WTA Jul 11-17: Palermo & Bad Gastein SNAI Open Palermo, ITA INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Free Live Video (popup) Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP     tourney: draws: - Q - S - D - OOP pics: DL - FIT - WTA Italy News - Palermo weather #21 F Pennetta, #25 R Vinci #35 S Errani, #36 K Zakopalova Gastein Ladies, AUT INTL $220,000 32m/32q/16d outdoor: red clay Free Live Video (popup) Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP     tourn. draws: Q - main - D - OOP pics: WTA - webcam Austria: radar (Europe) - forecast - News #16 J Goerges, #29 J Gajdosova #42 L Hradecka, #44 I Benesova

Palermo: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003   Bad Gastein: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 previous other tourney pages next Palermo: #43 Anabel Medina Garrigues 5'6½" 130lb RH 2H-BH Bad Gastein: #62 Maria José Martinez Sanchez 5'9¼" 150lb LH 2H-BH

    On Sunday at the Country Time Club, Palermo, Italy, in the final of the Internazionali Femminili SNAI Open, this year's champ in Estoril (and the 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2006 Palermo champion), 28 year old 5th seeded #43 (this week at #39, but last week's ranks are listed here to match the drawsheet; career-high: #16, and former long-time Spanish #1) Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, won her 5th Sicilian title by defeating last week's champion in Båstad, 20-year-old 7th-seeded #53 (last week; this week at a career high: #37) Polona Hercog from Maribor, Slovenia, 6-3, 6-2 (Anabel is shown with the hardware after the match). Anabel's prize is $37,000; Polona's is $19,000.

    It was Anabel's 10th WTA singles title on a clay court, most among active WTA players (Venus Williams is 2nd with 9 clay court titles). Anabel's match record in Palermo is 32-3.

    Anabel said: "I think Polona was a little bit tired, because she won in Bastad last week and made the final here too, but I played a really good match. I was very serious today. I was focusing on the tactics me and my coach talked about, and it worked.
    "I'm also just trying to enjoy playing tennis and trying not to think about winning or losing, my ranking, or anything else. I just want to play my best on the court, and because of that I have been doing very well recently." WTA story

    Calm, cool, collected Anabel tweeted: "Oeeeeeoeoeoeoooooooooeeeeeeeooooooeeeeeeoeeeeeeoeoeoeeeeeeoooooeeeeeoooooeeee!amuuuuuuuuunt!!!!" Anabel Medina at Twitter

    Anabel scored on 6 of the 9 break points she reached against Polona; Polona converted only 2 of 3 break points against Anabel. Anabel and Polona had never before met on the field of combat.

    Anabel is now 11-6 in WTA singles finals. Although she once said she prefers hardcourts, 10 of Anabel's 11 titles have come on red clay, including five in Palermo and three in Strasbourg. Anabel has a 32-16 singles match record for 2011.
    Polona is now 1-2 in WTA singles finals; she won at Båstad last week, and reached the final at Acapulco last year. Polona has won 2 WTA doubles titles, 9 ITF singles titles, and 5 ITF doubles titles. Her 2011 singles match record is 23-18.

    On Sunday in Bad Gastein, Austria, in the final of the NÜRNBERGER Gastein Ladies, the 2010 champion in Rome, 28-year-old #62 (this week #54, career high: #19) Maria José Martinez Sanchez from Barcelona, Spain, defeated 24 year old wild card #123 (career high: #70) Patricia Mayr-Achleitner from Seefeld in Tirol, Austria, 6-0, 7-5 (Maria José is shown with the mountainous hardware after the match).

    Maria José;s prize is $37,000; Patricia's is $19,000.

    Maria José said: "At the start I was playing almost 100% perfectly. It's normal to have a bit of difficulty after such a good start, but I stayed calm all the time until the end, and that's why I won." WTA story

    Maria José and Patricia had met only once before, on red clay in the semifinals in Bogota in 2009, when Maria José defeated Patricia 7-5, 7-5.

    Maria José is now 4-1 in WTA singles finals; she won in Rome last year, and in Bogota and Bastad in 2009. Her 2011 singles match record is 19-13.
    Patricia was playing in her first WTA singles final. She has won 3 ITF singles titles this year, and has won 8 of her last 10 matches (all on red clay). Her 2011 singles match record is 29-19.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Palermo & Bad Gastein s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Internazionali Femminili,  Palermo, Sicily, Italy   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Italy News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Palermo: The 32-player main draw for Palermo 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   Country Time Club, Palermo, Italy Latitude: 38.189389 Longitude: 13.318852 goto link for World Wind Internazionali Femminili venue address: Country Time Club, Via dell'Olimpo, 5 - Palermo; Tel. +39 091 453782 - Fax +39 091 6841644 2009: On Thursday, July 16 in Palermo, Aravane Rezai and Alize Cornet attended the 2nd round match between Yaroslava Shvedova and Alberta Brianti...

