WTA Aug 15-21: Cincinnati Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, OH PREMIER 5 $2,050,000 56m/48q/28d outdoor: hard Free Live Video (popup) Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP tourney draws & OOP pics: DL - Y!: sports     news WSF - news CO | WTA interviews | Sports: Enquirer Cincinnati: radar - forecast #1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN #3 Vera Zvonareva RUS #4 Victoria Azarenka BLR #6 Na Li CHN #7 Petra Kvitova CZE #8 Francesca Schiavone ITA #9 Marion Bartoli FRA #10 Andrea Petkovic GER #11 Samantha Stosur AUS #12 Agnieszka Radwanska POL

Cincinnati: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Cincinnati: #14 Jelena Jankovic 5'9½" 130lb RH 2H-BH Cincinnati: #5 (last week, #7 this week) Maria Sharapova 6' 2" 130lb RH 2H-BH

On Sunday in Cincinnati, in the final of the Western & Southern Open, the 2010 tourney finalist (and this year's champ in Rome), 24 year old 4th seeded #5 (last week, this week #7, former #1) Maria Sharapova of Russia (residences: Manhattan Beach, California & Bradenton, Florida), defeated the 2009 tourney champion, 26 year old 13th seeded #14 (and former #1) Jelena Jankovic, from Belgrade, Serbia, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 (Jelena is shown during the match; Maria is shown with the ceramicware afterward).     Maria's prize is $360,000; Jelena's prize is $180,000.     Both players stuggled to hold serve. Maria struck 6 aces with 11 double faults, and won 70% of her 1st serve points and 36% of her 2nd serve points, while scoring on 8 of the 22 break points she reached against Jelena and totaling 118 points in the match. Jelena hit 1 ace with 9 DFs, and won 54% of her 1st serve points and 43% of her 2nd serve points, as she converted 8 of the 11 break points she reached against Maria while scoring 107 points in the match.     Maria took a 2-break lead at 4-1 in the 1st set, and appeared to be on her way to an easy win. Then Jelena broke Maria's serve three times to take the 1st set, winning 7 consecutive games to also take the lead in the 2nd. She seemed to have the upper hand—until Maria won 5 straight points to take the 2nd set tiebreaker.     Maria said: "It was a really tough one out there. It was so physical, and obviously you expect that when you're playing Jelena. She's a great mover and gets so many balls back... in the end it could have gone either way... That's pretty much it [in the tiebreaker], putting five points together that were well-played." postmatch interview - AP story     Jelena said: "Today I thought it was a good battle out there. This match could have gone either way. I had my chances... It showed the match is not over until you shake the hand... I didn't serve so well today... I was playing with a lot of 2nd serves, which is tough, especially against Maria." postmatch interview

    Maria now leads Jelena 6-1 in career matches, but Jelena had to retire due to injury from two of those meetings. Their most recent previous complete match was in 2008, on a Plexicushion hardcourt in the semifinals of the Australian Open, when Maria, on her way to the title, defeated Jelena 6-3, 6-1.

    3-time grand slam tourney champion Maria is now 24-13 in WTA singles finals; she also won this year at Rome. She won Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon in 2004, Flushing Meadows in 2006, and Melbourne in 2008. Due to right shoulder rotator cuff tendon tears, Maria played only one match (a doubles match) between August, 2008, and May, 2009. In 2010, Maria incurred a right elbow bone bruise at Indian Wells in March, and that kept her sidelined until May. This year, respiratory illness caused Maria to withdraw from three tournaments in February. Despite the setbacks, Maria has a 39-10 match record this season.

