WTA Jan 12-17: Sydney & Hobart Medibank Int'l, Sydney, AUS Int'l Tennis Ctr, Olympic Park PREMIER $600,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard | tourney videos Live Scores - in popup | Live Video ($) WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney - WTA Sydney: radar - forecast - map # 2 Serena Williams, # 3 Dinara Safina # 4 Elena Dementieva, # 7 Vera Zvonareva Moorilla Int'l, Hobart, Tasmania, AUS INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard | tourney videos Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP pics: WTA - tourney Hobart: radar - forecast - map # 13 Flavia Pennetta, # 14 Patty Schnyder # 18 Anna Chakvetadze, # 25 Jie Zheng

Sydney-Hobart: 2008 - 2007   Sydney-Canberra-Hobart: 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Hobart: #48 Petra Kvitova 6' 0" 154lb LH 2H-BH Sydney: #4 Elena Dementieva 5' 11" 141lb RH 2H-BH Sydney: 13th WTA Singles Title in 26 finals

    On Friday in Sydney, Australia, in the final of the Medibank International, last week's champ in Auckland, 27-year-old 3rd-seeded # 4 Elena Dementieva of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), won again, defeating her compatriot, 22-year-old 2nd-seeded # 3 Dinara Safina of Russia (residence, like Elena, Nadia Petrova, and Svetlana Kuznetsova: Monte Carlo, where they do not have to pay the Russki 13% flat rate income tax), 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 (Elena is shown after match point, and with the glassware after the match).

    About dropping the 2nd set, Elena said: "Instead of continuing to play very aggressively like I did in the 1st set, I was waiting for [Dinara's] mistakes to come, and that was not a good idea. I was able to change the situation in the 3rd set somehow; that break in the beginning of the set really helped me." WTA story

    Dinara said: "After the 1st I knew I had to start going for my shots more, and I started to do it—I won pretty comfortably in the 2nd set. In the 3rd set I completely went away from my game. I just gave [Elena] 3-0. I wasn't aggressive enough, and it was pretty bad from my side. But she played really well today."

    Asked if she now felt pressure to win her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2009 Australian Open, Elena said: "This is great, to have all this pressure after winning two titles. Would it be better if I am just going to lose first round and play without pressure in Australia? No. It's great to have all these matches played here and in Auckland and coming to Australia with the pressure, I love it, I really do." AP story

    Elena and Dinara are now tied at 5-5 in career matches. Dinara defeated Elena three times last year on clay and grass, but Elena won the last two times they played, both on hard courts. In the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Elena defeated Dinara 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, to take the gold medal. And in the round robin of last year's WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, Elena defeated Dinara again, 6-2, 6-4.

    Elena is now 13-13 in WTA singles finals; she won the Auckland title last week, the 2008 Olympic gold medal, and also won the Dubai and Luxembourg titles last year, finishing with a 54-15 match record for the season. Elena is now 10-0 in 2009.
    Dinara is now 9-8 in WTA singles finals; she won last year in Montreal, LA, Berlin and Tokyo (Pan Pacific), and reached the French Open final, where she lost to Ana Ivanovic. Dinara, 55-20 in 2008, has a 4-1 WTA match record in 2009; she was also 3-1 in ITF play last week at the Hopman Cup in Perth.

    In Hobart, Tasmania, on Friday, in the final of the Morilla International, 18-year-old unseeded # 48 Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, won her first WTA singles title by defeating her compatriot from Most, 25-year-old unseeded # 42 Iveta Benesova, 7-5, 6-1 (Petra is shown hoisting the Tasmania-shaped woodwork after the match). WTA story

    Iveta and Petra are friends who even share the same coach, but they had never before met on the field of WTA combat.
    Petra was playing in her first WTA singles final; she now has a 5-1 match record in 2009.
    2006 Hobart finalist Iveta is now 1-6 in WTA singles finals; she won the Acapulco title in 2004. Iveta is 4-2 in matches this year.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Sydney & Hobart s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Medibank International,  Sydney, New South Wales, Australia   tourney time:        = GMT +11 hours        = US EDT +16 hours        = US PDT +19 hours Australia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Sydney: The main draw for Sydney has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.   click for broader view   Int'l Tennis Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, AUS Latitude: -33.854985 Longitude: 151.072665 goto link for World Wind Olympic Park map, .pdf - Sydney Map 2009: Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Kirilenko, and Ai Sugiyama were looking good while practicing in Sydney on Sunday, Jan 11...row 2: Healthy young ladies being pretty at the player party (on Monday?) included Vera Zvonareva, Agnieszka Radwanska, Elena Dementieva, and Serena Williams...

