WTA Oct 11-17: 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: DL - Y!: sports - news | WTA Osaka: radar - forecast #8 S Stosur, #10 V Azarenka #14 M Bartoli, #18 S Peer Generali Ladies Linz, AUT INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d indoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP draw, .html photos: DL - Y!: sports - news | WTA Linz: weather radar - forecast #29 D Hantuchova, #31 A Bondarenko #33 D Cibulkova, #34 P Kvitova

Osaka & Linz: 2009   Tokyo JO: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 Linz: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Osaka: #97 Tamarine Tanasugarn 5'5" 139lb RH 2H-BH Linz: #36 Ana Ivanovic 6' 1" 152lb RH 2H-BH

On Sunday in Linz, Austria, in the final of the Generali Ladies, the 2008 Linz champion (and 2008 French Open champ), 22-year-old 7th-seeded #36 (and former #1) Ana Ivanovic of Serbia (residence: Basel, Switzerland) handily defeated the 2008 champion in Bali, 31-year-old #44 (and former #7) Patty Schnyder from Baech, Switzerland, 6-1, 6-2 (Ana is shown holding the tourney's logo-trophy after the match).     Ana's prize is $37,000; Patty's is $19,000.     It was Ana's first title since she won in Linz in 2008. Ana said: "Winning again after two years is so wonderful, just unbelievable. I have been waiting so long for this and I worked hard to achieve it... I felt very well and hit the balls well. Patty played well all week so I tried to put her under pressure from the start. That paid off." AP story     Patty had defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Andrea Petkovic to reach the final. Patty said: "[Ana] took the balls so early and placed them so well... I am disappointed, but it still was a great week. My draw wasn't easy, so I was happy to stay in the tournament until the end."     Ana now leads Patty 5-4 in career matches, but Patty won the first four times they met, all in 2005, and Ana has won their last four meetings. They had not met since 2008, when, on the red dirt at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals of the French Open, Ana defeated Patty 6-3, 6-2.     2008 French Open champion Ana is now 9-4 in WTA singles finals. This was the first final she had reached since Indian Wells in March of last year. Ana has a 28-19 match record in 2010.     Patty is now 11-16 in WTA singles finals; she also reached the final at Budapest in May of this year. Patty has a 27-19 match record this season.

    On Sunday in Osaka, Japan, in the final of the HP Japan Open, last year's 's-Hertogenbosch champ (and a 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinalist), 33-year-old #97 (career-high #19) Tamarine Tanasugarn from Bangkok, Thailand, defeated the all-time Japanese #1, 40-year-old 6th-seeded #57 (and former #4) Kimiko Date Krumm, 7-5, 6(4)-7, 6-1 (Tammy is shown holding the hardware after the match).
    Tammy's prize is $37,000; Kimiko's is $19,000.

    Tammy said: "I tried to be more aggressive in the third set and I finally made it. This is a great feeling and hopefully I can continue to play like this and get a good start to 2011." AP story

    Kimiko said: "I just tried my best and fought as hard as I could. Nobody wants to lose, so I tried everything. Now I'll play some ITF events followed by the Asian Games, so I'll be continuing to play tennis the rest of the year."

    Tammy and Kimiko had played twice before, both times in ITF tourneys, on carpeted surfaces, after Kimiko's return from 12 years of retirement. In 2008 Tammy defeated Kimiko, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, and in 2009 Kimiko defeated Tammy, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

    Tammy is now 4-7 in WTA singles finals; she won at 's-Hertogenbosch in 2008 and 2009, and at Hyderabad in 2004. Tammy has a 27-15 match record this year.

    Kimiko is now 8-7 in WTA singles finals. Kimiko won the Tokyo Japan Open and San Diego titles in 1996, then retired from professional tennis. After 12 years in retirement, she returned to play in 2008, and in her first tourney, the $50,000 ITF Gifu, Japan, event, she went through qualifying and reached the main draw final—where she lost to then #86 Tammy Tanasugarn.

