WTA, ITF & Exhibition Jan 1-8 Brisbane International, Brisbane, AUS INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Free Live Video (popup) | Live Scores - p-up draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP pics: DL | Y!: sports - news | WTA Brisbane: weather radar - forecast #6 S Stosur, #13 S Peer #15 N Petrova, #16 M Bartoli ASB Classic, Auckland, NZL INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: hard Free Live Video | Live Scores - popup draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP pics: DL | Y!: sports - news | WTA - NZH TVNZ - Auckland: rainfall - forecast #18 Maria Sharapova, #23 Y Wickmayer #27 S Kuznetsova, #40 J Goerges Hopman Cup, Perth, AUS Live Scores standings - results - teams-sched photos: DL | Y!: sports - news Perth: weather radar - forecast World Team Challenge, Hong Kong, CHN scores - draw | weather: radar - forecast

Brisbane/Gold Coast-Auckland: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Brisbane: #34 Petra Kvitova 6'0" 154lb LH 2H-BH Auckland: #88 Greta Arn 5' 11" 150lb RH 2H-BH Hong Kong: #2 Vera Zvonareva 5' 7¾" 130½lb RH 2H-BH Perth: #59 B Mattek-Sands 5'6" 145lb RH 2H-BH

On Saturday in Australia, in the final of the Brisbane International, the 2009 champ in Hobart, Tasmania, 20-year-old #34 Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, defeated the 2009 champion at Bad Gastein, 23-year-old unseeded #32 (career-high: #32) Andrea Petkovic from Darmstadt, Germany, 6-1, 6-3 (Petra is shown with the glassware after the match).     Petra said: "It's strange, I won my first tournament of the season two years ago [at Hobart, Tasmania,] and did the same this year. I don't know if that means I had good preparation in the off-season or that I like Australia—I'm not sure! I played very well here. I played very well here. I got better and better each round and by the end I had a lot of confidence." WTA story     Andrea said: "Petra played a fantastic match from beginning to end. She was hitting winners all over. I felt heavy on the court—I felt like I was just 1% less ready than in my other matches, but it made such a big difference tonight. But I'll still take a lot of confidence out of this week—the way I played and even today, how I stayed positive in the second set. That's important for me."     Petra now leads Andrea 3-2 in career matches, but Andrea won their previous two meetings, most recently on a chlorophyll court in the 1st round at 's-Hertogenbosch last year, 6-3, 7-6(6).     Petra is now 2-1 in WTA singles finals. She won the Hobart title in 2009, and reached the Linz final the same year. Petra had a 25-24 WTA singles record in 2010; she is 5-0 this year.     2010 Brisbane semifinalist Andrea is now 1-2 in WTA singles finals. She won the Bad Gastein title in 2009, and reached the 's-Hertogenbosch final last year. Andrea had a 34-26 WTA singles record in 2010, and is 4-1 this year.

    Meanwhile in Auckland, New Zealand, in the final of the ASB Classic, the 2007 champ in Estoril, 31-year-old #88 (career high: #81) Greta Arn from Budapest, Hungary, completed the best week of her career by defeating last year's Auckland champ (and a 2009 US Open semifinalist), 21-year-old 2nd-seeded #23 (career-high: #12) Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 6-3, 6-3 (Greta is shown holding the hardware after the match).

    Greta defeated three-time Grand Slam champion and former #1 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

    Greta said: "I feel unbelievable. I'm so happy, I don't even know what to say. My dream come true.
    "I just tried to do my thing. I played my tennis and took it one ball after another. I wanted to move [Yanina] around because she had a tough match yesterday; she looks fit to me, but it seemed to work today.
    "I will definitely be coming back to Auckland next year." WTA story

    Greta and Yanina had met only once before, on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the 1st round last year in Cincinnati, when Yanina won, 6-2, 6-2.

    Greta was playing in her second WTA singles final; she won the Estoril title in 2007. She has won 4 ITF singles titles and 4 ITF doubles titles. Greta had a 38-22 WTA singles record last year, with many of her wins coming in qualifying draws. She is now 5-0 in 2011.

    Yanina is now 3-3 in WTA singles finals; she reached her first final in 2008 at Birmingham, won the Estoril and Linz titles in 2009, and won at Auckland last year. Yanina's WTA singles record in 2010 was 43-21; this year she is 4-1.


