WTA Feb 23-Mar 1: Acapulco Abierto Mexicano, Acapulco, MEX INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes .html: q draw - main draw - oop pics: Y!: sports - news     tourney - WTA Acapulco: weather radar - forecast # 6 Venus Williams # 15 Flavia Pennetta # 28 Carla Suarez Navarro # 34 Iveta Benesova # 46 Gisela Dulko # 50 Lucie Safarova # 54 Tathiana Garbin # 66 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

Tourney pages: Acapulco: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Acapulco: #15 Flavia Pennetta 5' 7¾" 128lb RH 2H-BH Acapulco: #6 Venus Williams 6' 1" 160lb RH 2H-BH

    On Saturday in Acapulco, Mexico, in the final of the Abierto Mexicano, last year's Wimbledon champion, top-seeded 28-year-old # 6 Venus Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, won her second tourney in a row, defeating the 2005 and 2008 Abierto Mexicano champion, 27-year-old 2nd-seeded # 15 Flavia Pennetta of Italy (residence: Verbier, Switzerland), 6-1, 6-2 (Flavia is shown during the match, Venus is shown with the hardware and headgear afterward). Venus's prize is $37,000; Flavia's is $19,000.

    Venus said: "I had my best match of the tournament at the right time... I actually started feeling great in the warm-up, and in the match I was serving well, which always helps... Flavia and I have played some good matches back in the day though, and she definitely deserved to win the ones she did." Acapulco player's blog by Venus Williams

    Venus and Flavia are now tied at 3-3 in career matches. Flavia defeated Venus once in 2007 and twice last year (including their only previous clay court encounter, in the 3rd round of last year's French Open, when Flavia defeated Venus 7-5, 6-3). Venus won their most recent meeting, on an indoor hardcourt in the Zurich final last year, 7-6(1), 6-2. Flavia is now 28-5 on the red clay at the Mexican Open; Venus, who had never played at Acapulco before this week, is 5-0 in Mexico.

    7-time Grand Slam tourney champion Venus is now 41-22 in WTA singles finals; she won her previous title in Dubai last Saturday. Venus has a 11-1 match record in 2009.
    Flavia is now 6-9 in WTA singles finals; she won last year at Viña del Mar and Acapulco. Flavia has a 9-4 match record this season.

Acapulco player's blog by Venus Williams

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 2009: Ladies letting their hair down for the Acapulco players party on Sunday, February 22 included Tathiana Garbin, Mathilde Johansson & Pauline Parmentier, and Edina Gallovits... On Monday, top seed Venus Williams alerted the Mexican media...

Acapulco, 1st Rd, Mon 3pm-Tue 10am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #6 s1 Venus Williams USA d #76 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Tue Nuria tossing the ball for her serve, and Venus driving a forehand #15 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #90 Mariya Koryttseva UKR 6-3, 6-1 Tue Flavia after winning a point #28 s3 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #144 q Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR 7-5, 6-3 Tue Carla driving a backhand #29 LL Agnes Szavay HUN d #655 wc Anna Orlik BLR 7-5, 7-5 Tue Anna and Agnes driving backhands #34 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE d #113 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-2, 6-0 Mon #46 s5 Gisela Dulko ARG d #127 q Iona Raluca Olaru ROU 6-3, 6-2 Tue Iona driving a backhand, and Gisela ready to deliver her finely formed forehand *#69 Roberta Vinci ITA d #50 s6 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-4, 6-4 Mon #54 s7 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #89 Jill Craybas USA 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 Mon #66 s8 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #292 q Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-2, 6-3 Tue Maria Jose following a forehand *#158 q Greta Arn HUN d #67 Edina Gallovits ROU 6-2, 6-3 Tue #68 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #136 Andreja Klepac SLO 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 Tue #73 Mathilde Johansson FRA d #93 Rossana de los Rios PAR 6-4, 6-1 Tue Mathilde serving, Rossana driving a forehand, and Mathilde after match point *#82 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #80 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 6-2, 6-2 Mon #86 Pauline Parmentier FRA d #338 wc Melissa Torres Sandoval MEX 6-2, 6-3 Mon Melissa volleying a backhand, and Pauline driving one #94 Klara Zakopalova CZE d #105 wc Emilie Loit FRA 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 Mon *#111 Maret Ani EST d #96 Patricia Mayr AUT 4-6, 6(1)-7, 6-4 Tue

