WTA: Apr 7-13 2008 Amelia Island Bausch & Lomb Championships Amelia Island, FL Tier II $600,000 - 56 players outdoor: green clay Har-Tru Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes results - draw, .html - schedule pics: Yahoo! - WTA - FTU TV schedule ESPN2 FL Times-Union: Tennis Amelia Island: radar - forecast # 5 Maria Sharapova # 6 Anna Chakvetadze # 9 Daniela Hantuchova # 10 Marion Bartoli # 12 Patty Schnyder # 13 Dinara Safina # 16 Agnieszka Radwanska # 18 Agnes Szavay

Tourney pages: Amelia Island: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Amelia Island: #38 Dominika Cibulkova 5'3" 121lb RH 2H-BH Amelia Island: #5 Maria Sharapova 6'2" 130lb RH 2H-BH Amelia Island: 19th WTA Singles Title 1st Clay Court Title

    On Sunday at Amelia Island, Florida, in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships, 20-year-old top-seeded # 5 Maria Sharapova of Russia (with residences in California and in Bradenton, Florida, home of the Bollettieri Academy), won her first clay court title by defeating 18-year-old unseeded # 38 Dominika Cibulkova from Bratislava, Slovakia, 7-6(7), 6-3 (both ladies are shown during the match, and Maria with the glassware after).

    Maria put 67% of her 1st serves in the box and won 70% of those points while firing 4 aces with 5 double faults. Dominika made 65% of her 1st serves good, winning 58% of those points, launching 1 ace with 4 DFs. Maria coverted 4 of 6 break points against Dominika; Dominika scored on 3 of 9 BPs against Maria.

    Maria said: "I feel pretty fortunate to win my first title on clay. I scrapped my way through those two early matches, and played well today, and I'm leaving this tournament as the champion, which is exciting." WTA story

    Dominika said: "I feel great; it's amazing. I beat some great players this week and reached the final of Amelia Island - I still can't believe it."

    It was Maria's first-ever clay court final, and Dominika's first-ever WTA singles final on any surface. They had never before met on the field of combat. Maria's prize is $95,500; Dominika's is $48,900.

    6' 2" 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, and 2008 Australian Open champion Maria is now 19-7 in WTA singles finals; she previous title came in Doha, Qatar, in February. Maria now has a 22-1 match record in 2008, the best in the WTA.

    5' 3" Dominika has won 2 ITF singles titles. She reached the semifinals in Guangzhou last year, and the quarterfinals in Gold Coast and Doha this year. Dominika now has a 19-10 match record in 2008. Despite the loss, this was the best week of Dominika's career: she defeated # 27 Victoria Azarenka in the 2nd round, # 6 Anna Chakvetadze in the 3rd round, and # 24 (and former # 1) Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals.

    Maria and Dominika will now head north to Charleston, South Carolina, and the Family Circle Cup, where Dominika will play # 77 Anastasia Rodionova in the 1st round for the 2nd week in a row (Dominika defeated Anastasia 6-3, 7-5, at Amelia Island on Tuesday).
    Maria, seeded 2nd in Charleston (behind the 2007 champ, # 3 Jelena Jankovic), has a 1st round bye, and will play either #101 Meng Yuan or #152 Bethanie Mattek in the 2nd round, probably on Wednesday.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Amelia Island s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? The Bausch & Lomb Championships  Amelia Island, Florida   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -4 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT +3 hours Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view   Amelia Island Plantation Latitude: 30.558104 Long.: -81.447251 goto link for World Wind     The 56-player main draw for Amelia Island has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 8 qualifiers and 4 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying (2 rounds) is on Saturday & Sunday. Main draw play begins on Monday at 10am.     Amelia Island is located in northeast Florida, north of Jacksonville, near the Georgia border. Fernandina Beach is the main town on Amelia Island. Amelia Island Plantation covers 1350 acres with 23 green clay tennis courts and 4 eighteen-hole golf courses. 2008: On Monday, April 7 at Amelia Island, top seed Maria Sharapova hit the practice courts, determined to stay in the pocket and not get caught scrambling this time; meanwhile, Sorana Cirstea celebrated her 18th birthday...

