WTA Aug 6-12 East West Bank Classic Los Angeles, CA Tier II $600,000 56 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA .pdf: draws & OOP - notes pics: Sportsline - Yahoo     tourney - WTA LA: radar - forecast - news # 2 Maria Sharapova # 3 Jelena Jankovic # 5 Ana Ivanovic # 9 Nadia Petrova # 10 Daniela Hantuchova # 12 Marion Bartoli # 13 Martina Hingis # 14 Dinara Safina # 15 Elena Dementieva # 18 Shahar Peer

Tourney pages: LA: 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Los Angeles: #5 Ana Ivanovic 6' 0", 160 lbs, RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday near Los Angeles, in the final of the East West Bank Classic, 19-year-old 3rd-seeded # 5 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia (residence: Basel, Switzerland), narrowly defeated 25-year-old 4th-seeded # 9 Nadia Petrova from Moscow, Russia, 7-5, 6-4 (Ana is shown during the match, after match point, and with her new glassware).

    Ana said: "It was tough for me to get going as I had some muscle pain from yesterday, but I tried to stay relaxed and win each point. I felt I started quite slowly but I tried to take my chances, be aggressive and finish it in two sets." WTA story

    Ana hit 31 winners in the match, 23 of them on her forehand. Nadia said: "I would say [Ana] just rips it without even thinking; compared with any other players it is the best forehand by far on the Tour. Her fitness coach did a great job with her. She is in good condition and lost some weight... She played a very solid game today - it was all about the breaks and she did it. I just couldn't break her back."

    Her performance in this tourney should raise Ana's ranking to # 4 on Monday, a new career high. Ana now has a 4-2 record in WTA singles finals, and a 41-12 match record for 2007. Ana leads Nadia 4-2 in career matches.

    Nadia is now 7-8 in WTA singles finals, and has a 33-15 match record this year.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Los Angeles s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? East West Bank Classic,  Los Angeles, California   Carson current conditions     Los Angeles: The main draw for Los Angeles has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes.     There are 8 qualifiers and 4 wild cards in the main draw.     Qualifying finals are on Sunday.   Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif. - click for sat pic & street map Latitude: 33.862264 Long.: -118.260741 goto link for World Wind     Daylight time at Los Angeles is UCT (GMT, Zulu...) -7 hours (=US Pacific Daylight Time, EDT -3). Los Angeles news       The event now known as the East West Bank Classic (formerly the JPMorganChase Open) has been a WTA Tour stop since 1971. For 21 years prior to 2004, the tourney was held at the Manhattan Beach Country Club in Manhattan Beach, California. Since 2004, the tourney has been held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. There are over 30 hard and clay courts at the facility, and Center Court seats 8,000 people. On Monday, Aug 6, 2007 in Los Angeles, Ai Sugiyama signed autographs during an event for the Asian media... on Tuesday, top seed Maria Sharapova told reporters that if nominated she would not run, but if elected, she would definitely serve... Daniela Hantuchova, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic, and Ana Ivanovic posed for pretty pics at press time on Monday or Tuesday...

