WTA Feb 23-Mar 1: Acapulco Abierto Mexicano, Acapulco, MEX INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Live Scores WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes .html: q draw - main draw - oop pics: Y!: sports - news     tourney - WTA Acapulco: weather radar - forecast # # # # # # # #

Tourney pages: Acapulco: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Acapulco 2008: #30 Flavia Pennetta 5' 7¾" 128lb RH 2H-BH Doha 2008: #5 Maria Sharapova 6' 2" 130lb RH 2H-BH

    The Acapulco draws are not yet available as of this writing (qualifying draws are usually up on the Friday before the tourney begins, main draws on Saturday, sometimes later). The links are above for your convenience when the draws become available.

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  Acapulco, 2008:

    On Saturday in Acapulco, in the final of the Abierto Mexicano, 26-year-old top-seeded # 30 Flavia Pennetta of Italy (residence: Verbier, Switzerland) defeated 18-year-old 2nd-seeded # 49 Alize Cornet from Nice, France, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 (Flavia is shown with sombrero and orb).

    Flavia said: "I think I started the match very well, focusing really hard and not making many mistakes, just lots of winners. But in the second set I started thinking about the victory and got a little nervous. I sat down after the second set and thought about what I needed to do to take control of the match again, and I just tried to focus like I did in the first set." WTA story

    Alize said: "[Flavia] played unbelievably in the first set and in the second set she started making some mistakes; I felt I was getting into the match at that point and was fighting in every game, but she played the third set like the first and that's why she won. Maybe she was nervous in the second set, but she recovered. It's disappointing to lose today; I felt pretty far away from the victory. But I think Flavia deserved to win today."

    Flavia also defeated Alize in their only previous meeting, in the QFs at Acapulco last year, 7-5, 6-4. Flavia is now 6-6 in WTA singles finals; she won the Vina del Mar title just 2 weeks ago, and has always done well in Acapulco, where she also won the title in 2005. Alize was playing in her first WTA singles final; she has won 3 ITF singles titles and won the French Open juniors title last year.

  Doha, 2008: held the week before Acapulco in 2008, not on the 2009 calendar

    On Sunday in Doha, Qatar, in the final of the Qatar Total Open, the 2005 tourney champ, 20-year-old 4th-seeded # 5 Maria Sharapova of Russia, (with residences in California and in Bradenton, Florida, home of the Bollettieri Academy) won her second Doha title by defeating her compatriot from Moscow, unseeded 23-year-old # 26 Vera Zvonareva, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 (Maria is shown holding the Qatar Tennis Federation's gold falcon after the match).

    About the zigzag score, Maria said: "I had so many opportunities in the beginning of the second set but I didn't take them, and [Vera is] the type of opponent that's going to play her best tennis when she's playing from behind and has nothing to lose. Her level just comes up, and mine dropped.

    "I felt like my energy was going down. I wasn't moving or hitting the same way, and I think that first game of the third set was very important. It gave me a lot of confidence." BBC story - WTA story

    Vera said: "It was a tough one. [Maria] started off really well and I didn't really know what to do. She was really aggressive and didn't give me a chance. Then I found my game a little bit better and caused her trouble in the second.

    "I think the first game of the third set was an important game on my serve. I lost it and then she took a 3-0 lead and it was really tough to stop her after that."

    Maria now leads Vera 5-3 in career matches. Vera won their previous meeting, in the 4th round at Indian Wells last March, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

    Most nations withhold 15-25% from the paychecks of visiting foreign entertainers, including athletes; Qatar has no income tax, so Maria and Vera will get to keep more of their share of 7th highest payout on the WTA Tour: $414,000 for winner Maria, and $211,000 for runner-up Vera.

    2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, & 2008 Australian Open champ Maria is now 18-7 in WTA singles finals, and has a 14-0 match record in 2008. Right shoulder problems which slowed Maria at times from 2005 through 2007 appear to be a thing of the past.
    Vera, ranked # 9 in 2004, was playing in her first Tier I WTA singles final. Vera is now 5-7 in WTA singles finals overall; her most recent titles were in Birmingham and Cincinnati in 2006, after which a left wrist injury kept her offcourt through much of the remainder of that year and early 2007. Vera has an 11-3 match record in 2008; her ranking is expected to rise to # 21 on Monday.

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WTA SCOREBOARD: Acapulco s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Abierto Mexicano,  Acapulco, Mexico   tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US EDT -1 hours        = US PDT +2 hours Mexico News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Acapulco: The main draw for Acapulco 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   Fairmont Acapulco Princess Latitude: 16.788035 Longitude: -99.811703 goto link for World Wind

Acapulco, 1st Rd, Mon 3pm-Tue 10am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1

Acapulco, 2nd Round, Wed 3pm

Acapulco, QFs, Thu 3pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70

Acapulco, SFs, Fri 3pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130

Acapulco, Final, Sat 6:30pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280

Acapulco, Doubles Final, Sat 3pm loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Acapulco, Qual Finals, Mon Feb 23 3pm losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points Acapulco, Withdrawals

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Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2008 WTA Player Videos page.

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