WTA Sept 22-28 Beijing & Seoul China Open, Beijing, CT Tier II $600,000 28 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf: draws & OOP - notes pics: Y!: sports - news | sina | WTA Chinese w/pics: sina - sports.cn - sohu webcast | Beijing forecast - radar Beijing News - China News # 2 J Jankovic, # 3 A Ivanovic # 7 S Kuznetsova, # 9 V Zvonareva Hansol Korea Open, Seoul, KOR Tier IV $145,000 32 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf: draws & OOP pics: tourney - Yahoo - WTA news: tourney - Korea updated Seoul forecast # 27 M Kirilenko, # 35 S Peer # 39 K Kanepi, # 49 C Suarez Navarro

Beijing: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004   Shanghai: 2003   Seoul: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Seoul: #27 Maria Kirilenko 5'8" 127lb RH 2H-BH Beijing: #2 Jelena Jankovic 5'9½" 130lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Beijing, in the final of the China Open, the US Open finalist, 23-year-old top-seeded # 2 Jelena Jankovic from Belgrade, Serbia, handily defeated last week's finalist in Tokyo, 23-year-old 4th-seeded # 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (who trains in Barcelona, Spain, and resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco), 6-3, 6-2 (Jelena is shown with the software and ceramic hardware after the match). Jelena's prize is $95,500; Svetlana's is $51,000.

    Svetlana still leads Jelena 4-3 in career matches, and Sveta won the last two times they met, early this year in the Dubai semis, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, and last week in the quarters in Tokyo, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.

    Jelena said: "Svetlana beat me two times this year. I was really motivated to get a win against her, and winning in two sets is very satisfying. Having played her last week I was really able to analyze my game against hers, and it worked." WTA story

    Svetlana said: "I'm disappointed. I wasn't moving to the ball or doing the right things on the court; I love playing here, so it was disappointing to not play well in the final. But [Jelena] played well today. She was consistent as always. I think we both played better in Tokyo, but she played better than me today."

    Jelena is now 7-10 in WTA singles finals; she was champion in Rome this year, and finalist at the US Open and at Key Biscayne. Despite starting the year with injuries and recurring respiratory illness, Jelena also has a 55-16 match record in 2008.
    2004 US Open champion Svetlana is now 9-17 in previous WTA singles finals; she also reached the finals at Sydney, Dubai, and Indian Wells this year. Svetlana's most recent title came last year in New Haven when Agnes Szavay retired due to injury; it was her only victory in her last 11 finals. Sveta's match record for the season is 42-16.

    Meanwhile, in Seoul, Korea, in the final of the Hansol Korea Open, 21-year-old top-seeded # 27 Maria Kirilenko from Moscow, Russia, narrowly defeated 24-year-old useeded # 73 (and former singles # 27 and doubles # 1, her ranking down due to illness last year) Samantha Stosur from Gold Coast, Australia, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 (Maria is also shown with her fine new Asian ceramic ware after the match). Maria's prize is $22,900; Samantha's is $12,345.

    Maria said: "[Samantha] started so fast and served so well, and for me it was difficult to return her serve. In the second set I started to be more concentrated, because in the first set I was out of the game. I decided to play every ball, no matter what happened, and I just started to fight. It worked, and I'm very happy. The last two matches were really tough for me, so I'm feeling great right now." WTA story - postmatch interview - tourney story

    Samantha said: "The momentum switched around; I got passive with the way I was playing and [Maria] stepped it up and became more aggressive. It continued through 4-0 in the third. I knew I had to stop it. I started stepping up and going for it more, being more aggressive and taking some time away from her. And I got myself back in the match, but she played well at the end to finish it." postmatch interview

