Azarenka and Vinci win Moscow & Luxembourg titles

There was no report yesterday on the Moscow and Luxembourg matches because I was traveling and did not have Internet access. As everyone knows by now, 6th seed Maria Kirilenko defeated Vera Dushevina in the Kremlin Cup semifinals, and 2nd seed Victoria Azarenka defeated 8th seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Today, Azarenka won the Kremlin Cup by defeating Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4. Top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta won the doubles title, defeating 3rd seeds Sara Errani and Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.

Roberta Vinci won the Luxembourg Open, defeating 8th seed Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-4. In the semifinals, Vinci defeated Anne Keothavong, and Goerges defeated Angelique Kerber. The doubles title was won by 2nd seeds Timea Bacsinzky and Tathiana Garbin. They defeated top seeds Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-4.

Semifinal draws set in Moscow & Luxembourg

Two Russian players remain in the draw in Moscow, and they will play against each other in the semifinals. 6th seed Maria Kirilenko, who defeated qualifier Zarina Diyas in the quarterfinals, will play Vera Dushevina, who defeated countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze.

In the other semifinal match, 8th seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez--who appears to be back in her groove following an injury layoff--will play 2nd seed Victoria Azarenka. Martinez Sanchez defeated Dominika Cibulkova today, and Azarenka defeated 7th seed (and also Russian) Alisa Kleybanova.

Kirilenko and Azarenko, seeded 4th in doubles, were beaten today by number 1 seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta. Martinez Sanchez, playing with Sara Errani in Moscow, defeated Akgul Amanmuradova and Darya Kustova. Errani and Martinez Sanchez are seeded 3rd.

In Luxembourg, 8th seed Julia Goerges--who has been getting some good results lately--upset 4th seed Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. She will play Angelique Kerber in the semifinals; Kerber defeated Polona Hercog. In the second semifinal, Anne Keothavong will play Roberta Vinci. Keothavong defeated Iveta Benesova 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Keothavong hit seven aces. Vinci defeated Kirsten Flipkens.

Benesova and partner Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who are seeded 1st, have already reached the final. The second semifinal will be played tomorrow.

Jankovic out of Kremlin Cup

Jelena Jankovic has been sick--again--and showed up way under form for her second round match in Moscow. She was easily defeated 6-1, 6-2 by qualifier Zarina Diyas. The number 1 seed had nasal surgery a few years ago to help her with breathing problems, but when she becomes ill, she continues to have respiratory issues. Can someone please put her on an immune-building program right away?

In the meantime, Diyas moves to the quarterfinals, in which she will play 6th seed Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko dispatched of Kateryna Bondarenko 6-0, 6-0 today. Also, Anna Chakvetadze defeated qualifier Marya Koryttseva, and Vera Dushevina defeated Elena Vesnina.

In Luxembourg, Patty Schnyder--who beat Yanina Wickmayer in the first round--went out to Anne Keothavong in the second round. Ana Ivanovic and Roberta Vinci both won, and 5th seed Daniela Hantuchova was upset by Angelique Kerber.

This time, it's Schnyder

In the third round of the U.S. Open, Yanina Wickmayer defeated Patty Schnyder 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 in an all-out thriller. Today in the first round in Luxembourg, Schnyder beat 3rd-seeded Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4.

The third seed wasn't the only one to make an exit. In the second round, 2nd seed Aravane Rezai was run over 6-0, 6-1 by Kirsten Flipkens, and Iveta Benesova defeated 7th seed Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-5.

In Moscow, doubles 2nd seeds (and ad hoc team) Elena Vesnina and Liezel Huber were defeated 6-7, 6-4, 12-10 by Olga Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva. In singles, all the seeds who played today--Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Alisa Kleybanova and Victoria Azarenka--advanced to the third round. Also, Dominika Cibulkova defeated Tsvetana Pironkova.

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.

Pavlyuchenkova out of Kremlin Cup in 1st round

When she's healthy, Dominika Cibulkova can be a relentless opponent. Kremin Cup 4th seed AnastasiPavlyuchenkova learned about that today when Cibulkova defeated her, 7-6, 2-6, 6-0. Unfortunately, the two double-faulted a total of 21 times.

Kateryna Bondarenko defeated Petra Kvitova, 8th seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated wild card Alla Kudryavtseva, and  Alona Bondarenko defeated U.S. Open junior girls champion Daria Gavrilova, who also had a wild card into the main draw.

In doubles, 4th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko defeated Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova, and 1st seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta also advanced to the second round, as did Vitalia Diatchenko and Tatiana Poutchek.

