Quote of the day

She had treatment for a leg problem in the second set. Were you aware of that and is that somewhat difficult, when you sense your opponent might have a little bit of a problem?

"I had no idea, and it is difficult, but actually, my leg was kind of falling off, as well...."

Heather Watson

Safarova withdraws from Fed Cup singles competition

Lucie Safarova has withdrawn from Fed Cup singles play because of illness. Klara Zakopalova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova will be playing singles, and, if Safarova is able, she'll play doubles with Andrea Hlavacova. Team leader Petra Kvitova had already withdrawn from Fed Cup because of a viral illness.

Anastasia Myskina, serving as the stand-in Fed Cup captain for Russia, has chosen Irina Khromacheva and Veronika Kudermetova to play the singles rubbers for their country's World Group tie against Australia. Khromacheva will face Casey Dellacqua in the opening rubber.

90 nations will broadcast Fed Cup action this weekend.

Sweeping the court

Peng Shuai is heading toward the number 1 doubles ranking.

Nicole Vaidisova is again considering re-joining the tour, but apparently, she has fitness issues she has to take care of before that can become a reality.

Petra Kvitova, still sick with a viral illness, has withdrawn from Fed Cup competition this weekend.

Get to know Luksika Kumkhum and Katarzyna Piter.

WTT team The Sacramento Capitals is moving its franchise to Las Vega, the new team will be called The Las Vegas Neon.

Dominika Cibulkova recently appeared as a guest star on "Panelak" (thanks to The Slice for this):

Pavlyuchenkova wins Open GDF SUEZ

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won her first premier WTA title today in Paris, and what a tournament it was to win. The entire week was full of tense and thrilling tennis, and the unseeded Russian provided us with a lot of it. Pavlyuchenkova took out three top 10 players, including top seed Maria Sharapova, to get to the trophy. Every one of her five Paris matches went three sets, and in four of them, she dropped the first set.

I suppose we can stop talking about Pavlyuchenkova's fitness problem.

Today, the Russian had to deal with the always-fast, always-tough Sara Errani, who won the first set 6-4. There was no doubt that both women were tired. One had to assume that Errani may have been the worse for wear since she was also involved in doubles until she and her partner gave their semifinal opponents a walkover yesterday. But the fact that both of them had to be exhausted somehow made the final even better, and it seemed inevitable that the last match would go three sets.

All week long, Pavlyuchenkova kind of played her way into these long matches. At times, she looked over-anxious, but she always turned her attitude around and--once she was calm--played with power and aggression. I like to watch Pavlyuchenkova because I think she does so many things well. She can hit with a lot of power, but she also possesses unusually good anticipation and more often than not, gets exactly where she needs to be in order to strike the ball to her optimal benefit. After she won the second set 6-2, she looked primed to repeat the kind of performance that led to survival on the last day.

And she did. Watching Errani struggle so hard with her serve in the second set seemed to light a fire under the Russian's own serve. In the final set, which she won 6-3, Pavlyuchenkova earned first and second serve win percentages of 75 and 70. Errani kept up the defensive fight until the very end, but she was overcome by Pavlyuchenkova's ability to dictate the points. Why, one has to wonder, does Errani not hire a service coach and spend some time improving what is a real weakness in her otherwise amazing game?

Both players were going for a first premier title. Errani was the runner-up last year, also, when she lost in the final to Mona Barthel. Pavlyuchenkova, by the way,  added to the occasion by delivering her acceptance speech in French.

3rd seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke won the doubles title. In today's title, they defeated Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 6-7, 6-4, 10-5. 

I wasn't able to see Marion Bartoli's retirement ceremony, but I imagine it will be popping up on YouTube some time soon. If you haven't checked out Andrew Krasny's interview with Bartoli (it's part of the WTA All Access Hour in Paris), do so. All interviews with Bartoli are great, but this one is especially charming.

