prepared for that, especially on the big points. This time, I was ready. Also, I decided to attack her forehand and it paid off." Times of India story #26 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA d #47 Severine Bremond FRA 7-6(1), 6-1 Thu #28 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #81 q Anastassia Rodionova RUS 6-3, 6-1 Thu Ai sitting courtside after Anastassia had slipped and sprained her right ankle when the court became wet due to light rain, and Anastassia after spraining the ankle--this led to a rain delay, after which the match was completed. #29 s5 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #67 Emma Laine FIN 6-4, 6-0 Wed *#228 Paola Suarez ARG d #45 Catalina Castano COL 6-4, 6-3 Thu #53 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #92 Vera Dushevina RUS 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 Wed #68 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #277 wc Angelique Widjaja INA 6-4, 6-3 Thu *#96 Akiko Morigami JPN d #83 Aiko Nakamura JPN 7-5, 6-2 Wed

Seoul, QFs, Fri 11am WTA story losers' prize: $3,580 US; points: 24 #26 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA d #96 Akiko Morigami JPN 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 #28 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #228 Paola Suarez ARG 6-2, 6-3     Ai said: "It was not an easy match, but I moved better today, and I liked the rhythm [Paola] gave me."     About her semifinal opponent, Virginia Ruano Pascual, Ai said: "I won once [against her] and she beat me twice. It will be a tough one for sure. I am playing well. She may be a little tired. I will have to fight for every point...     "I really like playing here. A lot of people are cheering for me, so it feels like home. Everything is professional and organized. I appreciate everything." *#53 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #29 s5 Vera Zvonareva RUS 7-6(3), 6-4 #68 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #70 Sania Mirza IND 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(3) Sania's forehand, and Vivi's backhand     Virginia said: "Sania is a very good player. She has a strong forehand, and a tough serve. But she does lose concentration. Concentration was the key, never going down. I tried to never feel down. I had to be there, all the time. It was a tough match, and I am pretty tired."     Sania said: "Against Martina, I had to play offensively; today, I had to hit more balls. This was a lot more grueling than my last matches. I lost in a third set tie-break; that's always tough. There was not much more I could do. It's my third three set match in three days. You always learn from these kinds of matches – learn from playing these kinds of players."

Seoul, SFs, Sat 2pm WTA story losers' prize: $6,650 US; points: 43 *#53 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #26 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-1, 6-0 Eleni's forehand, Marion's backhand, and Eleni after match point     Eleni said: "Despite the score, it wasn't an easy match. I had to fight for each point. I had fun. I was Top 20 a few years ago. That's how I am playing right now. It's hard to keep that level up. As I said, tomorrow is tomorrow...     "I had a cyst on my thumb; it was bothering me for eight to 10 months, and I finally had it removed. I am enjoying playing again. I have improved on a lot of things. I have changed coaches. It has been a tough year but every match I get better and better. Tomorrow is a new day. I will be like I was today - quiet, calm and positive. I will be aggressive. I will focus."     Marion said: "I didn't feel 100% today. I played late last night. I had a fever in the middle of the night, and didn't sleep well, either. I've played a lot of matches and was feeling tired, but Eleni played well. The surface here suits her game. It was hard physically but it was a great tournament. I made the semifinals." #28 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN v #68 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 6-0, 6-3 Vivi's 1-handed backhand, and Ai's 2-hander, her best shot     Ai said: "In the first set [Virginia] didn't have her rhythm. In the second set she was playing better. I tried to hit to her backhand, even though her slice stays very low.     "It feels really good to be here; it's comfortable like home. I like Korean food. The tournament, the hotel, just everything has been great. My physical and mental condition are good.     "Eleni is playing great. I look forward to tomorrow."

Seoul, Final, Sun noon loser's prize: $12,345 US; points: 67 winner's prize: $22,900 US; points: 95 *#53 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #28 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3) Eleni lining up a backhand, and Ai launching one

Seoul, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $3,640 US winners' prize: $6,750 US cdr26 s1 Paola Suarez & Virginia Ruano Pascual d cdr396 Mariana Diaz-Oliva & Chia-Jung Chuang 6-2, 6-3 Paola & Vivi, with their 32nd doubles champions trophies as a team Seoul, Qual Finals, Mon Sept 25 10am losers' prizes: q1 $175 US; q2 $300 US; q final $555 US #81 Anastassia Rodionova RUS d #318 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 *#254 Natalie Grandin RSA d #114 Lilia Osterloh USA 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 *#349 Ioana Ralucca Olaru ROM d #169 Youlia Fedossova FRA 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 #293 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #724 Sung-Hee Han KOR 6-3, 6-1 Seoul, Withdrawals #43 Shenay Perry USA #74 Iveta Benesova CZE #185 Ansley Cargill USA

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