Mirza & Vesnina win Charleston doubles title

"Hello again," Elena Vesnina said to the crowd when she made a speech at the Family Circle Cup for the second time in one day. This speech, however, represented an even nicer occasion for the unseeded singles runner-up. She and partner Sania Mirza defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-4 to win the doubles championship.  Mirza and Vesnina, also unseeded, broke the 4th seeds five times.

The winning team served for the first set at 5-3, but were broken. Shaughnessy then served two consecutive aces, and she and Mattek-Sands held at love, but they were unable to break Mirza and Vesnina when they served a second time for the set.


Mirza and Vesnina went up 2-0 in the second set, and a big forehand from Mirza set the team up to get a second break. They went up 3-0 when, suddenly, a ballboy collapsed. Play was suspended while a trainer came out to treat the ballboy, who was then carried off of the court (he recovered quite nicely, and returned to the match). Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy held for 1-4, then broke Mirza and Vesnina on their second break point. They then held for 3-4.

The next game went to deuce, and Mirza and Vesnina were broken when Mirza double-faulted on the deciding point. Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy were broken in the next game, however, and Vesnina--serving for the match--hit a forehand down the line for match point.

After the match, Mirza said that she and Vesnina get along so well off the court that it helps them stay calm on the court. Vesnina added that she thought Mirza had the best forehand on the tour. It's a really formidable forehand, and I should add  that Vesnina is now very strong on both sides.

Both Mirza and Vesnina were models of fitness during the tournament. Mirza had to qualify for singles, and made it all the way to the quarterfinals, and Vesnina played in both finals. Both players have had issues in the past with wrist injuries, and Vesnina has had problems with her left thigh. This week, Mirza played with a slight groin/thigh injury, but persevered. She and Vesnina, having won Indian Wells, now have another impressive doubles title.

Sania Mirza's smoking forehand had a devastating effect

Wozniacki wins Family Circle Cup

All this week in Charleston, Elena Vesnina used her big serve to get out of trouble in matches. Today, however, the unseeded Russian's game-saving serve just wasn't there, and she was defeated 6-2, 6-3 by world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki. "My serve didn't help me today like it was helping me in the previous matches," Vesnina said after the final. "I was trying to go for the big serves, but it didn't go. It didn't fly that fast like it was flying before."

Wozniacki, on the other hand, won 75% of the time on her first serves, and hit six aces. She also broke Vesnina three times, but was never broken, though Vesnina saw four break opportunities. 

At the start of the match, each player held serve, then Wozniacki had to go through five deuces--with no break points--to win her next service game. The top seed then broke Vesnina. The seventh game was very close, and Vesnina appeared to be entering a zone for creating break opportunities, but she committed unforced errors at crucial times, and Wozniacki held for 5-2. Wozniacki then broke Vesnina and won the first set.

Vesnina became more aggressive in the second set, and continued her tournament-long pattern of using a lot of touch to win points. Her drop shots and lobs were well-placed, and when she served at 2-3 and went down a break point, she used a forehand slice to get back into the game and even the score. At this point, the fans broke into huge applause. 

Wozniacki then went down 0-30, but Vesnina missed a forehand that would have given her break point. She did get a break opportunity on the next point when she hit a forehand deep into the deuce court, but Wozniacki was able to save not only that break point, but also the next one. She used a relatively slow, high, serve to get to game point, then held. At 3-4, Vesnina saved one break point, but was broken on the next one. Wozniacki then had an easy hold to win the championship.

Vesnina said of her opponent: "...sometimes you feel that she's everywhere on the court, you know. Like she's covering the court, and she's changing a little bit of pace, and she's making you think and play, and that's why, I mean, she's tough."

Wozniacki now has a total of 15 titles. Today's victory was her third of the season.

