WTA May 17-23: Warsaw & Strasbourg Warsaw Open, Warsaw, POL PREMIER $600,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Live Scores draws: WTA pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney - WTA TVP: Tennis Polish, w/ some pics Warsaw: weather radar- forecast Poland News # , # # , # Internationaux de Strasbourg Strasbourg, FRA INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Live Scores draws: WTA pics: Y!: sports - news | tourney - WTA France news Strasbourg: sat-radar - forecast # , # # , #

Warsaw & Strasbourg: 2009   Warsaw: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 Strasbourg: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Warsaw 2009: #209 Alexandra Duhgheru 5'5½" RH 2H-BH Strasbourg 2009: #95 Aravane Rezai 5'5" 137lb RH 2H-BH

    The Warsaw & Strasbourg 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.

---

  Warsaw, 2009:

    On Saturday in Poland, in the final of the Warsaw Open, 19-year-old qualifier # 209 Alexandra Dulgheru from Bucharest, Roumania, playing in a WTA singles main draw for the first time in her career, won her first WTA final by defeating 24-year-old 8th-seeded # 46 (career high: # 19) Alona Bondarenko from Kharkov, Ukraine, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-0 (Alexandra is shown after match point).

    The win made Alexandra the fifth player in history to win a WTA singles title while ranked outside the top 200 (the others: Angelique Widjaja, Fabiola Zuluaga, Tamira Paszek and Lindsay Davenport).

    Alexandra and Alona had never played each other before.

    Alexandra's total career prize money prior to this week was $48,836. For the Warsaw Open, Alexandra's prize is $98,500; Alona's is $52,500.

    Alexandra said: "I knew Alona was a very solid player, especially from the baseline. My plan was to play with topspin because when I tried to play with her rhythm she was too powerful. I had to use every drop of energy I had to win." WTA story

    Alona finished second to Justine Henin in the 2007 Warsaw final.

    Alona said: "I hope when I come here next time I'll finally win. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the third set. [Alexandra] got an early lead and played too well. I couldn't do anything. I didn't know how to beat Alexandra today. But I expected her to play well."

    Alexandra is now 1-0 in WTA singles finals; she has won 2 ITF singles titles and 2 ITF doubles titles. Alexandra has a 33-8 match record this year, and has won 16 of her last 17 matches on red clay.
    Alona is now 1-3 in WTA singles finals; she won the Luxembourg title in 2007. Alona has a 17-13 match record in 2009, and has won 7 of her last 9 matches on red clay.

  Strasbourg, 2009:

    Meanwhile in Strasbourg, France, in the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, 22-year-old # 95 (career high: # 40) Aravane Rezai from St. Etienne, France, won her first WTA singles title by defeating 24-year-old # 82 Lucie Hradecka from Prague, Czech Republic, 7-6(2), 6-1 (Aravane is also shown after match point).
    Aravane is the first French champion in the 23 year history of the tourney. Aravane's prize is $37,000; Lucie's is $19,000.

    Aravane said: "It's incredible. I'm so happy to win my first title in France. I've been working hard for so many years for this and it's hard to put into words what I feel. I want to come back here every year, I love this tournament. This title has given me a lot of confidence but now I'm just going to focus on my first match at Roland Garros." WTA story

    Lucie said: "I was a little bit unlucky in the first set, because it just came down to one or two points. In the second set I made some mistakes and she played really well. I'm still happy about reaching the final this week though."

    Aravane now leads Lucie 2-1 in career matches.
    Aravane is now 1-2 in WTA singles finals; she reached the final in Auckland last year, and the Istanbul final in 2007. She has won 7 ITF singles titles. Aravane has a 22-10 record for the season.
    Lucie is now 0-2 in WTA singles finals; she reached the Bad Gastein final last year. Lucie has won 5 WTA doubles titles, plus 14 ITF singles and 24 ITF doubles titles. Lucie's 2009 match record is 17-10.

Strasbourg Player's Blog by Anabel Medina Garrigues

---

WTA SCOREBOARD: Warsaw & Strasbourg s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Warsaw Open,  Warsaw, Poland   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Poland News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Warsaw: The 32-player main draw for Warsaw 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   Legia Sports Club, Warsaw Latitude: 52.220623 Longitude: 21.038389 goto link for World Wind Warsaw Open venue address: Legia Sports Club, Łazienkowska 3, Warsaw, Poland 2009: On Saturday, May 16, in Warsaw, Maria Sharapova practiced in preparation for her first singles match in over nine months, and didn't let a little rain stop her... On Monday, May 18, Daniela Hantuchova (with Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska, who didn't make it into a good photo) visited a local Habitat for Humanity site and lent a hand...

