WTA Oct 3-11: Beijing China Open, Beijing, CHN PREMIER M $4,500,000 60m/32q/28d outdoor: hard Free Live Video: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP photos: Y!: sports - news | WTA Chinese w/pics:     163.com - sina - sports.cn - sohu webcast | Beijing forecast - radar Beijing News - China News #1 Dinara Safina #2 Serena Williams #3 Venus Williams #4 Elena Dementieva #5 Caroline Wozniacki #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova #7 Vera Zvonareva #8 Jelena Jankovic

Beijing: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004   Shanghai: 2003 previous other tourney pages next Beijing: #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova 5'8½" 161lb RH 2H-BH Beijing: 12th WTA Singles Title 3rd Title This Year

    On Sunday in Beijing, in the final of the China Open, the 2006 China Open champion (and this year's French Open champ), 24-year-old 6th-seeded #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), won the Beijing title a second time by defeating 20-year-old 12th-seeded #12 Agnieszka Radwanska from Krakow, Poland, 6-2, 6-4 (Svetlana is shown during the match, and with the hardware afterward).

    Svetlana's prize is $775,000; Agnieszka's is $387,750.

    Svetlana, who delivered 6 aces (with only 2 double faults), was playing in her 4th China Open final. Svetlana said: "I guess I just like to play here. I have some different luck here and definitely like the atmosphere. The support is great... Normally I feel really tired at the end of the season, but now I feel great." AP story

    Reaching the final will put Agnieszka back in the top 10 in next week's WTA rankings.

    Agnieszka said: "Svetlana's been very good today, hitting hard every ball. I think also she had nothing to lose today... Of course it's better to win a tournament, but I'm still in the top 10 so it's not that bad."

    Svetlana now leads Agnieszka 6-3 in career matches, and also won their previous meeting, on red clay in the 4th round of this year's French Open, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

    Barcelona-trained 2004 US Open champion Svetlana is now 12-18 in WTA singles finals; she won this year at Roland Garros and at Stuttgart, and reached the final at Rome. Svetlana's 2009 match record is 42-14.

    Agnieszka is now 4-1 in WTA singles finals; she won the Eastbourne, Istanbul and Pattaya City titles last year, and the Stockholm title in 2007. Agnieszka has a 40-21 match record this season.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Beijing s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? China Open,  Beijing, China   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +12 hours        = US PDT +15 hours Beijing News - China News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Beijing: The main draw for Beijing has 16 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes.     There are 8 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (2 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Saturday.   click for broader view   National Tennis Center, Beijing Latitude: 40.019398 Longitude: 116.37162 goto link for World Wind     The 2009 China Open is being held for the first time at the National Tennis Center, which was built for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The National Tennis Center (formerly known as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Green Tennis Courts) is located at the northwest corner of the primary 2008 Olympics venue, on the south side of Beijing's 5th ring road. The address is No. 2 Lin Cui Road, in the Chao Yang section of Beijing. 2009: On Sunday, October 4, Tokyo champion Maria Sharapova and finalist Jelena Jankovic arrived at Beijing airport, and 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist Jie Zheng posed for the press, holding two of the tourney mascot dolls...

