Radwanska, Craybas to meet in Pattaya finale

Pattaya City, Thailand (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and seventh-seeded American Jill Craybas were Saturday's semifinal winners at the $170,000 Pattaya Women's Open.

The 18-year-old Radwanska dismantled helpless Russian Ekaterina Bychkova 6-1, 6-1, while the 33-year-old Craybas handled Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-0 on the hardcourt at Dusit Resort.

Radwanska will appear in her second career final. She titled in Stockholm in her first-ever title match last year. Craybas will also appear in her second WTA final. She titled in Tokyo in her only other title bout, back in 2002...Full Story

Strong-serving Sharapova wins Australian Open title

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Russian Maria Sharapova used strong serving to capture her third Grand Slam title, beating Serbian Ana Ivanovic, 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to win the 2008 Australian Open.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova won 24 of her last 26 service points in the battle of 20-year-olds. Incredibly, she won 24 of 27 points on her first serve for the match.

"This is just incredible," Sharapova said to the crowd at Rod Laver Arena after the match. "If someone had told me in the middle of last year that I'd be standing on this stage in front of all you guys with the big one I'd probably say forget it."

Sharapova, who didn't lose a set over these two weeks, had also won Wimbledon in 2004 and the U.S. Open in 2006. She lost the 2007 Australian Open final to American Serena Williams.

Sharapova said the last year has been a trying one since her coach's mother passed away. Sharapova said she also got inspiration for the match from a text message earlier on Saturday from Hall of Famer Billie Jean King, the 1968 Australian Open champion...Full Story

Henin reaches quarterfinals at Aussie Open

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Top seed Justine Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday by winning her 32nd straight match, a straight-set victory over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.

Additionally, third-seeded Jelena Jankovic, fifth seed Maria Sharapova and defending champion Serena Williams, seeded seventh, also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Henin, the 2004 Australian Open champion and reigning French and U.S. Open titlist, had a relatively easy time, winning 6-2, 6-2. Hsieh, who had never advanced beyond the first round at Melbourne before this year's tournament, fought off match point twice in the second set.

But Henin was dominant -- winning 10 straight games after being down 2-1 in the first set -- and eventually closed out the win. She will face Sharapova, who breezed through her match with 11th seed Elena Dementieva, in the quarterfinals. The match, which Sharapova won 6-2, 6-0, took all of 62 minutes....Full Story

Garrigues retires injured in Hobart

Hobart, Australia (Sports Network) - Australian wild card Casey Dellacqua advanced at the Moorilla Hobart International tennis event Sunday when eight- seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues retired with of a lower back injury.
Dellacqua was leading 5-4 in the first set when the 34th-ranked Spaniard begged off.
In other first-round matches, Russia's Elena Vesnina dumped Japan's Akiko Morigami in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, while Greece's Eleni Daniilidou upended Pauline Parmentier of France, 6-3, 6-4.
Anna Chakvetadze beat Vasilisa Bardina in last year's all-Russian Hobart finale.

Mauresmo withdraws from Sydney International

Sydney, Australia (Sports Network) - Amelie Mauresmo withdrew from the Medibank International tennis event, a final Australian Open tune-up, with a left abductor strain.
Mauresmo is joined on the sidelines by China's Na Li, won triumphed at the Australian women's hardcourt Saturday in her first tournament back after a pesky rib injury. Li is out with a right knee injury.
Mauresmo won this tournament in 2000, and was a finalist in 2004.
Although injury news dominated the headlines here, first round play got underway with three matches. Austrian Sybille Bammer upended Russia's Nadia Petrova in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, while the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova edged Alicia Molik 7-6 (2), 7-6 (12-10) in a tight-knit affair.

Meanwhile, Virginie Razzano of France had an easy time of it with Austrian wild card Nicole Pratt, 6-2, 6-1.

The since-retired Kim Clijsters defeated Jelena Jankovic in last year's final here.