Palermo, 1st Round, Mon 4pm, Tue 3pm loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 #21 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #367 wc Anastassia Grymalska ITA 6-4, 6-1 Mon Flavia driving a backhand #25 s2 Roberta Vinci ITA d #208 q Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ 6-2, 7-5 Tue Roberta's forehand drive #35 s3 Sara Errani ITA d #201 Regina Kulikova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Tue Sara about to swat a forehand #36 s4 Klara Zakopalova CZE v #117 Anastasia Pivovarova RUS 0-6, 6-1, 6-1 Tue #43 s5 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #164 wc Anna Floris ITA 6-3, 6-3 Tue Anabel driving a forehand #48 s6 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #84 Anna Tatishvili GEO 6-2, 7-5 Mon Tsvetana ready to fire a forehand #53 s7 Polona Hercog SLO d #214 q Karin Knapp ITA 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 Tue #55 s8 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #317 q Elena Bovina RUS 6-1, 7-5 Tue #64 Mathilde Johansson FRA d #75 Aravane Rezai FRA 7-6(5), 6-1 Tue Mathilde lining up a forehand #67 Alberta Brianti ITA d #1012 wc Silvia Albano ITA 6-1, 6-0 Mon Alberta about to slice a backhand #74 Pauline Parmentier FRA d #108 Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Tue #77 Irina-Camelia Begu ROU d #113 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 6-2, 7-5 Tue #83 Sorana Cirstea ROU d #110 Andrea Hlavackova CZE 6-3, 6-2 Tue #95 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d #149 Madalina Gojnea ROU 7-6(4), 6-2 Mon *#242 q Ani Mijacika CRO d #104 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tue *#177 LL Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino ESP d #151 Corinna Dentoni ITA 6-3, 7-6(5) Tue

Palermo, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 3:30pm-4pm loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #21 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #64 Mathilde Johansson FRA 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 Wed *#77 Irina-Camelia Begu ROU d #25 s2 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-4, 6-3 Thu #35 s3 Sara Errani ITA d #74 Pauline Parmentier FRA 7-5, 6-1 Thu #36 s4 Klara Zakopalova CZE d #242 q Ani Mijacika CRO 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 Thu #43 s5 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #177 LL Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino ESP 6-1, 7-5 Thu Anabel driving a backhand #48 s6 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d #83 Sorana Cirstea ROU 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 Wed #53 s7 Polona Hercog SLO d #67 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-2, 6-4 Wed #55 s8 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #95 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-2, 6-4 Wed

Palermo, QFs, Fri 4pm loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 #21 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #48 s6 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-2, 6-2 Flavia ready to fire a forehand *#55 s8 Petra Cetkovska CZE d #35 s3 Sara Errani ITA 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4) Petra driving a forehand *#53 s7 Polona Hercog SLO d #36 s4 Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-1, 6-1 #43 s5 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #77 Irina-Camelia Begu ROU 6-2, 1-6, 6-0 Anabel's backhand drive

Palermo, SFs, Sat 5:00pm loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#53 s7 Polona Hercog SLO d #21 s1 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-2, 6-2 #43 s5 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #55 s8 Petra Cetkovska CZE 7-5, 6-3

Palermo, Final, Sun 7:30pm loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #43 s5 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #53 s7 Polona Hercog SLO 6-3, 6-2

Palermo, Doubles Final Saturday m3 loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US cdr71 s1 Roberta Vinci & Sara Errani d cdr84 s2 Klara Zakopalova & Andrea Hlavackova 7-5, 6-1 Palermo, Qual Finals, Mon Jul 11 4pm losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points *#208 Sesil Karatantcheva KAZ d #177 Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino ESP 7-5, 6-3 #214 Karin Knapp ITA d #313 Teodora Mircic SRB 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5) *#317 Elena Bovina RUS d #240 Alize Lim FRA 6-1, 6-3 #242 Ani Mijacika CRO d #385 Claudia Giovine ITA 6-4, 6-3 Palermo, Withdrawals #26 Kaia Kanepi EST achilles injury #38 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU knee injury #72 Greta Arn HUN right knee injury #76 Evgeniya Rodina RUS right elbow injury #86 Mirjana Lucic CRO illness #109 Romina Oprandi ITA left wrist injury #115 Zuzana Ondraskova CZE right leg injury #144 Kirsten Flipkens BEL right knee injury #161 Xinyun Han CHN