Sydney, 1st Rd, Sun-Mon 11am Mon WTA story losers' prize: $4,300 US; points: 1 #2 s1 Serena Williams USA d #51 Samatha Stosur AUS 6-3, 6(4)-7, 7-5 Serena serving, Samantha driving a forehand, and Serena's backhand drive #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS d #36 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-2, 6-1 Mon Sorana serving, and Dinara driving a backhand #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #45 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 7-5, 6-1 Mon Elena driving a forehand     Elena won the Auckland title on Saturday. Elena said: "I played five days in a row in Auckland. It would have been good to have an extra day to rest and be as ready as possible for this tournament. But I'm glad I won in two sets; the first set was really tough to play but it felt much better at the end." #8 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #38 Shuai Peng CHN 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 Shuai's forehand drive (with backhand grip, like Marion Bartoli), and Svetlana's backhand #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #27 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-4, 6-3 *#15 Alize Cornet FRA d #11 s7 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-2, 6-4 Mon Nadia driving a forehand, Alize's backhand, and Alize after winning a point     Alize said: "I was a bit nervous at the end... I was 6-2, 5-1 up, and then I think I just started hoping [Nadia] would give me the end of the match. But no, she's 11 in the world and it's not like that. I still don't know how I won the last game." WTA story #12 s8 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #19 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-1, 6-2 Mon     Caroline said: "I really felt good out there today, especially in the beginning. Dominika is a really good player and I was expecting a long match, but I'm really happy it turned out this way."     Dominika defeated Dinara Safina to win the Hopman Cup for Slovakia last week in Perth, Western Australia. Dominika said: "I got tired after a few points and I felt my legs were so heavy, so I couldn't play my game today with her. Caroline likes long rallies." *#110 q Melanie South GBR d #17 Marion Bartoli FRA 1-1 retired—left calf strain Mon #21 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #70 q Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-3, 6-0 Mon Daniela's forehand drive #22 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #102 LL Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 Mon #26 Kaia Kanepi EST d #99 q Angelique Kerber GER 6-1, 7-5 Mon #29 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #64 LL Jill Craybas USA 6-2, 6-3 Mon Jill and Ai driving forehand and backhand *#32 Alisa Kleynanova RUS d #31 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-2, 6-2 Mon #41 Sara Errani ITA d #52 wc Casey Dellacqua AUS 6-1, 6-2 Mon #85 q Vera Dushevina RUS d #413 wc Emelyn Starr AUS 6-0, 6-1 Mon #98 wc Jarmila Gajdosova SVK/AUS d #77 LL Karin Knapp ITA 6-4, 6-2 Mon

Sydney, 2nd Rd, Tue 11am WTA story losers' prize: $8,000 US; points: 60 #2 s1 Serena Williams USA d #41 Sara Errani ITA 6-1, 6-2 Sara serving, and Serena about to swat a forehand     Serena said: "It was a little better today. I was happier with my serve but still think I can improve on some things. I don’t want to peak too soon." #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS d #85 q Vera Dushevina RUS 6-3, 6-0 Dinara and Vera driving backhands #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #98 wc Jarmila Gajdosova SVK/AUS 6-2, 6-4 Elena and Jarmila driving forehand and backhand     Elena said: "I'd never played [Jarmila] before, so I was really focused at the beginning of the match; I wanted to be aggressive and put a lot of pressure on her."     About her quarterfinal opponent, Agnieszka Radwanska, Elena said: "She's probably one of the best upcoming players on the Tour, and last time we played, in the final of Istanbul I lost to her, so it's an interesting match for me." #8 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #26 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(3) Svetlana driving a backhand #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #21 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 7-5 Agnieszka and Daniela driving backhands     Agnieszka said: "Maybe in the beginning it was a little bit tough, but then it was very good. Actually it was hot. It's my first tournament outside, and in Poland it was -15 or -20, so it's a big difference. I'm happy to have won two good matches so far." #15 Alize Cornet FRA d #32 Alisa Kleynanova RUS 7-6(5), 6-1 Alize serving, and during an interview later in the day #12 s8 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #110 q Melanie South GBR 6-2, 6-0 Caroline's backhand drive *#29 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #22 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 Ai driving a backhand

