Clijsters advances to Australian Open quarterfinals

She had to get through a tiebreak to do it, but 3rd seed Kim Clijsters defeated Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets Monday in the Australian Open round of 16. Clijsters' 7-6, 6-2 win over Makarova now puts her in contention with 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals. If she defeats Radwanska (and, with Radwanska's weak serve, she probably will), she will play either Petra Kvitova or 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals.

Speaking of Radwanska (who has made an amazing comeback from surgery and rehab): Why does such a brilliant tennis player not drop everything until she has learned to hit a reasonably good second serve? Her first serve is better than it used to be, but even that failed her toward the end of her round of 16 match; her second serve is a disaster. Radwanska can outplay just about anyone on the tour, but she has this major flaw in her game, and I don't understand why someone doesn't do something about it.

Stosur out of Australian Open

Theoretically, a tall, left-handed, flat-hitting opponent with a strong forehand has what it takes to give Sam Stosur a lot of trouble. That became more than theory on the sixth day of the Australian Open: Brisbane champion Petra Kvitova upset 5th seed Stosur 7-6, 6-3. Kvitova, the tournament's 25th seed, hit hard flat balls repeatedly to Stosur's backhand, which is decidedly Stosur's weaker side. The Stosur forehand broke down, too, although Kvitova ended the match with more unforced errors than Stosur. She also ended the match with 35 winners, opposed to Stosur's eleven, all of which were hit in the first set. Most impressive were Kvitova's first and second serve win percentages of 80 and 58.

This is not the first time that Stosur has run into a player who isn't bothered by her kick serve and her heavy topspin. Players like Kvitova, who hit the ball flat and go for the lines, can dictate play and neutralize the hitting of even a talented player like the Australian. It was a bonus for Kvitova that she is also left-handed.

Stosur's upset was the biggest on the sixth day, but she had company. Iveta Benesova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova played a see-saw match that ended with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory for Benesova over the 16th seed. Each player dominated a set, and the third set was a constant struggle for domination. In the end, though, Benesova was clever, and Pavlyuchenkova was worn down. The Czech doubles star has now removed two Russian seeds (she upset Maria Kirilenko in the second round), and she gets 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva in the next round.

Zvonareva was hardly at her best in her third round match, but she got past 31st seed Lucie Safarova, 6-3, 7-6. Kim Clijsters, the third seed, was far below her best, but defeated Alize Cornet 7-6, 6-3. 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska had an easy win over Simona Halep, and Peng Shuai defeated Ayumi Morita. Peng was cramping pretty badly toward the end of the match, and was hobbling around the court. That didn't stop her from winning, of course, and let's hope that she gets sufficient rest before her next round.

13th seed Nadia Petrova is out, too. Petrova played Ekaterina Makarova, who upset 19th seed Ana Ivanovic in the first round. For all of its flaws, this match was fun to watch. Each woman took a set, and--just as with the Benesova-Pavlyuchenkova match--the third set was a drawn-out struggle for domination. Makarova served for the match twice and was broken both times. The second time, she had two match points. The Russian player stayed surprisingly calm in the face of so many lost opportunities, and hung in while Petrova's unforced errors increased. At the end of the 72-minutes third set, Makarova advanced with a 6-2, 3-6, 8-6 victory.

Shahar Peer, the 10th seed, played an aggressive first set against 22nd seed Flavia Pennetta and won it 6-3. Pennetta dialed her play up a notch in the second set, and won it impressively in a tiebreak. One of the commentators made a point of reminding viewers that Pennetta is quite familiar with Peer's tendency to back away and play it safe, and that's exactly what happened. Pennetta took the third set 6-4, and advanced to the next round. Peer is a good player with a lot of tenacity, but when the tension arises, she tends to wilt, just when she should be more aggressive.

Makarova wins Eastbourne--the good stories keep coming

Prior to coming to Eastbourne, Ekaterina Makarova had not gotten past the second round of a tournament this season. At the AEGON International, players faced the toughest draw imaginable, and Makarova was no exception. Only first she had to qualify. In qualifying, she defeated Evigeniya Rodina and Sania Mirza. Then the world 100 defeated 6th seed Flavia Pennetta, Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 3rd seed Sam Stosur, and--today--Victoria Azarenka. And throughout the tournament, she didn't drop a set. Makarova is the first qualifier to ever win in Eastbourne.

Unfortunately, Azarenka's knees gave her some trouble in the final--just when we thought her injury problems were a thing of the past. This condition does not bode well for Azarenka as she prepares for Wimbledon.

As for Makarova, she has her Wimbledon work cut out for her, too. She plays Agnes Szavay in the first round; then, if things go as expected, she meets Venus Williams in the second round.

