Monday’s Results: Dubai, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Marseilles, Memphis

No time wasted in getting going in Dubai, where probably the biggest upset was qualifier Chanelle Scheepers (apparently pronounced ‘Skeppers’, at least according to the Eurosport commentators) upsetting Maria Kirilenko in straight sets. Scheepers was on really sharp form and Kirilenko … was wearing shorts, which looked nice.

Jeepers creepers.

Alisa Kleybanova came back from the brink of defeat against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in what was an all-too-familiar Pavs tale; unable to close out the match from a commanding position, she utterly collapsed in the third set. I still think Pavlyuchenkova has all the game in the world, but she has to improve her movement so that she can defend her way through a rocky patch, otherwise this is just going to happen again and again and again. Here endeth.

Speaking of improved movement, a back-from-injury Marion Bartoli beat Kimiko Date-Krumm. And we all know how an in-form Marion can lend a frisson to things. Go Marion.

Memphis saw a seed massacre in a not-particularly-strong draw, as lucky loser Alexandra Stevenson accounted for second seed and defending finalist Sofia Arvidsson, fifth seed Olga Govortsova went down to a qualifier (in what could be a stroke of luck for Heather Watson, now facing Foretz Garcon in the second round), and top seed Barbora Zahlalova Strycova lost to big-serving Michaella Kraijcek.

On the plus side? Wins for Melanie Oudin, Rebecca Marino and last year’s semi-finalist Anne Keothavong. Up the British.

In Bogota, I talked up Simona Halep and she promptly lost to Mathilde Johansson. And Annabel Medina Garrigues lost too, to Colombian wildcard Catalina Castano. What has happened to AMG of late?

Not much to report on the men’s side. Grigor Dmitrov lost rather disappointingly to Dmitry Tursunov in Marseilles, and that’s about it.

Full results under the cut.

Madrid Monday: Dinara, Vika Out

Sad days: Victoria Azarenka was forced to retire for, what, the third time in four tournaments? The problem seems to be the same right thigh strain. I don’t know what she was thinking attempting to play through the injury, but she’d better come to her senses quick. And Dinara Safina suffered a painful 76(1) 76(3) defeat against Klara Zakopalova, eventually double-faulting away the match after having served for the second set twice. It was fairly heartbreaking to watch, actually; count yourself lucky there are no photos. She had all the fight and determination and effort in the world, but absolutely no control over her game, and her anguish was clear. And she will probably drop to no. 9 after this week. Not happy times.

Fortunately for the tournament, though, both Williams sisters came through tough matches. Venus scored an excellent win over Vera Zvonareva in straight sets and will face Francesca Schiavone, who took out Sybille Bammer.

And Serena survived injury problems and an inspired Vera Dushevina to edge through in a third set tiebreak. I didn’t see the match, but from what I hear, Vera had the match on her racquet and couldn’t close it out. Do you agree or is there more to it?

Regardless, I think we can agree Serena was rather happy to get through. Other seeds progressing included Wozniacki, Stosur, Pennetta, Petrova and Li Na, who as C Note can tell you would be a worthy winner this week for more than one reason. Sadly her pint-sized warrior compatriot, Zheng Jie, fell in three sets to clay veteran Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Her My Little Pony-esque get-up apparently inexplicably failed to strike fear into her enemy’s heart.

Nothing too earth-shattering on the men’s side, except for a criminally unphotographed three-set Horseface victory over Julien Benneteau, and a pair of upsets for Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. and Santiago Giraldo, Boss’ conqueror in Rome.

