WTA May 4-10: Rome & Estoril Internazionali d' Italia Alice Cup Rome, ITA  PREMIER 5 $2,000,000 56m/32q/28d outdoor: red clay Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes tourney: draw, .pdf - OOP & results pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney - WTA Rome: weather - map Rome News - Italy News # 1 D Safina, # 2 S Williams # 4 J Jankovic, # 5 V Williams Estoril Open, Estoril, POR +ATP INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP results - order of play - draw pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney - WTA Estoril: weather radar - forecast # 29 I Benesova, # 38 M Kirilenko # 40 S Cirstea, # 48 P Kvitova

Tourney pages: Rome: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 Estoril: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Rome: #1 Dinara Safina 5'11½" 154½lb RH 2H-BH Estoril: #83 Yanina Wickmayer 6'0" 150lb RH 2H-BH

    On Saturday in Rome, in the final of the Internazionali d' Italia Alice Cup (aka the Italian Open), 23-year-old top-seeded # 1 Dinara Safina of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco) defeated last week's champion in Stuttgart, 23-year-old 7th-seeded # 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (who also resides in Monte Carlo), 6-3, 6-2 (Dinara is shown with the hardware after the match). Dinara's prize is $350,000; Svetlana's is $175,000.

    Dinara said: "Today [Svetlana] was making way more unforced errors than she usually does... I was trying to get her off the baseline, because she feels very confident on the baseline... I had in my head that I had lost three finals this year. I was like ‘I don't want to have this that I'm losing finals’. I'm really happy that I could win the final today." tourney story

    Svetlana said: "Dinara was playing good tennis... I could not manage to play my game at all today... It was like a little bit Christmas today—I was giving too much presents. She was taking her chances and she was attacking and she was doing the right thing, and I was not." tourney story

    Dinara now leads Svetlana 8-5 in career matches, but Svetlana won their previous meeting, six days ago in the Stuttgart final, 6-4, 6-3. They are tied at 4-4 on clay.

    Valencia-trained 2009 Australian Open finalist Dinara is now 10-10 in WTA singles finals; she won titles last year in Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Montreal, LA and Berlin, and reached the French Open final, where she lost to Ana Ivanovic. Dinara has a 23-6 match record this season.
    Barcelona-trained 2004 US Open champion Svetlana is now 10-18 in WTA singles finals; she won last week at Stuttgart, and reached the finals at Sydney, Dubai, and Indian Wells last year. Svetlana is 21-6 in matches this year.

    In the Estoril final on Saturday, 19-year-old unseeded # 83 Yanina Wickmayer from Deurne, Belgium, won her first WTA singles title by defeating 19-year-old 6th-seeded # 51 Ekaterina Makarova from Moscow, Russia, 7-5, 6-2 (Yanina is shown with the glassware after the match). Yanina's prize is $37,000; Ekaterina's is $19,000.

    Yanina said: "I've been playing well for a few weeks now. I didn't have great results but I've been practicing really well... I beat some good players this week, two or three seeded players, so I'm very happy." WTA story

    Ekaterina said: "Maybe I was a bit nervous today, but I'm happy to have made the final... Yanina is a really good player. At the start she missed a bit, but then she played without mistakes and maybe I was waiting for her to make them. She was the better player today."

    Yanina and Ekaterina had never before met on the field of combat.
    Yanina is now 1-1 in WTA singles finals; she reached her first final last year at Birmingham. She has won 9 ITF singles titles and 8 ITF doubles titles. Yanina has a 15-8 singles match record this season.
    Ekaterina is now 0-2 in WTA singles finals; but she had never progressed past the quarterfinals in WTA singles until she reached her first final one week ago in Fès. She has won 3 ITF singles titles and 9 ITF doubles titles. Ekaterina has a 13-8 singles match record in 2009.

    Estoril Player's Blog by Iveta Benesova

WTA SCOREBOARD: Rome s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Italian Open,  Rome, Italy   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Italy News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Rome: The 56-player main draw for Rome has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 8 qualifiers and 5 wild cards in the main draw.     Qualifying finals are on Saturday.   click for broader view   Tennis stadia at Foro Italico, Viale delle Olimpiadi Latitude: 41.929318 Longitude: 12.457477 goto link for World Wind 2009: On Saturday, May 2, Ana Ivanovic and Victoria Azarenka played a little rooftop tennis and admired the view of Rome... On Monday, players including Serena Willliams, 2007 & '08 tourney champ Jelena Jankovic, Ana, & Dinara Safina played Meet the Press...