Henin outlasts Sharapova in WTA Tour final

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Justine Henin of Belgium outlasted Russia's Maria Sharapova to win her the season-ending WTA Tour Sony Ericsson Championships.
The top-seeded Henin, who disposed of Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, dropped the first set and was down 3-4 in the second before rebounding to take a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory in a battle that nearly lasted 3 1/2 hours, a record for a three-set final at this tourney.
Henin also won this title last year and secured her 10th singles crown of 2007. The last woman to win as many 10 titles in a single season was Martina Hingis, who won 12 times in 1997. The Belgian is also riding a 25-match winning streak, dating back to a semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon.
Sharapova was the 2004 winner of this event and was gunning for just on her second title of 2007. Her lone victory of the year came in a U.S. Open tuneup this summer at the Acura Classic in San Diego. She also lost in the final at the Australian Open and reached the title match at the Wimbledon tuneup in Birmingham...Full Story

Semis are set at WTA Championships

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Saturday's semifinals are now set at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, as top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin will meet fourth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Maria Sharapova will take on her seventh-seeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Friday's Sharapova-Ivanovic winner would not have to face the world No. 1 Henin here on Saturday, and it worked out for the 2004 Championships victor Sharapova, who dismantled her fellow 20-year-old Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 on the fourth and final day of round-robin play on the hardcourt at Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo.
Sharapova pasted Ivanovic in 1 hour, 10 minutes, as she recorded five service breaks, compared to zero for the overmatched Serb.
The Australian Open runner-up and former world No. 1 Sharapova was a perfect 3-0 in this week's four-player Red Group, while the French Open runner-up Ivanovic went 2-1. The group was rounded out by eighth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova (1-2) and second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (0-3). Hantuchova took the place of Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (dizziness) in the exclusive eight-player field...Full Story

Davenport reaches Bell Challenge final

Quebec City, QC (Sports Network) - American Lindsay Davenport continued her push to a second title this year, ousting second-seed Vera Zvonareva in three sets to reach the final of the $175,000 Bell Challenge.
Appearing in her third consecutive quarterfinal since returning to the WTA Tour in August after nearly a year out of action, Davenport, who won the Bali Open this year, dropped her first set of the tournament but still managed to beat the Russian Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3.
Davenport, who gave birth to her first child, Jagger Jonathan Leach, in June and returned to play in September, will square off against third-seeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko in the final.
Vakulenko overcame an injured right ankle to defeat American qualifier Julie Ditty, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. The 28-year-old Ditty made the first semifinal appearance of her WTA Tour career.

Davenport into semifinals at Bell Challenge

Quebec City, QC (Sports Network) - American Lindsay Davenport continued her push to a second title this year with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz in the quarterfinals at the $175,000 Bell Challenge.
Appearing in her third consecutive quarterfinal since returning to the Tour in August after nearly a year out of action, Davenport continued to sweep away opponents. The new mother, having given birth to first child Jagger Jonathan Leach in June, has yet to lose a set in any of her three matches this week.
Davenport, a three-time Gland Slam champion, returned to play in September, winning the Bali Open and reaching the semifinals in the China Open. Her next opponent will be second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over fellow countrywoman and eighth seed Olga Poutchkova, the runner-up last year.
Third-seeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko gained her third career semifinal berth with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over fifth seed Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Next up for Vakulenko will be qualifier Julie Ditty, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victor over fellow American Vania King. The 28-year-old Ditty was already making the first quarterfinal appearance of her WTA Tour career.

Schnyder ousts Chakvetadze in Linz

Linz, Austria (Sports Network) - Sixth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder toppled top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze in Friday's quarterfinal action at the $600,000 Generali Ladies Linz women's tennis event.
The lefthanded Schnyder humbled the U.S. Open semifinalist Chakvetadze 6-1, 6-0 on the indoor hardcourt at Intersport Arena. Chakvetadze piled up five double faults and had her serve broken five times in a lopsided, lightning- fast 39-minute affair.
Schnyder, who reached the Linz final in 2005, will face Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in Saturday's semifinals. The third-seeded Bartoli, of France, held off Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko 6-1, 1-6, 6-4...Full Story

