WTA Oct 6-12 Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia Tier I $1,340,000 +ATP 28 players - indoor: supreme Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf: draws & OOP - notes pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney     WTA | tourney videos Moscow: weather - map Gazeta.ru: Tennis (in Russian)     in English # 2 Jelena Jankovic # 3 Dinara Safina # 4 Elena Dementieva # 5 Ana Ivanovic # 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova # 8 Venus Williams # 9 Vera Zvonareva # 12 Anna Chakvetadze

Moscow: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003   Kolkata: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 previous other tourney pages next Moscow: #2 Jelena Jankovic 5'9½" 130lb RH 2H-BH Moscow: #9 Vera Zvonareva 5'7¾" 130½lb RH 2H-BH Moscow: 9th WTA Singles Title 3rd Title in 3 Weeks

    On Sunday in Moscow, in the final of the 2008 Kremlin Cup, the US Open finalist, 23-year-old top-seeded # 2 (on the drawsheet; # 1 in this week's rankings) Jelena Jankovic from Belgrade, Serbia, defeated Moscow born and residing 24-year-old 7th-seeded # 9 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, 6-2, 6-4 (photo shown). Jelena's prize is $196,900; Vera's is $105,800.

    It was Jelena's 12th consecutive match victory and 3rd consecutive title.

    Jelena said: "[Vera is] a really tough opponent; she runs a lot of balls down. I played against her in Beijing and Stuttgart and both of those matches were really tough, so today I was focused right from the beginning. I dominated in the first set; my level went down a little bit in the second set, but I'm happy I was able to finish the set in my favor. She fights hard and I'm happy to win in two sets." WTA story

    Jelena now leads Vera 6-3 in career matches. She also won their last two meetings, in the Stuttgart quarterfinals a week ago, 7-6(8), 7-6(5), and in the Beijing semifinals two weeks ago, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
    Vera won their prior match, in this year's Charleston quarters, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

    Jelena is now 9-10 in WTA singles finals; she won on the past two Sundays in Stuttgart and Beijing, and also won in Rome this year. Despite starting the year slowed by injuries and a cold that wouldn't leave, Jelena now has a 63-16 match record in 2008, and has won 19 of her last 21 matches.

    Olympic bronze medalist Vera is now 7-9 in WTA singles finals; she won in Guangzhou and Prague this year, and also reached the finals at Hobart, Doha, and Charleston. Vera has a 58-19 match record for the season, and has won 13 of her last 16.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Moscow s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Kremlin Cup,  Moscow, Russia   tourney time:        = GMT +4 hours        = US EDT +8 hours        = US PDT +11 hours Moscow News - Russia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Moscow: The main draw for Moscow 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   Olympiisky Stadium, Moscow, Russia Latitude: 55.782027 Longitude: 37.626286 goto link for World Wind     Kremlin Cup venue address: Olympiisky Sports Complex, 16 Olympiisky Pr., Metro: Prospekt Mira, Tel. 288-5322 2008: On Sunday, Oct 5 in Moscow, darned good-looking healthy young ladies at the players party included 2007 Kremlin Cup champion Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Elena Vesnina (at table with Elena D), Vera Dushevina, Galina Voskoboeva, row 2: doubles # 1s Cara Black & Liezel Huber, 2003 & 2004 Kremlin Cup champ and former WTA # 3 Anastasia Myskina (still out with a foot injury) & Dinara Safina, and Svetlana Kuznetsova... also on Sunday, Vera Zvonareva posed for some nice pics for Hello Magazine... 2008: row 3: On Monday, Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic, and Elena Dementieva answered the nice questions from the friendly reporters at the All Access Hour... On Thursday, Dominika Cibulkova made a video op visit to Red Square...

