, who retired in May, 2007, and returned to play last August, is now 38-16 in WTA singles finals; she also won at Brisbane & Miami this year. Kim has a 26-5 match record in 2010.
is now 22-11 in WTA singles finals. Due to right shoulder rotator cuff tendon tears, Maria played only one match (a doubles match) between August, 2008, and May, 2009. This year, Maria incurred a right elbow bone bruise at Indian Wells in March, and that kept her sidelined until May. Maria has a 29-8 match record this season.
WTA SCOREBOARD: Cincinnati
The W&S Financial Open Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati: The 56-player main draw for Cincinnati has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 12 qualifiers and 5 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Sunday.
W&S Financial Open venue address: Lindner Family Tennis Center, 5460 Courseview Dr., Mason, OH 45040
2010: On Monday, August 9, in Cincinnati, Elena Vesnina did the heavy lifting, signing autographs, while high seeds Vera Zvonareva,
Kim Clijsters, Jelena Jankovic, and Sunday's champ in Copenhagen, Caroline Wozniacki, held reporters at bay at the All Access Hour...
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Cincinnati, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 11am Mon WTA story - Tue AP story - Tue WTA story
loser's prize: $5,400 US; points: 1
*#60 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #12 s9 Victoria Azarenka BLR 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 Mon
Victoria and Ana driving forehands, and Ana after winning a game
Ana trailed 3-5 in the 3rd set, and Victoria was two points from winning the match on three occasions. Ana is now 2-1 against Victoria, having also defeated Vika in their last meeting, in the 2nd round in Rome earlier this year. After that win Ana defeated Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova to reach the semifinals at the Foro Italico, her best performance this season.
Ana said: "It's my biggest win since Rome. Rome was a great week for me, but this victory means a lot. [Victoria] just came off a title, but also the way the match was progressing; the last few weeks I was losing matches like this. It's good to see that hanging in there gives the good results." WTA story
Victoria said: "I'm sure I can come up with better tennis, because today was a little bit of a disaster. I have to improve. I have another tournament before the Open and I'm definitely going to work hard to bring my A-game there... I wish Ana good luck the rest of the tournament."
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#13 s10 Maria Sharapova RUS d #21 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 Tue
Maria serving, Svetlana launching a forehand on the run, and Maria driving a backhand
Maria said: "I let [Svetlana] off the hook in the beginning of the second set, and she went with it. Against a player with a lot of experience, you can't do that. I had to earn it. The only way I was going to win was by being aggressive."
Svetlana won the San Diego title on Sunday. Svetlana said: "It's definitely tough to have a night flight then come and play the day after a final, but it's just bad luck, I cannot change it. I just need to get my ranking higher and then I can get a bye. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Maria. She played really well in the third."
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#15 s11 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #23 Jie Zheng CHN 6-4, 6-2 Tue
Flavia tossing the ball for her serve
#16 s12 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #104 q Greta Arn HUN 6-2, 6-2 Tue
Greta about to swat a backhand, and Yanina driving one
#17 s13 Shahar Peer ISR d #43 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-3, 4-1 retired—dizziness Mon
*#98 q Bojana Jovanovski SRB d #18 s14 Aravane Rezai FRA 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Mon
Aravane serving, and Bojana driving a backhand
*#143 wc Christina McHale USA d #19 s15 Nadia Petrova RUS 7-6(4), 5-3 retired—heat illness Tue
Christina about to swat a forehand, and Nadia driving a backhand
Temperatures in Cincinnati exceeded 95° F. on Tuesday, and the humidity was high. Olga Govortsova also succumbed to heat illness on Monday.
Christina said: "I'm not really sure what happened. I know [Nadia] called the trainer, but I wasn't sure what she called the trainer for. I didn't try to focus too much on that. I'm just excited to move on to the next round."
