"Venus the Best"

Was there a more charming awards ceremony sight this year than the one in Zurich? Champion Venus Williams went into the stands and hugged her father and her dog, then returned to a band who serenaded her with a personalized version of "Simply the Best" while she danced, holding her flowers.

Venus wins Zurich Open

Having lost to Flavia Pennetta in their last three matches, Venus Williams turned it around today, and defeated Pennetta, 7-6, 6-2. Williams won the tournament--which is being discontinued--during its 25th anniversary. There is talk of reviving the Zurich tournament at some point, but for now, it is finished.

Tops seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber won the doubles title, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder, 6-1, 7-6.

Quote of the day

“It was a nice match but tough from the beginning. We know each other very well, we spend so much time together, so it was tough to play a good friend.”

Flavia Pennetta on her semifinal victory over Anabel Medina Garrigues

Top seeds to face wild card team in Zurich final

Top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber won their semifinal match today in Zurich. They defeated Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta, 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. They will play the wild card team of Patty Schnyder and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Williams to meet Pennetta again

Venus Williams won her Zurich Open seminfinal against Ana Ivanovic today, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and in the final, she will play Flavia Pennetta, who defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3, 7-6.

Williams is 1-3 against Pennetta; her most recent loss to the Italian was earlier this month in Moscow, when Pennetta beat her in three sets in the first round. In that tournament, Pennetta lost to the eventual winner, Jelena Jankovic. This time around, Pennetta defeated Jankovic in the second round in Zurich.

Since coming back slowly and arduously from a long injury time-out, Pennetta has played the best tennis of her career, and it is not often the case that a player does that. She was the finalist in Los Angeles (lost to Serena Williams), and made it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.

This should be a very entertaining, and perhaps tense, final.

Semifinals set in Zurich

Flavia Pennetta added another chapter to her comeback story today when she defeated Katarina Srebotnik, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Zurich Open. Anabel Medina Garrigues also advanced when her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, retired from play because of a right shoulder injury. Medina Garrigues's second round opponent, Vera Zvonareva, also retired in the middle of their match.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams defeated Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-3, and Ana Ivanovic defeated Petra Kvitova, 6-1, 6-4.

In doubles, the team of Groenefeld and Schnyder continued to rise as they defeated 2nd seeds Srebotnik and Sugiyama, 6-4, 0-6, 10-8.

Jankovic makes earliest exit of the season

It's tough, getting past Flavia Pennetta these days. Jelena Jankovic found out just how tough it is today in Zurich, when Pennetta continued her strong comeback statement with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over the number 1 seed. Jankovic could doubtless do with a rest, so it isn't the worst thing that could happen to her. She had to have her knee treated during the second set, but injury breaks occur very often with Jankovic.

Jankovic wasn't the only seed to go. 5th seed Agnieszka Radwanska was defeated by Katarina Srebotnik, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Vera Zvonareva felt dizzy and had to retire in her second set against Anabel Medina Garrigues, Petra Kvitova defeated Sofie Arvidsson, 6-2, 6-1, and number 2 seed Anna Ivanovic defeated Marion Bartoli, 6-2, 6-4.

Then there was Monica Niculescu, who failed to take one game off of Victoria Azarenka.

In doubles, Schnyder and Groenefeld continued their success by defeating Peng and Zheng, 7-6, 6-3.

Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual upset in Zurich first round

French Open winners Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual made an unexpected exit in Zurich today. The 3rd seeds fell to Sorana Cirstea and Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-4.

Also in the first round, the former world number 1 team of Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur was defeated by Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie, 6-3, 7-6. Zheng, of course, usually plays with partner Yan Zi.

Finally, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Agnes Szavay, 6-2, 6-3.

Petrova out in first round in Zurich

First round matches were still being played today at the Zurich Open, and one of the casualties was the resurgent Nadia Petrova, who was run over by Flavia Pennetta, 6-1, 6-1. Petrova hit only one ace, had just a 49 first serve percentage, a 56 first serve win percentage, and a terrible 21 second serve win percentage. She also made unforced errors all over the place, and was generally considered to be very out of sorts during the match. I have seen an out-of-sorts Petrova before, and it isn't pretty.

Pennetta, for her part, broke Petrova five times and was never broken back.

Szavay and Chakvetadze out in the first round--how often do we say that these days?

Agnes Szavay and Anna Chakvetadze define "slump" these days. Chakvetadze hasn't been able to do much of anything all season, and neither has Szavay. Today in Zurich, Chakvetadze fell to Monica Niculescu, and Agnes Szavay dined on a bagel, compliments of Marion Bartoli.

Caroline Wozniacki fared no better; she fell to Francesca Schiavone, and Li Na was taken out by Anabel Medina Garrigues. Medina Garrigues is now 4-0 against Li, though this is the first time they have played on a non-clay surface. Patty Schnyder also made an early exit, and the Bondarenko sisters were removed from play by the team of Srebotnik/Sugiyama.

Niculescu def. Chakvetadze, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Bartoli def. Szavay, 6-4, 6-0
Schiavone def. Wozniacki, 7-6, 6-2
Medina Garrigues def. Li, 6-2, 6-4
Srebotnik/Sugiyama def. Bondarenko/Bondarenko, 6-1, 6-4

Schnyder out in 1st round in Zurich

I knew that Petra Kvitova could be dangerous, but I was very surprised to see her take 6th seed Patty Schnyder out in the first round of the Zurich Open. Schnyder is playing extremely well these days, and she always shines on these indoor surfaces. But Kvitova upset her, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Schnyder won Zurich in 2002. She played in the final in 2005, and was leading, but sustained a hand injury during the match and had to continue playing one-handed. Her level, of course, declined, and her opponent won. That opponent was Nadia Petrova, and Zurich 2005 was her first tour title.

