Peschke & Srebotnik make second straight first-round exit

Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, seeded 2nd at the Sony Ericsson Open, were defeated 7-5, 7-6 yesterday in the first round by Shahar Peer and Peng Shuai. They were also defeated in the first round in Indian Wells, where they were the defending champions.

Indian Wells champions Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina upset 5th seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie, and advanced to the second round.

In singles, Daniela Hantuchova came back from a 1-6 first set loss against Caroline Wozniacki, and sent the second set into a tiebreak. Both before and during the tiebreak, Hantuchova had opportunities to win the set, but she was unable to utilize them. Serving at 7-8 in the tiebreak, she double-faulted, giving the top seed the victory. This dynamics of this match were not unusual for Hantuchova: She figured out how to beat her opponent, but she could not go the extra step and execute her plan.

16th seed Maria Sharapova had an easy time of it against wild card Sabine Lisicki, who is less than a shadow of the player she was in 2008. Lisicki has been troubled by illnesses and injuries since winning Charleston, and has not been able to make any type of comeback. Sharapova's next opponent is 4th seed Sam Stosur.

Zvonareva wins Doha championship

Vera Zvonareva, known for her command of windy conditions, put that command on display today in the Qatar Ladies Open final in Doha. Never wavering in the presence of top seed Caroline Wozniacki's relentless ball retrieval and accuracy, Zvonareva eventually wore Wozniacki down. Zvonareva broke Wozniacki four times to achieve a 6-4, 6-4 victory, her first tournament win since February of 2010.

Zvonareva, seeded 2nd at the tournament, was clearly delighted with her victory, and hit balls into the stands for an unusually long time. The Doha win was not easy. In the quarterfinals, the Russian had to play for over three hours and nine minutes to defeat Daniela Hantuchova, and in a very competitive semifinal match against Jelena Jankovic, she won a game in which she served at 4-all, 0-40 in the final set.

Top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik won the doubles title, defeating 2nd seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova  7-5, 6-7, 10-8.

2011 starts with a great story: Arn wins Auckland

Greta Arn was supposed to play in the ASB Classic qualifying rounds, but some late withdrawals opened a slot for her in the main draw. That was a piece of good fortune, and Arn needed it--she arrived in Auckland without her coach (he didn't want to make the long trip), and without her luggage (it was lost).

Until last year, Arn had become an almost forgotten journeywoman. The 31-year-old Hungarian has played for both Germany and Hungary, and, for a few years, she didn't play at all. Then, in 2007, with a ranking of 176, she qualified for and won the Estoril tournament by defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final. Last year, she reached the third round of a major (Wimbledon) for the first time in her career.

Today, Arn became the first title-winner of 2011: She defeated defending Auckland champion Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3. After winning the first set, Arn got a break in the second, but was unable to win a match point on Wickmayer's serve. She then got a match point on her own serve and double-faulted. The "turnaround" looked like it was about to happen, as it does so many times when a better-ranked player is losing, and then takes advantage of an opponent's nerves. At 3-5, Wickmayer appeared to have her service game under complete control, but the determined and still-confident Arn crept in, and won the match--and the tournament--on her third match point.

"I'm 31, you're only 21, believe me, you have so much time," the new champion told her opponent during the trophy ceremony. Her opponent did not appear to be amused.

To win the title, Arn defeated Zuzana Ondraskova, 8th seed Sofia Arvidsson, 1st seed Maria Sharapova, 4th seed Julia Goerges, and 2nd seed Wickmayer. The defending champion had a few long and tough matches in her draw, including an almost three-hour semifinal against Peng Shuai.

The doubles title was won by top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. They defeated Sofia Arvidsson and Marina Erakovic 6-3, 6-0.

Clijsters wins WTA Championships--Dulko & Pennetta win, too

Kim Clijsters, who has won every final in which she has competed this year, didn't disappoint in Doha Sunday. Clijsters defeated world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the WTA Championships. Clijsters went up 4-1 in the second set, but Wozniacki won a series of games and forced a third set. The world number 1 immediately broke in that final set, but Clijsters broke back, and continued to hold the momentum until the end of the match. "It seemed like it would never end," the champion said later.

This was the third time that Clijsters has won the Championships. The Doha victory was her fifth title of 2010; Clijsters won the U.S. Open for the second year in a row.

Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta continued their winning ways, too, defeating Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles final, and saving a set point in the first set. Dulko and Pennetta are the number 1 doubles team in the world, and when the new rankings come out, Dulko will be number 1 in the world.

Long-time friends Dulko and Pennetta have played doubles together on and off for years, but decided to be a committed team in 2010. The Doha victory gives them seven titles for the year; Dulko won an eighth title with Edina Gallovits.

Huber & Bryan win U.S. Open mixed doubles championship

Liezel Huber and partner Bob Bryan won the U.S. Open mixed doubles championship today, defeating Kveta Peschke and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Qureshi was able to save one match point off of Bryan's serve, but Peschke could not save the second.

Top seeds to play in U.S. Open mixed doubles final

Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan, the top-seeded mixed doubles team at the U.S. Open, advanced to the final today when they defeated 4th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Daniel Nestor. They will play Kveta Peschke and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in the final.

Peschke & Srebotnik win Pilot Pen

Top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik won the doubles title in New Haven tonight. They defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-0 in the final.

