WTA: May 5-11 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open Berlin, GER Tier I $1,340,000 56 players - outdoor: red clay Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf: draws & OOP - notes html: results - OOP - draws Java applet webcam pics: tourney - Yahoo! - WTA Berlin: weather radar - forecast Berlin News - Germany News # 1 Justine Henin # 2 Ana Ivanovic # 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova # 5 Jelena Jankovic # 6 Serena Williams # 7 Anna Chakvetadze # 9 Elena Dementieva # 11 Marion Bartoli # 12 Patty Schnyder # 14 Agnes Szavay

Tourney pages: Berlin: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Berlin: #9 Elena Dementieva 5' 11" 141lb RH 2H-BH Berlin: #17 Dinara Safina 5' 11½" 154½lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Berlin, Germany, in the final of the Qatar Telecom German Open, 22-year-old 13th-seeded # 17 Dinara Safina of Russia (res: Monte Carlo, Monaco), defeated her compatriot from Moscow, 26-year-old 6th-seeded # 9 Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 (Elena is shown during the match, Dinara with the hardware after). Dinara's prize is $196,900; Elena's is $100,000.

    Dinara said: "I played a lot of drop shots and I think that really helped to win today. I didn't move that well at the beginning, even though I know I have to move really well for my game and use all the power I have; I thought 'Come on, you've got to make it today,' and I fought my way back in...

    "Obviously, this has been the biggest success in my career. I still can't believe I actually won Berlin, and beat three Top 10 players in one week." WTA story

    Elena said: "I played well in the first set, but then Dinara started to move much better and got more first serves in. I had problems returning and just wasn't as consistent as I needed to be to win today. I could see over the entire week that Dinara was playing well, and her success today pays off all the hard work and discipline she put in over the years..."

    "I knew it would be a tough match. She's in great shape and she beat some really good players already this week. She also likes to play on clay - she practices in Spain - so I knew it would be a tough one."

    Dinara now leads Elena 3-2 in career matches, Valencia, Spain-trained Dinara winning all three of their meetings on clay, and Elena twice on fast surfaces. Elena defeated Dinara in their previous meeting, on in indoor carpet in the Kremlin Cup semis in Moscow last October, 6-1, 6-0, and defeated Serena Williams to win the title the next day. But Dinara won the match before that, on red clay in last year's Rome quarters, 6-1, 6-1.

    Dinara is now 6-4 in WTA singles finals; her most recent title had been at Gold Coast in 2007; she also reached the Charleston (green clay) final last year, where she lost to Jelena Jankovic. Dinara now has a 17-10 match record for the season.
    Elena is now 9-12 in WTA singles finals; she won the Dubai title this year, and the Moscow and Istanbul titles last year. Elena now has a 20-5 match record in 2008.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Berlin s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? German Open,  Berlin, Germany   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Berlin News - Germany News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Berlin: The 56-player main draw for Berlin 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.   click for broader view   Rott-Weiss Tennis Club Latitude: 52.48506 Longitude: 13.259114 goto link for World Wind German Open venue address: Lawn-Tennis-Turnier-Club Rot-Weiß e.V, Gottfried-v-Cramm-Weg 47, 14193 Berlin, Germany 2008: On Monday, May 5 in Berlin, 18-year old wild card Berliner Sabine Lisicki looked pleased after her big 1st round win... Nurnberg-born Czech Nicole Vaidisova held down the fort autograph-wise, while foreign invaders Justine Henin, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, row 2: Anna Chakvetadze, Serena Williams, Marion Bartoli and Elena Dementieva played Meet the Press and had mug shots taken... On Tuesday, Sabine did the autograph thing... row 3: Young ladies looking good at the player party on Tuesday included Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova & Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Vesnina, row 4: Justine Henin, Martina Muller, Agnieszka Radwanska & Caroline Wozniacki, and Sabine Lisicki...

