WTA Jan 7-13 Medibank Int'l, Sydney, AUS Int'l Tennis Ctr, Olympic Park Tier II $600,000 28 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP - notes pics: Yahoo - tourney - WTA Sydney: radar - forecast - map # 1 J Henin, # 2 S Kuznetsova # 3 J Jankovic, # 4 A Ivanovic Moorilla Int'l, Hobart, Tasmania, AUS Tier IV $170,000 32 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores - in popup window WTA pdf.: draws & OOP pics: WTA   tourney: gallery - news Hobart: radar - forecast - map # 21 A Bondarenko, # 22 V Zvonareva # 26 A Radwanska, # 30 V Azarenka

Sydney-Hobart: 2007   Sydney-Canberra-Hobart: 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Sydney: #1 Justine Henin 5' 5¾" 126lb RH 1H-BH Sydney: 40th WTA Singles Title Hobart: #42 Eleni Daniilidou & #22 Vera Zvonareva

    On Friday in Sydney, in the final of the Medibank International, 25-year-old top-seeded # 1 Justine Henin of Belgium (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), narrowly defeated 22-year-old 2nd-seeded # 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (who, like Justine, resides in Monte Carlo), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 (Justine is shown during the match, and with the glassware afterward).
    Svetlana took a 3-0 lead in the third set, and held a break point against Justine to go ahead 4-0. But Justine held serve, and won the next two games as well to even the match. After Svetlana held serve to make the score 4-3, Justine won the next three games to end the match.

    Justine said: "Sveta played a great match, I thought. She was really intense and aggressive, didn't make many mistakes, and really pushed me to the limits tonight. That's the kind of match I really needed before the Open. It's good to see that I could deal with the nerves tonight because I was in a pretty bad situation in the third set. I remained calm and played my best when I was under the most pressure." WTA story

    Svetlana said: "[Justine] pushed me to make mistakes, it's not like I just missed. Maybe I had chances and sometimes I should've been more aggressive, but she definitely played better in the important moments."

    Justine now leads Sveta 16-2 in career matches, and Justine won their previous encounter, the final of last year's US Open, 6-1, 6-3.

    6-time Grand Slam tourney champ Justine is now 40-16 in WTA singles finals, and won eleven of her titles in the past year, including the French Open and US Open. Justine has not lost a match since the 2007 Wimbledon semifinals; she has won 28 straight.
    2004 US Open champ Svetlana is now 9-13 in WTA singles finals; she reached 6 finals in the past year, and won the Pilot Pen title in New Haven.

    In Hobart, Tasmania, on Friday, the singles final of the Morilla International was not played, and 25-year-old unseeded # 42 Eleni Daniilidou from Thessaloniki, Greece, won the title in a walkover, because 2nd-seeded 23-year-old # 22 Vera Zvonareva from Moscow, Russia, injured her left ankle while practicing before the match (both ladies are shown after the award ceremony).

    Vera, who rolled over her ankle while practicing earlier in the day, will proceed to Melbourne and have an MRI scan to find out if she is fit for the Australian Open. Vera said: "I could barely walk; it was painful right away and I thought, 'Oh my God, I have to pack my bags and go home. I have no expectations at the moment about the Australian. Hopefully it's not as bad as it looks right now." WTA story

    Eleni recorded wins over top-seeded # 21 Alona Bondarenko and # 39 Flavia Pennetta on her way to the final. Eleni said: It's very special, that's for sure. But I feel very sorry for Vera, as she has had a great week."