Rome, 1st Rnd, Sun-Mon 1pm loser's prize: $5,400 US; points: 1 #11 s9 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #32 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-3, 6-2 Mon #12 s10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #41 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-0, 6-1 Mon #13 s11 Marion Bartoli FRA d #33 Shuai Peng CHN 6-0, 7-6(3) Sun #14 s12 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #50 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6(2)-7, 6-4, 6-1 Mon Flavia's service toss, and Tsvetana and Flavia driving backhands #15 s13 Alize Cornet FRA d #35 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-3, 7-5 Mon Ai and Alize driving forehands #16 s14 Jie Zheng CHN d #61 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-1, 7-6(4) Mon *#22 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #18 s15 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-2, 6-3 Mon #19 s16 Kaia Kanepi EST d #103 q Vania King USA 6-4, 6-3 Sun #20 Patty Schnyder SUI d #123 q Mariana Duque Marino COL 7-6(1), 6-3 Sun *#46 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #21 A Mauresmo FRA 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 Sun Maria Jose after winning a point #24 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #54 Anne Keothavong GBR 7-6(5), 6-4 Sun *#95 q Aravane Rezai FRA d #25 Alisa Kleybanova RUS 6-3, 6-3 Mon #26 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #37 Sara Errani ITA 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 Mon #27 Sybille Bammer AUT d #30 Na Li CHN 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 Sun *#111 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #31 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-4, 6-2 Sun #34 Gisela Dulko ARG d #128 wc Karin Knapp ITA 6-2, 6-3 Mon #36 Virginie Razzano FRA d #49 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-0, 6(8)-7, 6-4 Mon #39 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #58 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-4, 6-1 Sun #43 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA d #68 wc Tathiana Garbin ITA 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 Mon #44 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #121 q Alberta Brianti ITA 6-3, 6-4 Sun #47 Lucie Safarova CZE d #92 q Mariya Koryttseva UKR 7-6(5), 6-2 Sun *#62 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #52 wc Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 7-6(4) Mon *#84 q Ayumi Morita JPN d #55 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-1, 6-3 Sun #56 Elena Vesnina RUS d #89 q Jill Craybas USA 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 Mon

Rome, 2nd Round, Mon-Tue 1pm Tue WTA story losers' prize: $10,275 US; points: 60 Tuesday: play resumed after rain delay #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #36 Virginie Razzano FRA 7-6(1), 6-1 Tue Dinara and Virginie driving forehand and backhand, and Dinara after winning a point *#20 Patty Schnyder SUI d #2 s2 Serena Williams USA 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 Tue Patty serving, Serena launching a backhand on the run, Patty driving a forehand, and after match point     Speaking to reporters on Monday, Serena said: "“We all know who the real No. 1 is. Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world." AP story     Although Serena still leads Patty 8-4 in career matches, "the best in the world" has never defeated Patty Schnyder on clay. In the Charleston quarters in 2002, Patty defeated Serena 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. And in the Rome quarterfinals in 2007, Patty defeated Serena 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5). #4 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #34 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 7-6(6) Tue Jelena driving a forehand, Gisela about to swat one, and Jelena running down another     Jelena said: "I had everything under control, and all of a sudden, [Gisela is] on top of me and she has set points to win the second set. It was difficult, but I managed to somehow stay positive and stay strong and win that second set." #5 s4 Venus Williams USA d #47 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 Mon Lucie driving a backhand, and Venus following one on the run     1999 Rome champion Venus said: "I was really happy with the first set, and with most of the third. I just I want to hit balls, so in a way it's not too bad to go three sets.     "[In the second set] I just didn't get that break back, and [Lucie] played some good shots. She played strong and she is a talented player, so I have to give her credit. The points were so short we both played aggressive, and she was just going for every shot, for the lines, so there was not really an opportunity to hit balls and have rallies, because she's constantly trying to just take the first shot and hopefully play aggressive and beat me." tourney story #7 s5 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #44 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-3, 6-4 Tue Francesca driving a forehand, Ana driving a backhand, and after match point #8 s6 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #84 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-0 retired—left thigh strain Mon #9 s7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #39 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 6-3 Tue #10 s8 Nadia Petrova RUS d #24 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 Tue #11 s9 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #43 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA 6-1, 7-5 Tue #12 s10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #95 q Aravane Rezai FRA 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7) Tue *#46 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #13 s11 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-1, 7-5 Tue #14 s12 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #111 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-3, 6(5)-7, 6-1 Tue Flavia and Yaroslava driving forehand and backhand, and Flavia awaiting a backhand *#62 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #15 s13 Alize Cornet FRA 6-4, 6-1 Tue #16 s14 Jie Zheng CHN d #56 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-2, 6(3)-7, 6-2 Tue #19 s16 Kaia Kanepi EST d #27 Sybille Bammer AUT 7-5, 6-3 Tue #22 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #26 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 Tue