Wozniacki and Vesnina--paths to the final

Tomorrow, top seed Caroline Wozniacki, the number 1 player in the world, will play Elena Vesnina in the final of the Family Circle Cup. Here is how each woman made it to the final:

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
round 1--bye
round 2--def. Irina Falconi, 6-1, 6-1
round 3--def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (15), 7-6, 7-6
quarterfinals--def. Yanina Wickmayer (6), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
semifinals--def. Jelena Jankovic (3), 6-4, 6-4

ELENA VESNINA
round 1--def. Rebecca Marino, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3
round 2--def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (14), 6-4, 7-6
round 3--def. Sam Stosur (2, def. champ.), 6-4, 6-1
quarterfinals--def. Julia Goerges (12), 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
semifinals--def. Peng Shuai (11), 7-6, 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki has played four matches, whereas Elena Vesnina has played eight. Vesnina, who is unseeded, did not have a bye in the first round, and she has also played three doubles matches. The Russian player, who is ranked number 56 in the world, had not planned to play in Charleston this year because of a wrist injury. However, two-time Charleston runner-up Vera Zvonareva--who injured her wrist in Charleston a few years ago--advised Vesnina on getting treatment, which Vesnina said helped her a lot.

Also, Vesnina's coach (who is also her father) noticed that she had changed her technique, and that the change brought on the injury. "...if I'm going with the wrong movement again," Vesnina said, "mechanical, you know, shot, it starts hurting again. So I feel it only if I'm doing the wrong shot."

"...I'm just enjoying my time on the court," Vesnina said, "so I don't feel that I'm tired, or I'm trying to think that I'm not tired, and that's why everything is going my way."

Vesnina's highest singles ranking was number 22 in the world, which she held in 2009. She has a 1-4 record against Wozniacki. The last time they played was in 2010 on the green clay of Ponte Vedra Beach, in the semifinals, and Wozniacki won 1-6, 7-6, 6-4.

This is Vesnina's sixth year to enter the Family Circle Cup, and Wozniacki's third. In 2009, Wozniacki lost in the final to Sabine Lisicki, and in 2010, she injured her ankle and had to retire in the semifinals.

Vesnina beats Peng twice in one day and advances to both Charleston finals

Elena Vesnina won both of her matches again

Elena Vesnina has been a very busy woman in Charleston this week. Yesterday, she won both her singles and doubles matches, and today, in the semifinals, she repeated that accomplishment. In doing so, however, she had to defeat Peng Shuai twice.

In her singles semifinal, Vesnina defeated 11th seed Peng 7-6, 6-3. Unlike the earlier semifinal between Wozniacki and Jankovic, this match featured no break opportunities until Peng had a break point when Vesnina served at 4-5 in the first set. Vesnina held, then the players exchanged breaks. After Peng was broken, however, she began to walk with a slight limp. Her knee, which was taped, was bothering her, and she was tired, she would later reveal. After breaking her opponent, Peng held a set point, but did not convert it. The set went to a tiebreak, which Vesinina won.

Peng looked as though she might fade, but she immediately broke Vesnina in the second set, and then opened her own service game with an ace. Despite getting to 40-15, however, Peng was broken back. She remained competitive in the second set, but the momentum was with Vesnina, who used her serve--as she has all week--to get herself out of trouble. The Russian saved two break points at 3-all, then converted a second break point when Peng served at 3-4. Vesnina held to win the match.

Peng Shuai

Both Vesnina and Peng handled the wind well, and both displayed primarily error-free net play. This match had a bit of everything, including sharp volleys and well-executed drop shots. It was, in every way, the better ssemifinal match of the day, and quite entertaining.

After getting some rest, Vesnina and partner Sania Mirza played a semifinal doubles match against Peng and her partner, Zheng Jie. Mirza and Vesnina took the first set 6-2, and then endured a more competitive second set, which they won 7-5.

 "...today is a Chinese day for me," Vesnina told the press.

Shaughnessy and Mattek-Sands consult

Earlier in the day, 4th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy defeated top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-4.

