WTA: Aug 11-17 2008 Olympic Tennis Beijing, CHN venue 64 players - outdoor: hard Deco-Turf II Live Scores   draws: html - pdf ITF: 2008 Olympic Tennis - OOP pics: Y!: sports - news   ITF   NBC NBC: TV & online sched - videos Beijing: radar - forecast - news # 1 A Ivanovic, # 2 J Jankovic # 3 S Kuznetsova, # 5 S Williams W&S Financial Open Tier III Lindner Tennis Center, Cincinnati, OH $175,000 - 32 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window results - order of play WTA pdf: draws & OOP - notes tourney draws     pics: tourney     WTA     Yahoo! WSF - CO Cincinnati: radar - forecast     Sports: Post - Enquirer # 13 M Bartoli, # 18 N Petrova # 22 M Kirilenko, # 31 K Srebotnik

Cincinnati: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004   Athens Olympics: 2004 previous other tourney pages next           sports.quickfound.net:  Beijing 2008 Olympics  Beijing: #6 Elena Dementieva 5'11" 141lb RH 2H-BH Beijing: Dinara Safina   Elena Dementieva   Vera Zvonareva silver                     gold                     bronze

    On Sunday in Beijing, China, at the Olympic Green Tennis Center in the final of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the Sydney 2000 silver medalist, 26-year-old 5th-seeded # 6 Elena Dementieva from Moscow, Russia, struck gold this time, defeating her compatriot, 22-year-old 6th-seeded # 7 Dinara Safina (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 (photo shown).
    Elena said: "My most difficult match of the week was today against Dinara, because she's playing at her best. She's the hottest player on the Tour at the moment. It was really difficult to return her serve. After losing the first set, it was difficult to stay positive and keep doing the right things, not getting too emotional and thinking about every point. I'm so happy I got through it." WTA story

    In the bronze medal match, Elena's fellow Muskovite, 23-year-old 11th-seeded # 9 Vera Zvonareva, defeated 26-year-old # 43 (and # 16 prior to knee and rib injuries) Na Li from Wuhan, Hubei, China, 6-0, 7-5.

    In the Cincinnati final on Sunday, 26-year-old 2nd-seeded # 18 Nadia Petrova of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), defeated 29-year-old # 91 (and former # 11) Nathalie Dechy of France (residence: Tournai, Belgium), 6-2, 6-1. Nadia's prize is $28,000; Nathalie's, $15,000.

    Nadia, who now leads Nathalie 6-2 in career matches, is 8-9 in WTA singles finals; her previous win was at the Paris Indoor tourney last year. Nadia is now 26-16 in matches this year.
    Nathalie is now 1-4 in WTA singles finals; she won her title at Gold Coast in 2003. Nathalie has a 17-17 record in 2008.

Olympic player's blog by Liezel Huber

WTA SCOREBOARD: Beijing Olympics & Cincinnati s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Beijing 2008 Olympics Tennis,  Beijing, China   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +12 hours        = US PDT +15 hours Olympics News - Beijing News - China News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Beijing Olympics: The 64-player draw for the Beijing Olympics has 16 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. 56 entries are determined by WTA rankings, with up to 4 players per nation in the draw. 8 entries are selected by the ITF, IOC, & Nat'l OCs.   click for broader view   Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Courts Latitude: 40.020401 Longitude: 116.370986 goto link for World Wind     Beijing 2008 Olympic Green Tennis Courts are located at the northwest corner of the primary Olympics venue, on the south side of Beijing's 5th ring road. The Google Maps satellite photo was taken prior to construction, hopefully it will be updated before the Olympics begin. 2008: On Tuesday, August 5, in Beijing, Wimbledon semifinalist & top-ranked Chinese player Jie Zheng worked out at the Olympic Green Tennis Center, and French Open champ & # 1 Ana Ivanovic arrived at Beijing International Airport... On Wednesday, Ana got out on the courts and did some footwork... row 2: On Thursday, last week's champ in Stockholm, Caroline Wozniacki, was caught practicing, while Wimbledon champ Venus Williams and sister Serena were assembling the equipment Bill Veeck told them about which will raise the net when their opponents hit the ball and lower it on their returns, while 2nd-seed (and # 1 next week) Jelena Jankovic took notes...

