Indian rising star loses; Wozniacki, two Spaniards make it through to last eight

It's down to the final eight in Stockholm, after two seeded and three unseeded players won their second round matches and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Czech Iveta Benesova beat rising star Sania Mirza, 46 63 63, seeded sixth, and it was the third consecutive win for Benesova against the Indian. The 25-year-old Czech will next face Vera Dushevina, and it will be a tough match, as Dushevina is up 3-0 in head-to-head results.

Caroline Wozniacki beat Finnish wildcard Emma Laine, 60 61, and next up for the Dane will be Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, who beat qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the same score, 60 61.

Camille Pin of France beat Swedish Johanna Larsson, who had high hopes of winning the tournament, 63 62. Next, she will play No. 1 seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska for a semifinal berth.

Veteran Virginia Ruano Pascual also made it through to the quarters after beating qualifier Maria Elena Camerin, 63 62. The Spaniard will next face No. 3 seed Katarina Srebotnik, who is looking to get back on track after losing early in her home country last eek in Portoroz.

Ivanovic, Jankovic get through to the quarters; Sharapova withdraws from Roger Cup after win

Ana Ivanovic didn't make such a great opening to her hardcourt season as she won her first match of the tournament to Czech Petra Kvitova in a tight three-setter. It wasn't a good day for most of the seeds, including Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta, as they both failed to pass their tests on Wednesday.

Ivanovic, seeded and ranked 1st, had a tough time on court as she played her debut match against the Czech, losing the second set shamefully, but eventually pulling off the win after an exhausting match which took 1 hour and 59 minutes to finish, 63 46 63.

"It wasn't the best match I've played," Ivanovic said. "She played a match before this week and for me it was the first match since Wimbledon. So in the beginning I obviously struggled to find my rhythm a little bit. But I'm happy I won. You have to win even if you don't play your best. That was the case for me today."

Other seeds advancing in the day session were No.6 seed Anna Chakvetadze, a 62 75 winner over Jill Craybas; No.7 seed Dinara Safina, who improved to 23-3 since the European clay court season with a 62 64 win over Anastasia Rodionova; No.9 seed Patty Schnyder, a 61 75 winner over Monica Niculescu; No.11 seed Victoria Azarenka, a 62 62 winner over Sybille Bammer; and No.12 seed Nadia Petrova, who beat Tamarine Tanasugarn, 63 62. No.10 seed Marion Bartoli moved into the third round when her opponent, Alisa Kleybanova, withdrew prior to their match due to a low back injury.

Two seeds, Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta, weren't as lucky as Ivanovic. Kirilenko, seeded 13th, lost in a tight three-setter to Canadian Stephanie Dubois, 62 26 76(4), knowing that the crowd will go against her; while No. 15 seed Flavia Pennetta was ousted by 15-year-old rising star Michelle Larcher de Brito, 63 06 63.

"At the end I was still believing I could do it; I managed well on the important points," said Dubois, who showed some strong nerves to come back as Kirilenko served for the match at 5-4 in the third set. "I'm really happy right now I pulled it through. I didn't want to lose this match. Obviously, Maria played a good match. She's a top player. She has won two titles this year. Every point was tough."

Winners between unseeded matches were Ai Sugiyama, who won over Shahar Peer 62 62, and Tamira Paszek was victorious over Melinda Czink, 64 75.

One of the last matches was between Maria Sharapova and Marta Domachowska, which lasted five miuntes short of three hours. Sharapova was obviously not in her best form, losing the second set, but she came back eventually and won the match in a three-setter, 75 57 62. Maria was struggling in the match with her shoulder, serving 15 double faults, and at the end of the match, she withdrawn from the tournament because of her shoulder.

"Coming into this tournament I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to compete," Sharapova said. "In the last few weeks I've been trying to find a solution to the aggravation I did to the shoulder back at Indian Wells in one of my matches. I haven't found the solution yet. I just spoke to a couple of doctors and they advised me to try to find the cause of the problem, what's causing my bursitis, because they think there's something else behind it rather than just that."

No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic was the last to take the court, against home player Aleksandra Wozniak. The match was easily finished in two sets, with Jankovic breaking the Canandian's dreams of winning in her home country, 60 64.

"The first match is always tough; playing against a Canadian, knowing that the crowd will be against me, knowing all the circumstances, it's not so easy," Jankovic said. "But I was able to stay focused and was able to get through the match. I'm happy with that and looking forward to my next match."

"Obviously she played a great match today," Wozniak said. "She didn't make any mistakes. She played so cleanly in the first set and it went by so fast. In the second set I did better, stepping into the short balls and being more aggressive; but I think I made some errors and didn't take my opportunities. I'll just have to go forward from here and look to the future."

No. 2 seed Szavay ousted; top seed, Srebotnik advance

Only one seed was ousted on Wednesday as Day 3 came to a close in Stockholm, Sweden. No. 2 seed Agnes Szavay was that one seed, as she was ousted by Vera Dushevina in the second round in straight sets, while the other three seeds advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Nordea Nordic Light Open.

Dushevina, last year's runner up, performed perfectly, beating No.2 seed Agnes Szavay, 64 76(6), and in the quarters she will meet either Sania Mirza or Iveta Benesova for a semifinal berth.

"I like this city and this tournament," said Dushevina. "It was a tough game, but I played well."

While the No. 2 seed lost, top seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who won to Dushevina in last year's final, had the opposite result, beating Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva, 61 61. Radwanska, so far, has had a great season, winning in Pattaya City and in Istanbul.

Katarina Srebotnik, seeded third, also won her second round match, to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 63 64. The 17-year-old Russian was too weak to beat the Slovenian, who had very good results in May, being in the semis of Prague and the final of Strasbourg.

"She started to play very well in that part of the match, and at the same time I missed a couple of shots," said Srebotnik. "Anastasia is a very good player, but it's a long way to go from the junior tour to the seniors." No.29-ranked Srebotnik will face either qualifier Maria Elena Camerin or Virginia Ruano Pascual in the quarterfinals.

No. 6 seed Sania Mirza won her first round match on Wednesday, and is through to the second round, after beating Emilie Loit of France 63 62 in the only first round match left to play.

2 of 6 seeds ousted in opening matches; Canadian wins in front of home crowd

As the first round of the rogers Cup came to a close, two seeds were ousted in their opening matches, but the other four seeds who played on Tueday reserved a spot in the next round

Nicole Vaidisova was one of the seeds who was ousted, falling to Ai Sugiyama in a three-setter, 63 36 62. She was the only seed to lose before the first round was finished. This is Vaidisova'a second early loss on hardcourts, the first being ast week in Los Angeles, when she fell to Bethanie Mattek, who made it to the semis eventually.

"Nicole didn't have a perfect day," Sugiyama said. "She gave me a lot of unforced errors, which gave me a lot of confidence, that if I could just play point by point, game by game, I had a chance to get through today. And in the end it went my way. It was an up-and-down match, but luckily I got through the third set."

Sugiyama, so far, has had a great season, reaching the semis for the first time since 2006 in Stanford two weeks ago, and reaching the third round in Los Angeles last week, where, in both tournaments she had some Top 20 wins, in Stanford against Hantuchova, and in Los Angeles against Patty Schnyder.

"I'm playing a lot of matches and I'm playing well," Sugiyama continued. "It makes me a little bit tired and with the three-hour time difference from Los Angeles it was tough to adjust, but I'm just focusing one point at a time."

The other four seeds playing the first round made it through. No.11 seed Victoria Azarenka beat qualifier Jamea Jackson, 61 61; No.12 seed Nadia Petrova beat wildcard Marie-Ève Pelletier, 60 61; No.13 seed Maria Kirilenko defeated Anne Keothavong, 61 75; and No.15 seed Flavia Pennetta, a runner-up at Los Angeles last week, rallied from a set and a break down to beat Olga Savchuk, 16 75 63.

Other first round winners were Sybille Bammer, Alisa Kleybanova, Marta Domachowska, Jill Craybas, qualifier Melinda Czink and Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, who edged Chan Yung-Jan in the feature night match in front of a packed crowd, 62 16 75.

"It was so great. It was so special. I haven't played in front of such a big crowd in so long," Wozniak said. "They gave me so much energy in the match. Definitely the win goes to them. My opponent did great in the second set. In the third set I had a 4-2 lead and it got really tight and close in the points, but I kept fighting."

Wozniak will next face the No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic, who lost her chance last week to reach the No. 1 spot in rankings. Being a Canadian,a nd playing the no. 2 in the world, Wozniak will probably have another full stadium to play for on Wednesday.

"It's a great opportunity for me to play the No.2 player in the world; it'll be my second time," Wozniak added. "This time I feel I have more experience. I hope tomorrow it's going to be a better match, that I'll be more aggressive and try to focus, try to stay in the moment the whole match."

Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Elena Dementieva all recieved second round byes, and were all involved n the first three matches of the second round. Excluding Kuznetsova, they all had the exact same result; loss. No. 4 seed Kuznetsoa was first to take the court against Alla Kudryavtseva, and she won in straight sets without having to finish the match, as Kudryavtseva retire due to a right shoulder injury, 60 10 ret'd. Zvonareva was a different story, as she suffered a shock defeat to Virginie Razzano in a tight three-setter, 63 16 76(2), despite leading 4-1 in the third set. The same happened with Dementieva, as she was also stunned in her debut match against Dominkia Cibulkova, 64 62. This was Cibulkova's third Top 10 win, having previously won to Venus Williams and Anna Chakvetadze earlier this year.

3 out of 4 seeds cruising through to the next round; New Zealander again ousted in debut match

Three out of four seeds who played on Tuesday cruised through to the next round happily. The seed who was ousted was New Zealander Maria Erakovic, who lost her first match to qualifier Maria Elena Camerin in straight sets.

Agnieszka Radwanska, the defending champion and first seed here, had good results at the end of her debut match, beating Nathalie Dechy in straight sets, 62 63. The Polish rising star is already ranked 10th, and has won in Pattaya City and Istanbul this year, and she also reached the semifinals at Doha.

No. 3 seed Katarina Srebotnik eased throught to the second round after her win to Russian Anna Lapushchenkova, 62 61. Since her early loss last week in her home country Slovenia, Srebotnik seems to have regained herself, and could have a good result in this tournament. She will next face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who won her first round match to countrywoman Ekaterina Bychkova, 64 36 61.

Caroline Wozniacki began her run with a victory over Angelique Kerber, 63 64. Seeded 4th, the Dane has one of the best chances than any other Scandinavian to win this tournament.

Swedish wildcard Sandra Roma was easily defeated by No. 5 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues, 63 61. After reaching the final in Portoroz last week, and the semifinals at Palermo a couple of weeks ago, the Spaniard will be on the hunt for the title here in Stockholm, after coming so close to one.

New Zealander Marina Erakovic didn't have the same luck as all of the other seeds. Seeded 8th, she shamefully lost to Italian Maria Elena Camerin in straight sets, 63 64. Camerin, seeded No. 124, will next be facing Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual, who fought back from one set down to beat compatriot Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 36 76(5) 62.

It was a good day for the home crowd as Swedish wildcard Johanna Larsson beat last week's semifinalist at Portoroz, Julia Goerges, 36 76(5) 64. It was a nice home win for the Swede who had met the German once before but lost. In the second round she will face Camille Pin, who knocked out No.7 seed Kateryna Bondarenko on Monday.

Last year's runner-up, Vera Dushevina won her opening-round match against Ekaterina Makarova, 76(4) 63. Also though to the second round are qualifiers Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

One seed succeeds; the other flies home

As the first day of Nordea Nordic Light Open went into play, No. 7 seed Kateryna Bondarenko went flying home, but No. 2 seed Agnes Szavay had the opposite result, cruising into the second round, along with Finnish wildcard Emma Laine, who also won her debut match.

The first match with a seed included was the match between Agnes Szavay and Yanina Wickmayer. Despite winning in straight sets, it wasn't an easy win for the Hungarian, as she was fighting hard in the first set, and survived a tiebreak in the second to win the match.

No. 7 seed Kateryna Bondarenko didn't fight hard enough to beat her French opponent Camille Pin, as she went down in flames in straight sets, 64 76(3). Even though the Ukrainian won in Birmingham this year, she was no match for Pin, who is ranked 77th. After the shameful loss, Bondarenko is now 0-3 against Pin. She will next face German Julia Georges or her opponent Johanna Larsson in the second round.

Wildcard Emma Laine also cruised through to the second round after beating Russian Alexandra Panova easily, 63 61. Ranked No. 365, and being over 100 places higher than her first round opponent, this was a good start for Laine, and for the Scandinavian world of tennis.

Czech Iveta Benesova played against another Ukrainian, Tatiana Perebiynis, and won easily 62 62. that was the second time that the two players faced eachother, the first time being in 2004, here in Stockholm, when Perebiynis won.

The qualifying event also wrapped up, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Angelique Kerber and Maria Elena Camerin gaining main draw berths.

No. 14 seed Schiavone stunned in debut match; Swiss Schnyder, French Bartoli advance to next round

As the first day of the Rogers Cup kicked off, rain disturbed matches that were in play, but most of the scheduled matches were completed. Two of three seeds who took action on Monday advanced, but Francesca Schiavone was ousted in her debut match by Tamira Paszek.

Schiavone, seeded 14th, beat Paszek last year in the first round here, but Paszek got her revenge, and prevailed against the Italian, 76(4) 16 61. It was their fourth career meeting, and now they are equal at 2-2.

"I think she's the player I've played her most times," the 17-year-old Paszek said. "We always have really, really tough matches when we play each other. She was playing more aggressively in the second set and I think that's what made the difference, but I'm happy I was able to get it back in the third."

Schiavone has now lost in her opening matches twice in a row, in Stanford two weeks ago, she fell to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.

The other seeds in action on monday won their matches, but with a it of struggle. No. 9 Patty Schyder had a slow start against Yuan Meng, trailing 5-1 in the first set, and later having to face four match points, but the Swiss was able to win the set eventually, and didn't have to finish the second, when Yuan retired due to a thigh injury, 76(6) 32. Marion bartoli seeded 10th, also had a bit of a struggle in the first two sets against Melanie South, but she came back to win the third set and match easily, 63 67(5) 60.

A wave of unseeded Top 50 players moved through in straight sets, as Shahar Peer beat Sabine Lisicki, 63 64; Virginie Razzano beat Aravane Rezai, 61 62; Dominika Cibulkova beat Elena Vesnina, 61 61; and Tamarine Tanasugarn beat Olivia Sanchez, 63 61. Other winners were Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Rodionova, Monica Niculescu, qualifiers Alla Kudryavtseva and Michelle Larcher de Brito and finally Canadian wildcard Stéphanie Dubois, who was ahead 61 42 on Olga Govortsova when the Belarusian retired with a right hip injury.

The only singles match postponed due to rain was No.12 seed Nadia Petrova's opener against Canadian wildcard Marie-Ève Pelletier.

Safina claims second title of career to Italian

The moment that excited people was when Jelena Jankovic played her semifinal against one of the most powerful Russians on the Tour. But all the hopes of fans were cut short when Russian Dinara Safina easily cruised through to the final after winning to the Serb in straight sets.

On Sunday the final was held between Dinara and Flavia Pennetta, who had won her semifinal match to Bethanie Mattek. Safina again performed with excellence, winning to Pennetta 64 62 to claim her second title of her career. Previously, the Russian had a 3-0 head-to-head result against Pennetta, and she extended it to 4-0 on Sunday after an hour and 10 minutes of play.

"I was a little bit nervous but I think I played a pretty good match for the final," said Safina, who was unusually calm throughout the match, a contrast to her at-times fiery court demeanor. "Even my coach said he didn't know what was going on with me, that I was so quiet on the court. Now I have to continue playing like that and not go back to the old Dinara!"

"The first set was pretty close; in the second set I had chances but on all of the important points she was playing well," Pennetta said. "She did not give me a lot of chances today. When players like her – good serve, good groundstrokes - are playing well, it is tough to beat them. But anyway, it was a good week for me and I hope next week is going to be even better."

Safina has now made finals in four of her last five events, beginning with a title at Berlin and runner-up finishes at Roland Garros and 's-Hertogenbosch (the only blemish came at Wimbledon, where she fell in the third round); perhaps the most impressive aspect of this run is that these finals have been coming on different surfaces (Berlin and Roland Garros were on clay, 's-Hertogenbosch was on grass, Los Angeles was on hard).

Safina is also the third player to win a title having come from match point down in the tournament. The first to do was Agnieszka Radwanska, who was match point down against Jill Craybas in the final at Pattaya City, and Serena Williams was second to do it, saving a match point against sister Venus in the semis of Bangalore, and also saving a match point against Justine Henin in the final of last year's Sony Ericsson Open.

Errani wins second straight title of career to Spaniard

Sara Errani had reached three quarterfinals in the first half of this year, but winning two titles in a row is much more than that. In Palermo two weeks ago, Errani captured the first title of her career, and here in the Slovenian city of Potoroz, she extended her winning streak to 10 matches, after winning Banka Koper Slovenia Open.

Seeded 8th, Errani got what she wanted at the end of the day, winning all of her matches with ease en route to the Sunday final. In the quarterfinals she faced top seed Maria Kirilenko and won 61 75, and in the semis, she played another seeded player, Caroline Wozniacki, but that wasn't much of a threat, as she also won easily 64 64. Next up was experienced Anabel Medina Garrigues, who was playing her 13th final of her career, but that didn't stop Errani from winning the the title in straight sets, 63 63.

"I think we were both tired, but we both tried hard and it was a nice match," said Errani on the final. "We know each other very well. We practice together in Valencia, and I've played her a few times before. I think she maybe struggled a bit with the long points and made some errors, which helped me today.

"The hardcourts here in Portoroz are a little bit slower, which probably helped me against aggressive players like Kirilenko and Wozniacki," Errani declared. "It was probably better for me to play against them than against Anabel today, because it made it more difficult for them to close the points out."

The 21-year-old Errani didn't point to anything in particular for her recent spike in results; just the hard work finally paying off.

