Passing shots

The WTA site has a feature story on Patty Schnyder's emotional farewell in Charleston.

Francesca Schiavone has withdrawn from Stuttgart because of exhaustion. Yanina Wickmayer has also withdrawn, in order to give her knee some rest.

"I’m a younger player with not as much experience and I played some stupid things," Bojana Jovanovski said of her Fed Cup loss to Dominika Cibulkova.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands reports that competitive shooting is her latest interest.

You know about her skills with a soccer ball, but here, you can learn even more about Sara Errani.

Hantuchova wins Pattya Open

Daniela Hantuchova, seeded 4th at the 2011 Pattaya Open, easily won the title today when she defeated 8th seed Sara Errani 6-0, 6-2. This is Hantuchova's fourth WTA Tour singles title.

Errani, with partner Roberta Vinci, won the doubles title. Errani and Vinci defeated Sun Shengan and Zheng Jie 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.

Groth wins Hobart

Jarmila Groth, currently ranked number 40 in the world, has won the Moorilla Hobart International. Groth defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-3 in the final, which was played in windy conditions. Both players now head to Melbourne for the Australian Open. Mattek-Sands gets a qualifier in the first round, but Groth has to play 21st seed Yanina Wickmayer.

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are the new Hobart doubles champions. They defeated Kateryna Bondarenko and Liga Dekmeijere 6-3, 7-5. Because it rained so much during the tournament, a doubles semifinal had to be played following the singles final. Bondarenko and Dekmeijere won that match, defeating Groth and Klara Zakopalova.

Ladies with an attitude

It's the video of the year. C Note got it from ziamiki, so thanks to both of them--and now I'm sharing it with you. In a moment that is somewhere beyond camp, the members of the Italian Fed Cup team (take special note of Roberta Vinci) give us their interpretation of Madonna's "Vogue" video.

Pennetta & Kanepi to meet in Palermo final

Palermo top seed and defending champion Flavia Pennetta defeated 8th seed Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-4 in the semifinals today, and will play 5th seed Kaia Kanepi in the final. Kanepi defeated wild card Romina Oprandi 6-3, 6-2.

Alberta Brianti and Sara Errani won the doubles title today, defeating Jill Craybas and Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-1. Both teams were unseeded, as were all of the semifinalists.

Italians sweep Marbella

Flavia Pennetta won her ninth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title today in Marbella, defeating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Pennetta was seeded 2nd at the event.

The team of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won the doubles championship. The 3rd-seeded Italians defeated Yaroslava Shvedova and Maria Kondratieva 6-4, 6-2.

"It's...alive!"

What began in Indian Wells this evening as a near-meltdown for 6th seed Jelena Jankovic ultimately became an eminently watchable thriller, as Jankovic's spirit slowly lifted and we began to see more and more of what one of the Tennis Channel commentators (and some of the rest of us) refer to as the "old Jankovic."

Jankovic was up against savvy clay court specialist Sara Errani, who is perhaps the ultimate grinder on the women's tour. Errani was in fine form in this third round match, and impressed the crowd with her defensive play, which--like the "old Jankovic"--she was often able to turn into offensive success. Errani spun, sliced, lobbed, and hit precise groundstrokes, frustrating a flat-looking (how often have we said that in the past year?) Jankovic. Gone was the old-time smile on JJ's face, and gone was the breath-taking backhand down the line. Errani expertly took the first set 6-2.

In the second set, it was as though Jankovic woke up. Her errors decreased, and she found a rhythm. But that didn't stop Errani, who kept up with Jankovic and took the set to a tiebreak. That's when it got really interesting: Jankovic quickly went up 5-1, but Errani saved set points to even the score, securing the last one with a perfect drop shot. It then went to 6-all, and finally, Jankovic was able to take advantage of a set point.

