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.

Wozniacki wins 3rd straight New Haven title

Nadia Petrova said that if she hadn't thrown her back out early in the third set of her New Haven final against top seed Caroline Wozniacki, she might have been able to launch a serious challenge to take the title. Perhaps. The back injury certainly didn't help, but throughout the match, Petrova exhibited the frustrating streakiness for which she is known.

Petrova managed to hit twelve aces--four of them in one game (I haven't seen anyone do that since Lindsay Davenport did it several years ago), but she, like her opponent, had problems serving into the bright sun. Petrova repeatedly set up sure-thing winning shots, but failed to execute them by hitting the ball long. Wozniacki won the first set 6-3, but in the second, Petrova--looking a lot like Thrill Ride did before her injury--broke Wozniacki three times to win that set 6-3. She did it the hard way--working around her own errors--but her opponent was making more errors, too.

Wozniacki went up 2-0 in the third set, and Petrova called for a trainer because of an obvious back injury. She then went down 1-3, but broke Wozniacki to get back on serve. She then had significant difficulties with her serve, and was broken at love. Wozniacki took the set 6-3, and thereby won the New Haven tournament three times in a row. This is her fourth title this year, and her tenth career title.

"I'm on a roll," she said afterwards. Wozniacki, who is seeded first at the U.S. Open, won the Rogers Cup in Montreal before going to New Haven. She is also the winner of the U.S. Open Series. Should she win the U.S. Open, she will get a $1,000,000 bonus. If she is the runner-up (which she was last year), she will get a $500,000 bonus. Should she make it no higher than the semifinals, she would get a $250,000 bonus.

Kim Clijsters placed second in U.S. Open series points, and Svetlana Kuznetsova placed third. They, too, are eligible for bonuses.

Wozniacki to go for 3 straight New Haven titles

Stellar footwork, beautiful volleys, double faults followed by aces, match points saved, and so close to a win....only to see it fade away.

All one can say is: Elena's back.

Elena Dementieva, the Queen of Quirk, who defeated Marion Bartoli in a frustratingly inconsistent quarterfinal match, said she wanted some tough matches so she can be prepared for the U.S. Open. Dementieva tore her calf muscle during the French Open and had to drop out for a while. She was given a wild card into Pilot Pen Tennis, and--despite her loss to top seed Caroline Wozniacki in tonight's semifinal match--the 4th seed certainly got what she asked for.

This was one of those matches that "should" have been a final. The shifts in momentum, and the fighting spirit displayed by both players, made the match exciting, to the extent that it was impossible to predict the winner until the very last moment. There were thrilling rallies, great volleys, expertly delivered lobs, and some good serving. There were also a lot of twists and turns, which came as no surprise, since Dementieva and Wozniacki are two of the best defenders in women's tennis. Both women missed a number of opportunities to win games rather routinely, but that just created more tension for the spectators.

Wozniacki got off to a slow start, making repeated errors--including on her serve--and winning only one game in the first set. She broke Dementieva right away in the second set, then held serve, though neither she nor her opponent held serve again in the set, which Wozniacki won, 6-3. Despite the breaks of serve, there was plenty to enjoy in the second set, but the best was yet to come.

Dementieva took the lead in the third set, but--knowing the patterns of both Wozniacki and Dementieva--it was hard to take that lead too seriously. Wozniacki fought her way back, but Dementieva took it to 5-4 and served for the match. Wozniacki broke her, and the tension moved up a notch. Wozniacki went up 6-5, and Dementieva, serving at 0-40, hit three consecutive winners to save three match points. She then made two more consecutive points, and then three more, to go up 3-0 in the tiebreak. She seemed to be on a fast path to victory, but it was Wozniacki who won the tiebreak 7-5, and--after two hours and 35 minutes--she had fought her way to her third consecutive New Haven final.

Dementieva, on the other hand, got stuck in the Pilot Pen semifinals for the fourth time in her career.

The defending champion won the Rogers Cup last week, and had to play her final two matches on one day because of rain delays. However, play started late in New Haven because of rain, and Wozniacki--who had a bye in the first round--received a walkover from Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals. She received some brief medical treatment during tonight's match, but seemed fine afterwards.

Wozniacki, who won the tournament in 2008 and 2009, will play Nadia Petrova in the final. Petrova was leaving Montreal for New York when she was given a last-minute wild card into the New Haven draw.

