WTA, ITF & Exhibition Jan 5-11 Brisbane International, Brisbane, AUS INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - match notes photos: Y!: sports - news | WTA Brisbane: weather radar - forecast # 5 Ana Ivanovic, # 15 Victoria Azarenka # 17 Marion Bartoli, # 21 D Hantuchova ASB Classic, Auckland, NZL INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP photos: Y!: sports - news | WTA Auckland: rainfall - forecast # 4 Elena Dementieva, # 12 C Wozniacki # 22 A Medina G, # 34 A Wozniak Hopman Cup, Perth, AUS Live Scores standings - results - teams-sched photos: Y!: sports - news Perth: weather radar - forecast World Team Challenge, Hong Kong, CHN draw Hong Kong: weather radar - forecast

Gold Coast-Auckland tourney pages: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Perth: #19 Dominika Cibulkova 5' 3" 121lb RH 2H-BH Brisbane: #5 Ana Ivanovic 6' 1" 152lb RH 2H-BH

    On Monday in Perth, Australia, in the 4th round robin "tie" of the 2009 Hopman Cup, 19-year-old # 19 Dominika Cibulkova from Bratislava, Slovakia, handily defeated 29-year-old # 837 (and former # 11, her ranking depleted by injury last year) Meghann Shaughnessy from Scottsdale, Arizona, 6-2, 6-2 (Dominika is shown after match point). Slovakia has now taken first place in Group A in the early going of the round robin, with USA dropping to fourth.

    Meanwhile, across the continent in Brisbane, in the 1st round of the Brisbane International, 21-year-old top-seeded # 5 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia (residence: Basel, Switzerland) defeated 16-year-old # 50 Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2 (Ana is also shown after match point).

    (Dec 30, 2008) Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the JB Group Classic exhibition in Hong Kong, but still hopes to be ready to defend her Australian Open title. # 18 Anna Chakvetadze has replaced Maria in the Hong Kong exhib. Maria's torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon, originally injured last March, was not healing properly by October. So on October 15, Maria had arthroscopic surgery in New York.
    Maria said: "The procedure was successful and very simple. I left the hospital a few hours after the procedure and flew to my home in Florida for 3 days and then I flew back to Phoenix to start working on my shoulder... Dr. Altcheck thought my recovery would be very fast and he was right. I had full range of motion after 14 days, after 6 weeks I was throwing a football and after 8 weeks I was back on the court where I belong...
    "I am trying to do everything possible to be ready for Australia, but I have promised my doctors, coach and family that I will not rush back. Since I only started practicing 16 days ago,  I have only been able to practice so many hours at a time which is why I don't feel like I am ready to compete at a high level right now and this is why I need to pull out of the exhibtion in Hong Kong. But the great news is that we have taken care of the problem that has been bothering me so much over the last couple of years, and now is the time to get into what I call 'match shape'. I know my shoulder will be 100 percent by Australia, I just need to see if I have enough tennis training to be ready for that level." mariasharapova.com

SCOREBOARD: WTA Brisbane & Auckland; ITF Perth, Exhibition Hong Kong s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Australian Women's Hardcourts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia   tourney time:        = GMT +10 hours        = US EDT +15 hours        = US PDT +18 hours Australia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Brisbane: The main draw for Brisbane has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) begins on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.   click for broader view   Site of Queensland State Tennis Centre, Softstone St, Tennyson, Australia   directions Latitude: -27.525237 Longitude: 153.007396 goto link for World Wind     The Brisbane International was formerly known as the Australian Women's Hardcourts, and was held at nearby Gold Coast. For 2009 the tourney has been moved to the newly-constructed Queensland State Tennis Centre at Tennyson, a Brisbane suburb. The $AUD 82 million Tennyson facility has 23 courts, including four clay, two natural grass and 17 hardcourts. Centre court, named Rafter Arena after Aussie Patrick Rafter, a 2-time US Open champ, seats 5,500.     Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight savings time (other Aussie provinces do; as in Britain, it is called Summer Time rather than daylight savings). Thus the time in Brisbane during the summer months is 1 hour earlier than the time in Sydney and Melbourne. 2009: Aussie 16-year-olds Isabella Holland and Monika Wejnert posed for a pic after being selected as Brisbane main draw wildcards in December... Isabella and Marion Bartoli were looking good at the player party on New Year's Eve... On Friday, Jan 2, Isabella arrived for an exhibition match at the opening of the new Queensland State Tennis Center... 2009: On New Year's Day, Daniela Hantuchova made friends at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary... And on Saturday, Jan 3, top seeded Ana Ivanovic played Meet the Press and posed for some pretty pics on the Kangaroo Point cliffs overlooking Brisbane, while Amelie Mauresmo did the player rep thing at the main draw...