Jankovic, Ivanovic, Mauresmo all bow out in Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France were a trio of second-round upset victims Wednesday at the $1.34 million Zurich Open.
Jankovic was straight-setted by Czech slugger Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 6-4. A struggling Jankovic has now dropped her last two tournament-opening matches and has lost four of her last six outings overall.
Vaidisova will meet Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko in Friday's quarterfinals here.
The fifth-seeded Ivanovic was sent packing by surging Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 6-1, while an eighth-seeded Mauresmo was knocked out by Bondarenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at Hallenstadion. Golovin has won 13 of her last 15 matches, including a title in Slovenia last month and a runner-up finish against the great Justine Henin in Stuttgart just two weeks ago.
One other second-round result saw ninth-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France dismiss Dutch wild card Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-1. Bartoli will meet the surging Golovin on Friday...Full Story

Henin reaches Porsche semis; Kuznetsova drives out Serena

Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - World No. 1 star Justine Henin was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, as was U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, who drove out Australian Open titlist Serena Williams at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The top-seeded Henin held off unseeded two-time major runner-up Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-4, 6-4 at Porsche Arena. The reigning French Open and U.S. Open titlist Henin was the Porsche runner-up in 2001 and 2003.
Henin has now won her last 14 WTA Tour matches, including titles in Toronto and at the U.S. Open. The gritty Belgian has only lost once in her last 31 outings, and that came against France's Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon semifinals.
The high-flying Henin's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who knocked out seventh-seeded and defending Stuttgart titlist Nadia Petrova 6-7 (5-7), 5-1, as the Russian retired due to a nagging hip injury. Petrova defeated France's Tatiana Golovin in last year's finale here...Full Story

Azarenka charges into Tashkent semi

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka highlighted Friday's quarterfinal winners at the $145,000 Tashkent Open.
The 18-year-old Azarenka erased qualifier Ksenia Palkina of Kyrgyzstan 6-2, 6-1 at Tashkent Tennis Centre. Azarenka won the mixed doubles title at the U.S. Open last month.
Azarenka's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be fourth-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina, who outlasted fifth-seeded Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 on Day 5 here.
The other semifinal will pit third-seeded Belarusian Olga Govortsova against France's Pauline Parmentier, as Govortsova grounded Britain's Katie O'Brien 6-2, 6-3, while Parmentier pasted Tashkent's own Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-3.
The 2007 champion here will claim $21,165.

Ivanovic, Golovin post wins; Petrova loses in Luxembourg

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (Sports Network) - French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic and last week's Portoroz champion Tatiana Golovin were among the winners Wednesday, while third-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova went by way of the upset at the $600,000 Fortis Championships.
The second-seeded Ivanovic moved into the quarterfinals by handling a wild card, Luxembourg's own Anne Kremer, 7-5, 6-4, while the eighth-seeded Golovin stayed hot by downing Romanian wild card Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round on the indoor hardcourts at CK Sport Kockelscheuer. The Serbian Ivanovic and three other seeds received opening-round byes this week.
The French Golovin has won her last six matches, including a victory against Katarina Srebotnik in this past Sunday's finale at the Slovenia Open. Her second-round opponent here on Thursday will be last year's Luxembourg runner- up, Francesca Schiavone.
Surging Belarusian Victoria Azarenka ousted Petrova in 6-2, 6-1 fashion to reach the quarterfinals...Full Story

Cibulkova wins Guangzhou opener

Guangzhou, China (Sports Network) - Fourth-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova was one of 12 first-round winners Wednesday at the Guangzhou International women's tennis event.
Cibulkova handled Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek 6-0, 6-3 at the Tennis Courts of Fangcun Sports Center.
A trio of upsets occurred, as American qualifier Julie Ditty dropped fifth- seeded Russian Olga Poutchkova 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru topped seventh-seeded Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2, 6-4 and France's Camille Pin took out eighth-seeded Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 4-1, as the Russian retired due to a right knee injury.
Sixth-seeded Belarusian Olga Govortsova avoided an upset by drubbing Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1, 6-3 at this hardcourt tournament...Full Story

