WTA Oct 12-17: Osaka & Linz Japan Open Osaka, Japan INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP photos: Y!: sports - news | WTA Osaka: radar - forecast #5 C Wozniacki, #13 M Bartoli #14 S Stosur, #26 F Schiavone Generali Ladies Linz, AUT INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d indoor: hard Free Live Video: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP draw, .html photos: Y!: sports - news | WTA Linz: weather radar - forecast #10 F Pennetta, #11 A Radwanska #25 Y Wickmayer, #30 C Suarez N

Tokyo JO: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 Linz: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Osaka: #14 Samantha Stosur 5'7¾" 143lb RH 2H-BH Linz: #25 Yanina Wickmayer 6'0" 150lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Osaka, Japan, in the final of the Japan Open, this year's finalist in Los Angeles, 25-year-old 3rd-seeded #14 Samantha Stosur from Gold Coast, Australia, won her first WTA singles title by defeating 29-year-old 4th-seeded #26 Francesca Schiavone of Italy (residence: London, England), 7-5, 6-1 (Samantha is shown with the hardware after the match).

    Samantha's prize is $37,000; Francesca's is $19,000.

    Samantha said: "I played very well in the first set and barely made a mistake—I was still playing well in the second and nearly led 4-1 but [Francesca] got back into the match. I just told myself not to panic, keep doing the same things as I did in the first set and stay positive. I tried to do what I wanted to do and not let anything frustrate me...
    "I'm very, very pleased to win my first title after losing five previous finals. It has been a personal goal for a while, so I'm glad to have achieved it and it's the perfect way to finish my year in singles. My next goal is to reach the Top 10, for which I would need to play like today every day." WTA story

    Francesca said: "The first set was very close, but [Samantha] took her chances and deserved to win. I gave her nothing for free. She won every point."

    Samantha now leads Francesca 4-1 in career matches, and Sam defeated Fresca in both their prior meetings this year: on a hardcourt in the 1st round at Indian Wells, 6-1, 6-4, and on red clay in the 1st round at Roland Garros, 6-4, 6-2.
    Samantha, a semifinalist at this year's French Open and winner of 22 WTA doubles titles, is now 1-5 in WTA singles finals; she lost to Flavia Pennetta in this year's LA final, 6-4, 6-3. Samantha has been playing well all year, and has a 37-19 singles match record for the season.
    Francesca is now 1-10 in WTA singles finals; she won the title at Bad Gastein in 2007. Francesca, who got off to a slow start this year, but reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and the 4th round at the US Open, has a 34-26 match record in 2009.

    Meanwhile in Linz, Austria, in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz, 19-year-old 3rd-seeded #25 Yanina Wickmayer from Deurne, Belgium, defeated 19-year-old unseeded #54 Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4 (Yanina is also shown with the hardware after the match).

    Yanina's prize is $37,000; Petra's is $19,000.

    Yanina said: "It was another good match, we both played really strong and served well. I knew the key today was going to be who was the most mentally tough. I really enjoyed the crowd all week, they were really behind me." WTA story

    Petra said: "Yanina played very well today. I think she played her crosscourt and down-the-line backhands very well, and her serve was really good. I've had a great week here in Linz and I'm really looking forward to next year."

    Yanina now leads Petra 3-1 in career matches, and won their previous match, on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the 4th round of this year's US Open, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
    Yanina is now 2-2 in WTA singles finals; she reached her first final last year at Birmingham, and won the Estoril title this year. Yanina has a 51-21 singles match record for 2009.
    Petra is now 1-1 in WTA singles finals; she won the Hobart title the first week of this season. Petra has a 23-20 singles match record this year.

Linz player's blog by Yanina Wickmayer

WTA SCOREBOARD: Osaka & Linz s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? AIG Japan Open,  Osaka, Japan   tourney time:        = GMT +9 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Tokyo News - Japan News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Osaka: The main draw for Osaka 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   possible venue: Utsubo Tennis Center, Osaka Latitude: 34.68457 Longitude: 135.491542 goto link for World Wind AIG Japan Open possible venue address: Utsubo Tennis Center, 2-1-14 Utsubohonmachi, Nishi-Ku, Osaka-Shi, Osaka, Japan 2009: On Sunday, Oct 11, in Osaka, players attending a welcome reception included all-time Japanese #1 (and former WTA #4) Kimiko Date Krumm (shown individaully and in the group), Samantha Stosur, Akiko Morigami, who is retiring after this tournament, Kimiko again, Francesca Schiavone, 2008 tourney champ and top seed Caroline Wozniacki, 19-year-old current Japanese # 1 Ayumi Morita, and Marion Bartoli... US Open finalist Caroline signed autographs (on Wednesday?)...