Peng and Vesnina each win--then win again--in Charleston

Peng Shuai and Elena Vesnina have confounded any attempt to create an orderly schedule at the Family Circle Cup because they both keep winning singles and doubles. Today, Peng defeated qualifier Sania Mirza 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the singles quarterfinals. She and partner Zheng Jie then defeated Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in straight sets in doubles. Peng, who is seeded 11th, has now won more singles matches this season than anyone else on the tour.

"Honestly, I don't want to think now because just off the singles, doubles, and I'm really tired and I want to get some treatment, dinner and rest, and then this is tomorrow, so I think tomorrow," Peng said when she was asked to talk about her upcoming singles semifinal. Peng credited her coach for her 2011 breakthrough, which came after a year in which the Chinese player had a lengthy illness and was injured.

Elena Vesnina backed up her upset of defending champion Sam Stosur by upsetting 12th seed Julia Goerges in the quarterfinals. It took Vesnina a set to steady herself, but then she began serving with real conviction, and hitting winners off of both sides. Vesnina defeated Goerges 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, then--about an hour later--she and partner Sania Mirza defeated the team of Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova 3-6, 6-2, 10-8. Mirza and Vesnina were down 4-7 in the super-tiebreak, but made a comeback and won on their first match point. By the time the match was over, it was no longer Friday in Charleston.

What all this means is that both Peng and Vesnina will each play twice tomorrow, and both times, they will play against each other. Peng will play Vesnina in the singles semifinals, and she and Zheng will play Mirza and Vesnina in the doubles semifinals. This is an unusual situation, it probably goes without saying. The winner of the singles match will play either 1st seed Caroline Wozniacki or 3rd seed Jelena Jankovic in the final. Neither of those players is entered in doubles competition. Peng, by the way, has a 4-1 record against Vesnina; that record includes a defeat of the Russian last year in Charleston.

The winner of the doubles match will play either top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik or 4th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy.

Seeds of doubt

Elena Vesnina upsets the defending champion

The 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 10th seeds were upset in the 3rd round of the Family Circle Cup on Thursday, and 1st seed Caroline Wozniacki barely escaped when she had to win two long tiebreaks against a clever, net-rushing Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Defending champion Sam Stosur, seeded 2nd, was dominated by Elena Vesnina, who defeated her 6-4, 6-1. Stosur's backhand was unreliable, and Vesnina did not appear to be especially bothered by the Australian's forehand. After the match, Stosur said that her opponent's flat, low strokes rushed her during points. Vesnina said that winning the doubles championship (with Sania Mirza) in Indian Wells gave her increased confidence.

Jelena Jankovic goes to the quarterfinals

5th seed Shahar Peer was defeated 6-2, 6-3 by 12th seed Julia Goerges, who stunned her with forehand winners. 11th seed Peng Shuai defeated 7th seed Nadia Petrova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, and Christina McHale upset 10th seed and 2010 semifinalist Daniela Hantuchova. McHale's 7-6, 6-1 victory puts her into the quarterfinals against 3rd seed Jelena Jankovic, who defeated Chanelle Scheepers in straight sets. 2009 champion Sabine Lisicki, who upset 4th seed Marion Bartoli in the second round, was defeated in the third round by Sania Mirza.

Wozniacki's 7-6(6), 7-6(9) victory over 15th seed Zahlavova Strycova came after the top seed was seriously tested. Zahlavova Strycova took away Wozniacki's rhythm by continually changing the pace of the rallies. Zahlavova Strycova also took over the net for much of the match, and hit a number of decisive forehand winners. Unfortunately, the Czech player's strength was also her weakness: Her forehand produced multiple errors, too.

Down 2-5 in the first set tiebreak, the 15th seed made five straight points, but then made an unforced error on set point. She also held a set point in the second set tiebreak, and she went on to save three match points. Zahlavova Strycova played with a lot of touch and savvy, and she came in with a solid game plan, but she couldn't win the big points when she needed to.