This is the second title of the year for Peschke and Srebotnik.

Dulko & Pennetta win Rogers Cup championship

Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta have done it again. The hottest doubles team of the year has won the Rogers Cup championship, defeating Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 3-6, 12-10 in Montreal today.

The semifinals and the final were all played indoors today because of the unrelenting Montreal rain. 2nd seeds Dulko and Pennetta defeated Monica Niculescu and Shahar Peer in the semifinals, and Peschke and Srebotnik defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yan Zi.

Williams sisters win French Open doubles championship

Serena and Venus Williams, the top seeds at Roland Garros, have won the 2010 French Open, defeating 12th seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

The Williams sisters are now the number 1 doubles team in the world, and are halfway through a 2010 effort to win the Grand Slam.

Top 2 seeds to meet in Stuttgart doubles final

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix number 1 seeds, Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, advanced to the final today by defeating 3rd seeds Cara Black and Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals. Their opponents in the final will be 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. Peschke and Srebotnik defeated 4th seeds Olga Govortsova and Alicja Rosolska 6-1, 6-2.

Peschke & Srebotnik win Indian Wells doubles championship

In this evening's BNP Paribas Open doubles championship, each player made some good shots, and there were several momentum swings, but there was no doubting who the star of the championship was. Kveta Peschke, known in doubles circles for her stinging forehand, also controlled the court with a very formidable backhand. And as if that weren't enough, Peschke's volleys were superior. As the match went on, it was Peschke's game that got better, and she and partner Katarina Srebotnik--an unseeded team--defeated 3rd seeds Nadia Petrova and Samantha Stosur 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.

Srebotnik, of course, has only recently returned to the tour, but she and Peschke have already shown that they are a force with which to be reckoned.

Spaniards back on top in Dubai

Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, after losing in straight sets in the third round of the Australian Open and losing to Australia in straight sets in Fed Cup, found their winning ways again today in Dubai. The 2nd seeds defeated Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-6, 6-4 in the final of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

There were nine breaks of serve in the championship match. Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez came back from being 2-5 down in the first set, and were in danger of going down 3-5 in the second.

Bondarenko wins Hobart

Alona Bondarenko won her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title today in Hobart. Bondarenko, seeded 4th, defeated 2nd seed Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-4.

To reach the final, Bondarenko defeated Lucie Safarova (by retirement), Alize Cornet, 7th seed Zheng Jie, and number 1 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Bondarenko is currently ranked number 32 in the world.

Chuang Chia-Jung and Kveta Peschke won the doubles final, defeating Chan Yung-Jan and Monica Niculescu 3-6, 6-3, 10-7. Both teams were unseeded.

Black and Huber win Madrid title

Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who have looked a bit vulnerable lately, managed their top seed billing well today in Madrid by taking the title. They defeated 3rd seeds Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.

USA pulls thrilling comeback to defeat Czech Republic in Fed Cup semifinal

With two singles wins apiece, the USA and the Czech Republic played a deciding doubles rubber today in their Fed Cup semifinal, and for the first two-thirds of the match, it looked as though the Czech Republic was going to run away with the victory. Iveta Benesova's expert serving and Kveta Peschke's mighty forehand and great net play gave the Czech Republic an easy first-set win of 6-2. The second set went just as well for them until they had a match point on the USA's serve, at 2-5. Peschke missed an easy second serve return, and this error was essentially the end of her run. She was nothing but a mass of errors after that, and her demise did nothing to help the always-fragile Benesova.

About the time Peschke melted down, Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA appeared to come out of a sleep, and to play the kind of aggressive doubles tennis of which she is capable. This sparked Liezel Huber, who also began to look more like herself. The USA, after holding at 3-5, then broke the Czech team when they served for the match. They were then able to take the set to a tiebreak, which they won. The third set was all USA, with Peschke and Benesova reduced to shadows of the players they were earlier in the match. With a 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 win, the team took the USA to the Fed Cup final for the first time since 2003.

Emerging as the star of this Fed Cup semifinal, however, was Alexa Glatch, whom captain Mary Joe Fernandez chose because of her expertise on fast courts. Glatch--who had never before played in Fed Cup competition--won both of her singles matches, and won them quite easily, allowing both of her opponents, combined, to win a total of only six games.

Peschke and Raymond out of the Australian Open

3rd seeds Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond were defeated today in the third round of the Australian Open by Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo, who won won 7-5, 6-3. The number 2 seeds, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascaul, were also defeated in the third round.

There's more...Number 5 seeds Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs lost 6-4, 6-2 to Venus and Serena Williams. And number 6 seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie lost, 7-5, 6-4, to Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Stosur and Peschke swap doubles partners

Sam Stosur will be playing doubles with Rennae Stubbs in the Australian tournaments, but may not play doubles much after January. In the meantime, Stosur's former partner, Lisa Raymond, has decided to team with Kveta Peschke, who has been playing with Stubbs.

Peschke and Stubbs to meet defending champions in Doha final

Top seeds and defending champions Cara Black and Liezel Huber took a big step today in defending their Sony Ericsson Championships title: They defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-1, 6-3.

In the other semifinal, Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs defeated Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.

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.

Wild card team into Stuttgart finals

The wild card team of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder defeated number 3 seeds Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semifinals today, 2-6, 6-4, 11-9. In tomorrow's final, they will play number 1 seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs. Peschke and Stubbs defeated Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 7-5.