    Eleni, whose career-high ranking was # 14 in 2003 (and who has been held back by wrist and thumb injuries) is now 5-1 in WTA singles finals. Vera, whose career-high singles ranking was # 9 in 2004 (she has been slowed by a left wrist injury since then) is 5-5 in previous WTA singles finals.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Sydney & Hobart s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Medibank International,  Sydney, New South Wales, Australia       The time in Sydney is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) +11 hours (Pacific Time+19, often=the next day, 5 hours earlier; ET+16). Australia news Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Sydney: The main draw for Sydney has 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.     click for broader view Int'l Tennis Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, AUS Latitude: -33.854985 Longitude: 151.072665 goto link for World Wind Olympic Park map, .pdf - Sydney Map 2008: On Sunday in Sydney, top seeds Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Jelena Jankovic served comments to a variety of acoustic-electronic transducers and recording devices... 2008: On Tuesday, Dinara Safina helpfully offered to autograph the photograper's lens... At Sydney Wildlife World after their QF wins on Wednesday, Svetlana refused to buy the line about snakes being clean, and Ana Ivanovic fed the wombat...

Sydney, 1st Rd, Sun noon-Mon 11am losers' prize: $3,950 US; points: 1 *#27 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #6 s5 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 7-5, 6-1 Mon Katarina, who formerly batted with a Babolat, has joined the legions of Prince O 3 swingers this year; her new stick is the O 3 Speedport Black (100 sq. in.), which looks similar to the White models, but only has white on the inside #9 s6 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #15 Dinara Safina RUS 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 Mon Battle of Monte Carlo I: Monaco residents Daniela and Dinara driving forehands, and Daniela after match point #10 s7 Marion Bartoli FRA d #50 LL Karin Knapp ITA 6-1, 6-0 Mon Karin driving a forehand, and Marion following a backhand *#98 q Sofia Arvidsson SWE d #11 s8 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-1, 7-5 Mon Elena asking who hit that error that just cost her a point, and Sofia driving a backhand #12 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #76 q Camille Pin FRA 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 Mon Nicole driving a forehand, and Camille's backhand #13 Tatiana Golovin FRA d #80 LL Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-2, 6-3 Mon *#19 Sybille Bammer AUT d #14 wc Nadia Petrova RUS 7-5, 6-3 Sun Sybille's forehand drive, and Nadia's backhand #17 Shahar Peer ISR s #123 q Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-3, 6-2 Mon #23 Lucie Safarova CZE d #56 wc Alicia Molik AUS 7-6(2), 7-6(10) Sun Lucie driving a forehand #24 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #79 q Jill Craybas USA 6-4, 6-4 Mon #28 Virginie Razzano FRA d #70 wc Nicole Pratt AUS 6-2, 6-1 Sun Virginie about to swat a backhand *#75 q Kaia Kanepi EST d #51 q Dominika Cibulkova SVK 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) Mon

Sydney, 2nd Rd, Tue 11am WTA story losers' prize: $7,470 US; points: 35 #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #23 Lucie Safarova CZE walkover--right gluteal muscle strain #2 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #17 Shahar Peer ISR 6-3, 6-4 Sveta and Shahar driving backhands #3 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #13 Tatiana Golovin FRA 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 Tatiana's forehand, Jelena's backhand, and Jelena after match point... The stick Jelena hit the ball with at the end of last year was a Prince Ozone Seven; now she is swatting with a new Prince O³ Speedport Pro White MP #4 s4 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #28 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 Virginie and Ana fielding backhands, and Ana after match point... Ana, who belted with the Wilson nBlade battoir last year, and an all-black racquet last week in Hong Kong, today was seen swinging the new Yonex RQ iS 1 Tour     Ana said: "It was a tough match and [Virginie] was playing really well. In the second set I let her dictate too much, but in the third set I felt I raised my game when I had to. I had my back against the wall and I was just trying to focus on holding my serve and then look for any opportunity to break her. I felt she was also a little bit nervous and luckily I got my opportunity and took it." *#12 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #9 s6 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-4, 6-2 Daniela driving a forehand, Nicole following a backhand, and after match point... Nicole, who previously chopped with the Yonex RDS 003 and RDX 300 models, is now wielding the new Yonex RQ iS 2 Tour *#24 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #10 s7 Marion Bartoli FRA 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 Marion's two-handed forehand (with the backhand grip she uses on both sides), and Francesca's one-handed backhand *#27 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #19 Sybille Bammer AUT 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 #75 q Kaia Kanepi EST d #98 q Sofia Arvidsson SWE 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Sydney, QFs, Wed 11am WTA story losers' prize: $14,130 US; points: 70 #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #75 q Kaia Kanepi EST 6-2, 6-0 Justine following a twist serve, Kaia's forehand drive, Justine about to swat one, and after match point... Justine has finally cast aside her old Wilson nCode nTour 2 in favor of the newer Wilson K Factor KSix-One     Justine said: "It was a good start and I'm happy with the way I played today. It's never easy the first match of the season, you have to forget about the last season and really get focused on now and that's another kind of pressure. I felt good on the court and I felt the surface pretty good and now I'm just looking forward to my match against Ana [Ivanovic], which will be a tough one." #2 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #24 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-4, 6-0 Svetlana driving a forehand, and Francesca's backhand     Svetlana said: "I feel like I played well. I'm playing a little bit differently than last year and I improved some things in pre-season and I tried to use them here in Sydney. I think I'm also more analytical and thinking what I'm doing during the game and hopefully this will benefit me this year." *#12 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #3 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Jelena's forehand drive, Nicole driving a backhand, and after winning a point #4 s4 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #27 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Katarina driving a forehand, Ana about to swat a backhand, and after winning a point