Qualifier Anna Tatishvili's run ended yesterday--respectably. 6th seed Yanina Wickmayer defeated the gutsy Tatishviili 6-4, 7-5.

Tatishvili goes to 3rd round in Charleston

Anna Tatishvili

It took her almost three hours, but qualifier Anna Tatishvili managed to take out the 9th seed at the Family Circle Cup Wednesday. Tatishvili advanced to the third round when she defeated Maria Kirilenko 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Defending champion Stosur serves to her opponent

Elena Vesnina pulled off upsets in both singles and doubles. She defeated 14th seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 7-6, and she and partner Sania Mirza took out 2nd seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, 6-3, 6-4.

Julia Goerges and Nadia Petrova defeated Alisa Kleybanova and Yan Zi 2-6, 6-4, 10-3 in the first round of doubles play. Petrova won the doubles championship in both 2009 and 2010, but until yesterday, she had never played doubles with Goerges. In fact, as of Monday, Petrova and Goerges had never even practiced together, and Petrova was understandably concerned about the defense of her title. The Russian, who is also the 7th seed in singles, was troubled by an episode of vertigo in Miami, and is still undergoing treatment. She won her second round singles match easily yesterday morning.

Daniela Hantuchova

Top seeds Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Stosur and Jelena Jankovic all won in straight sets on Wednesday, and 10th seed Daniela Hantuchova dropped only one game in her second round match.

Mirza & Vesnina win Indian Wells

Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina, seeded 8th at the BNP Paribas Open, won the doubles title today by defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0, 7-5. To arrive at the final, Mirza and Vesnina defeated the teams of Hlavackova/Hradecka, Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (7), Jans/Rosolska, and Hantuchova/Radwanska.

According to Matt Cronin, the winning team almost didn't play because of Vesnina's wrist injury, but Mirza, who knows a lot about wrist injuries, reportedly helped her new partner to cope. Vesnina became available to play on a new team when her regular partner, Vera Zvonareva, decided to concentrate on singles only.

Li and Pennetta beaten in Moscow 1st round

Li Na, whose WTA Championships status hangs in the balance, didn't help her cause today by losing in the first round of the Kremlin Cup. Li was defeated 6-4, 6-2 by Anna Chakvetadze, who said she thought Li might have been a bit stressed about the Championships, and Li agreed. Li is still in the running to go to Doha, but her first round loss today lowers her chance. She had a wild card into Moscow, and was also seeded third.

Moscow is traditionally a place with a big home court advantage, and it wasn't just Chakvetadze who came through. The quite talented, but sometimes shaky, Elena Vesnina upset 5th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

The other victory of note was the defeat of Gisela Dulko by qualifier Zarina Diyas. I have seen Diyas play on clay, and though I've tried, I can't think of a more aggressive tour player. Diyas runs to the net and hits every type of volley in circumstances when other players would wait for the bounce. I was impressed when I saw her play because of her willingness to keep going forward.

In doubles, the streaky Bondarenko sisters were defeated 6-4, 3-6, 10-4 by Algul Amanmuradova and Darya Kustova.

In Luxembourg, all the seeds advanced today. Top seed and wild card Elena Dementieva defeated Peng Shuai 7-5, 7-6.

Kudryavtseva wins Tashkent title

Alla Kudryavtseva won her first tour title today. The 7-seeded Kudryavtseva defeated 4th seed Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-4 at the Tashkent Open. This is the fourth time that Vesnina has played in a final, and the fourth time she has lost one.

The doubles title was won by Alexandra Panova and Tatiana Poutchek, who defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-4.

Pavlyuchenkova wins see-saw final in Istanbul

I hated watching Elena Vesnina cry on her birthday, but after almost three hours and eleven minutes of unpredictable--and very entertaining--tennis played in vicious heat in Istanbul today, she couldn't stop a few tears from forming. Vesnina--whose talent is undeniable, but whose mental fragility can get in her way--has never won a tour title. Unseeded, she made it to the Istanbul Cup final, taking out Stephanie Voegele, Anastasia Rodionova and 6th seed Andrea Petkovic along the way. And for a while, it looked as though she would walk away with the Istanbul title.