ATP – Full Results

Singles – First Round
[12] G Monfils (FRA) d S Robert (FRA) 62 75
F Lopez (ESP) d L Kubot (POL) 63 63
B Becker (GER) d [WC] C Moya (ESP) 60 62
[Q] O Dolgopolov Jr. (UKR) d A Seppi (ITA) 63 64
[Q] S Giraldo (COL) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 16 62 63
N Almagro (ESP) d V Troicki (SRB) 61 76(3)
J Melzer (AUT) d [Q] K Anderson (RSA) 62 26 64
L Mayer (ARG) d J Benneteau (FRA) 67(9) 75 64

Doubles – First Round
M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) d [WC] D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) / I Navarro (ESP) 63 61

WTA – Full Results

Singles – Second Round
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Vera Dushevina (RUS) 67(2) 76(5) 76(5)
(4) Venus Williams (USA) d. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 75 63
(15) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (WC) Sybille Bammer (AUT) 62 61

Singles – First Round
(2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (Q) Petra Kvitova (CZE) 64 62
(Q) Klara Zakopalova (CZE) d. (3) Dinara Safina (RUS) 76(1) 76(3)
(8) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 76(3) 75
(WC) Peng Shuai (CHN) d. (10) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 30 ret. (right thigh strain)
(13) Li Na (CHN) d. (Q) Beatriz García Vidagany (ESP) 60 62
(14) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 61 16 61
(16) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Elena Vesnina (RUS) 46 62 63
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. (Q) Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 63 62
Patty Schnyder (SUI) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 52 ret. (right thigh injury)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 36 63 62
(WC) Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) d. (WC) Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) 63 62

Doubles – First Round
(7) Mattek-Sands/Yan (USA/CHN) d. Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) 67(6) 62 101
Kirilenko/Radwanska (RUS/POL) d. Dushevina/Makarova (RUS/RUS) 63 62
Peer/Schiavone (ISR/ITA) d. Garbin/Kops-Jones (ITA/USA) 61 62
Rosolska/Shvedova (POL/KAZ) d. Cirstea/Peng (ROU/CHN) 60 63

Tuesday’s OOP is brought to you by these nice young ladies and their doubles win.

OOP

Manolo Santana (from 12.00hrs)
1. Patty Schnyder vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
2. Samantha Stosur vs. María José Martínez Sánchez (NB 13.30hrs)
3. ATP: Federer vs. Becker (NB 16.00hrs)
4. ATP: Verdasco vs. Karlovic (NB 20.00hrs)
5. ATP: Nalbandian vs. Berdych

Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Fognini vs. Petzschner
2. ATP: Gulbis vs. Montañés (NB 14.00hrs)
3. ATP: Granollers vs. Wawrinka
4. ATP: Youzhny vs. Lacko
5. Klara Zakopalova vs. Aravane Rezai

Stadium 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Andrea Petkovic vs. Flavia Pennetta
2. ATP: Baghdatis vs. Chiudinelli (NB 14.00hrs)
3. Marion Bartoli vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues
4. Alona Bondarenko vs. Caroline Wozniacki (NB 17.00hrs)
5. Alexandra Dulgheru vs. Elena Dementieva

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Mathieu vs. Schwank
2. ATP: Bellucci vs. Riba
3. ATP: García-López vs. Gimeno-Traver
4. ATP: Muñoz-de la Nava vs. Querrey
5. ATP: Isner vs. Rochus (NB 17.00hrs)

Court 5 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Shahar Peer vs. Alisa Kleybanova
2. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Nadia Petrova
3. Williams/Williams vs. Rosolska/Shvedova
4. Li Na vs. Dominika Cibulkova
5. ATP: Melzer/Roddick vs. Granollers/Troicki

Court 6 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Cuevas vs. Chela
2. ATP: Hanescu vs. Andreev
3. ATP: Cuevas/Mónaco vs. Knowle/Ram
4. ATP: Chardy/Monfils vs. Almagro/López
5. ATP: Brunstrom/Rojer vs. García-López/Montañés
6. ATP: Hernández/Marrero vs. Lindstedt/Tecau

Court 7 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Lucie Safarova vs. Olga Govortsova
2. Domínguez Lino/Parra Santonja vs. Raymond/Stubbs
3. Dulko/Pennetta vs. Peschke/Srebotnik (after suitable rest)
4. Kirilenko/Radwanska vs. Chan/Zheng
5. Rodionova/Schnyder vs. Petrova/Stosur

Serbian Semi-finals in Rome

Yes, it’s still happening. Ana Ivanovic won a fourth consecutive match against a high-quality opponent, defeating Nadia Petrova 62 75. I didn’t see the match, but the result speaks for itself. And if it didn’t, C Note would.