Beijing Olympics, 1st Round, Sun-Mon WTA story loser's points: 1 On Sunday rain stopped play; of 16 matches scheduled, at the end of the day only 4 were completed and 4 underway #2 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #658 wc Cara Black ZIM 6-3, 6-3 Sun Jelena's forehand drive *#43 Na Li CHN d #3 s3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 7-6(5), 6-4 ppd-Mon Na's service toss, Svetlana driving a forehand, and Na firing one on the run #5 s4 Serena Williams USA d #47 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-3, 6-1 Sun-rain-Mon Serena following a drop shot, and Olga driving a forehand #6 s5 Elena Dementieva RUS d #40 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-4 Mon Elena & Kateryna driving forehand and backhand #7 s6 Dinara Safina RUS d #164 sr Mara Santangelo ITA 6-3, 7-6(1) Mon Dinara volleying a forehand, and Mara's backhand drive #8 s7 Venus Williams USA d #61 Timea Bacszinsky SUI 6-3, 6-2 Mon Venus driving a backhand #9 s8 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #70 wc Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-1, 7-6(6) ppd-Mon #11 s9 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #52 Zi Yan CHN 6-2, 6-0 ppd-Mon #12 s10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #32 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-2, 7-5 Sun-rain-Mon Daniela driving a forehand, and Ai following a backhand *#38 Jie Zheng CHN d #14 s11 Agnes Szavay HUN 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 Mon Agnes serving, Jie driving a forehand, and after winning a point     Jie said: "In the final set it was a test of physical strength; I was thinking about the last time at the Olympics, when I lost 8-6 in the third set. I told myself I wouldn't repeat that mistake again.     "After Wimbledon we took one month off for physical training, so I got a lot stronger. I'm happy to win today". #15 s12 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #78 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 Mon #16 s13 Patty Schnyder SUI d #75 Jill Craybas USA 6-3, 6-2 Mon *#48 Kaia Kanepi EST d #17 s14 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-2, 7-6(6) Mon #19 s15 Alize Cornet FRA d #21 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 Sun-rain-Mon #20 s16 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #46 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-1, 7-5 ppd-Mon #23 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #173 wc Selima Sfar TUN 6-4, 6-1 Sun Caroline driving a backhand #25 Shahar Peer ISR d #57 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-3, 5-7, 6-0 ppd-Mon Shahar and Sorana driving backhand and forehand #26 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #77 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-4, 6-2 Sun #27 Virgine Razzano FRA d #51 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-3, 6-3 Mon *#33 Sybille Bammer AUT d #29 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Mon #30 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #213 sr Milagros Sequera VEN 3-6, 0-1 retired - right ankle injury ppd-Mon     Former # 48 and Venezuelan # 1, Milagros was leading Alona when the injury to her right ankle forced her to stop playing. Milagros has previously been plagued by ankle & foot injuries; her current low ranking is due to a left foot injury last year, and she broke her left ankle while playing against Maria Sharapova in the Quebec City final in 2003. *#41 Casey Dellacqua AUS d #35 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 6-4 Mon Gisela volleying a backhand, and Casey driving a forehand *#68 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d #37 wc Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 6-2, 6-1 Mon #82 sr Samantha Stosur AUS d #42 Sara Errani ITA 6-3, 6-2 Sun Samantha following a serve, and Sara driving a forehand #45 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #54 Marta Domachowska POL 6-3, 6-4 Sun *#145 wc Ayumi Morita JPN d #49 Marina Erakovic NZL 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-4 ppd-Mon-late-Tue Ayumi about to connect with a backhand on Tuesday #50 Shuai Peng CHN d #55 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 7-5, 7-6(2) Sun-rain-Mon Carla and Shuai driving forehand and backhand #53 wc Mariya Koryttseva UKR d #117 ALT Tzipora Obziler ISR 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 Mon-late-Tue #56 Iveta Benesova CZE d #60 Sania Mirza IND 6-1, 2-1 retired - right wrist injury Mon Sania thinking things over     Former # 27 and Indian # 1 Sania had to retire from the match due to right wrist pain.     Sania said: "I've been feeling constant pain for the last two weeks. I've been on pain killers for the last six days. I took four this morning. It's unfortunate timing, it's very bad but there's nothing I can do."     Sania had surgery on the wrist on April 10th, but the pain has not yet gone away. Sania said: "I've had surgery but this is a different problem. They don't know what it is. It's really hurting. It was hurting before we came here but it's the Olympics and we always have to give it our best shot. That's the reason I'm here." AFP story     Sania will still try to compete in doubles with her partner Sunitha Rao. *#101 wc Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP d #65 Klara Zakopalova CZE 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 Mon #73 Lucie Safarova CZE d #97 ALT Maret Ani EST 6-4, 6-2 Mon #86 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #141 wc Alicia Molik AUS 6-1, 6-1 Mon