    In Hong Kong on Saturday, Russia defeated Europe to win the World Team Challenge exhibition tourney. Russia was led by #2 Vera Zvonareva, who defeated #1 Caroline Wozniacki by the surprising score of 6-1, 6-0.

    Vera said: "I played a very good match. I was dominating the match and didn’t let [Caroline] find her rhythm today." AP story

    Caroline said: "Vera played very well today. I definitely didn’t play up to my level. I had some good shots then I had some really bad shots and some wrong selection of shots. But it’s OK. I just need to learn from this one."

    And in Perth on Saturday, USA defeated Belgium to win the ITF Hopman Cup. Justine Henin defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6(6), 6-3, but USA won the men's singles [John Isner d Ruben Bemelmans] and the mixed doubles. Serbia was to play in the final, but Ana Ivanovic incurred a bad abdominal strain on Thursday, and had to withdraw. With no replacement available, Belgium took Serbia's place in the final. Ana has also withdrawn from next week's Medibank International in Sydney.

SCOREBOARD: WTA Brisbane & Auckland; ITF Perth, Exhibition Hong Kong s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Brisbane International, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia   tourney time:        = GMT +10 hours        = US EDT +15 hours        = US PDT +18 hours Australia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Brisbane: The main draw for Brisbane has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) begins on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.   click for broader view   Site of Queensland State Tennis Centre, Softstone St, Tennyson, Australia   directions Latitude: -27.525237 Longitude: 153.007396 goto link for World Wind     The Brisbane International was formerly known as the Australian Women's Hardcourts, and was held at nearby Gold Coast. In 2009 the tourney was moved to the newly-constructed Queensland State Tennis Centre at Tennyson, a Brisbane suburb. The $AUD 82 million Tennyson facility has 23 courts, including four clay, two natural grass and 17 hardcourts. Centre court, named Rafter Arena after Aussie Patrick Rafter, a 2-time US Open champ, seats 5,500.     Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight savings time (other Aussie provinces do; as in Britain, it is called Summer Time rather than daylight savings). Thus the time in Brisbane during the summer months is 1 hour earlier than the time in Sydney and Melbourne. 2011: Good looking healthy young ladies at the New Year's party in Brisbane included Bojana Jovanovski, Polona Hercog, and Petra Martic...

Brisbane, 1st Round, Sun 10am, Mon 10:30am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #6 s1 Samantha Stosur AUS d #110 q Lucie Hradecka CZE 7-6(1), 6-1 Mon Samantha following a forehand, and Lucie and Sam driving backhands #13 s2 Shahar Peer ISR d #122 wc Sophie Ferguson AUS 6-4, 6-2 Mon Sophie ready to slice a backhand, and Shahar driving one *#34 Petra Kvitova CZE d #15 s3 Nadia Petrova RUS 7-6(3), 6-3 Mon Petra's forehand drive #16 s4 Marion Bartoli FRA d #86 q Vania King USA 6-1, 6-2 Mon Marion's 2-handed forehand with backhand grip #21 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #60 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-2, 6(5)-7, 6-3 Sun *#154 wc Sally Peers AUS d #25 s7 Alisa Kleybanova RUS 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Sun Sally driving a backhand *#32 Andrea Petkovic GER d #29 s8 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU 6-3, 6-0 Mon Andrea complimenting a line judge on their ability to obtain temporary employment *#97 LL Ksenia Pervak RUS d #56 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-2, 6-2 Mon #31 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #43 Sara Errani ITA 6-3, 6-0 Mon #33 Lucie Safarova CZE d #70 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Sun #38 Roberta Vinci ITA d #109 LL Christina McHale USA 6-2, 7-6(2) Tue #42 Jarmila Groth AUS d #65 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-2, 7-5 Sun Jarmila's backhand drive *#59 Iveta Benesova CZE d #47 Polona Hercog SLO 6-2, 7-5 Mon *#73 Bojana Jovanovski SRB d #64 Anastasia Rodionova AUS 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 Sun Anastasia and Bojana driving forehand and backhand #67 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #134 q Anna Tatishvili GEO 7-5, 6-2 Mon *#138 wc Jelena Dokic AUS d #124 q Anastasia Pivovarova RUS 6-4, 6-3 Mon Anastasia and Jelena driving backhands

