Women's Tennis Blog - Page 640 of 770 - Matches, Fashion & Love Stories

Dulko shocks Henin at Indian Wells, Baltacha upsets Li

Post author By Marija
Post date March 13, 2010
11 Comments on Dulko shocks Henin at Indian Wells, Baltacha upsets Li

Argentinean world No.37 Gisela Dulko defeated seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, while British qualifier Elena Baltacha upset seventh seed Li Na of China.

The 31st-seeded Dulko broke wildcard Henin’s serve three times in the third set, converting every break point she had, before scoring a 6-2 1-6 6-4 win. When Dulko won the match, after two hours, she fell to her knees as spectators applauded to congratulate her on this amazing victory over Henin, who was a Grand Slam finalist less than two months ago.

The 26-year-old Baltacha achieved her first Top 10 victory by beating tenth-ranked Li Na in the second round. Baltacha’s win came after two hours and 50 minutes, two saved match points, recovery from 5-1 down in the third set tiebreaker and after the Briton “fought her heart out”. World No.65 Baltacha’s final result was 7-6(6) 2-6 7-6(7).

Dulko’s opponent in the third round will be fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, while Baltacha will play wildcard Alicia Molik. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Kim Clijsters Serena Williams

Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters win Laureus World Sports Awards

Post author By Marija
Post date March 11, 2010
8 Comments on Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters win Laureus World Sports Awards

The Laureus World Sports Academy recognized tennis stars Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters to be among the most successful athletes of the past year, naming them winners of the prestigious Laureaus Sports Awards at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The world No.1 Williams won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, while the Laureus Comeback of the Year Award went into the hands of Kim Clijsters. Williams has won her third Laureus Award and second in the same category, following her impressive 2009 Grand Slam successes, that is her victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Clijsters owes her award to her amazing run at the 2009 US Open, when she won the title while playing only her third tournament after a two-year absence. (via On the Baseline)

General

Melanie Oudin signs with Virgin Mobile

Post author By Marija
Post date March 9, 2010
7 Comments on Melanie Oudin signs with Virgin Mobile

Melanie Oudin

World No.41 Melanie Oudin of the United States has signed a four-year sponsorship deal with cellular phone service provider Virgin Mobile.

The surprising 2009 US Open quarterfinalist could earn as much as $2 million from the deal, depending on her tennis results, but is guaranteed approximately $500,000 from the company.

If the 18-year-old Oudin wins this year’s US Open (which is how likely to happen?), Virgin Mobile will donate $1 million to homeless-youth organizations as part of The RE*Generation program. The goal is to raise awareness about the homeless youth in the United States.

Oudin already has deals with BackOffice Associates and AirTran, that both came after her run at the 2009 US Open. (source: Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, photo: Women Who Serve)

General

WTA Tour not Sony Ericsson any more

Post author By Marija
Post date March 8, 2010
7 Comments on WTA Tour not Sony Ericsson any more

The Women’s Tennis Association and Sony Ericsson have extended their agreement to the end of 2012, but in a reduced form.

Sony Ericsson will lose its naming rights when the current six-year $88-million contract expires at the end of 2010, so the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will get back to being simply the WTA Tour, and the prestigious season-ending Championships will not be called the Sony Ericsson Championships any more. Nevertheless, Sony Ericsson will continue to be the leading partner of the WTA Tour.

“To have that leverage, for us to have our own brand back will give us new opportunities to attract revenues. By getting some rights back we can grow further,” said Stacey Allaster, CEO of the WTA Tour.

No financial details have been released, but media reports estimate the new sponsorship deal to be around $27 million for the nearly three-year period. (source: Reuters, photo: warrenski)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Monterrey Open

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova wins first WTA title at Monterrey Open

Post author By Marija
Post date March 8, 2010
4 Comments on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova wins first WTA title at Monterrey Open

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed her maiden Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title by beating Slovakian second seed Daniela Hantuchova in the final of the Monterrey Open in Mexico.

The 18-year-old Pavlyuchenkova was forced to play both her semifinal and her title match in the same day, because of a rain delay. However, that didn’t stop the third seed from winning her first Tour final 1-6 6-1 6-0, defeating Hantuchova for the second time this season, after Dubai.

Prior to winning the Monterrey Open title, Pavlyuchenkova’s Indian Wells semifinal last year was her best result, where she upset Top 10 players Jelena Jankovic and Agnieszka Radwanska. By the way, Jankovic was top seed at the Monterrey Open and lost in the opening round.

Pavlyuchenkova has now risen from No.28 to No.25 in the rankings.

Martina Hingis Nicole Vaidisova

Martina Hingis engaged to Zurich attorney, Nicole Vaidisova to marry Radek Stepanek

Post author By Marija
Post date March 6, 2010
18 Comments on Martina Hingis engaged to Zurich attorney, Nicole Vaidisova to marry Radek Stepanek

Former world No.1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland has become engaged to her boyfriend Andreas Bieri, a 38-year-old Zurich attorney, and will marry him this year.

