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Post by jimm on Oct 6, 2008 22:55:12 GMT
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 Centre Court (from 11.00hrs) 1. Zvonareva vs. Kirilenko....... Good luck Masha!! 3. Kuznetsova vs. Li (NB 15.00hrs) 5. Pennetta vs. V.Williams (NB 18.00hrs).......two favs Good luck Both. Court 1 (from 11.00hrs) 2. Makarova vs. Vesnina..... Good luck BePa V! 4. Schiavone vs. Hantuchova Court 2 (from 11.00hrs) 1. A.Bondarenko vs. Srebotnik 3. Errani vs. Azarenka.... Come on VikA!! 4. Dzehalevich/Savchuk vs. Petrova/Srebotnik Court 3 (from 11.00hrs) 4. Niculescu/Shvedova vs. Chakvetadze/Cibulkova 5. Hrdinova/Uhlirova vs. Dushevina/Kudryavtseva
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Post by Supermarion on Oct 7, 2008 10:35:21 GMT
Nevermind Jim, they beat the bondies in doubles.
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Post by jimm on Oct 7, 2008 20:25:29 GMT
October 7, 2008
Venus Williams © Getty Images Russian Stars Advance as First Round Continues
MOSCOW, Russia - The seeds came out for the first time in Moscow on Tuesday, as the first round of the $1.34-million Kremlin Cup continued in the Russian capital. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva, both among the seeds and two of their country's five Top 10 players, both won in two sets.
Kuznetsova, ranked No.7 in the world and the No.5 seed this week, defeated Li Na for the second time since falling to the Chinese at the Olympics, losing her serve five times but breaking her hard-hitting opponent seven times for a 64 75 victory. Kuznetsova lost to Li in the first round of the Olympics in August; she gained revenge with a three set win in the first round of Tokyo two weeks ago, and improves to 5-2 lifetime against her with Tuesday's win.
"I'm happy to have won in two sets; it was a very difficult first round match," Kuznetsova said. "It's great here. It's a great opportunity to play in front of my fans. Tennis has become so popular in Russia, especially over the last five or 10 years, so it's very exciting for us to play here in front of our home crowd."
World No.9 Zvonareva, the No.7 seed, had a slightly quicker go of things in her match against Maria Kirilenko, beating her younger countrywoman, 64 64. Zvonareva is now 3-0 lifetime against Kirilenko, having won in straight sets in their previous two meetings as well, including right here three years ago.
In other day session matches, Daniela Hantuchova beat Francesca Schiavone, 63 62; Katarina Srebotnik crushed Alona Bondarenko, 62 61; qualifier Sara Errani rallied back from a first set blowout to beat Victoria Azarenka, 16 64 63, which served as her third Top 20 victory of the year and of her career; and Ekaterina Makarova won a battle of wildcards with Elena Vesnina, 76(4) 76(1).
In the feature night match, No.6 seed Venus Williams became the first seeded casualty of the week, falling to Flavia Pennetta, 64 26 64. Williams was coming off a strong showing in Stuttgart, where she ousted Dinara Safina en route to the semifinals before falling to Jelena Jankovic in three sets; but Pennetta has been somewhat of a nemesis for Williams, losing their first meeting but now winning her third in a row against her to improve to 3-1 in their head-to-head series.
"Today's match was very tough," Pennetta declared. "Venus is always a tough opponent but my serve was working very well and I was playing my best tennis. At this moment, I just want to enjoy the win from today."
Three more first round doubles matches also took the courts. The only seeded team in action was No.4 seeds Srebotnik and Nadia Petrova, who notched a 64 61 win over Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Olga Savchuk.