    Maria and Samantha are now tied at 2-2 in career matches.
    Maria is now 5-2 in WTA singles finals; she won her 3rd title in April in Estoril, Portugal, and her 4th in June in Barcelona, Spain. Maria has a 32-18 match record in 2008.
    Samantha is now 0-4 in WTA singles finals, but she has won 22 WTA doubles titles including the 2006 French Open and 2005 US Open, both with Lisa Raymond. Sam has a 25-13 match record in 2008. Sam was slowed last season by viral meningitis and Lyme disease after a tick bite, but she seem have gotten back up to speed this year.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Beijing & Seoul s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? China Open,  Beijing, China   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +12 hours        = US PDT +15 hours Beijing News - China News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Beijing: The main draw for Beijing 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.   click for broader view   Beijing Int'l Tennis Centre Latitude: 39.849625 Longitude: 116.406541 goto link for World Wind China Open venue address: 50 Tiantan Rd., Chongwen District; Tel: 67142374 2008: On Monday, Sep 22, Na Li, Jie Zheng, & top seed Jelena Jankovic helped open the new SE-WTA Tour Asia Pacific HQ in Beijing, while Anna Chakvetadze paid a visit to Tiananmen Square... row 2: On Sunday & Monday, Jelena, 2007 China Open champ Agnes Szavay, and this year's 2nd seed Ana Ivanovic practiced their oncourt smiles... Ana also played Meet the Press on Monday... 2008: row 3: On Tuesday, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Daniela Hantuchova, Caroline Wozniacki, & Zi Yan donned tradtional Chinese garb for the official tourney reception at the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing... There was a discussion of percussion styles, Svetlana suggesting Buddy Rich; however, row 4: Jelena chose to perform in the mode of Billy Cobham, while Vera unleashed her best Art Blakey... Ana enjoyed their performance, and Caroline invited Vera to a jam in Copenhagen...

Beijing, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 11am, Wed 12:30pm losers' prize: $4,175 US; points: 1 *#33 Jie Zheng CHN d #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-2, 6-3 Tue-rain-Wed Jie delivering a forehand on the run #12 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #44 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 6-1 Mon  tourney highlight video Daniela after match point #13 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #42 LL Iveta Benesova CZE 6-4, 7-5 Tue Iveta driving a backhand, and Anna about to slice one *#29 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #17 s9 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 7-6(3), 6-4 Mon #18 Alize Cornet FRA d #223 q Shuai Zhang CHN 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(7) Tue #19 Agnes Szavay HUN d #104 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-4, 6-3 Tue Agnes driving a forehand, and Yaroslava following one #21 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #23 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Mon  tourney highlight videos: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 Dominika's forehand drive *#38 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #25 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-4, 7-5 Tue #28 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #31 wc Na Li CHN 6-1, 7-6(4) Tue Francesca serving, and Na about to connect with a backhand #30 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #102 wc Zi Yan CHN 6-3, 6-4 Tue Zi following a forehand, and Ai's backhand drive *#41 q Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #37 Virginie Razzano FRA 6(3)-7, 7-5, 6-4 Tue Aleksandra and Virginie following forehand and backhand *#82 q Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #40 wc Shuai Peng CHN 7-5, 6-4 Tue

Beijing, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 12:30pm losers' prize: $7,820 US; points: 35 #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #41 q Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 6-3, 7-5 Wed Jelena firing a cannonball to Aleksandra #3 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #18 Alize Cornet FRA 6-1, 7-6(1) Thu Ana driving a high forehand with her new bat, the Yonex RQiS 1Tour XL, which she began using last week in Tokyo (this bat will be sold to the public, but it is said that no other pros will be using it), Alize driving a backhand with her Head MicroGEL Radical (Alize made a late switch from Flexpoint to MicroGEL after this year's French Open), Ana driving another forehand, and after winning a point #7 s4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #82 q Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-2, 6-3 Thu Alla and Sveta driving backhands #9 s5 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #28 Francesca Schiavone ITA 7-6(5), 6-2 ppd-Thu #12 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #38 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 Wed Daniela and Tammy driving backhands *#21 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #13 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-3, 6-2 Thu Dominika following a forehand, and Anna about to connect with one *#29 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #19 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-2, 6-2 ppd-Thu *#33 Jie Zheng CHN d #30 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-1, 6-2 Thu Jie driving a forehand, Ai and Jie driving backhands, and Jie after match point