Beijing, 1st Rd, Sat-Mon 11am losers' prize: $10,340 US; points: 5 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #59 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-4, 6-4 Sun Roberta serving, and Dinara driving a backhand #2 s2 Serena Williams USA d #48 Kaia Kanepi EST 7-5, 6-4 Sun Serena and Kaia driving backhands     Serena said: "It was a good challenging match to start off with. It wasn't easy but I felt like I was hitting a clean ball. [Kaia is] a really good player, she always plays me really tough... I'm definitely not at 100 percent [physically], but I'm just fighting and trying to do the best that I can."     Serena will regain the #1 ranking if she does better than Dinara Safina this week. Serena said: "It's definitely on my radar, but honestly I have to make sure I am doing the best that I can, whatever that is. I would love to be number one, but I also want to pay the price to be number one. It will come eventually, if not, I'll just keep trying." postmatch interview #3 s3 Venus Williams USA d #47 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-2, 7-6(1) Sat Vera and Venus driving backhands     Venus said: "In the second set, it got away from me. I just started making too many errors, and [Vera] started making some big shots. Quickly became a deficit for me, but I was still determined to win the set and got to play some competitive tennis out there." postmatch interview #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS d #63 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-4, 6-0 Sun Elena running down a forehand     2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Elena said: "It was very nice to come back here and play on center court. It was a very emotional match for me. It's great to be back again and play this Olympic Stadium. Glad it all worked out today, had a good win, and a good first round. Very special place for me and I'm trying to do well here." postmatch interview *#37 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #5 s5 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6(5)-7, 7-6(2), 6-0 Sun #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #32 Jie Zheng CHN 7-6(3), 7-5 Sun Svetlana and Jie driving forehand and backhand, and Jie congratulating Sveta after match point #7 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #28 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-2, 6-2 Sun #9 s9 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #66 q Olga Govortsova BLR 6-1, 6-3 Sun #10 s10 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #186 wc Xinyun Han CHN 7-6(2), 6-2 Sat Flavia about to slice a backhand, and Xinyun driving a forehand #13 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d #103 q Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 Mon #14 s14 Marion Bartoli FRA d #49 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Sun *#51 Alize Cornet FRA d #15 s15 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Sat Samantha and Alizé driving forehand and backhand #21 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #210 wc Jingjing Lu CHN 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 Sun #22 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #31 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 7-5, 6-2 Mon *#29 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #23 wc Yanina Wickmayer BEL 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 Mon *#38 q Melinda Czink HUN d #24 Elena Vesnina RUS 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4 Sun *#27 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #26 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-0, 1-0 retired—GI illness Mon *#54 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #34 q Shahar Peer ISR 6-4, 6-2 Sun #35 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #44 Aravane Rezai FRA 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) Sat #36 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #45 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-3, 6-0 Sat *#228 wc Shuai Zhang CHN d #39 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-4, 6-2 Sun #40 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #50 Sybille Bammer AUT 7-5, 6-1 Sat #41 Sara Errani ITA d #112 Alexa Glatch USA 6-1, 6-1 Sun #43 Lucie Safarova CZE d #570 q Chun-Mei Ji CHN 6-2, 6-4 Sun #46 Patty Schnyder SUI d #62 q Urszula Radwanska POL 6-4, 7-5 Sun #33 q Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #56 wc Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(2) Sun *#53 Shuai Peng CHN d #52 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-2, 6-3 Sun #90 LL Vania King USA d #94 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 6-4, 6-3 Mon

