WTA Mar 2-8: Monterrey Monterrey Open, Monterrey, MEX INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes Free Live TV ATDHE - CS pics: Y!: sports - news - Mexico     WTA - tourney - MexSport - Google Monterrey: weather radar - forecast # 10 Agnieszka Radwanska # 14 Marion Bartoli # 15 Flavia Pennetta # 18 Jie Zheng # 28 Agnes Szavay # 34 Iveta Benesova # 39 Gisela Dulko # 40 Maria Kirilenko # 46 Magdalena Rybarikova # 47 Lucie Safarova

Tourney pages: Vina del Mar: 2008   Bangalore: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 previous other tourney pages next Monterrey: #54 Na Li 5'7¾" 137lb RH 2H-BH Monterrey: #14 Marion Bartoli 5'6¾" 128lb RH 2H-FH&BH

    On Sunday in Monterrey, Mexico, in the final of the Monterrey Open, 2nd-seeded # 14 Marion Bartoli of France (residence: Geneva, Switzerland), defeated 27-year-old # 54 Na Li from Wuhan, Hubei, China, 6-4, 6-3 (Na is shown during her quarterfinal win on Friday; Marion is shown with the fine-looking hardware after the final). Marion's prize is $37,000; Na's is $19,000.

    It was Marion's 301st career match victory. Marion said: "I feel really good about how I played the whole week. I had some tough matches, not just today but also in the semifinals. They were both two sets but tough. I hit some great shots at the right moment. I'm happy about my level." WTA story

    Surprisingly, Marion and Na had never before met on the field of combat.

    2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion is now 4-5 in WTA singles finals; she won all three of her earlier titles in 2006 at Auckland, Tokyo (the Japan Open) and Quebec City. Marion also reached the final at Brisbane earlier this year, and now has a 15-4 match record for the season.
    Na is now 2-3 in WTA singles finals; she won her titles at Gold Coast in 2008 and Guangzhou in 2004. Na has a 5-3 match record in 2009, and hopefully has overcome the right knee injury which kept her sidelined for much of last year and the beginning of this season.

    The Abierto Monterrey tourney gallery, although a bit disorganized, now has oncourt pics from Wednesday and Monday, and offcourt pics, including a players' field trip.

    2009 is the first year of the Monterrey tourney as a WTA event; it was a 100K ITF tourney in 2008.

El Porvenir: Abierto de Monterrey news coverage in Spanish; English translation via Google

WTA SCOREBOARD: Monterrey s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Abierto Mexicano,  Monterrey, Mexico   tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US EDT -1 hours        = US PDT +2 hours Mexico News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Monterrey: The main draw for Monterrey 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   Sierra Madre Tennis Club, Monterrey, MEX Latitude: 25.644752 Longitude: -100.363042 goto link for World Wind Venue address: Privada María de los Angeles Nº 617 Colonia del Valle, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, Mexico, 66220 2009: On or about March 4, Vania King, Alla Kudryavtseva (uh, you know these girls, right, so I don't need to name them all...) and other players at Monterrey took a field trip to Santa Lucia... Mexican # 1 Melissa Torres Sandoval, who is retiring, signed autographs on Monday after playing the last match of her career...

Monterrey, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 *#54 Na Li CHN d #10 s1 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-0 Mon Na during a changeover #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #169 q Michaella Krajicek NED 6-2, 6-4 Tue #15 s3 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #89 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-0 Tue Flavia between points #18 s4 Jie Zheng CHN d #106 wc Urszula Radwanska POL 6-3, 6-3 Mon Jie after winning a point #28 s5 Agnes Szavay HUN d #83 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-2, 6-2 Tue #34 s6 Iveta Benesova CZE d #49 Shahar Peer ISR 6-4, 6-2 Tue #39 s7 Gisela Dulko ARG d #61 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-4, 7-5 Mon #40 s8 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #58 Marina Erakovic NZL 6-4, 6-3 Mon Maria following a running forehand, and driving a backhand #46 wc Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #63 Edina Gallovits ROU 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Tue #47 Lucie Safarova CZE d #337 wc Melissa Torres Sandoval MEX 6-4, 6-1 Mon Melissa volleying a backhand, Lucie's lefty forehand, and Melissa running down a forehand in the last match of her career     25-year-old Melissa Torres Sandoval is retiring; this was her last match. Mexico's # 1 player, she reached a career-high rank of #227 in 2008. Although she won no WTA titles, she won 6 singles titles and 6 doubles titles in ITF play, won 165 professional singles matches (and 73 doubles), and almost $100,000 in prize money. #62 Roberta Vinci ITA d #150 q Arantxa Rus NED 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 Tue Arantxa about to swat a forehand, and Roberta volleying a backhand *#73 wc Melinda Czink HUN d #65 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 7-5, 6-1 Tue *#71 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #66 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(4) Tue Barbora about to toss the ball for her serve, and Anna-Lena driving a backhand #78 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #84 Jarmila Groth SVK/AUS 6-3, 6-2 Tue #91 Mariya Koryttseva UKR d #179 q Lenka Wienerova SVK 6-4, 6-1 Tue *#109 q Vania King USA d #93 Klara Zakapalova CZE 6-1, 6-4 Tue