Beijing, QFs, Fri 12:30pm losers' prize: $14,600 US; points: 70 #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #12 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 7-5, 6-1 Jelena and Daniela about to connect with forehand and backhand, Jelena twisting a serve Danielaward, and after match point *#33 Jie Zheng CHN d #3 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4 Jie and Ana driving forehands, Jie launching one one the run, and after match point Sina video of final game of the match     Jie also defeated then # 1 Ana in the 3rd round at Wimbledon this year, 6-1, 6-4, and went on to become the first Chinese WTA player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal (where she lost to Serena Williams). Since then, Jie has lost only to Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic, and Vera Zvonareva. The win raised Jie's match record this year to a very impressive 32-13.     Jie said: "This is a good win for me. It was in China and in front of my home crowd. There were lots of fans supporting me, which gave me even more motivation." BBC story     Ana, 32-11 for the year, is 4-5 since winning the French Open title, but can still play. Four of the five losses were in three sets, and this one, to Jie at her best in Beijing, is the least damaging of the lot.     Ana said: "I haven't had many matches in the last three months. Since the French Open, you can count them on one hand the number of matches I played. I've been really struggling with injuries and it was a very frustrating time. But now I am confident again that I play 100 per cent - and I can go on the court and work 100 per cent." #7 s4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #21 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-2, 6-4 Dominika fielding a forehand at the net, and Svetlana about to swat one #9 s5 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #29 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-0, 6-1 Vera serving to Anabel

Beijing, SFs, Sat 12:30pm WTA story losers' prize: $27,300 US; points: 125 #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #9 s5 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Vera and Jelena driving forehand and backhand, Vera's backhand drive, Jelena delivering a forehand on the run, and after match point     Jelena said: "In the first set I was dominating; in the second set I let [Vera] back in. I was able to regroup in the third and got back to my tactics. It was a very long, difficult match. I'm tired but happy to be in the final." #7 s4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #33 Jie Zheng CHN 7-6(3), 7-5 Svetlana and Jie driving forehands, Sveta driving a backhand, and after match point     Svetlana said: "It was very tough out there. My game wasn't going that well and the crowd was obviously cheering for [Jie], but I kept my focus and didn't get down. She was pumped up in front of her home crowd. She has improved a lot. Her groundstrokes are better and she's moving better."     Jie said: "My power and serve were not as good as [Svetlana's]. I didn't take my opportunities, especially in the second set. But I've really gained a lot of confidence this week, because I know I can play against the stronger players. In the past, I had a hard time with them."

Beijing, Final, Sun 7pm loser's prize: $51,000 US; points: 190 winner's prize: $95,500 US; points: 275 #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #7 s4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-3, 6-2 Jelena and Svetlana driving forehands, Jelena's backhand drive, and after match point

Beijing, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $16,120 US winners' prize: $30,000 US Anabel Medina Garrigues & Caroline Wozniacki d Xinyun Han & Yi-Fan Xu 6-1, 6-3 Caroline (1st WTA doubles title) & Anabel (12th title) after match point and with the hardware & software Beijing, Qual Finals, Mon Sept 22 1pm+ losers' prizes: q1 $640 1pt; q2 $1,195 3pts; q3 $2,230 10pts; qualifier 15 points #41 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #114 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-1, retired - achilles *#104 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #42 Iveta Benesova CZE 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 #82 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #70 Karin Knapp ITA 6-1, 6-1 #223 Shuai Zhang CHN d #313 Yi-Fan Xu CHN 6-2, 6-4 Beijing, Withdrawals #16 Flavia Pennetta ITA #34 Alisa Kleybanova RUS

Hansol Korea Open,  Seoul, South Korea   tourney time:        = GMT +9 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Korea News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar 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.   click for broader view   Olympic Park, Seoul, Korea Latitude: 37.515143 Longitude: 127.128205 goto link for World Wind Hansol Korea Open venue address: Olympic Park, 88 Bangee-dong, Seoul 999-200, South Korea; Tel: 82 2 410 1360 2008: Sabine Lisicki, Stephanie Dubois, and Yanina Wickmayer were among the healthy young ladies caught being pretty at the Seoul player's party on Monday, and although happened to be Sabine's 19th birthday, the goodies went to Ye-Ra Lee, Kyung-Mi Chang, and Sung-Hee Han, who won prizes in the party raffle (Ye-Ra should take the Canon out of the sack and see if it can white balance better than the camera used for some of these pics)... row 2: Others pretties at the party included Klara Zakopalova & Lucie Safarova, Marta Domachowska & Maria Kirilenko, and Yurika Sema & Rika Fujiwara...

