WTA Sep 15-21: Tokyo & Guangzhou Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, JPN Tier I $1,340,000 28 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes results & draws - qualifying draw pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney - WTA sports news: Yomiuri - Asahi Tokyo: radar - forecast # 2 Jelena Jankovic, # 3 Ana Ivanovic # 4 Elena Dementieva, # 5 D Safina Int'l Women's Open Guangzhou, CHN Tier III $175,000 32 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf: draws & OOP pics: WTA Guangzhou weather # 9 Vera Zvonareva, # 33 Jie Zheng # 40 Shuai Peng, # 46 Gisela Dulko

Tokyo Pan Pacific: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004   Guangzhou: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Guangzhou: #9 Vera Zvonareva 5'7¾" 130½lb RH 2H-BH Tokyo: #5 Dinara Safina 5'11½" 154½lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Tokyo, in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, 22-year-old 4th-seeded # 5 Dinara Safina of Russia, (who trains in Valencia, Spain and resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco), defeated her compatriot and co-resident of Monte Carlo, 23-year-old 5th-seeded # 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova (who trains in Barcelona, Spain) 6-1, 6-3 (Dinara is shown with the fine Japanese tableware after the match). Dinara's prize is $196,900; Svetlana's is $105,800.

    Dinara said: "Playing Svetlana today, I knew I had to take my chances and be aggressive from the beginning; and it worked. My game just clicked after my match with Kanepi. My coach told me to stick to my game and it has worked. It has all been coming together.

    "It's always nice to get a trophy, but the one here at the Toray Pan Pacific Open is very pretty and unique." WTA story

    Svetlana led Russia to their 4th Fed Cup title last Sunday, then flew from Madrid to Tokyo for the Pan Pacific Open.
    Svetlana said: "I had a good week in Tokyo. I came from Fed Cup, which was on clay, and arrived here later than usual, and still played solid tennis all week. Reaching the final was very important for my confidence.

    "And Dinara played really well; she was the favorite going into this final and she delivered. She has been one of the best players since mid-season - she's fresher, more confident and an overall better player than in previous years."

    Dinara now leads Svetlana 6-4 in career matches, and Dinara also won both times they met earlier this year, in the semifinals of the French Open 6-3, 6-2, and on a hard court in the Montreal quarterfinals, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
    Dinara is now 9-7 in WTA singles finals; she won earlier this year in Montreal, LA and Berlin, and reached the French Open final, where she lost to Ana Ivanovic. Dinara now has a 52-13 match record in 2008.
    2004 US Open champion Svetlana is now 9-16 in 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 10 finals. Sveta's match record for the season is 39-15.

    Meanhwile, in Guangzhou, China, in the final of the Guangzhou International Women's Open, 22-year-old top-seeded # 9 Vera Zvonareva from Moscow, Russia, defeated 22-year-old 4th-seeded # 40 Shuai Peng from Tian Jin, China, 6(4)-7, 6-0, 6-2 (Vera is shown with the fine Chinese tableware after the match). Vera's prize is $28,000; Shuai's is $14,650.

    Like Svetlana Kuznetsova in Tokyo, Vera had made a quick trip from the Madrid Fed Cup final to East Asia for the tourney.

    Vera said: "I wasn't going for my shots enough in the first set; I think I was playing a bit too passively. [Shuai is] a very good player and fights well, and she took advantage. But I had more experience behind my back and was able to turn the match around by going for my shots again... If she keeps playing like this, she has a great future." WTA story

    Shuai said: "I was really happy I could get to the final. There were a lot of fans here, and whenever I was in a tough match they helped me fight through it."

