Azarenka suffers early exit; Jankovic easily advances on Day 3 in Stuttgart

The first big upset at the Porsche Grand Prix took place on Wednesday, as No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka was ousted by Gisela Dulko in straight sets, which was the only match that kicked off the second round.

Dulko had to play a tough game to beat the Belarussian, as she won the match with a score of 64 63.

No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic was the highest seed in action on Day 3 in Stuttgart, and she won her match easily to Dominika Cibulkova, 61 61.

No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova came back from losing the second set to qualifier Andrea Petkovic to win with a score of 64 57 61.

No. 6 seed Nadia Petrova also took it to a three-setter, against Jie Zheng, and eventually won, 64 57 64.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Singles - Second Round

Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 64 63

Singles - First Round

(3) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 61 61

(5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. (Q) Andrea Petkovic (GER) 64 57 61

(6) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 64 57 64

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 62 60

Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Alizй Cornet (FRA) 63 61

(WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 64 63

New No. 1 advances, compatriot No. 2 seed does too

The seeds had a good day on Tuesday at the Porsche Grand Prix, as the new World No. 1 Dinara Safina took less than an hour to demolish her opponent, and No. 2 seed Elena Dementieva took it to a three-setter against a German wildcard.

Safina easily got to the second round after beating Sara Errani, with a score of 60 61, in 51 minutes.

Dementieva faced Anna-Lena Groenefeld in her debut match. The Russian won the first set, and then struggled in the second set and lost it. In the third and final set, Dementieva gained her form and took it easily. The final score was 63 46 63.

There were two other seeds in action, who were No. 7 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No. 8 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Wozniacki won her match to Iveta Benesova, 63 75; and Radwanska won her match to Aleksandra Wozniak, 76(2) 60.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Singles - First Round

(1) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 60 61

(2) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (WC) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)

(7) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 63 75

(8) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 76(2) 60
Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. (Q) Karolina Sprem (CRO) 63 26 61

Li Na (CHN) d. Peng Shuai (CHN) 62 63

Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 63 26 76(4)

Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 63 63

(Q) Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) d. (Q) Alberta Brianti (ITA) 06 64 64

Azarenka wins only main draw match in action on Day 1 in Stuttgart

On the first day of the Porsche Grand Prix, there was only one main draw match in play, which was between No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka and rising star Carla Suarez Navarro.

The Belarussian, who has already won three titles this year, at Brisbane, Memphis and Miami, won the match easily in straight sets to the Spaniard, with a score of 61 64.

Top seed Safina, second seed Dementieva, seventh seed Wozniacki and eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska are all in action on Day 2, with the rest of the seeds - Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petrova, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, playing their first round matches on Wednesday.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Singles - First Round

(4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 61 64

USA, Italy into Fed Cup finals

The semifinals of the Fed Cup came to an end, after teams USA and Italy made astonishing wins against Czech Republic and Russia to get to the final, which will be the held at the very end of the year.

Italy made a great performance against Russia, as they ousted them easily with the score being 4-1. Flavia Pennetta was the first to make a lead in the score, after winning to Anna Chakvetadze 64 60. Francesca Schiavone was next, as she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets, 16 62 63. Kuznetsova then made a breakthrough, as she won to Flavia Pennetta in straight sets, 60 63, which was the only match the Russian team won. Schiavone then had a tough time against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but managed to close it out with a score of 76(7) 46 62. The doubles match featured Sara Errani partnering Roberta Vinci, against Pavlyuchenkova partnering Nadia Petrova. The match was a three setter, and the Italians won with a score of 16 63 64.

USA had a tougher time against the Czech Republic, as they got to the final after winning 3-2. Petra Kvitova was the first to win a match, to Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 63 76(2). American Alexa Glatch than made it a tie, after winning to Iveta Benesova with a score of 61 62. Lucie Safarova made her team get the lead again after winning to Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 63 61. Glatch repeated her victory and won to Petra Kvitova 62 61. The doubles match went to a three-setter, and the Americans, Liezel Huber and Mattek-Sands, succeeded in winning to the Czechs, Iveta Benesova and Kveta Peschke, 26 76(2) 61.