Zvonareva wins Prague; Dulko wins Fes

2nd seed Gesela Dulko defeated top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues to win in Fes today

Top seed Vera Zvonareva defeated number 3 seed Victoria Azarenka in Prague today, 7-6, 6-2. This was Zvonareva's fourth final of the season, and her first win. She is now number 13 in the world, and I have a problem with her being permitted to play in a Tier IV event. For some time now, I have wanted the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to place a restriction on higher ranked players that would keep them from playing in Tier IVs, but they do not seem to think such a restriction is necessary. While I appreciate the argument that having higher-ranked players at a lower-ranked event may bring up the overall level of play, I think that the disparity in levels renders an injustice to the lower-ranked players.

Meanwhile, Gisela Dulko won what looked to be a thriller against Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-6, 7-6, in Fes.

Medina Garrigues stops Karatantcheva in Fes

Could it be that Sesil Karatantcheva is on her way back? Maybe. Today, she gave number 1 seed and clay specialist Anabel Medina Garrigues a hard time in the second round in Fes, Morocco. Karatantcheva served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, and again at 5-4, and was broken both times. The set went to a tiebreak, which Medina Garrigues won, and the Spaniard then cruised through the third set to win the match.

Medina Garrigues needed this win. She suffered a big loss in the first round two weeks ago in Charleston when she had a kind of meltdown against an in-formTatiana Perebynis.

Medina Garrigues def. Karatantcheva, 3-6, 7-6, 6-1