Makarova and Azarenka to meet in Eastbourne final

Ekaterina Makarova has an excellent record at the AEGON International. In 2008 and 2009, she had to go through qualifying, but she has reached the quarterfinals. This year, she had to qualify again, and now she has reached the final.

If Makarova isn't a player fans expected to see in this year's final, neither is her opponent. Victoria Azarenka is, of course, a very fine player, but she has had to withdraw and retire so much lately because of knee and thigh injuries, it seemed improbable that she would wind up in the AEGON International final.

To get to the final, Azarenka defeated 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, qualifier Heather Watson, 5th seed Kim Clijsters, and 8th seed Marion Bartoli. Makarova defeated 6th seed Flavia Pennetta, Nadia Petrova, wild card Svetlana Kuznetsova, and 3rd seed Sam Stosur.

This tournament featured an especially difficult draw, so both women had to knock out really good players to get to the final.

Makarova knocks out Kuznetsova, advances to Eastbourne semifinals

Qualifier Ekaterina Makarova, having already taken out 6th seed Flavia Pennetta and Nadia Petrova in Eastbourne, continued her surprise run today by defeating wild card Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 7-5. Makarova is ranked number 100 in the world.

8th seed Marion Bartoli and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez played for over two hours and 50 minutes, producing only four breaks of serve. Martinez Sanchez hit an impressive fifteen aces, but the 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 victory went to Bartoli.

Wild card Elena Baltacha took 3rd seed Sam Stosur to three sets, with Stosur winning, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0. Stosur also hit fifteen aces.

Finally, Victoria Azarenka upset 5th seed Kim Clijsters, 7-6, 6-4. Azarenka played with tape beneath both of her knees, and appeared to experience some pain during one point in the match. Azarenka has struggled for some time with problems with her knees and her thigh.

In the semifinals, Makarova will play Stosur, and Bartoli will play Azarenka.

Top qualifying seed out in Paris

Top qualifying seed Ekaterina Makarova was eliminated today in the second Open GDF SUEZ qualifying round. She was defeated 6-3, 6-1 by Zuzana Kucova.

Black and Paes win Australian Open mixed doubles championship

Top seeds Cara Black and her partner, Leander Paes, won the Australian Open mixed doubles title yesterday, defeating the unseeded team of Ekaterina Makarova and Jaroslav Levinsky 7-5, 6-3.

This is Black's fourth major mixed doubles title. She said that, last year, Paes promised her they would win the 2010 Australian Open.

Russians upset number 2 seeds at U.S. Open

French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, seeded 2nd at the U.S. Open, were upset today by the Russian team of Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova. The number 13 seeds won the match in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3. Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual saved one match point, but were broken on their serve to give the victory to Kleybanova and Makarova.

Medina Garrigues wins Fes championship

Top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues won her ninth Sony Ericsson WTA singles title today, defeating Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-1 in the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fes. Medina Garrigues, who is ranked number 18 in the world, was the finalist in Fes last year.

Chakvetadze out of U.S. Open in first round

When Ekaterina Makarova served for the match, at 1-6, 6-2, 5-3, her opponent, Anna Chakvetadze, had three break points to stay in the match. Makarova saved all three, however, and won on her first match point. The players' stats are remarkably similar; if anything, Chakvetadze's are a bit better. But someone has to win, even if the stats are the same.

This loss has to really sting, coming just after Chakvetadze's failure to win the championship in New Haven. And especially since she has done so much to improve her game.

Paszek ill in Cincinnati

Tamira Paszek took an early medical time-out today in the second round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, but it wasn't sufficient to get her through the match. She retired against Petra Cetkovska in the third round because of a viral illness.
Cetkovska def. Paszek, 4-6, 6-3, 4-1

In other Cincinnati news, Ekaterina Makarova was upset by Camille Pin, 6-2, 6-0.

Larcher de Brito makes it to the 2nd round in Miami

Having lost the first set, Michelle Larcher de Brito was 1-4 down in the second, then found a way to force a tiebreak, which she won. She and opponent Ekaterina Makarova exchanged a few breaks in the third, and Larcher de Brito was down 0-30 when she served for the match, but she was able to win, despite double-faulting twelve times, and being broken eight times (Makarova was broken seven times).

Larcher de Brito, who entered the tour rankings last fall at 364, became the youngest player to win a main-draw match since the age-eligibilty rule was put into place in 1995. She defeated Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round in Miami. Shaughnessy, incidentally, is out again in the first round--this time defeated by Vania King.

Larcher de Brito will play Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.

Larcher de Brito def. Makarova, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3