Dementieva wins in IW

The tournament favorites had been dropping like flies in the last few days but it was a good day for the top seeds for a change, as Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic all moved into the quarterfinals without too much trouble.

Dementieva and Radwanska were the first win. Dementieva, the No.4 seed, beat No.19 seed Aravane Rezai, 63 63; Radwanska, the No.5 seed, beat No.11 seed Marion Bartoli, 63 62. Dementieva and Radwanska maintained perfect records against those opponents.

"I'm improving a little bit with each match here. I hope to improve some more before my next match against Agnieszka," said Dementieva, who has lost three of her five previous meetings with Radwanska; they will meet in the quarters. "It's going to be a completely different match next. It's about my game. I need to create something, go for the winner. I can't just go on the court and be patient, because there's nothing to wait for. Agnieszka doesn't make any mistakes."

Wozniacki and Jankovic followed their fellow Top 10 players into the quarters later in the day. Seeded No.2, Wozniacki recovered from a second set slump and charged through a 30-minute third set to beat No.16 seed Nadia Petrova, 63 36 60; Jankovic, the No.6 seed, beat No.17 seed Shahar Peer, 62 62.

"I had a tough match last night and I didn't know how I would hold up physically. And Shahar is a really dangerous opponent," Jankovic said. "I just had to hold my ground and go for my shots. I'm really happy with my performance. I never backed up. I just kept going for my shots, served well and returned well."

Wozniacki is the highest seed left, but doesn't necessarily look beyond the next match: "I believe in myself, but I never actually look at the draw. I take it one match at a time, because there are a lot of great players out there. I could have been out in my first match."

Although it wasn't an upset on paper, No.8 seed Samantha Stosur's 62 75 win over No.12 seed Vera Zvonareva did mean one thing - there will be a new Indian Wells champion this year. Zvonareva was one of six players in this year's draw who had won the Premier title before, but the only one in the round of 16.

In other day session matches, No.18 seed Zheng Jie beat wildcard Alicia Molik, 63 46 76(1), winning 11 of the last 12 points of the match; No.28 seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat No.13 seed Yanina Wickmayer, 64 64.

"Last time I played Zheng I lost to her," said Wozniacki, who hasn't taken a set off of Zheng in their two previous meetings; they will play in the quarters. "She's a great player. She has had a great start to the year, playing aggressively and taking the balls early - I need to be ready and focused."

In a very late match, No.23 seed Alisa Kleybanova, a day after upsetting No.14 seed Kim Clijsters, rallied from 62 41 down to beat Carla Suarez Navarro, 26 76(2) 64. The Spaniard had taken out No.1 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the tournament; she also served for the match at 62 54.

Jankovic ousted in three tough sets by Latvian on Day 2 in Monterrey

Jelena Jankovic became the first big casualty at the Monterrey Open on Monday night, succumbing to Latvian upstart Anastasija Sevastova in a topsy-turvy three-setter, 57 64 64.

Jankovic, the No.1 seed in the last leg of the Latin American swing, saved set point down 5-4 to win the first set but was on the other end of momentum shifts in the next two, losing a 3-1 lead in the second set and 4-2 in the third.

Sevastova - at No.72 Latvia's highest-ranked player, in fact their only player in the Top 500 - earned her first Top 10 win by beating the world No.9. She had played Top 10 players twice before but had lost, to Svetlana Kuznetsova at last year's US Open and to Agnieszka Radwanska at Dubai a few weeks ago.

In the second night match, No.4 seed Dominika Cibulkova reversed the upset trend with a 64 63 win over tricky Italian player Roberta Vinci.

No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No.5 seed Agnes Szavay were among the winners in the day session. Among the unseeded winners in the day session was Polona Hercog, who is coming off her very first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final - and her first Tour title of any kind, in doubles - at last week's Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presentado por HSBC in Acapulco.

"I feel a bit tired because I played singles and doubles last week, which is why I'm not playing doubles here in Monterrey," Hercog said. "It is a funny feeling being back on hardcourts but I'm getting used to it. I'm not worried about my first matches because I'm getting used to the surface. I hope to keep playing well."


