WTA Feb 22-28: Acapulco & KL Abierto Mexicano, Acapulco, MEX INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Free Live Video: 1 Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP .html: QD - MD - oop pics: DL - Y!: sports - news | WTA Acapulco: weather radar - forecast #5 V Williams, #32 A Szavay #35 G Dulko, #40 S Cirstea Malaysia Open Kuala Lumpur INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Free Live Video: 1 Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP pics: DL - Y!: sports - news - WTA Kuala Lumpur: forecast #7 E Dementieva, #10 Na Li #20 Jie Zheng, #31 A Kleybanova

Tourney pages: Acapulco: 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Acapulco: #5 Venus Williams 6'1" 160lb RH 2H-BH Kuala Lumpur: #31 Alisa Kleybanova 5'11" 159lb RH 2H-BH

    On Saturday night in Acapulco, in the final of the Abierto Mexicano (Mexican Open), last year's Acapulco champ (and last week's champ in Dubai), 29-year-old top-seeded #5 (and former #1) Venus Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, won again, defeating 19-year-old 8th-seeded #59 Polona Hercog from Maribor, Slovenia, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 (Venus is shown with the hardware and headwear after the match).

    Venus and Polona had never before met on the field of combat. Venus's prize is $37,000, Polona's is $19,000. Polona picked up an extra $5,500 by winning the doubles final, teamed with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, defeating Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, 2-6, 6-1, (10-2).

    Venus said: "I played such a good opponent. In the first set [Polona] did not miss one shot and I had to find a way to get into the match... I would love to come next year. I have to make it three, a hat trick. I think I can do it. It’s not an easy tournament to win, as you can see this year." AP story

    Polona said: "I went on the court today to win. I did my best and I'm really happy with this week. Today and this whole week was a great experience for me. I hope to take it and move forward from it, and hopefully I continue with this intensity going forward." WTA story

    7-time Grand Slam tourney champion Venus is now 43-25 in WTA singles finals; she won the Dubai and Acapulco titles last year, and repeated the feat on Saturday. Venus, who has won her last 10 matches in a row, has a 14-1 singles match record this season, including her 5 wins this week.

    Polona was playing in her first WTA singles final; she has won 8 ITF singles titles, and 4 ITF doubles titles. Polona has a 11-5 singles match record in 2010.

    On Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the final of the new WTA Malaysia Open, 20-year-old 4th-seeded #31 Alisa Kleybanova from Moscow, Russia, won her first WTA singles title by defeating her compatriot, this year's champion in Paris and Sydney, 28-year-old top-seeded #7 Elena Dementieva (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 6-3, 6-2 (Alisa is shown with the hardware after the match).

    Alisa and Elena, too, had not previously met in WTA singles. Alisa's prize is $37,000, Elena's is $19,000.

    Alisa said: “It has been a tough week with many tough sets and matches. I’m just so happy to finally claim my first title. I’ve been waiting so long for this moment, training hard and playing in many tournaments. Everything came together in the final and I would like to thank Elena for the good match." AP story

    Alisa was playing in her first WTA singles final; she has won 10 ITF singles titles, and 3 WTA & 12 ITF doubles titles. Alisa has a 9-6 singles match record in 2010, with 5 of her wins coming in the past week.

    2008 Olympic gold medalist Elena is now 16-15 in WTA singles finals; she won the Auckland, Sydney and Toronto titles in 2009. Elena has a 14-3 singles match record in 2010.

Acapulco player's blog by Venus Williams

WTA SCOREBOARD: Acapulco & Kuala Lumpur s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Abierto Mexicano,  Acapulco, Mexico   tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US ET -1 hours        = US PT +2 hours Mexico News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Acapulco: The main draw for Acapulco 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   Fairmont Acapulco Princess Latitude: 16.788035 Longitude: -99.811703 goto link for World Wind 2010: Gisela Dulko posed for an ESPN magazine photo shoot in Acapulco... Young ladies looking good at the Acapulco players party on Sunday, February 21 included doubles partners Sharon Fichman and Mashona Washington, Czechs Petra Cetkovska and Klara (Koukalova) Zakopalova (who started partying in Bogota and apparently never stopped), and Sorana Cirstea...