Beijing Olympics, 2nd Round, Tue 10:30am & 5pm WTA story loser's points: 20 #2 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #30 Alona Bondarenko UKR 7-5, 6-1 Alona about to swat a backhand, and Jelena following one     Jelena lead 4-1 in the 1st set, then Alona won 4 of the next 5 games--after which Jelena won 8 of the last 9 to take the match.     Although she leads Alona 8-0 in career matches, Jelena said: "She's a great player. We played many, many times in the past and had some tough matches... Today I started quite well. I lost a little bit of my concentration, but in the end of the first set I was able to regroup. The second set was a little bit easier for me." WTA story #5 s4 Serena Williams USA d #82 sr Samantha Stosur AUS 6-2, 6-0 Samantha driving a forehand, and Serena about to swat one     Serena said: "It was clean; in the past I'd play really clean matches then the next would be kind of streaky, but I don't want to do that anymore. I thought my returns got more consistent.     "[Samantha] started out serving really well, and then my returns started getting better. I wasn't blasting every one; I tried to place it." #6 s5 Elena Dementieva RUS d #68 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-3, 6-4 Sofia following a backhand, and Elena's forehand drive #7 s6 Dinara Safina RUS d #86 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 7-6(3), 6-1 Dinara driving a forehand, and Maria Jose lining up a backhand #8 s7 Venus Williams USA d #56 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-1, 6-4 Venus following a backhand, and Iveta's forehand drive     Venus said: "I'm not sure I faced any break points; that's good for me going on in the later rounds, that I'm tough on my serve.     "An all-Williams final would be fantastic. It's a long way away, but getting into the third round makes it closer." *#26 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #9 s8 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-3, 7-6(6) Agnieszka and Francesca following forehands #11 s9 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #25 Shahar Peer ISR 6-3, 7-6(4) Shahar and Vera driving forehands *#23 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #12 s10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 6-3 Caroline following her serve, Daniela about to fire a forehand, and Caroline after match point #15 s12 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #41 Casey Dellacqua AUS 6-2, 6-2 *#33 Sybille Bammer AUT d #16 s13 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-4, 6-4 Patty and Sybille driving backhands #19 s15 Alize Cornet FRA d #50 Shuai Peng CHN 6-2, 6-2 Shuai inquiring as to whether a judge might not have been mistaken, Alize driving a backhand, and after match point #20 s16 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #45 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-2, 6-2 Dominika and Tsvetana driving backhands *#48 Kaia Kanepi EST d #27 Virgine Razzano FRA 6-4, 7-5 Kaia after winning a point #38 Jie Zheng CHN d #101 wc Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6(7)-7, 6-1, 6-4 Jie driving a forehand, Nuria's backhand, and Jie after match point #43 Na Li CHN d #145 wc Ayumi Morita JPN 6-2, 7-5 Ayumi and Na driving forehands, and Na after match point *#73 Lucie Safarova CZE d #53 wc Mariya Koryttseva UKR 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 Mariya and Lucie driving backhand and forehand