Berlin, 1st Rnd, Mon-Tue 11am losers' prize: $3,455 US; points: 1 *#56 Vera Dushevina RUS d #12 s9 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-2, 6-3 Tue Vera about to connect with a backhand #14 s10 Agnes Szavay HUN d #106 sr50  Milagros Sequera VEN 6-2, 3-0 retired--right neck injury Mon #15 s11 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #79 wc Angelique Kerber GER 6-0, 5-3 retired--right wrist injury Mon Agnieszka driving a backhand *#62 Gisela Dulko ARG d #16 s12 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 Tue Gisela's service toss, and Nicole driving a backhand     From May to August 2005 Gisela defeated four top 20 players, three of them top 10 (# 5 Elena Dementieva, # 8 Nadia Petrova, and # 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova).     From then until today, Gisela had defeated only one more top 20 player: then # 16 Anastasia Myskina, in the 1st round at Auckland in 2007 (Anastasia was suffering from a very bad foot injury, which has foiled her attempts to return to the Tour since).     Although Nicole has struggled with a right wrist injury this year, it appears that Gisela is playing at a higher level once again. #17 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #133 wc Julia Goerges GER 6-3, 6-4 Mon Julia about to swat a backhand, and Dinara's service toss *#101 wc Sabine Lisicki GER d #18 s14 Shahar Peer ISR 7-5, 6-1 Mon Shahar fielding a forehand, Sabine driving one on the run, and after match point #19 s15 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #31 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(9) Mon Dominika and Alona driving forehands #20 s16 Nadia Petrova RUS d #30 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(2) Mon Katarina and Nadia about to slice backhands, and Nadia after match point #22 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #33 Alize Cornet FRA 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 Mon *#38 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #23 Tatiana Golovin FRA 7-6(4), 6-2 Mon Caroline's backhand drive #24 Sybille Bammer AUT d #45 Michaella Krajicek NED 6-1, 6-2 Mon #26 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #51 Casey Dellacqua AUS 6-2, 6-2 Tue #27 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #44 Elena Vesnina RUS 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 Mon-dark-Tue *#39 Lucie Safarova CZE d #28 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4, 7-5 Mon #34 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #49 Tathiana Garbin ITA 3-6, 7-5, 2-2 retired-- left thigh strain Tue Anabel about to connect with a forehand *#55 q Kaia Kanepi EST d #40 Karin Knapp ITA 6-0, 6-1 Mon #42 Zi Yan CHN d #73 wc Martina Muller GER 6-2, 6-3 Tue Martina about to lightly tap a forehand, Zi volleying a forehand, (Zi fields forehands Bartoli-style: with a 2-handed backhand grip), and Zi after winning a point *#69 q Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #43 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-0, 6-0 Tue *#47 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #46 Tamira Paszek AUT 6-4, 6-3 Mon *#82 q Yung-Jan Chan TPE d #48 Pauline Parmentier FRA 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 Mon *#65 LL Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #50 Aravane Rezai FRA 7-5, 7-5 Tue #67 Shuai Peng CHN d #64 q Jill Craybas USA 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-0 Tue *#116 q Catalina Castano COL d #89 q Galina Voskoboeva RUS 6-2, 6-2 Tue Galina driving a forehand, and Catalina's backhand #157 q Angelika Bachmann GER d #170 q Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 Mon Angelika studying a backhand, and Ekaterina driving one

Berlin, 2nd Round, Wed 11am losers' prize: $6,775 US; points: 35 #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #82 q Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-0, 6-2 Wed Justine and Yung-Jan driving forehands, and Justine about to launch a backhand #2 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #65 LL Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 7-6(0), 6-2 Wed Ana about to fire a forehand, Akgul's backhand drive, and Ana's backhand volley     Ana, unable to break 6' 3" Akgul's serve in the 1st set, was less than pleased with her play.     Ana said: "I definitely didn't perform well. [Akgul is] very tall, she has a strong serve and they kicked high. It took me time to get used to them." AP story     Ana followed last year's Berlin title by reaching the French Open final, where she was easily defeated by # 1 Justine Henin. Ana put on a better show in this year's Australian Open final, though she lost again, to # 3 Maria Sharapova.     Ana said: "This was the tournament that made me. I found my game here. Ever since then I have the confidence to believe I can be a top player... I definitely think I have the game [to win the French Open]. At the French Open final, I was just too nervous. At the Australian, it was better. It's a learning experience." #4 s3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #116 q Catalina Castano COL 6-3, 6-2 Wed Svetlana and Catalina driving forehand and backhand #5 s4 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #67 Shuai Peng CHN 7-5, 6-0 Wed Jelena driving a forehand, and Shuai's backhand #6 s5 Serena Williams USA d #22 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-2, 6-3 Tue Francesca driving a forehand, and Serena about to swat one     It was Serena's 16th consecutive match victory; she is 19-1 this season (her only loss coming to Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open), and won the titles at Bangalore, Miami, and Charleston. *#26 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #7 s6 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 1-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 Wed Victoria's forehand drive, and Anna's backhand #9 s7 Elena Dementieva RUS d #47 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-2 Tue Kateryna driving a forehand, and Elena's service toss #11 s8 Marion Bartoli FRA d #39 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-0, 6-3 Tue Lucie and Marion driving backhands #14 s10 Agnes Szavay HUN d #42 Zi Yan CHN 6-1, 6-1 Wed Agnes driving a forehand, and Zi inspecting the ball prior to applying a backhand #15 s11 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #157 q Angelika Bachmann GER 6-1, 6-1 Wed #17 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #55 q Kaia Kanepi EST 6-4, 6-3 Wed #24 Sybille Bammer AUT d #101 wc Sabine Lisicki GER 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5) Wed Sabine about to connect with a backhand, and Sybille driving a forehand #19 s15 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #34 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 Wed *#27 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #20 s16 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-3, 6-3 Wed Maria lining up a forehand, and Nadia's backhand drive *#62 Gisela Dulko ARG d #38 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-2, 7-5 Wed #56 Vera Dushevina RUS d #69 q Alisa Kleybanova RUS 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Wed

