Charleston: Where Everybody Looks Good

I don’t know if it’s the photography (good job, Chris Smith!) or the light or the food or what, but how lovely are these off-court pictures from the Family Circle Cup?

JJ actually looks like she’s having genuine chilled fun.

A Vera sandwich.

(That’s Galina Voskoboeva in the middle, by the way. I’m sure you know that … but I had to look it up.)

Dani’s always lovely, but how often does she look relaxed?

Yes, that is Alona Bondarenko. Looking normal. Looking pleasant. Smiling.

Mallory and Melanie.

I have just realised how pretty Nadia is.

So I think we need to ask ourselves … is Charleston the friendliest, most laid-back tournament on tour, or just the one that serves the most booze with lunch?

Either way, it’s working.

Fed Cup Sunday: Franny Mans Up

Ukraine 1 – Italy 4

I’m loving this photo.

Bad luck for the Bondarenkos. There were times this weekend when they looked to be in with a shot of dethroning the defending champions, but Italy clearly haven’t lost any of their battling spirit since last year. With the tie at 1-1, Flavia Pennetta took care of business against Alona, 75 76(3), before Francesca Schiavone mounted a comeback against Kateryna to clinch the tie, 26 61 61.

It’s a very winnable tie against the Czech Republic for the Italian ladies next, so at this point, a repeat of last year’s title doesn’t seem that far out of the question. Go girls.

AO Day Seven: Petrova, Zheng Keep Rolling

Zheng Jie has been on quite the unheralded little run, taking out Marion Bartoli and now backing that up with a win over Alona Bondarenko to make the quarterfinals. She’ll face the winner of Safina-Kirilenko after a 76(5) 64 victory over the 31st seed.

This was more thna a decent scrap, but Bondarenko’s serve – never a thing of beauty – really let her down as she couldn’t hold on to either of the breaks she earned in the first set or the minibreak in the tiebreak. And Zheng never really let her in to the second set. Great match from her.

Nadia Petrova, meanwhile, proved that she’s not just a one-upset-per-tournament kind of girl by taking out Svetlana Kuznetsova, 63 36 61. I’m afraid I napped through this one, so all I can bring you are photos …

Henin or Wickmayer next …

AO Day Five: Everybody Else

So … what else happened? Fernando Gonzalez survived a five-set battle with Evgeny Korolev, probably because his adversary was wearing pyjamas.

Jelena Jankovic was, disappointingly, hustled out in the third round by Alona Bondarenko (the blonder one with less game). To do her credit, she played very, very well, although I feel like her dress gives me diabetes just looking at it.

Alona will meet Zheng Jie in the next round, who upset Marion Bartoli 57 63 60. Which is a scoreline you sort of have to love a little bit.

Maria Kirilenko continues to back up her first-set upset of Maria Sharapova, defeating Roberta Vinci 75 76(4) despite a heavily strapped thigh.

Joining her in the fourth round will be fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who looked sleepy and out of sorts against an inspired Angelique Kerber but prevailed 64 in the third, pausing only to make some hilarious facial expressions along the way.

Ivo Karlovic prevailed over Ivan Ljubicic in four sets and will face Rafael Nadal, who coped with Philipp Kohlschreiber bidding for another Slam upset of a big name. Rafa’s game didn’t look great, but it was hardly a disastrous performance against a tough opponent who was playing really well.

So there.

Men’s Results

Singles – Third Round
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [27] P Kohlschreiber (GER) 64 62 26 75
[4] J del Potro (ARG) d F Mayer (GER) 63 06 64 75
[5] A Murray (GBR) d F Serra (FRA) 75 61 64
[7] A Roddick (USA) d F Lopez (ESP) 67(4) 64 64 76(3)
[11] F Gonzalez (CHI) d E Korolev (KAZ) 67(5) 63 16 63 64
[33] J Isner (USA) d [12] G Monfils (FRA) 61 46 76(4) 76(5)
[14] M Cilic (CRO) d [19] S Wawrinka (SUI) 46 64 63 63
I Karlovic (CRO) d [24] I Ljubicic (CRO) 63 36 63 76(7)