Petrova goes to Pilot Pen final

Maria Kirilenko was next to perfect in her first set against 8th seed Nadia Petrova today in the New Haven semifinals. Her clean, stylish game (one I always enjoy) got her a 6-2 set win, as Petrova had issues with consistency, and with her backhand. Shortly after that set ended, however, Kirilenko's received treatment for back pain (she has a history of back problems). When she returned to the court following treatment, she was making an obvious effort to keep the points shorter, and it didn't work for her.

At the same time, Petrova pulled her game up to the considerably high level of which she is capable. The backhand began to work very well, and the 8th seed took the last two sets at 6-2 apiece.

Often, when an opponent is injured, a player has some difficulty competing against her, but Petrova said it was Kirilenko's injury that gave her a chance to sharpen her mentality and get her game back on track. Petrova had a setback this summer because of heat illness that she experienced in Cincinnati, and she said she was grateful to get a wild card into the Pilot Pen draw.

She has used that wild card well. In the final, she will play either top seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki or 4th seed Elena Dementieva, who also came into the tournament via a wild card.

Petrova hit eight aces in her semifinal match today, and is now the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ace leader for the season.

As for Kirilenko, she has hurt her back right before a major tournament in which--if healthy--she has the potential to do quite well. Here's hoping this is more of a tweak than an injury--the current situation is getting more serious by the minute.

The land of (missed) opportunity

That's where Marion Bartoli resides, in case you want to drop by and have a chat and some coffee. For the entire first set of the 6th seed's quarterfinal match against 4th seed Elena Dementieva in New Haven today, she squandered chance after chance--seven in all--to break, but was able to succeed with only two of them. She was broken four times by Dementieva, who won the first set 6-3.

Bartoli raised her level of play in the second set, which she won 6-3. Dementieva quickly moved out in front in the third, but had trouble closing the match, which she finally did--6-3, 3-6, 6-2--on her seventh match point.

Sometimes this match was hard to watch. Dementieva had some obvious trouble with her injured thigh, but that seemed to go away. She did tell interviewers, however, that she is trying to avoid long rallies. The Russian also muttered and chatted and yelled--often at her mother--throughout the three-hour affair. "...what are you telling her?" Mary Joe Fernandez asked her. "You don't want to know," the 4th seed replied.

Dementieva will play defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. Wozniacki won her quarterfinal match by default when she received a walkover from an injured Flavia Pennetta. The top seed's move to the semifinals also means that she has won the U.S. Open Series.

Bartoli double-faulted twelve times, and Dementieva double-faulted seven times. There were 37 break opportunities in the match, and twelve breaks of serve.

The other semifinal will feature two Russians. Maria Kirilenko defeated wild card Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and 8th seed Nadia Petrova defeated 2nd seed Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-1. Petrova is now 4-0 against the Australian.

Pennetta gives Wozniacki a walkover in New Haven

I hope I haven't delivered a blogger's curse, for it was only a couple of days ago that I said to someone, "Flavia doesn't seem to be having any trouble with her foot lately." The Italian has had problem with her feet for a while, and even considered having some foot surgery. Today, she withdrew from her New Haven quarterfinal match because of a foot injury.

I don't know, of course, whether Pennetta's injury is part of her on-and-off chronic syndrome, or whether it is just a run-of-the-mill foot injury. Whatever it is, it couldn't come at a worse time. One of the world's best hard court players doesn't need to hobble into Flushing Meadows.

Wimbledon champions upset in New Haven 1st round

Since they won the championship at Wimbledon, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova have had a hard time getting past early rounds in tournaments. They were knocked out in the first round in Cincinnati; in Montreal, they lost in the second round. And yesterday, they lost their opening match to Chuang Chia-Jung and Olga Govorstova.

Gisela Dulko, the tour's current leader in doubles wins, played with Ipek Senoglu this week, and they lost in the first round to top seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. 4th seeds Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova also lost in the first round. They were defeated 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 by Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yan Zi.

New Haven seeds advance to quarterfinals

It's raining again in New Haven, but it was clear for most of the day, and the seeded players advanced. Elena Dementieva, the wild card who is seeded 4th, had to work extra hard to get her victory: It took her three hours to defeat Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. Dementieva didn't help her cause by double-faulting twelve times.