Berlin, 3rd Round, Thu 11am loser's prize: $13,285 US; points: 60 *#17 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 Justine and Dinara driving forehands, and Dinara after winning a point     Dinara was 0-5 against Justine in previous matches.     Dinara said: "It's the biggest win of my career so far, after losing all of my five games to her it was a long time coming... Going into the match, I had a feeling today I could win — [Justine] hasn't played well since the Australian Open." AP story - AFP story     Justine said: "It was pretty difficult out there and very frustrating, I am very disappointed. I struggled during the whole match, I didn't have the intensity, [Dinara] just played better then me. She hit my backhand heavy, I didn't like this so much...     "This week was important, not only in terms of the French Open, but also in terms of getting some confidence back. I will take a few days off, focus on Rome and we will see what happens now in the next few weeks." #2 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #24 Sybille Bammer AUT 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 Ana ready, and Sybille and Ana bamming backhands *#19 s15 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #4 s3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 Svetlana driving a backhand, and Alona about to swat a forehand #5 s4 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #27 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-2, 6-4 Maria following a backhand, and Jelena driving one #6 s5 Serena Williams USA d #15 s11 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-3, 6-1 Agnieszka and Serena driving backhands #9 s7 Elena Dementieva RUS d #56 Vera Dushevina RUS 7-5, 6-3 Vera driving a forehand, and Elena about to slice a backhand *#14 s10 Agnes Szavay HUN d #11 s8 Marion Bartoli FRA 7-5, 7-5 Agnes's service toss, and Marion driving a backhand #26 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #62 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 6-1 Victoria, addressing the media, trying to look innocent

Berlin, QFs, Fri noon losers' prize: $26,050 US; points: 110 #2 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #14 s10 Agnes Szavay HUN 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Fri-dark-Sat Friday: Agnes serving, and Ana driving a backhand *#9 s7 Elena Dementieva RUS d #5 s4 Jelena Jankovic SRB 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 Elena's forehand drive, Jelena's backhand, and Elena hanging out between points *#17 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #6 s5 Serena Williams USA 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) Serena and Dinara driving backhands, and Dinara after match point     Dinara, who was 0-5 in previous matches against # 1 Justine Henin before defeating her in the 3rd round on Thursday, had been 0-3 against Serena.     Each player broke the others serve 4 times. Dinara fired 7 aces with 6 double faults, Serena had 4 aces with 7 DFs. Dinara won 97 points; Serena won 88.     Dinara said: "That was one of the best matches of my life. The third set was tough but I was just enjoying myself so much. I knew I was doing everything right." Reuters story     Serena had won 17 consecutive matches prior to today's loss, her 2nd of the year.     Serena said: "I think [Dinara] playing far better than in the past... I didn't play at all well, I have never hit so many double faults in one [match]...     "I definitely lost that match, rather than she won it off me, it just wasn't my day out there. It wasn't pretty for me out there at all...     "It leaves Roland Garros wide open, I am relieved I lost here and not in Paris; whenever I lose it always propels me to play better." AP story - AFP story *#26 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #19 s15 Alona Bondarenko UKR 7-6(2), 6-2 Victoria about to slice a backhand, Alona after driving one, and Victoria looking even nicer than she did on Thursday as she meets the press