Sydney, QFs, Wed 11am WTA story losers' prize: $15,100 US; points: 120 #2 s1 Serena Williams USA d #12 s8 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6(5)-7, 6-3, 7-6(3) Woz following a forehand, Serena's backhand, and Caroline congratulating Serena after match point     Serena said: "It definitely was lucky today... I think this is the best [Caroline has] ever played in her life, really. Hopefully she'll keep it up." #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS d #15 Alize Cornet FRA 6-3, 6-4 Dinara following a forehand, and Alize's backhand drive     Alize took a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set; then Dinara won five straight games to take the match.     Dinara said: "Of course I'm happy that I won, but I think it was a disaster, the match today. If [Alize had] been a little bit more experienced I would have lost. I don't know what she did at 4-1, but I can say she gave me the match.     "I was a set up, and then I just wasn't aggressive enough. Nothing was coming from me, it was all about her - either she makes a shot or she doesn't make it. It's not the way I want to win the match. I want to win it by myself, not that the girl loses to me.     "Either I play completely differently tomorrow or I may as well just take my racquets and go, because that's not the way I want to play. Sugi's a very aggressive player, and she will not lose the match, for sure." #4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #10 s6 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 Elena tossing the ball for her serve, Agnieszka driving a backhand, and Elena following a flying forehand *#29 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #8 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS walkover—abdominal strain     Svetlana said: "I felt it a little bit before, but I thought, well, it’s just tight muscle. Now every time I start to pull it feels worse and worse. Yesterday I could manage to finish and win the match [but] I went to warm-up today and it was worse...     "For the moment physio’s telling me to rest two days maybe, not to do anything. Maybe don’t play tennis also. Then I’ll start to play little by little. I [will] do MRI on site tomorrow to figure out what I have there and see how it can be managed to cure this problem to be better for Melbourne...     "I played French Open all tournament with this injury serving slowly. I know what it is, and I cannot let myself injure it even worse. I have to be careful, and especially [because the] Grand Slam’s next week. I need to see two, three days how it’s recovering. It’s not terribly bad like I cannot laugh. I can laugh. The only thing, I cannot serve, and sometimes backhand is tough...     "I’m very disappointed because I [have] been working very hard pre-season. I wanted to go out there today so much and play. It’s very hard to take this decision, because me, to convince myself that I have an injury, it’s really tough." tourney story

Sydney, SFs, Thu 11am WTA story losers' prize: $28,100 US; points: 200 *#4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #2 s1 Serena Williams USA 6-3, 6-1 Serena and Elena driving forehand and backhand, and Elena after match point     It was Elena's third straight win over Serena, following four losses. In the final of the 2007 Kremlin Cup, Elena defeated Serena 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. And last year, in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics, eventual gold medalist Elena defeated Serena again, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.     Elena said: "All of my matches against Serena have been completely different. Playing her is very tough, because you don't really know what to expect from her. You have to be very focused and play your best tennis against her." #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS d #29 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-4, 7-6(3) Ai driving a forehand, Dinara's backhand, and Ai congratulating Dinara after match point     Ai was up a break in the 2nd set. Dinara said: "I played a solid game when [Ai] served for the second set at 5-4, then I played a solid tie-break too. It was so hot; that's not an excuse though, because it's the same for us both. But I still don't feel I was playing my best...     "Sometimes you play a match and you don't see things. My coach sometimes comes out and tells me I'm playing completely the wrong way. Today I felt something was wrong. He told me to just not back away from the baseline - he told me, 'Go back to Sydney, just don't run outside of Sydney."