Vesnina's opponent, 3rd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, went up 5-2 in the first set, but then Vesnina caught up and took the set 7-5. Winning six games in a row, she then went up 4-0 in the second set. If this situation seemed too good to be true, it's because it was--Pavlyuchenova then went on a campaign that gave her a 7-5 score in the second set.

By the time the third set began, it was obvious that Vesnina was having problems with the heat. At one point in the set, she looked like she might be cramping, but she held on, icing herself during breaks, and then winning points with her spot-on volleys. A fine doubles player (she was a star during Wimbledon), Vesnina knows her way around the net, and she used her volleying skills repeatedly against Pavlyuchenkova.

But Pavlyuchenkova was obviously the fresher of the two, and she used her crack backhand down the line again and again to win points. Pavlyuchenkova had the momentum, yet Vesnina--even when she looked like she couldn't move--managed to stay with her until they reached 5-all. Pavlyuchenkova broke, then held easily to win her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title.

During the trophy ceremony, the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Vesnina, and, in accepting her trophy, Pavlyuchenkova gave us a gem of broken English (which some may prefer to think of as a Freudian slip): "First of all, I'd like to thank the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for everything they've done to us."

Pavlyuchenkova to play Vesnina in Istanbul final

3rd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Jarmila Groth 7-6, 2-6, 7-5 in the Istanbul semifinals today, setting up a final against Elena Vesnina. Groth served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but was broken.

The other semifinal, between Vesnina and Andrea Petkovic, has one of those strange scorelines you see from time to time: 1-6, 6-0, 7-6. Petkovic led 3-0 in the third set, but Vesnina caught up, and served for the match at 5-3. Petkovic broke her, and the match wound up in a tiebreak, which seemed just right, considering the odd course it had taken. Vesnina went up 5-0 before Petkovic even scored in the tiebreak, and eventually won it, 7-2.

The talented Vesnina has never won a tour title; Pavlyuchenkova has won one title.

King & Shvedova win Wimbledon doubles championship

A casual observer who had just turned on the television could never have guessed that Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova were playing doubles with the 2010 Wimbledon championship at stake. They were having so much fun, smiling so much, it looked more like two friends were just out to have a good time on a Sunday evening.

Those two friends defeated Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva 7-6, 6-2 to become the first unseeded team to win Wimbledon since 1977, when Helen Gourlay Cawley and JoAnne Russell won the trophy. Both of the teams in today's final were unseeded, in fact, and both played very impressively throughout the tournament. To get to the final, the champions defeated Alberta Brianti & Alexandra Dulgheru, 14th seeds Monica Niculescu & Shahar Peer, 3rd seeds Nadia Petrova & Sam Stosur, 6th seeds Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik, and 5th seeds Liezel Huber & Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The Russian team also pulled some big upsets, including the defeat of top seeds Serena and Venus Williams, in a match that featured a consistently stunning performance from Vesnina. Today, however, was not the team's brightest day. Zvonareva lost the singles championship to Serena Williams, and the mood on the Russian side of the net was a decided contrast to the good cheer emanating from the other side.

The first set was so close that it went to a tiebreak, which King and Shvedova won 8-6 after saving a set point. Zvonareva was never quite the same after that, and--set up by the steady baseline play of King, Shvedova proceeded to become a one-woman attack force, repeatedly slamming unreturnable volleys from the net. She didn't look too shabby in other parts of the court, either, serving forcefully, and hitting winners down the line. She and King got better as the match wore on, and won the second set 6-2, which gave them the match.

The champions' interview was as entertaining as their performance on the court. Apparently, Shvedova and King invited practically everyone they met recently--at the French Open, in an English pub, etc.--to come to Wimbledon. They came, too, and were part of a huge cheering section for the two women. I was quite disappointed that neither the champions nor the runners-up were invited to speak at the trophy ceremony, and cannot imagine why such a slight would be permitted to occur.