Beijing, 2nd Rd, Mon-Tue losers' prize: $19,950 US; points: 80 Toyko semifinalists Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, Na Li & Agnieszka Radwanska, received 1st round byes *#228 wc Shuai Zhang CHN d #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS 7-5, 7-6(5) Mon Shuai serving, Dinara driving a backhand, Shuai reaching for a forehand, and after match point     The win made Shuai, ranked #226 this week (#228 last week, when the draw was made) the lowest-ranked player to defeat a current #1-ranked player in WTA history. The record had previously been held by Julie Coin, who, ranked #188, defeated then-#1 Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 US Open.     Shuai said: "I woke up this morning feeling really excited, but didn't do any special preparation and never expected to win the match." AP story     Dinara had 13 double faults in the match, with no aces. As a result of Dinara's loss, #2 Serena Williams will retake the #1 position in next week's WTA rankings if she wins her 2nd round match against #54 Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday.     Dinara said: "I'm having some bad losses. So many matches that are very close, ones I should win, having set points or match points every time. It's very disappointing, I'd like to take a break now. I'm very upset with myself." WTA story #2 s2 Serena Williams USA d #54 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-3, 6-2 Tue Ekaterina and Serena driving forehand and backhand, and Serena after match point     The position of current #1 Dinara Safina of Russia had become vulnerable when Dinara lost ranking points by losing her opening matches this week and last week in Tokyo.     Serena said: "It feels pretty good. I'm really excited, I guess. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, but I mean, I'm obviously happy to be there because I feel like I've been working so hard all year, and I'm just happy to be back...     "I take everyone really serious. I'm just taking every match a day at a time. You can't underestimate anyone. This is a tough part of the year. It gets kind of towards the end, and everyone's bodies are starting to ache, and you're really fighting, but you just do your best." postmatch interview *#40 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #3 s3 Venus Williams USA 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Mon Venus driving a forehand, Anastasia firing one on the run, and after match point     Anastasia also defeated Venus last week in the 2nd round in Tokyo, 7-6(6) 7-5.     Anastasia said: "I was just playing and playing, and point by point. I was just trying to move [Venus] as much as I could. I just tried to hit shot by shot, more and more. Hit more than her...     "She started out way aggressive today. Especially the first set. She was playing much better. She was already preparing for this match more than she probably was last week. She wanted to kill me I guess. She was playing really well, actually in all the match. I’m quite happy." postmatch interview     Venus said: "[Anastasia] played really well. Unfortunately sometimes I just made an error too soon while playing... Twelve double faults didn’t help me today. I wasn’t counting those, though." postmatch interview #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS d #38 q Melinda Czink HUN 6-4, 6-3 Tue Elena driving a backhand #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #21 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-2, 6-1 Mon #7 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #27 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-3, 6-0 Tue *#53 Shuai Peng CHN d #8 s8 Jelena Jankovic SRB 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 Tue Jelena and Shuai driving forehand and backhand, and Shuai while speaking to the crowd after the match     2008 China Open champion Jelena is struggling with a knee injury, and from a right arm injury which forced her to retire from the Tokyo final on Saturday.     Jelena said: "I love to play here in China. I have a lot of fans here, but unfortunately my arm couldn’t hold up. I couldn’t really hit the ball as hard as I can hit. I played half the pace. I tried the best that I could, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough." postmatch interview *#25 Maria Sharapova RUS d #9 s9 Victoria Azarenka BLR 6-3, 6(5)-7, 7-5 Tue Maria serving, Vika driving a forehand, Maria firing one on the run, and after match point     Maria trailed 2-5 in the 3rd set, then took the last 5 games to win the three hour and seven minute match.     Although Maria had 8 double faults in 120 service points, she put 71% of her 1st serves in the box, including 13 aces.     Maria said: "I was really fortunate that in the six matches that I played in Tokyo, I was able to come in day in and day out and serve better from each match... If you asked me if I could do that maybe a few months ago, I probably wouldn't have the strength or the energy in my arm to do that six matches in a row and against an opponent like I had today. That was a very important thing because [Victoria's] return is really good, and she's really aggressive from the baseline, and she tends to attack in the first point, so that was a key in the match." postmatch interview #10 s10 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #33 q Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 Tue #12 s12 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #46 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-4, 6-1 Tue #13 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d #22 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 Tue #14 s14 Marion Bartoli FRA d #29 Alisa Kleybanova RUS 6-2, 6-3 Tue #16 s16 Na Li CHN d #43 Lucie Safarova CZE 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 Mon Na driving a backhand, and meeting the press after the match #35 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #51 Alize Cornet FRA 7-6(0), 6-4 Mon #36 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #41 Sara Errani ITA 6-3, 6-3 Mon #37 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #90 LL Vania King USA 6-4, 6-4 Tue

Beijing, 3rd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am losers' prize: $37,225 US; points: 140 *#13 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d #2 s2 Serena Williams USA 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) Thu Serena and Nadia driving forehand and backhand, and Nadia after match point     Nadia fired 14 aces with only 2 double faults (Serena: 7 aces, 4 DFs).     Serena said: "I don't feel like I ever got into high gear... I ran into a girl today that has never played so good in her whole life." postmatch interview     Nadia said: "Actually, we both played well, especially in serve." postmatch interview #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS d #16 s16 Na Li CHN 6-2, 6-0 Wed Elena and Na driving forehand and backhand     Elena said: "She’s a little bit tired. Li Na had great result in the semifinal in Tokyo and she played very well. I was trying to focus on my game." postmatch interview #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #36 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 Wed Alona fielding a forehand, Svetlana driving a backhand, and Sveta after match point #7 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #10 s10 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 Thu #12 s12 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #37 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 Thu #14 s14 Marion Bartoli FRA d #228 wc Shuai Zhang CHN 6-1, 6-4 Thu Shuai and Marion driving forehand and backhand, and Marion after match point *#53 Shuai Peng CHN d #25 #25 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-2, 6-4 Wed Shuai and Maria driving forehand and backhand, and Shuai after winning a point     Maria said: "I was having trouble with a few things. It was not my day I guess. Usually I’m able to, when things are not going well, to fight and get myself going, and I was not able to do that today for some reason. I’m not sure why, but sometimes you have those days...     "[Shuai] played really solid and really aggressive, and did all the right things to win the match today." tourney story *#40 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #35 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 6-4, 6-4 Wed