    Jelena is now 12-14 in WTA singles finals. She also reached the Monterrey final earlier this year; last year she won the Indian Wells title, and was finalist at Rome (where she won in 2008 and 2007). Jelena's singles match record this year is 33-16.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Cincinnati s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? The W&S Financial Open  Cincinnati, Ohio   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -6 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT+3 Cleveland news - Ohio news Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view   Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio Lat.: 39.34876 Lon.: -84.276434 goto link for World Wind     Cincinnati: The 56-player main draw for Cincinnati has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 12 qualifiers and 5 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Sunday.     W&S Financial Open venue address: Lindner Family Tennis Center, 5460 Courseview Dr., Mason, OH 45040 2011: On Monday, August 15 in Cincinnati, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Maria Sharapova fielded an exciting array of new and different friendly questions from the nice reporters at the All Access Hour...

Cincinnati, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 11am Mon WTA story loser's prize: $5,500 US; points: 1 n10 s9 Andrea Petkovic GER d n29 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-2 Mon Andrea driving a backhand     Andrea said: "I was tired. I just felt so terrible the whole time. I don't know how I pulled it out, but I'm thrilled that I did. On days like today I feel I suck, really. I feel like I have so many more things to improve, like 156 or more, and as long as I have that feeling it gives me the motivation to practice and get even better." n11 s10 Samantha Stosur AUS d n93 q Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-3, 6-1 Tue Samantha and Eleni delivering forehand and backhand *n25 Flavia Pennetta ITA d n13 s12 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tue Flavia and Anastasia driving forehand and backhand     Flavia said: "I'm really happy about this match today. In the last three years I've played a lot and in the beginning of the year I was a little bit tired. I also had an injury after Miami and it was tough to come back. So it's not easy to win all the time, but I always try my best and today was a good victory." WTA story n14 s13 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n45 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-0, 6-3 Tue Jelena launching a drop shot, and Iveta driving a backhand n15 s14 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d n115 q Jill Craybas USA 6-3, 6-4 Mon Svetlana following a forehand n16 s15 Ana Ivanovic SRB d n151 q Alexa Glatch USA 6-0, 6-2 Mon Ana serving, Alexa launching a backhand, Ana driving one, and after match point n17 s16 Shuai Peng CHN d n52 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Tue Gisela and Shuai following backhands n19 S17 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d n54 q Bojana Jovanovski SRB 6-3, 6-4 Tue *n82 q Jie Zheng CHN d n20 Julia Goerges GER 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 Mon Jie about to swat a backhand, and Julie reaching for a forehand *n23 Shahar Peer ISR d n21 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-4, 7-6(4) Mon Shahar spinning a forehand, and Sabine's backhand drive     About the 2nd set, Shahar said: "I was playing very solid and very smart until a set and 5-0, then I just stopped moving and was making errors from nowhere. I could have been in the locker room half an hour before, but at least I won the match in the end." *n28 Nadia Petrova RUS d n22 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 Tue Nadia's forehand drive n24 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d n47 L Dominguez Lino ESP 6-3, 4-1 retired Mon n26 Maria Kirilenko RUS d n99 q Shuai Zhang CHN 7-6(2), 6-3 Tue Shuai driving a forehand, and Maria watching her backhand fly n32 Lucie Safarova CZE d n43 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Mon *n44 q Petra Cetkovska CZE d n33 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 Mon n36 Sara Errani ITA d n112 wc Sloane Stephens USA 6-1, 7-5 Mon *n41 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d n37 LL MJ Martinez Sanchez ESP 7-5, 6-3 Mon *n86 q Petra Martic CRO d n38 Elena Vesnina RUS 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-0 Mon *n96 q Chanelle Scheepers RSA d n39 Rebecca Marino CAN 7-5, 6-2 Mon *n109 q Anastasia Rodionova AUS d n40 wc Polona Hercog SLO 6-0, 6-0 Mon *n126 sr Alona Bondarenko UKR d n42 Ayumi Morita JPN 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 Mon *n80 Serena Williams USA d n48 Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-3, 7-6(5) Tue Serena serving, Lucie running down a forehand, and Serena driving a backhand     Serena struck 7 aces with 3 double faults while scoring on 3 of the 12 break points she reached against Lucie and totaling 87 points in the match. Lucie hit 6 aces with 8 DFs, and converted 2 of the 4 break points she reached against Serena while scoring 69 points in the match.     Serena took an early 2-break lead and reached 5-1 in the 2nd set, then Lucie broke back twice to force the tiebreaker. Serena said: "I was up and I didn't close it out. [Lucie] started playing better. I was struggling. I don't know what happened. It's tough. I got in really late yesterday and had to play early today. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow." WTA story *n64 wc Christina McHale USA d n50 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 Mon Tsevtana fielding a forehand on the run, and Christina driving a backhand n57 LL Sofia Arvidsson SWE d n59 q Monica Niculescu ROU 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 Mon     About 20 minutes before the match, Sofia, who had lost her qualifying final, found out that Kimiko Date-Krumm had withdrawn, and that she was now to play as "Lucky Loser."     Sofia said: "I was so lost, and at first I was so stressed, because I nearly didn’t have time to warm up." Cincinnati.com story