"I haven't changed anything this year; I just try to practice hard every day, and the results are starting to come. At the beginning of the year I was just hoping to make it to the Olympic team and I did make it, which I'm really excited about."

Safina ends Jankovic's quest for No. 1; Pennetta to be faced in final

On Saturday night, Jelena Jankovic battled against Dinara Safina to move one step closer to the No. 1 ranking, but Safina didn't let that happen, as she completely demolished Jankovic in her semifinal match, and the Russian enters the final against Flavia Pennetta, to battle it out for the title on Sunday.

Jankovic, currently seeded 2nd, needed to win the title here at Los Angeles to rise to No. 1 for the first time in her career, but the Serb would hav to wait for next week to have another chance, as she wasn't good enough to beat the 22-year-old Russian, who was the finalist at this year's Roland Garros.

"She played very well throughout the match and was the better player today," a gracious Jankovic said. "I played a bad tie-break and in the second set I just couldn't go anymore. My legs were shaking. I'm not in the best shape yet. It was a little hard for me but I tried my best. But she served great and did what she had to do to win the match. Some days you do not play your best. The most important thing for me is to be healthy and to continue to work on my game."

Missing the opportunity of becoming the 18th player since the start of computer rankings to become No. 1 i the world, Jankovic thought she was good enough to do it, but it didn't happen, so she would have to wait for next week, or maybe some other time in the future.

"Hopefully my time will come. It's not the end of the world. Just to play in this tournament was very exciting. I had an injury and was supposed to be out for a long time. I just have to continue to work hard."

Before the two Top 10 players battled it out for a final berth, two surprise semifinalists were also playing eachother to reserve a spot in the final. Flavia Pennetta faced wildcard Bethanie Mattek, and in the end it was the Italian who prevailed, despite rallying from break points down early in the second and third set, in straight sets 36 62 75. Pennetta had lost a match to Mattek recently but claimed her revenge.

Pennetta moved into her 13th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final, but first at the Tier II level or higher (her first 12 all came at the Tier III or Tier IV level). But despite being 0-3 lifetime against the No.9-ranked Safina, her previous success against the Top 10 should give her some confidence: she has had four Top 10 wins before, one over Nadia Petrova, one over Justine Henin and two over Venus Williams (including one earlier this year at Roland Garros).

Spaniard, Italian will meet in final; No. 3 seed Dane beaten in semis

Two of the best hitters dismisshed two of the pest players in the Tour, and at the end of the day, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Sara Errani are the ones who will be battling it out on Sunday for the title in Potoroz, Slovenia.

Medina Garrigues, seeded fourth at the Tier IV tournament, overcome a bad second set loss against German Julia Georges, but eventually won, 63 26 64. Georges previously took out home player Katarina Srebotnik, seeded 2nd, in the second round; but it was more of a task to take out the Spaniard, as the 19-year-old Georges wasn't proven strong enough to beat for the 25-year-old.
Errani, the No. 8 seed in Potoroz, upset No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who had high hopes of winning the $145,000 tournament, in the second semifinal match of the night, 64 64. The strong 18-year-old was on fire throughout the tournament until playing against the Italian, losing a total of just eight games in six sets altogether; but the 21-year-old Errani was too powerful for the Dane, and it was her second upset, the first being when she beat top seed Maria Kirilenko.

It seems as though Medina Garrigues will have the advantage on Sunday, winning eight of her 12 career finals, seven on clay, and one on hardcourts. But Errani is holding a nine-match winning streak, and she is in her top form, becoming champion in Palermo a couple of weeks ago; and also the Spaniard's and Italian's only meeting went into the hands of Errani, winning 75 46 64 in Bali last year.

Jankovic, Safina to clash in semis; Pennetta, Mattek through

Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina both reserved a spot in the semifinals in Los Angeles, and will play eachother for a spot in the final. Flavia Pennetta and Bethanie Mattek also moved closer to the title, as they also won their quarterfinal matches and will play eachother for a final berth.

Jankovic and Safina, seeded first and fourth, both won their matches against lower seeded opponents. Jankovic had a tough match against Nadia Petrova, but eventually won, 64 75, rallying back from 3-1 down in both sets. Safina had an easier match, winning against Victoria Azarenka, 63 61.

Jankovic is now two wins away from the No. 1 spot, but first she has to pass tough Russian Dinara Safina, who has won all her matches easily before getting to the semis.

On the bottom half of the draw, No.10 seed Pennetta and wildcard Mattek both survived some tougher tests against their quarterfinal opponents. Pennetta was pushed to three sets by No.14 seed Sybille Bammer before prevailing, 76(3) 36 61, while Mattek won the first set and rallied back from 5-2 down in the second set - including staving off double set point serving at 5-3 down - to beat China's Yuan Meng, 62 75. Pennetta is 3-1 in her career against Mattek, although the American's win did come in their most recent meeting.

Pennetta and Mattek are both playing in the semifinals of an event at the Tier II level or above for the very first time. Pennetta had reached 23 semifinals on the Tour before, but all came at the Tier III level or below; Mattek is a two-time semifinalist on the Tour, both coming at the Tier III level. Pennetta has been to 12 finals previously and is 6-6; it could be a first Tour singles final for Mattek.

Three Russians, including top seed, ousted

It was an awful day for the Russians, including top seed Maria Kirilenko, as they were all ousted in their quarterfinal matches in Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Potoroz.

An Italian, a Spaniard, and a Dane came to win to the three Russian, as Sara Errani stunning top seed Kirilenko 61 75, Anabel Medina Garrigues beating qualifier Elena Bovina 63 62, and Vera Dushevina being ousted by Caroline Wozniacki, 60 61.

Sara Errani, recently winning her first singles title in her home country in Palermo, improved to a 2-0 head-to-head result against the top seed, the first win being in the Sony Ericsson Open.

It was a thrilling match, as Errani won the first set easily, but was not in full control in the second set, leading 5-2, having three match points at 5-3, and holding another three match points at 5-4. The doublefault on Kirilenko's serve at 5-6 helped the Italian on the way to victory, and two points later the match was over, and in the hands of Errani. This is Errani's second semifinal on hardcourts, the first being in Bali last year.

Medina Garrigues, who was the champion at Palermo before Errani, was just too much to handle for Bovina, who has spent nearly three years battling injuries. This is Bovina's first time in the quarterfinals since 2005 in Rome.

Dushevina was the last Russian to be ousted, by Danish rising star Caroline Wozniacki, in straight sets 60 61. Wozniacki turned 18 two weeks ago, and so far, she is enjoying the best season of her career.

In the last singles match of the day, 19-year-old German Julia Goerges advanced to her third career Tour quarterfinal (and second of 2008) with a 63 46 64 win over 17-year-old Croatian Petra Martic.

Jankovic still on her quest; Russians Chakvetadze, Zvonareva stunned

Jelena Jankovic's quest for No. 1 this week may have gotten easier on Thursday, as she got past her third round opponent. Both Anna Chakvetadze and Vera Zvonareva were ousted in their matches at the East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife.

Chakvetadze, seeded 3rd, was taken out by No. 14 seed Sybille Bammer in a tiring three-setter, 64 57 62. It was Chakvetadze's first loss in three meetings against the Austrian left-hander. Bammer's win over the world No.8 was her second career Top 10 win; her first came at the Tier I tournament in Doha earlier this year, against another Russian, then-world No.2 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"I was making mistakes or I was hitting winners; I felt like I was playing against myself, especially during the third set," said Chakvetadze, who also lost earlier than expected at Stanford last week, falling to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. "I'm disappointed. I had an open door and I didn't take my opportunity."

Zvonareva, who reached the quarterfinals in eight of nine events that she played this year, was not so fortunate in Los Angeles, as she suffered a third round loss to countrywoman Nadia Petrova, seeded ninth, 64 75. It was Petrova's fifth win in their six career meetings.

Jankovic, ranked 2nd and going for the top spot, cruised through to the quarterfinals, winning in straight sets to lucky loser Melinda Czink, 63 62. Although the first set had more games, the second was longer, as six of the eight games consisted of many deuces. But Jankovic was the stronger player when it came to important points.

"I was playing much, much better than yesterday," said Jankovic, who nearly lost the first set of her first match of the week to Vania King, but still won in straight sets. "I was very pleased with my serve. Overall it was a lot better. It's really a big improvement from yesterday. Hopefully I can continue on like this."

With Daniela Hantuchova and Patty Schnyder falling in the second round, Anna Chakvetadze and Vera Zvonareva falling in the third round, and Serena Williams pulling out, only three seeds remain in the draw, Jankovic, No. 4 seed Dinara safina, and No. 8 seed Victoria Azarenka.

Jankovic is seeded first, and has to worry about playing either Safina or Azarenka, since the Russian and the Belorussian will play together in the quarterfinals, but she is only trying to focus on one match at a time.

"It's nice to be the No.1 seed and hopefully in the future, No.1 in the world; but some players put too much pressure on themselves," Jankovic said. "I just go out there to play the match and to play my best tennis. I want to win. Everyone expects me to win, but I don't think about that. I know what I have to work on and I go out to the practice courts. I don't think about what people expect."

