WTA Sep 20-26: Seoul & Tashkent Hansol Korea Open Seoul, KOR INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Rebound Ace Live Scores draws: WTA photos: Y!: sports - news | WTA news: tourney - Korea Seoul forecast Korea News and Links # , # # , # Tashkent Open, Tashkent, UZB INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Live Scores draws: WTA photos: WTA - weather Uzbekistan News and Links # , # # , #

Seoul & Tashkent: 2009   Seoul: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 Tashkent: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Tashkent 2009: #57 Shahar Peer 5'7" 132lb RH 2H-BH Seoul 2009: #150 Kimiko Date Krumm 5'4" 117lb RH 2H-BH

    The Seoul and Tashkent draws are not yet available as of this writing (qualifying draws are usually up on the Friday before the tourney begins, main draws on Saturday, sometimes later). The links are above for your convenience when the draws become available.

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  Seoul, 2009:

    On Sunday in Seoul, Korea, in the final of the Hansol Korea Open, 38-year-old unseeded #150 (and former #4, the highest-ranked Japanese player in WTA history) Kimiko Date Krumm from Tokyo, Japan, won her first WTA singles title since her comeback last year (after retiring from pro tennis in 1996) by defeating 2nd-seeded 27-year-old #21 Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, 6-3, 6-3 (Kimiko is shown with the porcelain after the match). Kimiko's prize is $37,000; Anabel's is $19,000.

    Kimiko won the Tokyo (Japan Open) and San Diego titles in 1996, then retired from professional tennis until 2008. Last year she returned to play after 12 years in retirement, 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 #86 Tammy Tanasugarn. She won 3 ITF titles in 2008, and one more this year. But, although she has won some WTA qualifying matches, Kimiko was 0-8 in WTA main draw matches after coming out of retirement—until this week.

    Kimiko said: "Of course, very happy. I realized one more time after this game that we don't know about tennis unless we actually play... I think I can play tennis for the next two years." AP story

    Anabel had been in a slump prior to this tournament. Anabel said: "I'm really happy. Honestly, I arrived here with not a lot of confidence. To be in the final is a very good result. Kimiko plays very, very good."

    Kimiko and Anabel had played only once before, just 12 days ago in the 1st round in Guangzhou, when Anabel won, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

    Kimiko, who will turn 39 on Monday, is now 8-6 in WTA singles finals. Kimiko's full match record this season is now 25-13.
    Anabel is now 9-6 in WTA singles finals, she won the Fès title earlier this year. Although Anabel likes hardcourts, most of her titles have come on red clay: she has won three times at Strasbourg and four times at Palermo. Anabel has a 31-23 match record in 2009.

  Tashkent, 2009:

    Meanwhile in in Uzbekistan, in the final of the Tashkent Open, last week's champion in Guangzhou, China, 22-year-old 2nd-seeded #57 (and former #15) Shahar Peer from Maccabim, Israel, defeated a local resident, 25-year-old #122 Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, 6-3, 6-4 (Shahar is shown, in traditional Uzbek attire, with the hardware after the match). Shahar's prize is $37,000; Akgul's is $19,000.

    Shahar said: "I've played 10 matches in row without dropping a set, and that's a nice feeling. I'm happy I'm playing well. I had played Akgul four times before and knew her game fairly well, but I knew today would be difficult, so I tried to play my best and not give her any chances. I'm happy by father was with me these last two weeks, because I won both tournaments!" WTA story

    Akgul said: "The keys to my wins this week, my forehand and serve, just didn't work today. I'm disappointed to have lost after coming so far, but I'm happy to have lost to a good player. I give credit to Shahar for playing great tennis and handling the pressure of the large crowd today."

    Shahar leads Akgul 5-0 in career matches, and all of their encounters have ended in straight sets, most recently last week in Guangzhou, where Shahar defeated Akgul in the 2nd round, 6-3, 6-3.

    Shahar is now 5-1 in WTA singles finals; her 3 titles prior to last week in Guangzhou all came in 2006, in Pattaya City, Prague, and Istanbul. Shahar has a 35-19 match record in 2009.
    Big-serving 6'3" Akgul is now 0-2 in WTA singles finals; she also reached the Tashkent final in 2005. She has won 1 WTA doubles title, 8 ITF singles titles, and 11 ITF doubles titles. Akgul has a 22-23 match record this year.

Seoul player's blog by Daniela Hantuchova

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WTA SCOREBOARD: Seoul & Tashkent s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Hansol Korea Open,  Seoul, South Korea   tourney time:        = GMT +9 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Korea News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Seoul: The main draw for Seoul 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   Olympic Park, Seoul, Korea Latitude: 37.515143 Longitude: 127.128205 goto link for World Wind Hansol Korea Open venue address: Olympic Park, 88 Bangee-dong, Seoul 999-200, South Korea; Tel: 82 2 410 1360 2009: Top seed Daniela Hantuchova practiced in Seoul on Sunday, September 20... row 2: At the Seoul players party on Monday, 2008 Seoul champ Maria Kirilenko, Vera Dushevina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Sorana Cirstea, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Francesca Schiavone, and Daniela were looking good, and Sorana and Maria had a nice chat with Korean Tennis Association President Cho Dong Kil...

Seoul, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1

Seoul, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30

Seoul, QFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70

Seoul, SFs, Sat 12:30pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130

Seoul, Final, Sun 2pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280

Seoul, Doubles Final, Sun after doubles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Seoul, Qual Finals, Mon Sep 20 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points Seoul, Withdrawals

Tashkent Open,  Tashkent, Uzbekistan   tourney time:        = GMT +5 hours        = US EDT +9 hours        = US PDT +12 hours Uzbekistan News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar Tashkent: The main draw for Tashkent 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   Tashkent Tennis Centre, Tashekent, UZB Latitude: 41.350639 Longitude: 69.343772 goto link for World Wind Tashkent Open venue address: massiv Yalangoch, Tashekent, UZB 2009: At the Tashkent players party on Tuesday, Olga Savchuk was her usual camera-shy self, while top seed Yaroslava Shvedova (far right) and other players fully appreciated the Uzbek hospitality...

Tashkent, 1st Rd, Mon-Tue 10am, Wed 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1

Tashkent, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30

Tashkent, QFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70

Tashkent, SFs, Sat noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130

Tashkent, Final, Sun 2pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280

Tashkent, Doubles Final, Sat after singles loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Tashkent, Qual Finals, Mon Sep 20 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points Tashkent, Withdrawals

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.