Beijing Olympics, 3rd Round, Wed WTA story loser's points: 34 #2 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #20 s16 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 7-5, 6-1 Dominika following a flying forehand, Jelena driving one, and after match point     Jelena said: "[Dominika] doesn't give you any free points; everything you do, you really have to earn it. I started well. I was hitting the ball quite solid. But she liked that style of play. I kind of changed my game a little bit, adding some variety, and it helped. I'm glad to win in two sets. It's a good win for me."     About her quarterfinal opponent, Dinara Safina, Jelena said: "Safina has been in great form the last few months. She's playing some great tennis. I lost to her a couple of weeks ago, so I have to play my best tennis if I want to win. She's quite strong at the moment." #5 s4 Serena Williams USA d #19 s15 Alize Cornet FRA 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Alize and Serena driving backhands, and Serena, possibly after match point     Serena said: "I was making so many errors and I wasn't practicing like that at all; it came to a point where I hit a backhand into the net and just had enough. Before I knew it, I just got even angrier.     "But then I started playing more smart out there. I just tried keeping more balls in play and cutting down on my errors... She has had some stellar results this year, so I knew I had to start playing better." #6 s5 Elena Dementieva RUS d #23 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 7-6(3), 6-2 Caroline and Elena driving forehands #7 s6 Dinara Safina RUS d #38 Jie Zheng CHN 6-4, 6-3 Jie driving a forehand, and Dinara after match point #8 s7 Venus Williams USA d #15 s12 Victoria Azarenka BLR 6-3, 6-2 Venus and Vika driving backhand and forehand #11 s9 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #26 Francesca Schiavone ITA 7-6(4), 6-4 Vera's forehand drive #33 Sybille Bammer AUT d #73 Lucie Safarova CZE 7-5, 6-4 Sybille about to connect with a backhand #43 Na Li CHN d #48 Kaia Kanepi EST 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 Kaia and Na driving backhands, and Na after match point     Na, the only Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals, will play 7th-seeded # 8 Venus Williams on Thursday. Surprisingly, Venus & Na have never before met on the field of combat. Na has, however, defeated top-10 players nine times in her career, including # 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 1st round in Bejing on Monday.     Na said: "We all know Venus is a very good player. It's really hard to predict what will happen tomorrow. But I will try my best."

Beijing Olympics, QFs, Thu 4pm Thu WTA story - Fri WTA story loser's points: 62 *#7 s6 Dinara Safina RUS d #2 s2 Jelena Jankovic SRB 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 ppd-Fri Dinara driving a backhand, Jelena following one, Dinara after match point, and Jelena congratulating Dinara     Rain delayed play in Beijing on Thursday, This quarterfinal was about to start at almost 1:30am when it began raining enough to stop play again.     Dinara started the year 11-10; she has been 31-3 since then.     Jelena said: "[Dinara] been playing great tennis the last couple of months. She's in great form in the moment. The results show that she's really playing well and deserves to be in the top of the women's game at this moment. She has a chance to become No.1 or very close to No.1." #6 s5 Elena Dementieva RUS d #5 s4 Serena Williams USA 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Serena serving, Elena driving a forehand, and after match point     Elena had also lost the 1st set when she defeated Serena in their last meeting, in the Kremlin Cup final in Moscow last October, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1     Elena said: "I'm very excited about my semifinal here, and I don't want to think about a medal [yet]." *#43 Na Li CHN d #8 s7 Venus Williams USA 7-5, 7-5 Na and Venus driving forehands on the run, Na launching a high backhand, and after match point     Na said: "Venus was the best player in the world, she has just won Wimbledon. She has big serves that I can't receive but I told myself to calm down and play my best...     "Wow! You can't see this kind of crowd anywhere else. It helped me and pushed me a lot. This is a present I give to the Beijing Olympic Games but I have no time to celebrate. I have more matches to go." BBC story     Venus said: "I felt extremely confident going into the match that I was going to be the winner. But there wasn't much I could do about it. It was definitely a surprise result for me, but she just played better on the day." #11 s9 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #33 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Syblille and Vera driving backhands