    Kimiko won 3 ITF titles in 2008, and one more in 2009. But Kimiko was 0-8 in WTA main draw matches after coming out of retirement—until she won five straight to take the Seoul title last year.
    Kimiko's singles match record this season is 25-18.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Osaka & Linz s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? HP 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   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 #8 s1 Samantha Stosur AUS v #321 wc Sachie Ishizu JPN 6-0, 6-3 Mon #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA v #155 Julie Coin FRA 6-2, 6-1 Mon #18 s3 Shahar Peer ISR d #166 Misaki Doi JPN 6-2, 6-3 Tue #26 s4 Maria Kirilenko RUS v #119 Kurumi Nara JPN 6-1, 6-0 Mon *#113 Coco Vandeweghe USA d #56 s5 Alla Kudryavsteva RUS 6-1, 6-2 Mon #57 s6 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN d #212 q Laura Robson GBR 6-3, 6-3 Tue #70 s7 Iveta Benesova CZE v #106 q Christina Mchale USA 6-4, 6-2 Tue *#153 Olga Savchuk UKR d #88 s8 Greta Arn HUN 6-1, 6-2 Tue #92 Alberta Brianti ITA d #95 Ayumi Morita JPN 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 Tue #97 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #112 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-2, 7-5 Tue #116 Kai-Chen Chang TPE d #196 Lilia Osterloh USA 7-5, 6-4 Mon *#127 Stefanie Voegele SUI d #117 Sophie Ferguson AUS 6-4, 7-6(5) Mon #122 Jill Craybas USA d #605 q Natalie Grandin RSA 6-4, 6-2 Tue #140 Junri Namigata JPN d #206 q Tomoko Yonemura JPN 6-2, 6-3 Tue *#NR wc Aiko Nakamura JPN d #151 Alexandra Panova RUS 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3 Tue *#210 wc Ryoko Fuda JPN d #159 Corinna Dentoni ITA 6-4, 6-2 Tue

Osaka, 2nd Rd, Wed 10am-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #8 s1 Samantha Stosur AUS d #140 Junri Namigata JPN 6-0 6-3 Wed #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #127 Stefanie Voegele SUI 6-2, 6-2 Wed #18 s3 Shahar Peer ISR d #210 wc Ryoko Fuda JPN 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 Thu #116 Kai-Chen Chang TPE d #26 s4 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-4, retired—left hip injury Wed #57 s6 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN d #NR wc Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-2, 6-0 Thu #70 s7 Iveta Benesova CZE d #92 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-1, 7-5 Thu #97 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #113 Coco Vandeweghe USA 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 Wed #122 Jill Craybas USA d #153 Olga Savchuk UKR 6-1, 6-1 Thu

Osaka, QFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 *#57 s6 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN d #8 s1 Samantha Stosur AUS 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4) Samantha driving a forehand, Kimiko following one, and after match point     It was the first time in WTA Tour history that a player over 40 years old has defeated a player currently ranked in the top 10.     Although Samantha scored on 7 of the 10 break points she reached against Kimiko, Kimiko converted an amazing 10 of the 12 break points she held against Sam.     Kimiko said: "I played very hard. Sam is a very good player and she is different from the others—she has a very good serve and is very fast. I had to run a lot today, but I was focused and knew I had nothing to lose." WTA story     Samantha said: "I had several chances to win, but Kimiko played very well today. She moves very fast and hits very flat. She's doing really well." #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA d #122 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-2 #18 s3 Shahar Peer ISR d #70 s7 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-2, 6-0 Shahar and Iveta driving forehands #97 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #116 Kai-Chen Chang TPE 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

Osaka, SFs, Sat noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#97 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #14 s2 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-2, 7-5 Tammy driving a forehand, Marion following a backhand, and Tammy after match point *#57 s6 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN d #18 s3 Shahar Peer ISR 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 Shahar and Kimiko driving forehands, and Kimiko after match point