Seoul, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 11am losers' prize: $1,035 US; points: 1 #27 s1 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #219 itf Lenka Wienerova SVK 6-2, 6-0 Tue Maria entertaining the press after the match     2007 Korea Open finalist Maria said: "I think it was a good start today. I played quite good, and I didn’t make a lot of mistakes and just played consistent, and I’m just happy the way I played today. Compared with last week, you know, it’s much better. I feel strong and I feel that I can do the same like last year." postmatch interview #35 s2 Shahar Peer ISR d #86 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-3, 6-4 Mon Shahar following a forehand #39 s3 Kaia Kanepi EST d #156 q Rika Fujiwara JPN 6-2, 6(5)-7, 6-0 Tue *#66 Klara Zakopalova CZE d #49 s4 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-1, 6(3)-7, 6-4 Tue #50 s5 Pauline Parmentier FRA d #594 wc Sung-Hee Han KOR 6-1, 6-1 Mon Pauline's forehand drive *#79 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #51 s6 Marta Domachowska POL 6(1)-7, 6-3, 6-3 Mon *#73 sr Samantha Stosur AUS d #52 s7 Marina Erakovic NZL 6-2, 6-0 Tue #56 s8 Yung-Jan Chan TPE d #183 sr Mara Santangelo ITA 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wed #60 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #63 sr Tamira Paszek AUT 6-1, 6-2 Tue #64 Sabine Lisicki GER d #71 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-1, 6-0 Mon *#67 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #65 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-3, 7-6(1) Mon #74 Lucie Safarova CZE d #130 LL Melanie South GBR 6-1, 3-0 retired - left thigh strain Tue #78 Jill Craybas USA d #100 LL Meng Yuan CHN 6-0, 6-0 Tue *#115 q Stephanie Dubois CAN d #88 Camille Pin FRA 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 Tue #162 q Ayumi Morita JPN d #233 wc Arantxa Rus NED 6-4, 6-1 Tue #172 q Anastasia Pivovarova RUS d #185 wc Ye-Ra Lee KOR 6(5)-7, 6-3, 5-3 retired - cramping Tue Anastasia alerting the media     Anastasia was ITF world juniors # 2 in 2007. Anastasia said: "Lee Ye-Ra was playing very good. She was moving unbelievable... I think she’s going to be a top 100 player very soon, because she has everything, like a tough serve, a great forehand, moving great... She’s playing the game. She’s moving opponents and doing everything that a professional player has to do. With more experience, she’s going to a very good player. So I wish her good luck, all the best." postmatch interview

Seoul, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am losers' prize: $1,925 US; points: 15 #27 s1 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #74 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-3, 6-3 Thu Maria's forehand drive #35 s2 Shahar Peer ISR d #162 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-4, 7-5 Wed Shahar after match point     Shahar said: "I knew before the match it’s going to be a tough one. Ayumi, she’s a really, really good player. She’s upcoming, she had a great win last week. She’s a very aggressive player, and I knew it’s going to be tough...     "I double-faulted a lot today, which I never did before in my life. So I’ll have to figure out why. My first set was pretty good, but the second set was very, very weak. But like I said, I’m really happy I came back also second set fighting, and staying there every point and every moment in the match." postmatch interview     Ayumi said: "[Shahar is] a good player, and it was a very tough match. I’m a little bit tired, but I played good. But she was playing better than me." postmatch interview #39 s3 Kaia Kanepi EST d #172 q Anastasia Pivovarova RUS 6-1, 6-1 Thu #50 s5 Pauline Parmentier FRA d #115 q Stephanie Dubois CAN 6-3, 6-2 Thu *#67 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #56 s8 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-3, 7-6(2) Thu #60 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #66 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-3, 6-2 Wed *#73 sr Samantha Stosur AUS d #64 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-4, 6(4)-7, 6-3 Wed #78 Jill Craybas USA d #79 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 7-6(1), 6-2 Wed Jill driving a backhand

