Clijsters out of French Open

One of the reasons I like the French Open so much is that red clay tends to be a neutralizer. There are a lot of service breaks, and there are upsets. And when it gets cold and windy, odd things can happen. There was a big upset today: Arantxa Rus took out number 2 seed Kim Clijsters in the second round. Clijsters, who is returning after suffering multiple injuries, was leading, 6-3, 5-2 and held a match point. She held another match point at 5-4, but did not convert that one, either. Then Rus just took over. Clijsters wound up making 65 unforced errors, and Rus walked away with a huge 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.

Clijsters has been a finalist at the French Open on two occasions, but has never won it. She was considered a favorite to win it this year. Rus, a former star on the junior tour, will play Maria Kirilenko in the third round.

Maggie Maleeva drops in and gives Bulgiaria a doubles boost in Fed Cup

Retired WTA star Magdalena Maleeva has been playing doubles with Tsvetana Pironkova in this week's Fed Cup competition, and she is now 2-0 in doubles. On day 1, Maleeva and Pironkoava defeated the Polish team of Claudia Jans and Alicsja Rosolska in straight sets. On day 2, the pair defeated Luxembourg's Anne Kremer and Claudia Schaul in straight sets.

Pironkova, on the other hand, has lost both of her singles rubber. She was defeated by Polish star Agnieszka Radwanska, and by Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.

World number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, playing for Denmark, defeated Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-3 today. On day 1, Schnyder defeated Great Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-1, 6-2. Schnyder and Timea Bacsinszky, paired in doubles, defeated Wozniacki and partner, Mai Grage.

On day 1, Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands defeated Romanian star Alexandra Dulgheru, and on day 2, Rus defeated Hungary's Greta Arn, who recently won the championship in Auckland.

Date Krumm retires in Estoril

Kimiko Date Krumm retired in Estoril today during her match with Anastasija Sevastova; Date Krumm sustained a right calf strain.

Arantxa Rus advanced to the quarterfinals when she defeated Kirsten Flipkens 7-6, 6-1, and Anastasia Rodionova also advanced, with her defeat of Stephanie Voegele. Both the 2nd and 3rd seeds were upset in doubles play today.

Rus out of Hobart qualifying

Former junior world number 1 Arantxa Rus has lost her first round of qualifying at the Moorilla Hobart International tournament. Lourdes Dominguez Lino defeated Rus 6-0, 6-0 in Hobart today. 

And speaking of juniors...the current world number 1 is 2008 Wimbledon finalist Noppawan Lertcheewakarn. Numbers 2 through 5 are: Ana Bogdan, Simona Halep, Elena Bogdan, and Wimbledon champion Laura Robson. 

Robson is currently dealing with a torn stomach muscle, and may not be able to compete in the Australian Open.

Rus out in 2nd round in Tashkent

Arantxa Rus, the world's top junior, has been eliminated from the Tashkent Open in the second round. She was defeated by Peng Shuai, 6-1, 7-5.

Michelle Larcher de Brito is still around, however, and will play Sorana Cirstea in the quarterfinals.

Pin ends Rus's run in Guangzhu

Camille Pin is one of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's enigmas. She is a really good player who can give almost anyone a bad time, but she cannot serve. At all. I sometimes wonder how Pin would have done on the tour if she had even a passable serve. She can be a tough player.

She did well enough today to defeat Arantxa Rus, who has plenty to be proud of, getting to the quarterfinal round of a tour event. Tamira Paszek is out, too, defeated--not surprisingly--by Zheng Jie. Top seed Vera Zvonareva ran over Karin Knapp, and Peng Shuai defeated Jill Craybas.

Pin def. Rus, 6-3, 6-3
Zheng def. Paszek, 6-2, 6-1
Zvonareva def. Knapp, 6-1, 6-0
Peng def. Craybas, 6-4, 6-1

The Zvonareva-Zheng semifinal has the makings of a very fine match.

Rus takes out 5th-seeded Dulko

Arantxa Rus, departing the junior tour to try out her skills in Guangzhu, defeated number 5 seed Gisela Dulko today in the second round. Dulko is a member of that group of talented but inconsistent players who sometimes have trouble stringing victories together.

At any rate, Rus--who had already qualified to get into the tournament and defeated Yanina Wickmeyer in the first round--next faces Camille Pin.

Rus def. Dulko, 6-4, 6-4

Meet Arantxa Rus

Here is a tour profile of the new junior world number 1.

Rus upset at French Open

Arantxa Rus, the number 2 seed in junior girls' French Open competition, has been defeated by Simona Halep, who is seeded number 9. Top seed Melanie Oudin was upset in the quarterfinals by Elena Bogdan, who will play Halep for the 2008 championship. Both players are from Romania.

14th seed wins Australian junior title

Arantxa Rus, the number 14 seed from The Netherlands, has defeated Australian Jessica Moore, 6-3, 6-4 to win the 2008 Australian Open junior title. Moore, who was unseeded had a great run, taking out Madison Brengle, but was stopped before she could give Australia a Grand Slam win.