Moscow, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 11am WTA Tue story loser: $8,790 US; 1 point #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #30 Na Li CHN 6-4, 7-5 Tue Svetlana and Na driving forehand and backhand     Svetlana said: "I'm happy to have won in two sets; it was a very difficult first round match. It's great here. It's a great opportunity to play in front of my fans. Tennis has become so popular in Russia, especially over the last five or 10 years, so it's very exciting for us to play here in front of our home crowd." *#15 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #8 s6 Venus Williams USA 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Tue Venus about to swat a forehand, Flavia driving a backhand, and after match point     It was Flavia's 3rd win in a row over the 7-time Grand Slam tourney champ and former # 1; she also defeated Venus in the 3rd round at Roland Garros this year, 7-5, 6-3, and now leads Venus 3-1 in career matches.     Flavia said: "Today's match was very tough. Venus is always a tough opponent but my serve was working very well and I was playing my best tennis. At this moment, I just want to enjoy the win from today." #9 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #31 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-4, 6-4 Tue *#16 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #12 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 Wed #13 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #23 q Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-3, 6-2 Tue *#20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #14 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-1, 4-1 retired - left toe Mon *#43 q Sara Errani ITA d #17 Victoria Azarenka BLR 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 Tue #18 Nadia Petrova RUS d #116 q Anna Lapushchenkova RUS 6-2, 6-1 Wed *#25 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #19 Alize Cornet FRA 6(3)-7, 6-3, 6-4 Mon Amelie and Alize driving forehand and backhand #21 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #34 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-2, 6-1 Tue *#79 wc Vera Dushevina RUS d #22 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 Mon Vera on her way to a win on her 22nd birthday #57 wc Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #63 wc Elena Vesnina RUS 7-6(4), 7-6(1) Tue

Moscow, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am loser: $16,370 US; 60 points #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #79 wc Vera Dushevina RUS 6(6)-7, 6-3, 6-2 Thu Jelena's forehand, and Vera and Jelena driving backhands #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS d #25 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6(2)-7, 6-4, 6-4 Wed Dinara driving a forehand, and Amelie volleying a backhand #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #21 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2) Wed Elena's forehand, Katarina and Elena driving backhands, and Elena after match point     Elena now leads Katarina 6-2 in career matches, but Katarina's two wins had come the last two times they had played. Their most recent encounter had been in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open on September 19, when Katarina defeated Elena 6-3, 6-4.     Elena said: "It wasn't easy to win—it's traditionally inconvenient for me to play against Katarina... every time I have had problems with her game. I was prepared this time and it paid off." BBC story *#20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #5 s4 Ana Ivanovic SRB 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) Wed Dominika serving, Ana driving a backhand, Dominika launching a forehand on the run, and after match point     Dominika said: "I had a bad first set because I was playing too defensively. I got more aggressive. I began to serve better and return better." AP story     Ana won the French Open in May, and reached the # 1 ranking. Her record since then has been 5-6, but most of the losses were close matches. This time, Ana failed to convert two match points.     Ana said: "I created my chances, I served well and I had match points. Obviously I’m disappointed." #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #43 q Sara Errani ITA 7-6(0), 6-1 Wed #9 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #13 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 6-0 Thu Vera launching a forehand, and Daniela and Vera driving backhands     Vera has got Daniela's number: she leads Daniela 4-0 in career matches, and Daniela had never taken a set from her. Last week in the 1st round in Stuttgart, Vera defeated Daniela 6-3, 6-2. But this was the first time Vera has completely blown Daniela out of a match.     Vera said: "I did not make unforced mistakes and was serving and returning well. But I know that one can only have one or two such easy matches in a season." BBC story #15 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #57 wc Ekaterina Makarova RUS 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Thu *#18 Nadia Petrova RUS d #16 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-4, 3-2 retired - upper respiratory illness Thu Caroline serving, Nadia following a backhand, and Caroline as the trainer (who might be WTA regular Amber Donaldson) checks her vitals

