This was their first meeting on clay, Samantha's best surface. Their previous meeting was earlier this year on a Laykold hardcourt in the 4th round in Miami, when Maria defeated Samantha 6-4, 6-1.
was feeling ill before the match, and took anti-nausea medication.
"I thought Maria played quite well and I simply wasn't at my best today... But it has been a great week and each week I played in Europe I got a bit better. It's what you want heading into a Grand Slam."
is now 23-12 in WTA singles finals; Rome is her third title clay courts.
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.
is now 2-8 in WTA singles finals. In 2007 Samantha was forced offcourt by viral meningitis and Lyme disease after a tick bite, but she recovered in 2008 and won titles at Osaka in 2009, and at Charleston last year. Sam has an 19-12 singles match record this season.
Italian Open, Rome, Italy
| |
|
| |
tourney time: = GMT +2 hours
= US EDT +6 hours
= US PDT +9 hours
|
Italy News
Rome: The 56-player main draw for Rome has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 8 qualifiers and 5 wild cards in the main draw.
Qualifying finals are on Sunday.
|
|
|
2011: An early "Twitter pic" from Rome on Saturday, May 7 showed 2007 & '08 tourney champ Jelena Jankovic at the Fontana Gianicolo... also on Saturday, Gisela Dulko uploaded a shot of her own Italian Open player badge... On Sunday, Gisela practiced at the Foro Italico,
as did row 2: 2010 French Open champ and Italian #1 Francesca Schiavone... Also on Sunday, Maria Sharapova sat for an interview...
|
2011: On Monday in Rome, players meeting the press and signing autographs (and walls) at the Foro Italico included Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Jelena Jankovic, Na Li and Caroline Wozniacki...row 2: On Tuesday, pretty Elena Vesnina posed in front of the Roman skyline (click the pic to get 1366x768 wallpaper size), Lucie Safarova signed autographs, and Alberta Brianti did the wall signing thing...
|
|
Rome, 1st Rnd, Mon-Tue 11am Tue WTA story
loser's prize: $5,500 US; points: 1
#12 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA d #70 q Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-2, 6-3 Mon
Arantxa volleying a forehand, and Marion driving one, which she does with a backhand grip, left hand above right
Marion said: "[Arantxa] just beat Flavia Pennetta and Andrea Petkovic last week, so she's very dangerous on clay. She also plays two-handed on both sides just like me, so it was tricky.
"I didn't play very well the two times I played here before, but I practiced very well the last few days, and I was happy with my game today, especially my groundstrokes. I was hitting the ball where I wanted to." WTA story
|
#13 s10 Shahar Peer ISR d #58 Bojana Jovanovski SRB 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 Tue
Bojana and Shahar driving forehand and backhand
*#46 Greta Arn HUN d #14 s11 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(9) Mon
Svetlana and Greta about to swat backhands
The match lasted 3 hours and 22 minutes. Both players scored 132 points. Svetlana failed to convert 4 match points; Greta won on her 5th MP.
It was Greta's first win over a top 15 player. Greta said: "It was a very good, high quality match. It was hard work—after almost three and a half hours, I'd say it wasn't easy! To beat a top player is always great. I cannot describe the feeling—I'm just very happy. Especially because [Svetlana] is a good clay court player—she won the French Open two years ago." WTA story
|
#15 s12 Andrea Petkovic GER d #26 Maria Kirilenko RUS 7-5, 6-1 Tue
Andrea serving, Maria driving a backhand, and Petko after winning a point
Andrea said: "Maria is obviously a tough first round opponent. She changes the rhythm so well. Also, I hadn't played outdoors since Miami. Stuttgart is indoors and the two matches I played in Madrid were indoors because it was raining, so I needed time to get used to the conditions. I lost my first two or three service games because I was confused with the wind, but then I got back on track and was fine. In the end it was a solid match."
|
#17 s13 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #23 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-0, 3-0 retired—hip strain Mon
Ana delivered 7 aces with only 1 double fault in the truncated match.