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Singles - First Round
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) d. (1/WC) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 57 64 64
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (Q) Anna Tatishvili (GEO) 61 62
(4/WC) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 63
(5) Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 36 63
Sara Errani (ITA) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 62 63
Iveta Benesova (CZE) d. Jill Craybas (USA) 36 62 61
Polona Hercog (SLO) d. (Q) Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 62 64
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 62 64
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 63 61
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 76(5) 64
Patricia Mayr (AUT) d. (Q) Olga Savchuk (UKR) 76(5) 60

Two seeds out, one seed through on Day 1 in Monterrey

It was a mixed bag for the seeds on Day 1 of the Monterrey Open, with two falling and one advancing via retirement.

Anabel Medina Garrigues and Lucie Safarova, the No.6 and No.8 seeds, respectively, were both bundled out of the tournament by their first round opponents. Safarova was the first to go, falling to Julie Coin, 57 64 64; Medina Garrigues fell in the feature night match to Klara Zakopalova, 75 75.

"It was a great game and I was fortunate to win," commented Coin, who hit an impressive 10 aces during her win over Safarova. "I served well, but she returned very well. I am happy. I hope I can keep winning."

A day after the Winter Olympics in Vancouver came to a close, Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, the No.7 seed, moved into the second round when her opponent, Laura Granville, was forced to retire at 3-all in the first set due to a left wrist injury.

In the only other main draw match of the day, Vania King rallied from 64 53 down to beat Sandra Zahlavova in an all-unseeded battle, 46 75 63.

Lourdes Domínguez Lino, Olga Savchuk, Anna Tatishvili and Corinna Dentoni all secured berths in the main draw with qualifying victories.

Jelena Jankovic is the top seed this week and plays her first round Tuesday.


Monday, March 1, 2010

Singles - First Round
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) d. (6) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 75 75
(7) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) d. Laura Granville (USA) 33 ret. (left wrist injury)
Julie Coin (FRA) d. (8) Lucie Safarova (CZE) 57 64 64
Vania King (USA) d. Sandra Zahlavova (CZE) 46 75 63

Venus captures title in Acapulco

Ten-hour time difference, her first tournament of the year on clay, opponents she had never seen before... Venus Williams had some serious hurdles in the way but she jumped them all in Acapulco this week, capturing her second straight Abierto Mexicano TELCEL title.

Having flown in from Dubai from a successful title defense at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Williams went straight back to work as the No.1 seed in Acapulco, her first tournament on clay since the French last year. She won her first two rounds in straight sets, but from there on it was anything but easy for the seven-time Grand Slam champion and former No.1.

Facing Spanish qualifier Laura Pous Tio in the quarterfinals, Williams had to pull off one of the biggest comebacks of her career to survive: down 5-1 in the third set, she won six straight games to win, 46 63 75. She had another blip in the second set of her semifinal against Romania's Edina Gallovits but regrouped better in the third set to prevail, 64 26 62, and move into the final.

Williams' final opponent was first-time finalist Polona Hercog - ranked No.60, seeded No.8 - and after a very slow start, losing the first set, 6-2, she saw the finish line and went into overdrive, powering through the next two sets to win her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year - and the 43rd of her career - by a 26 62 63 scoreline, one minute past the two hour mark.

"I don't want to stop here - hopefully next year I can win this one three times," Williams said. "I definitely expected her to play tough. She didn't miss too many shots and I have to give her credit, not just for today but for her whole week. Even though she was playing well, I had to find a way to make my game better."

"The public was great, they really lifted me up today," Hercog said. "I went on the court today to win. I did my best and I'm really happy with this week. Today and this whole week was a great experience for me. I hope to take it and move forward from it, and hopefully I continue with this intensity going forward."

Williams already led all active players in career titles coming into this week but is now two ahead of her closest rival (Justine Henin has 41). She is now No.10 on the all-time list (tied with Martina Hingis). This is her ninth career title on clay, second among active players to Henin (who has 12 clay court titles).

"It's not enough," Williams said about those titles. "Hopefully I'll win more and more this year. I love winning titles, I love seeing that number go up. It feels good. There is no limit. Who wants to have a limit on titles? Not me."