Rome, 3rd Round, Wed 1pm losers' prize: $20,000 US; points: 110 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #16 s14 Jie Zheng CHN 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) Jie about to connect with a forehand, Dinara driving one, and after winning a point #4 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #62 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 1-0 retired—illness Kateryna about to swat a backhand, Jelena driving one, and Kateryna getting some advice from her designated coach, her sister Alona     Jelena said: "I would have loved to finish the match, because I was playing pretty well in that first set. I felt the ball really well and I had good timing. It was a good set." tourney story #5 s4 Venus Williams USA d #22 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-0, 6(8)-7, 6-4 Venus lining up a forehand, Anna fielding a backhand on the run, and Venus following one *#12 s10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #7 s5 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-1, 3-6, 6-4     2008 French Open champion Ana said: "I was making way too many unforced errors. It was a little bit frustrating because last night I played really well, so I just assumed I would start the same. I wasn't working as hard for my points and I was going for winners way too early.     "Once I settled in I felt like I had my game back and my game plan was working well. But then in the third set, [Agnieszka] started playing much more aggressive and deeper balls. So even when I had a chance to come in I wasn't doing that, I was staying way too much on the baseline and she was moving me around. Obviously that was a little bit frustrating...     "After I was 4-0 up she didn't give me many opportunities. I was a little bit disappointed I didn't step in and take some balls out of the air, because I think that's the way I should play against her. She's great mover, and she was retrieving lots of balls. I stayed way back way too much, but I don't think it's confidence, because I’ve been hitting really well and last night I had really good match against Francesca. I just wasn't aware of these things at that present moment. Afterwards, when I was speaking with my coach, I was like, 'Yeah, that's exactly what was missing.'     "I also think I should have mixed my serve up a little bit more when I was up a couple of breaks. But she played extremely well and hardly made any errors." tourney story #8 s6 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #11 s9 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-2, 6-2 #9 s7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #14 s12 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 Svetlana driving a forehand, and Flavia fielding one on the run *#46 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #10 s8 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-4, 6(5)-7, 6-4 #19 s16 Kaia Kanepi EST d #20 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-3, 6-0 Patty and Kaia driving backhands