Brisbane, 1st Round, Sun-Mon 10:00am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #5 s1 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #50 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-4, 6-2 Mon Ana serving, driving a backhand, and after match point #15 s2 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #62 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-0, 6-2 Sun Victoria about to swat a forehand, and Kateryna's backhand drive #17 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA d #528 wc Monika Wejnert AUS 6-1, 6-2 Sun Marion's 2-handed forehand, and Monika about to drive a backhand *#42 Sara Errani ITA d #21 s4 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6(1)-7, 6-4, 6-0 Mon Daniela and Sara driving backhands #24 s5 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #178 wc Jelena Dokic AUS 7-6(9), 7-6(5) Mon Amelie and Jelena driving forehand and backhand *#32 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #27 s6 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-1, 6-4 Sun *#47 Olga Govortsova BLR d #30 s8 Francesca Schiavone ITA 7-5, 6-2 Mon c2 m3 Francesca following a forehand, and Olga's backhand drive *#52 Samantha Stosur AUS d #31 s9 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-2, 6-3 Mon Ai and Samantha driving forehands *#106 q Melinda Czink HUN d #33 Alona Bondarenko UKR 7-6(3), 6-1 Mon *#99 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK/AUS d #40 Shuai Peng CHN 6-4, 6-2 Sun *#148 q Sesil Karatantcheva BUL d #43 Iveta Benesova CZE 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 Mon Iveta lining up a backhand, and Sesil driving one #44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #48 Monica Niculescu ROU 6(2)-7, 6-4, 6-4 Sun #55 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #56 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-2, 6-3 Mon #63 Lucie Safarova CZE d #582 wc Isabella Holland AUS 6-4, 6-3 Mon *#97 LL Julie Coin FRA d #73 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 7-5, 6(5)-7, 7-6(3) Mon Julie driving a backhand *#84 q Roberta Vinci ITA d #76 q Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 Mon

Brisbane, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 10:30am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #5 s1 Ana Ivanovic SRB v #84 q Roberta Vinci ITA #15 s2 Victoria Azarenka BLR v #99 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK/AUS Tue cC m2 #17 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA v #106 q Melinda Czink HUN Tue c2 m2 #24 s5 Amelie Mauresmo FRA v #97 LL Julie Coin FRA #32 Alisa Kleybanova RUS v #55 Tathiana Garbin ITA Tue c2 m1 10:30am #42 Sara Errani ITA v #44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL #47 Olga Govortsova BLR v #148 q Sesil Karatantcheva BUL #52 Samantha Stosur AUS v #63 Lucie Safarova CZE Tue cC m5 eve2

Brisbane, QFs, Thu 10:30am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70

Brisbane, SFs, Fri 1pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130

Brisbane, Final, Sat 11:30am loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280

Brisbane, Doubles Final, Sat after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Brisbane, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 4, 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #76 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #97 Julie Coin FRA 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 #84 Roberta Vinci ITA d #174 Karolina Sprem CRO 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 #106 Melinda Czink HUN d #126 Zi Yan CHN 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 #148 Sesil Karatantcheva BUL d #145 Evgeniya Rodina RUS 6-1, 7-6(4) Brisbane, Withdrawals #23 Na Li CHN #26 Sybille Bammer AUT illness #29 s7 Maria Kirilenko RUS illness

ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand   tourney time:        = GMT +13 hours        = US EDT +18 hours        = US PDT +21 hours New Zealand News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Auckland: The main draw for Auckland has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) begins on Saturday; qualifying finals are on Monday.   click for broader view   ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland Latitude: -36.853767 Longitude: 174.773394 goto link for World Wind another map - directions     The ASB Tennis Centre has 7 outdoor Rebound Ace courts (which may be converted to Plexicushion), 2 indoor Astrograss courts, and 3 indoor hard courts, all lit.

Auckland, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #4 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS d #74 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 7-5, 6-3 Tue #12 s2 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #173 q Alberta Brianti ITA 6-1, 6-0 Tue #22 s3 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #133 Mara Santangelo ITA 7-5, 6-0 Mon #34 s4 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #59 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-3, 6(4)-7, 7-5 Mon #38 s5 Shahar Peer ISR d #83 Petra Cetkovska CZE 7-6(4), 6-2 Mon #41 s6 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #71 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5Mon #45 s7 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS v #88 q Kristina Barrois GER Tue cC m5 #49 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #69 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-4, 6-0 Tue *#75 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #58 Virginie Razzano FRA 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 Mon #60 Anne Keothavong GBR v #433 wc Mirjana Lucic CRO Tue cC m4 #64 Jill Craybas USA d #189 wc Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 6-4, 6-3 Mon *#86 q Ayumi Morita JPN d #65 Marta Domachowska POL 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Tue #66 Marina Erakovic NZL v #68 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP Tue cC m3 *#78 Edina Gallovits ROU d #72 Klara Zakopalova CZE 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 Mon #77 Aravane Rezai FRA d #144 wc Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Mon #79 Elena Vesnina RUS d #146 q Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-1, 6-0 Tue

Auckland, 2nd Round, Wed 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #4 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS v #66 Erakovic OR #68 Llagostera Vives #12 s2 Caroline Wozniacki DEN v #64 Jill Craybas USA #22 s3 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP v #78 Edina Gallovits ROU #34 s4 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN v #86 q Ayumi Morita JPN #38 s5 Shahar Peer ISR v #75 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE #41 s6 Nicole Vaidisova CZE v #79 Elena Vesnina RUS #45 Pavlyuchenkova OR #88 Barrois v #77 Aravane Rezai FRA #49 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP v #60 Keothavong OR #433 Lucic

Auckland, QFs, Thu 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70

Auckland, SFs, Fri noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130

Auckland, Final, Sat 1pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280

Auckland, Doubles Final, Sat after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Auckland, Qual Finals, Mon Jan 5 11am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#146 Aiko Nakamura JPN d #85 Mathilde Johansson FRA 6-4, 6-4 #86 Ayumi Morita JPN d #203 Michaella Krajicek NED 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 #88 Kristina Barrois GER d #125 Andreja Klepac SLO 6-4, 6-2 *#173 Alberta Brianti ITA d #102 Yvonne Meusburger AUT 6-3, 6-2 Auckland, Withdrawals #11 Nadia Petrova RUS meningitis #20 Katarina Srebotnik SLO achilles injury #61 Pauline Parmentier FRA #67 Mariya Koryttseva UKR ankle injury #70 Tamira Paszek AUT left foot tendonitis

