WTA Sep 29-Oct 7: Beijing

China Open, Beijing, CHN
PREMIER M $4,828,050 60m/32q/28d
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n1 Victoria Azarenka BLR
n2 Maria Sharapova RUS
n3 Agnieszka Radwanska POL
n5 Petra Kvitova CZE
n6 Angelique Kerber GER
n7 Sara Errani ITA
n8 Na Li CHN
n9 Samantha Stosur AUS
n10 Marion Bartoli FRA
n11 Caroline Wozniacki DEN
n12 Ana Ivanovic SRB

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Beijing:

#1 Victoria Azarenka
5'10" 132lb RH 2H-BH

Beijing:

#2 Maria Sharapova
6'2" 130lb RH 2H-BH

On Sunday in Beijing, in the final of the China Open, the 2012 Australian Open champion, 23 year old top seeded #1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), defeated the 2012 French Open champion, 25 year old 2nd seeded #2 (and former #1) Maria Sharapova of Russia (res: Manhattan Beach, CA & Bradenton, FL), 6-3, 6-1 (Maria is shown during the match; Vika is shown holding the hardware afterward).

Victoria's prize is $848,000; Maria's prize is 424,000.

Victoria struck no aces, with 4 double fautls, but scored on 5 of the 11 break points she reached against Maria. Maria hit 1 ace with 7 double faults, and converted only 1 of the 7 break points she reached against Vika.

Vika said: "I was doing the right things, making sure I didn't let Maria play the game she likes, always being in control and dominating. Of course it wasn't possible for me to do that every single point, but for the most part I was trying to keep up with her rhythm, and when I had the chance just try to step it up and be in control myself. I tried to take that opportunity and move forward." WTA story

Maria said: "Victoria played a really good match. She just did many things much better than I did. I felt like when I had the chance, in situations where I had opportunities to get back in the set or in the match, I was just making errors. They were little windows, but as small as they were, I just didn't take them. Against somebody who is No.1 in the world, you can't do that."

Victoria now leads Maria 7-4 in career matches. Their previous meeting was last month on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the semifinals of the US Open, when Victoria defeated Maria 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

2012 Australian Open champion Victoria is now 13-11 in WTA singles finals; she also won this year at Melbourne, Indian Wells, Doha and Sydney, and last year at Miami, Marbella and Luxembourg. Vika has a 62-8 singles match record in 2012.

2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, 2008 Australian Open and 2012 French Open champion Maria is now 27-18 in WTA singles finals; she won this year at Roland Garros, Stuttgart and Rome, and last year at Rome and Cincinnati. Maria's singles match record this season is 56-10.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Beijing

s=seed, n=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser
ranks are for the previous week
How do players get into the "draw"?

China Open, Beijing, China

tourney time:

= GMT +8 hours
= US EDT +12 hours
= US PDT +15 hours

Beijing News - China News

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Beijing: The main draw for Beijing has 16 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes.
There are 8 qualifiers in the main draw.
Qualifying (2 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Saturday.

click for broader view National Tennis Center, Beijing
Latitude: 40.019398 Longitude: 116.37162 goto link for World Wind

2009 was the first year that the China Open was held at the National Tennis Center, which was built for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The National Tennis Center (formerly known as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Green Tennis Courts) is located at the northwest corner of the primary 2008 Olympics venue, on the south side of Beijing's 5th ring road. The address is No. 2 Lin Cui Road, in the Chao Yang section of Beijing.

2012: On Monday, October 1, young ladies looking darned good at the Beijing player party included Urszula Radwanska, Andrea Petkovic, Sania Mirza, Victoria Azarenka, and 2011 tourney champ Agniezka Radwanska... On Tuesday, players doing autograph duty at sponsor booths included Zhang Shuai and 2005 Beijing champ Maria Kirilenko...

