WTA Jul 20-26: Bad Gastein & Portoroz Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, AUT INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay - Free Live Video Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - S - D - OOP     tourn. draws: S - Q - D - OOP pics: WTA - webcam Austria: radar (Europe) - forecast Austria News & Links #28 A Cornet, #30 F Schiavone #31 S Bammer, #32 I Benesova Slovenia Open, Portoroz, SLO INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard - Free Live Video Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - S - D - OOP     tourn. draws: S - Q - D - sched. photos: WTA Portoroz: radar - forecast - map #1 D Safina, #21 A Medina Garrigues #24 K Kanepi, #46 R Vinci

Tourney pages: Bad Gastein: 2008 - 2007   Portoroz: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 previous other tourney pages next Portoroz: #1 Dinara Safina 5'11½" 154½lb RH 2H-BH Bad Gastein: #98 Andrea Petkovic 5'11" 152lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Portoroz, Slovenia, in the final of the Slovenia Open, 23-year-old top-seeded #1 Dinara Safina of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco) narrowly defeated the 2008 Portoroz champ and last week's finalist in Palermo, 22-year-old 5th-seeded #47 Sara Errani from Bologna, Italy, 6(5)-7, 6-1, 7-5 (Dinara is shown hoisting the transparent trophy after the match). Dinara's prize is $37,000; Sara's prize is $19,000.

    Sara broke the world #1's serve seven times (in 14 opportunities), but it was not enough; Dinara converted 11 of 19 break points against Sara. Dinara won despite 9 double faults (Sara: 0 DFs), but Dinara won 56% of her 1st serve points, Sara, only 38%.

    Dinara and Sara had met only once before, earlier this year in the 1st round in Stuttgart, when Dinara won, 6-0, 6-1.

    Valencia-trained 2009 Australian Open and 2008 French Open finalist Dinara is now 12-10 in WTA singles finals; she had won her most recent titles in May in Madrid and Rome. Dinara has a 47-9 match record this season.
    2008 Portoroz champion Sara is now 2-2 in WTA singles finals; her other title came in Palermo last year. Sara has a 21-20 match record in 2009.

    Meanwhile in Bad Gastein, Austria, in the final of the Gastein Ladies, 21-year-old unseeded #98 Andrea Petkovic from Darmstadt, Germany, won the first WTA title of her career by defeating 20-year-old unseeded #59 Iona Raluca Olaru from Bucharest, Romania, 6-2, 6-3 (Andrea is shown holding the hardware after the match.) Andrea's prize is $37,000; Iona's prize is $19,000.

    Andrea said: "I was hoping to land my first title here. It will take some time to realize I've actually done it but I am just very happy now." AP story
    Andrea was sidelined for eight months last year after tearing right knee ligaments at the Australian Open. Andrea said: "Rehabilitation was long and hard but made me a stronger person. Winning this title shows I am a better player now."

    Iona said: "I am obviously disappointed, I wanted to play better tennis today. But I had a great week and must be satisfied with that."

    Andrea and Iona are now tied at 2-2 in career matches; both of Iona's wins came on clay courts in ITF play, while Andrea won their only previous WTA match, on a plexipave hardcourt at Indian Wells earlier this year.

    Both ladies were playing in their first WTA singles final.
    Andrea, now 1-0 in WTA singles finals, has won 8 ITF singles titles and 3 ITF doubles titles. Andrea has a 37-15 match record this year. This was by far the best week of her career: she also reached the doubles final, partnered with Tatjana Malek, though they lost to Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova, 6-2, 6-4
    2005 Roland Garros Juniors finalist Iona, now 0-1 in WTA singles finals, has won 9 ITF singles titles and 1 WTA and 6 ITF doubles titles. Iona has a 24-16 match record this season. Getting to Know: Iona Raluca Olaru

WTA SCOREBOARD: Bad Gastein & Portoroz s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Gastein Ladies,  Bad Gastein, Austria   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Austria News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Bad Gastein: The 32-player main draw for Bad Gastein has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers and 3 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Monday.   click for broader view   Bad Gastein, Austria, area (close-up N/A) Latitude: 47.119906 Longitude: 13.130722 goto link for World Wind The Gastein Valley is a skiing area about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Salzburg; Bad Gastein is at an altitude of 1000 meters, and is near Stubnerkogel, 2246 meters. The was new in 2007. 2009: On Friday, July 24, in Bad Gastein, top seed Alize Cornet posed for a photo... Earlier in the week, Nuria Llagostera Vives took a cable car up Schloss Alm to view the area from above, and Austrian Tamira Paszek, sidelined by injury, relaxed at the hot springs...