Acapulco, 1st Rd, Mon 3pm-Tue 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #5 s1 Venus Williams USA d #145 Mathilde Johansson FRA 6-2, 6-3 Tue Mathilde serving, and Venus driving a backhand #32 s2 Agnes Szavay HUN d #86 Sandra Zahlavova CZE 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 Mon Sandra about to swat a forehand, and Agnes driving one #35 s3 Gisela Dulko ARG d #65 q Lucie Hredecka CZE 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 Tue *#129 Sharon Fichman CAN d #40 s4 wc Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-2, 6-0 Mon Sorana and Sharon driving forehands, and Sharon after winning a point #46 s5 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #215 q Greta Arn HUN 6-0, 6-0 Tue #49 s6 Sara Errani ITA d #110 Masa Zec Peskiric SLO 6-3, 6-2 Mon #57 s7 Roberta Vinci ITA d #89 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Tue Roberta about to swat a forehand #59 s8 Polona Hercog SLO d #100 Rossana de los Rios PAR 6-4, 6-1 Mon #60 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #120 Kathrin Woerle GER 6-4, 6-2 Mon #62 Kaia Kanepi EST d #579 wc Alejandra Granillo MEX 6-0, 6-1 Tue Alejandra ready to drive a forehand, and Kaia's backhand drive #73 Alizé Cornet FRA d #82 Jill Craybas USA 6-2, 6-2 Mon Alizé volleying a forehand *#111 Mariya Koryttseva UKR d #85 Angelique Kerber GER 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 Tue *#222 q Catalina Castano COL d #88 Klara Zakopalova CZE 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 Tue *#458 q Laura Pous Tio ESP d #104 Patricia Mayr AUT 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 Tue *#115 Renata Voracova CZE d #105 Pauline Parmentier FRA 7-6(4), 7-6(2) Mon #131 Edina Gallovits ROU d #238 wc Zarina Diyas KAZ 6-3, 6-3 Tue Edina volleying a backhand

Acapulco, 2nd Round, Wed 3pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #5 s1 Venus Williams USA d #62 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-4, 6-4 Venus driving a backhand, and after winning a point #32 s2 Agnes Szavay HUN d #115 Renata Voracova CZE 7-5, 6-1 #35 s3 Gisela Dulko ARG d #60 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 7-5, 6-1 #46 s5 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #222 q Catalina Castano COL 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 Carla driving a forehand, and Catalina running one down *#131 Edina Gallovits ROU d #49 s6 Sara Errani ITA 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 *#458 q Laura Pous Tio ESP d #57 s7 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 6-2 #59 s8 Polona Hercog SLO d #73 Alizé Cornet FRA 6-2, 6-4 Polona watching her serve fly Alizéward, and Alizé following a forehand *#129 Sharon Fichman CAN d #111 Mariya Koryttseva UKR 6-2, 6-3

Acapulco, QFs, Thu 3pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #5 s1 Venus Williams USA d #458 q Laura Pous Tio ESP 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 Venus blocking back a backhand *#59 s8 Polona Hercog SLO d #32 s2 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-4, 0-1 retired—left adductor strain Agnes following a forehand, and Polona driving one *#46 s5 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #35 s3 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-1, 7-6(4) Gisela and Carla driving backhand and forehand #131 Edina Gallovits ROU d #129 Sharon Fichman CAN 7-5, 6-2 Sharon following a forehand, and Edina serving

Acapulco, SFs, Fri 3pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #5 s1 Venus Williams USA d #131 Edina Gallovits ROU 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 Edina and Venus driving forehands, and Venus after match point *#59 s8 Polona Hercog SLO d #46 s5 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-3, 7-5 Polona about to connect with a forehand, Carla driving a backhand, and Polona after match point

Acapulco, Final, Sat 6:30pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #5 s1 Venus Williams USA d #59 s8 Polona Hercog SLO 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 Polona serving to Venus, Venus about to connect with a forehand, and after match point

Acapulco, Doubles Final, Sat after singles & rest for Hercog loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Barbora Zahlavova Strycova & Polona Hercog d cdr137 s4 Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-1, (10-2) Acapulco, Qual Finals, Mon Feb 22 3pm losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #65 Lucie Hredecka CZE d #219 Eloisa Compostizo de Andres ESP 6-3, 6-3 *#215 Greta Arn HUN d #150 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-4, 6-3 *#458 Laura Pous Tio ESP d #187 Corinna Dentoni ITA 6-2, 6-1 *#222 Catalina Castano COL d #198 Kristina Antoniychuk UKR 6-4, 6-2 Acapulco, Withdrawals #11 Flavia Pennetta ITA left hip injury #42 Melanie Oudin USA rest & recovery

Malaysia Open,  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US ET +13 hours        = US PT +16 hours Malaysia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Kuala Lumpur: The 32-player main draw for Kuala Lumpur 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   Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort Latitude: 3.143237 Longitude: 101.64237 goto link for World Wind Mslaysia Open venue address: Bukit Kiara Resort Bhd. Jalan Bukit Kiara, Off Jalan Damansara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia     2010 is the first year of the Kuala Lumpur tourney. New Straits Times story 2010: Ekaterina Ivanova, Anastasia Rodionova and other players learned to cook Malaysian foods such as roti canai and roti jala... although not playing due to an ankle injury, Kimiko Date Krumm made the trip to Kuala Lumpur, and, along with Andreja Klepac, enjoyed a health shake at the Golden Horses Health Sanctuary...