Lisicki out in 2nd round of Luxembourg qualifying

Sabine Lisicki lost today to Eleni Daniilidou in the second round of Luxembourg qualifying. Daniilidou, who double-faulted 14 times, defeated Lisicki 7-5, 6-4. (A couple of years ago, when I said  the "Lisicki watch" had begun, this isn't what I had in mind.)

Also going out in the second round of qualifying was Timara Paszek, who lost to Lucie Hradecka. Hradecka hit nine ace , and is--as far as I know--the only big-ace hitter (she has hit as many as eighteen in one match) on the tour who does not have a high ranking.

In Moscow, top qualifying seed Elena Baltacha was beaten in the second round of qualifying by Mariya Koryttseva in a match that lasted over 2 hours and 43 minutes. Koryttseva won 6-4, 2-6, 7-

Schiavone wins Kremlin Cup

Though she often found it difficult to win a final, Francesca Schiavone had no trouble doing it today. The 8th seed defeated Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-0 to win the 2009 Kremlin Cup. Schiavone now has a 2-10 record in finals.

Yesterday, Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova won the doubles title, defeating Maria Kondratieva and Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-2.

Schiavone and Govortsova to meet in Kremlin Cup final

8th seed Francesca Schiavone, who just doesn't stop surprising us, will play Olga Govortsova in tomorrow's Kremlin Cup final. Schiavone defeated Alona Bondarenko, 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals today. Govortsova defeated Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-1.

Meanwhile, in Luxembourg, 6th seed Sabine Lisicki came back from being down 2-4 in the third set against Shahar Peer, and won her semifinal match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6. In the final, Lisicki will play Timea Bacsinzky, who upset 5th seed Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Semifinals set in Moscow and Luxembourg

The big news today is that 2nd seed Jelena Jankovic was defeated 6-4, 6-3 in the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals by Alisa Kleybanova. The only seed remaining is Francesca Schiavone, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-2. Also defeated in straight sets were Tsvetana Pironkova, who lost to Alona Bondarenko, and Vera Dushevina, who lost to Olga Govortsova.

In Luxembourg, Timea Bacsinzky defeated Katarina Srebotnik, Shahar Peer upset 4th seed Daniela Hantuchova, and Patty Schnyder--having taken out both Petra Kvitova and Kim Clijsters--lost to 6th seed Sabine Lisicki. Also winning, and thereby putting herself in another semifinal, was Yanina Wickmayer, who defeated Kirsten Flipkens 7-6, 4-6, 6-1.

In doubles, the top seeds, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder, were upset by the team of Vladimira Uhlirova and Renata Voracova.

Jankovic becomes number 8 for Doha

Jelena Jankovic defeated Lucie Safarova in the second round of the Kremlin Cup today. In an earlier match, Vera Zvonareva was defeated 6-0, 6-2, by Tsvetana Pironkova, who--this time--followed a big win (over Pavlyuchenkova) with an even bigger one. The upshot of all this is that Jankovic is now the eighth contender in the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships.

By the way, we're just out of the second round in Moscow, and only two seeds remain--Jankovic (2) and Schiavone (8).

In Luxembourg today, wild card and 2nd seed Kim Clijsters was upset by Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, in the second round, and 8th seed Carla Suarez Navarro was upset in the second round by Shahar Peer.

Between them, Daniela Hantuchova and Lucie Hradecka, hit 18 aces. Hantuchova won the match, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Retirements in Moscow

Sara Errani and Sorana Cirstea both retired during their first round matches in Moscow today--Errani with a right shoulder injury, and Cirstea with a right foot injury. Akeksandra Wozniak and Monica Niculescu were the beneficiaries of the retirements.

Tsvetana Pironkova, who is known for sometimes knocking off higher-ranked players, did so today when she defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenko 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Top seeds Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic both advanced to the second round, also. Zvonareva defeated Ioana Raluca Olaru, and Jankovic defeated Yaroslava Shvedova, the woman who took her out of the U.S. Open.

Jankovic won 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, and the sixth game of the last set featured eight deuces; Shvedova saved six match points on her own serve, and had a break point against Jankovic, but could not convert it. Jankovic hit six aces and double-faulted seven times.

Petkovic out in first round of Moscow qualifying

Andrea Petkovic, the number 1 seed in Moscow qualifying, is out in the first round. Petkovic was defeated by Kristina Antoniychuk, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Also going out in the first round were 5th seed All Kudryavtseva and 8th seed Alexa Glatch.