Kvitova is currently ranked number 57 in the world.

Bad news for veterans in Zurich opening round

I wish I could have seen the Zurich match between Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko. They both have such elegant games, and I think it would have been a pleasure to see them play each other again. It wasn't a pleasure for Hantuchova today, though. Having struggled ever since she returned to the tour after a long injury layoff, the 8th-seeded Hantuchova lost to Kirilenko, who claimed the match, 7-5, 6-2.

The situation was even worse for former world number 1 Amelie Mauresmo, who won only three games against Victoria Azarenka. The 6-2, 6-1 scoreline had to be a hard reality for the woman with the most elegant game of all.

It wasn't a bad day just for veterans, though. Alize Cornet, who appeared to be totally in control, with several chances to win her match, ultimately lost it to a very tough Alona Bondarenko.

Groenefeld and Schnyder should just keep that wild card

A couple of weeks ago, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder--playing as a wild card team in Stuttgart--defeated the number 1 seeds, Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs, in straight sets to win the title. Today, again playing as wild cards, they defeated 4th seeds Peschke and Stubbs in the first round of the Zurich Open, 3-6, 6-4, 12-10.

Bondarenko overcomes 5 match points in Zurich

I sometimes call Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko "the fighting Bondarenkos" because they used to fight with each other while playing doubles. But today, Alona Bondarenko earned the name "fighting Bondarenko" because of the tremendous battle she waged against Alize Cornet in their Zurich Open first round match. Beaten 1-6 in the first set, Bondarenko went on to win the second set 6-3 (after being down 0-3), but she found herself down 1-5 in the third. When Cornet served for the match, Bondarenko broke her, then held, then broke Cornet again when she served for the match a second time. The match went to a tiebreak, which Bondarenko won, 8-6. She saved a total of five match points, and moves on to the second round.

Now, that's a fighting Bondarenko.

Top qualifying seed out in Zurich

Zheng Jie, the number 1 seed among qualifiers (it sounds so crazy to even see the word "qualifier" next to her name) in Zurich, has gone out in the first round, a victim of the resurgent Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Groenefeld defeated her, 6-2, 6-3.

Henin wins 9th title of the year

World number one Justine Henin won her ninth title of the year today, defeating Tatiana Golovin 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Zurich Open. Unlike their final match meeting in Stuttgart, Golovin got off to a slow start, making poor court decisions and not using her usually strong forehand very effectively. She picked it up in the second set, though, even taking a 4-1 lead, but that lead evaporated quickly after Henin held at 2-4. Again, Golovin's thought processes were off; she set up winning play after winning play, and repeatedly failed to make the shots that would have consolidated them.

The trophy presentation was charming, and included a group of men who sang a personalized version of "We Are the Champions" to Henin. (To see Henin singing the song, go here.)

Golovin is now 0-4 against Henin, whose Zurich win gives her ten career Tier I titles.

Henin wins high-quality semifinal

I kept waiting for Nicole Vaidisova to crumble mentally during her well-played Zurich semifinal match against Justine Henin, but it never happened. Vaidisova lost the match, but she kept her cool throughout all three sets. Not only did she not wilt, she thought her way through some of the toughest points. Is this a new Vaidisova? If it is, it's one who's going to be dangerous from now on. Final score: Henin def. Vaidisova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

The other semifinal started out as a disaster, with Francesca Schiavone unable to find her game and giving up the first set at love. But she came to life in the second set and gave Tatiana Golovin a run for it, hitting with heavy topspin, showing her extraordinary athleticism, and giving a lesson in net play. It wasn't enough, though, and the final score was Golovin def. Schiavone, 6-0, 6-4.

Schiavone and Golovin get an easy cruise into the Zurich semifinals

Svetlana Kuznetsova retired from her quarterfinal match, which Francesca Schiavone was leading, 6-3, 3-3 today beause of a right shoulder strain.

Later, Marion Bartoli retired from quarterfinal against her "more French" opponent, Tatiana Golovin, when Bartoli was leading 5-4 in the first set. Bartoli had just broken Golovin at love and was about to serve for the first set, in fact, when she retired with a left knee injury. Bartoli has a history of frequent match retirements, and things have been better lately, but here we go again.

The retirement pretty much ruins any chance Bartoli had of getting into the Sony Ericsson Year-End Championships.

Vaidisova takes Jankovic out of Zurich

6-4, 6-4 is a close score, and on a good day, Vaidisova has what it takes to beat almost anyone, but looking at the bigger picture--today's loss by Jankovic has run out of steam. Jankovic is in great shape, but a tennis player needs both physical and mental rest in order to compete in top form. She says she plays so many tournaments because she doesn't like to just be on the practice court. Duly noted, but it doesn't seem that she took enough time off this year, though she has made good her promise to go easy during the last part of the season.

Second round in Zurich, retired in the semifinals of Stuttgart from heat illness, lost final at China Open, quarterfinals in Bali...I think Jankovic waited too late to thin out her schedule. I hope that, next year, she is more judicious at the start of the season. I am a really big Jankovic fan, and I hate to see someone with this much talent burn out.