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Post by jimm on Oct 7, 2008 20:27:01 GMT
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 Singles - First Round (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Li Na (CHN) 64 75 Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (6) Venus Williams (USA) 64 26 64 (7) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 64 64 Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 63 62 (Q) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) d. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 62 61 (Q) Sara Errani (ITA) d. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 16 64 63 (WC) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. (WC) Elena Vesnina (RUS) 76(4) 76(1) Doubles - First Round (4) Petrova/Srebotnik (RUS/SLO) d. Dzehalevich/Savchuk (BLR/UKR) 64 61 Dushevina/Kudryavtseva (RUS/RUS) d. Hrdinova/Uhlirova (CZE/CZE) 61 75 Niculescu/Shvedova (ROU/KAZ) d. (WC) Chakvetadze/Cibulkova (RUS/SVK) 67(3) 61 104
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Post by jimm on Oct 8, 2008 23:32:04 GMT
October 8, 2008
Cibulkova Ousts Ivanovic as Second Round Begins
MOSCOW, Russia - It was a mixed day for seeded players at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday, as the first round wrapped up and the second round kicked off the prestigious $1.34-million event. Among the upset victims was Ana Ivanovic, whose dismal second half of 2008 continued with a loss to Dominika Cibulkova.
Ivanovic, who won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June and subsequently rose to No.1 in the world, had won only five matches in her five events since, losing early at Wimbledon, Montréal, the US Open, Tokyo and Beijing; on Wednesday in Moscow she fell below .500 for the first time during this stretch, a 36 62 76(4) loss to Cibulkova dropping her post-Roland Garros win-loss record to a surprising 5-6.
"I really enjoyed playing out there; the crowd was really supportive, and I hope to be out there again next year," Ivanovic said. "I'm healthy, enjoying my time on the court and just happy to be back competing. I'm just trying to get as many matches as I can; it'll take take to get back to my best."
Cibulkova, unseeded at the Kremlin Cup, nearly fell to the No.4-seeded Ivanovic, falling behind 15-40 while serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the third set; but she hung tough and took the match in a tie-break. It was her fifth Top 10 win of the year (and her career), following previous wins over Venus Williams, Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic.
"I knew she was a tough opponent coming in; she played really well when it counted," Ivanovic said. "I felt like I was playing better and better as the match was going on, but she played some great shots when I had match points. I'm taking the positives from this match, though, so I can't be disappointed."
Two more second round matches took place in the afternoon, with No.3 seeded Elena Dementieva outrallying Katarina Srebotnik, 63 46 76(2), and No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova waiting out 12 close games before taking complete control over Sara Errani in the first set tie-break to prevail in straights, 76(0) 61.
In the feature night match, No.2 seed Dinara Safina took on Amélie Mauresmo, who is unseeded this week but is a former world No.1 and had won four of her five previous meetings with Safina. It was a battle that lasted nearly two and a half hours but the form player prevailed over the one with the winning head-to-head, as Safina notched a 67(2) 64 64 win over the French veteran.
In the last two first round matches of the week, Nadia Petrova stopped qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova, 62 61, while Caroline Wozniacki followed up her title run in Tokyo last week with a 26 61 64 upset of No.8 seed Anna Chakvetadze.
The second round will wrap up on Thursday, a line-up highlighted by top seed Jelena Jankovic taking on Russia's Vera Dushevina in her first match of the week. Jankovic has gone 8-0 since reaching her first Grand Slam final at the US Open, winning back-to-back titles in the last two weeks in Beijing, China and Stuttgart, Germany. This week she returned to the No.1 spot on the rankings.
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Post by jimm on Oct 8, 2008 23:37:32 GMT
Thursday, October 9, 2008 Centre Court (from 11.00hrs) 1. Petrova vs. Wozniacki... GO Caro!!! 3. Zvonareva vs. Hantuchova (NB 15.00hrs) uhhhmmmm two favs GO BePa 3 5. Jankovic vs. Dushevina (NB 18.00hrs) Come on BePa D 4. Makarova vs. Pennetta........... Good Luck Flavia!!! 5. Niculescu/Shvedova vs. Peschke/Stubbs. YAY Monica. Yari!!!
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Post by jimm on Oct 9, 2008 18:51:55 GMT
Thursday, October 9, 2008 Singles - Second Round (1) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (WC) Vera Dushevina (RUS) 67(6) 63 62 (7) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 61 60 Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 64 32 ret. sniffle (upper respiratory illness) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (WC) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 36 64 64 Doubles - Quarterfinals Niculescu/Shvedova (ROU/KAZ) d. (2) Peschke/Stubbs (CZE/AUS) 46 60 107 yay!!