Sydney, Final, Fri 7:30pm loser's prize: $52,500 US; points: 320 winner's prize: $98,500 US; points: 470 *#4 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS d #3 s2 Dinara Safina RUS 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 Elena driving a forehand, Dinara's backhand, Elena driving a forehand on the run, and after match point

Sydney, Doubles Final, Fri after singles losers' prize: $16,500 US winners' prize: $31,000 US *cdr80 Su-Wei Hsieh & Shuai Peng d cdr67 Nathalie Dechy & Casey Dellacqua 6-0, 6-1 Su-Wei's 4th WTA doubles title; Shuai's 3rd; they also won the Bali title together last year, and are undefeated as a team Sydney, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 11 11am losers' prizes: q1 $660 1pt; q2 $1,230 8pts; q3 $2,300 12pts; qualifier 20 points *#85 Vera Dushevina RUS d #64 Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 6-4 #70 Klara Zakopalova CZE d #102 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 6-1, 6-3 *#99 Angelique Kerber GER d #77 Karin Knapp ITA 5-7, 6-1, 3-3 retired #110 Melanie South GBR d #127 Meng Yuan CHN 6-2, 6-3 Sydney, Withdrawals #7 s4 Vera Zvonareva RUS gastrointestinal illness #16 Victoria Azarenka BLR upper respiratory illness #20 Katarina Srebotnik SLO left achilles injury #23 Na Li CHN right knee injury #24 Amelie Mauresmo FRA thigh strain

Morilla International,  Hobart, Tasmania, Australia   tourney time:        = GMT +11 hours        = US EDT +16 hours        = US PDT +19 hours Australia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Hobart: The main draw for Hobart has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.   click for broader view   Hobart, Tasmania, AUS Hobart Map Latitude: -42.873719 Longitude: 147.32908 goto link for World Wind

Hobart, 1st Rd, Sun 10am, Mon 10:30 & 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #13 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #38 Shahar Peer ISR 6-2, 7-6(5) Mon Flavia driving a forehand     Flavia said: "“I’m very happy, I was a little nervous near the end. We both played very well. It was tough to play Shahar; we are good friends and practice a lot together so it was tough to out there...     "I was happy to be back here, it is a very relaxing place, it is a great place to prepare for the Australian Open." tourney story *#44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #14 s2 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-2, 6-4 Sun *#46 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #18 s3 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5 Mon #24 s4 Jie Zheng CHN d #69 Marina Erakovic NZL 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 Mon *#60 Anne Keothavong GBR d #25 s5 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-3, 7-5 Mon *#126 q Urszula Radwanska POL d #33 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 Mon #34 s7 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #47 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 Sun *#42 Iveta Benesova CZE d #35 s8 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-5, 7-5 Sun *#131 Mara Santangelo ITA d #40 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 6-1, 6-1 Mon #43 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #365 wc Olivia Rogowska AUS 6-3, 6-1 Mon #48 Petra Kvitova CZE d #469 wc Sally Peers AUS 6-0, 6-0 Sun #49 Gisela Dulko ARG d #128 q Stephanie Voegele SUI 6-2, 6-3 Mon #50 Olga Govortsova UKR d #136 wc Jessica Moore AUS 6-0, 6-3 Mon *#105 q Melinda Czink HUN d #54 Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 Mon #57 Virginie Razzano FRA d #101 q Maria Elena Camerin ITA 6-1, 6-2 Mon #58 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #59 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 Sun

Hobart, 2nd Rd, Tue 10:30am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 *#58 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #13 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-5, 6-3 Magdalena driving a forehand, and after match point *#49 Gisela Dulko ARG d #24 s4 Jie Zheng CHN 6-3, 6-3 Gisela driving a forehand, Gisela after winning a point, and Jie congratulating Gisela after match point *#48 Petra Kvitova CZE d #34 s7 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-2, 6-1 #42 Iveta Benesova CZE d #131 Mara Santangelo ITA 6-3, 6-1 #43 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #46 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-4, 6-1 #44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #50 Olga Govortsova UKR 6-1, 6-2 Tsvetana about to slice a backhand #57 Virginie Razzano FRA d #60 Anne Keothavong GBR 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 #105 q Melinda Czink HUN d #126 q Urszula Radwanska POL 4-2 retired—back pain Melinda's backhand drive