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#20 s16 Marion Bartoli FRA d #46 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-4, 6-0 Mon
Anabel serving, and Marion driving a backhand
Marion said: "I've had two difficult losses in the last two weeks, especially last week when I had three match points against Daniela [Hantuchova]. So I'm just happy to be in the second round.
"I lost to Alona [Bondarenko, my 2nd round opponent] the last time we played, in Toronto last year. I completely messed up that match."
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#24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #27 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 6-4 Tue
*#44 Gisela Dulko ARG d #25 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-4, 6-3 Tue
#26 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #40 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-3 Tue
#28 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #29 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU 6-4, 6-4 Mon
#30 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #42 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Mon
#32 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d #93 q Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 7-5, 6-4 Mon
#35 Dinara Safina RUS d #55 Roberta Vinci ITA 7-5, 6-4 Mon
Dinara said: "Some points I didn't play well, some I played really well. At this stage of the tournament, the most important thing is to get the win. It was a tough match but I was happy I stayed positive and gave 100%."
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#36 Sara Errani ITA d #161 wc Jamie Hampton USA 6-4, 6-2 Mon
#38 Andrea Petkovic GER d #205 wc Coco Vandeweghe USA 7-6(1), 6-1 Tue
Coco and Andrea driving forehands
*#47 Elena Vesnina RUS d #45 Melanie Oudin USA 6-2, 6-3 Tue
Elena tossing the ball for her serve, and Melanie driving a backhand
Melanie struck only one winner in the match. Elena said: "I saw on the screen after the first set that I have like 10 winners or eight winners or something, and [Melanie] has not even one... I was surprised... Maybe today she didn't play her best tennis, but I think I was playing pretty well, and I was dominating through the whole match...
"I was trying to play smart today, because she's a very smart player. She can read your game and be everywhere on the court, so for me today, the question was to try to be smarter than her."
Melanie said: "Today, it was pretty hard for me to hit a winner when [Elena] was being so aggressive so quickly. Normally when I play I'm hitting a lot of winners, so that definitely was against me today. It kind of started going so fast, and she wasn't missing and I was missing, because then I tried to go for too much. Just wasn't a good day."
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*#112 q Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #57 q Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 6-1, 6-2 Mon
*#89 q Ayumi Morita JPN d #58 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 7-6(7), 6-2 Mon
Ayumi serving, and Arantxa watching her backhand fly
*#71 q Vera Dushevina RUS d #65 q Anastasia Rodionova AUS 6-2, 7-6(7) Mon
#72 Sybille Bammer AUT d #63 q Sorana Cirstea ROU 7-6(5), 6-2 Tue
*#152 q Nuria Llagistera Vives ESP d #80 q Vania King USA 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 Mon
Vania and Nuria following forehands
*#102 q Monica Niculescu ROU d #82 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-3, 6-0 Mon
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Cincinnati, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 11am Wed AP story - Wed WTA story
losers' prize: $10,275 US; points: 70
Wednesday: play... rain delay... play... rain delay... play
#2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #71 q Vera Dushevina RUS 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 Tue
Vera ready to fire a forehand, and Jelena about to connect with a backhand
2009 Cincinnati champ Jelena said: "I made quite a lot of errors in the first two sets from what I've seen in the stats. There's a stat that shows I had almost 40 errors from those two sets... that's a lot. I knew I had to start constructing the points better, wait for my chances and then be aggressive. I was able to finish strong in the third set...
"I'm just happy to be playing here and happy my ankle is okay. I'm happy to be in Cincinnati. I don't have high expectations. I know I can do well. My goal is to get as many matches as possible. The more I play, hopefully the better I'll get." WTA story
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#3 s2 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #72 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-0, 6-2 Wed
Sybille driving a backhand, and Caroline following one
*#24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #6 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-1, 6-3 Wed
Anastasia following a backhand, and Elena driving one
Elena said: "That was probably the worst match in a long, long time for me... I just felt like I wasn't into the game. My concentration wasn't there. I just wasn't ready 100 percent."