    Vera now leads Shuai 4-0 in career matches; Shuai will be backed by a partisan Chinese crowd.
    Olympic bronze medalist Vera is now 7-8 in WTA singles finals; she also won the Prague title this year, and reached the finals at Hobart, Doha, and Charleston. Vera has a 50-16 match record in 2008.
    Shuai is now 0-3 in WTA singles finals; she reached the Strasbourg final in 2006, and has won 8 ITF singles titles and 3 WTA doubles titles (including last week's doubles title in Bali, partnered with Su-Wei Hsieh). Shuai has a 24-22 match record this season.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Tokyo Indoor & Guangzhou s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Toray Pan Pacific Open,  Tokyo, Japan   tourney time:        = GMT +9 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Tokyo News - Japan News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Tokyo: The main draw for Tokyo 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   Ariake Tennis Forest Park, Tokyo, JAP Latitude: 35.635404 Longitude: 139.788226 goto link for World Wind The Toray Pan Pacific Open was previously held in February, indoors at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. However, rescheduling of the Fed Cup 1st round resulted in moving the tourney to September, and the venue was changed to the Ariake Tennis Forest Park, the same place where the AIG Japan Open has been held for years, and will be held this year only 2 weeks later. Toray Pan Pacific Open venue address: Ariake Tennis Forest Park, 2-2-22 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo Although this is an outdoor event, the Center Court stadium has a retractable roof, which is closed in foul weather. 2008: On Sunday in Tokyo, long-time Japanese #1 (and former WTA #8) Ai Sugiyama did the player rep thing at the main draw ceremony... Also on Sunday, Yaroslava Shvedova, Vladimira Uhlirova and Agnieszka Radwanska attended Sumo wrestling, and all-time Japanese #1 (and former WTA #4) Kimiko Date Krumm, now 37 years old, won her 2nd round qualifying match over #48 Casey Dellacqua, Kimiko's biggest win since she decided to return (after 12 years' retirement) earlier this year... 2008: row 2: On Monday in Tokyo, at the players' welcome reception, top seed Jelena Jankovic told Dominika Cibulkova (and Nadia Petrova & Maria Kirilenko in the back row) to get ready for a lot of hot air, as her compatriot, French Open champ Ana Ivanovic (with Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva waiting), Daniela Hantuchova, and Ai Sugiyama, recited Shakespeare, sang The Theme from Star Wars, and/or reminded listeners row 2: (such as Elena Dementieva & Dinara Safina) that if nominated they would not run, and if elected they would not serve... On Tuesday, at the press "all-access hour," 2006 Pan Pacific Open champ Elena held photographers at bay while Jelena Jankovic fielded the friendly questions from those nice reporters...

Tokyo Pan Pacific, 1st Rd, Tue-Wed 11am loser: $8,790 US; 1 point #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #32 sr Na Li CHN 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 Wed Na watching her serve fly, and Svetlana's forehand drive #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #134 wc Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-1, 6-4 Tue *#28 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #11 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 7-5 Tue Daniela driving a forehand, and Francesca's backhand drive *#39 q Kaia Kanepi EST d #12 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Tue #14 Marion Bartoli FRA d #27 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-2, 6-2 Tue Marion and Maria driving forehand and backhand #16 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #35 Shahar Peer ISR 6-4, 6-4 Tue *#26 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #17 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-1, 6-2 Wed #18 Alize Cornet FRA d #42 q Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tue Alize following a forehand *#143 wc Ayumi Morita JPN d #19 Agnes Szavay HUN 6(7)-7, 7-5, 6-4 Tue Agnes fielding a backhand on the run, and Ayumi after winning a point (match point?) #20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #24 wc Amelie Mauresmo FRA 0-6, 6-1, 7-6(8) Tue Dominika driving a forehand #22 Nadia Petrova RUS d #75 q Aravane Rezai FRA 7-5, 6-2 Wed Nadia's backhand drive *#37 Virginie Razzano FRA d #31 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-3, 6-2 Wed Ai following her serve, and Virginie driving a backhand