Rome, QFs, Thu 1pm losers' prize: $40,000 US; points: 200 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #46 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 Dinara's forehand drive, and Maria Jose and Dinara driving backhands     Dinara said: "[Maria Jose is a] lefty with great volleys and a great serve. She complicated pretty much the game—she could have won this match. First set, I had a plan to go for my shots, to hit them, and again, it was all about her.     "At 3-1 [in the second set], I changed and I won my service game. We changed the sides and I hit the returns and I just went a little bit on the side and she could not catch them anymore.     "I always had the chance to do something with the return, but just I wasn't doing it. Good that I did it at the end!" tourney story     During the 2nd set, Dinara had to call for the trainer to have her ankle taped.     Dinara said: "In the first singles match, I fell on the court and I twisted my ankle. It was fine, but... yesterday I played again three hours singles and then two hours doubles, on the warm up it started just being painful whenever I had to go down on this leg. Then it was just getting worse and worse. I have a big tournament coming up, so I had to call for the trainer so that at least it doesn't get even worse. That they could tape me and they could block the movement.     "I haven't played doubles for a long time, and suddenly I decided to play, of course at the wrong moment, when I'm playing on clay court when the matches are not less than one hour. I don't know—I just wanted to have fun and play. What can I do? Wrong decision." *#9 s7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #4 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB 6-1, 7-6(3) Svetlana driving a forehand, Jelena launching one on the run, Svetlana driving a backhand, and after match point     Svetlana said: "I think I have improved, but [consistency] is my main problem. I have all the game, I have all the shots, but when I have consistency I play much better—like the last two weeks. I’ve started to win more matches and it's my goal to find the key within myself to play consistently the whole match all the time...     "I definitely have a chance [to win the tourney]. I played great this last week [winning the Stuttgart title], and I'm playing better and better every match here. I got used to this court today especially, and I'm looking forward to playing tomorrow. I definitely have a chance." tourney story     2007 and 2008 Italian Open champion Jelena said: "[Svetlana] was playing very good tennis out there. She was hitting the ball very, very well with a lot of power and deep. She didn't allow me to play my game, and especially that was the case in the first set.     "Then I started to a little bit change the way I was playing and my tactics, in the second set, but it was a little bit too late. I had some chances—I had two set points in the second and didn't take them, and then everything went her way. But I didn't play from the beginning tactically well. I played what she liked, and of course she has more power than me. Today was her day—she was the better player, she deserved to win...     "I wanted to win here for three times in a row and unfortunately didn't happen for me, but it's not the end of world. All I care is to enjoy my tennis and be happy. Somebody has to lose, and today it was me." #5 s4 Venus Williams USA d #12 s10 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-1, 6-2 Agnieszka and Venus driving forehand and backhand, and Venus after match point #8 s6 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #19 s16 Kaia Kanepi EST 7-6(5), 6-3 Victoria's forehand drive, and Kaia and Vika driving backhands     There were 13 breaks of serve in the 19 games played.     Victoria said: "I don't know really what was really going on with the serve, I was playing a little bit better on my return and [Kaia] was playing a little bit more consistent, but there were just too many mistakes from my side and from her side on her serve.     "It's very unusual to have that, but that's what happens. I was surprised, because the last time I played her it was completely different game, but we were also playing indoors on the hard court.     "I wasn't really patient with myself at all. I was trying to do so many things in one point that I just didn't know how to exactly do it. It was a pretty bad performance from me today.     "It was a little bit tough with the wind, but you cannot blame that. I'm just happy that I managed to go through a bad day of tennis not being very patient with myself. I'm just happy to go through that." tourney story

Rome, SFs, Fri 1:30pm & 4pm loser's prize: $87,500 US; points: 350 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #5 s4 Venus Williams USA 6(3)-7, 6-3, 6-4 Dinara driving a forehand, Venus launching one on the run, Dinara attempting to pass Venus at net, and after match point     Dinara said: "The moment came when I was 3-1 up in the third set, and I had to be a little bit more dominant on court, but I gave [Venus] the chance to come back. Then at 3-3, 4-3 again with the break, again I didn't play good at that moment.     "But still at the end I closed the game. It gives me a lot of confidence to beat such a big player like her, such a champion. I still went for my shots, that was the important thing." tourney story     Venus said: "I congratulate [Dinara] on playing good tennis the whole match. She played well, continued to fight for every point—that's what you have to do on this surface...     "I hit a lot of balls long. I needed to add some more spin. Even the last shot - long, long, long. I'm going to have to work on that—when I'm going for my shots, hit it inside the court—it's pretty key!." tourney story *#9 s7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #8 s6 Victoria Azarenka BLR 6-2, 6-4 Vika driving a forehand, Sveta following one on the run, and after match point     Svetlana is now 9-0 this year on red clay, making her a favorite to win the French Open, particularly with last year's champion, Ana Ivanovic, sitting out next week's Madrid Open due to right knee inflammation.     Svetlana said: "I'm not thinking about the French Open right now. For me, it's this tournament. I play lots of matches, so I'm focusing on doing my best. I'm just playing as I can and I'm doing good and I'm happy about it." tourney story     Victoria said: "[At] this tournament, I just played one good match, but I'm happy I went to the semi-finals here. It's a pretty big tournament. I hope I can be better at the French Open." tourney story

Rome, Final, Sat 4pm loser's prize: $175,000 US; points: 550 winner's prize: $350,000 US; points: 800 #1 s1 Dinara Safina RUS d #9 s7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-3, 6-2 Dinara driving a forehand, Sveta's backhand drive, Dinara stepping up to lightly tap one, and after match point