Acapulco, 2nd Round, Wed 3pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #6 s1 Venus Williams USA d #158 q Greta Arn HUN 6-3, 6(3)-7, 6-4 Greta and Venus driving forehand and backhand #15 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #86 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-1, 6-3 Pauline and Flavia driving backhands, and Flavia acknowledging the crowd after the win on her 27th birthday *#68 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #28 s3 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-4, 7-5 Carla and Barbora driving forehands #29 LL Agnes Szavay HUN d #69 Roberta Vinci ITA 7-6(1), 6-4 #34 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE d #94 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3) Klara and Iveta driving forehand and backhand *#111 Maret Ani EST d #46 s5 Gisela Dulko ARG 7-6(6), 6-3 Gisela driving a backhand, and Maret about to connect with a forehand #73 Mathilde Johansson FRA d #54 s7 Tathiana Garbin ITA walkover—abdominal strain *#82 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #66 s8 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 Maria Jose about to swat a backhand, and Petra's forehand drive

Acapulco, QFs, Thu 3pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #6 s1 Venus Williams USA d #29 LL Agnes Szavay HUN 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 Agnes about to connect with a forehand, Venus driving a backhand, and after match point     Venus said: "I can't believe I finished before midnight tonight! It was another three-setter and my opponent played well. I had to take it to another level. I was aggressive and just didn't have any of the issues I had last night. I'm getting more comfortable with the courts here, and I've reached my first goal of getting to the semifinals." Acapulco player's blog by Venus Williams #15 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #82 Petra Cetkovska CZE 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 Petra driving a forehand, and Flavia ready to launch one     2005 and 2008 Abierto Mexicano champion Flavia Pennetta will play the 2004 Acapulco champ, Iveta Benesova, in a semifinal on Friday. Iveta leads Flavia 3-2 in career matches, and went all the way from qualifying to defeat Flavia in the 2004 Abierto Mexicano final, 7-6(5), 6-4. Iveta has a 14-3 match record on the red clay in Acapulco; Flavia is 27-4 at the Mexican Open. #34 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE d #73 Mathilde Johansson FRA 6-1, 6-3 Mathilde and Iveta driving backhand and forehand #68 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #111 Maret Ani EST 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Maret following a backhand, and Barbora fielding a drop shot

Acapulco, SFs, Fri 3pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #6 s1 Venus Williams USA d #68 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-0, 6-3 Venus tossing the ball for her serve, and Barbora & Venus driving backhands     Venus said: "My match tonight was well contested - I know the score was 6-0, 6-3, but it took 90 minutes, which is pretty long for that score. It really takes more work on the clay.     "The first set was obviously great. The second set was a little tougher, but there was nothing I wasn't prepared to do. And I felt like whenever the big points came up, I came up with the goods, especially on my serve. I find a way." Acapulco player's blog by Venus Williams #15 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #34 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-3, 6-3 Iveta and Flavia driving backhands, and Flavia after winning a point (match point?)     Iveta had defeated Flavia in the 2004 Acapulco final. Iveta said: "It's been five years since our last match here, so it was a completely different match. I didn't play as well as in our previous matches, but [Flavia] didn't give me many chances to. She played really well today." WTA story     Flavia will play Venus Williams in the Acapulco final on Saturday. Flavia leads Venus 3-2 in career matches, having defeated Venus once in 2007 and twice last year (including their only previous clay court encounter, in the 3rd round of last year's French Open, when Flavia defeated Venus 7-5, 6-3). Venus won their most recent meeting, on an indoor hardcourt in the Zurich final last year, 7-6(1), 6-2. Flavia is 28-4 on the red clay at the Mexican Open; Venus never played at Acapulco before this week.     Flavia said: "It feels like I'm always playing the final here, it's really a magical moment for me. I really love playing here. Hopefully I can win another title here tomorrow...     "I've played good matches against Venus in the past, but tomorrow will be a new match, and anything can happen. I will try to bring my best tennis tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to do it again."

Acapulco, Final, Sat 6:30pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #6 s1 Venus Williams USA d #15 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-1, 6-2 Flavia and Venus driving forehand and backhand, and Flavia congratulating Venus after match point

Acapulco, Doubles Final, Sat 3pm loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr40 s1 Nuria Llagostera Vives & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez     d cdr372 Lourdes Dominguez Lino & Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-4, 6-2 2008 & 2009 Acapulco doubles champs Nuria (7th WTA doubles title) and Maria Jose (also 7th WTA doubles title) Acapulco, Qual Finals, Mon Feb 23 3pm losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#158 Greta Arn HUN d #29 Agnes Szavay HUN 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 #127 Iona Raluca Olaru ROU d #255 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-1, 6-4 *#292 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP d #153 Arantxa Rus NED 6-3, 7-5 *#144 Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR d #138 Alexa Glatch USA 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) Acapulco, Withdrawals #24 Kaia Kanepi EST illness #31 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN right shoulder injury #32 Sara Errani ITA right shoulder injury #35 Maria Kirilenko RUS #100 Timea Bacsinszky SUI left knee injury #102 Mariana Duque Marino COL illness

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