Osaka, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 10am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #5 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #76 Ayumi Morita JPN 6-4, 6-1 Tue #13 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #94 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 6-3, 7-5 Tue #14 s3 Samantha Stosur AUS d #53 Shuai Peng CHN 6-2, 6-4 Tue #26 s4 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #888 sr127 Anne Kremer LUX 7-5, 6-2 Mon *#61 Sania Mirza IND d #34 s5 Shahar Peer ISR 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Mon File: Sania while defeating Melinda Czink in the Birmingham quarterfinals, June 12, 2009 #35 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #144 q Sophie Ferguson AUS 6-1, 7-5 Tue #40 s7 Melinda Czink HUN d #211 wc Ryoko Fuda JPN 6-4, 6-4 Mon *#133 Mathilde Johansson FRA d #50 s8 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 Mon File: Mathilde being pretty for an offcourt photoshoot *#87 Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR d #58 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-2, 0-0 retired—knee injury Mon *#91 Vania King USA d #71 Julie Coin FRA 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Tue #83 Jill Craybas USA d #101 wc Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Tue #98 Katie O'Brien GBR d #109 Alexa Glatch USA 6-3, 6-4 Mon *#638 sr73 Akiko Morigami JPN d #103 q Anastasia Rodionova RUS/AUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Tue Soon-to-retire Akiko after match point of the last singles victory of her WTA career     A series of injuries has resulted in 29-year-old Akiko Morigami deciding to retire after this tourney. Akiko reached a career-high rank of #41 in 2005, and won the Prague title in 2007, defeating Marion Bartoli in the final. She ended each year from 2003 to 2007 ranked among the world's top 85 players, and won 285 pro singles matches during her career, along with almost $1.2 million in prize money. Akiko's WTA profile #105 q Kai-Chen Chang TPE d #111 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-5, 6-1 Tue #119 Yung-Jan Chan TPE d #141 Carly Gullickson USA 6-1, 6-1 Tue *#199 wc Kurumi Nara JPN d #136 q Chanelle Scheepers RSA 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 Tue

Osaka, 2nd Rd, Wed 10am-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #5 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #98 Katie O'Brien GBR 6-0, 6-1 Thu #13 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #199 wc Kurumi Nara JPN 6-1, 6-1 Wed #14 s3 Samantha Stosur AUS d #638 sr73 Akiko Morigami JPN 6-1, 6-2 Thu #26 s4 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #119 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 Wed #35 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #105 q Kai-Chen Chang TPE 7-5, 7-6(2) Thu #40 s7 Melinda Czink HUN d #91 Vania King USA 6-4, 6-2 Wed #61 Sania Mirza IND d #87 Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR 6-4, 6-3 Wed #83 Jill Craybas USA d #133 Mathilde Johansson FRA 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 Thu

Osaka, QFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #5 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #35 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 6-2, 6(1)-7, 6-2 Caroline and Aleksandra driving backhands, and Caro after match point *#61 Sania Mirza IND d #13 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 2-0 retired—right shoulder injury Caroline and Aleksandra driving backhands #14 s3 Samantha Stosur AUS d #83 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-3 Samantha watching her serve fly #26 s4 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #40 s7 Melinda Czink HUN walkover—right foot injury

Osaka, SFs, Sat noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#14 s3 Samantha Stosur AUS d #5 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 Samoid sending a serve Wozward, Caroline serving to Samantha, and Caro congratulating Sam after match point #26 s4 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #61 Sania Mirza IND 6-2, 6-1 Francesca about to connect with a forehand, Sania commenting on an error, and Francesca after match point

Osaka, Final, Sun noon loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #14 s3 Samantha Stosur AUS d #26 s4 Francesca Schiavone ITA 7-5, 6-1 Samantha serving, Francesca and Samantha driving forehands, and Sam after match point

Osaka, Doubles Final, Sat loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr55 s1 Chia-Jung Chuang & Lisa Raymond d Chanelle Scheepers & Abigail Spears 6-2, 6-4 Chia-Jung and Lisa Osaka, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 12 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #103 Anastasia Rodionova RUS/AUS d #148 Alexandra Panova RUS 7-5, 6-4 #105 Kai-Chen Chang TPE d #313 Wen-Hsin Hsu TPE 7-5, 6-4 #136 Chanelle Scheepers RSA d #349 Kumiko Iijima JPN 6-3, 7-6(3) #144 Sophie Ferguson AUS d #217 Abigail Spears USA 7-5, 6-1 Osaka, Withdrawals #39 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS #59 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU Linz main draw #80 Jarmila Groth SVK right ankle injury

Generali Ladies,  Linz, Austria   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Austria News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Linz: The main draw for Linz has 8 seeds, with 4 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   Intersport Arena Linz Latitude: 48.293444 Longitude: 14.276068 goto link for World Wind Generali Ladies venue address:     Intersport Arena Linz Ziegeleistrasse, 4020 Linz Austria Intersport Arena Linz. Ziegeleistraße 76-78 Linz, Upper Austria 4020 2009: On Saturday, October 11 in Linz, Sorana Cirstea, Austrian #1 Sybille Bammer, retired former Austrian #1 (and WTA #7) Barbara Schett-Eagle, and tourney director Sandra Reichel participated in the main draw ceremony... row 2: Aravane Rezai prepped for the players party on Monday, where good looking healthy young ladies who donned their dirndls and hit the floor included Alexandra Dulgheru, top seed Flavia Pennetta, and a smiling Iona Raluca Olaru (perhaps someone just told Iona she would reach the quarterfinals this week)...