Amelia Island, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 10am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #21 s9 Sybille Bammer AUT d #NR wc Anna Orlik BLR 6-3, 7-6(2) Mon Sybille and Anna following backhands #23 s10 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #74 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-2, 6-0 Tue #24 s11 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #94 q Olga Savchuk UKR 6-0, 7-5 Mon #25 s12 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #58 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-4, 6-0 Tue #26 s13 Virginie Razzano FRA d #110 q Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-2, 6-1 Mon #27 s14 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #72 Sara Errani ITA 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 Tue #30 s15 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #69 Maria Emilia Salerni ARG 6-4, 6-3 Mon #33 s16 Lindsay Davenport USA d #119 wc Vania King USA 6-2, 6-3 Tue Lindsay's backhand drive *#49 Alize Cornet FRA d #34 Michaella Krajicek NED 6-2, 6-1 Mon Alize's service toss #38 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #79 q Anastasia Rodionova AUS 6-3, 7-5 Tue #39 Lucie Safarova CZE d #84 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 6-1, 6-3 Mon *#222 q Karolina Sprem CRO d #40 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-4, 7-6(3) Tue #43 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #50 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-3, 6-1 Tue #44 Olga Govortsova BLR d #81 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 6-3, 6-3 Mon #48 Gisela Dulko ARG d #62 Edina Gallovits ROU 7-5, 6-2 Tue *#141 q Melinda Czink HUN d #52 Casey Dellacqua AUS 7-5, 6-2 Mon #53 Elena Vesnina RUS d #109 sr Milagros Sequera VEN 7-6(1), 6-0 Tue *#75 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #54 Aravane Rezai FRA 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 Mon *#82 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR d #56 Shuai Peng CHN 6-4, 7-5 Mon #155 q Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #64 Timea Bacsinszky SUI 6-2, 6-4 Mon *#87 Marta Domachowska POL d #65 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-2, 6-2 Mon *#68 Jill Craybas USA d #66 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 7-6(1), 7-6(4) Mon *#114 q Ayumi Morita JPN d #77 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-4, 6-3 Mon #88 wc Sorana Cirstea ROU d #150 q Bethanie Mattek USA 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 Tue

Amelia Island, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 11am WTA Tue story - WTA Wed story loser's prize: $3,370 US; points: 20 #5 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #155 q Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-1, 6-3 Tue Barbora serving, Maria following a forehand, Maria serving, and after match point     Maria said: "Coming into the match I didn't really don't know what to expect, because [Barbora] already had a few matches on clay. So I was just trying to get used to the atmosphere and court. I haven't played her since the juniors so I was also getting used to her game and testing some things out. There is a lot I'd like to improve on but it think it was a good start for me." #6 s2 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #114 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-3, 6-1 Wed Aymui serving, and Anna about to swat a backhand *#222 q Karolina Sprem CRO d #9 s3 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 Wed Daniela driving a forehand, and Karolina serving     Former # 11 Karolina was sidelined for 10 months following right elbow surgery in May of last year.     Karolina said: "I started really well; [Daniela] started to play better in the second set, but I took charge again from 4-3 in the third. I think I had an advantage in playing a few matches here already but I think Stadium court was still a little different than the other ones I played on this week...     "I didn't play anything for almost a year, so I'm really happy to be here playing again. I'm happy to be here enjoying my tennis and playing as well as I did today. I'm trying to put my game back together - it's getting closer and closer, so I'm looking forward to this year." *#44 Olga Govortsova BLR d #10 s4 Marion Bartoli FRA 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Tue     Olga said: "After I lost the first set I knew I had to do something different, so I was trying to move the ball around and use more spin, and it worked.     "This is my first clay court tournament of the season, but last year I played well on clay at ITF tournaments so I feel good on this surface." *#53 Elena Vesnina RUS d #12 s5 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 Wed Patty serving, and Elena lining up a backhand #13 s6 Dinara Safina RUS d #82 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR 6-3, 6-3 Wed Tatiana driving a forehand, and Dinara ready to launch one #16 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #48 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(1) Wed Agnieszka serving, and Gisela volleying a forehand #18 s8 Agnes Szavay HUN d #75 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-4, 6-1 Tue Agnes driving a backhand *#49 Alize Cornet FRA d #21 s9 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-1, 6-3 Wed Sybille about to connect with a backhand, and Alize driving one #23 s10 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #43 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Wed Alona and Caroline driving backhands #24 s11 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #88 wc Sorana Cirstea ROU 7-5, 6-1 Wed Amelie and Sorana serving #25 s12 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #39 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 6-4 Wed #26 s13 Virginie Razzano FRA d #87 Marta Domachowska POL 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(4) Tue *#38 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #27 s14 Victoria Azarenka BLR 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 Wed #30 s15 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #141 q Melinda Czink HUN 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Tue #33 s16 Lindsay Davenport USA d #68 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-4 Wed Lindsay about to swat a backhand, and Jill driving one

