WTA Aug 10-16: Cincinnati W&S Financial Open Lindner Tennis Center, Cincinnati, OH PREMIER 5 $2,000,000 56m/32q/16d outdoor: hard | Free Live Video Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA S - Q - D - OOP tourney draws & OOP pics: Y!: sports     news WSF - news CO | WTA interviews | Sports: Enquirer Cincinnati: radar - forecast #1 Dinara Safina #2 Serena Williams #3 Venus Williams #4 Elena Dementieva #5 Jelena Jankovic #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova #7 Vera Zvonareva #8 Caroline Wozniacki #9 Victoria Azarenka #NR wc Kim Clijsters

Cincinnati: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Cincinnati: #5 Jelena Jankovic 5'9½" 130lb RH 2H-BH Cincinnati: 11th WTA Singles Title

On Sunday in Cincinnati, in the final of the Western & Southern Financial Group Open, 24-year-old 5th-seeded #5 Jelena Jankovic from Belgrade, Serbia, defeated this year's champion in Madrid, 23-year-old top-seeded # 1 Dinara Safina (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 6-4, 6-2 (Jelena is shown during the match, and with the glassware afterward). Jelena's prize is $350,000; Dinara's is $175,000.     Jelena said: "It's been a while since I've been in this sort of final. I'm so thrilled to play this kind of match, and beat the number one player in the world." BBC story - postmatch interview     Jelena played a good match, striking 18 winners with 17 unforced errors. Jelena also put 66% of her 1st serves in the box, and scored on 77% of her 1st serve points and %50 of her 2nd serve points. Jelena scored on 4 of 10 break points against Dinara; Dinara converted only 1 of 4 break points against Jelena.     Dinara struggled at times with her serve, possibly in part due to variable winds affecting her very high service toss. Although she fired 5 aces she also had 7 double faults, and won only 59% of her 1st serve points and 36% of her 2nd serve points.     Dinara said: "I was just a little bit off today... I was feeling very confident stepping into the court, and then I was just totally off. My legs were not moving anywhere, and I was just not doing the things that I was supposed to on the court, and I let [Jelena] dictate." AP story - postmatch interview     Jelena and Dinara are now tied at 3-3 in career matches; Dinara had won the last two times they played, both times on hardcourts. In the semifinals in Los Angeles last year, Dinara defeated Jelena 7-6(3), 6-1. And in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dinara won 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

    2008 US Open finalist Jelena is now 11-10 in WTA singles finals; she won in Marbella this year and in Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart, and Moscow last year, and ended 2008 ranked # 1 in the WTA. Jelena has a 35-12 match record this year.

    Valencia-trained 2009 Australian Open and 2008 French Open finalist Dinara is now 12-12 in WTA singles finals; she won this year in Madrid, Rome and Portoroz. Dinara has a 52-11 match record this season.

    Both Jelena and Dinara have 1st round byes for the coming week's Rogers Cup (Canadian Open) in Toronto. In the 2nd round on Wednesday, Jelena will play either #20 Patty Schnyder or #21 Anabel Medina Garrigues, and Dinara will play either #28 Alize Cornet or #38 Aravane Rezai.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Cincinnati s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? The W&S Financial Open  Cincinnati, Ohio   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT+3 Cleveland news - Ohio news Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view   Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio Lat.: 39.34876 Lon.: -84.276434 goto link for World Wind     Cincinnati: The 56-player main draw for Cincinnati has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 8 qualifiers and 5 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Sunday.     W&S Financial Open venue address: Lindner Family Tennis Center, 5460 Courseview Dr., Mason, OH 45040 2009: On Saturday, Aug 8 in Cincinnati, Elena Dementieva and freshly unretired former WTA #1 Kim Clijsters played a 20-minute mini exhibition on a precarious pedastal inside the Royal Fountains on International Street at King's Island...