Of course, it's always very special to see tournament co-director Amelie Mauresmo, one of my favorite players of all time. And speaking of Frenchwomen, the week wouldn't have been nearly as thrilling and entertaining had it not been for semifinalist Alize Cornet, who played her heart out in marathon matches until she was finally taken out of competition by Errani. Cornet was definitely one to watch (she has that "French flair" Mary Carillo talks about) at the beginning of her career, then she hit some bad times. But now, with increased fitness and more emotional control, the young Frenchwoman is definitely one to watch again. 

And now a few words about Tennis Channel, which went all ESPN on us over the weekend. Tennis Channel has a new feature, "Center Court," which includes central narration from the TC studio while parts of various matches from around the world are shown. Yesterday, both Paris and Davis Cup were showcased. Tennis Channel showed the first two sets and most of the third set of the very thrilling Errani-Cornet match, and then--right before it would be determined whether there would be a third set tiebreak--poof! They began showing Davis Cup instead.

Only the Davis Cup rubber hadn't begun. Tennis Channel left the Errani-Cornet match before anyone knew whether there would be a champion or a tiebreak, and they never returned to it. They showed the Davis Cup players entering the stadium and walking onto the court. They showed the coin toss. They sat around their desk and chatted about Davis Cup.

When a match is close to ending, and especially if there's a third set tiebreak, it would be inappropriate, to say the least, to cut away from it to show the beginning of another match. But there wasn't even another match being played! I felt a mixture of disbelief and disgust when this happened, and thank the tennis gods that Tennis TV exists (and with better commentary). Tennis Channel: What the hell were you thinking?

Makarova takes Pattaya City title

4th seed Ekaterina Makarova won the Pattaya Open today when she defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-6 in the final. Makarova had to win the tiebreak 9-7. It's also worth mentioning that Pliskova hit 10 aces in the match, and 47 in the tournament. And that leads me to Julia Goerges, who went out (to Pliskova) in the semifinals, but who hit 39 aces in three rounds (she had a walkover in the second round). That number includes the 17 aces Goerges hit in her quarterfinal match.

This is Makarova's second WTA title.

4th seeds Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai won the doubles title, defeating 3rd seeds Alla Kudryatseva and Anastasia Rodionova 3-6, 7-6, 10-6.

Makarova and Karolina Pliskova to meet in Pattaya City final

4th seed Ekaterina Makarova will play Karolina Pliskova for the Pattaya City title tomorrow. Makarova defeated Andrea Hlavackova in the semifinals, and Pliskova defeated Julia Goerges. In the second round, Makarova defeated two-time champion Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-2. Zvonareva is making her return to the tour after a long injury rehab.

Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai will compete in the doubles final against Alla Kudryatseva and Anastasia Rodionova, who are seeded fourth and third, respectively.

Fighting Italians--a new chapter

When you honestly don't have any idea who's going to win a match until the very last second, well--that would be exactly the kind of match you'd expect if Alize Cornet played Sara Errani. And play one another they did, today in Paris, and they went at it for over three hours. This, after Cornet spent over three hours yesterday in her quarterfinal match against Andrea Petkovic. Oh, and she spent just shy of three hours winning her second round match against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. And yes, she went over two and a half hours in her first round match, too. I's making me tired just to write about it.

Such fighters, both of them. And they put on quite a show, with their lobs and drop shots and speeding around the court. But in the end, it was a drop shot that should never have been attempted that led to Cornet's downfall, and that put Errani into the Paris final. The Fighting Italian defeated the fighting Frenchwoman 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.

Her opponent will be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated the other Russian, Maria Sharapova, in the semifinals. Both women had trouble with their second serves, but for the first half of the match, it looked like Sharapova was going to pull off a victory. What happens with Sharapova, I think, is that when her serve goes off and she double-faults, her confidence decreases. Pavlyuchenkova really honed in on this and played a very solid match to win 4-6, 6-3 6-4. Sharapova, unfortunately, double-faulted twice consecutively to end the match.

Not surprisingly, Errani and her partner, Roberta Vinci--the top seeds--gave their semifinal opponents, Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, a walkover. 4th seeds Babos and Mladenovic will face 3rd seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke in the final.

Tomorrow, there will also be a retirement ceremony for Marion Bartoli.