Beijing Olympics, SFs, Fri-ppd-Sat 4pm WTA story loser's points: 94 #6 s5 Elena Dementieva RUS d #11 s9 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-3, 7-6(3) Vera serving, Elena following a flying forehand, Vera about to swat one, Elena driving another forehand, and after match point     Elena said: "This is a big, huge moment in my career... Playing my first Olympic Games in Sydney, I was 18 years old and nobody expected anything from me. Nobody really expected any medals from Russia at that time... Right now it just seems unbelievable to get silver and gold...     "[Dinara and I] played three times this year and I lost all of them. So it's going to be quite a challenge for me. But I've also had some pretty good results this year." #7 s6 Dinara Safina RUS d #43 Na Li CHN 7-6(3), 7-5 Dinara serving, Na driving a backhand, Dinara volleying one, and after match point     On Friday evening - really early Saturday morning - Jie Zheng & Zi Yan defeated Dinara & Svetlana Kuznetsova in their doubles quarterfinal, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8; the match ending at about 3:35am in Beijing, leaving Dinara only 12 hours and 25 minutes until her singles semifinal.     Na said: "She played very well today in spite of playing until almost 4am last night. Although I lost today, I did my best. I believed in myself, that I could have won, but Safina was just better."     Dinara said: "I just put everything on the court. I was just trying to stay focused, point by point...     "Last year [Na] didn't play for six months, then this year she started the season unbelievably but was again unlucky with injuries. If she had played consistently for one year, you would see her in the Top 15."

Beijing Olympics, Final, Sat-ppd-Sun 2pm silver points: 174 gold points: 248 #6 s5 Elena Dementieva RUS d #7 s6 Dinara Safina RUS 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 Elena and Dinara driving backhands, Elena driving a forehand, and after match point

Beijing Olympics, Bronze Medal, Sat-ppd-Sun 2pm loser's points: 94 bronze points: 122 #11 s9 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #43 Na Li CHN 6-0, 7-5 Na and Vera driving forehands Beijing Olympics, Doubles Final, Sun *cdr63 s2 Venus Williams & Serena Williams d cdr23 s4 Virginia Ruano Pascual & Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-0 Silver medalists Vivi & Anabel, gold medalists Venus & Serena, and bronze medalists Zi & Jie Beijing Olympics, Doubles Bronze Medal, Sat-ppd-Sun *cdr35 s8 Jie Zheng & Zi Yan d cdr27 s6 Alona Bondarenko & Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 Beijing Olympics, Withdrawals #1 s1 Ana Ivanovic SRB right hand injury #3 Maria Sharapova RUS right shoulder tendon tears #24 Lindsay Davenport USA will play doubles only #28 Tatiana Golovin FRA ongoing back injury, despite surgery #61 Karin Knapp ITA illness #67 Tamira Paszek AUT Cincinnati #115 Michaela Krajicek NED knee injury #246 wc Stephanie Vogt LIE injury #NR sr Mary Pierce FRA

The W&S Financial Open  Cincinnati, Ohio   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT+3 Cleveland news - Ohio news Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view   Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio Lat.: 39.34876 Lon.: -84.276434 goto link for World Wind     Cincinnati: The main draw for Cincinnati has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers and 3 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Sunday.     W&S Financial Open venue address: Lindner Family Tennis Center, 5460 Courseview Dr., Mason, OH 45040 2008: On Saturday, Aug 9 in Cincinnati, the WTA's Melanie Heuer was assisted at the draw by Marion Bartoli & Katarina Srebotnik... On Sunday, Aleksandra Wozniak signed autographs, and Aiko Nakamura attended the Reds-Astros game... On Monday, Mashona Washington gave tennis lessons at "Kids Day..."