Los Angeles, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 11am Mon WTA story loser's prize: $1,595 US (2006: $1,725); points: 1 #15 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #165 q Ekaterina Markarova RUS 6-3, 6-1 Tue Elena's service toss, and Ekaterina about to swat a forehand #18 s10 Shahar Peer ISR d #75 wc Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-2, 6-3 Tue Shahar and Dominika delivering backhand drives *#85 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #19 s11 Tatiana Golovin FRA 7-5 retired--right hamstring strain Mon     Tatiana said: "I probably shouldn't have even gone on the court. I couldn't put any weight on it. It started bothering me actually a few days ago after the match against Maria [Sharapova at the Acura Classic]. I'm still coming back from injury and I think I might have overplayed a little, with doubles. I played like six matches in three days.     "I had two days off and yesterday it felt better. Today it was sore again. When I went to hit before my match, after 10 or 15 minutes it started to get sore again and never went away. I shouldn't even have started. From the beginning it was painful to watch and really painful for me to play. I wanted to give it a shot because you never know, sometimes it will go away. But it never did." AP story #21 s13 Sybille Bammer AUT d #57 Laura Granville USA 6-4, 6-2 Mon *#126 q Yuliana Fedak UKR d #22 s14 Alona Bondarenko UKR 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 Mon #23 s15 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #96 LL Bethanie Mattek USA 6-4, 7-5 Tue #24 s16 Lucie Safarova CZE d #38 Olga Poutchkova RUS 7-4, 6-2 Mon #28 Mara Santangelo ITA d #81 Anastasia Rodionova RUS 6-1, 7-6(3) Tue #30 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #93 Camille Pin FRA 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 Tue #31 Sania Mirza IND d #103 q Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 6-3, 6-2 Mon #33 Michaella Krajicek NED d #64 Severine Bremond FRA 6-3, 6-1 Mon #42 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #897 sr14 Elena Bovina RUS 7-6(8), 6-3 Mon #43 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #84 Vania King USA 6-2, 6-4 Tue Vania's forehand, and Meghann following a serve #44 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #60 Aravane Rezai FRA 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 Tue #45 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #110 LL Alberta Brianti ITA 6-3, 6-3 Tue *#70 q Olga Govortsova RUS d #47 Julia Vakulenko UKR 6-0, 6-3 Mon #49 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #76 Angelique Kerber GER 7-5, 6-1 Mon #52 Gisela Dulko ARG d #132 q Tiantian Sun CHN 7-5, 6-4 Mon #54 Shuai Peng CHN d #74 LL Yaroslava Shvedova RUS 6-3, 6-4 Tue Shuai's service toss, and Yaroslava driving a backhand #59 Virginie Razzano FRA d #173 q Zi Yan CHN 6-4, 7-5 Mon *#72 Jill Craybas USA d #67 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 7-5, 6-3 Mon *#80 q Lilia Osterloh USA d #69 Alicia Molik AUS 6-2, 6-4 Tue c4 m3 *#261 wc Madison Brengle USA d #71 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-1, 6-3 Mon #89 q Ashley Harkleroad USA d #191 wc Jamea Jackson USA 6-4, 6-1 Mon

Los Angeles, 2nd Rd, Tue-Wed Tue WTA story - Wed WTA story loser's prize: $3,120 US (2006: $3,370); points: 20 #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #44 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 7-6(5) 3-1 retired--difficulty breathing Wed Maria firing a cannonball serve, and Eleni and Maria driving backhands     Maria is now 5-0 against Eleni, but knows she can be a threat. Maria said: "In the first set [Eleni] played some of the best tennis she has ever played against me. She can play some good tennis and I know she can be dangerous."     Eleni said: "I've had a virus four days now so of course I wanted to try; but she played so well today. I badly wanted to play Maria and it was going to be a great fight but it was just so hard. I tried very hard to play my best." #3 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #54 Shuai Peng CHN 6-1, 6-1 Wed Shuai firing a cannonball serve, and Jelena launching a backhand #5 s3 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #89 q Ashley Harkleroad USA 6-4, 6-2 Wed #9 s4 Nadia Petrova RUS d #80 q Lilia Osterloh USA 7-5, 6-3 Wed Nadia's forehand, and Lilia's backhand drive #10 s5 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #72 Jill Craybas USA 6-3, 7-6(5) Wed Daniela driving a forehand, and Jill and Daniela driving backhands *#42 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #12 s6 Marion Bartoli FRA 7-6(2), 6-3 Tue Maria and Marion driving backhands, and Maria after winning a game *#31 Sania Mirza IND d #13 s7 Martina Hingis SUI 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Tue Martina's forehand, Sania's backhand, and after match point     Sania said: "You're playing Hingis, you can't expect to roll through the third set. I believed when I stepped on the court tonight that I could win... Today I feel like a more complete player. My forehand, my backhand and even my serve is better. These are the things I've been working on the past few years." *#49 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #14 s8 Dinara Safina RUS 6-2, 7-5 Tue Kateryna and Dinara driving backhands, and Kateryna after match point     It was Kateryna's first ever win over a top-20 player, and it came the day before her 21st birthday. She had been 0-3 against Dinara; their most recent meeting was in the 1st round at Wimbledon this year, when Dinara won, 7-5, 7-6(7).     Kateryna said: "I just decided to stop being nervous, because all the times that I played against [Dinara] I was really really nervous. Today I was like 'If I win, I win. If I lose, it's going to be fourth time." #15 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #261 wc Madison Brengle USA 6-2, 6-0 Wed Elena serving, Madison about to lightly tap a backhand, and connecting with one, and Elena's backhand drive *#59 Virginie Razzano FRA d #18 s10 Shahar Peer ISR 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6) Wed Shahar after a double fault (she had 9, Virginie had 11), and Virginie after match point #21 s13 Sybille Bammer AUT d #70 q Olga Govortsova RUS 6-2, 6-1 Wed #23 s15 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #28 Mara Santangelo ITA 5-0 retired Wed #24 s16 Lucie Safarova CZE d #30 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-3, 6-4 Wed #33 Michaella Krajicek NED d #126 q Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-4, 6-3 Tue *#45 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #43 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-2, 6-3 Wed #52 Gisela Dulko ARG d #85 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 6-1, 6-3 Tue