Also advancing to the quarterfinals were No.10 seed Flavia Pennetta, a 76(5) 63 winner over Ai Sugiyama; wildcard Bethanie Mattek, a 75 62 winner over Olga Govortsova; and Yuan Meng, who beat lucky loser Melanie South, 62 63.

In Friday's quarterfinals, Jankovic faces Petrova, Safina faces Azarenka, Pennetta faces Bammer and Mattek faces Yuan.

Top seed Kirilenko cruises through; home favorite Srebotnik stunned

Three Russians, including top seed Maria Kirilenko, made it to the quarterfinals in Potoroz, while second seed Katarina Srebotnik was ousted.



Kirilenko moved into the quarters after an easy win to Roberta Vinci, 61 62. Being the tournament's favorite to win, Kirilenko still had to face some toughness, being tied with Vinci in head-to-head results before the match.



"The first set went smoothly but then I lost my concentration in the second set and she won a few games in a row," Kirilenko said. "I was afraid I might lose track but fortunately I came back and saved the match."

Home player Katarina Srebotnik didn't show hope of winning the title today, as she was defeated in straight sets by Julia Georges, 64 62. The German already had a 1-0 result in head-to-head against Srebotnik, when beating her in the first round of this year's Wimbledon. Georges was playing aggressively, and she was too much to handle for the Slovenian. Julia will next face Petra Martic in the quarters.


"I am so happy to have won this match," Goerges said. "Katarina is a great player and it's always very difficult winning against such a player, especially before her fans."

No. 8 seed Sara Errani had good results in her match against fellow Italian Mara Santangelo, winning 62 64. So far here in Potoroz, Errani has played to of her countrywoman.



"She plays very fast so she wasn't bothered by my game," said Errani about Santangelo. "But I tended to switch rhythm so she struggled. Plus the balls bounce quite high here so it's not easy to aim and find the right distance. I don't know if it was the heat, but by the end I'm sure she was bothered by my game."



Errani will now face top seed Kirilenko, and having a 1-0 lead in head-to-head against the Russian, the Italian has high hopes of winning.



The last player to reserve a spot in the quarterfinals was Elena Bovina, after winning to Camille Pin in a thrilling three-setter, 63 57 76(6), after more than three hours of play. Bovina suffered from some leg cramps, but that didn't stop her winning. She will now face No. 4 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the quarters.



"It was a long match and it was a little bit up and down," Bovina said. "I had a set and 5-2 and basically the match was over. Camille was a good fighter and she wasn't going to give it up. I played a few really good games and then the tie-breaker was also good."



On dealing with needing medical assistance, Bovina said: "I just started to have cramps in both my hamstrings. I didn't want to lose a tie-break for that so I called for a trainer, I took three minutes out, stretched, and it actually helped me to go through with the tie-break."

Jankovic going for No. 1 spot; Schnyder, Vaidisova crushed

If this title goes into the hands of Jelena Jankovic, she will be named No. 1 for the first time in her career, and so far the run is going well, after her straight set victory against Vania King

Jankovic, seeded first here and ranked second, could make this week her most greatest week of her career, that is, if she wins the title. In her first match, she was pushed hard by the American in the first set, but tokk full control in the second, to sustain a 75 62 victory in an hour and 19 minutes.

"I felt a little bit slow; but it's my first match of the summer on hardcourts, so it's all about getting used to everything in the match," Jankovic said. "I'm happy I was able to come back from two set points down. It's good I was able to win the first set because I didn't really want to go to three sets."

If the Serb will capture the No. 1 spot, she will replace countrywoman Ana Ivanovic.

"Four more matches is a lot to go, but I will try my best," Jankovic said. "I wasn't happy with the way I played today but it's only the first match. A win is a win and hopefully I will keep getting better during the week."

Other seeded winners were No.4 seed Dinara Safina, No.5 seed Vera Zvonareva, No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka, No.9 seed Nadia Petrova, No.10 seed Flavia Pennetta and No.14 seed Sybille Bammer. Petrova and Pennetta were the only ones pushed to three sets; Petrova beat Akgul Amanmuradova, 61 36 61, while Pennetta beat Tamira Paszek, 26 61 64.

Patty Schnyder, Nicole Vaidisova, Dominika Cibulkova and Sania Mirza were the latest seeded upset victims of the week. No.7 seed Schnyder was ousted by Ai Sugiyama, 64 75; No.11 seed Vaidisova lost to wildcard Bethanie Mattek, 64 60; No.15 seed Cibulkova lost to qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva, 36 75 64; and No.16 seed Mirza lost to Yuan Meng, 64 63.

Those who won in an unseeded battle were Samantha Stosur, Melinda Czink and Melanie South.

3rd seed through to quarters; 2005 champion ousted by youngest player in tournament

After the end of Day 3 in Slovenia, four players moved into the quarterfinals, including the No. 3 and 4 seeds, while the 2005 champion here is beaten by the youngest player in the tournament.

No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki had a great day, as she cruised through to the quarters with an easy win over wildcard Karolina Sprem, 61 61. Having already beaten Maria Kirilenko, top seeded here, before, the 18-year-old is a big contender for the title.

Russian Vera Dushevina defeated Katie O'Brien on Wednesday, 63 62, and will face No.3 seed Wozniacki for a semifinal berth.

"I think I played a really good match," said Wozniacki. "I played my game and I think we had quite a few long rallies, and I'm happy I managed to pull it through. Karolina is a really good player so I'm happy I won the match today."

Petra Martic was also in the list of successful players today, beating experienced player Klara Zakopalova, 63 46 76(3). Martic is the youngest player, and Zakopalova was the champion here in 2005, and if Martic makes it to the final, she will be the youngest finalist in Potoroz.

"Passing the first round was already a success for me," said Martic. "This is the second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event I've played in and my second victory. I was dreaming about reaching the quarterfinals and now this has come true I'm satisfied."

Next, Martic will face either No. 2 seed Katarina Srebotnik or Julia Georges, but probably she won't prefer playing the Slovenian Srebotnik.

"Of course I would like to play against Goerges, but I don't think this will happen. I will prepare myself to play against Katarina and we will see how it will end."

Another seed to secure a place in the quarters was No. 4 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues, who gained victory over Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko, 64 64. This is the first time the No.4 seed has played in Portoroz since 2005, where she was knocked out by finalist Katarina Srebotnik in the quarterfinals and views this victory as a crucial step to reaching the title.

"This victory is very important for me," said Medina Garrigues. "Julia is a strong player and she plays really well on hardcourts. She's not easy to play against, but today I played a really nice match and I'm very happy to have pulled a victory."

Medina Garrigues will meet either Camille Pin or Elena Bovina in the quartefinals.

Russian Vera Dushevina defeated Katie O'Brien on Wednesday, 63 62, and will face No.3 seed Wozniacki for a semifinal berth.

Top seed cruises through; Hantuchova stunned

As Day 2 of the East West Bank Classic flew by, one seed was ousted, but one seed was through. Anna Chakvetadze, the top seed was comfortable in her opening match, while Daniela Hantuchova, seeded 6th, was stunned in straight sets.

Nadia Petrova, Flavia Pennetta, Nicole Vaidisova and Dominika Cibulkova made it 4-0 for seeds in first round matches. No.9 seed Petrova beat qualifier Alina Jidkova, 60 64; No.10 seed Pennetta notched a 61 60 win over last week's Stanford winner, Aleksandra Wozniak; No.11 seed Vaidisova rallied from a set down to beat Ayumi Morita, 67(5) 63 61; and No.15 seed Cibulkova beat Monica Niculescu, 64 63.

Unseeded first round winners were Ai Sugiyama, Peng Shuai, Vania King, Yuan Meng, Stéphanie Dubois, Akgul Amanmuradova and qualifiers Alla Kudryavtseva and Regina Kulikova.

Stepahine Dubois beat American Ashley Harkleroad in straight sets, 62 63.

"I was aggressive and it was a good match for me; it was one of my good wins," Dubois said. "It wasn't the first time I played against her. I think we knew each other's games well. My game plan was to be aggressive, and it worked well for me today. It's the first time I've played here and I liked the way I competed."

Chakvetadze and Hantuchova both got byes in the first round, and played their second round matches on Tuesday night. Anna demolished her opponent, Marta Domachowska, easily in straight sets, 61 61, but Hantuchova had the completely opposite result, losing to Olga Govortsova, 62 64. That was Govortsova's four Top 20 win, and fifth in her career.

"I didn't do well in my last couple of tournaments but this week I'm feeling better; when I hit today before the match I was really feeling the groove," Govortsova said. "Daniela hits really deep and has a good serve, so to beat her you also have to be aggressive. So that's what I was trying to do in the match today."

Top 2 seeds throught to next round; seeded New Zealander ousted

In Potoroz, Slovenia, rain delayed play for two hours on Day 2. But shen the skies were clear of rain, the Top 2 seeds came out onto the courts to play their opening matches. Maria Kirilenko, the top seed made an excellent result in her debut match, and so did No. 2 seed Katarina Srebotnik.