Yep, we’re back to this.

Ana has a winnable match against tricky but unpredictable Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez next, and could be in the final of her first WTA event since Indian Wells in 2009. It’s happening.

But I want to talk about the match I did see, which was JJ defeating Venus, 60 61. That’s Venus’ worst defeat in her career, and – as the result suggests – a huge, huge performance from JJ.

I’m familiar with the ‘Venus is not what she was’ arguments, and the second set was certainly fairly woeful from her. But she played well in the first set, and it simply didn’ t make a difference. This JJ, and the one that beat Wickmayer, didn’t wear her opponent down or outlast her or rely on unforced errors. She overwhelmed Venus, and rendered what she was doing more or less irrelevant. I’m not saying she’s going to be able to sustain this form; I’m just saying it was a reminder of what she can do, and a revelation too. If she can bring this kind of game to Roland Garros …

Tough times tomorrow, though, as she’s playing Serena Williams, who overwhelmed Maria Kirilenko today and isn’t going to want to lose to JJ.

Excellent tournament for Maria Kirilenko though, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dominika Cibulkova on her way to this quarterfinal. Solid work.

Still, no disrespect intended to anyone else left in the draw, but I really want JJ to win tomorrow. Not to get to the final; just to see more of the way she’s been playing. It’s been, simply, the sex.

Dubai: Oh Crap, It Started Already

Main draw action was underway in Dubai today and there have already been some good and not so good results. To the eternal grief of fanboys/girls everywhere, Sorana Cirstea and Maria Kirilenko have already lost, to fourteenth seed Francesca Schiavone and qualifier Regina Kulikova respectively.

Sixteenth seed Zheng Jie also lost early, to comebacker Alicia Molik.

In happier news, Marion Bartoli, Licky, Daniela Hantuchova and Pavs all won. Good stuff.

Dubai

Singles – First Round
(11) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. (Q) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 62 60
(14) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 62 75
(Q) Alicia Molik (AUS) d. (16) Zheng Jie (CHN) 63 46 62
Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. (Q) Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) 61 64
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Vesna Manasieva (RUS) 64 64
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 63 61
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 62 61
(Q) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) d. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 16 75 62
(Q) Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) d. Vera Dushevina (RUS) 62 57 75
(Q) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) d. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 63 64
(Q) Regina Kulikova (RUS) d. (WC) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 63 60

Memphis

Singles – First Round
(5) Petra Kvitova (USA) d. Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA) 64 60
(7) Vania King (USA) d. Kathrin Woerle (GER) 63 64
(WC) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) d. Katie O’Brien (GBR) 62 61

Doubles – First Round
(3) King/Krajicek (USA/NED) d. (WC) Collins/Ondeck (USA/USA) 60 60

AO Day Seven: Breaking Back. The Bad Kind.

Poor, poor Dinara Safina. After some solid performances throughout the first week, she was forced to retire to Maria Kirilenko 4-5 down in the first set when the back trouble that bedevilled her at the end of 2009 returned without warning.

Her press conference makes sad reading:

Q. What is the problem? You look terrible.

DINARA SAFINA: My back again. It suddenly hit me. It was getting worse and worse. I have no idea really how it could happen. It’s really, really terrible.

Q. There was no indication earlier?

DINARA SAFINA: The only thing I felt a little bit stiff in practice like during the serve, but nothing serious. My doctor told me I could sometimes have some discomfort in that spot, as I had bone edema, maybe I could not use full power. As long as I can play match, it can happen and I can have discomfort, but he said no pain, nothing.

