WTA: May 21-26 2007 Istanbul Cup Istanbul, TUR Tier III $200,000 30 players - outdoor: red clay Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP pics: Yahoo! - WTA - tourney Istanbul: weather forecast # 2 M Sharapova, # 13 E Dementieva # 17 P Schnyder, # 22 V Williams Internationaux de Strasbourg Strasbourg, FRA Tier III $175,000 30 players - outdoor: red clay Live Scores - in popup window html: draws - OOP - results WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes pics: Yahoo! - tourney - WTA Strasbourg:     weather sat-radar - forecast # 4 A Mauresmo, # 5 J Jankovic # 18 Na Li, # 21 M Bartoli

Tourney pages: Strasbourg & Istanbul: 2006 - 2005 Strasbourg: 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Istanbul: #13 Elena Dementieva 5' 11", 141 lbs, RH 2H-BH Strasbourg: #31 Anabel Medina Garrigues 5' 6½", 130 lbs, RH 2H-BH

    On Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey, in the final of the Istanbul Cup, 25-year-old 2nd-seeded # 13 Elena Dementieva from Moscow, Russia, won her first singles title of the year by defeating 20-year-old unseeded # 59 Aravane Rezai from St. Etienne, France, 7-6(5), 3-0 retired when Aravane could no longer continue due to left patella (kneecap) tendonitis (Elena is shown after the match).
    Despite the loss, Aravane, who had won only four matches all year, had the best week of her career, reaching a WTA singles semi and a final for the first time, and defeating former # 1s Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams.

    Elena said: "I am sorry Rezai did not finish the match, but it was a great fight. It has been an amazing week and I hope to come back next year." AFP story

    Elena and Aravane had met just once before, on a hard court in the 4th round of last year's US Open, when Elena ended the best Grand Slam tourney performance of Aravane's career by defeating her 7-5, 6-4.
    Elena now 7-11 in WTA singles finals; her most recent titles came last year in Los Angeles and in the Tokyo indoor tourney. Elena also was a finalist at the 2004 French and US Opens. Aravane had never before been beyond the quarterfinals of a WTA tourney; she has won 6 ITF singles titles.

    In the Strasbourg final on Saturday, the 2005 Strasbourg champion, 24-year-old 6th-seeded # 31 Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, defeated the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champ, 27-year-old top-seeded # 4 Amelie Mauresmo of France (residence: Geneva, Switzerland), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 (Anabel is shown after match point).
    It was Anabel's first win over Amelie, who still leads Anabel 4-1 in career matches. It was their first meeting since 2005.
    Anabel is now is 7-3 in WTA singles finals; six of her seven WTA singles titles have come on red clay, four of those in Palermo, and two in Strasbourg. Amelie is now 24-22 in WTA singles finals; she most recently won earlier this year in Antwerp.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Istanbul & Strasbourg s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"?

Istanbul Cup,  Istanbul, Turkey   Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Istanbul: The main draw for Istanbul 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.     Istanbul site before construction - click for sat pic-street map Latitude: 41.069492 Longitude: 28.866084 goto link for World Wind     Istanbul daylight savings time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) + 3 hours (US Pacific Daylight Time +10, EDT +7). Turkey news On Thursday, May 17, 2007, Masked Marvel and Nike Princess of Increased Tourney Ticket Sales Maria Sharapova arrived at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, ready to return to action after resting her ailing right shoulder for a few weeks... On Sunday, May 20, Maria met the press; her possible semifinal opponent, Venus Williams, addressed the media on Monday... Also on Monday, at Topkapi Palace, disheveled Maria attempted to explain to Turkish authorities what she was doing climbing around on the roof with Peter Ustinov, Maximillian Schell, and Melina Mercouri... (if you didn't see the movie, ignore the last remark; Maria is actually addressing tourney opening ceremonies at Topkapi) Elena Dementieva also addressed the opening ceremony attendees, assuring them that she was not carrying any stolen bejeweled daggers, and that Maria had plotted the entire heist herself (with Maximillian, of course)... also on Monday, lovely ladies Elena, Venus, and Maria had some pretty pictures taken in the, uh, harem section of Topkapi Palace...