Maria Kirilenko, the only player in the tournament who is ranked in the Top 20, easily defeated qualifier Nika Ozegovic, 61 61. The Russian won in Barcelona in June, but didn't have such a good season on grass, falling at 's- Hertogenbosch and Wimbledon in the first round, but she is a contender here in Slovenia.

No. 2 seed Katarina Srebotnik had the same results as Kirilenko, winning her first match of the tournament to Croatian Sanda Mamic, 62 62. The 2007 and 2005 finalist here has had a solid season as runner-up at Strasburg, semifinalist at Palermo two weeks ago as well as claiming defeats against eight-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams and current No.8-ranked Anna Chakvetadze this year. Ranked No.26 the Slovenian is another strong contender in her home country.

No. 8 seed Sara Errani also went through to the second round, beating Maria Elena Camerin in a tight three-setter. Errani lost the first set, but came back and lost only three games in the second and third set, 67(4) 62 61. Errani had a great time in Palermo two weeks ago, winning the title to Mariya Koryttseva.

New Zealand's No. 6 seed Marina Erakovic didn't make her country proud, after she lost in three sets to France's Camille Pin, 75 57 63. Pin has been playing her best game recently, reaching the third round at Birmingham and the second round 's- Hertogenbosch.

Other players to make it through to the second round on Tuesday were Mara Santangelo, wildcard Karolina Sprem, Julia Goerges, Roberta Vinci and qualifier Elena Bovina.

Tought day for Peer and Razzano; Mirza and Bammer cruise through

On Monday in Los Angeles, California, four seeds took the courts, but only two survived their battles. Shahar Peer was in bad shape along with Virginie Razzano, while Sania Mirza and Sybille Bammer cruised throught o the next round.

Peer, seeded No. 12, who got to the fourth round of Wimbledon, suffered her second straight early exit on hardcourts, badly losing to Samantha Stosur. Stosur needed just 52 minutes to finish the Israeli off in straight sets, 61 61. Stosur fired eight aces, and won 83% of her first serve points and nearly 60% of her second serve points.

"I think it was probably the best match I've played in the last couple of weeks," Stosur said. "I got off to a good start and got rolling from there. I was never really under pressure during the games. We've played each other a few times and I knew what to expect. Maybe I served a little bit better and mixed up the placement. I managed to get a few aces in there, too. It's the way you want to feel all the time. The more matches you play, the more confident you get. The way I felt tonight, I didn't have to think that much."

No. 13 seed Razzano was also suffering her opening match loss, to lucky loser Melinda Czink, 63 63. Razzano was having a bad season, only winning two matches in the six tournaments she entered. She hasn't won back-to-back matches since Amelia Island in April.

No. 16 seed Sania Mirza had better results than Peer nd Razzano, winning her debut match in straight sets to qualifier Eva Hrdinova, 63 64; and No. 14 seed Sybille Bammer easily demolished her American opponent, Ahsha Rolle, 60 64.

Other winners on Day 1 were Olga Govortsova, Marta Domachowska, Petra Kvitova, Chan Yung-Jan, Jill Craybas, Tamira Paszek, Olga Savchuk and wildcard Bethanie Mattek.

Two seeds stunned in opening matches; two seeds through to next round

Heat was in the air as the first day of Banka Koper Slovenia Open kicked of. Two of four seed were ousted, but the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds made it through to the next round.

Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 3rd, defeated wildcard Andreja Klepac easily in straight sets, 75 60, in her debut match. The 18-year-old has had great results so far throughout the season, being in the fourth round of the Australian Open, and quarterfinals in Doha, Memphis and Eastbourne. She is playing for the first time here in Potoroz.

No. 4 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues was also able to win her debut match, against Russian Ekaterina Makarova, 61 63. Medina Garrigues, with eight titles won in her Tour career, reached the quarterfinals here in 2005, which was her best result, falling to Katarina Srebotnik.

British Katie O'Brien stunned No. 5 seed Tsvetana Pironkova in her opening match in a tight three-setter, 76(6) 46 62. The Brit had her best results in Birmingham, reaching the first round, but in the majority of tournaments she has entered, she mainly loses in the first round. In the second round, she will face Vera Dushevina who beat Virginia Ruano Pascual, 63 63.

Carla Suarez Navarro, seeded 7th, is the second seed out of the tournament, getting defeated by Klara Zakopalova in straight sets, 64 64. The 26-year-old Czech, who reached the quarterfinals in Budapest two weeks ago, was too tough for the Spaniard, who had reached the quarterfinals in Roland Garros. Next, Klara will battle Petra Martic, who also won on Monday to German Angelique Kerber, 75 62.

Canadian wins title; makes history

It has been a fantastic week for qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, as she went through all of the qualifying rounds, and went all the way in the main draw to beat Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli for the title, and also, Wozniak, ranked No. 85, has become the first Canadian woman to win a tournament since 1988.

En route to the title, Wozniak beat No. 8 seed Francesca Schiavone in the first round, and top seed Serena Williams in the semifinals, before winning here in Stanford, California to the Frenchwoman.

On the bottom half of the draw it was No.6 seed Marion Bartoli who made it into the final. She was nearly bundled out in the second round by qualifier Anne Keothavong, rallying from 4-1 down in the third set to win, 63 16 75; that may have propelled her to new heights as she played near-flawlessly to stun No.2 seed and defending champion Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets in the quarters, then beat Ai Sugiyama for the first time in six meetings in the semis. Her win over Chakvetadze was her first Top 10 win of the season, and by beating Sugiyama she moved into her second-biggest career final, after Wimbledon.

The Frenchwoman faced the Canadian, battling powerful strokes and high speed serves. At the end, it was Wozniak who was stronger and despite having to rally back from break points in the first and losing only five points on her serve in the second set, she was the new champion at Stanford, winning 75 63.

"It feels great," Wozniak said. "It's my first title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and I'm really excited and proud of what I have accomplished here, advancing through the qualifying rounds and winning the title. Playing eight matches in one week is never easy. I was really excited and wanted to go out there, do my best and not think about how tired I was.

"I focused so hard this week on winning one match at a time. I believe in myself but I never thought I would win this tournament."

Parmentier wins second title of career to Czech

In Bad Gastein, Austria, rain messed up the schedule of the week, but that didn't stop the final being played on Sunday. It was a fabulous week for Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier, as she claimed her second and biggest title of her career at the Gastein Ladies.

Parmentier, ranked No. 53 and seeded fourth here, was pushing everyone aside to get to the final, including a 75 46 64 win over Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the second round and a 76(3) 63 decision against last year's finalist Yvonne Meusburger in the quarterfinals, a match in which she not only fought the Austrian but all of her home supporters as well. Parmentier now found herself in the semifinals against No.1 seed Szavay and she was in top form, crushing her huge topspin forehand to perfection during a 64 62 win. The win over the world No.14 was her first Top 20 win.

Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw, qualifier Lucie Hradecka had emerged as the finalist. No.2 seed Cornet had retired from her opening match due to a stomach illness and No.3 seed Wozniacki lost her second match. Hradecka had taken out one seed (No.5 seed Timea Bacsinszky) en route to her first career singles final on the Tour, in fact her first time even reaching the quarterfinals.

Parmentier was the more better and experienced player, so more people had high hopes for her. But Hradecka was at her best level in tennis, and it could've been an upset in the final. But it wasn't. Parmentier was too strong for Lucie and won the Championship match in straight sets 64 64.

"I am very happy today, it was a perfect week," Parmentier said. "It was a very difficult week because of all of the rain, and because of the rain I had to play two matches yesterday, but when you have a tougher week like this, the victory is much bigger. Now I will enjoy two weeks of holiday. I just need to relax."

"Of course I am a little disappointed about today's singles match," she said. "I was 4-1 up and managed to lose the set. But Pauline played very well, especially on the important points. And for me this is still an unbelievable week. I reached the final in singles and doubles too, which is amazing."

Serena fails to enter final; Bartoli through

In Stanford, California, Serena Williams had a bad day, as she was defeated by an injury and had to retire from her match against Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak after losing the first set 62 and losing the second 31. It was definitely no luck for the American, as she suffered from a left knee injury.

Wozniak, the Canadian No. 1, had come through the qualifying rounds and on the way to the final, she beat No. 8 seed Francesca Schiavone in the first round. She was solid enough to win to the injured Serena and to enter the final, 62 31.

"In the middle of the first set she started looking at her legs and I wasn't sure what was bothering her," Wozniak said. "I was really just focusing on me and my game, and staying aggressive. I knew I was playing a big champion today so I had to keep my cool. You have to play your best against players like Serena.

"The way the match ended was unfortunate, but I'm happy to reach my second final. My first final was at a Tier IV event on clay last year. And coming out of the qualifying is not easy, because I've played a lot of matches in one week."

Wozniak could become the fifth Canadian ever to win a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title, following Patricia Hy-Boulais (at Taipei in 1986), Helen Kelesi (1986 Tokyo), Carling Bassett-Seguso (1987 Strasbourg) and Jill Hetherington (1988 Wellington). Canadians have been runners-up 11 times, including Wozniak falling to Milagros Sequera at the aforementioned Tier IV in Fès last year.

Williams didn't start to struggle at the start of the match. It start early in the day.