Cincinnati, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 11am losers' prize: $10,575 US; points: 70 *n64 wc Christina McHale USA d n1 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-4, 7-5 Wed Christina ready to swat a forehand, and Caro and Christina driving backhands     Christina struck 1 ace with 1 double fault while scoring on 5 of the 9 break points she reached against Caroline and totaling 72 points in the match. Caroline hit no aces with 2 DFs, and converted 3 of the 4 break points she reached against Christina while scoring 67 points in the match.     Christina said: "I'm so excited to have a win like this. It's still sinking in. Hasn't really registered yet. But, yeah, it's huge for me. I'm just really excited." tourney story     Caroline said: "[Christina] played well. She played what she needed to do today. Of course disappointing right now to have lost this match. I feel like I shouldn't, but it's tennis. It's just one week. I'll try to do better again next week." n3 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d n41 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-3, 6-0 Wed Vera driving a forehand, Ekaterina about to swat a backhand, and Vera after match point n5 s4 wc Maria Sharapova RUS d n109 q Anastasia Rodionova AUS 6-1, 6-3 Tue Maria serving, Anastasia about to slice a backhand, and Maria driving one n6 s5 Na Li CHN d n32 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-3, 6-4 Tue Na fielding a forehand, and Lucie's service toss n7 s6 Petra Kvitova CZE d n96 q Chanelle Scheepers RSA 7-6(3), 6-3 Tue n8 s7 Francesca Schiavone ITA d n26 Maria Kirilenko RUS 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 Wed Maria following a forehand, and Francesca driving a backhand     Both players scored 93 points in the match. Francesca said: "It was tough today, particularly in the third set—Maria was playing really well. At the end I was just a little bit more consistent. This tournament is giving me the chance to feel good again. I always need to play as much as I can. The most important thing is to find a good balance ahead of the US Open." WTA story n9 s8 Marion Bartoli FRA d n126 sr Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-2 Tue Marion's 2-handed forehand (with backhand grip) n10 s9 Andrea Petkovic GER d n57 LL Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-2, 6-4 Wed Andrea following a backhand, and Sofia driving a forehand n11 s10 Samantha Stosur AUS d n80 Serena Williams USA walkover—right toe injury Wed     Serena said: "It's not a good time to take a big chance. I might have a better chance [at the US Open] if I rest up and get healthy." Tennis.com Ticker n14 s13 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n82 q Jie Zheng CHN 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 Wed Jelena driving a backhand, Jie serving, and Jelena after match point n15 s14 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d n44 q Petra Cetkovska CZE 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wed Svetlana and Petra driving forehands *n28 Nadia Petrova RUS d n16 s15 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-3, 7-6(4) Wed Ana and Nadia serving n17 s16 Shuai Peng CHN d n36 Sara Errani ITA 6-2, 6-4 Wed *n86 q Petra Martic CRO d n19 S17 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 Wed n23 Shahar Peer ISR d n58 LL Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-2, 6-3 Wed Shahar about to connect with a backhand n24 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d n25 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-3, 6-4 Wed