Brisbane, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 10:30am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 *#42 Jarmila Groth AUS d #6 s1 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-2, 6-4 Tue Samantha and Jarmila driving forehand and backhand, and Jarka not quite sure what to say to the Aussie #1 after knocking her out of her home tourney     Jarmila said: "I’ve played [Samantha] before and we practised together a couple of days ago and, I guess, I had some sort of idea what I wanted to do and tonight it worked very well... I was trying to be aggressive attack with my second serve to make her go on the run, to try to play through the backhand side to try and make her run to her forehand." tourney story     Samantha had a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set, but Jarmila won the final five games. Samantha said: "[Jarmila] made one error in the first set and hit 12 winners... I had my chance in the second at 4-1 with some break points, and you have to be able to take those." *#33 Lucie Safarova CZE d #13 s2 Shahar Peer ISR 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 Tue Lucie and Shahar driving backhands #16 s4 Marion Bartoli FRA d #59 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 Wed Iveta and Marion driving backhands #21 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #73 Bojana Jovanovski SRB 6-2, 7-5 Tue #31 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #38 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-2, 7-5 Wed Dominika's forehand drive #32 Andrea Petkovic GER d #138 wc Jelena Dokic AUS 6-0, 6-1 Wed Andrea's service toss #34 Petra Kvitova CZE d #97 LL Ksenia Pervak RUS 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 Wed #67 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #154 wc Sally Peers AUS 6-4, 6-1 Wed Sally and Barbora driving forehand and backhand

Brisbane, QFs, Thu 10:30am loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #16 s4 Marion Bartoli FRA v #67 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-2, 6-1 Marion serving, and Barbora reaching for a backhand #21 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #33 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 6(4)-7, 6-3 Lucie and Anastasia driving backhands *#34 Petra Kvitova CZE d #31 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-0, 6-4 #32 Andrea Petkovic GER d #42 Jarmila Groth AUS 6-3, 6-4 Jarmila driving a forehand, Andrea reaching for a backhand, and after winning a point

Brisbane, SFs, Fri 11am loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#32 Andrea Petkovic GER d #16 s4 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-2 Marion's 2-handed forehand, and Andrea driving a backhand, and after match point     Andrea trailed 1-4 in the 1st set, then won 8 straight games. Andrea said: "Like I said yesterday, I'm a Diesel, it takes me a while to get going. Marion returns really well. She puts a lot of pressure on you—you really have to hit your serves away from her. The games were close at the end of the first set but I was able to take them. I had a good attitude on the court today." WTA story     Marion said: "[Andrea] was cracking the ball very well from both sides. It was one of those days where my opponent was playing well and I was missing by just a little bit. I started well, but even those games were really tight. It happens. It's just my first tournament of the year and I'll learn from it. I just have to go to the next event and try again. I'm leaving for Hobart tomorrow." *#34 Petra Kvitova CZE d #21 s5 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Anastasia and Petra driving forehand and backhand

Brisbane, Final, Sat 8:30pm+ loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#34 Petra Kvitova CZE d #32 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-1, 6-3 Petra and Andrea driving backhands, and Petra after match point

Brisbane, Doubles Final, Sat 7pm+ loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Alisa Kleybanova & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Klaudia Jans & Alicja Rosolska 6-3, 7-5 Brisbane, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 2, 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #86 Vania King USA d #115 Alison Riske USA 6-3, 7-6(3) #134 Anna Tatishvili GEO d #139 Arantxa Rus NED 6-2, 6-4 *#124 Anastasia Pivovarova RUS d #97 Ksenia Pervak RUS 6-3, 6(3)-7, 7-6(3) *#110 Lucie Hradecka CZE d #109 Christina McHale USA 6-3, 6-1 Brisbane, Withdrawals #24 s6 Flavia Pennetta ITA gastrointestinal illness #30 Daniela Hantuchova SVK left achilles injury     Daniela said: "Unfortunately I've had to pull out from my first tournament of the year due to a left Achilles strain that happened over Christmas. I did all I could to play here, which I was really looking forward to since I love playing in Brisbane. I have treatments every day and hopefully will be ready for Sydney. With this kind of injury patience is needed, which is tough to accept. Thanks for all of your support as always and I'll talk to you very soon!" Daniela Hantuchova at Twitter #44 Patty Schnyder SUI

ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand   tourney time:        = GMT +13 hours        = US EDT +18 hours        = US PDT +21 hours New Zealand News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Auckland: The main draw for Auckland 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 Monday.   click for broader view   ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland Latitude: -36.853767 Longitude: 174.773394 goto link for World Wind another map - directions     The ASB Tennis Centre has 7 outdoor Rebound Ace courts (which may be converted to Plexicushion), 2 indoor Astrograss courts, and 3 indoor hard courts, all lit. 2011: Top seed Maria Sharapova was, as usual, met by photographers at the airport upon her arrival in Auckland on Tuesday, Dec 28...