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#7 s4 Kim Clijsters BEL d #35 Dinara Safina RUS 7-5, 6-2 Wed
Kim serving, and Dinara and Kim driving backhands
Kim trailed at the start of both sets. Kim said: "I knew if I could hang in there when I was down, I could do it. I try different ways to get through the matches sometimes, knowing I can rely on different things now that I'm a little bit older and have more experience." WTA story
Dinara missed much of this season due to low back trouble. Dinara said: "Today's match wasn't bad. It was very solid. [Kim] played better in the crucial moments. I need to continue to try and play as many matches as I can. I will keep working hard day by day and I feel my game is getting better. Last year I had a hundred matches; now I'm still coming back, since Stuttgart."
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*#47 Elena Vesnina RUS d #8 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-4, 6-4 Wed
Elena about to slice a backhand, Francesca driving her 1-hander, and Elena following a forehand
#9 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #26 Maria Kirilenko RUS 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2) Wed
Maria and Vera driving backhands
The match took 6 hours and 54 minutes to complete, including two rain delays totaling 3 hours and 28 minutes. Maria led 5-2 going into the second rain delay, after the delay Vera won four of the next five games to reach the tiebreaker.
Vera said: "I wasn't thinking about being down, I was trying to think about what I needed to do to beat my opponent... I always believe in myself. It doesn't matter if I'm down 5-0, I think I can win it."
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#10 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #28 Alisa Kleybanova RUS 6-4, 6-2 Wed
Alisa serving, and Agnieszka following a backhand
#11 s8 Na Li CHN d #36 Sara Errani ITA 6-2, 6-2 Wed
Na and Sara driving backhands
#13 s10 Maria Sharapova RUS d #38 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-3, 6-1 Wed
Maria serving, Andrea driving a forehand, Maria driving a backhand, and after winning a game
#15 s11 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #102 q Monica Niculescu ROU 6-0, 6-1 Wed
Flavia following a backhand
#16 s12 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #44 Gisela Dulko ARG 7-6(3), 6-2 Wed
Gisela following a backhand, and Yanina driving one
#17 s13 Shahar Peer ISR d #152 q Nuria Llagistera Vives ESP 6-3, 6-2 Wed
#20 s16 Marion Bartoli FRA d #30 Alona Bondarenko UKR 7-6(4), 6-1 Tue
Marion's 2-handed forehand with backhand grip
#60 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #32 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-1, 7-5 Wed
Ana serving, and Yaroslava driving a backhand, and Ana after match point
Ana defeated Stanford champ Victoria Azarenka in the 1st round. Ana said: "I finished that first match strong, and I just tried to take that into the match today... I had an awesome practice yesterday too, so I just tried to keep that in mind. I'm really trying to swing through the ball and not push and see what happens."
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*#143 wc Christina McHale USA d #89 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-2, 6-4 Wed
Christina and Ayumi driving forehand and backhand
*#112 q Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #98 q Bojana Jovanovski SRB 6-2, 6-0 Tue
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Cincinnati, 3rd Round, Thu 11am WTA story
losers' prize: $20,000 US; points: 125
*#112 q Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #2 s1 Jelena Jankovic SRB 7-6(3), 6-4
Jelena reaching for a forehand, and Akgul fielding one
Akgul hit 12 aces with no double faults; Jelena struck 3 aces with 5 DFs. Akgul won 80% of her 1st serve points and 75% of her 2nd serve points (Jelena: 73% & 52%). Akgul converted only one of the five break points she held against Jelena, but it was enough; Jelena never reached a break point against Akgul.
Jelena said: "[Akgul] played really well. She served very well. I thought that was the key to the match, actually. I didn't have much chance when I was returning. Unfortunately I lost today, but it's okay. It's part of the sport."
Akgul said: "I've never beaten anyone in the Top 10. She's No.2 right now and has a lot of titles—she's an incredible player.