|
*#88 wc Romina Oprandi ITA d #19 s14 Kaia Kanepi EST 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 Tue
*#41 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA d #20 s15 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Tue
#21 s16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #79 q Chanelle Scheepers RSA 6-3, 7-5 Tue
Anastasia trailed 1-4 in the 2nd set. Anastasia said: "I was thinking the set was gone, so I just relaxed and calmed down, and I think that turned into the right mentality. I started to focus on every point and kept on playing. It worked in the end."
|
#22 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #71 LL Angelique Kerber GER 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 Mon
#25 Alisa Kleybanova RUS d #83 q Varvara Lepchenko USA 6-2, 6-2 Mon
*#67 q Polona Hercog SLO d #29 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU 6-1, 7-5 Mon
*#92 q Christina McHale USA d #30 Shuai Peng CHN 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(7) Mon
Shuai and Christina serving
#31 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS d #140 wc Corinna Dentoni ITA 6-1, 6-2 Mon
#32 Lucie Safarova CZE d #57 Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN 7-5, 6-2 Tue
Kimiko and Lucie driving forehands
*#39 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d #33 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 Mon
2010 Rome champion Maria Jose and Ekaterina driving backhand and forehand
#35 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #36 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-4, 6-2 Mon
Daniela tweeted: "Hi everyone :) Today's was not easy, but I was really pleased how I played. I was very solid and focused from the first point until the end.
"Being in Rome is very special. I don't remember how many times I've been here already and it's great to be back. I just love the city and I'm probably going to live here one day anyway, so I'm glad to be here!" Daniela Hantuchova at Twitter
|
*#40 Sara Errani ITA d #37 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-2, 1-0 retired—right ankle injury Tue
Roberta volleying a backhand, and Sara driving one
#42 q Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #43 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-3, 6-2 Mon
Patty about to swat a backhand, and Anabel driving one
#44 Elena Vesnina RUS d #85 q Tamira Paszek AUT 6-4, 6-4 Mon
*#48 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d #47 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-1, 0-6, 7-6(4) Mon
*#75 q Anastasia Rodionova AUS d #53 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 6-4, 6-4 Tue
Anastasia driving a forehand
*#64 wc Alberta Brianti ITA d #54 LL Jie Zheng CHN 6-4, 7-5 Tue
*#65 Iveta Benesova CZE d #55 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-2, 6-1 Mon
*#59 Vera Dushevina RUS d #56 Ayumi Morita JPN 6-3, 6-1 Mon
|
Rome, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed Wed WTA story
losers' prize: $10,575 US; points: 70
#1 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN v #75 q Anastasia Rodionova AUS Wed cC m5 eve2
Caroline about to swat a forehand, and Anastasia and Caro driving backhands
Anastasia has been ill, and had not fully recovered before the match. She managed to stay with Caroline to 2-2, then Caro won the last 10 games.
Caroline said: "It took me a while to get into my game but once I did, I played well the rest of the match. The first match of a tournament is always hard so I'm glad to have gotten through it today."
|
#4 s2 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #92 q Christina McHale USA 6-3, 6-1 Tue
Francesca serving, Christina about to swat a forehand, and Francesca driving one
#5 s3 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #40 Sara Errani ITA 6-1, 6-2 Wed
When Nadal, Djokovic or Federer are playing in Rome, press photos of simultaneous women's matches are often unobtainable. None were posted of this match.
About her next opponent, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Victoria said: "Anastasia's a tough opponent. We've never played on clay and it will be a great challenge. But I feel good. I'm so happy playing tennis—I think it shows in my performances on the court."
