Li wins her first Premier title in Sydney

Li Na has not had an easy pro tennis career. She left the tour for a long time because she was tired of being told what to do by the Chinese Tennis Federation. When she returned, she did it on her terms (and, in fact, changed the entire climate of Chinese tennis for women), but then she was knocked down over and over by a series of significant injuries that kept her off the courts for months at a time.

And then there was the problem with nerves. Going into the 2011 season, the Chinese number 1 held three titles, all of them from International tournaments (and one, 2008 Gold Coast, dramatically attained immediately after she returned from a very long injury layoff). It wasn't that Li didn't get to the deep part of Premier tournaments and majors; it was that her nerves would visibly betray her, and could not get past semifinals. In fact, Li's most memorable run occurred last year at the Australian Open, when she engaged in a 6-7, 6-7 thriller with eventual winner Serena Williams.

In last night's Sydney final, world number 3 Kim Clijsters went up to a quick 5-0 lead, but then Li returned the favor by winning five games in a row. The set went to a tiebreak, and Clijsters immediately went up a mini-break at 3-1. All the points after that were Li's, though. The 8th seed won the tiebreak by making six straight points, then won the second set 6-3.

Li's victory means that she is not only the first Chinese woman to crack the top 10 (she is currently number 11), and one of the first two Chinese women (Zheng Jie made it to the Melbourne semifinals last year, too) to get to the semifinals of the Australian Open--she is also the first Chinese woman to win a Premier tournament. For whatever reason, Li's forehand is often left out of conversations about good forehands, but fans have seen this week just what the Sydney champion can do with it. One hopes that the confidence factor will serve as a settling agent for the talented Li's match anxiety.

Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, the unseeded but always dangerous Czech pair, won the doubles title by defeating 3rd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.

Meanwhile, the rain stopped (sometimes) in Hobart, and some players have had to play two matches a day in order to catch up. 6th seed Jarmila Groth and Bethanie Mattek-Sands will compete in the singles final. Groth defeated Klara Zakopalova, and Mattek-Sands defeated Peng Shuai.

Wozniacki, Zvonareva and Stosur all out of Sydney

World number 1 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki played her first round in Sydney yesterday, and lost to Dominika Cibulkova. Cibulkova's 6-3, 6-3 victory follows the unseeded Slovak's 6-3, 6-3 win over Maria Kirilenko.

Wozniacki played in the Hong Kong Classic prior to arriving in Sydney; the Hong Kong Classic is a world team exhibition event and not part of the tour. This year, team Russia defended its title, and Vera Zvonareva defeated Wozniacki 6-1, 6-0 in that event.

Exhibition matches are generally not taken too seriously, but the Hong Kong Classic is, like the Hopman Cup tournament, a significant team event. And Wozniacki's two straight-set losses in a row make her look a bit vulnerable.

Zvonareva, seeded 2nd in Sydney, also went out yesterday, in the second round (also her first round). She was defeated 7-5, 7-5 by Flavia Pennetta. 4th seed Sam Stosur was defeated 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Svetlana Kuznetsova; Stosur had a second round loss to Jarmila Groth in Brisbane. 3rd seed Kim Clijsters advanced to the third round.

Of note in the Medibank International is the young Serb, Bojana Jovanovski, who defeated Kaia Kanepi in the first round, and Aravane Rezai (7-6, 7-6) in the second. Her next opponent will be Pennetta.

Play in Hobart has been hampered by rain. Top seed Marion Bartoli, who lost only one game to Dinara Safina in the first round, will play Elena Vesnina in the second round.

Miscellany

Maria Sharapova is considering accepting a wild card to play in the Medibank International in Sydney. She is already scheduled to play in the Auckland Classic, which begins on January 3. Sharapova has never played in Sydney, and the tournament's organizers say that they are willing to give her a wild card at the last minute. The Medibank International begins on January 9.

Alex Williams says that Serena Williams is the Player of the Year for 2010, and that Francesca Schiavone gave us the Performance of the Year.

Mary Carillo, who does sports reporting for NBC, Tennis Channel, CBS, and HBO, has--at her request--ended her ESPN contract a year early.

Yaroslava Shvedova has hired Dimitri Zavialoff as her coach. Zavialoff coached ATP star Stanislas Wawrinka for fifteen years.

Zheng Jie, who reached the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open, has withdrawn from the 2011 tournament because of her wrist injury.

Finally--though this has nothing at all to do with the WTA--for those needing a holiday pick-me-up, here is a compilation of all the Roger Federer on-camera break-up moments captured on video.

Dementieva defends Sydney title

Defending champion and 5th seed Elena Dementieva won the Medibank International today by defeating top seed Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2. Williams was very error-prone and also appeared to be having trouble with her knee again, although she downplayed the problem in her post-match interview.