Sydney, SFs, Thu 11am WTA story losers' prize: $26,700 US; points: 125 #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #4 s4 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Ana's forehand drive, Justine following a backhand, and driving one     Justine said: "It's important to have this kind of match, because I really needed to get a close match before the [Australian] Open. I'm glad I'm in the final so I can play one more match and that's perfect preparation for me. With the wind the conditions on court were quite difficult so my game had a few ups and downs, but she played a very consistent match and I'm just happy to come through." #2 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #12 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 7-5, 7-6(4) Svetlana driving a forehand, Nicole's backhand, and Nicole congratulating Svetlana after match point     About playing # 1 Justine Henin in the final, Svetlana said: "We've had a few close matches in the past. She's going to go in as the favorite and that's fine with me, but I have beaten her in the past and I have another opportunity to do so tomorrow. I'm just going to go there and play my game, just to play every ball. She's No.1 but she's not perfect, you know, so I'm going to have chances."

Sydney, Final, Fri 7:30pm loser's prize: $50,500 US; points: 190 winner's prize: $95,500 US; points: 275 #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #2 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Battle of Monte Carlo II: Justine serving, Sveta driving a backhand, Justine reaching for one, Sveta's forehand drive, Justine fielding a forehand, Sveta saying "missed it by that much," Justine after match point, and Svetlana congratulating Justine

Sydney, Doubles Final, Fri after singles losers' prize: $15,900 US winners' prize: $30,000 US cdr36 Zi Yan & Jie Zheng d cdr99 Tatiana Perebiynis & Tatiana Poutchek 6-4, 7-6(5) Jie and Zi have won 11 WTA doubles titles together, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006, but this was their first since Jie injured her left ankle in early 2007 Sydney, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 6 10am losers' prizes: q1 $640 1pt; q2 $1,195 3pts; q3 $2,230 10pts; qualifier 15 points *#75 Kaia Kanepi EST d #50 Karin Knapp ITA 3-6, 6-3, 3-3 retired--heat illness #51 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d #95 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 *#123 Yuliana Fedak UKR d #68 Nathalie Dechy FRA 5-2 retired--left quad strain #76 Camille Pin FRA d #113 Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA 6-4, 6-1 #79 Jill Craybas USA d #97 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 *#98 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d #80 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-0, 4-0 retired--heat illness Sydney, Withdrawals #18 Amelie Mauresmo FRA right adductor strain #29 Na Li CHN right knee #68 LL Nathalie Dechy FRA left quad strain

Morilla International,  Hobart, Tasmania, Australia       The time in Hobart is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) +11 hours (Pacific Time+19, often=the next day, 5 hours earlier; ET+16). Australia news Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast     Hobart: The main draw for Hobart has 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes.     There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.     Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.     click for broader view Hobart, Tasmania, AUS Latitude: -42.873719 Longitude: 147.32908 goto link for World Wind Hobart Map 2008: The Hobart player party on Sunday took the form of a cruise; among those attending were Angelique Kerber, Urszula Radwanska, and Agnieszka Radwanska... the photog on board might be suspected of Polish inclinations, posting additional images of Poles Urszula and Klaudia Jans, and Urszula & Agnieszka again with their fellow Pole Alicja Rosolska...