Amelia Island, 3rd Round, Thu 11am WTA story loser's prize: $6,575 US; points: 35 #5 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #30 s15 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(1) Anabel and Maria after twisting serves, and Maria after match point     Six of Anabel's seven WTA singles titles were won on clay. Maria converted 5 of 12 break points against Anabel, and served 3 aces with 7 double faults, while scoring 132 points in the match; Anabel converted 6 of 14 break points against Maria, and served 5 aces with 4 DFs, while scoring 123 points.     Maria said: "There were a lot of ups and downs in the match. I think I should have won the match in two sets to be honest. But I stopped hitting the ball and I kind of let [Anabel] back in the match...     "When you're down 5-6 after being 5-3 up [in the 3rd set], you're just trying to think of the right things and just focusing on what you have to do in order to win point by point. I played a really good game to get it even, and I just thought 'You have to do the same thing in the tiebreaker.'" Reuters story *#38 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #6 s2 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 Dominika and Anna following forehands     Dominika said: "It probably wasn't my best tennis but [Anna is] a tough player. I just tried to stay focus and play hard... This wasn't the first top-10 player I've beaten, but beating her means a lot to me." *#23 s10 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #13 s6 Dinara Safina RUS 7-6(5), 0-6, 7-5 Dinara and Alona driving forehands *#24 s11 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #16 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) Agnieszka serving, and Amelie driving a backhand     It was Amelie's 500th career match victory. Amelie said: "It was definitely a tough one; [Agnieszka] has been playing well this year and she is one of the young guns," Mauresmo said. "When I got up 5-2 in the third I think I got a little tight and she wasn't making any errors, but I'm glad I was still able to come in and go for it in the tie-break and I think that's what made the difference at the end. I ended the match on a positive note." #18 s8 Agnes Szavay HUN d #25 s12 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Katarina and Agnes following forehands #26 s13 Virginie Razzano FRA d #44 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-2, 6-4 Olga serving, and Virginie's service toss #33 s16 Lindsay Davenport USA d #222 q Karolina Sprem CRO 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Karolina following a backhand, and Lindsay reaching for a forehand #49 Alize Cornet FRA d #53 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-1, 7-5 Elena and Alize driving forehands

Amelia Island, QFs, Fri 11am ESPN2-TV & Eurosport at 1pm WTA story loser's prize: $12,860 US; points: 70 #5 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #23 s10 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6(9)-7, 6-3, 6-2 Alona serving, and Maria following a backhand     Maria said: "I think I recovered pretty well, considering it was such a short turnaround from yesterday's match. Mentally I prepared for another tough match. Even after I lost the first set I wanted to keep it up. In the third set I felt she was getting a bit tired, and I tried to take advantage of that." *#33 s16 Lindsay Davenport USA d #18 s8 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-4, 7-6(3) Lindsay and Agnes driving backhands     Lindsay said: "There's no question it was tough to come back today after last night; at my age you don't quite pop out of bed the way you used to. It was a good win for me today though. I was leading in the second and got down a little bit, but I was happy to win and make it through to the semis again." *#38 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #24 s11 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-1, 7-6(6) Amelie serving, and Dominika following a forehand *#49 Alize Cornet FRA d #26 s13 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4, 6-2 Virginie serving, and Alize watching her forehand fly

Amelia Island, SFs, Sat 1pm ESPN2-TV & Eurosport WTA story loser's prize: $25,060 US; points: 125 #5 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #33 s16 Lindsay Davenport USA walkover-- illness     Lindsay said: "I am very disappointed to not be able to take to the court today. Right after my quarterfinal victory I started feeling sick while receiving treatment from the primary health care provider. I returned to my hotel where the tournament doctor came to see me. Unfortunately I was running a fever and had aches, pains and a headache. Those symptoms have worstened today...     "In the 16 years I have played on the Tour I do not believe I have ever had to pull out due to sickness. I hope to get better quickly and look forward being back next year." #38 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #49 Alize Cornet FRA 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Alize and Dominika following backhand and forehand, and Dominika after reaching her first WTA singles final     Dominika said: "I feel great; it's amazing. I beat some great players here this week and am now in the final of Amelia Island - I still can't believe it. Of course I'm tired, not just because of today but from the whole week, but I'm really looking forward to the final."