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Post by Supermarion on Oct 9, 2008 20:02:38 GMT
Flavia is breathing down Marion's kneck points wise now Marion could really do with good runs at Linz and Zurich. Points to defend.
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Post by jimm on Oct 9, 2008 20:23:55 GMT
I know, but its been a long hard season for Marion. We cannot expect too much from her. I would still like to see the number of tournaments reduced. Maybe 20 only. PLay 1 week, next week off.
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Post by jimm on Oct 9, 2008 20:25:12 GMT
October 9, 2008
Russians Dominate Last Eight Line-up; Jankovic Survives Scare
MOSCOW, Russia - The run of the Russian wildcards came to an end at the Tier I Kremlin Cup on Thursday, as both Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova fell to more fancied opponents - although not without a fight. But the host nation will still boast five representatives in Friday’s quarterfinals, after Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova scored easy wins.
Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova secured their berths in the last eight on Wednesday and first to join them today was Petrova, whose progress was fast-tracked when her opponent, 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki, retired midway through the second set of their match. There were five breaks of serve in the first set but just one made the difference in 26-year-old Petrova's favor, and although the match remained close in the early stages of the second, the Danish teen was having trouble breathing. After having her blood pressure checked she decided she could no longer continue, and Petrova advanced with the score standing at 64, 32.
Shortly after, seventh-seeded Zvonareva crushed Daniela Hantuchova 61, 60 in 51 minutes to reach the quarters at her home event for the fifth time. Zvonareva, who had beaten Hantuchova handily at Stuttgart last week, lost just five points on serve to extend her record against the Slovak to 4-0.
"I did not make unforced mistakes and was serving and returning well," said Zvonareva, who will be gunning for her first semifinal appearance at her home event when she takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the quarters. "But I know that one can only have one or two such easy matches in a season."
The other two singles matches of the day were more competitive. World No.18 Flavia Pennetta recovered from a set down against 55th-ranked Makarova, but she needed to save two break points when serving for the second set - her first ace of the match helped on one - and was also down 0-40 when serving at 3-4 in the third. Given that reprieve, the 26-year-old duly broke Makarova in the next game and marched to three match points. A double fault delayed proceedings but a winner sent her through, 36 64 64.
Likewise, Jankovic had to fight hard to avoid becoming the fourth seed to fall early this week, following Pennetta's defeat of No.6 seed Venus Williams, Wozniacki's dispatch of eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze, and Cibulkova's upset of No.4 seed Ana Ivanovic.
Against Dushevina the Serb, playing for the first time since she regained the No.1 ranking for a second career week last Monday, served for the first set at 5-4 but lost it in a tie-break, and was 0-2 down in the second before finding her range to subdue the 77th-ranked Russian, who was coming off a feisty first round upset of Nicole Vaidisova. A six game winning streak from 4-3 in the second set sealed the momentum in the Serb's favor as she cruised home 67 63 62.
As well as Zvonareva versus Cibulkova, Friday's line-up sees Petrova take on defending champion and No.3 seed Dementieva, while Jankovic plays Pennetta and Safina tackles Kuznetsova. Two doubles matches will also be played, with top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber facing Maria Kirilenko and Pennetta at the semifinal stage; and Dushevina and Alla Kudryavtseva taking on Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik in a quarter-final from the bottom half of the draw.
The winner of that match will play Monica Niculescu and Yaroslava Shvedova in the semis, after the unseeded duo upset No.2 seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in a match tie-break.
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Post by jimm on Oct 11, 2008 12:48:26 GMT
Saturday, October 11, 2008 Singles - Semifinals (1) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (3) Elena Dementieva (RUS) 06 61 60 (7) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (2) Dinara Safina (RUS) 62 76(5) What a weird score in Elena's match
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Post by Supermarion on Oct 11, 2008 18:27:25 GMT
You know how unpredictable JJ is Jim. I think she had an injury time out in the first set.
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