Rome, Doubles Final, Sat 1:30pm losers' prize: $50,000 US winners' prize: $100,000 US *cdr50 s7 Su-Wei Hsieh & Shuai Peng d cdr42 s5 Daniela Hantchova & Ai Sugiyama 7-5, 7-6(5) Daniela, Ai, Su-Wei, and Shuai Rome, Qual Finals, Sat May 2 noon losers' prizes: q1 $1,500 1pt; q2 $2,900 20pts; qualifier 30 points *#111 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #59 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 6-2, 7-5 #84 Ayumi Morita JPN d #176 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-3, 6-3 *#121 Alberta Brianti ITA d #86 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-4, 6-3 #89 Jill Craybas USA d #130 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6-2, 6-1 #92 Mariya Koryttseva UKR d #456 Alice Moroni ITA 7-6(3), 6-1 *#95 Aravane Rezai FRA d #94 Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR 6-2, 3-0 retired #103 Vania King USA d #550 Stefania Chieppa ITA 6-0, 6-3 *#123 Mariana Duque Marino COL d #117 Julie Ditty USA 6-2, 6-2 Rome, Withdrawals #6 Vera Zvonareva RUS tore left ankle ligaments in Charleston #17 Dominika Cibulkova SVK left thigh injury #23 Katarina Srebotnik SLO left achilles injury #64 Maria Sharapova RUS 2008 torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon

Estoril Open,  Estoril, Portugal   tourney time:        = GMT +1 hour        = US EDT +5 hours        = US PDT +8 hours Portugal News - Portugal Weather Radar Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Estoril: The 32-player main draw for Estoril has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers and 3 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Monday.   click for broader view   Estadio Nacional   Estoril map - venue map Latitude: 38.707683 Longitude: -9.253299 goto link for World Wind 2009: On Sunday, May 3, 16-year-old Portuguese # 1 Michelle Larcher de Brito did a little flag waving after winning her 2nd round qualifying match... On Monday, Michelle's compatriot Neuza Silva celebrated her 26th birthday... Also on Monday, Sabine Lisicki was admitted to a fine pastry bakery, only after being sworn to secrecy about the process by which dough, etc., becomes actual food...

Estoril, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #29 s1 Iveta Benesova CZE d #163 wc Neuza Silva POR 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 Mon     Iveta said: "It was very tough. I was close to leaving the tournament on the first day! I didn't play too well. I was down 4-1 in the third set but was able to win in the end. Credit to [Neuza] though, she had a great performance. All I could do was fight. It was her birthday actually, so I feel a bit bad for her now, but I wasn't thinking about it during the match, of course. I'm happy to be through to the second round." Estoril player's blog by Iveta Benesova #38 s2 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #211 q Sharon Fichman CAN 6(8)-7, 6-4, 6-3 Tue Maria and Sharon driving forehands, and Maria's backhand drive #40 s3 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #122 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 Tue #42 s4 Sabine Lisicki GER d #99 Kirsten Flipkens BEL 6-2, 6-2 Tue *#83 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #48 s5 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-2, 6-4 Tue #51 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #65 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-4, 6-3 Tue #53 s7 Shahar Peer ISR d #134 LL Michelle Larcher de Brito POR 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 Tue #57 s8 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #78 Pauline Parmentier FRA 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) Mon *#75 Jarmila Groth SVK d #63 Mathilde Johansson FRA 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 Mon #66 Olga Govortsova BLR d #145 q Ekaterina Ivanova RUS 6-1, 6-2 Tue #69 Melinda Czink HUN d #279 q Eva Fernandez-Brugues ESP 7-5, 7-5 Tue *#668 Maria Emilia Salerni ARG d #70 Julie Coin FRA 6-4, 6-4 Tue *#161 q Elena Bovina RUS d #74 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-1, 6-3 Tue #76 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #190 q Silvia Soler Espinosa ESP 7-5, 6-4 Tue #77 Kristina Barrois GER d #631 wc Maria Joao Koehler POR 7-6(4), 6-0 Mon #110 Maret Ani EST d #202 wc Frederica Piedade POR 6-0, 7-6(4) Tue