Linz, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 11am & noon; Wed 2pm loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #10 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #554 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-1, 6-1 Tue Meghann driving a forehand, and Flavia following one #11 s2 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #78 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-4, 6-2 Wed Agnieszka driving a forehand, and Monica driving a backhand #25 s3 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #69 Timea Bacsinszky SUI 7-6(6), 6-4 Wed Yanina and Timea driving forehands #30 s4 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #158 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-2, 6-4 Mon #33 s5 Iveta Benesova CZE d #260 q Stephanie Gehrlein GER 7-5, 6-0 Tue *#79 q Julia Goerges GER d #36 s6 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-3, 6-3 Tue Julia driving a forehand, and Sorana following a backhand #41 s7 Lucie Safarova CZE d #85 wc Patricia Mayr AUT 6-2, 6-1 Tue Lucie and Patricia driving backhands #44 s8 Sara Errani ITA d #88 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-2, 6-3 Tue #49 Alizé Cornet FRA d #72 Kristina Barrois GER 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 Wed *#59 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU d #51 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-3, 6-1 Wed Sybille and Alexandra driving backhands, and Alexandra after winning a point *#54 Petra Kvitova CZE d #52 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-1, 6-4 Mon *#63 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #57 Roberta Vinci ITA 7-5, 6-1 Tue *#77 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU d #62 Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 Mon #65 Olga Govortsova BLR d #82 q Petra Martic CRO 6-2, 6(7)-7, 6-2 Tue #66 Tatiana Malek GER d #42 q Aravane Rezai FRA 7-5, 7-5 Tue #67 Urszula Radwanska POL d #122 wc Yvonne Meusburger AUT 7-6(6), 6-1 Mon

Linz, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 2pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #10 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #63 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Thu Flavia driving a forehand, and Anna-Lena's backhand drive #11 s2 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #49 Alizé Cornet FRA 6-4, 7-5 Thu Agnieszka and Alizé driving backhands #25 s3 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #59 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 Thu Yanina and Alexandra driving backhands #30 s4 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #65 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-3, 6-4 Wed *#54 Petra Kvitova CZE d #33 s5 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-4, 7-5 Wed #41 s7 Lucie Safarova CZE d #67 Urszula Radwanska POL 6-4, 6-4 Thu #44 s8 Sara Errani ITA d #66 Tatiana Malek GER 6-3, 6-0 Wed #77 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU d #79 q Julia Goerges GER 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 Thu

Linz, QFs, Fri 1pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #10 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #77 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU 7-5, 6-2 Flavia and Iona Raluca driving backhands #11 s2 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #41 s7 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-3, 7-6(9) Lucie and Agnieszka driving lefty and righty backhands #25 s3 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #44 s8 Sara Errani ITA 7-5, 6-3 Sara and Yanina driving forehands *#54 Petra Kvitova CZE d #30 s4 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 7-5, 6-4 Carla driving a forehand and Petra about to connect with a backhand

Linz, SFs, Sat 2pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#25 s3 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #10 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-6(5), 6-3 Yanina driving a backhand, and Flavia exploring the palatability of Wilson K-Factor "karbon black"     Yanina said: "It was a great win for me today, the biggest of my career until now, and it's amazing to be in my third final of the year. There were lots of people and it was an amazing crowd, so I really enjoyed it.     "After I went up 4-1, Pennetta started playing really well, and she served for the first set at 5-4. But I broke her back and won the tie-break, which is important in the later rounds, because it gives you a huge boost. In the second set I focused on being aggressive, holding my serve and putting pressure on hers... I broke her at 3-all and again in the last game." Linz player's blog by Yanina Wickmayer *#54 Petra Kvitova CZE d #11 s2 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-3, 6-2 Agnieszka and Petra driving righty & lefty forehands

Linz, Final, Sun 1pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #25 s3 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #54 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-3, 6-4 Yanina serving, and Petra & Yanina driving backhands

Linz, Doubles Final, Sun loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr57 s1 Katarina Srebotnik & Anna-Lena Groenefeld d cdr103 s3 Klaudia Jans & Alicija Rosolska 6-1, 6-4 Anna-Lena and Katarina Linz, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 12 11:30am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #42 Aravane Rezai FRA d #157 Andrea Hlavackova CZE 7-6(7), 6-4 #79 Julia Goerges GER d #86 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-2, 6-4 #82 Petra Martic CRO d #201 Nikola Hofmanova AUT 6-3, 6-0 *#260 Stephanie Gehrlein GER d #99 Karolina Sprem CRO 6-4, 6-3 Linz, Withdrawals #21 Dominika Cibulkova SVK right rib injury #24 Daniela Hantuchova SVK back injury #29 Gisela Dulko ARG left adductor strain #56 Kaia Kanepi EST left ankle injury

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

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