Meanwhile, in Luxembourg qualifying, 2nd seed Stefanie Voegele was upset by Yulia Putintseva. Between them, they committed 16 doubles faults.

Michelle Larcher de Brito and Marta Domachowska were also defeated in the first round of Luxembourg qualifying.

Petkovic top qualifying seed in Moscow

Andrea Petkovic, the Kremlin Cup's top qualifying seed, will face Kristina Antoniychuk in the first round of qualifying this weekend. There are 32 women trying to qualify for the tournament. The field includes Anastasia Rodionova, Alexa Glatch, Galina Voskoboeva, and Alla Kudryavtseva.

Petrova and Srebotnik win Kremlin Cup

4th-seed Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik have won the Kremlin Cup, upsetting top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 6-4, 6-4. Srebotnik's regular partner, of course, is Ai Sugiyama, but Sugiyama was not in Moscow, so Srebotnik paired with another of the tour's great doubles players, Petrova.

3 in a row for Jankovic

Not since 2005, when Nicole Vaidisova did it, had a tour player won three tournaments in three consecutive weeks, but now Jelena Jankovic has accomplished this feat. And--while the then-very young Vaidisova is to be credited for her accomplishments--the tournaments she won were of a lower level than the three just won by Jankovic.

Jankovic defeated Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4 to win the Kremlin Cup, and in doing so, she puts her lifetime tour final record at 9-10. This was also the third week in a row that Jankovic defeated Zvonareva: She beat her in the semifinals in Beijing, and in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart. The Beijing and Stuttgart matches were much closer.

Jankovic and Zvonareva to meet in Moscow final

I wasn't surprised to learn that Vera Zvonareva had defeated Dinara Safina in their semifinal. From all I've heard, Safina is mentally (and perhaps a bit physically) exhausted. I was impressed that she had won her semifinal against Kuznetsova, considering all I had heard about her mental fatigue. Zvonareva defeated the number 2 seed 6-2, 7-6.

The other semifinal scoreline defies the imagination: Top seed Jelena Jankovic took out defending champion Elena Dementieva, 0-6, 6-1, 6-0. (In Stuttgart, Li Na defeated Serena Williams 0-6, 6-1, 6-4, but this is even stranger.) Jankovic said she thought she played well in the first set, but that Dementieva was just too good, and that she (Jankovic) became determined to take control of the match in the second set. That determination paid off.

Jankovic slips into Russian semifinal contest

It would not have been a surprise if Kremlin Cup semifinal competition wound up an all-Russian affair, but Jelena Jankovic and Flavia Pennetta did not let that happen. Jankovic defeated Pennetta today, 7-6, 6-3, to reach tomorrow's semifinal match. This was obviously a close match (the tiebreak score was 8-6), so I'll take this opportunity to repeat my assertion that Pennetta deserves the Comeback Player of the Year award.

In another closely contested quarterfinal, defending champion Elena Dementieva defeated countrywoman Nadia Petrova, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. And in yet another close one, Vera Zvonareva defeated Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5, 6-4.

The fourth semifinalist is Dinara Safina, who won the first set against Svetlana Kuznetsova, and was down 2-5 in the second, only to find a way--as Safina now does most of the time--to turn the set around. She won the match, 6-4, 7-5. Safina has now won the last four matches she has played against Kuznetsova, and holds a 7-4 head-to-head record against her.

(My post headline pales compared with the one on the tour site: "Three Sisters Left to Thwart Jelena")

Peschke and Stubbs upset in Moscow

The team of Monica Niculescu and Yaroslava Shvedova took out the Kremlin Cup's number 2 seeds today. Niculescu and Shvedova defeated Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs, 4-6, 6-0, 10-7.

For those who haven't heard, Shvedova is no longer Russian. She has changed her nationality and now plays for Kazakhstan.

5 Russians in Kremlin Cup quarterfinals

Two Russians advanced in Moscow today, and two did not. Vera Zvonareva defeated Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1, 6-0, and if anyone knows why the match wound up with this scoreline, please tell me. Nadia Petrova also advanced, where her opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, had to retire because of an upper respiratory illness.

Vera Dushevina managed to take a set off of Jelena Jankovic, but Jankovic won the match, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. And Flavia Pennetta defeated wild card Ekaterina Makarova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Here is the quarterfinal lineup:

Jankovic vs. Pennetta
Dementieva vs. Petrova
Zvonareva vs. Cibulkova
Kuznetsova vs. Safina