Svitolina advances to quarterfinals in Paris

Elina Svitolina, who upset 6th seed Roberta Vinci in the first round of play at the Open GDF SUEZ, advanced to the quarterfinals today when she defeated Galina Voskoboeva. Voskoboeva, it should be noted, won a very tight match (5-7, 7-5, 7-6) against Stefanie Voegele in the second round. Svitolina's next opponent will be 3rd seed Sara Errani.

Defending champion Mona Barthel went out in the first round. She lost to Kirsten Flipkens, who has also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Kristina Mladenovic kept the home fires burning for a little while. In the opener, she upset 5th seed Simona Halep, but in the second round, Mladenovic lost to Andrea Petkovic.

Defending doubles champions and top seeds Errani and Vinci also advanced to the quarterfinals.

WTA Live All Access Hour--Paris

Oh yes she did

Caroline Wozniacki has fired coach Thomas Hogstedt. Anybody surprised by this announcement?

I didn't think so.

USA Fed Cup team announced

Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Christina McHale, and Lauren Davis will face defending champion team Italy February 8 and 9 in Cleveland in the season's opening World Group Fed Cup tie. Playing for Italy will be Karin Knapp, Camila Giorgi, Nastassja Burnett, and Alice Matteucci.

Both Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens are injured, and the usual members of the Italian team have asked for a rest from Fed Cup.

Here are the other World Group teams:

Spain vs. Czech Republic:

Spain
Carla Suarez Navarro
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor
Silvia Soler-Espinosa
Lara Arruabarrena

Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova
Lucie Safarova
Klara Zakopalova
Andrea Hlavackova


Slovak Republic vs. Germany

Slovak Republic
Dominika Cibulkova
Daniela Hantuchova
Magdalena Rynbarkova
Jana Cepelova

Germany
Angelique Kerber
Sabine Lisicki
Andrea Petkovic
Julia Goerges


Australia vs. Russia

Australia
Samantha Stosur
Casey Dellacqua
Ashleigh Barty
Storm Sanders

Russia
Victoria Kan
Irina Khromacheva
Valeria Solovyeva
Veronika Kudermatova

Sweeping the court

Serena Williams has put her name on the Indian Wells entry list, apparently putting aside her resolve to stay away from the event for the rest of her career.

The stars of the Italian Fed Cup team--Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci, Flavia Pennetta, and Francesca Schiavone--have asked to be relieved of their duties for the upcoming tie with the USA. Italy is the defending champion. And while team USA is probably breathing a digh of relief, that sigh probably shouldn't be too loud--Camila Giorgi and Karin Knapp have signed on to play for Italy against the USA.

And speaking of Fed Cup: Storm Sanders has been chosen to play on the Australian team when Australia plays Russia next month.

50 of the WTA's top 200 players are over 30 years of age.

The WTA has launched WTA TV.

Anything Maria and Novak can do, Aga and Jerzy can do, too:

My Australian Open top 10

My top 10 Australian Open occurrences, in ascending order:

10. Czeched out: Petra Kvitova lost in the first round to world number 98 Luksika Kumkhum. Enough said.

9. Mixing it up: Kristina Mladenovic and her partner, Daniel Nestor, won the mixed doubles title. They won Wimbledon last year, and were in the French Open final.  Mladenovic looks like a good candidate for a Career Slam in mixed doubles, and we can look forward to her winning more in women's doubles, too.

8. Quirky: 2006 champion Maria Sharapova fell victim to Dominika Cibulkova in this year's Australian Open. It's always something these days.

7. Army of me: The Genie Army was there to cheer Genie Bouchard on, but the 19-year-old Canadian did all the heavy lifting. She took out crowd favorite Casey Dellacqua and seed 14th Ana Ivanovic and made it all the way to the semifinals, where she was stopped by Li Na.

6. "She also is normal": This was Li Na's explanation for top seed Serena Williams' exit in the round of 16, courtesy of Ana Ivanovic. I'll add that she also was injured, but that hasn't always stopped Williams from going to the final. I kind of like Li's take on the matter.

5. Hot or not?: The court temperature went as high as 108 degrees during the first few days of the event, and it took officials a long time to decide when the close the roof and stop play on the outer courts. A long time. A doctor did appear along the way, however, to inform us that the players were in no danger. Caroline Wozniacki tangled with a baby kangaroo, too.

4. Strong to the core: Commentators keep saying that Dominika Cibulkova is little, but she isn't--she's short. The Slovakian player has a strong core and extremely strong legs, and she's quite muscular. She had a remarkable run at the Open, taking out Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska. Li Na kept her from winning the title, but Cibulkova showed us that, with a new racquet, a new training regimen and a new attitude, she's more dangerous than ever.

3. Plates are for pasta: No one in the entire tournament had a more "under the radar" presence that defending doubles champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The Italian team didn't dominate the tour in 2013 the way they did in 2012, and little mention was made of them, even though they made it all the way to the final. And in that final, they went down 2-5 in the third set. But hey--these are Fighting Italians, and they won the final set 7-5 and lifted the trophy, while their Russian opponents had to be content with the silver runner-up plate.

2. High art: Aga Radwanska makes us gasp at almost every event she plays. Her drop shots, ingenious volleys and angles are the stuff of endless replays. She is an artist on the court, not to mention an astonishing athlete. She outdid even herself, however, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Her upset of defending champion Victoria Azarenka had the crowd screaming and the television commentators moaning. The third set, in which Azarenka did not win a game, was a tour de force of such intensity that it stirred in those who saw it the kind of awe that all great art inspires. Unfortunately, the effort drained Radwanska of all strength and she was easily defeated in the semifinals. Still, her quarterfinal performance, especially in the third set, ranks as one of the greatest performances ever of a woman on a tennis court.

1. Not falling down: This was Li Na's announcement to spectators after her quarterfinal victory--that an important part of her game plan for the Australian Open was "not falling down." This was, of course, a reference to the 2013 final, in which the Chinese star fell twice, turning her ankle and hitting her head. Having lost two finals at the Open, Li was dead set on lifting a trophy this time around. And she did it. Lucie Safarova almost stopped her in the third round, but after the Czech's errant match point shot flew outside the court, Li was transformed into The Champion. From that moment on, her performance was--if not perfect--certainly the performance of a woman on a mission. Li defeated Dominika Cibulkova 7-6, 6-0 in the final to win her second major. The mission was accomplished.

Mladenovic and Nestor win Australian Open mixed doubles title

The team of Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor won the Australian Open mixed doubles title yesterday. The French and Canadian pair beat Sania Mirza and Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-2. Mladenovic and Nestor also won Wimbledon last year, and they were the runner-up at the 2013 French Open.

Mladenovic and partner Flavia Pennetta, playing together for the first time (not unusual in Mladenovic's case) were surprisingly upset in the second round of women's doubles.