"It was hurting in practice and I didn't really practice for too long because of it," Williams said. "It didn't bother me until this morning, and during the match it was getting worse. After I got off the court it was really swollen. I'm not sure how long it'll take to heal. I've been playing a lot of tennis since Miami, especially for me, and these hardcourts can be tough on the body."

Williams wasn't sure had bad the injury was, but she hopes she will be recovered enough to the enter the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

"My main goal now is being at the Olympics. I hope to stay healthy. I don't have any plans of not going to Beijing."

Bartoli gets lucky; awaits Wozniak in final

Wozniak will next take on Marion Bartoli, who was powerful enough to finally get revenge and beat Ai Sugiyama 63 63 in the semis after having a 0-5 record in head-to-head results. Bartoli was struggling in their last five meetings, which all ended in straight sets in favor of Sugiyama.

"The last time we played each other, I was not on the same level," Bartoli said. "I was not moving as fast as I'm moving right now, and I was making a lot more unforced errors. I was not hitting the ball as well as I am right now."

They had played since 2006, and their first four meetings were played before the Frenchwoman was even in the Top 60.

"Everything in my game has improved," Bartoli added. "I think I played really well tonight; maybe even better than yesterday at some points. She gave me a hard time. She was hitting the ball really early, playing flat and moving so well. It's always difficult to beat someone when you've lost five times before."

Bartoli and Wozniak will meet for the first time, Bartoli at the age of 23 and Wozniak at the age of 20.

"I will try to focus on my game first," Bartoli said. "I know pretty much nothing about her game so I will try to be as aggressive as today. I think if I play like today, it will be a great match."

Parmentier stuns top seed; Hradecka in first final

Today, all four quarterfinals and all two semifinals were played, and a major upset was held at the Gastein Ladies. And at the end, it was Pauline Parmentier and Lucie Hradecka who advanced to the finals.

The quarterfinals were played earlier in the day, and the semifinals were also played later. In the quarters, top seed Agnes Szavay was in great form as she beat No. 7 seed Iveta Benesova in straight sets, 62 62, but in her semifinal match, it was the total opposite, as she was stunned by No. 4 seed Pauline Parmentier, who, in the quarters won to Yvonne Meusburger, 76(3) 63, in straight sets, 64 62.

"I feel very happy," said Parmentier, whose win over the No.14-ranked Szavay was her first career Top 20 win. "It has been a good week for me and I hope tomorrow will make it a perfect week. I played even better in my second match of the day today. I had to make a good start because I was a bit tired."

In the other quarterfinals, Mariya Koryttseva defeated Tereza Hladikova, 63 61; and Lucie Hradecka beat wildcard Patricia Mayr, 63 61.

Hradecka, who had never been past the second round in the five main draws that she played, is continuing her dream run, as she beat Mayr in the quarters, and Koryttseva in the semis on Saturday. She won three qualifying rounds but has looked even fresher in main draw play, dropping just 17 games in four matches en route to the final. At No.237 in the world, she is one win away from becoming the fourth-lowest-ranked Tour singles champion ever, following a No.579-ranked Angelique Widjaja at 2001 Bali, a No.285-ranked Fabiola Zuluaga at 2002 Bogotá and a No.259-ranked Tamira Paszek at 2006 Portoroz.

"The match against Mariya was very hard, because it was the semifinals and my second match of the day," Hradecka said. "We were so tired. Maybe I was a little less tired. I was moving well and serving well. I've never played a singles final and I know Pauline is the favorite, so I will go on court and play my game with nothing to lose."

Williams easily through to semis; Chakvetadze ousted

It didn't take long for Serena Williams to get her game back on the hardcourts at Stanford. Playing here for the first time, Williams was nearly upset in the first round by Michelle Larcher de Brito, being down 64 20 and rallying back to win in three sets, but on Friday, she completely demolished Patty Schnyder in straight sets, 63 61, to reach the semifinals at The Bank of the West Classic.

Williams, seeded first here and ranked fifth in the world, needed just 54 minutes to defeat the Swiss, her eighth win out of eleven. Schnyder is 2-0 in head-to-head against Williams on her favorite surface, clay, but Williams in 8-1 in all surfaces combined.

The American No. 1 will next face the Canadian No. 1 Aleksandra Wozniak, after she won to Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. Wozniak defeated Stosur in the qualifying rounds, but Samantha came back as a lucky loser, and again was defeated, but this time it was more of a fight.

The second semifinal will be between Marion Bartoli, who stunned No. 2 seed Anna Chakvetadze in a easy two-setter, 63 64, and Ai Sugiyama, who won an all-unseeded battle against Dominika Cibulkova in a three set thriller, 67(4) 76(5) 53 ret. For two hours and 44 minutes, the battle between the two was continuing, and despite Cibulkova having a 5-2 lead in the second set, and having three match points at 5-4, and a 2-0 third set lead, Sugiyama didn't give up. Instead she took full control, and when leading 5-3 in the third, Cibulkova had to retire after having a left leg cramp.

Bartoli has gone this deep twice at Tier II events already this season, recording semifinal finishes at Paris [Indoors] in February (falling to Chakvetadze) and Eastbourne in June (falling to Agnieszka Radwanska). Sugiyama's best result of the season prior to this week was a quarterfinal finish at the Tier III tournament in Strasbourg the week before the French Open; she hasn't been to the semifinals of any event since October 2006 in Seoul, eventually finishing runner-up.

While Bartoli has gone deeper in draws over the last few years, Sugiyama does hold a perfect 5-0 record in the pair's head-to-head. The first four of those wins came when the Frenchwoman wasn't even ranked in the Top 50, however, and in their last duel - at Zürich in October 2006 - she pushed Sugiyama to three sets.

Szavay survives three set thriller; Wozniacki stunned

After some thrilling tnnis on Friday, three seeds, a qualifier and a wildcars are through to the quarterfinals in Austria. The Tier III tournament, which has been disturbed by rain for two days, kicked of without delay, and after a day of four three-setters, two remaining seeds were sent flying home.

It was a tiring 3 hour match for top seed Agnes Szavay, who battled it out against wildcard Melanie Klaffner to get into the last eight. Szavay, who fell in her home country's tournament last week, was down a match point, but came back to win 36 76(8) 76(3), and the Austrian wasn't strong enough to pull of a major upset in front of her home crowd.

"It was a very tough match," said a visibly relieved Szavay. "Melanie played unbelievable tennis and didn't want to give anything up. I'm glad I managed to fight back and win the match."

While top seed Szavay was able to defeat the Austrian, another seed, Caroline Wozniacki, couldn't do the same, as she fell to Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva in another three-setter, 64 46 76(5).

Koryttseva, who was last week's Budapest finalist, will next be facing Tereza Hladikova, who defeated Budapest semifinalist Karoline Sprem, 63 16 64. Ranked No.260, Hladikova will have to be ready to battle the determined Koryttseva.

No. 7 Iveta Benesova was also locked in a tense battle, as she fought her doubles partner Galina Voskoboeva 64 46 61. Now with a 4-0 head-to-head lead, Benesova has played Voskoboeva once every year since 2005. This will be Benesova's fourth quarterfinal on Tour this season, having finished runner-up at Estoril and as a quarterfinalist at Acapulco and Prague. On Saturday she will face No.1 seed Szavay.

No. 4 seed Pauline Parmentier got a ticket to the quarterfinals after her win over former No. 14 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 64 46 61. Parmentier is the only seed left on the bottom half, the rest been on the top.

Another qualifier who's through to the quarters is Lucie Hradecka, who swiftly beat No.5 seed Timea Bacsinszky, 61 64. It was a disappointing defeat for Bacsinszky, who reached the semifinals at Strasburg in May. Hradecka will battle it out on Saturday against Austrian wildcard Patricia Mayr for a place in the semifinals, which are also scheduled to be played on Saturday due to the rain-induced backlog of matches.

Schnyder survives battle, Bartoli through; Zvonareva heartbroken

On Thursday in Stanford, two seeds ahd the toughest matches of the week so far, but they fought hard to win them. Marion Bartoli was struggling against British Anna Keothavong, and Patty Schnyder was down three sets points in the first set to Alisa Kleybanova.

No. 6 seed Marion Bartoli was battling her way to victory over Anne Keothavong, and survived it to win 63 16 75. But the match between No. 5 Patty Schnyder and Alisa Kleybanova is a different story.

Schnyder rallied back from 4-2 down and she also handled three set points down in the tiebreak in the first set, at 6-5 down, 7-6 down, and 8-7 down, but eventually Patty was strong enough and won the set in the 10-8 in the tiebreak. The second set was more simple and Schnyder continued to take control and won the match 76(8) 64.

Bartoli, seeded sixth, had an even tougher fight against British Keothavong, as the Brit bounced back from losing the first set to winning the second, but Bartoli was to much for the Brit and took the match 63 16 75.

Qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak had reached her third and biggest quarterfinal of her career after a win over Sybille Bammer 64 75.

"I beat her at Roland Garros and I knew she wanted her revenge here; I think she played really well but today I was a bit tougher than her," Wozniak said. "This was my fifth match of the week, including qualifying, so I've gotten used to the conditions and the heat, which definitely helps as well."