Beijing, 1st Rd, Sat-Mon 12:30pm Sun WTA story - Mon WTA story
losers' prize: $12,925 US; points: 5
n1 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d n45 Alize Cornet FRA 6-1, 6-0 Mon

Vika following a flying forehand

Victoria said: "I know [Alize is] a good grinder, and she'll make you move and try to hit a lot of shots. And she has two different sides where she hits. I felt I was constructing the points well and finding my opportunities to be aggressive and step in. I feel like I executed really well and didn't let her change my game."

n2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d n49 Simona Halep ROU 7-5, 7-5 Mon

Maria's forehand drive

Maria said: "Certainly the scoreline was quite difficult, but I was up in those two sets and let [Simona] get back into it. I put myself in a position in both sets, going up a break, and it wasn't the best thing to let her back in. But the good thing was I regained my focus and won that match, no matter how well she was playing and coming back. At the end of the day I'm happy I won in two sets."

n5 s4 Petra Kvitova CZE d n33 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-2, 6-3 Sat
*n95 q Camila Giorgi ITA d n7 s6 Sara Errani ITA 5-4 retired —left thigh injury Sun

Camila's backhand drive

n8 s7 Na Li CHN d n37 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-2, 6-3 Sun

Na driving a backhand

Na lost to Seoul champion Caroline Wozniacki last week in the 3rd round at Tokyo.

Na said: "After I lost in Tokyo last week, me and my team sat down. Of course we weren't blaming each other for that performance, but we all worked on spotting the problems. My coach Carlos [Rodriguez, formerly coach of Justine Henin] has been helping me fix certain things on the court and I was really fighting to win my first match tonight."

n10 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA d n56 q Bojana Jovanovski SRB 6-3, 6-3 Sun
n11 s10 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d n53 Chanelle Scheepers RSA 7-5, 6(6)-7, 6-2 Mon

Caro driving a forehand

Caroline said: "I had a few match points in the second set and would have liked to win them, but I just had to stay calm and keep fighting for every point in the third set. In that last set I guess I maybe had a little bit more energy left and more belief. The most important thing is I won and I'm happy to be through."

n12 s11 Ana Ivanovic SRB d n28 Christina Mchale USA 6-3, 6-2

Ana after match point

Ana lost only 11 points in the 9 games she served. Ana said: "The first thing I said to my coach was I thought that was the best service game I've ever had. I wouldn't complain if I served like that more often. The last match I played in Tokyo I served terribly. It was probably the worst I've served in a very long time, so I was really determined to do better today. I took more time and focused on that because I knew I could serve well, and that I'd done it in practice. I was really focused on serving well, and I'm very pleased." WTA story

*n35 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d n13 s12 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-4, 4-1 retired Sat
*n22 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d n14 s13 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-3, 6-3 Sun
*n67 q Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d n16 s15 R Vinci ITA 6(4)-7, 7-6(4), 6-2 Sun
*n47 Monica Niculescu ROU d n17 s16 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 6-0 Sun
n20 Varvara Lepchenko USA d n44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 7-5, 6-4 Sat

Varvara serving

n21 Julia Goerges GER d n59 Vania King USA 6(9)-7, 7-5, 6-2 Sun
n24 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n62 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-2, 6-4 Sun

Jelena after match point

Jelena said: "It's unfortunate we had to play against each other in the first round. She's a good friend of mine and we are playing doubles with each other too. Andrea is coming back from an injury [torn ankle ligaments] and she's a great player. I'm sure she will be playing great again soon. I just wish her the best of luck."

About her 2nd round opponent, Monica Niculescu, Jelena said: "[Monica is] a tricky opponent. She has a different style of game from the other girls. She plays a lot of slices and drop shots, and it's going to be a tough match, but I want to focus on my tennis and what I do on the court, what I do best, and go for my shots and control the points."

