WTA Apr 5-11: Marbella & Ponte Vedra Andalucia Tennis Experience Marbella, ESP | outdoor: red clay INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d Free Live Video 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA Q - main - D - OOP pics: DL - Y!: sports - news | WTA audio clips - Marbella: radar - forecast #7 V Azarenka, #13 F Pennetta #17 K Clijsters, #21 A Rezai MPS Group Championships Ponte Vedra Beach, FL INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: green clay Har-Tru Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA Q - main - D - OOP tourney: results - draws - OOP pics: DL - Y!: sports - news | WTA - FTU TV schedule | FTU: MPS GC Ponte Vedra: radar - forecast #2 C Wozniacki, #24 A Bondarenko #28 D Cibulkova, #34 Elena Vesnina

Ponte Vedra & Marbella: 2009   Amelia Island: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Ponte Vedra Beach: #2 Caroline Wozniacki 5' 10" 128lb RH 2H-BH Marbella: #13 Flavia Pennetta 5'7¾" 128lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, in the final of the MPS Group Championships, the 2009 tourney champion (and this year's finalist at Indian Wells), 19-year-old top-seeded #2 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), won the title again by defeating 21-year-old unseeded #50 (career high: #35) Olga Govortsova from Minsk, Belarus, 6-2, 7-5 (Caroline is shown with the glassware after the match).

    Caroline's prize is $37,000; Olga's is $19,000.

    Olga took a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set, and held 2 set points at 5-3. Caroline said: "Olga started playing very well in the second set. Everything she hit was going in. I just started stepping into the court, and after I won that long game at 4-5, I kind of had the advantage. We had so many incredible shots in the match, it was all just about hanging in there in the end." WTA story

    Olga said: "I had to change something in the second set, so I just tried to attack every single shot I could. I was trying really hard right until the end. [Caroline] just played too well. It was a good week for me: first tournament on clay this year, first final of the year... I'm very happy with my week."

    Caroline and Olga had never before met on the field of combat.

    2009 US Open finalist Caroline is now 7-7 in WTA singles finals; she won the New Haven, Eastbourne and Ponte Vedra Beach titles last year, and reached the finals at Madrid, Charleston, Memphis & Bastad. Caroline has a 17-5 match record in 2010.
    2009 Moscow finalist Olga is now 0-3 in previous WTA singles finals; she also reached the Memphis final in 2008, and has won 2 ITF singles titles. Olga has a 7-9 match record in 2010, with four of her wins coming in the past week.

    Meanwhile at Marbella, Spain, in the final of the Andalucia Tennis Experience, last year's champion in Los Angeles and Palermo, 27-year-old 2nd-seeded #13 Flavia Pennetta of Italy (residence: Verbier, Switzerland), narrowly defeated a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros in 2008 and at Melbourne in 2009, 21-year-old 8th-seeded #36 (career-high: #22) Carla Suarez Navarro from Barcelona, Spain. 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 (Flavia is shown getting acquainted with the hardware after the match).

    Flavia's prize is $37,000; Carla's is $19,000.

    Flavia said: "I just got the better of [Carla] at the end. It was a tough match from the start. I started well then got a bit tired, and Carla started playing more aggressively. I could have won it in two sets; I had to start all over again in the third, but from 3-all I played very well. I think Carla will have many chances to win this tournament though." WTA story

    Carla said: "No one likes losing a final but it was a great week. I defeated some dangerous opponents, so I'm not too disappointed. I was a litle bit tired, but Flavia was the favorite to win the final and I congratulate her. She adjusted well after having very little time to adapt after arriving late from Miami."

    Flavia and Carla had played twice before. On red clay at Roland Garros, in the 4th round of the 2008 French Open, Carla defeated Flavia 6-3, 6-2. But early this year, on a hard court in the 2nd round at Auckland, Flavia defeated Carla, 6-2, 6-2.

    2010 Auckland finalist Flavia, who won the Miami doubles title last week partnered with Gisela Dulko, is now 9-10 in WTA singles finals. Flavia has a 19-7 singles match record this year.
    Carla is now 0-2 in WTA singles finals; she also reached the Marbella final last year, when she lost to Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Carla has a 18-8 match record in 2010.