Number 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber won the doubles title, defeating Tathiana Garbin and Nadia Petrova 6-1, 3-6, 10-3.

Williams and Dementieva advance to Sydney final

Aravane Rezai served for the match in the second set of her semifinal against Serena Williams, but failed to do the job. I was out at the time and did not see this part of the match, but my understanding is that Rezai lost her nerve. I did see the third set, however, and have to ask myself again: Why don't players like Rezai and Agnieszka Radwanska drop everything and just learn to develop a second serve? The lack of a decent second serve made the match less competitive for Rezai. Any good opponent would have had an advantage, but this was Serena Williams, and she hammered away at Rezai's weaker serves.

Having said that, I should add that Rezai--who has always been a hard hitter--has added quite a bit of control to her game and is moving much better. Her backhand is impressive, and some of the rallies were exciting. Second serve notwithstanding, there is nowhere to go but up for the Frenchwoman. This time, though, she was taken out 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Elena Dementieva had an easier time of it in her match against Victoria Azarenka. Dementieva won the first set 6-3, and--as time went on--it became obvious that Azarenka was cramping. Dementieva won the second set 6-1.

In doubles, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber will play Tathiana Garbin and Nadia Petrova in the final. Garbin and Petrova upset 4th seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Vania King.

Safina defeated in Sydney quarterfinals

2nd seed Dinara Safina lost in straight sets today to 5th seed Elena Dementieva at the Medibank International in Sydney. Dementieva's 6-2, 6-3 victory gets her a semifinal match against Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka had a tougher time of it, fighting off Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals, but finished with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 score.

Top seed Serena Williams defeated Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-2, and will next play Aravane Rezai, who defeated Flavia Pennetta, 6-3, 6-0. Rezai had excellent service stats in her quarterfinal match, while Pennetta's second serve abandoned her.

Thrill Ride gets off to an early start

Why pull your antics in the spring or summer when you can dive right into the season with them on display? Though she didn't wait until the usual third set to make a sudden, heart-stopping comeback, Dinara Safina nevertheless made a big one today in Sydney. Down 0-5 in her first set against Agnieszka Radwanska, 2nd seed Safina found a way to level it at 5-all.

It didn't come easily. Radwanska served for the set at 5-4, but Safina broke her. However, it took Safina 7 set points to finally get a 7-5 first set score. She held a match point in the 10th game of the second set, but couldn't convert it; she won that set 6-4. Radwanska, for her part, is still missing a vital element--a decent serve, though the rest of her game is impressive.

3rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was upset by Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5, 6-2.

Top seed Serena Williams had a much easier time of it, defeating Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-2. Martinez Sanchez, though she frequently served quite well in this match, seemed a bit sluggish, and her shot selection was off. Williams, for the most part, looked great.

Excessive double-faulting continued. Victoria Azarenka and Kimiko Date Krumm committed 9 apiece, and Elena Dementieva commited 12.

In doubles, 3rd seeds Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone were upset by Laura Granville and Abigail Spears.

Wozniacki and Jankovic lose in Sydney 1st round

A resurgent Li Na took 4th seed Caroline Wozniacki out of competition in Sydney today, defeating her 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Also leaving in the first round was 7th seed (that still sounds odd) Jelena Jankovic, who was taken out by qualifier (that still sounds odd, too) Agnes Szavay, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

Though those were the only two official upsets, there were some other upsets, and some other interesting results:

Flavia Pennetta made easy work of Sam Stosur, defeating her 6-3, 6-1.

Sabine Lisicki, after serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set, lost to Victoria Azarenka, who took the match 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Lisicki hit 39 winners, including 11 aces, but made 75 unforced errors, including 9 double faults. Clearly, she is still all over the place.

Kimiko Date Krumm defeated Nadia Petrova 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

8th seed Vera Zvonareva retired in her first set against Elena Vesnina because of--you guessed it--her right ankle. Zvonareva hurt the post-op ankle while playing an exhibition match in Hong Kong last week. She said that it became swollen because of the surgery.

And finally, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated Varvara Lepchenko, which means that she will play Serena Williams in the second round, and their matches get better as time goes on.

Play begins in Sydney and Hobart

Svetlana Kuznetsova fought off an apparently spirited Alisa Kleybanova in the first round of the Medibank International today, winning 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. There were 9 breaks of serve in the match, and a total of 18 double faults.

Also winning were Elena Dementieva and Daniela Hantuchova, who defeated Francesca Schiavone and Virginie Razzano, respectively.

The reunited team of Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs lost to wild cards Casey Dellacqua and Aravane Rezai, and Kimiko Date Krumm qualified for the main draw.

In Hobart, Peng Shuai defeated Sorana Cirstea in straight sets, Alona Bondarenko defeated Sybille Bammer, and Kateryna Bondarenko won her first round match against Lucie Safarova when Safarova retired with a left pectoral muscle strain.