No matter whom you wanted to win the doubles title, it was almost impossible to be anything but excited for King and Shvedova, whose expert play and on-court charm made this a special championship.

Vesnina & Zvonareva advance to Wimbledon doubles final

The unseeded team of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva advanced to the Wimbledon final today, with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of 4th seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta. That means that Zvonareva will play in both the singles and doubles final. She has one major title; in 2006, she and Nathalie Dechy won the U.S. Open.

The Russians' opponents in the final will be the unseeded team of Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova, who upset the 5th seeds, Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

In the mixed doubles semifinals, 2nd seeds Cara Black and Leander Paes defeated 9th seeds Iveta Benesova, and Lukas Dlouhy, and 11th seeds Lisa Raymond and Wesley Moodie defeated 10th seeds Rennae Stubbs and Marcelo Melo. Raymond and Stubbs are women's doubles partners (Dlouhy and Paes are partners in men's doubles, also).

Williams sisters upset in Wimbledon doubles

The William sisters' attempt to win the Grand Slam in 2010 was derailed in the Wimbledon quarterfinals today by the unseeded team of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva, who defeated them 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Russian pair had not played together since 2008, but they quickly found their groove this month at the All England Club, and Vesnina's serve was not broken once by the Williams sisters. Zvonareva has now reached the semifinals in both singles and doubles.

Also on quite a roll are Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova, who upset the 6th-seeded team of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik today. In the third round, they upset 3rd seeds Nadia Petrova and Samantha Stosur. Also winning in the quarterfinals were 4th seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, who defeated Julia Goerges and Agnes Szavay, and 5th seeds Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who defeated 7th seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs.

In mixed doubles, Kim Clijsters and Xavier Malisse upset top seeds Stosur and Nenad Zimonjic in straight sets. Also advancing were the teams of Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy, Chan Jung-Jan and Paul Hanley, and 2nd seeds Cara Black and Leander Paes.

Oudin into Family Circle Cup quarterfinals

Melanie Oudin possesses an air of all business when she's one the court, even if she's just walking from one end to the other. Like the young Chris Evert, Oudin seems older than she actually is, because of her intensity. But whereas Evert's intensity was internal, Oudin's is on display most of the time. She looks wound--but not too tightly.

Oudin got a bit of a workout today in her first set against Christina McHale, who found herself in the third round when Victoria Azarenka retired against her. McHale gave Oudin all she could handle for a while, but then the 13th seed took control, and defeated McHale 6-4, 6-0. It was a good tournament for the qualifier, who drew quite a bit of crowd support while she was in Charleston.

Vera Zvonareva, seeded 7th, defeated 9th seed Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1. Sam Sumyk, who used to be Zvonareva's coach and is now Azarenka's coach, was on hand to advise her. Zvonareva doesn't have a coach right now, and--since Azarenka retired with an injury--Sumyk stayed in town to help Zvonareva. The Russian star says that she is more interested in fitness right now, and wants to return to her former level before she thinks about getting a coach. She told me that she has a number of Russian hitting partners, and that she may wind up choosing one of them as her coach.

Marion Bartoli was spotted in the stands today, watching Daniela Hantuchova, who went at it for over two hours and 44 minutes against Angelique Kerber on the Althea Gibson Club Court. Hantuchova won 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, and was none too pleased to learn that she is scheduled to play first tomorrow.

2nd seed Jelena Jankovic and 6th seed Nadia Petrova had straight set wins over Evgeniya Rodina and 12th seed Aleksandra Wozniack, respectively. It wasn't quite as easy for 4th seed Sam Stosur, however. Stosur won her first set 6-1 against Vera Dushevina, but Dushevina, seeded 14th, took control of the second set and an error-prone Stosur, and won the second set 6-3. It didn't take long for Stosur to regain control, though, and she posted another 6-1 win in the third set.