Today I warm up. Yesterday I had treatment. Today I warm up, it was fine. I was cooling down, and I start to feel a little more pain. Suddenly I played a long game at 3‑2. I won the game. I turned to my coach. I said, I cannot move anymore.

Q. Have you had a diagnosis insofar as how long you could be out of the game? Is it bad?

DINARA SAFINA: I have to go back to Germany to my doctor to speak with him. I mean, I did MRI before I came here, and my bone edema was getting much smaller. It could not happen this. I just really ‑‑ I just don’t know what happened. It’s shocking.

Q. Have you managed to speak to your doctor since you came off court?

DINARA SAFINA: No, not yet. I’m sure my coach is talking to him.

Q. How does this feel compared to last year when you had the back injury?

DINARA SAFINA: Exactly the same like in Doha. Exactly the same. I just cannot move anywhere.

I mean, the physio asked me to lie on the table. I said, I cannot lie. I cannot make any movement. Whatever I try to move, it hurts terribly.

Q. So it’s gotten worse after you came off the court today?

DINARA SAFINA: Yes. Like because I took pain killer before the match, because I was feeling stiff. I think, Okay, I going to take it as a discomfort so I forget about the pain. Then at 3‑2, I said, Okay, can you please give me some more painkillers? I kept on trying because I thought like, Okay, it’s going to work, it has to.

My coach told me at 4‑3 to retire. I’m like, Okay, I’m going to try. But it’s no way.

Q. Do you think you may have done more damage by playing the extra two games?

DINARA SAFINA: Yeah, I’m think so. But, you know, you always hope that it cannot get worse. If it would be the same, you think, Okay, like pain killer, whatever, it can help. You always hope.

Now I see I did worse.

 

Get better, Dinara.

This of course means that Maria Kirilenko is through to the quarterfinals, where she will face Zheng Jie (Zheng leads the H2H 4-1). Yes, one of these two ladies will be in the semifinals. Who had that in their bracket?

Happy birthday, Maria.

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

That Didn’t Take Long

The first major upset of the 2010 Australian Open actually happened in the first match, as Maria Kirilenko upset 14th seed Maria Sharapova 76(4) 36 64.

Bad day at the office for Shazza, who was markedly nervy and inconsistent; would she have done better to play an actual tournament rather than the Hong Kong exo? As it was, this was her first competitive match since Beijing.

All credit to Maria Kirilenko though. She’s been looking resurgent in fits and starts ever since the US Open, but I have never seen her play better than she did last night. I never thought she would have the requisite toughness to go toe-to-toe with Sharapova for three sets but she proved me wrong and frequently made Sharapova look a fool around the net.

Good work.

How To Make Four Pretty Women Look … Not

Sania Mirza, Maria Kirilenko, Zheng Jie and Elena Dementieva pose ahead of (a) The Showdown of Champions in Kuala Lumpur.

Friday In Pictures

I’ve got no energy tonight. Let’s make it snappy. Lots of pictures, light on the words …

Big wins for Schiavs and ClayBARNova, as we’re apparently now calling her. Thanks, Eurosport commies.

Bad day for these ladies.

Scotty from Brothers & Sisters celebrates. As he should. He beat Jarkko Nieminen 61 in the third.

A gratuitous abs flash? For me? Oh Robin, you shouldn’t have.

He beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straights.

Bendy. Nose Job is rocking slightly longer hair and beat Joachim Johansson to make the semis.

Baggy will face Soderling. Will Robin get tango’d?

My girl. Schnyder got licked.

She’ll meet Shahar Peer in the semi-finals.