Hobart, 1st Rd, Sun 10am, Mon 10:30 & 11am losers' prize: $1,165 US; points: 1 #21 s1 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #379 wc Jessica Moore AUS 7-5, 6-2 Mon #22 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #83 sr Olga Poutchkova RUS 6-3, 6-0 Mon *#39 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #26 s4 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 Mon Happy Flavia hitting balls to the crowd after the match *#48 Olga Govortsova BLR d #30 s5 Victoria Azarenka BLR 1-3 retired--right abductor injury Mon #31 s6 Sania Mirza IND d #71 q Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 6-4, 6-0 Mon *#86 wc Casey Dellacqua AUS d #34 s8 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 5-4 retired--low back Sun *#145 sr Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP d #37 s9 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-3, 2-1 retired--left hip injury Mon #42 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #57 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-3, 6-4 Sun *#47 Meilen Tu USA d #43 Emilie Loit FRA 4-6 6-1 6-4 Mon *#144 Anna Lapushchenkova RUS d #44 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-3, 6-4 Mon *#59 Iona Raluca Olaru ROU d #45 Shuai Peng CHN 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 Mon *#54 Elena Vesnina RUS d #49 Akiko Morigami JPN 6-4, 7-5 Sun *#NR q Jelena Dokic AUS d #53 Martina Muller GER 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 Mon Jelena lining up a forehand     Jelena said: "I really fought hard from two-love down in the third and I think I played some really good tennis to come back and win the big points in the third [set]. I think I played well." tourney story #67 q Ashley Harkleroad USA d #84 LL Yaroslava Shvedova RUS 6-4, 6-3 Mon #77 LL Alla Kudryavtseva RUS d #158 wc Monique Adamczak AUS 6-3, 6-2 Mon #85 q Edina Gallovits ROU d #153 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-2, 6-3 Mon

Hobart, 2nd Rd, Tue 10:30am losers' prize: $2,165 US; points: 15 *#42 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #21 s1 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-3, 6-3 #22 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #59 Iona Raluca Olaru ROU 6-3, 6-2 Iona serving, and Vera following a forehand #31 s6 Sania Mirza IND d #77 LL Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-3, 6-4 #39 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #NR q Jelena Dokic AUS 50 retired--right ankle injury     In qualifying and the 1st round, Jelena won four straight matches for the first time since 2005 in Rabat, and in Hobart she was been playing against stronger opposition. It appeared that Jelena was playing her best tennis since October 2003, when she defeated Kim Clijsters (ranked # 1 at the time), Daniela Hantuchova, and Patty Schnyder.     Jelena sprained the ankle during her qualifying final, and the injury grew worse during her 1st round win over Martina Muller. Jelena said: "I had a good run here and I felt like I was playing well, but against someone like [Flavia] you need to be able move so much more... It’s not something that’s really serious, so hopefully it will settle down."     Jelena, who has been offered a wild card into Australian Open qualifying, said it is "maybe doubtful" she will be able to play. Jelena also said: "I’ll have to make a really hard decision on Thursday morning." tourney story     (Jan 11, 2008) Unranked former WTA # 4 Jelena Dokic defeated # 110 Marina Erakovic, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday in Aussie Open qualifying. But in the 2nd round on Friday, possibly still slowed by a sprained right ankle, Jelena was defeated by # 117 Tammy Tanasugarn of Thailand, 6-2, 6-1. *#67 q Ashley Harkleroad USA d #47 Meilen Tu USA 7-6(9), 2-6, 6-1 *#85 q Edina Gallovits ROU d #48 Olga Govortsova BLR 6-3, 6-2 #54 Elena Vesnina RUS d #145 sr Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-3, 6-2 #86 wc Casey Dellacqua AUS d #144 Anna Lapushchenkova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Hobart, QFs, Wed 11am Tennis Australia story losers' prize: $4,015 US; points: 30 #22 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #54 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-3, 6-3 Vera following a forehand, and Elena serving *#39 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #31 s6 Sania Mirza IND 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 m2 Flavia after match point #42 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #86 wc Casey Dellacqua AUS 6-4, 7-5 #67 q Ashley Harkleroad USA d #85 q Edina Gallovits ROU 6-4, 6-4 Ashley following a backhand, and hitting balls to the crowd after match point