Marbella player's blog by Flavia Pennetta

WTA SCOREBOARD: Marbella and Ponte Vedra s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Andalucia Tennis Experience,  Marbella, Spain   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Spain News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Marbella: The 32-player main draw for Marbella has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Monday.   click for broader view   Club de Tenis Puente Romano, Marbella, ESP Latitude: 36.50222 Longitude: -4.925909 goto link for World Wind 2010: On Monday, April 5 in Marbella, Sorana Cirstea and top seed Victoria Azarenka practiced (practiced smiling, anyway) while Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci played soccer at Puente Romano beach... row 2: At the player party on Wednesday, Vika Azarenka was astonished by the flamenco dancing skills of Anabel Medina... Sorana Cirstea turned 20 on Wednesday, and was honored with a tennis ball cake... On Thursday, tourney director (and 1994 Wimbledon champion) Conchita Martinez admired Kim Clijsters ability to put away the vegetables even after a tough loss...

Marbella, 1st Round, Mon-Wed noon loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #7 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #95 LL Yvonne Meusburger AUT 6-3, 6-0 Tue Vika serving, and driving a backhand #13 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #48 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-3, 6-1 Wed Flavia's backhand drive #17 s3 wc Kim Clijsters BEL d #49 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU 6-4, 6(1)-7, 6-2 Wed Kim driving a forehand, and Alexandra about to swat a backhand #21 s4 Aravane Rezai FRA d #299 wc Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 6-1, 6-1 Mon Virginia "Vivi" Ruano Pascual is shown during a ceremony on Sunday, April 11. The loss to Aravane was to be the last singles match of Vivi's career [she was later talked into taking a wild card entry at Madrid]; she will play doubles until the end of this season. Vivi reached a career high of #28 at singles in 1999, but will be better remembered for her doubles titles, which include 10 Grand Slam doubles titles, 2 partnered with Anabel Medina Garrigues, and 8 with Paola Suarez. Vivi, still in great shape at 36, has won over $6 million in prize money during her career. #27 s5 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #66 Stefanie Voegele SUI 6-4, 6-3 Tue Stephanie tossing the ball for her serve, and Maria Jose driving a backhand *#40 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #30 s6 Maria Kirilenko RUS 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 Tue Sorana and Maria driving forehands #32 s7 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #85 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-1, 6-4 Tue Arantxa driving a forehand, and Anabel following one #36 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #55 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-4, 6-0 Tue Carla driving a backhand #43 Sara Errani ITA d #115 q Arantxa Rus NED 6-1, 6-2 Tue Arantxa about to slice a backhand, and Sara driving one #51 Polona Hercog SLO d #79 Iona Raluca Olaru ROU 6-3, 6-4 Mon Polona serving to Iona Raluca *#169 q Simona Halep ROU d #59 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-4, 6-1 Tue Simona about to connect with a forehand *#270 q Laura Pous Tio ESP d #69 Kirsten Flipkens BEL 6-1, 6-3 Wed *#223 wc Estrella Cabeza Candela ESP d #74 P Martic CRO 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 Mon #77 Alberta Brianti ITA d #82 Julie Coin FRA 6-2, 6-0 Tue Alberta reaching for a forehand, and Julie's backhand drive #83 Tatjana Malek GER d #87 Sandra Zahlavova CZE 6-4, 6-0 Mon Tatjana thoughtfully eyeing a backhand *#265 q Beatriz Garcia Vidagany ESP d #88 Kristina Barrois GER 7-5, 6-4 Wed

Marbella, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #7 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #223 wc Estrella Cabeza Candela ESP 6-2, 6-4 Thu #13 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #270 q Laura Pous Tio ESP 6-2, 6-2 Thu *#265 q Beatriz Garcia Vidagany ESP d #17 s3 wc Kim Clijsters BEL 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 Thu Kim serving, Beatriz driving a backhand, and after winning a point *#83 Tatjana Malek GER d #21 s4 Aravane Rezai FRA 6-4, 6-2 Wed Tatjana watching her serve fly, and Aravane driving a forehand #27 s5 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #77 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-0, 6-2 Wed Maria Jose's backhand drive *#43 Sara Errani ITA d #32 s7 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-1, 7-6(1) Thu #36 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #51 Polona Hercog SLO 6-4, 7-6(2) Thu Polona and Carla driving forehands *#169 q Simona Halep ROU d #40 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-4, 7-6(4) Thu Sorana serving, Simona driving a forehand, and after winning a point (match point?)