Estoril, 2nd Round, Wed 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 *#75 Jarmila Groth SVK d #29 s1 Iveta Benesova CZE 7-5, 6-4 #38 s2 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #668 Maria Emilia Salerni ARG 6-3, 6-0 #40 s3 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #110 Maret Ani EST 7-5, 6-2 #42 s4 Sabine Lisicki GER d #161 q Elena Bovina RUS 6-4, 7-5 Sabine about to swat a forehand, and Elena and Sabine driving backhands #51 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #69 Melinda Czink HUN 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 #53 s7 Shahar Peer ISR d #76 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-4, 6-1 #57 s8 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #77 Kristina Barrois GER 6-4, 6-4 *#83 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #66 Olga Govortsova BLR 0-6, 6-2, 6-2

Estoril, QFs, Thu 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 *#51 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #38 s2 Maria Kirilenko RUS 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 Ekaterina and Maria driving backhands #83 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #40 s3 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 *#57 s8 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #42 s4 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-2, retired—right shoulder strain #53 s7 Shahar Peer ISR d #75 Jarmila Groth SVK 6-2, 0-6, 6-3

Estoril, SFs, Fri 11am WTA story loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #51 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #57 s8 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-3, 6-1 Anna-Lena and Ekaterina driving righty forehand and lefty backhand, and Ekaterina after match point     Ekaterina reached the first singles final of her career last week in Fès, and won the doubles title there.     Ekaterina said: "I played pretty well today. [Anna-Lena] is a good player but I played my best tennis, just being aggressive. I'm so happy to make my second final in two weeks. When I came here I was a little bit tired so I didn't think I could make the same result. I just played every point and every match and I've come through." *#83 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #53 s7 Shahar Peer ISR 3-0 retired—right foot injury Shahar and Yanina driving backhands     Shahar said: "From the beginning of the week I had pain in my right foot and managed to finish my three singles matches and a doubles—I don't know how, actually—but yesterday at the end of the match, during the third set, I did something even worse to my foot. I tried to recover as much as I could, but I had to play very early this morning. I can't really walk on my foot that much unfortunately. It's the first time in my life I've had to retire from a match. It just needs rest and it will recover, but I kept playing on it because I wanted to keep playing this tournament, but I guess it was too much for today."     Yanina said: "Of course I'd prefer to win by playing the whole match. I was playing well until 3-0. I had a little practice after the match. Even though I didn't play the whole match, the games I did play were really strong and I feel ready for tomorrow...     "Makarova had a great week in Fès last week, too. She has beaten some good players during both weeks, so for sure she is playing well. She's had a lot of matches on clay and so have I, so I think it's going to be a good match. I've never played her before, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. It's going to be the one who is the fittest on the court and who has the best start tomorrow who will win, I think."

Estoril, Final, Sat 12:35pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#83 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #51 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 7-5, 6-2 Yanina about to swat a forehand, Ekaterina and Yanina driving backhands, and Yanina after match point

Estoril, Doubles Final, Sat noon loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr101 s3 Raquel Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears d cdr491 Sharon Fichman & Katalin Marosi 2-6, 6-3, (10-5) Raquel and Abigail Estoril, Qual Finals, Mon May 4 11am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#161 Elena Bovina RUS d #134 Michelle Larcherde Brito POR 6-0, 6-2 Elena after winning a point *#190 Silvia Soler Espinosa ESP d #145 Ekaterina Ivanova RUS 6-1, 6-3 *#279 Eva Fernandez-Brugues ESP d #164 Ekaterina Dzehalevich BLR 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 #211 Sharon Fichman CAN d #309 Arina Rodionova RUS 6-0, 6-2 Estoril, Withdrawals #73 Yung-Jan Chan TPE left foot injury #79 Severine Bremond FRA injury #80 Marina Erakovic NZL left hip injury #81 Edina Gallovits ROU left foot injury #1078 sr73 Akiko Morigami JPN knee injury

    (Apr 28, 2009) Former WTA # 1 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next week's Italian Open in Rome, and from the following week's Madrid Open as well. Maria's right shoulder has still not fully recovered from a torn rotator cuff tendon she incurred in March of last year (Maria played injured until late July, when the tear was detected in an April MRI scan.) There has as yet been no statement on Maria's official website. Maria's WTA ranking has fallen to # 64 while she has been recovering from the injury. Maria currently remains on the French Open entry list, and is on the entry list for the AEGON Classic in Birmingham, England, which was released today.

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.