Berlin, SFs, Sat 1pm losers' prize: $51,000 US; points: 195 *#9 s7 Elena Dementieva RUS d #2 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-2, 7-5 Elena driving a forehand, Ana about to connect with a backhand, Elena after match point, and alerting the media     Elena said: "Ana was playing very aggressively and was trying to hit on every single point. I feel like I was more consistent and didn't make lots of unforced errors and that was the key for today's match. She's a great player, but I think I was a little bit better today." Reuters story     Ana had to win the 3rd set of her darkness-delayed quarterfinal over Agnes Szavay, then play Elena after the Safina-Azarenka semi. Ana said: "I was pretty happy with my first set this morning, and I felt actually quite good going into the semi-final, but today [Elena] was better. I felt I created a lot of chances in that second set, and maybe in the key moments I wasn't as sharp as I should have been." #17 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #26 Victoria Azarenka BLR 6-4, 6-1 Dinara serving, Victoria about to swat a backhand, and Dinara following one     Victoria was suffering from a left hamstring injury, and was limping badly in the 2nd set. She later had to retire from a doubles semifinal. Dinara said: "[Victoria] really played well, and there was plenty of pressure from her returns. I hung in there; she was cramping up in the second set, which was unlucky for her." AFP story

Berlin, Final, Sun 2pm loser's prize: $100,000 US; points: 300 winner's prize: $196,900 US; points: 430 *#17 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #9 s7 Elena Dementieva RUS 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 Dinara and Elena following forehand and backhand, Dinara driving a backhand, and after match point

Berlin, Doubles Final, Sun m1 11:30am losers' prize: $30,000 US winners' prize: $59,000 US cdr2 s1 Cara Black & Liezel Huber d cdr150 Nuria Llagostera Vives & Maria Jose Martínez Sánchez 3-6, 6-2, (10-2) Liezel & Cara, and Maria Jose & Nuria Berlin, Qual Finals, Sun May 4 11am losers' prizes: q1 $900 1pt; q2 $1,765 10pts; qualifier 15 points #55 Kaia Kanepi EST d #94 Tzipora Obziler ISR 7-6(2), 6-3 #64 Jill Craybas USA d #76 Timea Bacsinszky SUI 2-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) finished on Monday due to darkness *#157 Angelika Bachmann GER d #65 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-4, 6-4 *#82 Yung-Jan Chan TPE d #68 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-2, 7-5 #69 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #103 Julie Ditty USA 6-3, 6-0 *#116 Catalina Castano COL d #75 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-3, 6-1 #89 Galina Voskoboeva RUS d #290 Ksenia Pervak RUS 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 #170 Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR d #218 Kristina Barrois GER 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 Berlin, Withdrawals #3 Maria Sharapova RUS played Charleston instead #10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK right foot stress fracture #21 Amelie Mauresmo FRA right intercostal muscle strain #29 Flavia Pennetta ITA left leg #41 Julia Vakulenko UKR right wrist #52 Akiko Morigami JPN left knee

    (May 5, 2008) # 3 Maria Sharapova sharply criticized WTA officials over the weekend for compelling players to participate in lengthy promotional activities without concern over the potential affect on their play.

    Maria has been required to participate in photo and video shoots prior to the Italian Open (May 12-19). Participation is also mandatory for Justine Henin, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams. The shoots are intended to result in commercials and print ads that will be part of a new worldwide WTA campaign, reportedly budgeted at $5 million for this year. Maria was originally told that the shoots, which would take place on May 11, 12, or 13, would take 5 hours. A WTA spokesman later told the press that the shoots be done in 2½ hours. Maria has been threatened with a fine as high as $700,000 if she does not attend the shoot.

    Maria said: "To ask me, or any of the other players, to do a long shoot like this is not right. Do you think the NBA would ask their top players to do a five-hour shoot the day before a playoff game?...
    "The Tour needed to challenge their agency to come up with creative that only needs 45-60 minutes of the players time, like the USTA does with their US Open Series ads. Or they could of been better prepared and did it at a tournament like Indian Wells where players arrive five to seven days early...
    "For them to threaten me with a $700,000 fine is just not right. The tour does not care what any of the players think, not just top players... The tour will say: 'We have done all these amazing things that the players wanted'. But trust me, these things they wanted as well and financially benefited from, including this shoot.
    "I want people to understand that I took this action because this is one in a long list of things that the tour has ignored the players. This is not about just one shoot, I could not just sit back anymore." Reuters story - MariaSharapova.com

    (Apr 30-May 5, 2008 re-revised) # 3 Maria Sharapova and # 10 Daniela Hantuchova have both withdrawn from next week's German Open in Berlin. Maria officially withdrew due to an unspecified injury; actually, she withdrew because she decided to play at Charleston instead, and will be fined $125,000 for withdrawing (the WTA prefers that players state injuries as reasons for withdrawals). Daniela, unfortunately, has a right foot stress fracture. Foot stress fractures can be very serious; Monica Seles was never able to return to play after suffering one. Hopefully Daniela's injury is not so severe, and she will be back soon: her official website reports her doctor advising that 3 weeks would be enough for it to heal.

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

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