Moscow, QFs, Fri 11am WTA story loser: $30,485 US; 110 points #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #15 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-6(6), 6-3 Jelena and Flavia driving forehands, and Jelena's backhand     It was Jelena's 10th consecutive match victory, but she was not entirely pleased. Flavia had a 3-0 lead early in the 1st set tiebreak, and also held break points which might have given her a 4-2 lead in the 2nd set.     Jelena said: "It was a tough match for me today and I didn't play it the way I wanted to." BBC story #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS d #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-4, 7-5 Dinara driving a forehand, and Svetlana and Dinara belting backhands #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #18 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) Elena serving, Nadia's backhand drive, Elena about to swat a forehand, and after winning a point     Elena managed to win despite squandering 4-1 leads in both the 2nd and 3rd sets. Elena said: "[Nadia] changed tactics in the second set and started to play more aggressively... It was not an easy match. There were many missed chances for me."     About playing the top seed in a semi on Saturday, 2007 Kremlin Cup champ Elena said: "[Jelena is] playing terrific tennis and has just won back-to-back titles on different surfaces and in different parts of the world. It won't be an easy match. It will be interesting for me to challenge her." #9 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 7-5, 6-4 Vera and Dominika driving forehands, and Vera's backhand drive

Moscow, SFs, Sat 1pm WTA story loser: $56,800 US; 195 points #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS 0-6, 6-1, 6-0 Jelena and Elena driving forehand and backhand, and Jelena's backhand drive     It was Jelena's 11th consecutive match victory. Jelena said: "I didn’t play bad in the first set, but Elena was too good. She really had an answer for all my shots, she was always on the ball. I just couldn't do anything. But I tried to stay positive and wanted to take the initiative from her and dictate the points...     "I was thinking, what I need to do is to be better than her. I wanted to dominate, to be aggressive and try to win the points. I really put a lot of pressure on her to take the initiative from the first stroke."     Beijing Olympics gold medalist Elena said: "I have a feeling that I really didn't push a lot in the second and the third sets. And I didn't finish points at the net, which was very successful in the beginning of the match...     "[Jelena's] defensive game is just phenomenal, and it's almost impossible to hit a good shot from the baseline because she can cover the whole court. No matter what shot you hit, she is able to get to it and hits everything back at you. It seems like she can cover not only a tennis court but a whole soccer field. Well, she is No.1 and she played like No.1." *#9 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS 6-2, 7-6(5) Vera following a forehand, Dinara about to lightly tap one, and Vera's backhand drive     Vera said: "I tried to perform my best tennis today. It was my first ever Kremlin Cup semi-final and I wasn't under pressure - I really enjoyed playing here."

Moscow, Final, Sun 1:30pm loser: $105,800 US; 300 points winner: $196,900 US; 430 points #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #9 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-2, 6-4 Jelena serving to Vera, Vera running down a forehand, Jelena following a backhand, and getting a hug from a paternal type who appears to be her dad after match point

Moscow, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $31,750 US winners' prize: $59,000 US *cdr46 s4 Nadia Petrova & Katarina Srebotnik d cdr2 s1 Cara Black & Liezel Huber 6-4, 6-4 Nadia (15th WTA doubles title) and Katarina (19th WTA doubles title); their first title as a team Moscow, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 6 11am losers' prizes: q1 $1,360 1pt; q2 $2,535 10pts; q3 $4,720 US 15pts; qualifier 20 points #21 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #78 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-2, 6-2 #23 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #68 Mariya Koryttseva UKR 6-0, 6-1 #43 Sara Errani ITA d #106 Galina Voskoboeva RUS 6-3, 6-3 *#116 Anna Lapushchenkova RUS d #73 Aravane Rezai FRA 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 Moscow, Withdrawals #1 Serena Williams USA left ankle #10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL #27 Agnes Szavay HUN

    (Aug 23, 2008) The Sunfeast Open has been cancelled. The tourney was to be played in Mumbai rather than Kolkata this year. No reason has been announced for the cancellation.
    (May 14, 2008) The October 6-12 WTA Sunfeast Open has been moved from Kolkata to the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai (Bombay). Director of sports management company Globosport (and ATP pro) Mahesh Bhupathi said: "The change in venue for the Sunfeast Open was inevitable due to a clash of dates with the Durga Puja festival in Kolkata this year. The decision was taken after detailed discussions with the WTA." IANS story

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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.