Cincinnati, 3rd Round, Thu 11am losers' prize: $20,550 US; points: 125 n3 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d n86 q Petra Martic CRO 6-2, 6-2 Vera and Petra driving forehand and backhand n5 s4 wc Maria Sharapova RUS d n15 s14 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-2, 6-3 Maria and Svetlana driving backhand and forehand, Maria dispatching another backhand, and after match point     Maria struck 1 ace with 5 double faults, but won 71% of her 1st serve points while scoring on 6 of the 8 break points she reached against Svetlana and totaling 63 points in the match. Svetlana hit 2 aces with 2 DFs, but won only 46% of her 1st serve points, and converted 2 of the 4 break points she reached against Maria while scoring 49 points in the match.     Maria said: "I was playing a pretty tough opponent—we've had tough matches in the past, usually three-setters—so it was quite nice to get that win in two. [Svetlana has] a tremendous amount of experience, she's a really solid player, she's always dangerous, so it was a good win." *n11 s10 Samantha Stosur AUS d n6 s5 Na Li CHN 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Na and Samantha driving backhands     Samantha is now 5-0 against Na (and 0-8 against Maria Sharapova). Samantha said: "Tennis is a funny game, because you can have a really good match-up against some players then terrible against others. In the past she has struggled on the return against me and the high-bouncing kicker. She tried to attack it more today—it came off sometimes, and not on others. That's one of those things in my game that she doesn't like." WTA story *n10 s9 Andrea Petkovic GER d n7 s6 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-3, 6-3 Petra volleying a backhand, Andrea driving one, and after match point n14 s13 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n8 s7 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 Francesca fielding a drop shot, and Jelena driving a backhand *n24 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d n9 s8 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 Marion and Daniela launching 2-handed and 1-handed forehands     Daniela tweeted: "Hi guys! I was really pleased with my match today. Marion is a great fighter, but I stayed aggressive and kept fighting until the end. It was very long and the conditions were not easy, but at the same time it's great for my confidence before the US Open. Now I'll try to recover for tomorrow. I have nothing to lose... With love from Cincy, Dani :)" Daniela Hantuchova at Twitter n17 s16 Shuai Peng CHN d n23 Shahar Peer ISR 6-3, 6-2 Shahar and Shuai driving forehand and backhand n28 Nadia Petrova RUS d n64 wc Christina McHale USA 6-3, 6-3 Nadia fielding a forehand, and Christina about to swat one

Cincinnati, QFs, Fri 11am losers' prize: $41,450 US; points: 225 n3 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d n24 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 7-6(6) Daniela serving, and Vera driving a backhand n5 s4 wc Maria Sharapova RUS d n11 s10 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-3, 6-2 Maria serving, Samantha and Maria driving forehands, and Sam congratulating Maria after match point n10 s9 Andrea Petkovic GER d n28 Nadia Petrova RUS 7-5, 6-1 Nadia driving a forehand, Andrea diving for one, and after winning a game n14 s13 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n17 s16 Shuai Peng CHN walkover—hip injury