Cincinnati, 1st Round, Mon-Wed 11am loser's prize: $1,315 US; points: 1 *#401 wc Jamea Jackson USA d #13 s1 Marion Bartoli FRA 7-6(5), 2-2 retired - abdominal pain Tue Marion and Jamea driving forehand and backhand #18 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d #99 Galina Voskoboeva RUS 6-3, 6-0 Tue Nadia about to swat a forehand #22 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #112 q Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6-2, 7-5 Mon #31 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #486 Amanda Fink USA 6-3, 6-3 Mon 21-year-old USC alum Amanda about to swat a backhand, and Katarina driving one #36 s5 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #115 Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA 6(5)-7, 7-6(6), 6-1 Tue Amelie about to fire a forehand, and Stephanie's backhand drive #39 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #121 Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-3, 6-2 Tue Aleksandra following a backhand *#80 Camille Pin FRA d #58 s7 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-2, 6-0 Mon *#69 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #67 s8 Tamira Paszek AUT 4-6, 6-3, 4-1 retired - illness Mon Petra and Tamira driving forehand and backhand *#104 Vania King USA d #71 Tathiana Garbin ITA 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 Tue Vania driving a forehand #72 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #1063 sr Vasilisa Bardina RUS 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 Tue *#84 Julia Vakulenko UKR d #79 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Tue #83 Sabine Lisicki GER d #217 Anna Tatishvili GEO 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 Mon *#174 wc Lilia Osterloh USA d #87 Anne Keothavong GBR 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 Mon #91 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #94 Olivia Sanchez FRA 6-2, 6-2 Mon *#105 q Stephanie Dubois CAN d #93 q Evgeniya Rodina RUS 6-2, 7-6(3) Mon #106 Julie Ditty USA d #95 q Meng Yuan CHN 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 Mon

Cincinnati, 2nd Round, Weds 11am-Thu 3pm loser's prize: $2,300 US; points: 20 #18 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d #106 Julie Ditty USA 6-1, 6-1 Wed #22 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #105 q Stephanie Dubois CAN 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 Wed Stephanie driving a forehand, Maria's backhand, and after match point *#91 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #31 s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(1) Wed #36 s5 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #72 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6-3, 6-1 Thu Yanina driving a forehand, and Amelie's backhand volley #39 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #84 Julia Vakulenko UKR 6-2, 6-3 Thu *#174 wc Lilia Osterloh USA d #69 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-4, 6-1 Wed Petra's forehand drive, Lilia's backhand, and after match point *#83 Sabine Lisicki GER d #80 Camille Pin FRA 6-3, 6-4 Wed #104 Vania King USA d #401 wc Jamea Jackson USA 6-1, 6-4 Thu

Cincinnati, QFs, Fri 3pm loser's prize: $4,300 US; points: 35 #18 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d #174 wc Lilia Osterloh USA 6-2, 6-3 Nadia driving a forehand, and Lilia after losing a point #22 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #83 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 Sabine and Maria driving forehands, and Maria after breaking Sabine's serve #36 s5 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #104 Vania King USA 6-2, 6-4 Amelie's forehand drive, and Vania's backhand *#91 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #39 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 7-6(4), 7-5 Aleksandra serving, and Nathalie following a forehand

Cincinnati, SFs, Sat 3pm loser's prize: $8,025 US; points: 65 #18 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d #22 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 Nadia reaching for a forehand, and Maria's backhand drive *#91 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #36 s5 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

Cincinnati, Final, Sun 1pm loser's prize: $15,000 US; points: 100 winner's prize: $28,000 US; points: 140 #18 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d #91 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-2, 6-1 Nathalie and Nadia driving backhands

Cincinnati, Doubles Final, Sun after singles loser's prize: $4,350 US winner's prize: $8,250 US *cdr148 s2 Maria Kirilenko & Nadia Petrova d cdr125 s1 Yaroslava Shvedova & Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 4-6, (10-8) Cincinnati, Qual Finals, Sun Aug 10 10am losers' prizes: q1 $360 1pt; q2 $670 3pts; qualifier 4 points #93 Evgeniya Rodina RUS d #111 Melinda Czink HUN 6-2, 6-3 #95 Meng Yuan CHN d #103 Andreja Klepac SLO 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 *#105 Stephanie Dubois CAN d #98 Mathilde Johansson FRA 6-3, 6-3 #112 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE d #259 Alexa Glatch USA 6-3, 6-4 Cincinnati, Withdrawals #37 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA Beijing Olympics #44 Bethanie Mattek USA #47 Pauline Parmentier FRA Beijing Olympics #64 Petra Kvitova CZE #75 Jill Craybas USA Beijing Olympics #76 Ashley Harkleroad USA #88 Edina Gallovits ROU is next-in for Beijing #109 Emilie Loit FRA