Monterrey, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 3pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #46 wc Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-4, 6-0 Thu *#71 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #15 s3 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4 Thu #18 s4 Jie Zheng CHN d #73 wc Melinda Czink HUN 6-3, 6-4 Wed Jie driving a forehand, and Melinda thinking things over *#109 q Vania King USA d #28 s5 Agnes Szavay HUN 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Thu #34 s6 Iveta Benesova CZE d #62 Roberta Vinci ITA 7-6(4), 6-2 Thu #39 s7 Gisela Dulko ARG d #91 Mariya Koryttseva UKR 6-2, 6-4 Wed Gisela driving forehand and backhand *#47 Lucie Safarova CZE d #40 s8 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-4, 4-1 retired—left knee inflammation Wed Maria's forehand volley, and Lucie's forehand drive     The knee injury also caused Maria to withdraw from the doubles, where she was partnered with Flavia Pennetta. Fortunately, on her official website on Friday, Maria said: "My knee is fine now, I will be alright. I am going today to Indian Wells." mariakirilenko.com #54 Na Li CHN d #78 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-3, 6-4 Wed Na after winning a point, and Petra volleying a backhand

Monterrey, QFs, Fri 3pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #109 q Vania King USA 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 #18 s4 Jie Zheng CHN d #39 s7 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 6-2 Jie about to swat a forehand, Gisela's backhand drive, and Jie after winning a point #34 s6 Iveta Benesova CZE d #71 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 7-5, 6-4 *#54 Na Li CHN d #47 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-3, 7-6(3) Lucie and Na driving forehands     Na's career-high ranking is # 16, the highest rank ever achieved by a Chinese WTA player. But in 2007 Na missed the whole second half of the season with a right rib stress fracture, and then Na missed much of the 2008 season and the beginning of this year with a right knee injury (for which she had surgery on March 31, 2008). Na began her 2009 season at Paris, where she lost to Jelena Jankovic in the 2nd round. Her only other action prior to this week was in Dubai, where she lost to Elena Vesnina in the 1st round. Now Na has won 4 straight to reach the Monterrey final.

Monterrey, SFs, Sat 4pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #18 s4 Jie Zheng CHN 7-5, 6-3 *#54 Na Li CHN d #34 s6 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-3, 6-3

Monterrey, Final, Sun 4:30pm+ after doubles loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #54 Na Li CHN 6-4, 6-3 Marion driving a backhand, and after winning a point (match point?)

Monterrey, Doubles Final, Sun 3pm loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr85 s4 Nathalie Dechy & Mara Santangelo d cdr112 Iveta Benesova & Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 6-4 Mara (8th WTA doubles title) & Nathalie (6th), their 3rd title as a team Monterrey, Qual Finals, Mon Mar 2 11am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #109 Vania King USA d #113 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 *#169 Michaella Krajicek NED d #125 Mara Santangelo ITA 6-3, 6-3 #150 Arantxa Rus NED d #151 Betina Jozami ARG 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 *#179 Lenka Wienerova SVK d #160 Greta Arn HUN 6-1, 6-4 Monterrey, Withdrawals #35 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP right elbow injury #59 Tathiana Garbin ITA abdominal strain #99 Timea Bacsinszky SUI shoulder injury

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.