Medina Garrigues and Vinci win titles

Anabel Medina Garrigues won her tenth WTA title today in Estoril. Medina Garrigues defeated Kristina Barrois 6-1, 6-2 in the final. Nine of the Spaniard's titles have come on clay. Medina Garrigues recently overcame a losing streak comprised of ten consecutive first round losses.

Alisa Kleybanova and Galina Voskoboeva won the Estoril doubles championship. They defeated Elena Daniilidou and Michaela Krajicek 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

Roberta Vinci won her fourth title today when she defeated Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Vinci was the champion in 2009, and the runner-up in 2010.

The doubles title went to the top seeds, Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. They defeated Natalie Grandin and Vladirimira Uhlirova 5-7, 6-4, 11-9. Benesova and Zahlavova Strycova have won eleven titles together. 

Vinci and Hradecka to meet in Barcelona final

Roberta Vinci and Lucie Hradecka have made it to the final of the Barcelona Open. Vinci, the 6th seed, defeated Laura Pous-Tio 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the semifinals. Hradecka defeated 5th seed Sara Errani 6-1, 7-5.

Top seeds Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova will meet Natalie Grandin and Vladamira Uhlirova in the doubles final.

At the Estoril Open, Kristina Barroi and Anabel Medina Garrigues will compete in the final. In the doubles final, Alisa Kleybanova and Galina Voskoboeva will compete against Eleni Daniilidou and Michaela Krajicek.

Kleybanova out of Estoril in quarterfinals

Top seed Alisa Kleybanova was upset today in Estroril by Kristina Barrois, who defeated Kleybanova 6-4, 6-2. 2nd seed Jarmila Gajdosova was defeated by 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 by Monica Niculescu, and 3rd seed Klara Zakopalova was defeated 6-3, 7-5 by Anabel Medina Garrigues. Also advancing to the semifinals was Johanna Larsson, who defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 7-5.

In the meantime, Kleybanova and her doubles partner, Galina Voskoboeva, have reached the final of the doubles competition.They defeated the 2nd seeds, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.

In Barcelona, Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani and Lucie Hradecka all made it to the semifinals today.

Bartoli upset in 1st round in Barcelona

Marion Bartoli, who took a wild card into the Barcelona Ladies Open and became the top seed, was upset today in the opening round of the tournament. Memphis champion Magdalena Rybarikova defeated Bartoli 6-4, 6-1.

Schiavone wins Barcelona...Italians keep rolling

Two weeks ago, an Italian won the singles title in Marbella, and a pair of Italians won the doubles title. Today, Francesca Schiavone won the championship in Barcelona, defeating defending defending champion (and Italian) Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1. Sara Errani and Vinci, who won the doubles title in Marbella, also won the championship in Barcelona. They defeated Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 3-6, 10-2.

The Barcelona title is Schiavone's third on the tour.

Schiavone and Vinci to play in Barcelona final

It isn't often that the top seed and the defending champion compete in a final, but that will be the case in Barcelona tomorrow when Francesca Schiavone, the number 1 seed, takes on defending champion and countrywoman Roberta Vinci.

Schiavone defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals, and Vinci defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 6-7, 6-1, 6-2.

In doubles, the 4th-seeded team of Sara Errani and Vinci defeated number 1 seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the semifinals. They will play Timea Bacsinszky and Tathania Garbin. Bacsinszky and Garbin defeated Tatjana Malek and Andrea Petkovic.

Semifinals set in Barcelona

Top seed Francesca Schiavone, who defeated 7th seed Carla Suarez Navarro Thursday at the Barcelona Ladies Open, will play Yaroslava Shvedova in the semifinals. Shvedova defeated Iveta Benesova in the quarterfinals. The other semifinal will feature Alexandra Dulgheru and defending champion Roberta Vinci. In the quarterfinals, Dulgheru defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja, and Vinci defeated Timea Bacsinszky.

Rezai upset in Barcelona

Aravane Rezai, seeded 2nd in Barcelona, was upset in straight sets in the first round today by defending champion Roberta Vinci. Also upset was 6th seed Gisela Dulko, who was taken out by Sara Errani. Regina Kulikova defeated 8th seed Lucie Safarova.

In doubles, Sorana Cirstea and Gisela Dulko, the number 2 seeds, were upset by Tatjana Malek and Andrea Petkovic.,

Vinci wins in Barcelona

Unseeded Roberta Vinci allowed her opponent, Maria Kirilenko, to win only four games in the final at the Barcelona Ladies Open today. She defeated the sixth seed 6-0, 6-4 to take the championship.

Vinci began her path to the championship with a close win (6-4, 7-6) over Pauline Parmentier in the first round, then ran over second seed Flavia Pennetta in the second round. She then beat Anastasiya Yakimova in straight sets in the quarterfinals. In her semifinal match, Vinci lost the first set 0-6 to countrywoman Francesca Schiavone, then took the remaining sets, 7-6, 6-4.

This is Vinci's second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

In the doubles semifinal, Vinci played with Schiavone, but they were easily defeated by top seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-1, 6-1. Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez went on to win the championship, defeating Sorana Cirstea and Andreja Klepac, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Number 2 seed out in Barcelona

Those tennis gods are busier than I thought. Flavia Pennetta, whom we would have loved to have had back in Charleston, went to Barcelona as the second seed, and now--like top seed Alize Cornet--she has fallen. Countrywoman Roberta Vinci defeated her 6-1, 6-2.

Miscellany

Former tour player Mirka Vavrinec was married Saturday in Basel, Switzerland to long-time partner, Roger Federer.

Sarah Gronert has passed her gender test and has been declared eligible to play on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Big surprise--Gronert has been a female since she was a baby. The tour may have had a right to test Gronert, but it did not have a reason. Given the bigotry to which she has been exposed, it is a wonder she has chosen to go on at all. The 22-year-old German has jumped 200 places in the rankings since the end of the 2008 season.

Sloan Stephens won both the singles and doubles titles of the International Spring Championships, and she won them both on the same court.

Anabel Medina Garrigues has withdrawn from the Barcelona Ladies Open because of an abdominal strain. I was pretty upset that she didn't come to Charleston this year, but it turns out she couldn't have played, anyway. Those tennis gods are working overtime in Spain.

And speaking of withdrawals, I didn't figure out until today that Sybille Bammer had withdrawn from the Family Circle Cup. I don't know the reason.

Finally, something that has bothered me for a long time...Why do the scoreboard stats omit winners and unforced errors, two of the stats we most want to see?

The tennis gods move in mysterious ways

I think I speak for many when I say how disappointed I was that Alize Cornet, last year's exciting Charleston semifinalist, decided to skip the Family Circle Cup this year and play in Barcelona. Her Spanish experience didn't last long: Cornet, the top seed, went out today in the first round to countrywoman Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. Cohen-Alora defeated Cornet 6-0, 6-3.