Kirilenko stays hot; Muller loses in Seoul

Seoul, Korea (Sports Network) - Last week's Kolkata champion Maria Kirilenko posted a first-round victory, while sixth-seeded German Martina Muller came up a second-round loser Wednesday at the $145,000 Korea Open.
The fourth-seeded Kirilenko won her sixth straight match by handling Korean wild card So-Jung Kim 7-5, 6-3, while Muller failed to reach the quarterfinals here when Colombian Catalina Castano erased her in 6-4, 6-2 fashion on the hardcourts at the Olympic Tennis Courts. The Russian Kirilenko corralled her second career WTA Tout title in India this past Sunday.
In other second-round action, Japan's Ayumi Morita edged out France's Mathilde Johansson 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and Italian Flavia Pennetta handled Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4.
One other opening-round bout saw Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska dismiss Italian Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-2.. Full Story

Jankovic, Davenport reach semis; Mauresmo falls in Beijing

Beijing, China (Sports Network) - World No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport posted quarterfinal wins, while third-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo came up a loser Friday at the $600,000 China Open.
The second-seeded Jankovic handled Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-3, 7-5, while the unseeded Davenport won her eighth straight match by ousting fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 at Beijing Tennis Center.
Jankovic and the three-time major titlist Davenport will now meet for a second straight week, as the 31-year-old American doused the Serbian star in last week's quarterfinals on her way to a title in Bali. Last week marked Davenport's first WTA Tour singles action since last September. She gave birth to her first child, a son named Jagger, in June of this year.
Davenport is a perfect 4-0 lifetime against Jankovic.
The former top-ranked and two-time major champion Mauresmo succumbed to Chinese crowd favorite Shuai Peng 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Mauresmo was last year's Beijing runner-up to Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who pulled out of this year's event on Wednesday due to an injury...Full Story

Top seeds Golovin, Bammer ease into Portoroz QFs

Portoroz, Slovenia (Sports Network) - This week's top seeds -- France's Tatiana Golovin and Austrian Sybille Bammer -- highlighted Wednesday's second- round winners at the $145,000 Slovenia Open.
Golovin grounded Italian Karin Knapp 6-4, 6-3, while Bammer blitzed Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-2 on the hardcourts at SRC Marina in the beautiful coastal city of Portoroz.
Two other seeds moved into the quarterfinals here, as No. 5 Russian Vera Zvonareva held off Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 and No. 8 Russian Vera Dushevina doused Czech Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-4. Zvonareva and Dushevina will square off in an all-Russian quarter on Friday.
The first round finally concluded on Wednesday, with three matches that were either suspended or postponed because of rain and/or darkness here on Tuesday. Seventh-seeded Argentine Gisela Dulko dropped Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-3, 6-4, while ninth-seeded American Meilen Tu got past Croat Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and Russian Elena Vesnina outlasted Slovenian wild card Polona Hercog 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4...Full Story

Golovin, Srebotnik post easy wins in Portoroz

Portoroz, Slovenia (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Tatiana Golovin and Slovenian crowd favorite Katarina Srebotnik highlighted Monday's first-round winners at the $145,000 Slovenia Open.
The Russian native Golovin, who plays under the French flag and lives in Florida, snuck past American Lilia Osterloh 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, while the fourth- seeded Srebotnik dismantled her wild card countrywoman Masa Zec Peskiric 6-0, 6-0 on the hardcourts at SRC Marina.
One other opening-rounder saw Russian veteran Elena Likhovtseva sneak past Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova 7-6 (10-8), 6-2.
The 2007 Portoroz winner will pocket $21,140. Austrian Tamira Paszek beat Italian Maria Elena Camerin in last year's finale.

Kirilenko wins Kolkata opener

Kolkata, India (Sports Network) - Fourth-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko highlighted Monday's first-round winners at the $175,000 Sunfeast Open.
Kirilenko handled American qualifier Neha Uberoi 6-2, 6-2, while another seed posted a Day-1 victory, as No. 8 Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei double-bageled helpless Indian wild card Kyra Shroff 6-0, 6-0 at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Up next for Kirilenko will be Russian Ekaterina Ivanova, while Chan will battle Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova.
In other opening-round play, Aussie Casey Dellacqua drilled Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-2, 6-3, the qualifier Ivanova held off British qualifier Naomi Cavaday 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 and Gajdosova grounded France's Youlia Fedossova 6-3, 6-4.
This week's top seeds are Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France and last week's Bali runner-up Daniela Hantuchova. Bartoli will open up against American Vania King, while the Slovakian Hantuchova will encounter Poland's Marta Domachowska...Full Story