*n90 q Polona Hercog SLO d n25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 5-7, 6-4, 3-0 retired Mon
*n46 Shuai Peng CHN d n26 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 7-5, 7-5 Sun

Shuai serving

*n88 q Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino ESP d n27 Jie Zheng CHN 6-2, 6-4 Mon

Jie serving, and Lara fielding a forehand

2012 Auckland champion Jie is still working to qualify for this year's Tournament of Champions. Jie said: "I really want to go to the tournament in Sofia, so now I'm going to Osaka and then I need to go to Luxembourg too. It's my results there that will decide whether I can qualify for Sofia. Hopefully I can make it there."

n30 Sabine Lisicki GER d n40 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 Mon

Sabine after match point

n31 Sorana Cirstea ROU d n42 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 6-2, 6-3 Mon

Sorana following a backhand

n32 Tamira Paszek AUT d n54 LL Olga Govortsova BLR 7-5, 0-6, 7-6(6) Sat
*n74 q Elena Vesnina RUS d n34 Mona Barthel GER 6-1, 6-1 Sun
*n64 Romina Oprandi SUI d n36 Urszula Radwanska POL 7-5, 6-2 Sat
n39 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE d n146 wc Saisai Zheng CHN 6-2, 6-3 Sat
n48 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d n217 sr Timea Bacsinszky SUI 6-4, 6-1 Sat
n57 q Laura Robson GBR d n107 wc Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN 6-4, 6-4 Sun
n79 q Ayumi Morita JPN d n108 wc Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor ESP 6-3, 6-0 Sun
n144 wc Shuai Zhang CHN d n182 wc Qiang Wang CHN 6-3, 6-2 Sat

Beijing, 2nd Rd, Mon-Wed 12:30pm Tue WTA story - Wed WTA story
losers' prize: $21,815 US; points: 80
Tokyo semifinalists received 1st round byes
n1 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d n30 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-4, 6-2 Tue

Vika driving a forehand

Victoria said: "Sabine is a very dangerous opponent, so it was important to try to be focused right from the beginning and not let her get into the game. She's the kind of player who doesn't give you rhythm and likes to take control, so I had to take control myself. I felt like I was maintaining a very high level."

n2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d n31 Sorana Cirstea ROU 6-2, 6-2 Wed

Sorana reaching for a backhand, and Maria ready to swat a forehand

Maria said: "I had never played Sorana before, but she has beaten top players and is one of those players who can come out and just have a great day. She hits really flat and hard, so I tried to play aggressively and take her time away. I'm happy I played a shorter match than I did in the first round."

n3 s3 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d n144 wc Shuai Zhang CHN 6-2, 6-3 Tue

Shuai and Aga driving forehand and backhand

Agnieszka said: "I'm very happy I could come back in the second set and close that match in straight sets, because every match is tough and here you are playing almost every day. [Shuai is] a very talented player, moving and hitting the ball very well. If she works hard for sure she can be a top player."

*n48 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d n5 s4 Petra Kvitova CZE 6-3, 6-2 Mon
n6 s5 Angelique Kerber GER d n88 q Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino ESP 6-2, 6-0 Tue

Angelique's forehand drive

n8 s7 Na Li CHN d n18 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-1, 6-2 Tue

Na driving a backhand

It was Na's first win over Nadia in seven meetings. Na said: "That's the charm of tennis, that every day you can take on new challenges. You can lose to someone a lot of times, but that doesn't mean it's the end. You never know what will happen. I'm very happy to see I've made progress in this match-up." WTA story

2012 Tokyo champion Nadia said: "It was a tough draw to play Li Na at home... I had a slight injury in my leg. So today was pretty difficult. She played very fast and moved me around, and after a couple of games I started feeling my leg worse and worse, and I couldn't really move to the sides or corners well. I couldn't adjust well, and just felt a little bit slow today."

