Liezel & Nadia Win Too
CHARLESTON, SC, USA - Things got pretty tight at the end but Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova were able to hold on to capture the Family Circle Cup doubles title, beating Vania King and Michaella Krajicek in the final, 63 64.
Although they were playing together for the very first time, Huber and Petrova's individual experience as doubles players surpassed almost everyone else in the draw, Huber with 41 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles titles to her credit and Petrova with 18; and in their first four matches together they didn't even lose a set, collecting their 42nd and 18th career doubles titles, respectively.
Petrova was the only one of the four doubles finalists to have won in Charleston before, doing so last year with Bethanie Mattek-Sands - in fact, the Russian had also won the singles title here before, four years ago.
"It's a fantastic experience. I was coming here this year only to compete in singles and Liezel's husband offered me to play doubles with her this week," Petrova said. "I saw this as an opportunity to work on my doubles game and have a chance to defend my title from last year. I had wonderful fun with Liezel."
King and Krajicek were playing together for just the second time but their first venture was wildly successful, as they won the Memphis title earlier this year. En route to their second final they had beaten the two most accomplished women in the doubles draw, No.2 seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs.
"In Australia we said we would play in Memphis. We did and it went really well," Krajicek said. "This week has been even more special because it's obviously an even bigger tournament, and we beat the second seeds. Every match we played really, really well. Today was actually the first time we've lost a set playing together. We'll definitely be playing together much more again in the future."
(c) 2010 WTA Tour, Inc
Serena, Sharapova pull out of Charleston event
CHARLESTON: Serena Williams has withdrawn from the WTA Tour tournament next week, along with Russian Maria Sharapova and defending champion Sabine Lisicki, organizers said.
Williams said in a statement released by the tournament that the knee injury that has sidelined her since her Australian Open triumph "has not fully healed" and that she looks forward to "returning to the WTA Tour in Europe."
Lisicki is out because of a left ankle injury. Sharapova announced her withdrawl as she continues to recover from a right elbow injury that hindered her at the Indian Wells hardcourt tournament last month and prompted her to withdraw from the Miami hardcourt event that ended last weekend.
She was diagnosed with a bone bruise.
The clay-court season will pick up steam in Europe later this month, building to the French Open at Roland Garros, which starts on May 23.
Copyright (c) 2010 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd
Venus vs. Clijsters: a blockbuster final
KEY BISCAYNE -- Don't expect finesse, moonballs or long rallies in Saturday afternoon's blockbuster women's final between Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters at the Sony Ericsson Open.
As longtime CBS-TV tennis color commentator, Mary Carillo would say, this final between two former Sony champions and past No. 1s will be "big babe,'' tennis at its best.
"Not only big babe, but Nuke LaLoosh tennis, the crazy pitcher from Bull Durham,'' Carillo said. "They both go big and both can play brilliantly. But both can hit it all over the park. You have to expect streaks and ups and downs with those two. That's how they play."
With top-ranked Serena Williams on the sidelines, before the tournament Carillo agreed that the third-seeded Venus had to be favored to win her fourth Miami title, but first since 2001.
And that she'd probably be playing the final against one of the Belgian women in the midst of comebacks with the 14th-seeded Clijsters more likely than 33rd-ranked Justine Henin because of her penchant for winning hard-court titles (27 to Venus' 25), including Miami in 2005 when she was unseeded.
This is the first final between past champions since 1993, when Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario beat Steffi Graf.
Both go for broke and hold nothing back. Neither could care less if their unforced errors double their winners as long as the end result is a title to add to their gaudy collection of 79, including nine Grand Slams with Venus holding the lion's share of seven.
"I like to think of myself as a big point player,'' said Williams, 29. "When the stakes get a little higher it feels good to be able to pull a little extra something out.''
The 6-1, 160-pound Williams can pull out her WTA-record 124-mph serve, while the 5-8, 150-pound Clijsters can resort to her leg-splitting defensive athleticism.
France's Marion Bartoli, who Williams dispatched 6-3, 6-4 in a Thursday semi, agree that the serve and service return could be the difference.
"I think that's what sets them apart from the other players. Like Serena, when you get her in front of you, it's not like the average player returning your serve,'' Bartoli said.
Williams has won 15 straight matches, tying a career-high, and has won the last three events she's played, including Dubai, Acapulco and an exhibition event in N.Y. where she beat Clijsters in the final.
"We've had some battles,'' said Clijsters, 25, 3-3 on hard courts against Williams but 5-6 overall , including three 'official' wins in a row with the last coming in her run to the U.S. Open title last August in a bizarre 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 round-of-16 match.
"Venus is a player that if she's playing her best, she's really tough to beat.''
However, Williams, who has won five Wimbledon's on grass and two U.S. Opens, hasn't won a major on a hard court since the 2001 Open.
"It's a high school baseball game, a lot of runs, some bad pitches and no shutouts,'' Carillo said. "Venus gets tougher and tougher to beat as the tournament goes on and usually pulls it off at the end."