Auckland, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 11am loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #18 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #91 LL Alberta Brianti ITA 6-2, 6-3 Mon Maria serving, and following a backhand drive     It's the bat: In 2006 Maria signed a contract with Prince which was to pay her about $25 million dollars over 10 years. Prince released Maria from that contract last month. At the start of last year, Maria was using a Prince EXO3 Black. After Indian Wells in March 2010, Maria was sidelined for several weeks by a right elbow bone bruise.     When she returned to play at Madrid in May, Maria was no longer using a Prince racquet. Maria has been trying to find the best bat to protect her arm from injury, but Prince racquets tend to have high stiffness ratings. With the consent of Prince, Maria played the rest of last year with a Head Youtek Radical  which was been painted black, with no logo on the strings. The Youtek Radical Pro has a stiffness of 58 (compared to 70 for the O3 Speedport Black), 100 sq." string area, 27" length, swingweight of 345, and weighs 11.6 oz strung, balanced 2 points head-light.     Maria has now apparently reached at least a tentative agreement with Head, for on Monday at Auckland she was swinging a new Head frame, logo and all, which would likely be an updated version of the Head bat she was using last year. The terms of her deal with Head have not yet been announced. #23 s2 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #63 Dinara Safina RUS 6-3, 6(2)-7, 6-1 Tue #27 s3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #253 wc Sacha Jones NZL 6-4, 6-2 Mon Svetlana driving a forehand, and Sacha following one #40 s4 Julia Goerges GER d #71 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-4, 6-4 Tue *#99 wc Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #51 s5 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN 6-4, 6-3 Mon #52 s6 Elena Vesnina RUS d #333 wc Marina Erakovic NZL 6-2, 6-2 Tue Marina and Elena following backhand and forehand #53 s7 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d #89 Tamira Paszek AUT 6-3, 6-1 Tue Sofia's forehand drive #57 s9 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #66 Romina Oprandi ITA 6-3, 7-6(7) Tue *#72 Shuai Peng CHN d #69 Johanna Larsson SWE 6-1, 6-3 Mon *#121 sr55 Anne Keothavong GBR d #76 Edina Gallovits ROU 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-0 Mon *#84 Simona Halep ROU d #73 Ayumi Morita JPN 6-0, 7-6(3) Tue #78 Alize Cornet FRA d #95 Sandra Zahlavova CZE 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 Tue Sandra and Alize driving forehands *#88 Greta Arn HUN d #83 Zuzana Ondraskova CZE 6-1, 6-0 Tue #81 Renata Voracova CZE d #85 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-0 Mon #175 q Sabine Lisicki GER d #185 q Florencia Molinero ARG 6-1, 6-3 Tue     Sabine said: "Good news once again...! I won 61 63 against Molinero today!!! :):) I'm very pleased with that win esp after such a tough one yesterday! ." Sabine Lisicki at Twitter #176 q Heather Watson GBR d #187 q Noppawan Leertcheewakarn THA 6-1, 6-1 Tue Heather's backhand drive     Heather said: "So pumped! Won my first round here in Auckland against Lertcheewakarn 6-1, 6-1. Looking forward to playing Suarez-Navarro tomorrow + doubs with lovely little Kurumi Nara ! Let's get it!" Heather Watson at Twitter