Wild card Dinara Safina had a close call, too, but defeated Daniela Hantuchova 7-6, 7-6. Maria Kirilenko defeated Timea Bacsinszky, and Carolilne Wozniacki (1), Marion Bartoli (6), Flavia Pennetta (7), and wild card Nadia Petrova (8) all advanced to the quarterfinals.

Stosur advances to quarterfinals in New Haven

All but one of the seeded players advanced today in New Haven, though a couple of them had to work hard to get a victory. In the first round, 6th seed Marion Bartoli lost a first-set tiebreak to Alona Bondarenko, then went up 5-3 in the second. There were then a series of service breaks, and another tiebreak ensued, which Bartoli won. She then won the third set, 6-3. It was a lengthy match with a total of seventeen double faults committed.

In the second round, 2nd seed (and wild card) Sam Stosur lost the second set to Sara Errani, but won the match, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, saving match points to get to a tiebreak.

In other first round play, 7th seed Flavia Pennetta defeated Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-4. Maria Kirilenko defeated qualifier Elena Vesnina, Olga Govortsova defeated Andrea Petkovic, and qualifier Anastasia Rodionova defeated Tsvetana Pironkova.

Also in the first round, Timea Bacsinszky upset 5th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-1.

Miscellany

The tour's "Looking Back at a Legend" series is now featuring one of my all-time favorite players--the great Evonne Goolagong.

Oracene Price says that her favorite player to watch (outside of Venus and Serena, of course) is Jelena Jankovic.

You can see some of Alona Bondarenko's wedding photos here.

Now that Pilot Pen has withdrawn its sponsorship, the New Haven tournament is looking for a sponsor.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters says she may have some strapping on her leg at the U.S. Open, but that she is fully fit.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is having trouble with her shoulder, as well as her hip. Pavlyuchenkova withdrew from New Haven competition.

Schiavone out of New Haven

Dinara Safina, who is working on a comeback, made a good start in New Haven tonight by defeating 3rd seed Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Thrill Ride, who is in the tournament as a wild card, will next compete against Daniela Hantuchova, who defeated Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-3.

Qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands also advanced. Mattek-Sands defeated Alexandra Dulgheru. And in a match that lasted three hours, lucky loser Dominka Cibulkova defeated Melanie Oudin 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Raymond & Stubbs upset in 1st round of Pilot Pen

Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs were upset in the first round in New Haven today by the ad hoc team of Raquel Kops-Jones and Alla Kudryavtseva. Kops-Jones and Kudryavtseva defeated the 2nd seeds 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.

Rain wipes out Rogers Cup again

Caroline Wozanicki and Svetlana Kuznetsova resumed their semifinal match today, but the respite from rain lasted only long enough for Kuznetsova to score one point. When the match was delayed on Saturday, Wozniacki led 2-0, and now the score is 2-0, 0-15. Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva have yet to play one point in their semifinal match.

The doubles semifinals and final were moved indoors.

In the meantime, Pilot Pen first round play was postponed because it rained in New Haven.

Pavlyuchenkova withdraws from New Haven

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who was scheduled to play juniors peer Melania Oudin in the first round of Pilot Pen Tennis, has withdrawn from the event; the world number 22 has been dealing with a hip injury lately. Lucky loser Dominika Cibulkova will replace Pavlyuchenkova in the draw.

Ivanovic withdraws from New Haven, Safina and Petrova get wild cards

Ana Ivanovic, who injured her ankle in Cincinnati just when she was making a comeback, has withdrawn from the Pilot Pen event in New Haven. In the meantime, wild cards for the event have been given to former world number1 Dinara Safina and world number 21 Nadia Petrova. Elena Dementieva and Sam Stosur also have wild cards into the New Haven event.

The top seed in New Haven is defending champion Caroline Wozniacki. Last year, Wozniacki won a rain-delayed final that was hampered by gusts of high wind.

Qualifying began today; wild cards Coco Vandeweghe and Christina McHale both lost in the first round, and Vania King retired at the end of the second set of her match against Anastasia Rodionova.

Miscellany

WTA Backspin's list of the top 25 best players of the last decade now includes players 6-10.

Serena Williams has set a goal of winning an Olympic gold medal in 2012 (via On the Baseline).

2010 will be Pilot Pen's last season to sponsor the U.S. Open Series tournament in New Haven. The tournament is looking for a new sponsor.