Tokyo Pan Pacific, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am Thu WTA story loser: $16,370 US; 60 points #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #16 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-2, 6-1 Thu Flavia's forehand, and Jelena's service toss *#22 Nadia Petrova RUS d #3 s2 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 Thu Ana and Nadia driving backhands #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #18 Alize Cornet FRA 6-0, 6-3 Thu Elena and Alize driving forehand and backhand     The win gave Elena the points she needed to clinch a place in the 8-player WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar in November. Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams, Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic had already qualified; with 3 positions remaining open, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova are currently in 6th, 7th, and 8th place. WTA story #5 s4 Dinara Safina RUS d #20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-3, 6-4 Wed Dominika and Dinara driving forehands #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #143 wc Ayumi Morita JPN 6-1, 6-1 Thu Svetlana about to connect with a forehand, and Ayumi following a backhand #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #14 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-2, 6-3 Thu Agnieszka and Marion driving backhands #26 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #28 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-4, 6-3 Thu *#39 q Kaia Kanepi EST d #37 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4, 6-2 Thu

Tokyo Pan Pacific, QFs, Fri 1pm WTA story loser: $30,485 US; 110 points *#7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 Jelena volleying a forehand, Svetlana after driving one, and after match point     Svetlana said: "I struggled to hold serve but I felt confident out there, so I was even serving and volleying a few times. I played the right tactics in the first set but I just couldn't find my way to the net; but I kept to my game plan in the second and third sets and the risk paid off, as I got more and more chances to approach, and I knew what I had to do."     Rain in Tokyo resulted the the stadium's retractable roof being closed.     Jelena said: "Svetlana played a very solid match; it was a close match at a high level and with a lot of volleying and long rallies, and unfortunately it went her way. The conditions were tough, and it was probably warmer inside with the roof closed than outside, but we were both in the same situation..." *#26 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-3, 6-4 Elena and Katarina driving forehand and backhand, and Katarina after match point     It was Katarina's 4th win over a top-10 player this year. Katarina said: "This is a great win. I was very solid on my serve and groundstrokes, and my doubles helped with my net game. The last time I was in the semis here was 2000, so this feels good." #5 s4 Dinara Safina RUS d #39 q Kaia Kanepi EST 6-4, 6(5)-7, 6-2 Kaia spinning a forehand, and Dinara's backhand drive *#22 Nadia Petrova RUS d #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-3, 6-0 Agnieszka and Nadia driving backhands

Tokyo Pan Pacific, SFs, Sat 1pm loser: $56,800 US; 195 points #5 s4 Dinara Safina RUS d #22 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-1, 6-0 Nadia and Dinara fielding backhand and forehand     Dinara was 0-5 in previous matches against Nadia. Dinara said: "Nadia and I have played each other many times; this time when I went on court I knew I had to play my game and just go for the shots. I've also worked hard on my fitness over the last few months, so I knew I wouldn't lose today because I was not fit enough. I played well. I'm very happy how it went."     Nadia said: "I never really got into the match; I played well in my previous matches but I don't know what happened today. But obviously Dinara was playing at a very good level from the beginning." #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #26 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO 7-6(5), 6-2 Svetlana's forehand drive, Katarina following a forehand, and Sveta following a match point     Katarina had defeated Svetlana 6-3, 6(1)-7, 6-3, in the 3rd round at Flushing Meadows late last month.     Svetlana said: "It was a good win; I'm happy to get revenge for the US Open. I was a bit lucky in the tie-break and after I won the first set I was a lot more confident out there.     "The conditions were pretty tough today because of the heat; it was really unbelievable, and so I took more time in between the points. Then I just changed my game a bit and tried to play smarter." WTA story     Katarina said: "I had my chance in the tie-break; after I lost the first set, Svetlana played better and I probably dropped my level a bit. It was still a good match, but today my legs felt a bit tired, and maybe I wasn't playing at my best.     "Maybe it was my first serve percentage that made the difference. When I played her at the US Open I could rely on my serve when I needed it, but today this was not the case. But I'm very happy with my performance here this week in Tokyo. I had a good week. Svetlana was the better player today."