|
#6 s4 Na Li CHN d #48 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 6-4, 6-2 Wed
#7 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #32 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-0, 6-3 Wed
Jelena and Lucie driving forehands, and Jelena's backhand drive
Jelena had lost to Lucie last week in the 2nd round in Madrid. Jelena said: "[Lucie] played really well last week and I was expecting a tough match. I was prepared. I served well against her last week, but I wasn't able to break her even though I had a lot of chances. This time I managed to do that. I also didn't give away many free points. She gave me a lot of trouble in Madrid but this week I did better." WTA story
|
#8 s6 Samantha Stosur AUS d #65 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-1, 7-5 Wed
Iveta serving, and Samantha driving a backhand
#9 s7 Maria Sharapova RUS d #39 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 6-1, 6-1 Tue
Maria driving a forehand, and Ekaterina and Maria driving backhands
*#44 Elena Vesnina RUS d #11 s8 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 Wed
Elena struck 5 aces with 2 double faults while converting 7 of 15 break points she reached against Agnieszka and totaling 90 points in the match. Agnieszka, slowed by back pain, hit 3 aces with 1 DF while scoring on 4 of the 8 break points she reached against Elena, and totaling 74 points in the match.
Elena said: "Agnieszka is a very smart player, so this is a very good win for me. Both of us were going up and down throughout the match. It was quite hot out there, so it was hard to keep focused, but I did it."
|
*#42 q Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #12 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-3 Wed
#13 s10 Shahar Peer ISR d #25 Alisa Kleybanova RUS 6-3, 7-5 Wed
*#67 q Polona Hercog SLO d #15 s12 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-4, 6-3 Wed
Polona serving, Andrea driving a forehand, and Polona after winning a point
*#22 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #17 s13 Ana Ivanovic SRB 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 Wed
Yanina serving, and Ana driving a forehand on the run
Yanina said: "In the first set I wasn't playing badly, Ana was just more aggressive on the big points. I had some chances early on but didn't take them, but late in the second set I was the one playing more aggressive, serving a little better, moving into the court. It was harder for her to win points against me."
|
#21 s16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #59 Vera Dushevina RUS 7-5, 6-4 Wed
#31 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS d #41 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA 6-2, 6-4 Wed
#35 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #88 wc Romina Oprandi ITA 7-5, 6-1 Wed
#46 Greta Arn HUN d #64 wc Alberta Brianti ITA 6-4, 6-4 Wed
|
Rome, 3rd Round, Thu 11am WTA story
losers' prize: $20,550 US; points: 125
#1 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #22 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6-1, 7-6(4)
Caro driving a forehand, Yanina drivng a backhand, and Caroline serving
#4 s2 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #35 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Francesca and Daniela driving forehands, and Francesca following a backhand
#5 s3 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #21 s16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
#6 s4 Na Li CHN d #31 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS 6-2, 6-1
Jarmila and Na driving backhands
#7 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #42 q Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-4, 2-4
Jelena serving, and Anabel and Jelena driving forehand and backhand
Jelena said: "It was a great win for me today. [Anabel] is a great clay court player and was hitting the ball well, especially in that second set. I just fought from beginning to end and tried to stay as positive as I could. I managed to be a little stronger in the end and am happy I was able to pull the match out."
|
#8 s6 Samantha Stosur AUS d #67 q Polona Hercog SLO 6-3, 6-4
Polona following a forehand, and Samantha driving a backhand
Samantha said: "Everyone I'd heard talk about Polona said she's very talented and can do whatever she wants with the ball. Drop shot winner, forehand winner or error—I had to just worry about my own game and whenever an opportunity arose to get ahead, try and take it."
Samantha will play Italian #1 Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals on Friday. Samantha leads Francesca 5-3 in career matches, but Francesca won the last time that they met, on a hardcourt in this year's Fed Cup 1st round, 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-5. Francesca also won their most recent meeting on clay, last year in the final at Roland Garros, 6-4, 6-4.
Samantha said: "It'll be a big match here in Italy. It'll be the first time we've played on clay since the French Open—we've played on hardcourts a couple times since then. Obviously I'm expecting a tough one." WTA story
|
#9 s7 Maria Sharapova RUS d #13 s10 Shahar Peer ISR 6-2, 6-2
Maria serving, and Shahar and Maria driving forehand and backhand
Maria lost the first two game of the match—then won nine in a row. Maria said: "I had a little bit of a slow start. I was able to raise my level and find a good rhythm and play better as the match went on."