Osaka, Final, Sun noon loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#97 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #57 s6 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 7-5, 6(4)-7, 6-1> Tammy driving a forehand, Kimiko and Tammy driving backhands, and Tammy after match point

Osaka, Doubles Final, Sun after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Kai-Chen Chang & Lilia Osterloh d Shuko Aoyama & Rika Fujiwara 6-0, 6-3 Osaka, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 11 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #106 Christina Mchale USA v #215 Ling Zhang HKG 6-3, 6-4 *#212 Laura Robson GBR d #177 Catalina Castano COL 6-3, 6-3 #206 Tomoko Yonemura JPN v #298 Akiko Yonemura JPN 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 *#605 Natalie Grandin RSA d #303 Wen-Hsin Hsu TPE 6-3, 6-4 Osaka, Withdrawals #10 Victoria Azarenka BLR left thigh strain #72 Yung-Jan Chan TPE illness #84 Regina Kulikova RUS low back injury #99 Alicia Molik AUS right elbow injury #105 Anna Lapushchenkova RUS low back injury #125 Anastasia Pivovarova RUS right elbow 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 2010: On Monday, October 11 in Linz, Daniela Hantuchova and Patty Schnyder played street tennis to promote the tourney... Darned good looking healthy young ladies who donned dirndls for the player party on Tuesday night included tourney ambassador and former WTA #7 Barbara Schett, row 2: Julia Goerges, Andrea Petkovic, Sofia Arvidsson, Alizé Cornet, Ana Ivanovic, and Daniela Hantuchova...

Linz, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 11am; Wed 2pm loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #29 s2 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #107 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-2 Wed *#51 Roberta Vinci ITA d #31 s3 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-2, 6-2 Tue *#205 q Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #33 s4 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-2, 6-4 Tue Eleni eyeing a backhand, and Dominika following one #34 s5 Petra Kvitova CZE d #62 Anastasia Rodionova AUS 6-2, 1-0 retired—left adductor strain Wed #35 s6 Andrea Petkovic GER d #58 Angelique Kerber GER 6-3, 6-4 #36 s7 wc Ana Ivanovic SRB v #100 LL Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-2, 6-0 Wed Ana after match point #38 s8 Klara Zakopalova CZE d #63 Elena Vesnina RUS 7-5, 7-5 Mon #40 s9 Sara Errani ITA d #142 q Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ 6-2, 6-2 Tue *#147 sr55 Anne Keothavong GBR d #41 Jarmila Groth AUS 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) Mon #42 Julia Goerges GER d #45 q Polona Hercog SLO 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Tue #44 Patty Schnyder SUI d #49 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-2, 6-3 Tue Gisela serving, and Patty after match point #46 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d #89 wc Yvonne Meusburger AUT 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 Mon #52 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #55 A Sevastova LAT 6(7)-5, 6-1, 6-4 Tue #54 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #68 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-3, 6-3 Tue *#73 wc Sybille Bammer AUT d #67 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 7-5, 6-0 Tue Sybille driving a forehand *#76 q Renata Voracova CZE d #75 Alizé Cornet FRA 6-1, 6-3 Tue

Linz, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 2pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #29 s2 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #54 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-4, 6-3 Thu     Daniela said: "Today was tough. Carla played a totally different game to my first opponent... it took me a while to get used to it. I have Patty [Schnyder] next. We have so much history, I've already stopped counting how many times we've played! I have a lot of respect for her game." Daniela Hantuchova at Twitter *#42 Julia Goerges GER d #34 s5 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-2, 6-1 Thu Julia after match point #35 s6 Andrea Petkovic GER d #147 sr55 Anne Keothavong GBR 6-0, 6-3 Wed Andrea doing the "Petko Dance" after match point #36 s7 wc Ana Ivanovic SRB d #52 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-3, 6-2 Thu Ana serving to Barbora *#44 Patty Schnyder SUI d #38 s8 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-2, 6-0 Thu #40 s9 Sara Errani ITA d #76 q Renata Voracova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Wed *#51 Roberta Vinci ITA d #46 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-2, 6-2 Wed *#205 q Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #73 wc Sybille Bammer AUT 6-1, 7-6(2) Thu Eleni fielding a backhand, and Sybille serving