Gastein Ladies,  Bad Gastein, Austria   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours Austria News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Bad Gastein: The 32-player main draw for Bad Gastein 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   Hotel Europäischer Hof, Bad Gastein, Austria Latitude: 47.130119 Longitude: 13.137428 goto link for World Wind The Gastein Valley is a skiing area about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Salzburg; Bad Gastein is at an altitude of 1000 meters, and is near Stubnerkogel, 2246 meters. The Gastein tourney was new in 2007.     Venue address: Hotel Europäischer Hof, Miesbichlstraße 20, A-5640 Bad Gastein 2011: On Sunday, July 10, in Bad Gastein, 2010 tourney champ (and 2011 top seed) Julia Goerges attended the draw ceremony, which was held at a rather unusual location (these two excellent photos were posted by Monique Filipella, @ziamiki at Twitter)... later on Sunday, 2nd seed Jarmila Groth, at a local restaurant, also had a good view... row 2: Delightful dames donning dirndls for the players party on Wednesday included Jarmila, Julia, and Alizé Cornet

Bad Gastein, 1st Rnd, Mon-Tue 10am Tue WTA story loser's prize: $1,725 US; points: 1 *#91 Laura Pous-Tio ESP d #16 s1 Julia Goerges GER 1-6, 6-2, 1-6 Tue     Julia said: "It was one of the weakest matches in my career. I tried everything but nothing worked. A week ago I had a dental operation and got pills against the inflammation. These make me a little bit tired... but anyway it was a really bad day." *#65 Johanna Larsson SWE d #29 s2 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS 6-4, 6-2 Tue     Johanna said: "You can feel the balls are flying a little bit and we both struggled to get into the game. [Jarmila] was making more errors than usual. My aim was just to put one more ball in and I got a lot of free points from her. It was difficult to play, but I just tried to be more solid than her and it worked in the end."     "I really like it here in Bad Gastein. In Bastad there were so many people, my family and friends everywhere, and now we're up in the mountains and it's so quiet. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week." *#120 Sandra Zahlavova CZE d #42 s3 Lucie Hradecka CZE 7-5, 6-3 Mon *#315 wc Nikola Hofmanova AUT d #44 s4 Iveta Benesova CZE 7-5, 3-2 retired—right knee injury Mon *#123 wc Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT d #45 s5 Lourdes Domínguez Lino ESP 6-0, 7-6(5) Tue *#148 Sybille Bammer AUT d #54 s6 Simona Halep ROU 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) Wed     Sybille announced her retirement from the WTA Tour at Wimbledon this year, but was convinced to play this tourney in her home country. Sybille said: "Because I thought I was going to stop after Wimbledon, I was playing here to have fun, and I was just playing point by point. In the second set I started making less mistakes and it got closer and closer. At the end I was nervous because I was 5-2 up in the tie-break and wasn't expecting to win today, but I got a little bit lucky." *#114 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #60 s7 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 7-6(7), 6-2 Tue     Carla was sidelined for almost four months by an elbow injury. Carla said: "After being out for months, to win today makes me really happy. I really like clay and all of these tournaments. I was out for a long time but I played really well today. My elbow sometimes gets a bit tight, but the physios do a very good job and every match is better and better." #61 s8 Ksenia Pervak RUS d #69 Alizé Cornet FRA 7-6(3), 6-2 Tue #62 Maria José Martínez Sánchez ESP d #232 q Paula Ormaechea ARG 7-6(5), 7-6(4) Tue *#305 q Nastja Kolar SLO d #78 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-1, 6-1 Tue #87 Kristina Barrois GER d #129 Lesia Tsurenko UKR 6-2, 6-3 Tue *#102 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #88 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-0, 6-4 Tue #89 Petra Martic CRO d #249 q Sofia Shapatava GEO 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 Tue *#119 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP d #96 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5) Tue #126 Yvonne Meusburger AUT d #130 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-3, 7-6(6) Tue *#286 q Dia Evtimova BUL d #288 wc Melanie Klaffner AUT 6-4, 6-2 Tue

Bad Gastein, 2nd Round, Wed-Thu 11am Wed WTA story loser's prize: $2,950 US; points: 30 #61 s8 Ksenia Pervak RUS d #305 q Nastja Kolar SLO 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-2 Wed #62 Maria José Martínez Sánchez ESP d #120 Sandra Zahlavova CZE 6-4, 6-2 Thu *#102 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #65 Johanna Larsson SWE 7-5, 6-0 Wed *#91 Laura Pous-Tio ESP d #87 Kristina Barrois GER 7-6(6), 7-6(5) Wed *#123 wc Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT d #89 Petra Martic CRO 6-1, 6-4 Thu *#114 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #119 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-4, 6-3 Wed #126 Yvonne Meusburger AUT d #148 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-2, 6-1 Thu #286 q Dia Evtimova BUL d #315 wc Nikola Hofmanova AUT 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Thu