Beijing, QFs, Fri 11am losers' prize: $74,450 US; points: 250 *#12 s12 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS 7-5, 6-3 Elena about to slice a backhand, Agnieszka driving one, and after match point     Elena said: "[Agnieszka] is very solid on the baseline, giving everything back to you... You have to be aggressive if you want to win, and I wasn’t aggressive enough, so I had a lot of mistakes and unforced errors. I wasn’t playing my game, I was playing her game." postmatch interview #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #40 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-3, 6-3 *#14 s14 Marion Bartoli FRA d #7 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS 3-6, 7-5, 6-2     Vera led by a set and two breaks, 6-3, 4-1—then Marion took control of the match. #13 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d #53 Shuai Peng CHN 6(5)-7, 6-3, 6-2 Shuai and Nadia driving backhands, and Nadia after match point     Nadia said: "[Shuai] had a good week, and good wins, especially in the second round [over Jelena Jankovic]. She pleased the crowd with her performance... My priority right now is to... have a good night's sleep. The match will be at late afternoon. So I’ll have enough time to get rest." postmatch interview

Beijing, SFs, Sat noon losers' prize: $169,445 US; points: 450 #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #13 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Svetlana about to slice a backhand, Nadia driving one, and Sveta's forehand drive     Svetlana said: "I think my return serve was well and I played well. It was a little bit tight at the start of the second set but I think I played well and made it a very good game." postmatch interview #12 s12 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #14 s14 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-3 Agnieszka's forehand drive, and Marion and Agnieszka driving backhands

Beijing, Final, Sun 1pm, 7pm loser's prize: $387,750 US; points: 700 winner's prize: $775,500 US; points: 1000 #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #12 s12 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-2, 6-4 Svetlana serving, Agnieska driving a backhand, Svetlana about to swat one, and Agnieszka congratulating Svetlana after match point

Beijing, Doubles Final, Saturday losers' prize: $133,000 US winners' prize: $266,000 US cdr33 s5 Shuai Peng & Su-Wei Hsieh d cdr75 Alla Kudryavtseva & Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-1 Su-Wei (7th WTA doubles title) & Shuai (6th WTA doubles title), their 4th title as a team Beijing, Qual Finals, Sat Oct 3 10am losers' prizes: q1 $1,350 1pt; q2 $2,610 20pts; qualifier 30 points #33 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #139 Chanelle Scheepers RSA 6-3, 6-2 #34 Shahar Peer ISR d #90 Vania King USA 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 #38 Melinda Czink HUN d #94 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 6-1, 6-3 #52 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #369 Shengnan Sun CHN 6-3, 6-2 #62 Urszula Radwanska POL d #242 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 #66 Olga Govortsova BLR d #112 Alexa Glatch USA 6-4, 6-3 #103 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #124 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-1, 6-0 *#570 Chun-Mei Ji CHN d #125 Angela Haynes USA 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 Beijing, Withdrawals #11 s11 Ana Ivanovic SRB upper respiratory illness #18 s17 Virginie Razzano FRA left calf strain #19 Amelie Mauresmo FRA abdominal injury #20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK right rib injury #30 Gisela Dulko ARG left adductor strain

    (October 3, 2009) #11 (and former #1) Ana Ivanovic has withdrawn from the China Open, and will play no more WTA matches this year. 2008 French Open champion Ana is suffering from upper respiratory illness, and says she needs a long break to recover from many small injuries.

    Ana said: "I guess having to withdraw from Beijing is an appropriate ending to a very disappointing season... My body is quite fragile at the moment, because I over-trained during the first part of the year. This was, I think, what caused me to have many small injuries this season...
    "I completely changed my serve after Wimbledon. This was because of my shoulder: if I continued serving and training the way I was, I would have almost certainly picked up a serious injury. My team and I are confident that I will be able to go back to my old service motion when I start practising again in November...
    "I have appointed a new fitness coach, whom I will tell you more about later. Over the next month or so I can have a great break. I can rest without thinking about any future tournaments, then train and practise hard for the new season." Ana's full statement

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

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.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.