In clarifying her remarks about Andre Agassi, Martina Navratilova makes it clear that she does not think players should be penalized for using recreational drugs.

On a similar subject, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour CEO Stacey Allaster has called for some changes to be made in the ADAMS "whereabouts" rule. Her remarks come in response to the one-year suspension of Yanina Wickmayer. Wickmayer's countrywoman Kim Clijsters referred to the suspension as "extremely harsh."

Spanish team wins 2 in a row

Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who--just last week, won the Rogers Cup--won the Pilot Pen tournament tonight. The top-seeded Spanish team defeated Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka 6-2, 7-5. This is the sixth title of the year for Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez.

Good times never seemed so good--Wozniacki wins Pilot Pen

Pilot Pen defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, who defended her title today in New Haven, shook hands with her opponent, then sat down to the strains of "Sweet Caroline" emanating from the loudspeakers. It isn't often these days that a player defends a title, so Wozniacki has a lot to be proud of as she travels to Flushing Meadows for the U.S. Open.

The match was delayed almost three hours because of rainy conditions, and the wind continued to gust throughout play. Elena Vesnina, Wozniacki's opponent--who eliminated Gisela Dulko, Sam Stosur, Anna Chakvetadze, and Amelie Mauresmo from the tournament--did not have a good day. Serving well and playing aggressive tennis, she should have turned the final into a very tight competition. But Vesnina could not stop making unforced errors. Though she hit three times as many winners as Wozniacki, she also also made four times as many errors. At one point, after netting a sure-thing volley, the droll Russian--eyes rolling--applauded herself.

This was Vesnina's second final in a year in which she has dramatically improved everything about her game. She has more work to do in the mental toughness department, but she also has a lot with which she should be very pleased. Wozniacki has also had an excellent season, and goes into the year's last major with a strong record, a more finely tuned game, and a lot of confidence.

Wozniacki and Vesnina to meet in Pilot Pen final

Defending champion and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki had to play her semifinal match against 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta on an indoor court at Yale when it became obvious that the rain in New Haven was not going to stop. Only 300 spectators could fit, and a tin scoreboard was used. Wozniacki defeated Los Angeles champion Pennetta 6-4, 6-1.

The other semifinal, also played indoors, featured 8th seed Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Vesnina. Vesnina defeated Mauresmo 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

Because of the rain delay, neither the U.S.'s ESPN2 or Tennis TV broadcast the matches, and the electronic scoreboard was down, so I have no idea what actually happened in either match, though I've been busy making some reasonable guesses, especially about the second match.

Wozniacki has a 2-1 record against Vesnina, and on hard courts, a 1-1 record. A tiebreaker in Wozniacki's favor gave the Pilot Pen defending champion a win over the Russian in the semifinals of the 2009 Ponte Vedra Beach tournament (won by Wozniacki), a clay court event. Earlier this year, Vesnina defeated Wozniacki in three sets on a hard court in Auckland.

In doubles, top seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated Jill Craybas and Lisa Raymond, and will play Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka in the final.

Mauresmo slices and volleys her way to New Haven semifinal

The match wasn't pretty, but Amelie Mauresmo's tennis was often beautiful in her Pilot Pen quarterfinal match against top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova tonight. Sometimes looking like the great Mauresmo of 2006, the 8th-seeded Frenchwoman did everything she could think of--slice, serve and volley, increase topspin--to stay in the contest with French Open champion Kuznetsova. She also served well, which helped her quite a bit.

The first set was tight, and Mauresmo--always a good bet in tiebreaks--won it 11-9 in a tiebreak, saving five set points along the way. In the second set, she looked sluggish, and Kuznetsova won rather easily, 6-2. But in the third, all of Mauresmo's energy and finesse returned, as Kuznetsova made more and more errors. Serving at 5-3 for the match, Mauresmo held at love, but only after delivering one more superb backhand down the line.

Both players made plenty of unforced errors, and Mauresmo hit only half the number of winners her opponent hit. Despite the messiness of much of the mactch, however, there were some highly entertaining rallies, especially with Mauresmo spending so much time at the net.

In the semifinals, Mauresmo will play Elena Vesnina, who defeated Anna Chakvetadze 6-1, 7-5. The other semifinal match will be played between 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki. Pennetta defeated Magdelena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-2, and Wozniacki defeated Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-3.

In doubles, Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka defeated Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko when Kateryna had to retire because of a thigh strain.