Tokyo Pan Pacific, Final, Sun 1pm loser: $105,800 US; 300 points winner: $196,900 US; 430 points #5 s4 Dinara Safina RUS d #7 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Dinara serving, Svetlana and Dinara driving backhands, Dinara stalking the rare low smash, and after match point

Tokyo Pan Pacific, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $31,750 US winners' prize: $59,000 US *cdr122 Nadia Petrova & Vania King d cdr27 s2 Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-4 Nadia (14th WTA doubles title) & Vania (5th WTA doubles title)... their first doubles title as a team Tokyo Pan Pacific, Qual Finals, Mon Sep 15 10:00am losers' prizes: q1 $1,360 1pt; q2 $2,535 10pts; q3 $4,720 US 15pts; qualifier 20 points #26 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #71 Anne Keothavong GBR 6-3, 6-3 #39 Kaia Kanepi EST d #70 Vera Dushevina RUS 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 #42 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #262 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 6-1, 6-1 #75 Aravane Rezai FRA d #121 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-1, 7-5 Tokyo Pan Pacific, Withdrawals #1 Serena Williams USA #8 Venus Williams USA #15 Victoria Azarenka BLR #23 Nicole Vaidisova CZE

Guangzhou International Women's Open,  Guangzhou, China   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +12 hours        = US PDT +15 hours China News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Guangzhou: The main draw for Guangzhou 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   Fangcun Tennis Sports Center, Guangzhou, China Latitude: 23.073474 Longitude: 113.210024 goto link for World Wind     Back when Beijing was called Peking (and even earlier, Peiping), Guangzhou was known as Canton. It is about 182 kilometers from Hong Kong. At last count about 10.15 million people live there (and rising). "Tennis Courts of Fangcun Tennis Sports Center was built in 2001, covering an area of 53000 Square meters. It has total 17 tennis courts including one center court with a capacity of more than 3,500 seats..." 2008: Players looking good at the welcome reception on Monday, September 15 in Guangzhou included Camille Pin, Stephanie Dubois, Mara Santangelo, Pauline Parmentier, Karin Knapp, and Ipek Senoglu; Zi Yan and Tiantian Sun; and Jill Craybas...

Guangzhou, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 2pm & 2:30pm losers' prize: $1,300 US; points: 1 #9 s1 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #77 Anastasia Rodionova RUS(AUS) 6-1, 6-2 Wed #33 s3 Jie Zheng CHN d #255 Tiantian Sun CHN 6-0, 6-1 Tue #40 s4 Shuai Peng CHN d #185 sr Mara Santangelo FRA 6-4, 6-2 Wed #46 s5 Gisela Dulko ARG d #164 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 Tue #47 s6 Olga Govortsova BLR d #102 Zi Yan CHN 6-3, 6-2 Mon #51 s7 Pauline Parmentier FRA d #265 LL Xinyun Han CHN 6-1, 7-5 Tue #55 s8 Mariya Koryttseva UKR d #78 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-4, 6-4 Mon *#230 q Arantxa Rus NED d #66 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6(2)-7, 6-2, 6-4 Tue #69 Karin Knapp ITA d #225 wc Shuai Zhang CHN 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-1 Mon *#81 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #74 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Mon #76 Jill Craybas USA d #170 q Anastasia Pivovarova RUS 6-2, 6-4 Tue #85 Tamira Paszek AUT d #187 q Ye-Ra Lee KOR 6-0, 6-4 Wed #88 Camille Pin FRA d # LL Chen Yanchong CHN 6-2, 6-3 Wed *#311 LL Yi-Fan Xu CHN d #115 Stephanie Dubois CAN 6-3, 6-1 Tue #119 Iona Raluca Olaru ROU d #310 Aniko Kapros HUN 6-4, 6-1 Mon *#261 wc Jingjing Lu CHN d #139 Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR 7-6(4), 6-2 Mon