Doubles – Second Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d R de Voest (RSA) / S Lipsky (USA) 67(4) 64 64
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d A Montanes (ESP) / M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) 63 63
[5] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) / D Sela (ISR) 63 62
E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) d [7] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 62 36 76(2)
J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer(AHO) d [8] M Granollers (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) 63 67(5) 64
[11] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d P Amritraj (IND) / S Devvarman (IND) 61 63
S Bolelli (ITA) / A Seppi (ITA) d [14] M Damm (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) 76(5) 63
[17] J Melzer (AUT) / P Petzschner (GER) d F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) 63 62
P Marx (GER) / I Zelenay(SVK) d R Junaid (AUS) / P Luczak (AUS) 76(5) 64

Women’s Results

Singles – Third Round
(2) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. Elena Baltacha (GBR) 61 62
(3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. (Q) Angelique Kerber (GER) 36 75 64
(31) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (8) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 62 63
Zheng Jie (CHN) d. (11) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 57 63 60
(19) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. (15) Kim Clijsters (BEL) 60 61
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (27) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 36 64 62
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 75 76(4)
(Q) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 61 67(4) 63

Doubles – Second Round
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) d. Gullickson/Uhlirova (USA/CZE) 62 62
(2) Williams/Williams (USA/USA) d. Olaru/Savchuk (ROU/UKR) 61 62
(3) Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez (ESP/ESP) d. Peer/Voskoboeva (ISR/KAZ) 76(5) 64
(4) Hsieh/Peng (TPE/CHN) d. Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) 63 62
(6) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) d. Coin/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) 62 75
(7) Kleybanova/Schiavone (RUS/ITA) d. Czink/Grandin (HUN/RSA) 75 64
(10) Mirza/Ruano Pascual (IND/ESP) d. Bacsinszky/Garbin (SUI/ITA) 76(3) 63
(WC) Peers/Robson (AUS/GBR) d. (12) Chuang/Peschke (TPE/CZE) 63 64
(13) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 75 62
Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) d. (16) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) 76(2) 62

Doubles – First Round
(11) Kudryavtseva/Makarova (RUS/RUS) d. Dellacqua/Erakovic (AUS/NZL) 26 62 61

Blondarenko Takes Hobart Title

No ‘Peerless’ pun today, as Alona Bondarenko beat Shahar Peer 62 64 for the Hobart title.

I’m not a huge fan of the blonder ‘enko, but this was an absolutely fantastic tussle (despite the scoreline) and she played quite brilliantly. Kudos.

Shame about the trophy though.

Hobart: Peer Pressure

(I had to. I’m also saving ‘Peerless’ and, for the day when I see a photo of Shahar with a member of her family, ‘Peer to Peer’. Just so you know to never, ever visit here again.)

Anyway, she of the pun-friendly surname is into the finals of Hobart, beating Sara Errani 62 60. She’ll face Alona Bondarenko, who toiled against top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues but triumphed, 46 63 64.

Singles – Semifinals
(4) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (1) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 46 63 64
(2) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 62 60

Doubles – Semifinals
Chan/Niculescu (TPE/ROU) d. (1) Hsieh/Peng (TPE/CHN) 76(5) 46 108
Chuang/Peschke (TPE/CZE) d. Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) 63 62

Luxembourg, Moscow: Mumback Continues, Licky Wins

They aren’t hanging around on the ladies’ side as the race to Doha/Bali/ending the season with some form of dignity goes on. In Luxembourg, all the seeds progressed including Suarez Navarro, who seems to be having a late surge, and a certain Licky, knocking out a potentially tricky opponent in the form of Iveta Benesova 61 64. That’s my girl. Sadly Laura Robson fell in the final round of qualifying. Again.

At the Kremlin Cup, Lucie Safarova and Alona Bondarenko negotiated tough openers, beating Ekaterina Makarova and Anna Chakvetadze respectively. Seventh seed Dominika Cibulkova, who has been conspicuous by her absence of late, fell to the many-named Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Nadia Petrova steamrolled wildcard Yana Buchina 62 60. Well done.