Hobart, QFs, Wed 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #42 Iveta Benesova CZE d #49 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-4, 6-4 Iveta following a forehand, and Gisela posing a query to the chair umpire     Iveta said: "It’s important for me to win a few matches at the beginning of the season, which I’m happy with, and I hope I can do well next week [at the Australian Open]. My game is going pretty good so far - the semis here is not bad - we’ll see if it can be better." tourney story *#48 Petra Kvitova CZE d #43 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 Petra's backhand drive *#57 Virginie Razzano FRA d #44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-4, 6-1 Virginie after winning a point     Virginie said: "I played very well today, I am happy to win because it’s good to play some matches before Melbourne... I think I can win this tournament but I will take one match at a time." tourney story #58 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #105 q Melinda Czink HUN 6-0, 1-6, 7-6(7) Magdalena after winning a point     Magdalena said: "I was the favourite for this match and she is from qualifying, and [Melinda] was a little bit tired I think, but she played very well." tourney story

Hobart, SFs, Thu noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #42 Iveta Benesova CZE d #58 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-1, 6-3 Magdalena doing the number one on the runway thing, and Iveta following a forehand     Iveta is now 2-2 in Hobart semifinals; she was defeated by Michaella Krajicek, 6-2, 6-1, in the 2006 Hobart final.     Iveta said: "I remember my last final here, it wasn’t very nice, I think I won like three games, so I’m hoping things will be better tomorrow." tourney story #48 Petra Kvitova CZE d #57 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4, 6-2 Virgine driving a backhand, and Petra after reaching her first WTA singles final     Petra and Iveta Benesova, both Czech, are both coached by David Kotyza.     Kvitova said she would be nervous playing her "very good friend" in her first final because "we are all here as one team." tourney story

Hobart, Final, Fri 7:30pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#48 Petra Kvitova CZE d #42 Iveta Benesova CZE 7-5, 6-1 Petra driving a backhand, Iveta lining one up, and Petra's forehand drive

Hobart, Doubles Final, Fri after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US *cdr151 Flavia Pennetta & Gisela Dulko d cdr21 s1 Alona Bondarenko & Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 7-6(4) Gisela's 7th WTA doubles title; Flavia's 4th; they also won the Bogota title together in 2006 Hobart, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 11 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#101 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #68 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-3, 7-5 *#105 Melinda Czink HUN d #75 Edina Gallovits ROU 6-2, 7-5 *#128 Stephanie Voegele SUI d #87 Lourdes Domínguez Lino ESP 6-1, 7-6(1) *#126 Urszula Radwanska POL d #125 Stephanie Dubois CAN 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4

    (Dec 4, 2008) # 1 Jelena Jankovic has taken her name off the entry list for the the Medibank International in Sydney. There is no report of any injury, apparently Jelena has decided to prepare for the Australian Open in a different way. If Jelena changes her mind, she will be granted a wild card into the tourney. Reuters story

    (Jan 6, 2008) Former WTA # 4 Jelena Dokic, granted a wild card into Hobart qualifying, has reached the main draw. Jelena defeated Evgenia Linetskaya in the 1st qualifying round, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, # 65 Yvonne Meusburger in the 2nd, 6-3, 6-2, and # 84 Yaroslava Shvedova in a qualifying final on Sunday, 6-2, 6-3. The win over Yvonne was Jelena's biggest win (by ranking) since she defeated then # 48 Kristina Brandi in the 3rd round in Miami in March, 2004.
    Tennis Australia officials have indicated that Jelena has a good chance to receive a wild card for the Australian Open main draw. But if she is not still busy in Hobart, Jelena has said she would prefer to play through Australian Open qualifying, which begins later this week.

    (Jan 4, 2007) Both tourneys this week used the new WTA drawsheet form, which is not improved over the previous form in any way whatsoever, and is in fact much worse. Rankings are displayed only for the seeded players, and are not shown for the rest of the draw (the old form displayed the rankings of all participants). Why would we not want to know the player's rankings?

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.