Miscellany

Svetlana Kuznetsova is recovering from illness and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Jill Craybas defeated Jelena Dokic 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the $100k ITF tournament in Tokyo. Dokic, who double-faulted 13 times, was the second seed.

The tour site continues its history of the original nine activists and organizers with a feature on Judy Dalton.

Three men have been arrested for hurling a barrage of racial insults at Anne Keothavong outside a hotel in Barnstaple, England. The men were also charged with a shoplifting offense.

The Australian Open is increasing its prize money.

Heather Watson won her first round at the Commonwealth Games. She defeated Tara Lambert 6-0, 6-0. Watson is seeded 5th at the Games.

Miscellany

Jill Craybas upset 2nd seed Aravane Rezai today at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City. Craybas, who is ranked number 123 in the world, defeated Rezai 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. Sabine Lisicki went out in straight sets to Alexa Glatch.

Zheng Jie has had disappointing results lately. She has stopped playing for the season and will soon have surgery performed on her wrist. Zheng underwent ankle surgery in 2007. Zheng was a semifinalist at the 2010 U.S. Open, and won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles championships in 2006.

World number 1 Serena Williams is practicing again, but says she hasn't yet determined when she will return to the tour.

Elena Baltacha has reached the top 50 for the first time in her career. Baltacha is currently ranked number 49 in the world.

Steve Tignor gives Maria Shavapova a C+ for her U.S. Open performance.

Zoo Tennis reminds us that the team of Timea Babos and Sloane Stephens has won three of four majors in junior doubles this year. They did not play together in Melbourne, but won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Safarova injured, out of Prague

Top seed Lucie Safarova gave her second round opponent, Johanna Larsson, a walkover today at the Prague Open. Safarova has sustained a left hamstring muscle injury.

Meanwhile, in Palermo, Jill Craybas upset 4th seed Tsvetana Pironkova 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Date Krumm out of HP Open

Wild card Kimiko Date Krumm was knocked out of the first round of the HP Open in Osaka today by Jill Craybas, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, in Linz, 6th seed Sorana Cirstea was upset 6-3, 6-3 by qualifier Julia Goerges. Yesterday, 4th seed Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets. Srebotnik is not having an easy time of it, making a return from two serious injuries.

Craybas goes to 4th round of BNP Paribas Open

Jill Craybas, the American veteran who is ranked number 102 in the world, defeated Nicole Vaidisova today in Indian Wells. Granted, Vaidisova is ranked number 79, but there is more to her story than her current ranking. But even that wouldn't be such a big deal in itself; it is the bigger picture that is impressive. Before taking out Vaidisova, Craybas dismissed both Jelena Dokic and 16th seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues. Craybas gets top seed Dinara Safina next, and it is likely that her most impressive run will end, but it even if it does, it will be a memorable story from this year's BNP Paribas Open.

Craybas's victory was n0t the only upset. Shahar Peer upset number 19 seed (how crazy is that?) Anna Chakvetadze, and Li Na upset number 17 seed Amelie Mauresmo.

I was quite interested in the match between Caroline Wozniacki and Kaia Kanepi; it appears that Kanepi couldn't handle the pressure, and we can only hope that she does something about this problem soon, or she is going to lose a lot of matches she shouldn't lose. The other match of interest to me was the one between wild cards Alexa Glatch and Urszula Radwanska. It appeared that Glatch put up quite a fight, but the match went to her opponent.

Dokic and Larcher de Brito both out of Indian Wells

Jelena Dokic told us, after the Australian Open, that she thought she would have a letdown. Somehow, I don't think most of us thought it would occur in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, but it did. Jill Craybas defeated wild card Dokic 6-4, 6-2. Dokic double-faulted eight times, which didn't help.

Michelle Larcher de Brito saved two match points in her contest with Urszula Radwanska, only to have Radwanska win the match on de Brito's serve. Once again, de Brito got herself through qualifying, only to lose in the first round.

Another losing wild card was Michaella Krajicek, who was defeated by Nicole Vaidisova. Vaidisova will face Alona Bondarenko in the second round.

Stosur halts Craybas's run in Seoul

Jill Craybas may have taken out Shahar Peer in the quarterfinals of the Hansol Korea Open yesterday, but today, she was no match for Samantha Stosur, who defeated her in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-1. The whole thing was over in forty-five minutes.

Stosur has one of the very best serves on the tour, and her first serve win percentage for the match was 82; her second serve win percentage was 68. Stosur has pulled her way back up--almost to the top--in doubles, but is still working to restore her singles status after taking a very long sick leave last year.

Meanwhile, Kaia Kanepi was serving at 40-0 at 4-5 in the third set of her semifinal match against Maria Kirilenko, only to see Kirilenko make five straight points and win the match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Top seed Kirilenko and Stosur have played three times before. Stosur had to retire in one of those matches, and they each won one of the others.

Craybas upsets Peer in Seoul

Number 2 seed Shahar Peer, whose season has been disappointing, had another disappointment today when she was defeated in the quarterfinals of the Hansol Korea Open by Jill Craybas, 6-2, 7-5. victorious in the quarterfinals were top seed Maria Kirilenko, Kaia Kanepi and Samantha Stosur.

Kirilenko def. Parmentier, 6-3, 6-2
Kanepi def. Wickmeyer, 6-1, 6-4
Stosur def. Makarova, 6-3, 6-4

Craybas comes close, but Radwanska wins Pattaya City

Jill Craybas took the second set of her final against number 1 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-1, then took the third set to a tiebreak, but did not prevail. Radwanska is the winner of the 2008 Pattaya Women's Open. I'm disappointed; I really wanted Craybas to win another tournament.

Radwanska def. Craybas, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6

Craybas in Pattaya City Women's Open final

Jill Craybas will face Agnieszka Radwanska for the Pattaya title

Jill Craybas has reached the final of the Pattaya Women's Open in Pattaya City, Thailand. Her opponent will be Agnieszka Radwanska, the tournament's top seed. Craybas, the number 7 seed, led both the University of Texas and the University of Florida to national championship in the mid-90s.

Top qualifying seeds taken out in both Gold Coast and Auckland

Mondial Women's Hardcourts tournament top qualifying seed Chan Yung-Jan has been defeated in the second round of qualifying by Australian Christina Wheeler. Likewise, the ASB Classic number one qualifying seed, Jill Craybas, was defeated by Zhang Shuai of China, also in the second round of qualifying.