Kuala Lumpur, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 Monday: rain stopped play, play resumed, completed at 1:30am #7 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS d #108 Ekaterina Bychkova RUS 6-2, 6-1 Tue Elena driving a forehand, and Ekaterina following a backhand *#76 Tatjana Malek GER d #10 s2 Na Li CHN 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 Tue Tatjana driving a forehand, and Na about to swat one #20 s3 Jie Zheng CHN d #175 q Elena Bovina RUS 6-4, 6-3 Tue Elena and Jie following backhands, and Jie after winning a point #31 s4 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #171 wc Alicia Molik AUS 6-1, 6-4 Mon *#333 wc Zi Yan CHN d #44 s5 Melinda Czink HUN 3-6, 6-5, 7-6(5) Mon #50 s6 Sybille Bammer AUT d #217 q Anna Gerasimou GRE 7-5, 6-4 Tue #53 s7 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #75 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-5, 6-3 Tue Magdalena after slicing a backhand, and Tammy about to connect with a forehand drive *#94 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d #56 s8 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 Mon Olga driving a forehand, and Anastasia following a backhand *#140 Chanelle Scheepers RSA d #68 Stefanie Voegele SUI 6-2, 6-1 Tue #81 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #96 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-0, 3-0 retired Tue #91 Kai-Chen Chang TPE d #153 LL Shuai Zhang CHN 7-6(4), 7-5 Tue #93 Ayumi Morita JPN d #134 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 7-5, 6-4 Mon Ayumi serving to Galina, Galina driving a forehand, and Ayumi following one #97 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #154 q Yurika Sema JPN 6-3, 6-2 Tue *#138 Ekaterina Ivanova RUS d #123 Darya Kustova BLR 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 Mon #130 Bojana Jovanovski SRB d #141 Vitalia Diatchenko RUS 6-3, 6-1 Mon *#407 wc Noppawan Lertcheewakarn THA d #126 q Ksenia Pervak RUS 6-1, 6-4 Tue

Kuala Lumpur, 2nd Rd, Wed 1pm, Thu 2pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #7 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS d #130 Bojana Jovanovski SRB 6-2, 6-3 Wed Elena serving, Bojana driving a forehand, and Elena following a backhand *#91 Kai-Chen Chang TPE d #20 s3 Jie Zheng CHN 6-2, 6-3 Thu Jie about to swat a backhand, and Kai-Chen driving one #31 s4 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #81 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6(4)-7, 6-3, 6-4 Wed Alisa driving a forehand, and Alla following a backhand #50 s6 Sybille Bammer AUT d #97 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-3, 6-0 Thu #53 s7 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK d #407 wc Noppawan Lertcheewakarn THA 6-4, 7-5 Thu Magda following a backhand, and Noppawan driving one *#140 Chanelle Scheepers RSA d #76 Tatjana Malek GER 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 Thu #93 Ayumi Morita JPN d #333 wc Zi Yan CHN 6-2, 6-1 Wed Zi and Ayumi driving backhands, and Ayumi after winning a point #94 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d #138 Ekaterina Ivanova RUS 6-2, 6-2 Wed

Kuala Lumpur, QFs, Fri loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #7 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS d #53 s7 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-0, 6-3 Elena about to swat a forehand, and driving another #31 s4 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #94 Anastasia Rodionova AUS 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Anastasia driving a backhand, and Alisa about to swat a forehand #50 s6 Sybille Bammer AUT d #91 Kai-Chen Chang TPE 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 Kai-Chen and Sybille driving forehands #93 Ayumi Morita JPN d #140 Chanelle Scheepers RSA 6-3, 7-5 Ayumi's 2-handed forehand with biomechanically correct grip (unlike Marion Bartoli, Shuai Peng, Zi Yan, and several other players who hit 2-handed forehands with their backhand grip, left hand above the right), Chanelle driving a backhand, and Ayumi after winning a point

Kuala Lumpur, SFs, Sat 2pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #7 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS d #50 s6 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-1, 6-3 Sybille and Elena driving backhands, and Elena after match point #31 s4 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #93 Ayumi Morita JPN 6-4, 6-1 Alisa ready to lightly tap a forehand, and Ayumi driving a backhand

Kuala Lumpur, Final, Sun 4pm+ loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#31 s4 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #7 s1 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-3, 6-2 Elena and Alisa following forehands, and Alisa after match point

Kuala Lumpur, Doubles Final, 2pm loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr63 s2 Jie Zheng & Yung-Jan Chan d Anastasia Rodionova & Arina Rodionova 6(4)-7, 6-2, (10-7) Yung-Jan (9th WTA doubles title) and Jie (12th); their first doubles title as a team Kuala Lumpur, Qual Finals, Mon Feb 22 1pm losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #126 Ksenia Pervak RUS d #255 Ksenia Palkina KGZ 6-1, 6-1 *#217 Anna Gerasimou GRE d #153 Shuai Zhang CHN 6-4 6-3 #154 Yurika Sema JPN v #200 Yi-Miao Zhou CHN 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 #175 Elena Bovina RUS d #427 Natalie Grandin RSA 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 Kuala Lumpur, Withdrawals #25 Sabine Lisicki GER wisdom teeth #61 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN left ankle injury #72 Alberta Brianti ITA left rib injury #77 Sania Mirza IND right wrist injury #79 Urszula Radwanska POL low back injury #98 Jelena Dokic AUS illness #99 Regina Kulikova RUS left abdominal strain #360 sr83 Marina Erakovic NZL respiratory illness

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