Cincinnati, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 11am loser's prize: $5,400 US; points: 1     Monday & Tuesday: play completed after rain delay #9 s9 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #24 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-3, 7-6(2) Mon Vika driving a backhand     Victoria said: "I was expecting a tough match. [Kaia is] a good player, had good results recently, so I was expecting a tough match...     "I think I have to do a lot of work still, and I'm happy about that I have a lot of room to improve. It's nice that people talk about me maybe being No. 1 at sometime, but I'm not really focused on that. I'm focused on improving my game and taking it step by step." postmatch interview *#33 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #10 s10 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-2, 6-3 Tue Alona firing a forehand on the run #11 s11 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #70 q Melanie Oudin USA 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 Mon Ana following a forehand, Melanie driving a backhand, and Ana after winning a point     Ana said: "First set I didn't start so well, and I had lots of unforced errors and lots of double faults. I served three double faults in a row...     "On the break after the first set, I just tried to talk to myself and just try to convince myself I have to be aggressive and play the way I should play and not wait for mistake and not try to be too careful.     "That's what I did, and I relaxed a lot on my serve and it started coming a lot faster... the fastest I have in the long while. Pretty happy about that...     "In the past two months, I changed [my serve] lots of times, five or six times, just trying to figure out what feels most natural and what is gonna give me the most power and most consistency. Hopefully I found it, because I just tried [a shorter motion] on practice the other day and it felt pretty good straight away, so hopefully it will stay that way...     "I had a really good serve. But then I had some issues with the ball toss. I think it was just at the moment, because I was maybe tight in one of the matches. It just happens.     "But then I start changing it and I started making a big issue out of it. The more I thought about it, the more pressure I put on myself trying to hit the perfect serve instead of just relaxing, so it went down the pipe pretty far.     "Just happy that now I'm feeling a lot better with it. Obviously ball toss, it's gonna be off few times. But it's just normal, and now I feel confident to stop it and to start again." postmatch interview *#NR wc Kim Clijsters BEL d #12 s12 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-3 Mon Kim and Marion driving forehand and backhand, and Kim after match point     Kim said: "With the start that I took today, that gave me a boost to be out there and just keep playing aggressive tennis and just to try to make [Marion] move around. I think that was the main goal: To try to make her not play her own level. Once she's in her routine and in a rhythm, she can hit the ball really well and really deep and very low over the net. Then she puts me under pressure, and that's kind of what I was trying to avoid a little bit. Trying to make the angles.     "The only thing I guess I wasn't too pleased with was the first serve percentage... Hopefully I can work on that tomorrow in doubles." postmatch interview     Marion said: "It was very difficult to expect anything, because I haven't seen [Kim] play since two years. That was, I think, the reason why I didn't start well, because I just tried to figure out the way she was playing during those four games and I was forgetting to play myself. After two years without playing a match, is pretty amazing the level she has already right now." postmatch interview #13 s13 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #76 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-2, 6-1 Tue #14 s14 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #64 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-2, 6-3 Tue Flavia following a forehand, and Ayumi about to connect with a backhand *#38 Shuai Peng CHN d #16 s15 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-2, 6-1 Tue Dominika and Shuai following forehand and backhand *#49 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #18 s16 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 Mon Anna-Lena's service toss, and Virginie driving a backhand #20 Patty Schnyder SUI d #42 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-4, 6-0 Mon Gisela fielding a drop shot, and Patty spinning a forehand with her new Head YOUTEK Radical Midplus bat     Patty will play Kim Clijsters in the 2nd round. About Kim's comeback, Patty said: "I think it's great. We all miss her on the tour, and she's always been a fan favorite, great for the sport. I really hope she enjoys it again and she stays with us for a while." postmatch interview *#29 Sybille Bammer AUT d #23 Jie Zheng CHN 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 Tue *#57 q Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #25 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-3, 6-4 Tue Yanina serving #26 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #41 Sara Errani ITA 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 Tue Daniela and Sara driving backhands *#59 Melinda Czink HUN d #27 Alize Cornet FRA 6-3, 6-2 Mon #28 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #NR wc Meghann Shaughnessy USA 7-5, 7-5 Tue *#46 Lucie Safarova CZE d #30 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-3, 7-6(7) Mon *#37 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #31 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-0, 6-3 Mon Aleksandra following a backhand #32 Agnes Szavay HUN d #71 q Urszula Radwanska POL 7-5, 7-5 Tue *#54 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #34 Elena Vesnina RUS 7-5, 6-3 Mon *#40 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #36 Aravane Rezai FRA 6-3, 6-3 Tue *#62 q Olga Govortsova BLR d #39 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Mon #43 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #44 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Tue *#67 q Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #45 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-2, 6-2 Mon #47 Roberta Vinci ITA d #75 q Tatjana Malek GER 6-4, 6-1 Mon *#51 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #50 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-4, 6-1 Tue Maria following a forehand