Jankovic began the third set on a positive note, but Errani was not to be stopped. Suddenly, the 6th seed was serving at 2-4, 0-40, and that's when the "old Jankovic" made her greatest appearance. She saved three break points, but could not win the game on her first ad point. She did save a fourth break point, however, and on her second ad point, she held with a strong serve. It was all pretty much about JJ after that, though her opponent never stopped fighting. A disgusted Errani missed an overhead on match point, and Jankovic took the set 6-4. It took her almost two hours and 49 minutes, but the 6th seed won her ticket to the next round.

Errani and Vinci upset in Acapulco

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, seeded 6th and 7th in Acapulco, were both eliminated from competition today. Edina Gallovits defeated Errani 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, and qualifier Laura Pous Tio defeated Vinci 6-3, 6-2.

Errani and Vinci are partners in doubles, and have advanced to the semifinals.

Errani upset in Bogota quarterfinals

3rd seed Sara Errani made a quarterfinal exit in Bogota today. She was defeated 7-5, 6-2 by Arantxa Parra Santonja. Also upset was 7th seed Klara Zakapalova, who was beaten 6-0, 7-6 by Mariana Duque Marino.

Top seed Gisela Dulko advanced to the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sandra Zahlavova, and Angelique Kerber defeated Pauline Parmentier 6-1, 6-4.

Flipkens and Errani produce Hobart upsets

Qualifier Kirsten Flipkens defeated Hobart 6th seed Aleksandra Wozniak today, 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the Moorilla Hobart International. Also going out was 3rd seed Kateryna Bondarenko, who lost a very close match to Sara Errani. Bondarenko was a step behind for much of the match, yet she continually caught up. In the end, though, Errani was able to post a 7-6 (8), 6-4 score.

Also advancing in the second round were 5th seed Carla Suarez Navarro (def. wild card Alicia Molik) and 2nd seed Shahar Peer (def. Jelena Dokic).

In doubles quarterfinals, Errani and partner Roberta Vinci upset 2nd seeds Sania Mirza and Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-3, 7-5.

Errani and Zheng win tough matches in Hobart

Two matches stood out today in Moorilla Hobart International competition. Melanie Oudin and Sara Errani were on the court for close to three hours, breaking each other 9 times, until Errani emerged the winner, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Going for 2 1/2 hours were Zheng Jie and Kaia Kanepi, who appears to be returning to her 2008 form. Zheng defeated Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, after 12 breaks of serve. Kanepi hit 7 aces and committed 9 double faults.

The often-injured and unpredictable Tamira Paszek defeated Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3, and Alla Kudryavtseva defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-0.

Italy!

Italy won the 2009 Fed Cup today, and in doing so, became number 1 in the world in ITF rankings for the first time in history. The Italian team of Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani, and Roberta Vinci defeated the USA 4-0 to take the title. Even more impressive--the Italians defeated Russia 4-1 to get to the final. Prior to that, they also took France out of the competition with a 5-0 score.

Yesterday, Pennetta defeated Alexa Glatch and Schiavone defeated Melanie Oudin. Today, Pennetta defeated Oudin 7-5, 6-2, which gave Italy the win. It was the fourth time that Pennetta has scored the winning point in a Fed Cup tie.

The fourth singles rubber was skipped, and the doubles match was played as a dead rubber. Italy won that, too, defeating Liezel Huber and Vania King 4-6, 6-3, 11-9.

To me, Schiavone and Pennetta are Fed Cup. There is nothing quite like the attitude they bring to every event, and Schiavone in particular captures the spirit of Fed Cup like no one else.

Some special Fed Cup awards were also presented today. Mary Joe Fernandez, USA Fed Cup captain, and Silvia Farina, who has the most Italian Fed Cup wins in history, were given the Fed Cup Award of Excellence today. The award is presented by the ITF Hall of Fame & Museum and the ITF.

Fernandez, a member of the winning 1996 USA Fed Cup team, coached the USA to its first final in six years. Farina played on nine Italian teams, and recorded 23 Fed Cup victories.

