Passing shots

Dinara Safina has hired Davide Sanguinetti to be her coach. Sanguinetti reached a career-high rank of 42 in the ATP.

Olympus has settled the lawsuit filed against the company by the USTA. Olympus will remain a sponsor of the U.S. Open, and will remain the title sponsor of the U.S. Open Series.

There are a number of travel packages available for the Family Circle Cup, which will be played April 2-10.

You can read about Australia's new Learn Earn Legend! program here; it's the lastest initiative of the great Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

Venus Williams is the service speed leader so far in 2011. She hit a 121.2 mph (195 kph) serve at the Australian Open. Right behind her, not surprisingly, is Lucie Hradecka, who hit a 120. 5 mph (194 kph) serve in Brisbane.

New Zealand and Malaysia both pulled out of Fed Cup competition because they didn't have enough good players to compete. Marina Erakovic and Sacha Jones, New ealand's top players, both have wrist injuries.

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-

Goerges wins Gastein Ladies

Today in Bad Gastein, Julia Goerges played her delayed semifinal match against Alize Cornet, and won it, 6-1, 6-4. She then defeated Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 6-4 in the final. This is Goerges' first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

2nd seeds Lucie Hradecka and Anabel Medina Garrigues won the doubles title, defeating 4th seeds Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin 6-7, 6-1, 10-5.

French Open miscellany

Simon Reed thinks Dinara Safina should consider taking a break from tennis.

Three French Open outfits I especially like are worn by Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

It's appropriate, during the French Open, to look back at legend Chris Evert.

Victoria Azarenka was fined for not attending her press conference after her first round loss.

Here is a deconstruction of the 2010 French Open poster.

Lucie Hradecka lost her first round match to Alexandra Dulgheru, but it should be noted that she hit 18 aces.

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.

Dushevina wins Istanbul Cup

It took Vera Dushevina less than 42 minutes to defeat Lucie Hradecka in today's Istanbul Cup final. Dushevina, who was seeded 5th, defeated the the number 8 seed 6-0, 6-1. On her way to the title, the champion upset world number 21, Anabel Medina Garrigues.

This is Dushevina's first tour singles title; she has been a finalist in three other tournaments.

Hradecka and Dushevina to meet in Istanbul final

Lucie Hradecka--in a match that lasted almost three hours and included 18 breaks--defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 today in Istanbul to advance to the final of the Istanbul Cup. Also advancing was Vera Dushevina, who defeated Timea Bacsinszy 6-2, 6-4.

The doubles title was won today by 3rd-seeded Hradecka and her partner, Renata Voracova. They defeated the 2nd seeds, Julia Goerges and Patty Schnyder, 2-6, 6-3, 12-10.

Dokic's bad luck follows her to London

Jelena Dokic, who was in the midst of defeating the world number 3 when her back went out at the French Open, today experienced dizziness and weakness during her first round match at Wimbledon. She didn't retire, but her level of play went down considerably, and she was defeated by Tatjana Malek. She says she thinks she has some type of virus; she has been dizzy on and off for about a week.

Some of Dokic's bad luck rubbed off on Lucie Hradecka, whose thigh looked seriously bandaged when she played Ana Ivanovic. At one point in the match, Hradecka's movement was obviously compromised, though she continued to play as tough as she could. Ivanovic saved two match points, had a bit of her Wimbledon netcord good luck, and showed the kind of pull-from-behind spirit that has won her many a match.

Faring no better was Kimiko Date-Krumm, whose classic grass play had Caroline Wozniacki befuddled in their first set. Date-Krumm, however, sustained a thigh strain and an abdominal strain, and--though she played out the match--she was never the same again.

Rezai wins her first title

Aravane Rezai defeated Lucie Hradecka 7-6, 6-1 today to win the Internationaux de Strasbourg, her first tour title. Rezai has been a finalist on two occasions. To get to the final, Rezai defeated 2nd seed Sybille Bammer, Anastasiya Yakomova, Monica Niculescu, and Victoriya Kutuzova.

Hradecka and Rezai go to Strasbourg final

Lucie Hradecka won her Strasbourg semifinal match 6-0, 1-0 today when her opponent, Ayumi Morita, retired with a left thigh strain. In the final, Hradecka will play Aravane Rezai, who defeated Victoriya Kutuzova, 6-4, 6-2. None of the semifinalists was seeded.

Parmentier wins in Bad Gastein

Pauline Parmentier has defeated Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 6-4 to win the 2008 Gastein Ladies. This is Parmentier's second Tour title.

Of interest: Sesil Karatantcheva and partner Natasa Zoric were the doubles runners-up at the tournament. The doubles title went to Hradecka and partner Andrea Hlavackova. Here's hoping we see a lot more of Karatantcheva.

Parmentier and Hradecka to play in Bad Gastein final

Because of the rain in Bad Gastein, players had to do catch-up today and play both quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Number 1 seed Agnes Szavay, who defeated Iveta Benesova in the quarterfinals, was then defeated in the semifinals by Pauline Parmentier, 6-4, 6-2. And Lucie Hradecka defeated Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Last year, Hradecka--with partner Renata Voracova--won the Bad Gastein doubles title.