Samantha Stosur, who fell to Wozniak in the qualifying rounds, came back as a lucky loser, and pulled so far the biggest upset of the tournement, stunning Vera Zvonareva in straight sets in an hour and six minutes, 63 62. This is Stosur's second time reaching the quarterfinals here at Stanford, the first being in 2006 after beating Nicole Vaidisova.

All four quarterfinals will take Stadium court on Friday. Top seed Serena Williams faces Schnyder, No.2 seed Anna Chakvetadze takes on Bartoli, Wozniak faces Stosur and Dominika Cibulkova faces Ai Sugiyama.

Mayr just in time to finish match; rain delays the rest

More rain was disturbing Day 4 at the Austrian tournament, and only wildcard Patricia Mayr was able to finish her match. Tomorrow, the day will be filled with matches and some players will have to play two matches in one day, and hopefully the rain won't mess anything up.

Patricia Mayr, who was given a wildcard to compete here, was in time to finish her match before the rain, and easily sent Rossana de los Rios packing in a straight sets victory, 63 63.

Having only ever played on the ITF Circuit and in Tour qualifying, what better place for Mayr to secure success on her Tour debut than in her home country. De los Ríos has been on the Tour for much of the past 17 years and has enjoyed considerable success, but Mayr was too much for the Paraguayan, who had reached the second round after Alizé Cornet retired from the tournament on Wednesday due to illness.

Fans and other spectators will be happy on Friday, as they will watch double the number of matches that are usually played. Friday will feature top seed Agnes Szavay, No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki, former top 20 players Karoline Sprem and Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and local stars Melanie Klaffner and last year's runner-up Yvonne Meusburger.

Serena survives debut match; Hantuchova goes flying home

In Stanford, California, three of the top four seeds made their first appearances of the week on court, but only two of them survived their battles. It was Anna and Serena who made it through to the next round, but Daniela was the one who was sent flying home.

Anna Chakvetadze, seeded second, was the first of the trio to roam the courts at Stanford, and she managed to get past Shahar Peer in an easy two-setter, 64 63. Although Chakvetadze was broken twice, she broke back four times on the way to the win.

"Even though the score was 63 64, the match was pretty tough, especially in the second set," Chakvetadze said. "Shahar is a great fighter, but she sometimes plays a bit defensive and doesn't attack so much, so I had to take the opportunity to do that myself. I'm pleased with the match, my first on hardcourt for a while."

Anna hopes to repeat her hardcourt success this year just like last year, and after a third round loss in Wimbledon last year, she went on a twelve-match winning streak, winning in Cincinnati, and here, and then she won her first three matches in san diego before being defeated by Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. She is coming off another earlier-than-expected loss at Wimbledon - falling in the fourth round as the No.8 seed - so another good start to the summer could be on the horizon.

"I'm here to defend my title," Chakvetadze said. "The draw is much tougher this year but I'll try my best. My goal is to play as well as I did at this time last year."

Fourth seeded Hantuchova was the next of the trio to take the court, and she suffered a 63 61 loss to Ai Sugiyama. Hantuchova is playing just her second event of the year, after missing three months due to a right foot injury. She made a return at Wimbledon this year seeded tenth, but lost in the second round. The loss to Sugiyama may not have all been due to rustiness, however; the Japanese veteran has always done well against the Slovak, winning five of their previous eight meetings as well (and now six of nine).

Top seeded Serena Williams had a hard time on court when playing at night in Stanford. It wasn't an easy match, but Serena still won to the 15-year-old Michelle Larcher di Brito in a tight three-setter, 46 63 62. Larcher de Brito was fired up after winning the first set, making a 2-0 lead in the second, but Williams was the stronger and rallied back to win the three-setter.

"I never underestimate anyone, especially when they play me, because they'll always bring out their best game," Williams said. "In a way it was surprising, but you've just got to deal with it. I had a plan and I started playing better, and it's encouraging for me to bounce back after losing the first set."

"I started off really well; I slowed down a little bit, but overall I was playing well the whole match," Larcher de Brito said. "Obviously she played such a great game. She's Serena Williams. I didn't have anything to lose and I gave it my all." "I was getting close to an upset, but now I have a lot of things to work on, and a lot of years ahead of me."

Although Serena Williams is playing the Bank of the West Classic for the first time, the Williams brand has done very well at the Tier II stop in the past. Venus made the final in six of seven trips to Stanford, winning the title twice, in 2000 (beating Lindsay Davenport in the final) and 2002 (beating Kim Clijsters).

"I've never been able to make it here," Williams added. "I'm happy that I'm here. There's a nice atmosphere and it feels good to play in Stanford."

In the only other match of the day, Dominika Cibulkova followed up her first round upset over No.8 seed Nadia Petrova with a 62 63 second round win over Kateryna Bondarenko.

The other four second round matches will take place on Thursday. No.3 seed Vera Zvonareva faces lucky loser Samantha Stosur, No.5 seed Patty Schnyder faces Alisa Kleybanova, No.6 seed Marion Bartoli faces qualifier Anne Keothavong and Sybille Bammer faces another qualifier, Aleksandra Wozniak.

Szavay prevails into second round;Cornet is defeated by illness

The top two seeds made their debut at the Gastein Ladies. One succeeded, but one failed to go through to the next round. Agnes Szavay, the top seed advanced to the second round, and that means that No. 2 seed Alize Cornet couldn't make it.

Szavay lost in the first round of last week's Budapest, but that didn't repeat here in Austria, as she easily defeated lucky loser Viktoriya Kutuzova in straight sets, 64 62. Szavay is just one win away from reaching her fourth clay court quarterfinal of the season, having gone that far at Amelia Island, Charleston and Berlin. She next faces wildcard Melanie Klaffner for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The second seeded Cornet, who won in Budapest last week, was defeated by illness today, and retired from her debut match after winning the first set 6-2, losing the second 2-6, and losing her serve early in the third set to Rossana de los Rios. It will be Rios who will paly in the next round, against Austrian wildcard Patricia Mayr.

Caroline Wozniacki, the second highest ranked player left (after Szavay), easily demolished her first opponent of the tournament, Hsieh Su-Wei, in just 43 minutes, 61 61. For Wozniacki, it has been a breakthrough year, but all of her best results are on other surfaces. In win-loss, she was just 6-4 on clay before heading into Bad Gastein, her best results are finishing in the third round in Rome and in Roland Garros. She will face Mariya Koryttseva, a finalist at Palermo last week, in the second round.

Other players winning first round matches on Wednesday were No.5 seed Timea Bacsinszky, Karolina Sprem, Yvonne Meusburger, qualifiers Lucie Hradecka and Tereza Hladikova and wildcard Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Sprem took out No.8 seed Vera Dushevina, 63 64, the only seeded upset other than Cornet's retirement.

Schnyder prevails into second round; Petrova, Schiavone do the opposite

Patty Schnyder cruised through to the second round, but both Nadia Petrova and Francesca Schiavone were ousted, as the first round at Stanford was ended with mixed results.

Scnhyder, the fifth seed, needed just 44 minutes to demolish wildcard Amber Liu, 61 61. Schnyder lost only 5 points on her serve and won nearly two thirds of the points on Liu's serve on the way to the quick and easy victory. This is Schnyder's 20th victory of the year.

Petrova and Schiavone weren't playing as well as Schnyder, as they both lost their first round matches. Petrova, seeded seventh, was stunned by Domininka Cibulkova in a three-setter, 64 36 63, and Schiavone, seeded eighth, fell to qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, 26 63 62. Cibulkova's win over the No.17-ranked Petrova was her fourth Top 20 win of the year; Wozniak's win over the No.20-ranked Schiavone was a first career Top 20 win for the big-hitting Canadian.

On Monday, the only other Top 8 seed to contest a first round match, No.6 seed Marion Bartoli, won through to the second round. The Top 4 seeds - Serena Williams, Anna Chakvetadze, Vera Zvonareva and Daniela Hantuchova - all got first round byes and will begin their week in the second round.

Winners in matches between unseeded players were Shahar Peer, who defeated qualifier Melinda Czink, 75 60; qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito, who beat Gisela Dulko, 75 76(1); lucky loser Samantha Stosur, who beat Anastasia Rodionova, 63 61; and qualifier Anne Keothavong, who beat Sania Mirza, 76(4) 61.

Zakopalova stunned by Ani; Benesova, Parmentier prevail

The Gastein Ladies tournament started slow after rain delayed all the matches that were supposed to be played, but on Day 2, the sky weren't full of clouds and all the matches were completed.

No. 8 seed Iveta Benesova was the first seed on the court, and showed full strengh after a not-so-easy win to Kirsten Flipkens, 67(5) 75 64. Benesova had a bad week last week, as she was knocked out in the first round of Budapest, but she sems to have made a recovery after today's win.

Maret Ani was revengeful and beat No.9 seed Klara Zakopalova on her thrid try. Ani met Zakopalova in Rome in 2004 and Palermo in 2005, but didn't have success, until now. Ani has had a good year on the ITF Circuit and her best result on the Tour this year was reaching the semifinals at Estoril, losing to Benesova.