On Thursday, Melanie Oudin was presented with the inaugural Fed Cup BNP Paribas Heart Award. The new award recognizes "a player who has represented her country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to the team during Fed Cup by BNP Paribas." Oudin was selected by fans to be the first recipient. She was given a silver bracelet and $5,000 to donate to the cause of her choice. Oudin gave the money to Children's at Egleston, the hospital where her younger sister had open-heart surgery.

Italy announces Fed Cup team for final

Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani, and Roberta Vinci will play for Italy in the 2009 Fed Cup final against the USA. Schiavone is undefeated so far this year in Fed Cup, and Errani has a 13-0 doubles record in Fed Cup competition.

Top seed upset in New Haven qualifying

Top qualifying seed Sara Errani went out in the first round of New Haven qualifying today. She was defeated, 6-1, 6-4, by Varvara Lepchenko.

Also going out were Warsaw and Bad Gastein champions Alexandra Dulgheru and Andrea Petkovic.

Both Maria Kirilenko and Olga Govortsova retired in their matches.

Safina wins Slovenia Open

It took her almost three hours, but world number 1 Dinara Safina got past defending champion Sara Errani to win the Slovenia Open today. Safina defeated relentless baseliner Errani 7-6, 6-1, 7-5.

It could have gone the other way. Errani served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but was broken. Throughout the match, the Italian got most of her first serves in, but lost most of those points. She did much better with her second serve, however, and got a little help from Safina, who double-faulted nine times.

Safina now moves on, in early August, to Los Angeles, where she is the defending champion. Safina was also the winner of last year's U.S. Series.

Safina to meet Errani in Portoroz final

Dinara Safina, the Slovenia Open's top seed, defeated Alberta Brianti in straight sets today in Portoroz, and will face Sara Errani tomorrow in the final. Errani defeated Stefanie Voegele, also in straight sets.

The Portoroz doubles final was won by Julia Goerges and Vladmira Uhlirova. They defeated Camille Pin and Klara Zakopalova in the final.

In Bad Gastein, two finalists also emerged. Top seed Alize Cornet was upset, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, by Ioana Raluca Olaru. Cornet served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but was broken.

Olaru will play Petkovic in the final. Andrea Petkovic defeated Yaroslava Shvedova in the semifinals.

In doubles, the team of Hlavackova and Hradecka will play the team of Borwell and Fichman in the final.

Pennetta takes Palermo title

Flavia Pennetta won the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo championship today, defeating countrywoman Sara Errani in straight sets for the title. This is Pennetta's seventh Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title.

The doubles title was won yesterday by Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who defeated Mariya Koryttseva and Darya Kustova 6-1, 6-2--the same scoreline as the singles final.

Pennetta and Errani to meet in Palermo final

Top seed Flavia Pennetta defeated countrywoman Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 6-1 today in Palermo to reach the final of the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo. Joining her will be another Italian, Sara Errani, who defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Groenefeld advanced to the semifinals when her quarterfinal opponent (and doubles partner), Patty Schnyder, had to retire because of a hip flexor strain.

Meanwhile, in Prague, the first semifinal, featuring Sybille Bammer and Iveta Benesova, lasted only thirteen minutes when rain came. It will be completed tomorrow, with the second semifinal (Francesca Schiavone vs. Timea Bacsinszky) to be played at the same time. The final will be played later in the day.

Errani and Pennetta win Ordina Open

Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta, known more for their clay and hard court play, won the Ordina Open today. They defeated Michaella Krajicek and Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 5-7, 13-11.

Zheng and Errani upset in Warsaw

Klara Zakopalova took 3rd seed Zheng Jie out of the Warsaw Open in the second round today. Zakopalova defeated Zheng 6-0, 6-4. Also going out was 5th seed Sara Errani, who lost to qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru. Seeds 4, 7 and 9--Aleksandra Wozniak, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Tsvetana Pironkova--all went out yesterday in the first round.

Maria Sharapova is through to the quarterfinals, in which she will meet Alona Bondarenko.