Hobart, SFs, Thu noon tourney story losers' prize: $7,450 US; points: 50 #22 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #67 q Ashley Harkleroad USA 6-2, 6-1 *#42 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #39 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-4, 6-3 Eleni on Thursday     Eleni said: "It’s been a great week and I’m really pleased to be into the final. The body is perfect and the mind is perfect so I just go out today and the next match for the doubles and try to enjoy the moment. It’s great to have a great beginning of the year, it gives [me] a lot of confidence for the rest of the year."

Hobart, Final, Fri 7:30pm loser's prize: $13,825 US; points: 80 winner's prize: $25,650 US; points: 115 #42 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #22 s2 Vera Zvonareva RUS walkover--left ankle injury

Hobart, Doubles Final, Fri after singles losers' prize: $4,050 US winners' prize: $7,530 US cdr55 s2 Anabel Medina Garrigues & Virginia Ruano Pascual d cdr111 Eleni Daniilidou & Jasmin Woehr 6-2, 6-4 It was "Vivi" and Anabel's 2nd WTA doubles titles together; Vivi has won 39 WTA doubles titles (and 3 singles) in all, most of them with now-retired Paola Suarez from Argentina, including 8 Grand Slam tourney titles; Anabel has won a total of 9 WTA doubles titles (and 7 singles) Hobart, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 6 10am losers' prizes: q1 $185 1pt; q2 $340 2pts; q3 $630 3pts; qualifier 7 points #67 Ashley Harkleroad USA d #108 Sorana Cirstea ROU 7-6(6), 7-6(7) #71 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d #77 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 7-5, 7-6(6) *#NR wc Jelena Dokic AUS d #84 Yaroslava Shvedova RUS 6-2, 6-3 #85 Edina Gallovits ROU d #87 Maria Emilia Salerni ARG 6-3, 6-2 Hobart, Withdrawals #25 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS left knee #32 s7 Julia Vakulenko UKR right wrist #33 Michaella Krajicek NED #35 Mara Santangelo ITA #52 Meghann Shaughnessy USA left knee #143 Marta Domachowska POL

    (Jan 6, 2008) Former WTA # 4 Jelena Dokic, granted a wild card into Hobart qualifying, has reached the main draw. Jelena defeated Evgenia Linetskaya in the 1st qualifying round, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, # 65 Yvonne Meusburger in the 2nd, 6-3, 6-2, and # 84 Yaroslava Shvedova in a qualifying final on Sunday, 6-2, 6-3. The win over Yvonne was Jelena's biggest win (by ranking) since she defeated then # 48 Kristina Brandi in the 3rd round in Miami in March, 2004.
    Tennis Australia officials have indicated that Jelena has a good chance to receive a wild card for the Australian Open main draw. But if she is not still busy in Hobart, Jelena has said she would prefer to play through Australian Open qualifying, which begins later this week.

    (May 30, 2007) The Rebound Ace courts used since 1988 for the Australian Open and the events leading up to it will be replaced, beginning in 2008, by a less cushioned surface created by the US company Plexipave, called Plexicushion, which will be installed by Aussie company William Loud. WTA story

    (Jan 4, 2007) Both tourneys this week used the new WTA drawsheet form, which is not improved over the previous form in any way whatsoever, and is in fact much worse. Rankings are displayed only for the seeded players, and are not shown for the rest of the draw (the old form displayed the rankings of all participants). Why would we not want to know the player's rankings?

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Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2008 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2008 WTA Player Videos page.

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