The 29-year-old five-time Grand Slam champion commented on her engagement for Zisch newspaper: “It’s true: Andreas has made me a marriage proposal. I was totally surprised. Of course I accepted.”

Hingis used to be engaged to fellow tennis player Radek Stepanek. When they broke off their engagement in 2007, Stepanek started dating 11 years younger tennis beauty Nicole Vaidisova and they are getting married as well, as Women Who Serve reports. However, this is not the first time news about Vaidisova’s and Stepanek’s marriage are circulating.

By the way, new tennis blog called Goddesses of the Court has a nice and supportive post about Nicole Vaidisova’s talent and her career slump, that as you know Radek Stepanek is often blamed for.

Jelena Jankovic Monterrey Open

Anastasija Sevastova upsets Jelena Jankovic at Monterrey Open

Post author By Marija
Post date March 3, 2010
9 Comments on Anastasija Sevastova upsets Jelena Jankovic at Monterrey Open

Top seed Jelena Jankovic suffered an upset in the opening round of the $220,000 Monterrey Open in Mexico, falling to world No.72 Anastasija Sevastova in their first encounter.

The ninth-ranked Jankovic saved set point down 5-4 to take the first set, but wasted a 3-1 lead in the second set and 4-2 in the third to eventually lose to Latvia’s only Top 500 player 5-7 6-4 6-4.

The 19-year-old Sevastova has now scored her first Top 10 victory. Before, she had faced two Top 10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2009 US Open and Agnieszka Radwanska at Dubai this year, but lost to both.

Jankovic has played four events so far in 2010 and is yet to reach a quarterfinal. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Ana Ivanovic Kim Clijsters Svetlana Kuznetsova Venus Williams

Venus Williams wins Billie Jean King Cup and $400,000

Post author By Marija
Post date March 2, 2010
22 Comments on Venus Williams wins Billie Jean King Cup and $400,000

The long-awaited Billie Jean King Cup in the BNP Paribas Showdown took place on Monday night in New York and the winner is seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.

Firstly, the one-set, no-ad semifinals were played at the Madison Square Garden. Kim Cijsters defeated Serena Williams’ replacement Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7-2), while Venus Williams took care of Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4. I would like to point out a non-promising statement of Ana Ivanovic, who has a new coach: “It was a tough match. I was actually very nervous, but it makes it an important match. I just wanted to do so well.” I can’t believe we are listening to the same old story.

The final between Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters followed. Williams, who lost in the finals to her sister Serena last year, defeated Clijsters 6-4 3-6 7-5 in front of the crowd of 11,702 and earned $400,000 of the astonishing $1.2 million prize money. Good on you, Venus, for earning $787,000 in prize money in the past two weeks and one day ($350,000 for Dubai victory, $37,000 for winning Acapulco, and now these latest $400,000).

Billie Jean King herself did not attend the event because she is recovering from a recent double-knee replacement.

Elena Dementieva

Alisa Kleybanova wins inaugural Malaysian Open for maiden WTA title

Post author By Marija
Post date February 28, 2010
9 Comments on Alisa Kleybanova wins inaugural Malaysian Open for maiden WTA title

Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova overcame both a rain delay and top-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva to win her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

The fourth-seeded Kleybanova survived some tough matches prior to the final, but in the title match she dominated one of the best players at the moment and cruised to a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Prior to the clash with heavy-hitting world No.29 Kleybanova, the seventh-ranked Dementieva hadn’t dropped a set in Kuala Lumpur and actually lost only an average of less than two games per set.

Before the 2010 Malaysian Open, Kleybanova’s best career singles results were semifinal finishes at Fès, Toronto and Moscow.

Venus Williams

Venus Williams wins second straight Abierto Mexicano TELCEL title

Post author By Marija
Post date February 28, 2010
6 Comments on Venus Williams wins second straight Abierto Mexicano TELCEL title

Fifth-ranked Venus Williams followed up her Dubai title defense by extending her reign in Acapulco, winning the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL for the second time in a row.

The title at the International-level event in Mexico didn’t come easy for the top-seeded Venus, who had to overcome some real hurdles even though she faced opponents much lower ranked than herself.

The first two rounds went by fine, but in the quarterfinals against world No.399 qualifier Laura Pous Tio, Venus was 5-1 down in the third set before pulling off one of her biggest career comebacks. The following semifinal against world No.164 Edina Galovits was also a three-setter. In the title match, the seven-time Grand Slam champion faced first-time finalist, world No.60 and eighth seed Polona Hercog of Slovenia, and fought back after losing the first set to win 2-6 6-2 6-3.

Williams has now won nine titles on clay, coming in second among active players after Justine Henin who has 12. The American has also extended the gap between herself and Henin, having won 43 career titles to Henin’s 41.