Auckland, 2nd Round, Wed 11am loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #18 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS d #81 Renata Voracova CZE 6-3, 7-5 Maria serving, driving a forehand, and after match point—no photos of Renata were found #23 s2 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #175 q Sabine Lisicki GER 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 Sabine and Yanina following backhands     Sabine spent much of last year recovering from injury. Sabine said: "I had a very good match today. Unfortunately I lost in 3 sets to Wickmayer but over all had an amazing start into 2011!!! I still need to work on many little things but the game is back! I'm looking forward to play my next matches! Thx for all the support!!." Sabine Lisicki at Twitter *#72 Shuai Peng CHN d #27 s3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 Shuai serving, and Sveta running down a forehand     Svetlana said: "Well not a perfect day at the office but happy to be back on court and working on my game! It's gona come I'm sure! Thank you guys for all the support! Next stop Sydney, see you there." Svetlana Kuznetsova at Twitter #40 s4 Julia Goerges GER d #78 Alize Cornet FRA 6-2, 6-4     Julia said: "Won my match against Cornet...very happy about that win, tmrw against K. Bondarenko not before 7.30pm... Thanks for all the support, crowd is amazing...see you tmrw guys ;)" Julia Goerges at Twitter *#84 Simona Halep ROU d #52 s6 Elena Vesnina RUS 2-6, 6-4, 4-0 retired *#88 Greta Arn HUN d #53 s7 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 4-6, 7-5, 7-5     Sofia said: "Lost with 5 match points. I should get an award..." Sofia Arvidsson at Twitter *#176 q Heather Watson GBR d #57 s9 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 7-6(5), 6-1 Heather driving a backhand     The win put 18-year-old Heather into her first-ever WTA singles quarterfinal. Heather said: "So pumped to be in the Quarterfinals here in Auckland! I played really well today and beat Suarez Navarro 7-6(5), 6-1." Heather Watson at Twitter #99 wc Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #121 sr55 Anne Keothavong GBR 7-5, 6-3     Anne said: "Hmmm... Super windy this afternoon and my opponent kept it together better. Not a happy bunny but I'll get over it." Anne Keothavong at Twitter

Auckland, QFs, Thu 11am WTA story loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 *#88 Greta Arn HUN d #18 s1 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-2, 7-5 Greta and Maria driving forehand and backhand, and Greta after match point     Maria said: "Sometimes you do the same things and the balls go in. Today, a few more went out than I would have liked... Greta played well. All the credit to her."     Greta said: "When I won I was just shaking. I wasn't nervous until the last game. I started thinking, 'Oh my God, I can beat Maria Sharapova!'" #23 s2 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #84 Simona Halep ROU 6-0, 6-2 Simona and Yanina driving forehand and backhand #40 s4 Julia Goerges GER d #99 wc Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 Kateryna serving, and Julia driving a backhand     Julia said: "My game wasn't working in the first set. I wasn't moving well enough to hit my shots well and hit winners, and I wasn't serving well either. I played a stupid service game at the end.     "But I tried to stay focused and tough going into the second and third sets and it worked out well. In the end I think [Kateryna] was a bit tired, and I'm happy to move into the semifinals here." #72 Shuai Peng CHN d #176 q Heather Watson GBR 6-4, 7-5 Shuai following a backhand, and Heather's forehand drive

Auckland, SFs, Fri noon loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 #23 s2 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #72 Shuai Peng CHN 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 Shuai driving a backhand, Yanina following a forehand, and Shuai congratulating Yanina after match point *#88 Greta Arn HUN d #40 s4 Julia Goerges GER 7-6(3), 6-3 Julia and Greta driving forehands, and Greta after match point

Auckland, Final, Sat 1pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 *#88 Greta Arn HUN d #23 s2 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6-3, 6-3 Greta driving a forehand, Yanina following a backhand, Greta driving one, and after match point

Auckland, Doubles Final, Sat loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik d Sofia Arvidsson & Marina Erakovic 6-3, 6-0 Auckland, Qual Finals, Mon Jan 3 11am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#176 Heather Watson GBR d #91 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-3, 6-2 *#175 Sabine Lisicki GER d #141 Sania Mirza IND 6-1, 6(7)-7, 7-6(5) *#185 Florencia Molinero ARG d #166 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 1-6,7-5, 6-3 *#187 Noppawan Leertcheewakarn THA d #179 Katie O'Brien 6-0, 6-3 Auckland, Withdrawals #36 Alona Bondarenko UKR right knee injury #41 Klara Zakopalova CZE shoulder injury #45 s5 Anastasija Sevastova LAT chest infection #55 Elena Baltacha GBR illness