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Dozen up for Venus
Venus Williams made it 12 wins in a row as she cruised past Roberta Vinci in the third round of the WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Three-time Miami champion Williams took just 70 minutes to dispose of her Italian opponent 6-1 6-4 to move into the fourth round at Crandon Park.
Williams, the number three seed in Miami, won successive tournament titles in Dubai and Acapulco, and her win over Vinci made it 12 on the spin.
Vinci, by contrast, has now lost 12 consecutive matches against players in the top five, so it was perhaps no surprise to see her lose to the American powerhouse.
It could have been a different story though, had world number 55 Vinci taken more than just the one of her seven break points offered up by Williams.
The 1998, 1999 and 2001 winner hit six booming aces but also threw in seven double-faults, but Vinci was unable to take advantage on the crucial points.
Confidence
"Obviously being on a winning streak helps my confidence every time," said Williams.
"I still ultimately believe in me and my game - of course I really enjoy winning as many as I can in a row."
Williams will face Daniela Hantuchova in the next round after the Slovakian 19th seed saved eight break points on her way to beating Nadia Petrova 6-2 6-4.
Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova saw off Agnes Szavay in straight sets to book her place in the last 16, breaking the Hungarian's serve six times on the way to a 65-minute 6-2 6-3 victory.
Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska beat number 25 seed Ana Ivanovic 7-5 7-5 to progress and France's Marion Bartoli eventually battled past Gisela Dulko7-6 (7/2) 6-4 to set up a clash with Kuznetsova.
Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer, the US Open semi-finalist, beat Petra Martic 6-3 6-3, while Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan got the better of Andrea Petkovic 6-0 5-7 7-5.
(c) 2010 BSkyB
Jankovic breezes past Stosur into final
Jelena Jankovic cruised into the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Australian Samantha Stosur on Saturday (AEDT).
The sixth-seeded Serb broke her opponent twice in each set to wrap up the win in one hour, 28 minutes on a hot afternoon at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Jankovic will meet second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final, the Dane having beat Polish fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-3.
Eighth-seeded Stosur had not dropped a set on her way into the last four but she struggled for rhythm against her higher-ranked opponent, piling up 36 unforced errors and four double faults.
The match ended when the Australian mistimed a forehand service return which flew skywards and Jankovic celebrated reaching her first WTA final of the year.
"I feel great," the smiling world number nine said at courtside.
"I am just so happy to be in the final here for the first time.
"I haven't been doing well in the last couple of tournaments. Hopefully I can do it on Sunday," added Jankovic, who will face Dane Caroline Wozniacki or Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
"She was serving bombs out there and it was so tough for me to return.
"I was thinking: 'How can I do it?' I tried to stay focused on my returns. It was a really good win for me."
(c)2009 ABC
Dulko denies Henin another dream run
INDIAN WELLS, California -- Justine Henin, whose return to tennis has so far yielded two finals appearances in two tournaments - including a Grand Slam runner-up finish - won't have another dream run here.
Argentina's Gisela Dulko defeated the former world number one 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 on Friday to reach the third round of the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament, an event Henin won in 2004 and in which Dulko has never made it past the quarter-finals.
"It feels great - I don't think I can talk right now I'm so excited," said Dulko, ranked 37th in the world and seeded 31st here. "She's an unbelievable champion."
Henin became the first woman to hang up her racquet while still the top ranked player in the world in May 2008, citing fatigue.
But in a spectacular return, she reached the Australian Open final in her first Grand Slam tournament on the comeback trial, losing to current world number one Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
After the final Williams joined Russian duo Nadia Petrova and Elena Dementieva, both of whom fell to Henin in earlier rounds in Melbourne, in saying that the 27-year-old was a better player than she was before she quit.
Henin had reached the final in Brisbane in her first WTA tour event back from her 18-month hiatus.
Still ineligible for a world ranking until she played a third event, Henin received a wildcard into Indian Wells.
Her second-round departure means she is projected to re-enter the world rankings in the top 35.
Copyright (c) 2010 AFP
Russian is Monterrey marvel
Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova staged a brilliant comeback to win her second match of the day and land the Monterrey Open title.
The 18-year-old won her first tournament on the WTA Tour by recovering from a slow start to beat second seed Daniela Hantuchova 1-6 6-1 6-0 in the final.
Pavlyuchenkova, the third seed, was given a major test by Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in her semi-final, which had to be played on Sunday after rain washed out much of Saturday's scheduled play. She won 6-3 2-6 6-1, and then had the opportunity to rest as the doubles final took place.
Slovakian Hantuchova had just enough time to complete her Saturday match before the poor weather arrived, and she looked set to take advantage as she raced away with the first set.
However, the 26-year-old crumbled as she chased what would have been her first title since triumphing at Indian Wells in 2007, and Pavyluchenkova dominated the second and third sets.
Copyright (c) 2010 The Press Association
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