In doubles, the team of Chuang Chia-Jung and Kveta Peschke upset 4th seeds Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova.

Pavlyuchenkova upset in Sydney qualifying

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2nd qualifying seed in Sydney, was defeated today in the second qualifying round by Anastasia Rodionova, her former countrywoman. Rodionova is now an Australian citizen.

Top qualifying seed Agnes Szavay has advanced to the third round of qualifying, as has 3rd seed Vera Dushevina.

Quote of the week

"You are probably the best player right now on the tour."

Elena Dementieva to Dinara Safina at the Sydney awards presentation

Dementieva wins Medibank International

Elena Dementieva has just won her second event of the season, the Medibank International tournament in Sydney. Last week, she won the ASB Classic in Auckland. In Sydney, Dementieva defeated Dinara Safina, whom she also defeated in the final of the Beijing Olympics. Dementieva posted a score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the Sydney final, and goes to Melbourne as a contender for the Australian Open title.

In doubles, the team of Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai defeated Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua, 6-0, 6-1. The surprising scoreline is explained somewhat (I did not see the match) by the service stats--Dechy and Dellacqua were not having a good serving day.

Dementieva and Safina to meet in Sydney final

Ai Sugiyama kept Dinara Safina busy running and thinking throughout their Medibank International semifinal. Sugiyama looked fresher, almost from the start of the match, but Safina found a way to get through, 6-4, 7-6.

In the other semifinal, a visibly tired Serena Williams--spent from her long and grueling struggle against Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals--was not able to put up much of a fight against Elena Dementieva, who won the match, 6-3, 6-1. And to show off her improved serve, Dementieva hit three aces in one game.

Black & Huber out of Sydney

Tops seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber were defeated today in the Medibank International semifinals. Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua defeated them, 7-6, 1-6, 10-5.

Meanwhile, in Hobart, Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko won their semifinal match against Edina Gallovits and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-4, 6-3.

Semifinals set in Sydney and Hobart

Serena Williams survived a serious quarterfinal challenge from Carolina Wozniacki in Sydney, and will now play Elena Dementieva, who won a three-setter against Agnieszka Radwanska. The other semifinal will feature Ai Sugiyama, the beneficiary of a walkover from Svetlana Kuznetsova (abdominal strain), and Dinara Safina, who defeated Alize Cornet.

In Hobart, Magdalena Rybarikova (who saved a match point to defeat Melinda Czink) will face Iveta Benesova, and Petra Kvitova will compete against Virginie Razzano.

Williams def. Wozniacki, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6
Dementieva def. Radwanska, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Safina def. Cornet, 6-3, 6-4

Rybarikova def. Czink, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6
Benesova def. Dulko, 6-4, 6-4
Kvitova def. Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
Razzano def. Pironkova, 6-4, 6-1

Peschke and Raymond defeated in Sydney quarterfinals

Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua have defeated number 3 seeds, Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond, at the Medibank International tournament in Sydney. Dechy and Dellacqua took the match, 6-3, 6-2. All three top seeds are now out.

2nd and 4th doubles seeds out in Sydney

Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai defeated the number 4 seeds in Sydney, Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, today, 7-5, 7-5, in the first round. Also going out in the first round were number 2 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, who lost to Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 7-5.

Meanwhile, in Hobart, former doubles partners Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta teamed up again, and were on the receiving end of a piece of good luck. Down 0-5 in the first set against 3rd seeds Agnes Szavay and Elena Vesnina, they won the match when Szavay and Vesnina retired.

Seeds do well in 2nd round in Sydney

Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Caroline Wozniacki all won their Medibank International second rounds in straight sets today, with Radwanska defeating Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3, 7-5. Kuznetsova had a three-set battle with Kaia Kanepi, which ended with a score of 6-2, 2-6, 7-6.

Also of note was Ai Suyiyama's three-set defeat of Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Chakvetadze out in Hobart, Petrova out in Sydney

Third seed Anna Chakvetadze went out in her first round in Hobart yesterday, falling to Carla Suarez Navarro, who defeated her 7-6, 1-6, 7-5. Chakvetadze joins Wozniak and Szavay, other seeds who went out in the first round. Also out are 8th seed Tamarine Tanasugarn, who lost to Iveta Benesova, and Patty Schnyder, who lost to Tsvetana Pironkova.

In Sydney, number 7 seed Nadia Petrova lost to Alize Cornet, 6-2, 6-4.

Bartoli, Zvonareva and Azarenka withdraw from Sydney

When the score was 1-1 in her first Medibank International match, Marion Bartoli retired with a left calf muscle strain, giving Melanie South the match. Meanwhile, Vera Zvonareva withdrew because of intestinal illness, and Azarenka withdrew because of a virus.

Ana Ivanovic has also complained of intestinal illness recently. Jelena Jankovic is ill, too, but I do not know the exact nature of her illness.