Martinez Sanchez wins Swedish Open

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez has won the 2009 Swedish Open. The unseeded Martinez Sanchez defeated 1st seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-4 to take the title.

This is Martinez Sanchez's second tour singles title. She won her first title this year, also, when she upset Gisela Dulko for the Bogota championship.

Dulko and partner Flavia Pennetta won the doubles title, defeating Nuria Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez 6-2, 0-6, 10-5.

Wozniacki and Martinez Sanchez to meet in Bastad final

Gisela Dulko's nice run at the Swedish Open ended today with a 7-5, 6-4 semifinal defeat by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Sanchez's opponent in the final will be top seed Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

2nd seeded Dulko and Pennetta will play together in the doubles final against top seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez.

Dulko making good on her resolve

When the talented but under-achieving Gisela Dulko was interviewed after defeating Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon, she acknowledged she had had a bad year, and said her goal was to reach the top 20. In my opinion, she should have gotten herself there some time ago. My general impression of Dulko for some time now, is that belief is the main element she lacks. She has a really good (but inconsistent) serve, she is tough from the baseline, and she is able to make it up as she goes along.

Belief appears to be with her in Bastad. Yesterday, she saved match points to upset 5th seed Sorana Cirstea, and today she saved match points to upset number 2 seed Dominika Cibulkova. She has now reached the semifinals, in which she will play Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who upset 7th seed Carla Suarez Navarro. The other semifinal will be played by top seed Caroline Wozniacki and 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta. Wozniacki defeated Maria Kirilenko 7-5, 7-6.

A day of upsets in Bastad

Several seeds were eliminated today in the second round of the Swedish Open in Bastad. Gisela defeated 5th seed Sorana Cirstea, Maria Kirilenko defeated 6th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Alla Kudryavtseva defeated 8th seed Iveta Benesova.

Yesterday, 4th seed Kai Kanepi lost to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta was the winner of a clash of Italian clay specialists when she defeated Wimbledon quarterfinalist Francesca Schiavone.

Meanwhile, in Budapest, at the GDF Suez Grand Prix, Edina Gallovits upset 3rd seed Sybille Bammer today in the second round of play, and Shahar Peer upset 2nd seed Alize Cornet, 6-2, 6-0. Yesterday, in the first round, 8th seed Lucie Safarova was defeated by Petra Martic.