    (Aug 10, 2008) Top-seeded # 1 Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the Olympics on Sunday; Ana is plagued by pain at the joint between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand, which make it very difficult for her to hold her racquet. She incurred the injury while practicing a few weeks ago, and it was a major factor in her loss to Tamira Paszek in Montreal on July 31. It is not yet know whether the injury will prevent Ana from playing in the US Open, now 2 weeks away.

    (Aug 9, 2008) # 24 Lindsay Davenport, the Atlanta 1996 gold medalist, withdrew from the singles on Saturday due to injury, but will play doubles. # 28 Tatiana Golovin also withdrew, due to ongoing back pain. And # 2 (# 1 next week) Jelena Jankovic might withdraw due to a right calf strain.

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    (Aug 1, 2008) # 3 Maria Sharapova will withdraw from the 2008 US Open (Aug 25) as well as from the Beijing Olympics, because she has a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon. Maria had been unknowingly playing with the tendon torn since April.

    Maria withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday evening after aggravating the ongoing right shoulder injury while defeating # 58 Marta Domachowska, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

    Maria had an MRI scan on Thursday, which disclosed two small tendon tears in her shoulder. Maria was thus forced to withdraw from next week's 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

    On her official website on Friday, Maria said: "Well my 24 hour medical tour came to an end yesterday after I met [in New York] with Dr. David Altchek who is the premier shoulder doctor in the world. He looked at all my tests from April and today and informed me that I have been playing with a moderate tear in my rotator cuff tendon since April. He actually couldn't believe that I've been playing this long with this injury. You can imagine that I was not very thrilled to hear that my medical team did not see this tear in my shoulder back in April.
    "The good news is that it didn't get much worse since April but we could have started the healing time back then instead of now.

    "He does not believe that I need surgery and is sending me to work with a specialist in Arizona next week to do extensive rehab and strength work and he believes that I should be ready to play in 2-3 months."

    Maria has struggled with right shoulder problems for over three years. In a newsletter from her website dated July 29, Maria said: "[After Wimbledon] I spent many hours of each day working with Prince on different rackets and string. Ever since Indian Wells and that backhand incident, I haven't been able to get my arm up and close to my head without some sort of impingement and grinding... so I've been trying different rackets with different weight balances that are a bit more flexible and the strings looser to get as much tension away from my arm as possible.

    "So for the last week I have been playing with a new frame...I'm usually very sensitive to any minor changes and we usually do this in the off season, but we really had no choice this time. Apart from that I spent a good ten or so days concentrating on my fitness and in the last week been playing a few practice matches etc."

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Beijing 2008 entries:
    "Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings will be used as the basis for determining the top 56 direct acceptances in the 64-player singles draw for women, subject to limitations outlined below as well as existing eligibility requirements.

    "Depending on the singles rankings of their women players, nations can be eligible for up to four entries into the singles and may be able to nominate a separate doubles team for direct acceptance if a doubles player is ranked in the top ten. By virtue of this agreement, the maximum number of women players on-site per country is raised from four to six.

    "Six of the remaining eight singles places will be selected by the ITF's Olympic Committee taking into consideration a player's singles computer ranking and a geographic distribution of nations entered, as well as two Tripartite Commission Invitations decided by the IOC, National Olympic Committees and the ITF." WTA story

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    The Cincinnati tourney is a wee bit odd, inasmuch as 32 ladies (+ qualifying & doubles) play for $175,000, and a few weeks later 64 men (+ qualifying & doubles) 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 was much smaller. Apparently everyone ignores this because the tourneys are not simultaneous.

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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.