Cincinnati, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 11am losers' prize: $10,275 US; points: 60 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #47 Roberta Vinci ITA 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 Tue Roberta waiting to swat a backhand, and Dinara driving a forehand #2 s2 Serena Williams USA d #67 q Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-3, 6-2 Kateryna following a backhand, and Serena driving one #3 s3 Venus Williams USA d #62 q Olga Govortsova BLR 6-2, 6-2 Tue Olga serving, and Venus driving a forehand #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS d #57 q Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6-3, 6-4 cC m3 Elena and Yanina driving forehand and backhand #5 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #51 Maria Kirilenko RUS 7-6(8), 6-3 Maria and Jelena driving forehand and backhand #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #46 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-3, 6(2)-7, 7-6(4) Tue Lucie driving a backhand, and Svetlana about to connect with one #7 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #40 Alisa Kleybanova RUS 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 Vera putting one away—if it clears the net #8 s8 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #37 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Aleksandra following a forehand, and Caroline launching one on the run #9 s9 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #54 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-3, 6-2 Victoria driving a forehand, and Anna fielding a backhand *#59 Melinda Czink HUN d #11 s11 Ana Ivanovic SRB 7-6(6), 7-5 Melinda driving a forehand, and Ana following one *#29 Sybille Bammer AUT d #13 s13 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-0, 7-5 Agnieszka and Sybille Babolating backhand and forehand #14 s14 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #32 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-2, 6-4 Agnes and Flavia driving backhands *#NR wc Kim Clijsters BEL d #20 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-2, 7-5 Kim driving a forehand, and Patty about to lightly tap one, gol darn it anyway... #26 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #33 Alona Bondarenko UKR 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 #28 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #49 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-3, 6-2 #38 Shuai Peng CHN d #43 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 5-7, 6-2, 6-1

Cincinnati, 3rd Round, Thu 10am losers' prize: $20,000 US; points: 110 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #38 Shuai Peng CHN 6-3, 6-4 Shuai following a Reverse Polish Notation forehand (i.e., with backhand grip), and Dinara following a backhand *#29 Sybille Bammer AUT d #2 s2 Serena Williams USA 7-5, 6-4 Sybille driving a lefty backhand, Serena following a backhand, and Sybille after match point     Sybille is now 2-0 against Serena; their previous match was in the Hobart quarterfinals in 2007, when Sybille won 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.     Sybille said: "I won against [Serena] two years ago, or longer maybe. I was nervous today, so I don't know how I really played. I just tried to come into the rallies and make her play, and this worked...     "I didn't feel good on center court. It's different than Court 3, and it was first match on center court. I didn't practice there before, and this was a little bit different. So I didn't feel so good... Doesn't matter how you feel, I gave my best and I'm happy that I won." postmatch interview     Serena struck 44 unforced errors in the 22 games played. Serena said: "I definitely wasn't as fit as I normally was. I never played worse in my life. It was really a bad match. I think I had about 50 unforced errors... I just did not play well at all. I hit balls in the bottom of the net and made so many unforced errors... anyone could have beaten me today. It wasn't my day." postmatch interview *#14 s14 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #3 s3 Venus Williams USA 7-6(2), 6-4 Flavia serving, Venus driving a backhand, Flavia delivering a smash with a twist, and Venus congratulating Flavia after match point     Flavia is now 4-3 against Venus. Flavia said: "My confidence now—it’s perfect, you know. It’s always [perfect] when you win a lot of matches like this. You believe more in yourself. When I got on the court today, I was just believing in myself." AP story - postmatch interview     Venus struck 38 unforced errors in the match. Venus said: "I wasn’t able to get control of my ball today. After a while, it was obvious to see she was just keeping the ball in play and waiting for me to self-destruct." postmatch interview #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS d #28 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-4, 6-4 Sorana and Elena following backhand and forehand     Elena said: "it was a pretty tough conditions out there. It was pretty hot, so I was trying to stay positive... I'm glad I was able to win in two sets and save some energy for the next round... I expect a tough match against Caroline Wozniacki. I played couple times against her and lost twice... It will a tough match, but I really want to try one more time against her." postmatch interview #5 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #9 s9 Victoria Azarenka BLR 7-5, 7-6(2) Jelena puffing a serve Vikaward, Vika following a forehand, and Jelena's backhand drive     Jelena's racquet sponsorship contract with Prince expired in December, 2008, when Jelena was ranked #1 in the world, and Jelena and Prince were unable to agree on renewal terms. Jelena played with the same O3 bat, without a contract, from then until Wednesday, when the letter "P" reappeared on her racquets, indicating that she is again under contract with Prince. There has been no report in the press of her contract terms. *#NR wc Kim Clijsters BEL d #6 s6 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Kim and Svetlana following backhands     Kim said: "I think I started well, although in the first set I think my first serve percentage was the worst I think so far that it's been out of any singles match. But I really felt like in the rallies that I was dominating the points.     "Then when I was up 3-Love in the second set, I really felt [Svetlana] was taking risks and going for shots more, kind of going for it no matter what was going to happen. It worked. A lot of credit to her. She started just hitting a lot of winners and hitting the ball deep and powerful, and some really good serves where I felt pressure straightaway in the beginning of rallies.     "After the break, it was nice to, yeah, just kind of go inside and change the socks, get some dry socks on and kind of refresh the feet a little bit. It was really hot out there today. So, yeah, just tried to really stay positive and aggressive from the beginning of the rally, like she was doing. Just try to take over that a little bit and try to step up in the beginning of the rallies when she had a few second serves. I really tried to step it up there." postmatch interview     Svetlana said: "I was a little bit frustrated in the first set. I did so many unforced errors that I think I shouldn't be doing, and been not moving well to the ball. Was not finding good distance because I didn't move my feet. Still, I had opportunities. It was just basically one break. I had few chances, but definitely Kim played much better than I did first set.     "Second set I fought hard. She was a break up and I still came back. I started, you know, to play a little better my game. The conditions today, they were extremely hot, so it was not really easy to play your game. You kind of understand why you're not playing so good.     "In the third set, it was as well one break what broke everything. I think I lost it when I had chances to break her in the start, and it was deuce and I did two unforced errors, which I cannot do in this type of matches. To play Kim, she plays good now. She's in shape. It was good game. You know, it was good experience for me, but I should do much better in the third set...     "We spoke with girls in locker room, and it's kind of Kim always been there, you know..." postmatch interview *#26 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #7 s7 Vera Zvonareva RUS 7-6(6), 0-6, 7-6(5) Daniela and Vera following backhand and forehand #8 s8 Caroline Wozniacki DEN v #59 Melinda Czink HUN 3-0 retired—low back injury