The last match of the day was between No. 6 seed Pauline Parmentier and Tathiana Garbin. The two were squaring off for the very first time and Parmentier prevailed to move into the second round with a win of 62 76(3). Parmentier will now play the winner of Wednesday's match between Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko and German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

The last two players to win first round matches on Tuesday were Galina Voskoboeva and Melanie Klaffner. Voskoboeva beat Sanda Mamic, 46 64 60, while Klaffner, a wildcard into this week's draw, beat Lucie Safarova, 63 64.

Stanford's first matches are complete

In Stanford, all three matches were completed. Only unseeded players played today and they were Ai Sugiyama, Alexa Glatch, Elena Vesnina, Alisa Kleybanova, Sybille Bammer, and Olga Govortsova.

Ai Sugiyama won a thrilling three-setter against American Alexa Glatch, 62 36 75. It seemed obvious that Sugiyama was going to win, but it was surprising that Glatch took it to a three-setter.

Next up was Russian Elena Vesnina against Alisa Kleybanova. Kleybanova took it to a tight three-setter and eventually won it, 46 62 63.

The last match was between mother Sybille Bammer and Russian Olga Govortsova. Sybille was the only player that won her match in two sets today. Bammer easily dismissed Govortsova 75 62.

Rain ruins everything in Bad Gastein

Today in Bad Gastein, it was a bad day as the rain delayed every match that was scheduled, and the matches will be hurried as round one and two will have to be played tomorrow. Only the qualification matches were in time to be finished. I hope the rain won't ruin everything tomorrow.

The hardcourt season has started; clay is still here

This week, the first tounament of the US Open season will take place in Stanford, California. The Bank of West Classic tournament will feature Serena Williams, Anna Chakvetadze, Vera Zvonareva, Daniela Hantuchova, Patty Schnyder, Marion Bartoli, Nadia Petrova, Francesca Schiavone, who are the top 8 seeds.

Anna Chakvetadze is the defending champion and will have to battle her way through some big players to win the title.

Also the Gastein Ladies tournament will be held in Bad Gastein, Austria. The Austrian tournament will feature Agnes Szavay, Alize Cornet, Caroline Wozniacki, Pauline Parmentier, Timea Bacsinszky, Sara Errani, Iveta Bnesova, Vera Dushevina, who are the top 8 seeds in Austria.

Francesca Schiavone is the defending champion but is instead playing in Stanford, and all players will hve to face someone tough to win the title. Gastein Ladies is the last tournament to be held on clay before the US Open Series starts.

Good luck to all players and defending champions of this week.

Errani takes title in Palermo against Russian

In Palermo, Italy, everything was heading towards a final between the two top the seeds, Flavia Pennetta and Anabel Medina Garrigues. But the dream final came to an end when Pennetta was defeated by Sara Errani and Medina Garrigues was ousted by Mariya Koryttseva in the semifinals, and at the end Errani was too good for Koryttseva and beat the Russian in straight sets to take the title on Sunday.

Errani, No. 5 seed at Palermo, pulled of the first major upset in the semis against Pennetta, rallying down from 1-5 in the first set to win the match 75 63. She even saved a set point and then felt in control to take the match against her countrywoman.

"My semifinal match with Flavia was the best match of the tournament for me," said Errani, who fell to Pennetta in the semifinals of Acapulco last year, 62 64. "I went in with nothing to lose and she was playing very well, but when I got down 5-1 I just tried to hang in there. Soon it became 2-5, 3-5, 4-5... without really thinking I came back into the match and just played better and better."

On the other side of the draw, seventh seeded Koryttseva was making a great run in Palermo, even though she went to three sets in her first two matches, and in the quarterfinals she battled against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and eventually won, and going up against Medina Garrigues, it looked like her run was going to end, but Mariya surprised everyone with a straight sets defeat over the second seed.

"My semifinal was a very good match; I was using the right tactics and executed them well," said Koryttseva, whose first final came at Kolkata last year, where she was runner-up to Maria Kirilenko. "I had a tough first few matches but I was feeling really good when I played Anabel. She was a big favorite in that match."

Errani showed many skills in the final against Koryttseva, and even though it went to deuce in many games, it was always Errani who had the better pulled them off, and after an hour and 28 minutes, Errani easily defeated Koryttseva in straight sets, 63 62, to take the title.

"It was a great match for me; maybe neither of us played our best but it was very important for me to win today," Errani said. "I think the difference between us was I was stronger in the long points. It was difficult to stay physically strong the whole week because it's very hot here, but I think I did better in the end."

"I didn't play that well in the final; I was trying my best but it just wasn't my day," Koryttseva said. "She was using smart tactics and I just wasn't able to play my game. It's especially disappointing because I played so well yesterday. I could have won my first title today but I can't think about that - tomorrow is another day and another tournament. I just try to improve my game, day by day."

Cornet takes first career title

This year, Alize Cornet had reached the semifinals or better four times on clay, but she never made it to win her first Tour title. In Budapest, she changed all that, and gained her first title after winning to Andreja Klepac in straight sets, 76(5) 63.

Cornet's early clay court season results ended up in giving her a higher ranking, and also a chance to win a clay tournament, which she did today. Before the clay started to roam, she was in the Top 50, and now she is in the Top 20. Seeded second at the Gaz de France Grand Prix, Cornet was barely challenged in early rounds, winning in straight sets easily to players.

Cornet had more trouble against Klepac. Unseeded Klepac, who took out top seed Agnes Szavay to get into the finals, led 5-3 in the first set, but Cornet was desperate, and took the set 76(5), and in the second set, things seemed more controlled for Cornet, and she took the set to end the match and take the title.

"I was sick this morning; I went to see the doctor before my match and I was not sure I'd be able to play, so it was tough in the beginning of the match, especially since she hits the ball so hard and I knew I had to move well to have a chance," Cornet said. "But when I was behind I just fought as hard as I could, and after I won the first set things went much better for me the rest of the match."

"I knew she had a difficult match yesterday," Cornet said. "For my part I had quite an easy day yesterday, so without my GI illness I was probably in a much better position today physically. But she's really a fighter."

Cornet was one of just two players in the current Top 20 not to have won a Tour title but now shakes that tag, leaving Victoria Azarenka as the only one (the Belarusian has reached four finals though). Cornet also becomes the first French player to win a Tour singles title so far this year (they are now 1-3 in finals).

"I'm so happy to win today. It's my first victory on the Tour, so it's very special. It's my favorite surface and it's a big tournament - a Tier III - so it's really just unbelievable. I've had great results on clay this season. I was just really happy to be able to compete so well in Budapest this week."

Cornet going for first career title

Alize Cornet has never won a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title before, but on Sunday she will have a chance to do it against Andreja Klepac in the final of the Gaz de France Grand Prix.

Cornet, seeded second, had barely been tested in her first two matches of the tournament, and in the semis easily won to Hungary's Greta Arn, who had high hopes of winning her country's tournament, 61 61, in an hour and ten minutes.

Before this year, Cornet had never gotten past the quarterfinals of a Tour event. During this year's clay court season, she got to the semifinals or better four times, including runner-up finishes at Acapulco and Rome.

Andreja Klepac, who will face Cornet in the final, survived a battle in the semis against Karolina Sprem, 62 46 64. In an earlier round, Klepac had taken out No. 1 seed Agnes Szavay in straight sets, and in this match, Klepac had all sorts of troubles as she lost the second set and was 3-0 down in the third. But after 2 hours and 40 minutes of play, Klepac had finally closed it out to reach the first final of her career.

French teen on the way to first title

Only one seed made it through to the semifinals of the Gaz de France Grand Prix, but hopes are still high for the local players as the quarterfinals came to an end today.

After the exit of top seed Agnes Szavay, No. 2 seed Alize Cornet is arguably the favorite to win the Tier III tournament, especially after her straight sets win to 63 62 against Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Groenefeld's highest rank in the world was No. 14, but after her comeback to tennis, Cornet was just too much to handle.

Greta Arn had a good day after she beat No.7 Klara Zakopalova 61 60, the second seed remaining before the quarterfinals came into play. The last match of the day took only 45 miutes to complete, as the Hungarian pleased the home crowd.

22-year-old Andreja Klepac also continued her run by going through to the semis after defeating Petra Kvitova in straight sets, 76(2) 60. Klepac, who reached the quarters of Pattaya and Istanbul, is amazed to find herself in her first semifinal of her career, and her win over top seed Szavay will definitely help her in the match against Karolina Sprem in the semis on Saturday.

Croatian Karolina Sprem easily defeated Katalin Marosi 60 61, demolishing the hopes of the Hungarian being in the final of her home country's tournament. It wasn't going to be easy for Marosi, as Sprem beat a seed in the first seed.

Sprem, a former world No.17, has had a promising season so far after a 10-month layoff following right elbow surgery. Her best result since returning in March had been a third-round finish at Amelia Island where she defeated Daniela Hantuchova, her third career Top 10 win. This is Sprem's first Tour semifinal since reaching the Kolkata final in late 2005, and like Cornet and Klepac she is eyeing for her first Tour title.