Kleybanova wins Seoul championship

Alisa Kleybanova won the Korea Open today. She defeated Klara Zakopalova 6-1, 6-3. Kleybanova was seeded fifth at the tournament.

Julia Goerges and Palona Hercog won the doubles title. They defeated 4th seeds Natalie Grandin and Vladamira Uhlirova 6-3, 6-4.

Zakopalova & Kleybanova to play in Seoul final

Top seed Nadia Petrova retired with a gastro-intestinal illness today during the first set of her semifinal match in Seoul. Her opponent, Klara Zakopalova, will play 5th seed Alisa Kleybanova in the final. Kleybanova defeated 8th seed Agnes Szavay 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

The doubles final will be contested between the teams of Natalie Grandin and Vladamira Uhlarova and Julia Goerges and Palona Hercog. Grandin and Uhlirova are seeded fourth in the tournament.

Wozniacki and Zakopalova to meet in Copenhagen final

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Anna Chakvetadze today in Copenhagen, in a semifinal match whose momentum turned several times. Wozniacki dominated the first set, Chakvetadze dominated the second, and the third--which featured three breaks of serve--was up for grabs. Grab it Wozniacki did, which gave her a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory. Chakvetadze, I should add, is in pretty good form again, and had an enthusiastic cheering section in the stands (which she probably appreciated every time "Let the Sunshine In" blared from the speakers).

In the other semifinal, 7th seed Klara Zakopalova defeated 2nd seed Li Na 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in a match that featured at least one very questionable line call.

Wozniacki and Zakopalova have played each other only once before, and Wozniacki won in three sets.

Pennetta & Azarenka out of Wimbledon

Klara Zakopalova, a gifted player who has trouble stringing together victories, has strung together two huge ones at Wimbledon this week. In the second round, she upset 18th seed Aravane Rezai, and today, she upset 10th seed Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta, whose weakest surface is grass, was overwhelmed 6-2, 6-3 by her opponent. Zakopalova hit 25 winners to Pennetta's six, and had a noteworthy second serve win percentage of 70. She is currently ranked 66th in the world.

Things didn't go any better for 18th seed Victoria Azarenka, who was defeated 7-5, 6-0 by world number 62 Petra Kvitova. Kvitova is one of the many players on the tour who has hitting talent but who tends to lose control of her aggression. That was not the case today, however, when she won ten straight games to knock Azarenka out of the third round.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova squandered multiple opportunities in her match against 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki. The 29th seed repeatedly followed brilliant shots with thoughtless errors. This was a typical Wozniacki match in that the 3rd seed hit half as many winners as her opponent, but also made half as many unforced errors. She defeated Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-4.

Dominika Cibulkova, like Michelle Larcher De Brito before her, staged a gutsy second set against top seed Serena Williams, who won the first set 6-0. Williams won, however, 6-0, 7-5, hitting 19 aces (Cibulkova hit 13) along the way. Also winning was 16th seed Maria Sharapova, who defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-5, 6-3.

Qualifier (and former top 20 player) Kaia Kanepi easily defeated Alexandra Dulgheru, 6-1, 6-2, and 7th and 9th seeds Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na continued to move quietly through the draw. Radwanska defeated Sara Errani 6-3, 6-1, and Li defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-3.

Safarova and Medina Garrigues out of Monterrey in 1st round

Klara Zakopalova defeated 6th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 7-5 today in the first round of the Monterrey Open. Also going out in the first round was 8th seed Lucie Safarova, who was defeated 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 by Julie Coin. Coin hit ten aces in the match.

There was also an upset in doubles. Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated 3rd seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.

Serena upset in Marbella

I have no idea why Serena Williams went to Marbella, Spain to play in the Andalucia Tennis Experience. She had two injuries--her thigh and her ankle--yet she insisted on going. It wasn't worth the travel stress--she went out to Klara Zakopalova in the first round today, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

I now expect Williams to withdraw from Charleston, where she is the defending champion. Makes no sense. And on April 20, she will lose her number 1 ranking to Dinara Safina.

In other Marbella news, Roberta Vinci defeated Nicole Vaidisova in straight sets, and Anabel Medina Garrigues defeated her doubles partner--Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Pennetta wins the Cachantun Cup

Flavia Pennetta won the new Cachantun Cup tournament in Vina del Mar, Chile today when her opponent, Klara Zakopalova, retired toward the very end of the championship match. Zakopalova sprained her left ankle, and I imagine the pain was so bad at the end that she just could not go on. Pennetta def. Zakopalova, 6-4, 5-4