Istanbul, 1st Rnd, Mon-Tue 10am Tue WTA story losers' prize: $1,270 US (2006: $1,370); points: 1 #17 s3 Patty Schnyder SUI d #54 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-1, 6-1 Tue Patty firing a cannonball serve, Yung-Jan spinning a forehand, and Patty driving a backhand     Patty said: "There aren't many times when you have an easy day like that, so I'll take it. I think [Yung-Jan] was coming from playing on hard court, while I've been on clay for many weeks now, I've definitely got a lot of confidence going into Roland Garros. I've had a good two weeks in Berlin and Rome, so I feel ready and I'm looking forward to going to Paris." #22 s4 Venus Williams USA d #96 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-1, 6-2 Tue Venus driving a forehand, Tatiana following a backhand, Venus running down another forehand, and after match point #28 s5 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #377 wc Pemra Ozgen TUR 6-1, 6-0 Mon *#110 Catalina Castano COL d #40 s6 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 7-6(3), 6-2 Tue #46 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #74 Ekaterina Bychkova RUS 7-5, 7-5 Mon *#55 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #51 s8 Sania Mirza IND 6-4, 6-3 Tue *#72 Romina Oprandi ITA d #57 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-4, 6-4 Mon #59 Aravane Rezai FRA d #89 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-3, 6-1 Mon *#81 Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO d #76 Y Shvedova RUS 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Mon #82 Vania King USA d #468 wc Ipek Senoglu TUR 6-3, 7-5 Tue #90 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #155 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 Mon *#300 q Ekaterina Afinogenova RUS d #93 Sandra Kloesel GER 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 Tue *#484 q Anastasija Sevastova LAT d #95 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 6-1, 6-3 Tue #214 q Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR d #318 q Anna Tatishvili GEO 6-3, 7-5 Tue

Istanbul, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 10am Wed WTA story losers' prize: $2,360 US (2006: $2,550); points: 20 #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #90 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-4, 7-6(1) Tue Maria launching a cannonball, Tsvetana driving a forehand, Maria following a backhand, and after winning a point     Maria, who had a 1st round bye, has been troubled by a right shoulder injury since early January (and a left hamstring injury as well), and had not played a match since Key Biscayne in March, giving her injuries time to heal. Istanbul will be Maria's only clay court match play prior to this years French Open.     Maria took a 5-2 lead in the 2nd set, but Tsvetana, whose biggest career win was over then #10 Venus Williams at the 2006 Australian Open (1st round, 2-6, 6-0, 9-7), broke back to force the tiebreaker.     Maria said: It was a difficult match, and I was not expecting much from myself, because I just came back from one of my worst injuries. But it was good to beat a good player.     "I, of course, did not feel 100 percent. It was not my best performance. But I hope I will get better as I play more games...And I hope I will stay healthy." AFP story #13 s2 Elena Dementieva RUS d #81 Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO 6-3, 6-3 Wed Elena driving a forehand, Jelena fielding a backhand, and Elena running down another forehand     Elena said: "It's never easy to play your first match at a tournament. I'd never even practiced on the centre court before, so it took me a couple of games to get my rhythm. [Jelena is] a good clay-courter, playing with a lot of slice, and she's a left-hander, which you don't play too often. I'm hoping to win some more matches here, because it's important to have a good preparation for Roland Garros." #17 s3 Patty Schnyder SUI d #82 Vania King USA 6-4, 6-1 Wed Patty volleying a backhand, Vania driving one, and Patty's lefty backhand drive     Patty said: "It was definitely harder than in the first round, but I still felt like I was in control of the match. I was using a lot of slice and some drop shots, which she struggled with, so it was another good match for me – I'm feeling good about my game at the moment." *#59 Aravane Rezai FRA d #22 s4 Venus Williams USA 6-4, 6-4 Wed Venus serving, Aravane driving a backhand, and after match point     Aravane said: "I don't know if [Venus] thought she played well or not but I think I had a very good match today. I've been working very hard lately, and my strategy today was to move her from side to side, because she's so tall. The victory today proves to me that I can beat these higher-ranked players, so it's a special day for me." WTA story #28 s5 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #484 q Anastasija Sevastova LAT 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) Wed #46 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #72 Romina Oprandi ITA 6-1, 6-0 Wed #55 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #300 q Ekaterina Afinogenova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Wed #110 Catalina Castano COL d #214 q Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Wed