10th seed Elena Vesnina was upset 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 by her Charleston doubles partner, Peng Shuai. Vesnina and Peng later withdrew from doubles competition because of the Russian's left adductor muscle strain. Vesnina had the same thigh wrapped last year in Charleston, and because of it, she and her partner retired after their first quarterfinal set in 2009.

Vesnina to lead Russia's Fed Cup team against Serbia

Elena Vesnina will lead the Russian Fed Cup team in its quarterfinal matches against Serbia next month. Other team members include Alisa Kleybanova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ekaterina Makarova. Jelena Jankovic is expected to lead the Serbian team.

Missing, obviously, are top Russians Safina, Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Zvonareva, and Petrova. Russian Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev says that both injuries and the timing of the quarterfinal have made his top players unavailable.

There has always been a running joke that Russia could have three Fed Cup squads. The combination of Vesnina, Kleybanova and Pavlyuchenkova is not to be taken lightly.

Kuznetsova, by the way, was none too pleased with Tarpischchev's remarks that her success on the tour had caused her to abandon Fed Cup.

Good times never seemed so good--Wozniacki wins Pilot Pen

Pilot Pen defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, who defended her title today in New Haven, shook hands with her opponent, then sat down to the strains of "Sweet Caroline" emanating from the loudspeakers. It isn't often these days that a player defends a title, so Wozniacki has a lot to be proud of as she travels to Flushing Meadows for the U.S. Open.

The match was delayed almost three hours because of rainy conditions, and the wind continued to gust throughout play. Elena Vesnina, Wozniacki's opponent--who eliminated Gisela Dulko, Sam Stosur, Anna Chakvetadze, and Amelie Mauresmo from the tournament--did not have a good day. Serving well and playing aggressive tennis, she should have turned the final into a very tight competition. But Vesnina could not stop making unforced errors. Though she hit three times as many winners as Wozniacki, she also also made four times as many errors. At one point, after netting a sure-thing volley, the droll Russian--eyes rolling--applauded herself.

This was Vesnina's second final in a year in which she has dramatically improved everything about her game. She has more work to do in the mental toughness department, but she also has a lot with which she should be very pleased. Wozniacki has also had an excellent season, and goes into the year's last major with a strong record, a more finely tuned game, and a lot of confidence.

Wozniacki and Vesnina to meet in Pilot Pen final

Defending champion and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki had to play her semifinal match against 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta on an indoor court at Yale when it became obvious that the rain in New Haven was not going to stop. Only 300 spectators could fit, and a tin scoreboard was used. Wozniacki defeated Los Angeles champion Pennetta 6-4, 6-1.

The other semifinal, also played indoors, featured 8th seed Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Vesnina. Vesnina defeated Mauresmo 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

Because of the rain delay, neither the U.S.'s ESPN2 or Tennis TV broadcast the matches, and the electronic scoreboard was down, so I have no idea what actually happened in either match, though I've been busy making some reasonable guesses, especially about the second match.

Wozniacki has a 2-1 record against Vesnina, and on hard courts, a 1-1 record. A tiebreaker in Wozniacki's favor gave the Pilot Pen defending champion a win over the Russian in the semifinals of the 2009 Ponte Vedra Beach tournament (won by Wozniacki), a clay court event. Earlier this year, Vesnina defeated Wozniacki in three sets on a hard court in Auckland.

In doubles, top seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated Jill Craybas and Lisa Raymond, and will play Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka in the final.

Vesnina upsets Stosur in New Haven

It got a bit dicey toward the end, but Elena Vesnina managed to pull off an upset of one of the tour's hottest players today in New Haven. She defeated 9th seed Sam Stosur 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Though she has had her ups and downs, this has been a really good season for Vesnina.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals today were 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta, who played a close match against Iveta Benesova, and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Agnieszka Radwanska retired against Virginie Razzano because of an inflamed wrist tendon, and top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had to fight for almost two hours and forty minutes to ward off Yanina Wickmayer.