Bad Gastein, 1st Rnd, Mon-Tue 10am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #28 s1 Alize Cornet FRA d #120 Mariana Duque Marino COL 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 Tue #31 s3 Sybille Bammer AUT d LL #207 Nathalie Vierin ITA 7-5, 6-4 Tue #32 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE d #75 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU 7-6(5), 6-3 Tue *#79 Tatiana Malek GER d #33 s5 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 Mon #48 s6 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #106 Mariya Koryttseva UKR 6-3, 6-1 Tue #54 s7 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #187 q Zuzana Ondraskova CZE 6-4, 6-3 Tue *#104 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP d #56 s8 Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-2, 6-2 Tue #58 s9 Shahar Peer ISR d #400 wc Tina Schiechtl AUT 6-4, 6-3 #59 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU d #137 Marta Domachowska POL 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 Mon #65 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #311 q Lenka Jurikova SVK 6-1, 6-0 Tue #72 Patricia Mayr AUT d #83 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 6-3, 6-3 Tue #58 s9 Shahar Peer ISR d #400 wc Tina Schiechtl AUT 6-4, 6-3 Tue #98 Andrea Petkovic GER d #800 sr Sandra Kloesel GER 6-4, 6-3 Mon *#121 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #118 Sandra Zahlavova CZE 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 Tue #145 wc Yvonne Meusburger AUT d #212 q Sharon Fichman CAN 6-4, 6-3 Tue #203 LL Tereza Hladikova CZE d #231 wc Melanie Klaffner AUT 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Tue

Bad Gastein, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #28 s1 Alize Cornet FRA d #72 Patricia Mayr AUT 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 Thu *#59 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU d #31 s3 Sybille Bammer AUT 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 Thu *#98 Andrea Petkovic GER #32 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-1, 0-0 retired—left thigh injury Thu #48 s6 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #81 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Wed #54 s7 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #203 LL Tereza Hladikova CZE 6-3, 6-2 Wed *#65 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #58 s9 Shahar Peer ISR 6-2, 6-1 Wed *#145 wc Yvonne Meusburger AUT d #79 Tatiana Malek GER 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Wed *#121 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #104 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-0, 6-3 Thu

Bad Gastein, QFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #28 s1 Alize Cornet FRA d #121 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 *#59 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU d #48 s6 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-4, 6-4 *#98 Andrea Petkovic GER d #54 s7 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6(6)-7, 6-3, 6-1 #65 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #145 wc Yvonne Meusburger AUT 6-2, 6-3

Bad Gastein, SFs, Sat noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#59 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU d #28 s1 Alize Cornet FRA 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 *#98 Andrea Petkovic GER d #65 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-2, 6-1     Andrea is now 5-1 against Yaroslava. After the 1st set reached 2-2, Andrea won 9 straight games.     Andrea said: "I know I am good enough to beat most players on this level. I expected a tough three-set match, but I didn't give [Yaroslava] much of a chance after a shaky start." AP story

Bad Gastein, Final, Sun noon loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#98 Andrea Petkovic GER d #59 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU 6-2, 6-3 Iona and Petra driving forehand and backhand, and Petra after match point

Bad Gastein, Doubles Final, Sun after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr119 s3 Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka d cdr255 Andrea Petkovic & Tatjana Malek 6-2, 6-4 Bad Gastein, Qual Finals, Mon Jul 20 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #171 Carmen Klaschka GER d #207 Nathalie Vierin ITA 7-5, 6-4 #187 Zuzana Ondraskova CZE d #203 Tereza Hladikova CZE 6-0, 6-1 #212 Sharon Fichman CAN d #494 Natasa Zoric SRB 6-0, 6-1 *#311 Lenka Jurikova SVK d #239 Lenka Tvaroskova SVK 6-1, 6-4 Bad Gastein, Withdrawals #30 s2 Francesca Schiavone ITA #40 Gisela Dulko ARG #73 Monica Niculescu ROU #93 Edina Gallovits ROU #99 Anastasija Sevastova LAT

Slovenia Open,  Portoroz, Slovenia   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Slovenia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Portoroz: The 32-player main draw for Portoroz 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   SRC Marina Portoroz, Slovenia Latitude: 45.507963 Longitude: 13.596697 goto link for World Wind Slovenia Open venue address: ŠRC Marina Portorose, Slovenia; operators: Sport Society of Portorose, Liminjanska cesta 115, 6320 Portorose     2008 is the fourth year of the Portoroz tourney. Slovenia, north of Croatia, west of Switzerland, south of Austria, and east of Hungary, became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991 after a 10-day war. Portoroz is located on the Adriatic Sea; Italy is on the opposite shore. 2009: On Friday, July 17, Slovene #1 Katarina Srebotnik, currently sidelined by a shoulder injury, and WTA #1 Dinara Safina took a boat ride to the nearby town of Piran for a light exhibition match... row 2: At the players party on Tuesday, Ekaterina Ivanova won the annual cocktail mixing contest... Ekaterina and Arantxa Rus were also looking very photogenic while sailing on Wednesday...

