Professor Li tells it

Azarenka does it again

She did it in Australia, she did it Indian Wells, and Victoria Azarenka has now beaten Maria Sharapova in yet another big final. The world number 1 defeated Sharapova 6-3, 6-1 today to win the China Open in Beijing. This the first title Azarenka has won since she lifted the tophy in Indian Wells over six months ago, and the confidence boost is sure to put her in a good position for competing at the WTA Championships in Istanbul.

"...I'm not really looking for them, but I'm looking to provoke them..." Azarenka said of Sharapova's errors. Sharapova made 39 unforced errors and hit 18 winners.

Azarenka, who beat Sharapova in the 2012 U.S. Open semifinals, is now 6-4 against the Russian.

In Beijing doubles competition, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won their first title as a team. Makarova and Vesnina defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives and Sania Mirza (Vesnina's former doubles partner) 7-5, 7-5 in the final.

Makarova and Vesnina reached the finals in both Rome and Madrid, but lost both of those to Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

And then there were 8

For the first time in the history of the WTA Championships, the eight competitors represent eight different countries:

Victoria Azarenka--Belarus
Maria Sharapova--Russia
Agnieszka Radwanska--Poland
Serena Williams--USA
Angelique Kerber--Germany
Petra Kvitova--Czech Republic
Sara Errani--Italy
Li Na--China

Kvitova is the defending champion.

Defending champion Radwanska out of China Open

Agnieszka Radwanska, the defending champin in Beijing, was beaten today in the quarterfinals by Li Na. Li won 30 of her 35 first serves and was never broken. Last week, Radwanska, who was also the defending champion in Tokyo, lost in the final to Nadia Petrova.

Li's 6-4, 6-2 victory over Radwanska puts her in the semifinals against Marion Bartoli, who defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the quarterfinals.

Maria Sharapova had an easy 6-0, 3-0 victory over Angelique Kerber, who had to retire because of a foot injury. Sharapjova will play top seed Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. Azarenka defeated Romina Oprandi today.

In the doubles semifinals, 2nd seeds Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova were defeated by 3rd seeds (and countrywomen) Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Makrova and Vesnina will play Nuria Llagostera Vives and Sania Mirza in the final. Mirza is Vesnina's former doubles partner.

Friday cat blogging--inside out edition

When she was good, she was very, very good

And when she was bad--

Oh, Petra.

Taken out of Tokyo in the second round (she had a bye in the first) by Petra Martic, Petra Kvitova has now made an early exit in Beijing, also. Kvitova beat Daniela Hantuchova in her first match, but lost in straight sets in the second round to Carla Suarez Navarro.

I've grown weary of asking "What's wrong with Petra?" but I will ask--is anyone doing anything about it? This is not a "slump." This is some strange stuff going on with a player who should be winning left and right on all surfaces. I have no idea what's needed--many things come to mind. I just hope that, whatever it is, it's provided sooner than later.

There are other stories in Beijing. Sara Errani had to retire in the opening round because of a hip injury. Jelena Jankovic beat her Beijing doubles partner Andrea Petkovic. Dominika Cibulkova had to retire in the first round, as did Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Simona Halep gave Maria Sharapova some trouble. Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur briefly reunited, but were defeated in the first round by Julia Goerges and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Goerges also upset Stosur in singles, beating her 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round. Tokyo champion Nadia Petrova won only three games against Li Na, and qualifier Lourdes Dominguez Lino has now taken out both Roberta Vinci and Laura Robson.

Toky-o Nadia!

Official 2012 Radwanska-slayer Nadia Petrova won the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo today, defeating defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 1-6, 6-3. The Russian pulled this off the hard way, too, entering the tournament with a back injury bad enough to cause her to withdraw from play in Seoul last week.

Twice in Tokyo, Petrova looked done. She had to play for over three hours against Petra Martic in the third round, and she came from a set and 1-4 down to beat Sara Errani in the quarterfinals. In the course of the event, Petrova beat three top ten players--Errani, Radwanska, and Samantha Stosur (in the semifinals).

In the first set of the final. Petrova hit 16 winners and made only three unforced errors. Anyone who has followed her career (and that of Radwanska) knew, however, that the second set would be different. It was. Radwanska significantly raised the level of her serve, and Petrova began making a number of unforced errors. Serving for the set at 5-1, the defending champion seemingly effortlessly reeled off three aces in a row.

The third set, as expected, was much closer. At 3-all, however, Radwanska blinked. The 3rd seed double-faulted twice in the seventh game, and was broken. Petrova smoothly served for the match, which gave her her second tournament win for 2012. Her other victory this year was in 's-Hertogenbosch, and there, she beat none other than Urszula Radwanska in the final.

Radwanska committed only three double-faults in the entire match, but two came at such a crucial time, they more or less decided her fate.

Contrary to what Tennis TV broadcast over and over, this is not Petrova's first premier-level title. She won both Charleston and Berlin in 2006.

The unseeded team of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears won the doubles title. They defeated 4th seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke 6-1, 6-4 in the final.