Istanbul, QFs, Thu 11am WTA story losers' prize: $4,385 US (2006: $4,745); points: 35 #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #46 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 Maria following a forehand, Agnieszka eyeing the objective, Maria preparing to lightly tap a backhand, and after match point     Maria said: "[Agnieszka is] young, talented and was playing with nothing to lose, really going for her shots. It's not easy to play against someone like that, especially when I haven't played in seven to eight weeks. I really can't expect too much of myself just yet as this is my first clay court tournament in nearly a year." #13 s2 Elena Dementieva RUS d #110 Catalina Castano COL 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 Elena launching a twist serve, Catalina about to belt a backhand, Elena firing a flying forehand, Elena amused by some unknown event, and after match point     Elena said: "It was obviously a very long match, over two-and-a-half hours, and it was a very difficult one. [Catalina] started really well, putting me under lots of pressure and taking lots of risks, especially on her second serve. She definitely played better against me than last week and as she's had some success here before, she's obviously comfortable here." *#28 s5 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #17 s3 Patty Schnyder SUI walkover-- right quadriceps strain     Patty said: "I need some rest [for the arm to heal before the French Open]. I don't want to force it." *#59 Aravane Rezai FRA d #55 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 1-6, 6-1, 6-4     Aravane said: "At the start of the match I wasn't playing great, and Meghann was hitting it so well, but in the second set I began to concentrate more, and it took a lot of effort and focus to win the third as well.     "I think this week I've found my game. At the start of the year I think I was training too much and playing so-so. Now I'm feeling a lot better, and more confident, and I hope the improvement will continue."

Istanbul, SFs, Fri noon WTA story losers' prize: $8,170 US (2006: $8,840); points: 65 *#59 Aravane Rezai FRA d #2 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-2 6-4 Maria following a forehand, Aravane's backhand drive, Aravane after match point, and listening to the interesting questions from all those nice reporters after the match     Aravane said: "Obviously I'm extremely happy with my win and the performance today. I've had such an amazing week and I really feel this is the fruit of my labour earlier in the year. I didn't make a great start to the season, but I feel my game is now coming together and I'm just so excited about playing in my first final. I just hope I can play as well tomorrow as I have during the rest of the week." #13 s2 Elena Dementieva RUS d #28 s5 Alona Bondarenko UKR 7-6(5), 6-2 Elena's service toss, Alona fielding a backhand, and Elena running down a forehand     Elena said: "It was a really tough match today and even though it was just two sets, I don't think it was easier than my other matches this week. It was such a tough first set, especially in the heat. The match was all about that tie-break and I feel [Alona] was a little disheartened after losing it.     "I'm really happy to make my first final of the year, but most importantly for me is that I'm playing well and I can look forward to Paris."

Istanbul, Final, Sat after doubles loser's prize: $15,190 US (2006: $16,450); points: 100 winner's prize: $28,180 US (2006: $30,500); points: 140 #13 s2 Elena Dementieva RUS d #59 Aravane Rezai FRA 7-6(5), 3-0 retired--left patella tendonitis Elena driving a forehand, Aravane about to connect with a backhand, and Elena ready to slice one