"My serve is one of my strongest points. Today I served a lot of aces, which helped me save energy. Jelena moves very well and gets to every ball, so if I played rallies on every point, I would have already been tired in the first set."
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*#20 s16 Marion Bartoli FRA d #3 s2 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-4, 6-1
Marion serving, and Caroline and Marion driving forehand and backhand
Marion hit 32 winners, including 9 aces with only 1 double fault; Caroline struck no aces, and had 2 DFs.
Marion said: "With Caroline, you have to find the right balance between being aggressive and keeping the unforced errors low. But she's not just a retriever. She retrieves very well, but she can step inside the baseline and dictate if you're hitting the ball right to her. You're not No.3 for nothing."
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#7 s4 Kim Clijsters BEL d #143 wc Christina McHale USA 6-1, 6-1
Christina and Kim driving forehand and backhand
*#15 s11 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #9 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-4, 6-3
Flavia's service toss, and Vera's forehand drive
*#13 s10 Maria Sharapova RUS d #10 s7 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-2, 6-3
Agnieszka's service toss, Maria driving a backhand, and after winning the 1st set
The win raised Maria's record against Agnieszka to 5-1. Maria converted 5 of the 14 break points she held against Agnieska; Agnieszka scored on only 1 of 3 break point opportunities against Maria.
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*#16 s12 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #11 s8 Na Li CHN 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)
Yanina driving a backhand, and Na chasing a forehand
*#24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #17 s13 Shahar Peer ISR 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Anastasia ready to swat a backhand, and Shshar volleying one
#60 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #47 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-0, 6-3
Ana serving, Elena driving a forehand, and Ana fielding a backhand
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Cincinnati, QFs, Fri 11am WTA story
losers' prize: $40,000 US; points: 225
#7 s4 Kim Clijsters BEL d #15 s11 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-6(6), 6-4
Kim serving, Flavia about to swat a high forehand, and Kim reaching for a backhand
Flavia failed to convert a set point in the 1st set tiebreaker. Kim said: "The first set being won or lost doesn't mean you've won the match. But to win that set was comforting. It was an advantage to have going into the second set."
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#13 s10 Maria Sharapova RUS d #20 s16 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-1, 6-4
Maria serving, Marion driving a forehand, Maria driving a backhand, and after match point
Maria scored on 29 out of 30 first serve points (97%), and converted 4 of the 6 break points she held against Marion. Marion scored on 63% of her 1st serve points, and converted only one of two break points she reached against Maria. Maria now leads Marion 4-0 in career matches, and Marion has yet to take a set from Maria.
Maria did have a little trouble finishing the match, double faulting on match points while leading 5-2 and 5-4. Maria said: "I had a bit of a hiccup with those two games in the end, but I was fortunate enough to stay focused and win it. [Marion] is a different type of opponent. She doesn't give you much time and is really aggressive—I had to take it to her from the beginning, and many things were going well for me."
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*#24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #16 s12 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
Yanina and Anastasia driving backhands
Anastasia trailed 1-5 in the 1st set. Anastasia said: "It may sound weird now, but I still felt I could come back in the first set. I've had a few matches like this where I was down two breaks and came back. At that moment I was just trying to break her, then hold and so on. And then I just tried to find my best game for the next sets."
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#60 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #112 q Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-1, 6-3
Ana volleying a forehand, Akgul driving one, Ana fielding a drop shot, and after match point
Ana won 93% of her 1st serve points, and 53% of her 2nd serve points (Akgul: 63% and 31%). Ana also converted 4 of the 6 break points she held against Akgul; Akgul never reached a break point against Ana.
Ana said: "Winning matches gives me more confidence. For me, it's a goal to win a tournament rather than improve my ranking a certain amount of spots. But being seeded at the US Open would be huge. I haven't thought about it a lot, but that would mean I don't have to play Serena first round!"