Luxembourg

Singles – Quarterfinals
Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (4) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 62 76(4)
(5) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. (Q) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 76(1) 46 61
(6) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 64 62
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) d. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 67(3) 61 64

Doubles – Quarterfinals
Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) d. (1) Groenefeld/Schnyder (GER/SUI) 62 63
(2) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. (WC) Clijsters/Flipkens (BEL/BEL) 36 63 105
Shaughnessy/Srebotnik (USA/SLO) d. (3) Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) 63 63

Moscow

Singles – Quarterfinals
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. (2) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 64 63
(8) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 63 62
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. (Q) Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 63 63
Olga Govortsova (BLR) d. Vera Dushevina (RUS) 63 60

Doubles – Semifinals
(3) Kirilenko/Petrova (RUS/RUS) d. A.Bondarenko/Voskoboeva (UKR/KAZ) 60 60
Kondratieva/Zakopalova (RUS/CZE) d. (4) Amanmuradova/Niculescu (UZB/ROU) 36 62 119

Singles – Quarter-finals
[3] M Youzhny (RUS) d [Q] S Stakhovsky (UKR) 63 63
[Q] M Kukushkin (KAZ) d [5] P Cuevas (URU) 46 61 64
[6] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d R Ginepri (USA) 63 63
[Q] I Marchenko (UKR) d E Korolev (RUS) 06 62 63

Doubles – Semi-finals
[3] P Cuevas (URU) / M Granollers (ESP) d [2] E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) 64 63

Doubles – Quarter-finals
R Bopanna (IND) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) d A Golubev (KAZ) / E Korolev (RUS) 76(1) 75

Stockholm

Singles – Quarter-finals
[1] R Soderling (SWE) d G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 76(4) 64
O Rochus (BEL) d J Nieminen (FIN) 63 26 61
T Bellucci (BRA) d [WC] J Johansson (SWE) 76(4) 63
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [Q] A Clement (FRA) 64 64

Doubles – Semi-final
[2] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d A Beck (GER) / C Kas (GER) 61 62

One Out of Two Not Bad, Belgium

Sadly I can find no photos of Luxembourg yet, but stuff happened! Oh yes. Much to the surprise of everyone, Patty Schnyder beat Mumbacker Kim Clijsters in a third set tiebreak. Nicely done, Patty. She was 2-6 down to Clijsters in the H2H before today. Luckily for the fans, they still have Yanina Wickmayer, who withstood a determined challenge from Alize Cornet and her own allergy to holding serve for a 75 76(6) win. Shahar Peer and Katarina Srebotnik also progressed.

As aforementioned, the surprise of the day in Moscow was Vera Zvonareva falling to Tsetvana Pironkova. In what has become a familiar tale in 2009, Zvonareva was clearly struggling with her knees, but all credit to Pironkova, who played really exceptionally well. It’s a struggle to reconcile a performance like that with 13 first-round losses this year, but there you are.

It’s not all woe for the Russians though, as a trio of unseeded ladies are through; Alisa Kleybanova, Vera Dushevina and Maria Kirilenko, who did well to beat Aleksandra Wozniak 64 63.

And as also aforementioned, JJ is also through after beating Lucie Safarova 76(5) 63. Lucie looked very good in patches, but as usual, a plethora of unforced errors at inopportune moments cost her against the much steadier JJ.

Eye of the tiger.

Cheek of the hamster.

Luxembourg

Singles – Second Round
Patty Schnyder (SUI) d. (2/WC) Kim Clijsters (BEL) 64 36 76(6)
(4) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 75 36 62
(5) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Alizé Cornet (FRA) 75 76(6)
Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (8) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 36 63 61
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) d. (LL) Anne Kremer (LUX) 26 64 60

Doubles – Quarterfinals
Medina Garrigues/Suárez Navarro (ESP/ESP) d. Malek/Parra Santonja (GER/ESP) 64 64

Moscow

Singles – Second Round
(Q) Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) d. (1) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 60 62
(2) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 76(5) 63
(8) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Monica Niculescu (ROU) 62 75
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. (Q) Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 61 62
Vera Dushevina (RUS) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 36 64 63
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 64 63

Doubles – Quarterfinals
A.Bondarenko/Voskoboeva (UKR/KAZ) d. (2) Kleybanova/Makarova (RUS/RUS) 36 62 106
(3) Kirilenko/Petrova (RUS/RUS) d. Ar. Rodionova/Savchuk (RUS/UKR) 16 75 119