Marbella, QFs, Fri 1pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 *#27 s5 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d #7 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR 0-4 retired—left thight injury #13 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #169 q Simona Halep ROU 6-4, 7-6(4) Simona driving a forehand, and Flavia eyeing one #36 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #83 Tatjana Malek GER 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 Carla driving a forehand, and Tatjana slicing a backhand #43 Sara Errani ITA d #265 q Beatriz Garcia Vidagany ESP 6(5)-7, 6-4, 6-3 Beatriz serving, and Sara fielding a high forehand

Marbella, SFs, Sat 1pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #13 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #43 Sara Errani ITA 6-1, 6-1 Flavia reaching for a forehand, and Sara driving a backhand *#36 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #27 s5 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 Maria Jose fielding a forehand, and Carla's backhand drive

Marbella, Final, Sun noon loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #13 s2 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #36 s8 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Carla about to swat a forehand, Flavia's backhand drive, and Carla congratulating Flavia after match point

Marbella, Doubles Final, Sun loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr121 s3 Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci d Yaroslava Shvedova & Maria Kondratieva 6-4, 6-2 Sara (left top, 3rd WTA doubles title) and Roberta (left bottom, 4th WTA doubles title) congratulated by Yaroslava and Maria after match point Marbella, Qual Finals, Mon Apr 5 noon losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#270 Laura Pous Tio ESP d #95 Yvonne Meusburger AUT 6-2, 6-3 #115 Arantxa Rus NED d #181 Kristina Mladenovic FRA 6-1, 6-0 *#169 Simona Halep ROU d #127 Masa Zec Peskiric SLO 6-1, 7-5 *#265 Beatriz Garcia Vidagany ESP d #134 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-4, 6-3 Marbella, Withdrawals #1 Serena Williams USA left knee injury #37 Gisela Dulko ARG #44 Andrea Petkovic GER hay fever #63 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER left foot injury #76 Anna Chakvetadze RUS left achilles injury

The MPS Group Championships  Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -4 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT +3 hours Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view   Sawgrass Country Club Latitude: 30.193643 Long.: -81.371768 goto link for World Wind     The 32-player main draw for Ponte Vedra Beach has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw. Qualifying (3 rounds) begins on Saturday; qualifying finals are on Sunday. Main draw play begins on Monday at 10am.     Formerly the Bausch & Lomb Championships, this tourney was held at Amelia Island Plantation for 29 years before moving to Ponte Vedra Beach for 2009. Ponte Vedra Beach is located in northeast Florida, 20 minutes southeast of Jacksonville. tourney Twitter blog     Sawgrass Country Club covers 1250 acres with 13 Har-Tru green clay tennis courts, including a 3800-seat stadium court. Former ATP great Tony Trabert is a prominent club member. 2010: Players attending the draw party on Sunday, April 4, at Ponte Vedra Beach, included Melanie Oudin, Dominika Cibulkova, Malou Ejdesgaard, Aleksandra Wozniak, Caroline Wozniacki, Patty Schnyder, and Virginie Razzano... On Wednesday, Miller Time girls Shuai Peng, Elena Vesnina, Aleksandra, and Julia Goerges hoisted a few brewskis...

Ponte Vedra Beach, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 10am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #2 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #46 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-0, 6-4 Tue     Caroline said: "The first clay court match of the year is always a bit tricky. I'm happy to be through in two sets... Some matches I've served harder, but here I was really focused on getting a lot of first serves in. I prefer to have more first serves in than to serve maybe 10 miles harder ... especially on clay, because the ball is slower anyway." FTU story *#50 Olga Govortsova BLR d #24 s2 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 Tue #28 s3 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #47 Melinda Czink HUN 6-1, 6-4 Mon #34 s4 Elena Vesnina RUS d #154 q Sophie Ferguson AUS 6-2, 6-3 Tue #35 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #60 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 Mon #38 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #366 wc Sloane Stephens USA 6-4, 6-3 Mon #42 s8 Melanie Oudin USA d #102 Rossana de los Rios PAR 7-5, 6-2 Tue     Melanie said: "It's weird, because when I'm down a break point or something, I know exactly what I'm going to do in that point... I already know where my ball's going to go. I'm not going to go for anything huge, but I play aggressively because I'm confident in my shots, going for it." FTU story *#167 q Anna Tatishvili GEO d #52 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 Tue #56 Shuai Peng CHN d #91 Kai-Chen Chang TPE 6-4, 4-2 Tue #67 Julia Goerges GER d #70 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 Tue #68 Angelique Kerber GER d #75 Vania King USA 6-2, 6-3 Tue #78 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #90 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-4 Mon #81 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d #173 wc Carly Gullickson USA 6-0, 6-2 Mon *#136 q Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA d #93 Anastasia Rodionova AUS 6-2, 6(4)-7, 7-5 Tue #89 wc Ayumi Morita JPN d #142 q Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 Tue *#108 LL Varvara Lepchenko USA d #98 Mariana Duque Marino COL 6-1, 7-6(2) Tue