Moscow

Singles – First Round
(5) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. (WC) Yana Buchina (RUS) 62 60
María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. (7) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
62 62
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 64 63
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 62 62
Olga Govortsova (BLR) d. (WC) Ksenia Pervak (RUS) 63 46 60

Doubles – First Round
(4) Amanmuradova/Niculescu (UZB/ROU) d. Olaru/Palkina (ROU/KGZ) 60 61
Koryttseva/Poutchek (UKR/BLR) d. Glatch/Jidkova (USA/RUS) 61 60

Singles Qualifying – Final Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) d. (3) Viktoriya Kutuzova (UKR) 61 64
(4) Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) d. (7) Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 06 76(5) 64
Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) d. (6) Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) 61 75
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) d. Olga Savchuk (UKR) 63 62

Luxembourg

Singles – First Round
(3) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
75 62
(6) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 61 64
(8) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (WC) Mandy Minella (LUX) 75 57 63

Doubles – First Round
Malek/Parra Santonja (GER/ESP) d. (4) Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE)
36 63 106
Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) d. Dekmeijere/Klepac (LAT/SLO) 63 61
(WC) Clijsters/Flipkens (BEL/BEL) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 62 60

Singles Qualifying – Final Round
(6) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d. (1) Aravane Rezai (FRA) 63 46 62
(5) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) d. (WC) Yulia Putintseva (RUS) 63 64
(8) Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) d. Laura Robson (GBR) 63 64
Catalina Castaño (COL) d. (WC) Anne Kremer (LUX) 62 63

Cincinnati: Safina, Svetlana Scrape Through

Less than convincing stuff from the top Russians last night. Dinara Safina only got past Roberta Vinci 64 in the third, while Svetlana Kuznetsova needed a third-set tiebreak to determine perpetually-in-need-of-a-sandwich Lucie Safarova.

Venus Williams was in much more intimidating form, rolling over Olga Govortsova 62 62, and fifteenth seed Dominika Cibulkova fell to Peng Shuai Shuai Peng, 62 61. Has Domi had a good result since Roland Garros? Maybe she played too much tennis in the first half of the year.

 

Or maybe she’s just Domi, I don’t know. Sorana beat Meghan Shaughnessy 75 75 (isn’t she old?) and Yanina Wickmayer had a really solid win over Francesca Schiavone. The other upset come courtesy of steady but unspectacular Alona Bondarenko, who knocked out tenth seed Nadia Petrova 62 63.

Results

Singles – Second Round
(1) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 26 75 64
(3) Venus Williams (USA) d. (Q) Olga Govortsova (BLR) 62 62
(6) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 63 67(2) 76(4)

Singles – First Round
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (10) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 62 63
(13) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 62 61
(14) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (Q) Ayumi Morita (JPN) 62 63
Peng Shuai (CHN) d. (15) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 62 61
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) d. (WC) Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 75 75
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 36 63 61
Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 62 46 62
Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. (Q) Urszula Radwanska (POL) 75 75
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Aravane Rezai (FRA) 63 63
María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. Vera Dushevina (RUS) 64 36 63
(Q) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 63 64
(WC) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. (Q) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 64 61

Doubles – First Round
Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) d. (6) Groenefeld/Schnyder (GER/SUI) 64 62
Dulko/Peer (ARG/ISR) d. Borwell/Grandin (GBR/RSA) 63 62
Mirza/Schiavone (IND/ITA) d. Koryttseva/Poutchek (UKR/BLR) 16 64 106
Amanmuradova/Niculescu (UZB/ROU) d. Granville/Gullickson (USA/USA) 62 63
(WC) Oudin/Perry (USA/USA) d. (WC) Clijsters/Wickmayer (BEL/BEL) 63 36 108

Wednesday’s OOP

Center Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Jelena Jankovic vs. Maria Kirilenko
2. Kim Clijsters vs. Patty Schnyder (NB 12.30hrs)
3. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Elena Dementieva
4. Kirilenko/Vesnina vs. Chuang/Yan
5. Kateryna Bondarenko vs. Serena Williams (NB. 19.00hrs)
6. Black/Huber vs. Mirza/Schiavone

Grandstand (from 11.00hrs)
1. Alisa Kleybanova vs. Vera Zvonareva
2. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Aleksandra Wozniak
3. Melinda Czink vs. Ana Ivanovic
4. Kleybanova/Makarova vs. Pennetta/Raymond
5. Senoglu/Shvedova vs. Mattek-Sands/Petrova

Court 3 (from 11.00 hrs)
1. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Victoria Azarenka
2. Alona Bondarenko vs. Daniela Hantuchova (NB 12.30hrs)
3. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Sybille Bammer
4. Oudin/Perry vs. Hantuchova/Sugiyama (after suitable rest)
5. Ruano Pascual/Zheng vs. Dulko/Peer

Court 4 (from 11.00 hrs)
1. Agnes Szavay vs. Flavia Pennetta
2. María José Martínez Sánchez vs. Peng Shuai (NB 12.30 hrs)
3. Anna-Lena Groenefeld vs. Sorana Cirstea
4. Hsieh/Peng vs. Dushevina/Rodionova (after suitable rest)

L.A.: Shazza Outlasts Blondarenko, Stosur Ousts Ivanovic

Good to see Sharapova backing up her win over Azarenka; she beat Alona Bondarenko in three sets, including a bagel.