*n21 Julia Goerges GER d n9 s8 Samantha Stosur AUS 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5 Tue

Julia driving a forehand

Julia said: "I knew I had to be aggressive against Sam. If you stay aggressive you will get your chances, but you have to play for it every point. I'm pretty pleased with my performance so far this week and hopefully I can keep it up."

n10 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA d n79 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-4, 6-3 Tue

2-handed forehands: Ayumi with "kosher cricket" grip; Marion with "reverse Polish notation" grip

n11 s10 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d n39 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6(5)-7, 7-6(3), 6-0 Tue
n12 s11 Ana Ivanovic SRB d n20 Varvara Lepchenko USA 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Mon

Ana watching her backhand fly

*n90 q Polona Hercog SLO d n22 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(3) Wed
n24 Jelena Jankovic SRB d n47 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-2, 6-1 Tue

Jelena's forehand drive

n74 q Elena Vesnina RUS d n32 Tamira Paszek AUT 7-6(5), 6-2 Mon
*n46 Shuai Peng CHN d n35 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 Mon

Shuai's backhand drive

*n67 q Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d n57 q Laura Robson GBR 7-5, 6-3 Tue
n64 Romina Oprandi SUI d n95 q Camila Giorgi ITA 7-5, 6-2 Tue

Beijing, 3rd Rd, Wed-Thu 12:30pm WTA story
losers' prize: $40,700 US; points: 140
n1 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d n74 q Elena Vesnina RUS 6-3, 6-3 Thu

Victoria serving, Elena launching a forehand on the run, and Vika driving one

Victoria said: "I didn't expect [Elena] to be that aggressive. She's always trying to take control, but she was really going for every shot. She was pretty successful. I have to say it was quite challenging in a few rallies to turn it around and be aggressive, be demanding, be controlling. It was a challenge for sure... when I won that last point, I was relieved to finish in two sets."

n2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d n90 q Polona Hercog SLO 6-0, 6-2 Thu

Maria serving

Maria won the first eight games of the match, then Polona won two, then Maria won the last four. Maria said: "I had a long first round match, but today and yesterday were definitely a little bit quicker. I played really well in the beginning and got a bit tense in the second set, but I felt like I really needed that challenge."

n3 s3 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d n67 q Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 Wed

Agnieszka's forehand drive

n6 s5 Angelique Kerber GER d n11 s10 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 Thu

Angelique's backhand drive

The win made Angelique, who has clinched a place in the year end championships at Istanbul, the first player in the WTA to win 60 matches this season.

Angelique said: "I played very well in the first set. In the second set she was playing better and not making so many mistakes. She really deserved to win the second set. Then in the third I tried to focus on me, tried to stay aggressive and move well. I'm very happy I won a very tough match against Caroline." WTA story

n8 s7 Na Li CHN d n46 Shuai Peng CHN 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) Thu

Na and Shuai driving forehand and backhand, and Na fielding another forehand on the run

n10 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA d n21 Julia Goerges GER 6-3, 7-6(2) Wed

Marion driving a backhand

*n64 Romina Oprandi SUI d n12 s11 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-4, 6-3 Wed

Romina said: "It's for sure one of my best wins. You never know what to expect from Ana. Sometimes she'll hit amazing winners, but then she might miss two or three shots in a row. I just tried to keep playing my game, and to be in the quarterfinals of a tournament like this is really nice for me."

Ana said: "Romina's a tricky opponent. She has really good hands and is a very talented girl. I really struggled to find my rhythm out there, especially on the forehand. The ball wasn't coming with much pace and I wasn't really efficient in moving forward and taking advantage of that. I always felt I was lacking a little step here and there, and I wasn't adjusting very well. I'd seen her play before and expected that, and I got to pretty much all of the shots, but it was the unforced errors that made a big difference today."

*n48 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d n24 Jelena Jankovic SRB 7-5, 6-4 Wed

Carla said: "Jelena is always difficult to play, but I played well. She always fights a lot, but I'm happy to have finished it off. I'm very happy to be in the next round and look forward to playing again out there on Friday."