Istanbul, Doubles Final, Sat noon losers' prize: $4,530 US (2006: $4,900) winners' prize: $8,460 US (2006: $9,150) *cdr566 Agnieszka Radwanska & Urusla Radwanska d s1 cdr59 Sania Mirza & Yung-Jan Chan 6-1, 6-3 Istanbul, Qual Finals, Monday May 21 10am losers' prizes: q1:$195 pts:1; q2:$370 pts:3; q3:$680 (2006 $735) pts:4; qualifier points: 8 #214 Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR d #339 Urszula Radwanska POL 6-2, 6-2 *#484 Anastasija Sevastova LAT d #278 Jana Juricova SVK 6-1, 6-2 *#318 Anna Tatishvili GEO d #263 Mihaela Buzarnescu ROU 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(6) #300 Ekaterina Afinogenova RUS d #327 Mervana Jugic-Salkic BIH 6-1, 6-3 Istanbul, Withdrawals #30 Mara Santangelo ITA #61 Kaia Kanepi EST #66 Maria Elena Camerin ITA Strasbourg #67 Elena Vesnina RUS Strasbourg #78 Tamira Paszek AUT #79 Iveta Benesova CZE #83 Eva Birnerova CZE Strasbourg #993 sr14 Elena Bovina RUS

Internationaux de Strasbourg,  Strasbourg, France   Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Strasbourg: The main draw for Strasbourg 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.     Centre Sportif de Hautepierre - click for sat pic & street map Latitude: 48.599033 Longitude: 7.691063 goto link for World Wind     Strasbourg daylight savings time time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) + 2 hours (US Pacific Daylight Time +9, EDT +6). France news On Monday, May 21 2007, in Strasbourg, Stephanie Dubois awarded gifts at a VIP luncheon to tennis trivia game winners... On Saturday, Tiantian Sun did the player rep thing at the main draw ceremony, and then was interviewed by a local TV station... and on Wednesday, Na Li signed autographs at the Sony Ericsson booth...

Strasbourg, 1st Round, Mon 10am-Tue 10am losers' prize: $1,300 US (2006: $1,340); points: 1 #18 s4 Na Li CHN d #198 Masa Zec-Peskiric SLO 6-3, 6-3 Mon #21 s5 Marion Bartoli FRA d #388 LL Nicole Kriz AUS 6-1, 6-0 Tue Marion following a cannonball serve #31 s6 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #138 Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-4, 6-3 Tue *#164 Caroline Maes BEL d #43 s8 Akiko Morigami JPN 7-5, 6-4 Mon #44 s9 Emilie Loit FRA d #91 wc Tiantian Sun CHN 7-5, 6-3 Mon Emilie after match point *#66 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #47 s10 Nicole Pratt AUS 6-4, 7-6(3) Tue *#98 Varvara Lepchenko UZB d #58 Vasilisa Bardina RUS 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Mon #62 Alicia Molik AUS d #292 LL Leanne Baker NZL 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(5) Tue #67 Elena Vesnina RUS d #199 q Zi Yan CHN 6-4, 6-1 Tue Elena "reacting" as they say--she may have lost a point, but she won the battle #69 Aiko Nakamura JPN d #148 q Stephanie Dubois CAN 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 Tue #70 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #237 q Shengnan Sun CHN 6-4, 6-2 Tue #77 Vera Dushevina RUS d #84 Karin Knapp ITA 6-4, 6-4 Mon *#130 q Lilia Osterloh USA d #83 Eva Birnerova RUS 6-0, 6-2 Tue #92 Tatjana Malek GER d #482 LL Emilie Bacquet FRA 6-0, 6-1 Tue

Strasbourg, 2nd Round, Wed 11am losers' prize: $2,200 US (2006: $2,260); points: 20 #4 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #98 Varvara Lepchenko UZB 6-4, 6-1 Amelie driving a forehand #5 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #70 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 6-3, 7-5 #18 s4 Na Li CHN d #77 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-2, 6-3 #21 s5 Marion Bartoli FRA d #92 Tatjana Malek GER 6-3, 6-3 #31 s6 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #62 Alicia Molik AUS 6-2, 6-4 #44 s9 Emilie Loit FRA d #130 q Lilia Osterloh USA 6-1, 6-0 #66 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #69 Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-3, 6-2 #67 Elena Vesnina RUS d #164 Caroline Maes BEL 6-1, 6-4