Bad Gastein, QFs, Fri 11am WTA story loser's prize: $5,340 US; points: 70 Friday: rain stopped play #61 s8 Ksenia Pervak RUS d #91 Laura Pous-Tio ESP 6-2, 7-6(5) Fri-rain-Sat #62 Maria José Martínez Sánchez ESP d #126 Yvonne Meusburger AUT 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 Maria José driving a backhand     Maria José said: "Yvonne was fighting the whole match. I had to work for all the points and it was tough to beat her. It was a little bit crazy—we went on court at 4:45 and it was raining again, and we had to go back... At least we finished today though. Playing two matches in one day tomorrow would have been difficult." #102 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d #114 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-2, 6-1 Fri-rain-Sat Kateryna driving a backhand, and Carla about to swat one #123 wc Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT d #286 q Dia Evtimova BUL 6-2, 6-2 Patricia after winning a point     Patricia said: "I'm in good shape now. My forehand is really strong at the moment. The conditions were far heavier than yesterday today, because the clay was very wet—but I always felt like I was the better player today. I feel quite comfortable here, and I think I'll get my chances in the next round, whether it's Pervak or Pous-Tio."

Bad Gastein, SFs, Sat 11am WTA story loser's prize: $10,200 US; points: 130 *#123 wc Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT d #61 s8 Ksenia Pervak RUS 6-0, 6-0     Patricia had also defeated Ksenia 6-1, 6-0, in the Zlin ITF final in June. Patricia said: "The feeling's amazing. I can't say it in words. I felt so great from the beginning when we were warming up, then I was so focused in the match too. It was a perfect day, from the beginning to the end.     "[Ksenia] was happy she won her first match, then only had an hour and 15 minutes before our match, and she must have been tired, but anyways, 6-0, 6-0 is just amazing. I'm so proud and happy to play my first WTA final here in Austria."     About playing Maria José Martínez Sánchez in the final, Patricia said: "I lost [our previous meeting], but now it's different because I have all my family and friends here, and the crowd will help me. It's a new game." #62 Maria José Martínez Sánchez ESP d #102 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 7-6(5)     Maria José said: "Today's match was much different than yesterday with Meusburger, the points were much shorter today. [Kateryna] hits the ball really strong so I had to be very focused in the first three or four shots of the rallies. When I was up 6-1, 5-3 she started playing even better because she had nothing to lose, no pressure—but mentally I stayed with her and that's why I won."     About playing Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the final, Maria José said: "It's difficult to play in altitude—if you don't hit the ball at the right moment, you don't know where the ball's going to go. But I like these conditions. I feel better and better throughout the week with them, and also when you come to the net it's harder for your opponents to hit passing shots. I won Bogotá before, and it's high altitude there too, but there they play with balls with no pressure, so you don't feel it that much. Tomorrow's another day and Patricia is a great player and a great fighter, so we'll see what happens."

Bad Gastein, Final, Sun noon loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 200 winner's prize: $37,000 US; points: 280 #62 Maria José Martinez Sánchez ESP d #123 wc Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT 6-0, 7-5 Maria Jose and Patricia driving forehand and backhand, and Maria Jose after match point

Bad Gastein, Doubles Final, Sun loser's prize: $5,750 US winner's prize: $11,000 US Lucie Hradecka & Eva Birnerova d Julia Goerges & Jarmila Gajdosova 4-6, 6-2, (12-10) Bad Gastein, Qual Finals, Mon Jul 11 10am losers' prizes: q1 $265 1pt; q2 $460 6pts; q3 $860 10pts; qualifier 16 points #286 Dia Evtimova BUL d #224 Reka-Luca Jani HUN 6-2, 6-2 #232 Paula Ormaechea ARG d #244 Gail Brodsky USA 6-3, 6-4 #249 Sofia Shapatava GEO d #418 Nicole Rottmann AUT 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 *#305 Nastja Kolar SLO d #253 Lenka Jurikova SVK 6-2, 6-1 Bad Gastein, Withdrawals #7 Petra Kvitova CZE adductor injury #20 Dominika Cibulkova SVK abdominal injury #47 Jelena Dokic AUS hamstring injury #51 Anastasija Sevastova LAT left ankle injury #52 Monica Niculescu ROM abdominal injury #59 Anna Chakvetadze RUS dizziness #71 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK left knee injury #97 Varvara Lepchenko USA knee injuries #100 Angelique Kerber GER ankle injury

    (May 5, 2010) 2010 will be the last year of the WTA Prague Open. The tourney has lost its principal sponsor, and organizers are negotiating with the WTA to sell the franchise. 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 2009 WTA Player Videos page.

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