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Cincinnati, SFs, Sat 1pm & 7pm AP story - WTA story
loser's prize: $87,500 US; points: 395
#7 s4 Kim Clijsters BEL d #60 Ana Ivanovic SRB 2-1 retired—left foot injury
Kim serving, Ana fielding a forehand and receiving treatment from the trainer, and Kim consoling Ana after she had to retire
Ana appeared to twist her left foot while making a forehand return. On her next shot, another forehand, she bent over in pain and dropped her racquet, then called for the trainer. After her foot was taped, Ana returned to the court and played two more points, but was clearly in much pain and had to retire from the match.
Ana said: "All of a sudden on that one shot, I felt something crack a little bit. I was very scared... I tried bit of tape, but I could not put any weight on it, and there was no point in me continuing." BBC story
Kim tore a muscle in her left foot in April, and was out for two months, missing the French Open. Kim said: "[Ana] is doing well again and then something like this happens, I hope she is OK, and it is nothing too serious, and she will be OK for the US Open."
An MRI exam later in the day showed that Ana had strained ankle ligaments, but that nothing was torn or broken. update at AnaIvanovic.com
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#13 s10 Maria Sharapova RUS d #24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Maria serving, Anastasia and Maria driving backhands, and Maria after match point
Early in the 2nd set, Anastasia double faulted, giving Maria a break and putting her ahead 2-1. After that point Anastasia called for the trainer to work on her right arm. At the end of the time out, officials decided to turn on the lights, which delayed play for an additional ten minutes.
Anastasia said: "[The delay] helped me a little bit to calm down. I was a little angry with myself. I was too tired today. It helped me to get everything clear in my head."
Maria said: "I think it kind of changed many things. I think I really gave her a chance to get back into the match...
[Anastasia] has a big first serve, pretty big groundstrokes, likes to change direction a lot... I had never played against her, but you can see how she's been doing well and beating good players."
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Cincinnati, Final, Sun 3pm+
loser's prize: $175,000 US; points: 620
winner's prize: $350,000 US; points: 900
play resumed after rain delay
#7 s4 Kim Clijsters BEL d #13 s10 Maria Sharapova RUS 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2
Kim tossing the ball for her serve, Maria reaching for a forehand, and Kim driving a backhand
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Cincinnati, Doubles Final, Sun 12:30pm
losers' prize: $50,000 US
winners' prize: $100,000 US
*Victoria Azarenka & Maria Kirilenko d cdr24 s4 Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs 7-6(4), 7-6(8)
Cincinnati, Qual Finals, Sun Aug 8 10am
losers' prizes: q1 $1,500 1pt; q2 $2,900 20pts; qualifier 30 points
#57 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN d #100 Jill Craybas USA 7-6(5), 6-3
#63 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #95 Simona Halep ROU 6-2, 6-4
*#93 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #64 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-3, 6-3
#65 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d #109 Julie Coin FRA 6-1, 6-3
#71 Vera Dushevina RUS d #133 Michaella Krajicek NED 7-6(1), 6-3
*#102 Monica Niculescu ROU d #75 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-0, retired
#80 Vania King USA d #101 Kurumi Nara JPN 6-1, 6-2
#89 Ayumi Morita JPN d #126 Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-4, 6-0
*#104 Greta Arn HUN d #90 Chanelle Scheepers RSA 6-3, 6-4
#98 Bojana Jovanovski SRB d #386 Julie Ditty USA 6-3, 6-3
*#112 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #106 Vavara Lepchenko USA 7-6(2), 6-4
#152 Nuria Llagistera Vives ESP d #340 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6(3)-7, 7-6(7), 6-2
Cincinnati, Withdrawals
#1 Serena Williams USA cut foot on broken glass, had surgery
#4 Venus Williams USA left knee pain
#5 Samantha Stosur AUS arm injury
#22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP right knee injury
#49 Shuai Peng CHN left ankle injury
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Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the
: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.