ITF Hopman Cup, Perth, Western Australia   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Australia News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Perth: The Hopman Cup is not a WTA-sanctioned event, but an ITF event featuring WTA & ATP pairs from 8 nations competing as teams.     As you might expect, each international "tie" consists of 3 "rubbers," 2 singles and 1 doubles.   click for broader view   Burswood Dome, Perth Latitude: -31.960164 Longitude: 115.896567 goto link for World Wind another map (dome is SE of golf course)     The eight competing teams are divided into two groups, A and B, which play round robin preliminaries. The two group winners play in the final. 2011 Hopman Cup Teams Group A "Ties" W-L Matches W-L s1 Serbia #17 Ana Ivanovic N Djokovic 2-1 7-2 s3 Belgium #12 Justine Henin R Bemelmans 2-1 6-3 Australia #108 Alicia Molik L Hewitt 2-1 5-4 Kazakhstan #51 Shvedova; #140 Karatantcheva A Golubev 0-3 0-9 Group B USA #59 Bethanie Mattek-Sands J Isner 2-0 7-2 France #354 Kristina Mladenovic G Monfils 2-1 5-4 s4 Italy #7 Francesca Schiavone P Starace 1-2 3-6 s2 Great Britain #206 Laura Robson A Murray 0-3 3-6 Sesil Karatantcheva replaced Yaroslava Shvedova due to a right knee meniscus tear; Yaroslava will have surgery and miss the 2011 Australian Open. Perth, Hopman Cup, Saturday, Jan 1, 3pm Australia d Belgium 2-1 Justine Henin d Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-4 Perth, Hopman Cup, Sunday, Jan 2, 5pm Serbia d Kazakhstan 3-0 Ana Ivanovic d Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6(6), 6-1 Yaroslava and Ana driving forehands, and Ana after winning the first set Perth, Hopman Cup, Monday, Jan 3, 9:30am & 5pm Italy d Great Britain 2-1 Francesca Schiavone d Laura Robson 7-5, 6-3 USA d France 3-0 Bethanie Mattek-Sands d Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 Perth, Hopman Cup, Tuesday, Jan 4, 9:30am & 5pm Belgium d Kazakhstan 3-0 Justine Henin d Sesil Karatantcheva 6-4, 6-3 Sesil following a backhand, Justine driving a forehand, and after match point     Sesil had been flown in to replace Yaroslava Shvedova on the Kazakh team; Yaroslava has incurred a right knee injury, and might not be able to play in this year's Australian Open.     It is the first year that Justine has played in the Hopman Cup. Justine said: "I have waited 28 years to come here to Perth, but maybe I’ll come back next year. I love to play in Australia, you guys have the culture of the sport and it’s just great. You know about tennis, it’s a great crowd and great atmosphere also to prepare for the Open, so I’m glad about the choice I did." Hopman Cup story     The win kept Belgian hopes alive in Group A of the round robin; Serbia leads the group with a perfect 2-0 (ties) and 6-0 (matches) record, while Belgium is 1-1 and 4-2. Serbia d Australia 3-0 Ana Ivanovic d Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-0 Ana after match point Perth, Hopman Cup, Wednesday, Jan 5, 9:30am & 5pm USA d Italy 2-1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands d Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 France d Great Britain 2-1 Kristina Mladenovic d Laura Robson 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 Perth, Hopman Cup, Thursday, Jan 6, 3pm Australia d Kazakhstan 3-0 Alicia Molik d Sesil Karatantcheva 6-3, 6-2 Belgium d Serbia 2-1 Justine Henin d Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3 Justine serving, Ana following a forehand, and Justine after match point—Djokovic defeated Bemelmans in the next match, clinching a place in the final for Serbia Perth, Hopman Cup, Friday, Jan 7, 1pm USA d Great Britain 2-1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands d Laura Robson 6-4, 6-2 France d Italy 3-0 Kristina Mladenovic d Francesca Schiavone 6-4, retired—thigh strain Perth, Hopman Cup Final, Saturday, Jan 8, 3pm Ana Ivanovic: abdominal injury; Belgium replaced Serbia for the final USA d Belgium 2-1 Justine Henin d Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6(6), 6-3 John Isner d Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 6-4 Mattek-Sands/Isner d Henin/Bemelmans 6-1, 6-3 John & Bethanie

