Safina humiliates herself again on Monday at China Open; Venus has same result

The biggest upsets of the tournament happened on Monday in Beijing, China, as the No. 1 seed Dinara Safina and the No. 3 seed Venus Williams were both ousted in tough scores by young opponents.

Safina embarrassed herself with a loss to the No. 226 in the world, as wildcard Zhang Shuai won the match with a score of 75 76(5).

"I'm just having some bad losses right now. So many matches that are very close, ones that I should win, having set points or match points every time," Safina said. "It's very disappointing, I'd like to take a break now. I'm very upset with myself."

Serena will dethrone Safina from the No. 1 rank if she wins her next match against Ekaterina Makarova, which will be played on Tuesday.

Venus lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat her in the first round of last week's tournament in Tokyo, Japan, with a score of 36 61 64.

No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had the opposite result compare to the seeds that lost, as the Russian beat Anabel Medina Garrigues with an easy score of 62 61.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Singles - Second Round
(WC) Zhang Shuai (CHN) d. (1) Dinara Safina (RUS) 75 76(5)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (3) Venus Williams (USA) 36 61 64
(6) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 62 61
(16) Li Na (CHN) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 46 60 64
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) d. Alize Cornet (FRA) 76(0) 64
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 63 63

Singles - First Round
(13) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. (Q) Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 61 57 62
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 75 62
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Sabine Lisicki (GER) 60 10 ret. (GI illness)
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. (WC) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 57 63 63
(LL) Vania King (USA) d. (LL) Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 64 63

Sharapova captures title in Tokyo

On Saturday, despite losing the first two games, Maria Sharapova found her range to win five games in a row to lead 5-2, and looked to be on way to closing out the first set, when Jelena Jankovic's wrist injury took place.

"It was a tough start today. Jelena started off so strong. It was my second final of the year and I was a bit nervous," Sharapova told the crowd in her on-court interview. "But I played well enough this week to know I could give her a good match. Unfortunately Jelena had to stop. I wish her a speedy recovery, and hopefully we can play again soon."

Sharapova's career seemed in limbo when she was forced to miss nine months of play between August 2008 and May of this year because of a right shoulder injury. The former world No.1 hadn't won a title since returning but came close several times, including a runner-up finish in Toronto in August. Now, she collects the first singles title of her comeback and the 20th of her Tour career.

"I want to thank all of the fans for coming out here and supporting me, it meant a lot to me," Sharapova added. "To go from not knowing whether you'll ever play the sport again to holding a trophy, it's an unbelievable feeling. You realize what a gift it is to hit a tennis ball. I've put in so much work and this is just exciting."

Saturday, September 3, 2009

Singles - Final

Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (7) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 52 ret. (right wrist injury)

Sharapova one step away from first title in 17 months, and will face Jankovic for the crown

Maria Sharapova got a step closer to winning her first title in 17 months in Tokyo, as the Russian prevailed against No. 11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska to get to the final, while awaiting her is No. 7 seed Jelena Jankovic, who ousted Li Na in straight sets on Friday.

Jankovic took the courts first, beating Na with an easy score of 64 63.

Sharapova won the first set to Radwanska, lost the second, and came back to win the third. The final score was 63 26 64.

"I missed those match points by a hair," said Sharapova, who had match points at 5-3 in the third set but ended up closing it out a game later. "I knew I had to keep going for it and I did. I was able to step it up. I'm one win away now and I have to lay it all on the line."

"I expect a tough match," Sharapova said. "Jelena is a very solid player, a great mover, so it will be a very physical match. I'll have to fight for every point."

Friday, October 2, 2009

Singles - Semifinals
(7) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (15) Li Na (CHN) 64 63
Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (11) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 63 26 64

Sharapova advances to semis in Tokyo on Day 5

No. 7 seed Jelena Jankovic became the last top 10 seed to survive on Thursday, as No. 8 seed Victoria Azarenka went crashing out, while Maria Sharapova got past Iveta Benesova in tough straight sets to get to the semis in Tokyo.

Jankovic broke a four-match losing streak against against No. 14 seed Marion Bartoli to advance, winning the match with a score of 64 63.

Jankovic will next face No. 15 seed Li Na, who fought to get past Azarenka with a tough score of 76(7) 46 76(4), despite Azarenka being up 5-1 in the first set.

Sharapova beat Benesova with a score of 75 64 to get to the semis, and she will face No. 11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Magdalena Rybarikova 63 61, for a spot in the final.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Singles - Quarterfinals

(7) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (14) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 64 63

(15) Li Na (CHN) d. (8) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 76(7) 46 76(4)

(11) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 63 61

Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 64 75