Brianti wins Fes title

Alberta Brianti won the championship in Fes today. Unseeded, Brianti defeated 7th seed Simona Halep 6-4, 6-3 in a fnal that was interrupted by rain. Halep was also the runner-up last year.

The doubles title went to top seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Renata Voracova, who defeated Nina Bratchikova and Sandra Klemenschits 6-3, 6-4.

Brianti received a walkover in the semifinals when her opponent, Dinara Safina, had to withdraw because of illness. The Italian player is currently ranked number 94 in the world. This is her first WTA title.

Li out of U.S. Open, Jankovic barely survives

Simona Halep served for the match today at 5-4 in the third set. She and her opponent, 4th seed Jelena Jankovic, played an error-filled mess of a match that Halep might have won had she been at a higher level of fitness and prepared to face the intense heat. But credit to JJ: When it came down to the end, something snapped into place, and she forced consecutive errors from her exhausted opponent to (finally) win 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Halep was up 5-1 in the second set, and almost ran away with it, as Jankovic made a string of unforced errors. (During the third set, my mind wandered to that Australian Open first round in which Jankovic saved herself  at the last minute from an upset by Tamira Paszek.)

8th seed Li Na, a semifinalist at the Australian Open, did not fare as well. She was defeated 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 by 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko, who took advantage of Li's run of unforced errors. Also going out were 26th seed Lucie Safarova (def. by Tamira Paszek), 30th seed Yaroslava Shvedova (def. by Lourdes Dominguez Lino), and Bronx challenger winner Anna Chakvetadze (def. by Urszula Radwanska).

Jarmila Groth took a set off of Maria Sharapova, but then went to pieces mentally. She double-faulted 14 times--an unfortunate trend among big servers on the tour. Sharapova defeated her 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The Coco Vandeweghe Watch is over. Vandewegh won one game against Sabine Lisicki, who is trying to put her game back together after experiencing a series of injuries and illnesses and a consequent loss of form and confidence.

The player who probably feels the worst today, though, is Magdalena Rybarikova. She believed that Aravane Rezai's last shot in a first set tiebreak was out, but it called good, and Rezai won the tiebreak 7-5. Rybarikova had the second set on her racquet at 6-5, but blew it with a forehand error. She then went down 0-5 in the tiebreak, and fought her way to 5-all. Rezai, the 18th seed, won that tiebreak 9-7.

As close as that contest was, however, I have to acknowledge the competition between John McEnroe and Chris Fowler over who can blather on the most while possessing the least amount of knowledge--not just about the women's tour, but even about U.S. Open procedures. ESPN, I have a deal for you: I'll do the job, and display a quarter of the ignorance for half the money. And I won't insult half of the players.

Chakvetadze advances to quarterfinals in Slovenia

Anna Chakvetadze upset 4th seed Sara Errani today in the second round of the Slovenia Open, after defeating Ekaterina Makarova in the first round. Palona Hercog defeated wild card Katarina Srebotnik, and Stephanie Voegele defeated wild card Tamira Paszek.

In Bad Gastein, Simona Halep retired toward the end of her second round match because of a right shoulder injury.

Quote of the day

How would you describe yourself in one word?
"Nervous!"

Simona Halep

Simona Halep goes to her first tour final

Today in Fes, Simona Halep, who upset Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals, advanced to the final by defeating Renata Voracova 7-5, 6-4. Her opponent in the final will be 7th seed Iveta Benesova, who defeated Alize Cornet 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the semifinals.

In the doubles semifinals, Benesova and partner Anabel Medina Garrigues--the top seeds--defeated French Fed Cup stars Julie Coin and Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-5. Their opponents in the final will be 2nd seeds Lucie Hradecka and Renata Voracova. Hradecka and Voracova defeated Vesna Manasieva and Klara Zakopalova 7-5, 6-1.

Simona Halep wins French Open girls' title

Simona Halep of Romania, who upset number 2 seed Arantxa Rus to get to the final, defeated Elena Bogdan, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 to win the French Open junior girls' title today. Bogdan had upset number 1 seed Melanie Oudin.

Rus upset at French Open

Arantxa Rus, the number 2 seed in junior girls' French Open competition, has been defeated by Simona Halep, who is seeded number 9. Top seed Melanie Oudin was upset in the quarterfinals by Elena Bogdan, who will play Halep for the 2008 championship. Both players are from Romania.