World Team Challenge Exhibition, Hong Kong, China   tourney time:        = GMT +8 hours        = US EDT +13 hours        = US PDT +16 hours Hong Kong News - China News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Hong Kong: The World Team Challenge, formerly the JB Group Classic and before that the Watson's Water Challenge, is not a WTA-sanctioned event. It is the largest exhibition event of the year, but no ranking points are awarded.   click for broader view   Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, China Latitude: 22.283001 Longitude: 114.189920 goto link for World Wind another street map     Formerly an 8-player exhibition mini-tourney, the Hong Kong format was changed for 2009. Instead of playing as individuals, four regional teams now compete: Europe, Russia, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. For 2010 the format was changed again, to include one ATP "legend" player along with two current WTA players. 2011: Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Venus Williams, and Aravane Rezai met the press on Monday, January 3, in Hong Kong... 2011 World Team Challenge Teams: Europe: #1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN, #19 Aravane Rezai FRA, Stefan Edberg SWE Russia: #2 Vera Zvonareva, #20 Maria Kirilenko, Yevgeny Kafelnikov The Americas: #5 Venus Williams USA, #61 Melanie Oudin USA, John McEnroe USA Asia-Pacific: #11 Na Li CHN, #229 Ling Zhang HKG, Mark Philippousis AUS

Hong Kong, SFs, Wed Jan 5 4:30pm Europe d Asia-Pacific 4-0 Europe #2 Aravane Rezai d Asia-Pacific #2 Ling Zhang 6-3, 6-0 Aravane and Ling driving forehand and backhand Europe #1 Caroline Wozniacki d Team Asia-Pacific #1 Li Na 6-4, 6-3 Na serving, Caroline at ready, and Caro driving a forehand Europe Stefan Edberg d Team Asia-Pacific Mark Philippoussis 5-7, 7-6, (10-8) Europe Caroline Wozniacki & Stefan Edberg v Asia Pacific Li Na & Mark Philippoussis 6-3, 6-2 Hong Kong, SFs, Thu 6:30pm Russia d Americas 4-0 AFP story Russia #2 Maria Kirilenko d Americas #2 Melanie Oudin 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 Melanie serving, and Maria about to connect with a backhand     Maria said: "In the third set I think [Melanie] was just a little bit disappointed because she was up 5-3 in the second set. She is still young—she is 19 years old so she's just starting to play on tour and she's playing not really bad, she's playing good." Russia #1 Vera Zvonareva d Americas #1 Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2 Vera about to swat a forehand, Venus driving a backhand, and Vera after match point     Vera said: "It's an exciting moment for me. It's the first match of the year and I'm really happy the way I started... Venus is a great champion and it's always a pleasure to play against her." AFP story Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov d Americas John McEnroe 6-4, 7-5 Russia Vera Zvonareva & Yevgeny Kafelnikov d Americas Venus Williams & John McEnroe 6-4, 4-6 (TB score?)

Hong Kong, "Silver" Consolation Finals, Fri 4:30pm & Sat 11am Americas d Asia-Pacific 3-2 Americas #2 Melanie Oudin d Asia-Pacific #2 Ling Zhang 6-3, 6-1 Fri Asia-Pacific #1 Li Na d Americas #1 Venus Williams 6-3, 7-6(3) Fri Asia-Pacific Mark Philippoussis d Americas John McEnroe 6-4, 6-4 Fri Americas Venus Williams & John McEnroe d Asia-Pacific Ling Zhang & Mark Philippoussis 6-2, 7-6 Sat USA won XD "golden tiebreak" to defeat Asia-Pacific for "Silver" title Hong Kong, "Gold" Finals, Fri 4:30pm & Sat 11am Russia d Europe 3-1 Russia #2 Maria Kirilenko d Europe #2 Aravane Rezai 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 Fri Europe Stefan Edberg d Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-0 Sat Russia #1 Vera Zvonareva d Europe #1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 6-0 Sat Vera driving a forehand, and Caroline congratulating Vera after match point Russia Maria Kirilenko & Yevgeny Kafelnikov d Europe Aravane Rezai & Stefan Edberg 6-4, 6-4 Sat Maria after winning a point

    (Dec 17, 2010 revised) #26 Jie Zheng, who had surgery on her left wrist in September and missed the end of the 2010 season, has withdrawn from the 2011 season-opening exhibition tourney in Hong Kong, from the Hobart tourney the following week, and from the Australian Open, where she was a semifinalist in 2010.

    (Nov 26, 2010) WTA #4 (and former #1) Serena Williams has withdrawn from the 2011 Australian Open, and from the pre-Aussie Open Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. Serena said: "While I desperately want to be back on the court and competing in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, it is imperative for my health that I continue to work with my doctors to ensure my foot heals properly." AP story

    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, in October, but withdrew after reinjuring her right foot while training in Florida.
    On Oct 11, 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) - 2011 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2010 WTA Player Videos page.

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