Warsaw, 1st Rnd, Mon-Tue 11am loser's prize: $4,300 US; points: 1

Warsaw, 2nd Round, Wed 11am losers' prize: $8,000 US; points: 60

Warsaw, QFs, Thu noon losers' prize: $15,100 US; points: 120

Warsaw, SFs, Fri noon losers' prize: $28,100 US; points: 200

Warsaw, Final, Sat 11:45am loser's prize: $52,500 US; points: 320 winner's prize: $98,500 US; points: 470

Warsaw, Doubles Final, Sat losers' prize: $16,500 US winners' prize: $31,000 US Warsaw, Qual Finals, Mon May 17 11am losers' prizes: q1 $660 1pt; q2 $1,230 8pts; q3 $2,300 12pts; qualifier 20 points Warsaw, Withdrawals

Internationaux de Strasbourg,  Strasbourg, France   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours France News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Strasbourg: The 32-player main draw for Strasbourg has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers and 3 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Monday.   click for broader view   Centre Sportif de Hautepierre Latitude: 48.599033 Longitude: 7.691063 goto link for World Wind Internationaux de Strasbourg venue address: Centre Sportif de Hautepierre, Rue Baden Powell, F-67200, Strasbourg, France 2009: On Sunday, May 17, in Strasbourg, Mathilde Johansson arrived a boat ride to the Musée d'Art Contemporain for the main draw ceremony... also on the boat and attending the draw were former French # 1 Tatiana Golovin (unable to play since last year) and her sister Oxana (in pink)... On Tuesday, May 19, Aravane Rezai and Gisela Dulko did the autograph thing... At the player party on Tuesday, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Pauline Parmentier were amused by parlor tricks, while Mara Santangelo, Nathalie Dechy, and Stephanie Foretz, avoiding such tomfoolery, headed straight for the grub...

Strasbourg, 1st Round, Mon 10am-Tue 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1

Strasbourg, 2nd Round, Wed 10am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30

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

Strasbourg, SFs, Fri 2pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130

Strasbourg, Final, Sat 2pm after doubles loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280

Strasbourg, Doubles Final, Sat 11:30am loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Strasbourg, Qual Finals, Mon May 17 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points Strasbourg, Withdrawals

    (May 18, 2009) Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has withdrawn from the Warsaw Open due to an ongoing low back strain. On Monday, meeting the press in Warsaw, Caroline said: "I really wanted to play here in Warsaw. I know I have a lot of Polish fans (Caroline's parents are both Polish; her father played pro soccer for a Danish team) but I have had this back injury for two weeks. The physiotherapist told me that if I want to be able to accomplish anything at the French Open I have to take a break so that my condition does not get any worse." tourney story

    (May 17, 2009) 2nd-seeded # 12 Agnieszka Radwanska has withdrawn from the Warsaw Open due to a low back sprain she incurred in Madrid.

    (May 11, 2009) Former WTA # 1 Maria Sharapova has entered next week's Warsaw Open as a wild card. Maria has been sidelined by a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon since late July of last year (the injury actually occurred in March, but was not detected until July).

    Maria said: "I am very happy to report that I will make my singles return to the tour in Warsaw, Poland, the week of May 18. Although it has not been an easy process these last few months, I really believe it's made me a much stronger person in so many areas of my life professionally and personally. There are so many things you learn while you are limited to something you love doing. One of those things is patience, not my best virtue, but certainly one of my better ones now." mariasharapova.com

    (Apr 3, 2009) The Warsaw Open venue has been changed from the Warszawianka Sports Club, where the previous J&S Cup was held, to the Legia Sports Club. story - English via Google

    (Mar 16-26, 2009) The WTA Warsaw Open reportedly has found sufficient financing, according to a Polish member of Tennis Forum. Earlier Polish press reports (English via Google) had stated that as of early March the Warsaw Open (May 18-24) had raised only 1/3 of the $1.5 million that they need in sponsor money, and that the rest must be found by the end of March.
    Now the Polish TV channel Polsat has reportedly bought the rights to broadcast the tourney, and is contributing 85% of the necessary sponsorship funds.
    The Warsaw Open, not on the calendar in 2008, was originally scheduled as a $220,000 International tourney this year, but was promoted to a $600,000 Premier tourney after the demise of the Berlin German Open, also due to lack of sponsor funds.

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.