Pose later, play now.

That’s the stuff to give the troops.

A nice revenge win for Shazza over Alona, who beat her in Warsaw and if memory serves had some unflattering things to say about the state of Shazza’s game afterwards. Considering she’s up against Urszula Radwanska next, she has an excellent chance of making the semis.

On the other side of the draw, Sam Stosur rolled over Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to set up a probable quarterfinal meeting with Dinara Safina, assuming she gets past Zheng Jie Jie Zheng.

Ana was reportedly her usual smiley, blathery self in her post-match presser, saying that she feels as if she’s headed in the right direction and that she’s “really [been] through a lot in the past couple of months”. Hmmm. Changing coaches and getting a new boyfriend is pretty tough. I’d still have to give the edge to Stosur though, what with the Lyme disease and viral meningitis and everything.

But seriously. Can we have the old Ana back? This is getting boring.

Friday Results: Finalists Finalised

Dusseldorf

I’ve given up trying to understand what’s happening here. All I know is that it involves a lot of happy Teutonic hugging.

And that it’s Germany vs. Serbia in the final tomorrow. Who needs Nole, eh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Admittedly tangential, but why do all Serbs seem to have such soft, shiny hair?

Singles Round Robin Matches
P Kohlschreiber (GER) d A Vinciguerra (SWE) 61 62
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d F Piccari (ITA) 62 63
*M Gonzalez (ARG) d E Korolev (RUS) 63 36 63

*M Gonzalez (ARG) replaced J Monaco (ARG) (left wrist)

Doubles Round Robin Matches
N Kiefer (GER) / M Zverev (GER) d R Lindstedt (SWE) / R Soderling (SWE) 76(4) 46 13-11 – Saved 1 M.P.
M Gonzalez (ARG) / J del Potro (ARG) d E Korolev (RUS) / D Tursunov (RUS) 22 ret. (Korolev – left ankle)
N Zimonjic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) d F Piccari (ITA) / A Seppi (ITA) 60 76(5)

Kitzbuhel

Little-known Armada tugboat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez upset Mikhail Youzhny to book a place in the final, where he’ll face the Queen of Spain (go with it) Julien Benneteau in a clash that tournament organisers are already billing as “… who?”

Singles – Semi-finals
G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d [7] M Youzhny (RUS) 63 16 76(5)
[LL] J Benneteau (FRA) d O Hernandez (ESP) 63 64

Doubles – Semi-finals
[2] M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d C Kas (GER) / A Peya (AUT) 64 60
A Pavel (ROU) / H Tecau (ROU) d J Knowle (AUT) / J Melzer (AUT) 67(1) 63 15-13
- Saved 2 M.P.

Warsaw

Let’s hear it for plucky Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru! Her name might abbreviate to “dul”, but her game certainly isn’t. Apparently, as she upset sixth seed and perpetual disappointment Daniela Hantuchova for a place in the final. She’ll face Alona Bondarenko, a finalist back in 2007, who knocked out Britland fave and all-round Tim Anne Keothavong in straight sets – on the same day that Keo drew Safina as a first round opponent at Roland Garros. Double trouble.

Singles – Semifinals
(Q) Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) d. (6/WC) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 67(2) 61
(8) Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. Anne Keothavong (GBR) 62 75

Strasbourg

Not a single seed remains in this tournament. “Strasbourg” is German for “clusterfuck”, you know. So it’s a Rezai-Hradecka final! Go girls.

Singles – Semifinals
Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (Q) Viktoriya Kutuzova (UKR) 64 62
Lucie Hradecka (CZE) d. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 60 10 ret. (left thigh strain)

Doubles – Semifinals
(2) Dechy/Santangelo (FRA/ITA) d. Beygelzimer/Sun (UKR/CHN) 63 76(2)