Guangzhou, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 2:30pm losers' prize: $2,200 US; points: 20 #9 s1 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #311 LL Yi-Fan Xu CHN 6-1, 7-6(4) Thu #33 s3 Jie Zheng CHN d #119 Iona Raluca Olaru ROU 6-4, 6-0 Thu #40 s4 Shuai Peng CHN d #261 wc Jingjing Lu CHN 6-3, 6-4 Thu *#230 q Arantxa Rus NED d #46 s5 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-4, 6-4 Thu *#76 Jill Craybas USA d #47 s6 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-2, 7-5 Wed *#85 Tamira Paszek AUT d #51 s7 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 Thu *#69 Karin Knapp ITA d #55 s8 Mariya Koryttseva UKR 6-4, 6-4 Wed *#88 Camille Pin FRA d #81 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 Thu

Guangzhou, QFs, Fri 2:30pm losers' prize: $4,050 US; points: 35 #9 s1 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #69 Karin Knapp ITA 6-1, 6-0 #33 s3 Jie Zheng CHN d #85 Tamira Paszek AUT 6-2, 6-1 #40 s4 Shuai Peng CHN d #76 Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 6-1 #88 Camille Pin FRA d #230 q Arantxa Rus NED 6-3, 6-3

Guangzhou, SFs, Sat 3:30pm losers' prize: $7,700 US; points: 65 #9 s1 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #33 s3 Jie Zheng CHN 6-3, 7-5 #40 s4 Shuai Peng CHN d #88 Camille Pin FRA 6-2, 6-1

Guangzhou, Final, Sun 2:30pm loser's prize: $14,650 US; points: 100 winner's prize: $28,000 US; points: 140 #9 s1 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #40 s4 Shuai Peng CHN 6(4)-7, 6-0, 6-2 Vera driving a forehand, Shuai reaching for a backhand, and Vera following another forehand

Guangzhou, Doubles Final, Sun after singles losers' prize: $4,350 US winners' prize: $8,250 US cdr75 s2 Mariya Koryttseva & Tatiana Poutchek d cdr37 s1 Zi Yan & Tiantian Sun 6-3, 4-6, (10-8) Guangzhou, Qual Finals, Mon Sep 15 10am losers' prizes: q1 $100 1pt; q2 $350 3pts; q3 $650 4pts; qualifier 8 points #164 Tatiana Poutchek BLR d #311 Yi-Fan Xu CHN 6-1, 6-1 #170 Anastasia Pivovarova RUS d #364 Yanchong Chen CHN 6-1, 6-2 #187 Ye-Ra Lee KOR d #265 Xinyun Han CHN 6-4, 6-3 #230 Arantxa Rus NED d #580 Shaozhuo Liu CHN 6-1, 6-2 Guangzhou, Withdrawals #12 Patty Schnyder SUI back & achilles injuries # Sania Mirza IND right wrist #41 Sara Errani ITA #43 Iveta Benesova CZE #57 s9 Marta Domachowska POL illness #59 Yung-Jan Chan TPE #63 Sabine Lisicki GER # Ashley Harkleroad USA # Marina Erakovic NZL # Monica Niculescu ROU # Virginie Razzano FRA # Tamarine Tanasugarn THA # Klara Zakopalova CZE # Ekaterina Makarova RUS # Casey Dellacqua AUS # Sorana Cirstea ROU # Petra Cetkovska CZE #118 Julia Vakulenko UKR

    (Sep 14, 2008 revised) 2nd-seeded # 13 Patty Schnyder has withdrawn from Guangzou due to back and achilles injuries. Patty, who the Bali title on Sunday, stated she was withdrawing in her Bali player's blog.
    The withdrawal resulted in # 57 Marta Domachowska being promoted to 9th seed, and put in Patty's position in the draw, and a "Lucky Loser" from qualifying being put in Marta's position.
    Unfortunately Marta fell ill, also withdrew, and was also replaced by a Lucky Loser. This was the 3rd Lucky Loser, so 7 of the 8 qualifying finalists are playing in the main draw.

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.