Portoroz, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 4pm loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #277 wc Tadeja Majeric SLO 6-0, 6-4 Mon Tadeja and Dinara driving backhands *#152 q Vesna Manasieva RUS d #21 s2 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 Tue Vesna after match point *#69 Olga Govortsova RUS d #24 s3 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-1, 6-2 Mon Olga and Kaia driving backhands #46 s4 Roberta Vinci ITA d #882 wc Nastja Kolar SLO 6-2, 6-0 Tue #47 s5 Sara Errani ITA d #112 Arantxa Rus NED 6-1, 6-0 Tue #49 s6 Lucie Safarova CZE d #113 Katie O’Brien GBR 6-4, 6-4 Mon #50 s7 Vera Dushevina RUS d #66 Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-0, 6-3 Tue Vera's backhand drive #63 s8 Petra Kvitova CZE v #90 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) Tue #151 wc Petra Martic CRO d #67 Kristina Barrois GER 6-3, 6-4 Mon *#89 Rossana de los Rios PAR d #78 Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(6) Mon Rossana following a backhand *#107 Alberta Brianti ITA d #86 Polona Hercog SLO 7-5, 6-4 Tue *#160 q Ksenia Pervak RUS d #92 Julia Goerges GER 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Tue #94 Stefanie Voegele SUI d #188 q Anna Tatishvili GEO 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 Tue Stefanie while tossing the ball for her serve #100 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #144 q Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ 6-1, 6-4 Tue Maria Elena driving a backhand *#124 Klara Zakopalova CZE d #101 Masa Zec Peskiric SLO 6-2, 6-4 Mon Klara's backhand drive #123 Camille Pin FRA d #111 Vitalia Diatchenko RUS 6-3, retired—upper respiratory illness Tue

Portoroz, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 4pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #160 q Ksenia Pervak RUS 6-1, 6-2 Wed Dinara about to slice a backhand, and Ksenia driving a high one     Dinara said: "I knew [Ksenia] wasn't an easy opponent and I was much more focused on the court than in my first match. I go into every match more and more serious. I still think I can improve some shots. She brought a lot of balls back and it wasn't easy to overpower her. I had to work hard to finish the points." WTA story *#89 Rossana de los Rios PAR d #46 s4 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 6-4 Wed Rossana's forehand drive #47 s5 Sara Errani ITA d #124 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-1, 6-1 Thu Klara serving, and Sara driving a backhand *#94 Stefanie Voegele SUI d #49 s6 Lucie Safarova CZE 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 Wed Stefanie observing her trajectory *#100 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #50 s7 Vera Dushevina RUS d 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 Wed Vera and Maria Elena driving forehand and backhand *#123 Camille Pin FRA d #63 s8 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-4, 6-4 Thu Camille volleying a forehand *#107 Alberta Brianti ITA d #69 Olga Govortsova RUS 6-4, 6-1 Thu Olga following a forehand, and Alberta about to swat one #151 wc Petra Martic CRO d #152 q Vesna Manasieva RUS 6-1, 6-3 Thu

Portoroz, QFs, Fri 4:30pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #100 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 6-3, 6-0 Dinara and Maria Elena driving forehand and backhand #47 s5 Sara Errani ITA d #151 wc Petra Martic CRO 6-1, 6-1 Petra and Sara about to swat backhand and forehand *#94 Stefanie Voegele SUI d #89 Rossana de los Rios PAR 6-1, 6-1 Stefanie ready to reach her first WTA singles semifinal #107 Alberta Brianti ITA d #123 Camille Pin FRA 6-3, 6-2

Portoroz, SFs, Sat 6pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #107 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-4, 6-3 Alberta, in her first WTA singles semifinal, following a forehand, and Dinara driving a backhand #47 s5 Sara Errani ITA d #94 Stefanie Voegele SUI 6-1, 6-2 Sara driving a forehand, and Stefanie, in her first WTA singles semifinal, driving a backhand

Portoroz, Final, Sun 8pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #47 s5 Sara Errani ITA 6(5)-7, 6-1, 7-5 Sara and Dinara driving forehand and backhand, and Dinara after match point

Portoroz, Doubles Final Sat after singles SFs loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr176 s3 Julia Goerges & Vladimira Uhlirova d cdr590 Klara Zakopalova & Camille Pin 6-4, 6-2 Julia (1st WTA doubles title) & Vladimira (3rd WTA doubles title), and Camille & Klara Portoroz, Qual Finals, Mon Jul 20 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#160 Ksenia Pervak RUS d #110 Kristina Kucova SVK 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(0) *#188 Anna Tatishvili GEO d #119 Angelique Kerber GER 6-3, 6-2 #144 Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ d #289 Ana Vrljic CRO 6-2, 6-1 *#152 Vesna Manasieva RUS d #148 Regina Kulikova RUS 4-1 retired Portoroz, Withdrawals #45 Katarina Srebotnik SLO shoulder injury #70 Urszula Radwanska POL #77 Jelena Dokic AUS #103 Severine Bremond Beltrame FRA #115 Karolina Sprem CRO

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Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2009 WTA Schedule with links & photos

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

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