Beijing, QFs, Fri 12:30pm WTA story
losers' prize: $81,400 US; points: 250
n1 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d n64 Romina Oprandi SUI 6-2, 6-0

Victoria launching a forehand

Victoria has lost three of her last five matches against her semifinal opponent, Marion Bartoli, Vika said: "I think [Marion is] an excellent player. She's very, very different from anybody else, unique I would say. I always feel she brings out her best game against top players. I definitely need to step up my game tomorrow."

n2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d n6 s5 Angelique Kerber GER 6-0, 3-0 retired—right foot injury

Angelique and Maria driving backhand and forehand

Maria leads her semifinal opponent, Na Li, 7-4 in career matches. Maria said: "We have always had really difficult matches. And before I won the last two, she got me a couple of times. We have been back and forth with our results. But she's a Grand Slam champion and has been top 10 for a long time. There's no reason why it shouldn't be a good match tomorrow."

*n8 s7 Na Li CHN d n3 s3 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-4, 6-2

Agnieszka following a forehand, and Na fielding a backhand

Na said: "I'm very satisfied with my performance here this year. After last year, when I didn't play really well here and lost early, me and my team went back and made some adjustements and I'm playing at a high level this time."

The win clinched a place for Na in this year's year end WTA Championships at Istanbul.

n10 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA d n48 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-0, 2-6, 6-4

Beijing, SFs, Sat 12:30pm WTA story
losers' prize: $185,290 US; points: 450
n1 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d n10 s9 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-2

Victoria driving a backhand, Marion launching a forehand on the run, and Vika following a forehand

About playing Maria Sharapova in the final, Vika said: "We had an excellent match at the US Open... Anything can happen in a final. Maria's an excellent player and a huge fighter as well. We all know that. To have somebody like Maria in the final is a privilege."

n2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d n8 s7 Na Li CHN 6-4, 6-0

Maria driving a forehand, Na running one down, and Maria driving a backhand

Maria said: "It was a really high quality first set with a few ups and downs, and obviously she had the lead in that set, but I came back. There were a few key moments to that set, and after I broke her in the last game, it was important to take that momentum into the second set and keep going."

Na said: "Today I tried my best on the court, but Maria was just better than me. Now I'm looking forward to the WTA Championships and also to next year."

Beijing, Final, Sun 7:30pm
loser's prize: $424,000 US; points: 700
winner's prize: $848,000 US; points: 1000
n1 s1 Victoria Azarenka BLR d n2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-3, 6-1

Victoria following a forehand, Maria running one down, and Vika driving a backhand

Beijing, Doubles Final, Saturday
losers' prize: $145,446 US
winners' prize: $290,800 US
s3 Elena Vesnina & Ekaterina Makarova d s5 Nuria Llagostera Vives & Sania Mirza 7-5, 7-5

Elena and Ekaterina

Beijing, Qual Finals, Sat Sep 29 11am
losers' prizes: q1 $1,475 1pt; q2 $2,854 20pts; qualifier 30 points
*n74 Elena Vesnina RUS d n54 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-2, 6-4
n56 Bojana Jovanovski SRB d n85 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
n57 Laura Robson GBR d n84 Johanna Larsson SWE 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
n67 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d n76 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-2, 6-4
*n95 Camila Giorgi ITA d n78 Heather Watson GBR 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
n79 Ayumi Morita JPN d n104 Olga Puchkova RUS 6-3, 6-3
n88 Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino ESP d n119 Vera Dushevina RUS 7-5, 7-5
n90 Polona Hercog SLO d n101 Greta Arn HUN 6-3, 3-6, 6-0

Beijing, Withdrawals
n4 Serena Williams USA illness
n15 s14 Kaia Kanepi EST right heel injury
n19 Vera Zvonareva RUS illness
n23 Flavia Pennetta ITA right wrist injury
n29 Klara Zakopalova CZE left wrist injury?
n38 Sloane Stephens USA left abdominal injury
n41 Venus Williams USA back injury
n50 Petra Cetkovska CZE right ankle injury
n55 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS knee injury
n43 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN right shoulder injury
n69 Marina Erakovic NZL

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2012 Beijing WTA Singles Results

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WTA Sep 29-Oct 7: Beijing