Seoul, QFs, Fri 11am losers' prize: $3,580 US; points: 30 #27 s1 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #50 s5 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-3 6-2 Maria and Pauline about to swat backhands, and Maria during her postmatch interview     Maria said: "When I finished, I looked on my watch and it was 2 hours, almost 2 hours. It was actually 6-3, 6-2, but 2 hours. It was a difficult match today. Every game was really difficult, and I couldn’t say that it was easy for me. It was really tough, and I’m really happy that I fought till the end...     [Pauline] didn’t make a lot of easy mistakes. Like every point, I have to fight and to win the point. Of course, sometimes she make mistakes. I think it’s because of the wind. Today was a little bit cold and windy." postmatch interview *#78 Jill Craybas USA d #35 s2 Shahar Peer ISR 6-2 7-5 Jill's forehand drive     Jill said: "I’d never played [Shahar] before, so I was just going out there to have fun, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I just wanted to fight my hardest and compete really hard, because I know she’s a great competitor as well. So I just wanted to go out there and have fun, and do my best." postmatch interview #39 s3 Kaia Kanepi EST d #67 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6-1 6-4 Kaia waiting for a backhand to arrive *#73 sr Samantha Stosur AUS d #60 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-3 6-4

Seoul, SFs, Sat 11am losers' prize: $6,650 US; points: 50 #27 s1 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #39 s3 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Maria's service toss and flying forehand, Kaia and Maria driving backhands, and Maria after winning a point     Maria said: "I’m very happy to make it to the second time the final. Actually, today was so difficult match. I was down 2-0 in the third set, and every game was really difficult." postmatch interview #73 sr Samantha Stosur AUS d #78 Jill Craybas USA 6-0, 6-1 Samantha's forehand drive, Jill driving a backhand, and Sam serving

Seoul, Final, Sun 1pm loser's prize: $12,345 US; points: 80 winner's prize: $22,900 US; points: 115 #27 s1 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #73 sr Samantha Stosur AUS 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 Maria and Samantha driving forehands, Maria following a backhand, and after match point

Seoul, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $3,640 US winners' prize: $6,750 US cdr58 s1 Chia-Jung Chuang & Su-Wei Hsieh d cdr112 s3 Vera Dushevina & Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-0 Chia-Jung (10th WTA doubles title) and Su-Wei (4th title) after their 3rd WTA doubles title as a team Seoul, Qual Finals, Mon Sep 22 10am losers' prizes: q1 $175 1pt; q2 $300 2pts; q3 $555 3pts; qualifier 7 points *#156 Rika Fujiwara JPN d #100 Meng Yuan CHN 6-3, 6-4 #115 Stephanie Dubois CAN d #310 Aniko Kapros HUN 6-2, 6-0 *#162 Ayumi Morita JPN d #130 Melanie South GBR 7-5, 6-3 #172 Anastasia Pivovarova RUS d #466 Yurika Sema JPN 6-1, 6-2 Seoul, Withdrawals #15 Victoria Azarenka BLR #48 Casey Dellacqua AUS #68 Monica Niculescu ROU #70 Karin Knapp ITA #75 Anastasia Rodionova RUS left wisdom tooth #91 Sania Mirza IND right wrist #187 Elena Bovina RUS ITF tourney feed up, Bronx, USA #271 sr Jamea Jackson USA gastrointestinal illness

    (Sep 21, 2008) Tokyo Pan Pacific Open champ Dinara Safina has withdrawn from Beijing due to low back pain; the draw has been reshuffled, giving Vera Zvonareva a 1st round bye and moving Caroline Wozniacki to 9th seed.

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.