Los Angeles, 3rd Rd, Thu 11am WTA story loser's prize: $6,075 US (2006: $6,575); points: 35 #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #33 Michaella Krajicek NED 7-6(4), 6(3)-7, 6-4 Maria twisting a serve Michaellaward, Michaella's forehand, Maria's forehand, and after match point     Both Maria and Michaella are known to be fine servers. But Michaella broke Maria's serve nine times--while Maria broke Michaella's serve for the tenth time, in the final game of the 2 hour and 48 minute match, on her third match point.     Maria said: "I think today was one of those days when you are just happy to get a win. I was a little slow today and I was a step late to everything so it's good to come through. It's nice to know I can deal with different situations and be able to come through them and as it can get windy in New York it was good to be in the scenario where I needed to deal with the wind on court." #3 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #21 s13 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-2, 6-1 Jelena twisting a serve Sybilleward, Sybille bamming a forehand, Jelena running down a backhand, and Jelena laughing, as often happens #5 s3 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #24 s16 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Ana's backhand, Lucie's forehand, and Ana after winning a point #9 s4 Nadia Petrova RUS d #23 s15 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-1, 6-2 Nadia driving a forehand *#15 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #10 s5 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 4-1 retired--upper respiratory illness Elena and Daniela driving backhands     Elena said: "The first set today was so close today, but I didn't know [Daniela] was feeling so bad when she called for the trainer, and I just made sure I stayed focused. I thought I served very well today and I'm pleased with my performance. I was out on court less than an hour, and because of the heat that was good for me." *#59 Virginie Razzano FRA d #31 Sania Mirza IND 6-1, 7-6(6) Sania and Virginie driving forehands #42 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #52 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 6-4 #45 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #49 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-2

Los Angeles, QFs, Fri noon WTA story loser's prize: $11,885 US (2006: $12,860); points: 70 #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #15 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-3, 6-4 Elena following a forehand that flew foul, Maria wondering where her backhand will bounce, and after match point     Maria said: "I played solid; I saw the ball really well today. I was trying to go for too much at times, which created some problems. But the good thing about the end is that I didn't get frustrated. The match is not over until it's over." #3 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #45 Victoria Azarenka BLR 6-4, 6(5)-7, 6-2 Jelena and Victoria driving backhands     Jelena said: "I was struggling with myself big-time; I was not on my game nor my opponent. I'm not happy at all with the way I played. I am in the semifinals but I have a lot of work to do. I just wanted to win and get out of there." #5 s3 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #42 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-4, 6-4 Maria and Ana driving backhands, and Maria congratulating her sometimes doubles partner Ana after match point     Maria K, who has been playing very well in recent weeks, took a 4-1 lead in the 1st set. Ana said: "I had some time to think about my game when [Maria] took a medical timeout. I needed to be more aggressive. I tried to move forward a lot, and keep her outside the court. I was playing really good tennis at that point and was able to come back in the first set and win it." #9 s4 Nadia Petrova RUS d #59 Virginie Razzano FRA 6(3)-7, 6-4, 6-1 Nadia and Virginie driving forehand and backhand     Nadia said: "I made everything so difficult for myself in the first set by not finishing up; it was an extra set and some extra time out there but I'm happy to win today. After losing the first set, I started to think I had to take it into the third set. It did not matter how long I was going to be out there. In the second set, I was trying to get a break. I didn't want to give [Virginie] a chance to come back."