ITF Hopman Cup, Perth, Western Australia   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Australia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Perth: The Hopman Cup is not a WTA-sanctioned event, but an ITF event featuring WTA & ATP pairs from 8 nations competing as teams.     As you might expect, each international "tie" consists of 3 "rubbers," 2 singles and 1 doubles.   click for broader view   Burswood Dome, Perth Latitude: -31.960164 Longitude: 115.896567 goto link for World Wind another map (dome is SE of golf course)     The eight competing teams are divided into two groups, A and B, which play round robin preliminaries. The two group winners play in the final. Beginning in 2007, one of the eight places has been reserved for the nation winning the Asian Hopman Cup, which was held for the first time in Hyderabad, India, in November 2006. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) won the Asian Hopman Cup in 2008 and 2009. 2009 Hopman Cup Teams Group A "Ties" W-L Matches W-L s7 Slovakia #19 Dominika Cibulkova Dominik Hrbaty 1-0 3-0 s6 Germany #58 Sabine Lisicki Nicolas Kiefer 1-0 2-1 s4 Australia #53 Casey Dellacqua Lleyton Hewitt 0-1 1-2 s1 USA #837 Meghann Shaughnessy James Blake 0-1 0-3 Group B s3 France #16 Alize Cornet Gilles Simon 1-0 3-0 s2 Russia #3 Dinara Safina Marat Safin 1-0 2-1 s5 Italy #13 Flavia Pennetta Simone Bolelli 0-1 1-2 s8 Chinese Taipei #80 Su-Wei Hsieh Yen-Hsun Lu 0-1 0-3 Perth, Hopman Cup, Saturday, Jan 3, 10:30am France 3 d Chinese Taipei 0 #16 Alize Cornet FRA d #80 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6-4, 6-4 Simon d Lu 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); # Cornet/Simon d Hsieh/Lu 6-4, 7-6(9) Perth, Hopman Cup, Sunday, Jan 4, 10:30am Russia 2 d Italy 1 #3 Dinara Safina RUS d #13 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-5, 6-3 Safin d Bolelli 7-6(5), 6-4; Pennetta/Bolelli d Safina/Safin 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(2) Flavia reaching for a forehand, and Dinara driving a backhand Perth, Hopman Cup, Monday 10:30am & 6pm Germany 2 d Australia 1 #58 Sabine Lisicki GER d #53 Casey Dellacqua AUS 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 Hewitt d Kiefer 6(6)-7, 6-3, 6-2; Lisicki/Kiefer d Dellacqua/Hewitt 6(2)-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) Casey and Sabine driving backhand and forehand, and Sabine after winning a point Slovak Republic 3 d USA 0 #19 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #837 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-2, 6-2 Hrbaty d Blake 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(1); Cibulkova/Hrbaty d Shaughnessy/Blake 6-4, 7-6(4) Meghann driving a forehand, Dominika volleying one, and after match point Perth, Hopman Cup, Tuesday 10:30am & 6pm France v Italy Australia v Slovak Republic Perth, Hopman Cup, Wednesday 10:30am & 6pm USA v Germany Russia v Chinese Taipei Perth, Hopman Cup, Thursday 10:30am & 6pm USA v Australia Germany v Slovak Republic Russia v France Italy v Chinese Taipei Perth, Hopman Cup Final, Friday, Jan 9, 6pm: Group B winner v Group A winner

World Team Challenge Exhibition, Hong Kong, China   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Hong Kong News - China News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Hong Kong: The World Team Challenge, formerly the JB Group Classic and before that the Watson's Water Challenge, is not a WTA-sanctioned event. It is the largest exhibition event of the year, but no ranking points are awarded.   click for broader view   Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, China Latitude: 22.283001 Longitude: 114.189920 goto link for World Wind another street map     Formerly an 8-player exhibition mini-tourney, the Hong Kong format has been changed for 2009. Instead of playing as individuals, four regional teams will compete: Europe (led by Jelena Jankovic), Russia (led by Maria Sharapova), the Americas (led by Venus Williams), and Asia-Pacific (led by Sania Mirza). 2009: On Sunday, January 4, in Hong Kong, US and Russian teens Coco Vanderweghe and Alexandra Panova met the press prior to playing pre-exhibition exhibition matches on Monday... Also on Monday, most of the players (minus Venus Williams) had arrived for the annual photo-op, including Sania Mirza, Jie Zheng, Vera Zvonareva, Alexandra Panova, Jelena Jankovic, Anna Chakvetadze, Agnes Szavay, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Gisela Dulko, and Coco Vanderweghe... 2009: Players the media deemed worthy of close-up pics on Monday were Jelena Jankovic, Sania Mirza, Anna Chakvetadze, Jie Zheng, and Jelena again, who earned extra pics because, in addition to being photogenic, she is doing the # 1 thing... 2009 World Team Challenge Teams: Europe: #1 Jelena Jankovic SRB, #28 Agnes Szavay HUN, #126 Michelle Larcher De Brito POR Russia: #7 Vera Zvonareva RUS, #18 Anna Chakvetadze, #196 Alexandra Panova RUS The Americas: #6 Venus Williams USA, #51 Gisela Dulko ARG, #397 Coco Vandeweghe USA Asia-Pacific: #25 Jie Zheng CHN, #100 Sania Mirza IND (former # 27, rank down due to injury), #400 Ling Zhang CHN

