Kvitova wins Madrid championship

Petra Kvitova, the 16th seed at the Madrid Open, went up 3-0 in the opening set of today's championship match, and she was a point away from going up 4-0, but 4th seed Victoria Azarenka then got on the scoreboard and eventually made matters even. The set went to a tiebreak, which Kvitova won. To casual observers, this was a case of the Czech player's obtaining a second chance to do what she "should" have done earlier in the set.

Casual observers would be correct, of course, but such a progression through a set is kind of the "Kvitova way." Because she takes so many risks and plays such intense offensive tennis, the 16th seed makes a lot of errors. Yes, it would be better if she didn't. However, because of Kvitova's excellent serve and her ability to remain calm, she often finds a way to take back what she gave up. In fact, the more important the match, the more likely Kvitova is to rescue herself and take control.

In today's match, Kvitova use her wide serve to her advantage over and over, but she also varied the serve, and she hit second serves that set up winners for her. The Czech player was also careful to avoid Azarenka's backhand as much as possible. Both Kvitova and Azarenka are "first strike" players, producing the type of tennis that I don't especially enjoy watching, but that I can certainly appreciate. The rallies were short in this match, and it was Kvitova who showed more skill in setting up and executing winners. Azarenka was forced into a defensive position much of the time, and--as good as she is--she just didn't have enough answers when Kvitova went for wider and wider angles.

In the second set of today's match, Azarenka had opportunities to draw out the match. She broke Kvitova twice, but Kvitova used her big serve to come back. When she served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, the Czech player put some showy icing on the cake: She hit an ace and three winners--service, forehand and backhand, to hold at love for a 7-6, 6-4 victory.

The stats confirm that this was a "typical" Kvitova match: The champion hit 40 winners and made 34 unforced errors. She will be number 10 in the world when the new rankings are published. Azarenka, who won the doubles championship with Maria Kirilenko, will be number 4.

Kvitova, who made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, is more of a fast-court player. The altitude in Madrid makes the clay surface faster than most, so Kvitova's work may be cut out for her when she arrives in Paris for the French Open, especially if weather conditions make the courts especially slow and the balls become heavy. Winning her third title this year is certainly good for Kvitova's confidence, however, and her ability to keep a cool head is most advantageous.

One final note: The "success" of having a combined tournament is a joke in Madrid. There were not that many people in the stands to watch the women's championship, so perhaps the Madrid organizers could spend less time and energy auditioning models and more time promoting the women's game. Of course, to do that, they would have to actually care.

Azarenka and Kirilenko win Madrid doubles title

5th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko won the doubles championship in Madrid today. They defeated 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

Azarenka isn't finished, however; she will play against Petra Kvitova in the singles championship match tomorrow. Azarenka defeated Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals, ending the German player's 10-match win streak. Goerges appeared to be in a state of mental, if not physical, fatigue throughout much of the match.

Kvitova, seeded 16th, easily defeated 6th seed Li Na 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals. Kvitova's quarterfinal victory puts her in the top 10 for the first time. When the rankings are published next week. she will be number 10 in the world. Azarenka will be number 4.

Goerges and Azarenka to play in Madrid semifinals

People who saw Julia Goerges play (I didn't) in the third round of the Madrid Open said she looked pretty tired. She wasn't too tired to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, however. Goerges' 6-4, 6-2 victory places her in the semifinals against 4th seed Victoria Azarenka. In the last two months, Azarenka has either retired from events or won them. She had to retire in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells because of a hip injury (an ongoing problem), and she retired with a shoulder injury in the second round in Stuttgart. Azarenka won titles in Miami and Marbella.

To get to the semifinals, Azarenka defeated Lucie Safarova 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Belarusian is now 6-0 against Safarova, who took her first set off of Azarenka today.

Li Na--who has never been known for her performance on clay, and who had experienced quite a downfall since her big Australian Open run--is somewhat of a surprise semifinalist, despite being seeded 6th. Li defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Mattek-Sands gave Li a lot of opposition, but then was easil broken at love in the final game.

Li's opponent will be Petra Kvitova, the 16th seed. Kvitova is a bit of a surprise, too, in that one might not expect her to perform at a high level on red clay. But she defeated a very good clay performer, Dominika Cibulkova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Kvitova is just full of surprises, however, and I look forward to seeing what the next one will be.

Azarenka and her partner, Maria Kirilenko, seeded 5th in doubles, defeated the 3rd seeds, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova, in today's semifinals. Their opponents in the Madrid final will be 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. Peschke and Srebotnik defeated Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs 6-1, 4-6, 10-2.

Gajdosova goes for the thrills in Madrid

Jarmila Gajdosova has done a pretty good imitation of Thrill Ride since she arrived in Madrid. In the first round, she hung in while her opponent, Maria Kirilenko, served for the match twice and held two match points. In the second round, Gajdosova upset 12th seed Agnieszka Radwansska after Radwanska came close to going up 4-0 in the third set.

Thrill Ride, by the way, is still standing, and will play Stuttgart champion Julia Goerges in the next round. 9th seed Shahar Peer went out in the first round, as did Spanish clay court star Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who lost to 6th seed Li Na. Wild card Arantxa Parra Santonja upset 13th seed Andrea Petkovic in the second round, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova upset 11th seed Marion Bartoli.

Petra Kvitova will take on 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva on Wednesday. Up next for top seed Caroline Wozniacki will be the winner of the Safina-Goerges match.

In doubles, 4th seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond were defeated by Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs, who makes an occasional appearance in tournaments, despite her "retirement" from pro tennis. Also, 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova defeated wild cards Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva in the second round.

Kuznetsova and Wickmayer out in 1st round in Madrid

Yesterday in Madrid, for the third consecutive time, Dominika Cibuulkova defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova. Cibulkova won 6-3, 6-2 over the 12th seed. Yanina Wickmayer, though unseeded, was undoubtedly expected by many to go deep in this tournament, but she, too, was defeated. Ekaterina Makarova beat Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4 in today's first round play.

Defending champion Aravane Rezai went out, too--6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to Sofia Arvidsson. Flavia Pennetta and Nadia Petrova were also beaten in the first round. Pennetta is just returning from rehab for a shoulder injury, and Petrova has been coping with an ongoing illness.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost the first set 6-0 to Ana Ivanovic, then went on to win the next two. And probably no one had to work as hard as Chanelle Scheepers, who served for the match at 5-3 in the third set served against Monica Niculescu, and then was broken twice. Scheepers broke back, which took the players to a tiebreak, and Scheepers prevailed. It took Scheepers two hours and 47 minutes to win at 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.

Of the three French Open champions playing in Madrid, only Francesca Schiavone survived the opening round. She defeated Peng Shuai 7-5, 7-6.