Cincinnati, QFs, Fri losers' prize: $40,000 US; points: 200 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #NR wc Kim Clijsters BEL 6-2, 7-5 Kim launching a forehand on the run, Dinara driving a backhand, and after match point     Kim said: "I really felt today that Dinara played some of her best tennis that I’ve seen. I think by far that’s the best she’s ever played against me." AP story - postmatch interview     Kim still leads Dinara 6-2 in career matches;. Dinara said: "I know exactly what to expect from [Kim]. For me, she’s one of the best players. I thought I was very aggressive today and didn’t let her dictate too much." postmatch interview #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS d #8 s8 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-2, 6-1 Elena serving, Caroline reaching for a forehand, and Elena after winning a point     Elena said: "Played some tough matches against [Caroline] in the past. I think the tactic for today's match was different for me. I was trying to stay aggressive and not play backhand crosscourt all the time, trying to mix it up, and it really worked...     "I wouldn't call this easy match. We always play in three sets. Even that I won match in the finals of Luxembourg it was 7-6 in the third. We always have lots of fun. She's a very solid baseline player, so it's never easy to play against her.." postmatch interview     Caroline had a terrible day, winning only 33% of her 1st serve points, and 37% of her 2nd serve points (Elena: 62% & 50%). Caroline said: "Today I didn't put a lot of balls in the court. [Elena] was playing pretty good. I didn't really feel it today. That was different. To beat a player like her, you need to play really well." postmatch interview #5 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #29 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-0, 6-3 Sybille driving a forehand, Jelena reaching for a backhand, and after match point     Jelena said: "[Sybille] did defeat a lot of good players in this tournament. For sure she was playing well. But I had a good score against her coming into this match. I knew how to play against her, and for me it was important to start strong and to, you know, put my game out there, not let her play what she likes the best...     "She's a good athlete, and she can rally and she can play. She likes to play all those long points and wear you out completely. I didn't let her do that. I tried to move her around and tried to dictate the points as much as I could, and that's what I did." postmatch interview #14 s14 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #26 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 6-3 Flavia serving, Daniela following a forehand, Flavia ready to put one away, and Daniela congratulating Flavia after match point