Los Angeles, SFs, Sat 1pm WTA story loser's prize: $23,150 US (2006: $25,060); points: 125 #9 s4 Nadia Petrova RUS d #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS walkover--lower left leg strain (tibialis anterior) Maria apologizing to the crowd for being unable to play, and taking questions after explaining her injury to the press     Maria had already withdrawn from next week's Roger's Cup in Toronto, Canada, citing a need for rest and recovery before the US Open (Aug 27). But she did not realize that she was unable to play her Saturday night semifinal until just before the match.     Maria said: My muscle was getting tighter and tighter when I came here; when I began to warm up it was getting worse and worse. I couldn't lift my foot on the serve nor could I run to more than two or three balls. I was in the treatment room trying to get everything done to it, but it did not help. I would love to get on the court today, and I've been playing some of my best tennis this year. But, when you can't play 100% and can't lift your foot..."     Nadia said: "I was actually looking forward to tonight's match - I had a lot of people coming to watch and support me. But it's always good to be in a final. I haven't been in a final for a while and it's great. I'm very excited." *#5 s3 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #3 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 Ana running down a backhand, Jelena driving one, 6-footer Ana's overhead smash, and after match point     Ana said: "I played some awesome points when it was very important, and I'm really happy with that. I never give up, so I tried to focus on each point, and take more time on my serve. It was important to run around and hit my forehand because it's more powerful and [Jelena] likes to run, so I tried to step forward more... This gives me a lot of confidence, because she's a great player, and matches like these count the most." Reuters story     Jelena said: "I didn't use my chances and the match didn't go my way. I had some chances and then it was 5-4. [Ana] made some big serves and some aces. I was a little bit tired and out of gas; but at least today I played so much better than I did in my previous matches, so I'm happy. I just have to learn from this...     "She is quite powerful. She came up with great shots when she needed them. On the days when she is hitting cleanly she is very, very good. Against Ana, there is something that does not suit my game. Some players you like to play and some players you don't. I have to stay positive and go forward though. Ana is playing quite well at the moment. She looks fresh." WTA story

Los Angeles, Final, Sun 2pm ESPN2-TV loser's prize: $45,180 US (2006: $48,900); points: 190 winner's prize: $88,260 US (2006: $95,500); points: 275 #5 s3 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #9 s4 Nadia Petrova RUS 7-5, 6-4 Ana serving, Nadia and Ana driving backhands, and Ana after match point

Los Angeles, Doubles Final, Sun after singles, 4pm+ loser's prize: $14,270 US (2006: $15,440) winner's prize: $27,730 US (2006: $30,000) *cdr22 s2 Kveta Peschke & Rennae Stubbs d cdr19 s1 Alicia Molik & Mara Santangelo 6-0, 6-1 Rennae and Kveta Los Angeles, Qual Finals, Sun Aug 5 losers' prizes: q1: $425; q2: $815 US (2006: $885); qualifier points: 10 #70 Olga Govortsova RUS d #186 Raquel Kops-Jones USA 6-1, 6-1 *#126 Yuliana Fedak UKR d #74 Yaroslava Shvedova RUS 6-4, 7-5 #80 Lilia Osterloh USA d #207 Angela Haynes USA 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 #89 Ashley Harkleroad USA d #124 Hana Sromova CZE 7-6(5), 6-2 *#165 Ekaterina Markarova RUS d #96 Bethanie Mattek USA 6-2, 7-5 #103 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #125 Anne Kremer LUX 6-3, 6-2 *#132 Tiantian Sun CHN d #110 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-3, 6-2 #173 Zi Yan CHN d #1049 Natalie Frazier USA 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 Los Angeles, Withdrawals #8 Serena Williams USA left thumb sprain #11 Nicole Vaidisova CZE mononucleosis #20 s12 Na Li CHN right rib stress fracture #26 Vera Zvonareva RUS left wrist #29 Samantha Stosur AUS illness #32 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP #41 Meilen Tu USA left quad strain #48 Nicole Pratt AUS right knee #50 Milagros Sequera VEN left foot #51 Akiko Morigami JPN #55 Elena Vesnina RUS #61 Aiko Nakamura JPN low back strain #65 Yung-Jan Chan TPE #87 Vasilisa Bardina RUS right leg

    (Aug 8, 2007 revised) It has always been unfortunate that the WTA is unable to provide interesting player statistics such as number of errors per stroke, number of winners per stroke, number of strokes per point, percentage of strokes that are forehand or backhand, crosscourt or down the line, drives, slices, lobs or dropshots, etc.
    Well, they still won't try to do anything even remotely like this. However, they are introducing the new Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Monster Truck Index (uh, actually they call it a "power index"). Thrillsville.
    What might the WTA do instead? IBM has been keeping match statistics from all the Grand Slam tourneys on the tourney websites for several years now, stats which include winners, errors, net approaches, service speeds, and more.. Take all those Grand Slam match stats and merge them into one database online at the WTA Tour site. This would be far more interesting than the WTA's new "power index."

    (Aug 6, 2007) The East West Bank Classic website is an almost entirely worthless piece of trash, typical of the US Open Series degraded websites, with no place for results, OOP, draw, almost nothing fans would want. It is cluttered, though. I don't even see a link to the live scoring. Apparently no one in LA knows how to do a simple website.
    I don't mean to be insulting, but it is ridiculous. If someone doesn't know (or care) what fans would want on a website, then someone else should be making the decisions.

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