Hong Kong, SFs, Wed Jan 7 6:30pm #7 Vera Zvonareva RUS v #25 Jie Zheng CHN m1 6:30pm #18 Anna Chakvetadze RUS v #100 Sania Mirza IND m3 V Williams & C Vandeweghe AME v J Jankovic & M Larcher De Brito EUR m2 Hong Kong, SFs, Thu 6:30pm #1 Jelena Jankovic SRB v #6 Venus Williams USA m1 6:30pm #28 Agnes Szavay HUN v #51 Gisela Dulko ARG m3 Vera Zvonareva & Alexandra Panova v Jie Zheng & Ling Zhang m2

Hong Kong, "Gold" Finals, Fri "Gold" Final, Player 1 v Player 2 m2 "Gold" Final, Player 2 v Player 1 m3 Hong Kong, "Silver" Finals, Fri "Silver" Final, Player 2 v Player 2 m4 "Silver" Consolation Doubles Final m1 4:30pm

Hong Kong, "Gold" Finals, Sat "Gold" Final, Player 2 v Player 2 m2 "Gold" Final, Player 1 v Player 1 m3 "Gold" Doubles Final m4 Hong Kong, "Silver" Finals, Sat "Silver" Final, Player 1 v Player 1 m1 11am

    (Dec 8, 2008) # 2 Serena Williams has withdrawn from the ITF Hopman Cup citing a hamstring injury incurred at the 2008 WTA Championships. Serena has been replaced by former # 11 Meghann Shaughnessy, who missed almost all of last year due to a left knee injury. Serena says she will be ready to play before the Australian Open.

    (Oct 8, 2008 revised Nov 29) Hong Kong: The JB Group Classic (previously the Watson's Water Challenge) has changed its format for 2009. Now called the World Team Challenge, the largest exhibition event of the year will now feature four regional teams: Europe (led by Jelena Jankovic), Russia (led by Maria Sharapova), the Americas (led by Venus Williams), and Asia-Pacific (led by Sania Mirza).
    Each team will consist of 3 players. There will be two singles and one doubles "rubber" in each semifinal "tie," with no reverse singles. The "gold" finals, for winners of the semis, will have reverse singles (and thus consist of 5 matches over 2 days), but the "silver" group consolation finals will not. Semifinals will take place from Wednesday and Thursday, January 7 and 8, 2009, and championship & consolation finals will be on Friday and Saturday, January 9 and 10.

    (Dec 27, 2007 revised) # 142 Jarmila Gajdosova from Bratislava, Slovakia, who lives and trains in Sydney, Australia during the off-season, was granted a wild card at Gold Coast, and is listed on the drawsheet as an Australian. Although the WTA's database (as of this writing) still shows Jarmila as a Slovak, she applied for and has been granted Australian "residency" status, and apparently intends to become an Aussie citizen and play Fed Cup for Australia. Jarmila said: "It's really exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing my name with the Australian flag next to it,." The Australian story

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

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - Jarmila said: "It's really exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing my name with the Australian flag next to it,." The Australian story

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.