Cincinnati, SFs, Sat 7pm loser's prize: $90,000 US; points: 395 n5 s4 wc Maria Sharapova RUS d n3 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Maria serving, Vera driving a forehand, Maria following a backhand, and after match point     The match was not a work of art. Maria struck 5 aces with 9 double faults, and won 60% of her 1st serve points and 33% of her 2nd serve points, while scoring on 7 of the 12 break points she reached against Vera and totaling 83 points in the match. Vera hit 4 aces with 8 DFs, and won 55% of her 1st serve points and 35% of her 2nd serve points, as she converted 6 of the 10 break points she reached against Maria while scoring 76 points in the match.     Maria won only 17% of her 2nd serve points in the 1st set. Then she had a nice chat with her coach, Thomas Hogstedt.     Maria said: "I didn't do a lot of talking. He talked most of the time. I called him over because I felt I just needed a little energy. Something was missing in the first set." AP story     Maria now leads Vera 7-3 in career matches. Their previous encounter was in 2009, on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the 3rd round in Toronto, when Maria defeated Vera 6-2, 7-6(3).     Vera said: "In the second and third sets, I had my concentration level drop for moments a little bit. I gave her a few chances. You give Maria chances like that, she'll take them."     It is only the second time Maria has played in Cincinnati, and she has reached the final both times. Maria said: "I love playing on this court. There's something about it."     About the final, Maria said: "I haven't played Jelena in quite a while... We've known each other since we were very young. We grew up in Florida in the same sort of group. In the juniors we played a lot of matches against each other. Here we are now at the professional level. We know each other's games quite well. It's good to see her back at this stage. She's a great player. She was No.1 in the world, so it's no joke." WTA story n14 s13 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n10 s9 Andrea Petkovic GER 7-6(4), 6-1 Jelena and Andrea driving forehand and backhand, and Jelena after winning the 1st set     Jelena struck 3 aces with 4 double faults, and won 74% of her 1st serve points and 63% of her 2nd serve points, while scoring on 4 of the 8 break points she reached against Andrea and totaling 70 points in the match. Andrea hit 1 ace, with no DFs, and won 55% of her 1st serve points and 60% of her 2nd serve points, as she converted only 1 of the 8 break points she reached against Jelena while scoring 56 points in the match.

Cincinnati, Final, Sun 4pm loser's prize: $180,000 US; points: 620 winner's prize: $360,000 US; points: 900 n5 s4 wc Maria Sharapova RUS d n14 s13 Jelena Jankovic SRB 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 Maria driving a forehand, Jelena and Maria reaching for backhand and forehand, and Maria after winning the 2nd set tiebreaker

Cincinnati, Doubles Final, Sun 2pm losers' prize: $51,550 US winners' prize: $103,000 US cdr13 s3 Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova d Natalie Grandin & Vladimira Uhlirova 6-4, 3-6, (11-9) Vania and Yaroslava Cincinnati, Qual Finals, Sun Aug 14 10am losers' prizes: q1 $1,035 1pt; q2 $1,995 20pts; qualifier 30 points *n86 Petra Martic CRO d n37 MJ Martinez Sanchez ESP 6-4, 6-3 n44 Petra Cetkovska CZE d n67 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 n53 Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN d n89 Kristina Barrois GER 7-6(5), 6-4 n54 Bojana Jovanovski SRB d n76 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-0, 6-3 *n96 Chanelle Scheepers RSA d n57 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-1, 6-4 *n109 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d n58 Pauline Parmentier FRA 7-5, 6-2 n59 Monica Niculescu ROU d n66 Anastasija Sevastova LAT 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 *n82 Jie Zheng CHN d n63 Johanna Larsson SWE 6-1, 6-2 *n151 Alexa Glatch USA d n65 Sania Mirza IND 6-2, 6-4 n93 E Daniilidou GRE d n98 A Keothavong GBR 5-7, 7-6(5), 4-1 retired *n115 Jill Craybas USA d n95 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(3) n99 Shuai Zhang CHN d n105 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-4, 6(2)-7, 6-4 Cincinnati, Withdrawals n2 Kim Clijsters BEL partial tear of left abdominal n4 s3 Victoria Azarenka BLR right hand strain n12 s11 Agnieszka Radwanska POL right shoulder injury n18 Dominika Cibulkova SVK left abdominal strain n27 Alisa Kleybanova RUS undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma n30 Kaia Kanepi EST achilles injury n31 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA right shoulder injury n35 Tamira Paszek AUT left abdominal injury n34 Venus Williams USA illness n49 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU knee injury n53 q Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN left hand injury

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