|
*#46 Greta Arn HUN d #44 Elena Vesnina RUS 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(3)
Elena tweeted: "Hi guys! Sorry for beeing quiet yesterday, Internet was down for the all day at the hotel. Tough match today,Greta is on fire, great fight! I didn't use my chances, but anyway good match, unfortunately pulled my back at the 2nd set, feeling pain. Going to withdraw from Strasbourg :( Thank you very guys for your messages and support! It's giving me positive spirit to move forward and improve my game! Love u!" Elena Vesnina at Twitter
|
|
Rome, QFs, Fri WTA story
losers' prize: $41,450 US; points: 225
#1 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #7 s5 Jelena Jankovic SRB 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
Caroline serving, Jelena and Caroline driving backhands, and Caro after winning a point
Caroline struck 1 ace with 1 double fault while scoring on 7 of the 15 break points she reached against Jelena and totaling 90 points in the match. Jelena hit 3 aces, but with 7 DFs, while converting 6 of the 11 break points she reached against Caroline, and totaling 91 points in the match.
Caroline said: "I knew it wasn't going to be an easy one, but I'm getting more comfortable on clay. You always prefer to win quickly and get off the court, but it doesn't matter if it's four hours or one hour—I'm just happy to get through...
"The first four times [we played Jelena] beat me, but some of them were three sets. The last three I've been fortunate enough to win, but it's getting tougher every time. We've been playing longer matches. We don't give away many free points so there are lots of long rallies."
|
*#8 s6 Samantha Stosur AUS d #4 s2 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-2, 6-4
Samantha serving, and Francesca and Sam driving forehand and backhand
Samantha said: "I think today was pretty close to the way I was playing last year. I played very well at the French Open last year and today I probably felt as close to that [as I have] since then. But [my next opponent] Li Na is having a good week. It's always going to be tough whenever you go on the court."
|
*#9 s7 Maria Sharapova RUS d #5 s3 Victoria Azarenka BLR 4-6, 3-0 retired—elbow injury
Maria serving, Victoria and Maria driving forehand and backhand, and Vika departing after retiring from the match
Victoria won a very close 1st set (Vika 39 points, Maria 37 points). Maria held service to open the 2nd set. Then Victoria hurt her right elbow and took an injury timeout, trailing 0-1, 15-40. When play resumed, Maria broke Vika's serve, and held her own again to take a 3-0 lead. When Victoria served the next point (which she won when Maria's return went long) she found the pain was too much, and she retired from the match.
During the match, Victoria made some remarks to herself that were picked up on TV, and some folks thought may have been directed toward Maria.
After seeing this on Twitter, Victoria tweeted: "Very sad and tough day for me. Very hard to retire like this. Said some things to myself on the match that I'm not proud of. But it was just being mad at myself. Will never refer anything to my opponent. I play with respect to every single player. I apologise if there was a misunderstanding of that situation.
"Thank u for the support and so many spectators. The atmosphere was great." Victoria Azarenka at Twitter
|
#6 s4 Na Li CHN d #46 Greta Arn HUN 6-3, 6-1
Na's service toss, Greta and Na driving forehands, and Na after match point
Na said: "I've never won a clay court tournament, so I'm glad to be in the semifinals for the second week in a row. My confidence is back and I'm happy to be playing my own game again."
|
|
Rome, SFs, Sat noon & 4pm+
loser's prize: $90,000 US; points: 395
*#9 s7 Maria Sharapova RUS d #1 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 7-5, 6-3
Caroline serving, Maria eyeing a backhand, Caro driving one, Maria reaching for a forehand, Maria serving, Caroline about to swat a forehand, Maria driving one, Maria after match point, and Caro congratulating Maria
It is Maria's first win over an opponent ranked #1 since she defeated Justine Henin in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open.
After Maria won the 1st set 7-5, Caroline broke Maria's serve to take a 2-0 lead in the 2nd set. Both players held serve, making Caro's lead 3-1. Then Maria took the last five games to win the match. Tennis.com story
Maria struck 36 winners (0 aces) with 27 unforced errors (3 double faults) while scoring on 7 of the 12 break points she reached against Caroline, and totaling 77 points in the match. Caro hit only 15 winners (0 aces) with 20 errors (0 DFs) while converting 4 of the 9 break points she reached against Maria, and scoring 61 points in the match.