Amelia Island, Final, Sun 1pm ESPN2-TV & Eurosport loser's prize: $48,900 US; points: 190 winner's prize: $95,500 US; points: 275 #5 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #38 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 7-6(7), 6-3 Maria tossing the ball and watching her serve fly, Dominika following a forehand, and Maria following a backhand

Amelia Island, Doubles Final, Sun after singles loser's prize: $15,440 US winner's prize: $30,000 US cdr56 Bethanie Mattek & Vladimira Uhlirova d cdr62 Victoria Azarenka & Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1 Bethanie and Vladimira Amelia Island, Qual Finals, Sun Apr 6 10am losers' prizes: q1 $455 1pt; q2 $885 3pts; qualifier 10 points #79 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d #137 Sabine Lisicki GER 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 *#222 Karolina Sprem CRO d #89 Julie Ditty USA 6-2, 6-1 *#110 Yuliana Fedak UKR d #90 Galina Voskoboeva RUS 7-6(6), 0-6, 7-5 #94 Olga Savchuk UKR d #892 Vladimira Uhlirova CZE 6-1, 6-0 *#155 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #98 Catalina Castano COL 6-0, 6-3 *#150 Bethanie Mattek USA d #99 Meng Yuan CHN 6-3, 6-3 *#141 Melinda Czink HUN d #106 Anne Kremer LUX 6-1, 6-4 #114 Ayumi Morita JPN d #152 Varvara Lepchenko USA 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6) Amelia Island, Withdrawals #7 Venus Williams USA medical tests #11 Elena Dementieva RUS low back injury #14 Tatiana Golovin FRA had surgery on March 12 to remove a left hip cyst that was     causing pain, appendix was removed as well--hopes to be playing by French Open #15 Nicole Vaidisova CZE right wrist #17 Nadia Petrova RUS right quadriceps tear #20 Vera Zvonareva RUS left thigh strain #31 Sania Mirza IND right wrist #35 Karin Knapp ITA #36 Julia Vakulenko UKR right wrist #37 Eleni Daniilidou GRE right knee #41 Zi Yan CHN left elbow #45 Vera Dushevina RUS abdominal strain #51 Akiko Morigami JPN left knee #57 Klara Zakopalova CZE #59 Mariya Koryttseva UKR illness #60 Ashley Harkleroad USA recovering from surgery #61 Kaia Kanepi EST illness #67 Meilen Tu USA left hip #70 Martina Muller GER

    (April 10, 2008) Indian # 1 and WTA # 31 Sania Mirza will undergo arthroscopic wrist surgery in Miami today to try to prevent further pain in her right wrist. Sania, whose strongest shot is her forehand, has been plagued by right wrist pain for over a year. Sania is expected to be out of action for about a month. Sania was also sidelined for two months after knee surgery in March of last year. Reuters story

    (April 8-9, 2008 revised) Current Wimbledon champ and former # 1 Venus Williams has announced that she will not be playing for an indefinite period. On Tuesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, Venus said: "I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible. I'm not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport...
    "Of course I want to be [at the French Open]. I don't want to be at home watching on TV. Watching this week will be enough on TV, so hopefully not too many more weeks."
    Last summer, after the US Open semifinals, Venus's mother, Oracene Price, said Venus was taking medicine for anemia. On Wedesday, it was announced that Venus was taking the time for unspecified medical tests, but that she hopes to be practicing by the end of next week and playing again by the Italian Open in early May. Venus's agent, Carlos Fleming said: "Venus has assured me that there's no serious medical problem. But she did see this timing as a good opportunity to have these evaluations to make sure that her health is in order." AP story

    (April 6, 2008) # 79 Anastasia Rodionova moved to Melbourne a while back, and on the last two drawsheets has been listed as Australian, although the WTA website and scoreboards still list her as Russian. I am listing her as Aussie, as this is clearly her intention.

    (April 1-4, 2008 revised) Maria Sharapova has entered both the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, April 7-13, and the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, April 14-20. Maria had withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to rest her sore right shoulder.

    (March 21, 2008) # 13 Tatiana Golovin had surgery on March 12 to remove a left hip cyst that was causing pain. While the doctors had the hood open, they decided to remove her appendix as well, just to be on the safe side. Tatiana hopes to be playing again by the French Open (May 25).

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

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2008 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2008 WTA Player Videos page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.