Strasbourg, QFs, Thu 11am WTA story losers' prize: $4,000 US (2006: $4,270); points: 35 #4 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #44 s9 Emilie Loit FRA 7-6(3), 6-4     Amelie said: "I'm still a little rusty and during every match I'm trying to make improvements to my game. Today I felt more dynamic and faster around the court and hopefully this will continue to improve. At the moment I'm 100% focused on Strasbourg, and although Roland Garros is obviously important, I'm trying not to be distracted by it." #5 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #66 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 6-3, 6-4 Jelena modeling fashions by a local designer at the player party on Wednesday evening *#31 s6 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #18 s4 Na Li CHN 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 #21 s5 Marion Bartoli FRA d #67 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-1, 4-6, 6-3     Marion said: "I'm really happy to have won today and to make it into the semifinals here for the first time. Tomorrow I face Amélie and I think I'll have to up my level of play. I don't play in the same way as Amélie, but I have different strengths and will try to find a way to win. The most important thing for me is that I'm improving on the clay, and getting better and better with each match and tournament."

Strasbourg, SFs, Fri noon losers' prize: $7,500 US (2006: $7,730); points: 65 #4 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #21 s5 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-3, 6(1)-7, 6-3 Amelie driving a forehand, and Marion's backhand drive *#31 s6 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #5 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB walkover--gastrointestinal illness

Strasbourg, Final, Sat 2pm loser's prize: $14,500 US (2006: $15,000); points: 100 winner's prize: $27,000 US (2006: $28,000); points: 140 *#31 s6 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #4 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Anabel following her serve, Amelie about to swat a backhand, and Anabel after match point

Strasbourg, Doubles Final, Sat after singles losers' prize: $ US (2006: $4,400) winners' prize: $ US (2006: $8,250) cdr11 s1 Jie Zheng & Zi Yan d cdr96 s4 Alicia Molik & Tiantian Sun 6-3, 6-4 Strasbourg, Qual Finals, Mon May 21 10am losers' prizes: q1:$200 pts:1; q2:$350 pts:3; q3:$650 (2006 $650) pts:4; qualifier points: 8 *#199 Zi Yan CHN d #124 Abigail Spears USA 6-3, 6-0 #130 Lilia Osterloh USA d #173 Virginie Pichet FRA 6-3, 6-3 #148 Stephanie Dubois CAN d #482 Emilie Bacquet FRA 6-4, 6-1 *#237 Shengnan Sun CHN d #157 Meng Yuan CHN 6-0, 6-0 Strasbourg, Withdrawals #7 Nicole Vaidisova CZE right wrist #14 s3 Daniela Hantuchova SVK left leg strain #20 Katarina Srebotnik SLO #24 Sybille Bammer AUT #32 Shuai Peng CHN left ankle sprain #33 Gisela Dulko ARG #35 Severine Bremond FRA #37 s7 Martina Muller GER low back strain #45 Meilen Tu USA #48 Jie Zheng CHN #49 Victoria Azarenka BLR right hip strain #52 Roberta Vinci ITA

    (May 21, 2007) 7th-seeded # 37 Martina Muller withdrew from Strasbourg on Monday due to a low back strain. Apparently # 124 Abigail Spears, # 157 Meng Yuan, and # 173 Virginie Pichet all got the hell out of Dodge (uh, Strasbourg) as soon as they lost their qualifying finals, for the three "Lucky Losers" placed in the main draw include # 292 Leanne Baker, who won no matches in qualifying (she had a 1st round bye and lost in the 2nd round), and # 388 Nicole Kriz, who also lost in the 2nd round of qualifying. This is very unusual.

    (May 20, 2007) # 14 3rd-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, a semifinalist in Rome, has withdrawn from Strasbourg to allow a left leg strain to heal before next weeks French Open. The draw has been rearranged a bit as a result.

    (May 19, 2007) # 7 Nicole Vaidisova, the 2006 Strasbourg champ, has withdrawn from this year's tourney due to the same right wrist injury that had already forced her to withdraw from the German and Italian Opens.

    (May 17, 2007) # 2 Maria Sharapova has entered the Istanbul Cup. Maria, who has been troubled by a right shoulder injury since early January (and a left hamstring injury as well), has not played since Key Biscayne in March. Istanbul will be her only clay court match play prior to this years French Open.

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2007 WTA Schedule with links & photos

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