Ponte Vedra Beach, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #2 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #81 Sofia Arvidsson SWE Wed Sofia and Caroline following forehands     Caroline said: "I enjoy being out there... If I keep playing like this, the other person really has to play good to beat me. Hopefully, I can be consistent." FTU story #28 s3 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #78 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-3, 6-3 Wed Dominika and Alla driving backhands #34 s4 Elena Vesnina RUS d #67 Julia Goerges GER 6-3, 6-2 Thu #35 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #136 q Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 Wed Anastasia about to swat a forehand, and Bethanie's backhand drive     Anastasia said: "[Bethanie] played some really good points when I had match point... She was very aggressive. It's a bit frustrating, because you want to finish the match, especially one like today. We played so long." #38 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d #89 wc Ayumi Morita JPN 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 Wed #42 s8 Melanie Oudin USA d #56 Shuai Peng CHN 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 Thu Shuai and Melanie driving backhand and forehand #50 Olga Govortsova BLR d #167 q Anna Tatishvili GEO 6-2, 6-2 Thu Anna and Olga driving forehand and backhand, and Olga after winning a point *#108 LL Varvara Lepchenko USA d #68 Angelique Kerber GER 6-1, 6-1 Thu

Ponte Vedra Beach, QFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #2 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #35 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Anastasia about to swat a backhand, and Caro watching her drop shot fly #28 s3 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #38 s6 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 7-5, 6-1 Dominika and Aleksandra driving forehands, and Dominika after match point #34 s4 Elena Vesnina RUS d #42 s8 Melanie Oudin USA 6-2, 6-1 Melanie and Elena driving forehands #50 Olga Govortsova BLR d #108 LL Varvara Lepchenko USA 6-3, 6-2 Olga watching her serve fly, and Varvara following a forehand

Ponte Vedra Beach, SFs, Sat noon TV: Tennis Channel loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #2 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #34 s4 Elena Vesnina RUS 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 Caroline facing a forehand, Elena driving a backhand, and Caro after match point *#50 Olga Govortsova BLR d #28 s3 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-4, 7-5 Olga serving, Dominika following a backhand, Olga driving a forehand, and after match point

Ponte Vedra Beach, Final, Sun 2pm TV: Tennis Channel loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #2 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #50 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-2, 7-5 Caroline and Olga following forehands, Caro's forehand volley, and after match point

Ponte Vedra Beach, Doubles Final, Sun loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr31 s1 Zi Yan & Bethanie Mattek-Sands v cdr41 s2 Shuai Peng & Chia-Jung Chuang 4-6, 6-4, (10-8) Bethanie (7th WTA doubles title) and Zi (17th WTA doubles title) after match point Ponte Vedra Beach, Qual Finals, Mon Apr 5 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#136 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA d #108 Varvara Lepchenko USA 6-4, 6-1 *#142 Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ d #122 Vesna Manasieva RUS 6-1, 6-0 *#167 Anna Tatishvili GEO d #131 Michaella Krajicek NED 6-1, 6-3 #154 Sophie Ferguson AUS d #209 Angela Haynes USA 6-0, 6-1 Ponte Vedra Beach, Withdrawals #22 Alisa Kleybanova RUS bilateral plantar fasciitis #26 Sabine Lisicki GER left ankle injury #29 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR left knee injury #39 s7 Virginie Razzano FRA right foot injury #41 Lucie Safarova CZE #57 Sybille Bammer AUT achilles injury #61 Anastasija Sevastova LAT right foot laceration

    (March, 2009) The Andalucia Tennis Experience was added to the WTA calendar in late January, 2009. It was originally slated to be a $220,000 tourney, but the prize money was later increased to $500,000 when both Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic entered ($220,000 tourneys are allowed only 1 top-10 player).

    The MPS Group Championships is the tourney formerly known as the Bausch & Lomb Championships, and formerly held at Amelia Island. Florida Times-Union: Women's tennis event begins a new chapter at Sawgrass Country Club

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 2008 WTA Player Videos page.

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