Maria now leads Caroline 3-2 in career matches. Maria won their first two meetings; Caroline the third and fourth. Their most recent meeting was on a Plexipave hardcourt this year in the semifinals at Indian Wells, when Caro defeated Maria 6-1, 6-2. Their only previous meeting on clay was in 2008 in the 3rd round at Rome, when then #2 Maria defeated then #36 Caroline, 6-4, 7-6(3).
Maria will play Samantha Stosur in the Rome final on Sunday. Two of Maria's 22 WTA titles were won on clay courts. Maria said: "I’ve beaten [Samantha] in the past, but it’s the first time we’ll be playing on clay where she’s had her best success. Clay seems to suit her game...
"It’s easy to say I haven’t had my best results on clay, but at the end of the day there are many things that go into a tennis match. I’ve never said I don’t love clay. My legs weren’t as strong before as some other players on the circuit. I’m stronger physically now." Reuters story
|
*#8 s6 Samantha Stosur AUS d #6 s4 Na Li CHN 7-6(6), 6-0
Samantha serving, Na and Samantha driving backhand and forehand, and Sam after match point
Samantha failed to convert 4 set points on her serve in the 1st set, leading to the tiebreaker. Samantha said: "I turned it around. If you have a tight first set it can be a boost for the one who wins it and a disappointment to the one who loses it. It makes a big difference mentally." WTA story
|
|
Rome, Final, Sun 2pm+
loser's prize: $175,000 US; points: 620
winner's prize: $350,000 US; points: 900
*#9 s7 Maria Sharapova RUS d #8 s6 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-2, 6-4
Samantha serving, Maria following a backhand on the run, Sam about to slice a backhand, Maria driving one, Maria serving, Samantha driving a backhand, Maria driving a forehand, and after match point
|
Rome, Doubles Final, Sun noon
losers' prize: $51,550 US
winners' prize: $103,000 US
*Jie Zheng & Shuai Peng d cdr13 s3 Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3
Jie (14th WTA doubles title) and Shuai (7th), their first title as a team; Yaroslava & Vania, and Shuai and Jie offcourt after the match
2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles champion Jie said: "It's a big title for us and gives us lots of confidence going into the French. I didn't know it was my 25th doubles final, but that's really exciting. I try to treat every match the same and not worry about numbers." WTA story
It was Shuai's 4th Premier level doubles title. Shuai said: "We haven't been playing together very long but we've gotten to know each other and our games better this year, and we're really happy to win such a big title here in Rome. We'll be playing the French Open together, then Birmingham and Wimbledon, and we'll see what happens after that."
|
Rome, Qual Finals, Sun May 8 10am
losers' prizes: q1 $1,550 1pt; q2 $3,000 20pts; qualifier 30 points
#42 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP v #367 Karin Knapp ITA 6-4, 6-2
*#75 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d #54 Jie Zheng CHN 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
#67 Polona Hercog SLO d #119 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-1, 7-6(2)
#70 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP v #82 Laura Pous-Tio ESP 6-3, 7-5
*#83 Varvara Lepchenko USA d #71 Angelique Kerber GER 6-0, 4-6, 6-2
#79 Chanelle Scheepers RSA d #163 Madalina Gojnea ROU 7-5, 6-2
#85 Tamira Paszek AUT d #94 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
#92 Christina McHale USA v #122 Heather Watson GBR 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
Rome, Withdrawals
#2 Kim Clijsters BEL ankle injury
#10 Serena Williams USA injury & illness
#16 Venus Williams USA hip injury
#24 Aravane Rezai FRA illness
#27 Julia Goerges GER low back injury
#28 Dominika Cibulkova SVK left abdominal injury
#38 Anastasija Sevastova LAT illness
#50 Anna Chakvetadze RUS illness
#51 Timea Bacsinszky SUI left foot & ankle injury
#63 Alona Bondarenko UKR
|
Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the
: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.