Cincinnati, SFs, Sat 1pm loser's prize: $87,500 US; points: 350 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #14 s14 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-2, 6-0 Dinara serving, Flavia driving a forehand, Dinara's backhand drive, and Flavia congratulating Dinara after match point     Dinara hit 14 winners in the 14 games with 15 unforced errors; Flavia had only 6 winners with 25 errors. Flavia put only 51% of her 1st serves in the box, and won only 45% of her 1st serve points and 19% of her 2nd serve points (Dinara: 71% 1st serves in, 79% 1st serve points won, 42% 2nd serve points won).     Dinara said: "Every match I feel better. Today, stepping on the court, I was feeling very good and confident. I was feeling very good stepping in." AP story - postmatch interview     Dinara gave Flavia credit for playing 11 matches in 13 days. Dinara said: "I know how it is playing that many matches in a row. When somebody starts to put pressure on you from the first, it's tough mentally to face it. That was the key for myself. I wanted to put the pressure and to dominate, and not let her get into the match."     But Flavia did not blame the loss on fatigue. Flavia said: "[Dinara] was playing much better than me. I was a little bit tired, of course, but I didn't lose for that. She was playing unbelievable." postmatch interview #5 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #4 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-6(6) Jelena driving a forehand, Elena rising for one, Jelena reaching for another, and after match point     Trailing 2-6 in the 3rd set tiebreaker, Jelena successfully defended 4 match points against her, winning six in a row to take the match.     Jelena said: "There was so many ups and down throughout the match. I had I don't know, 5-4 and three match points on my serve, and I thought I was gonna win right there. And then all of a sudden, she was going for broke on those points and she took her chances. It was tough for me to except that I lost that game. But then I just tried to refocus again and play the best that I can even though I was really tired and it was tough and we were there for three hours.     "Then all of a sudden I got into a situation down 6-2 in the tiebreak, and I just said to myself, 'I have been in these kind of situations in the past. I know I can win. I just have to go one point at a time and move the best as I can, even if I have to move on my hands or whatever I had to do.'     "I just gave everything I had. It was really tough. To be honest, I don't know how I was able to win those points and win the tiebreak. It's a really unbelievable win for me in such a tough match." postmatch interview

Cincinnati, Final, Sun loser's prize: $175,000 US; points: 550 winner's prize: $350,000 US; points: 800 *#5 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS 6-4, 6-2 Jelena and Dinara driving forehand and backhand, Jelena answering a drop shot with a drop shot, and after match point

Cincinnati, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $50,000 US winners' prize: $100,000 US cdr2 s1 Cara Black & Liezel Huber d cdr35 s7 Nuria Llagostera Vives & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 0-6 (10-2) Cincinnati, Qual Finals, Sun Aug 9 10am losers' prizes: q1 $1,500 1pt; q2 $2,900 20pts; qualifier 30 points *#75 Tatjana Malek GER d #35 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-1, 6-2 #50 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #140 Shenay Perry USA 5-0 retired #57 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #101 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-2, 6-4 *#67 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #58 Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-1, 6-0 #62 Olga Govortsova BLR d #65 Shahar Peer ISR 6-3, 6-2 #64 Ayumi Morita JPN d #81 Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 7-6(6) #70 Melanie Oudin USA d #85 Varvara Lepchenko USA 7-5, 6-2 #71 Urszula Radwanska POL d #92 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 6-1, 6-1 Cincinnati, Withdrawals #17 Na Li CHN right knee injury #48 Katarina Srebotnik SLO right shoulder injury #89 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA

    (Mar 26, 2009) Retired former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters announced today that she will return to the WTA Tour in August. 2005 US Open champion Kim has requested (and will receive) wild cards for this Summer's hardcourt tourneys in Cincinnati and Toronto, and for the 2009 US Open. Kim had previously scheduled exhibition matches against Steffi Graf (May 17 at Wimbledon) and Michaella Krajicek (June 14 during the Ordina Open), and will also play 2 dates of World Team Tennis. Kim retired two years ago, citing primarily that she was tired of the frequent injuries she incurred on the WTA Tour.

    Kim said: "I have missed playing tournaments most. I am doing it for the challenge. I have been training for 11 or 12 weeks. Training harder than ever before. Then this drive came back...
    "When I started preparing for the Wimbledon game with Steffi Graf I felt this drive. I wanted a new challenge. This is just for fun for now to see if I can do it. I don't need to be number one again. I have done that and I don't need to do it again. I am just going to see how things evolve...
    "I train six days a week, half of which is building up stamina and physique. I am really looking at (my) weak points to prevent injuries." AP story - Reuters story

    (Mar 24, 2009) Retired former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters will hold a press conference on Thursday, March 26. Rumors strongly suggest that Kim will return to play on the WTA Tour. AP story - AFP story

    (Mar 13, 2009) Retired former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters will play World Team Tennis this summer. Kim will play two matches for the St. Louis Aces, on July 21 in St. Louis, and on July 22 in Philadelphia. AP story

    (Feb 2, 2009) Belgian newspapers today are reporting that retired former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters has begun training with former Belgian ATP player Wim Fisette, and speculate that Clijsters, still only 25 years old, may return to play on the WTA Tour. MSN Belgium story - in English via Google

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.