Linz, QFs, Fri 2pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 *#44 Patty Schnyder SUI d #29 s2 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-4, 6-4 Daniela serving, Patty spinning a forehand, and after match point #35 s6 Andrea Petkovic GER d #205 q Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-3, 6-2 Andrea's service toss, and Eleni and Andrea driving forehands #36 s7 wc Ana Ivanovic SRB d #42 Julia Goerges GER 7-6(6), 6-2 Ana driving a forehand, and Julia and Ana driving backhands *#51 Roberta Vinci ITA d #40 s9 Sara Errani ITA 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 Sara driving a forehand, and Roberta "reacting," as they say in photo captions

Linz, SFs, Sat 2pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#44 Patty Schnyder SUI d #35 s6 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 Patty and Andrea driving backhands, and Patty after match point #36 s7 wc Ana Ivanovic SRB d #51 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 7-5 Ana and Roberta driving forehands, Ana driving a backhand, and after match point

Linz, Final, Sun 1:45pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #36 s7 wc Ana Ivanovic SRB d #44 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-1, 6-2 Ana and Patty driving forehands, Ana driving a backhand, and after match point

Linz, Doubles Final, Sun after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr78 s2 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova & Renata Voracova d cdr15 s1 Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 7-6(6) Linz, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 11 noon losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #45 Polona Hercog SLO d #182 Anais Laurendon FRA 6-4, 6-2 #76 Renata Voracova CZE d # Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-4, 6-2 *#205 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #100 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-4, 6-4 Eleni ready to swat a backhand #142 Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ d #245 Kristina Kucova SVK 6-1, 6-2 Linz, Withdrawals #1 s1 wc Serena Williams USA right foot not yet healed #11 Agnieszka Radwanska POL left foot injury #28 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU illness #48 Olga Govortsova BLR upper respiratory illness #60 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP right knee injury #69 Melanie Oudin USA back injury

    (Oct 10, 2010) WTA #1 (until Monday, Oct 11, when Caroline Wozniacki takes over the top spot) Serena Williams, recently sidelined by foot injuries, has withdrawn from the Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria. Serena felt pain in her right foot while training in Florida on Saturday, and a scan showed the foot had not healed properly. AP story
    Jarmila Groth was not made 9th seed, because the tourney managed to quickly locate an acceptable substitute for Serena: 2008 Linz champ (and former #1) Ana Ivanovic. This resulted in a rearranged draw with Ana as 7th seed.

    (October 11, 2010) WTA #2 (and former #1) Serena Williams says she is likely done for the season. Serena cut her feet on broken glass at a restaurant in Europe in July, causing her to miss this year's US Open. She was to return to play at Linz, Austria, this week, but withdrew on Saturday after reinjuring her right foot while training in Florida.

    In a post on her official website, Serena said: "I am likely out for the year now... In order not to make this worse, I have to chill on my physical workouts but I will immediately begin rehabbing as soon as I get the Doc's OK." AP story

    Serena's injuries originally required 18 stiches, 12 on her right foot and 6 on her left foot, and surgery on her right foot to repair a torn toe tendon. USA Today interview

    Serena cut her foot after her Wimbledon title victory on July 3, and the injury was at first not thought to be serious. Serena then lost to Kim Clijsters in an exhibition in Belgium on July 8. Asked how she was able to play the exhibition with the injury, Serena said: "Those Belgian doctors and waffles."

    Serena underwent surgery in Los Angeles on July 15. Serena had previously withdrawn from three tourneys leading up to the US Open and from all of her 2010 World Team Tennis matches due to the injury. AP story - July 20 AP update - original AP story

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2010 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2009 WTA Player Videos page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.