Seoul
Singles – First Round: (WC) Lee So-Ra def. (2) Maria Kirilenko 1-1 retired (Back Injury)
The fates seem to be doing their best to help out Caroline Wozniacki this week; the #2 seed is out and the #3 seed here is just back from a long layoff. In the case of Kirilenko, that costs her semifinalist points, but it doesn’t appear it will hurt her ranking.
Singles – First Round: (4) Nadia Petrova def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2 6-4
Nadia Petrova needs a title to climb in the rankings, but it doesn’t look as if she will fall.
Singles – First Round: Tamira Paszek def. Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(10-8) 6-3
This will probably take Tamira Paszek to #32, but she needs at least a semifinal, and maybe a final, to hit the Top Thirty.
Singles – First Round: Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. (Q) Eleni Daniilidou 6-2 6-3
A solid start for Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, but she needs to defend her title to stay Top Hundred.
Singles – Second Round: (3) Kaia Kanepi def. Galina Voskoboeva 6-2 6-2
Two good matches in a row for Kaia Kanepi; one more and she rises to #15. But Galina Voskoboeva loses finalist points and will fall below #85.
Singles – Second Round: Kiki Bertens def. Silvia Soler-Espinosa 1-6 7-6(7-3) 6-2
This takes Kiki Bertens to right around #60.
Doubles – First Round: Amanmuradova/King def. (2) Medina Garrigues/Mirza 5-7 6-4 10-7 (Match TB)
Both these teams had one very strong doubles player (King and Mirza, respectively), but Amanmuradova and King probably complement better.
Doubles – First Round: (3) Grandin/Uhlirova def. Chuang/Date-Krumm 6-2 6-1
Truly a disappointing event for Kimiko Date-Krumm, given that it’s so close to home.
Doubles – First Round: (4) Dushevina/Rosolska def. Lykina/Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-3
Doubles – First Round: Cadantu/Lepchenko def. Craybas/Garcia 4-6 6-3 10-7 (Match TB)
Doubles – First Round: Jurak/Marosi def. (WC) Han/Lee 3-6 6-2 10-6 (Match TB)
Guangzhou
Singles – Second Round: Laura Robson def. (2) Zheng Jie 6-3 6-3
A terrible place for high seeds — first Marion Bartoli out, now Zheng Jie. Zheng, who was a semifinalist last year, will fall out of the Top 25.
Singles – Second Round: (3) Sorana Cirstea def. (WC) Duan Ying-Ying 6-1 7-6(7-0)
One more win would let Sorana Cirstea effectively defend her points, but she might still need more to stay Top Thirty.
Singles – Second Round: (4) Urszula Radwanska def. Mandy Minella 6-2 6-3
Urszula Radwanska defends her points and should stay Top Forty.
Singles – Second Round: (5) Chanelle Scheepers def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-4 6-1
Chanelle Scheepers still has more than 200 points to defend, so she remains well below #60. She blocks Bojana Jovanovski’s chances to rise above #55.
Singles – Second Round: (7) Peng Shuai def. (Q) Nudnina Luangnam 6-2 6-1
Peng Shuai adds only a few points, but those might be enough to take her to #45.
Singles – Second Round: (8) Alize Cornet def. Olga Govortsova 6-4 retired (GI Illness)
Third illness already at this event — not the best news for the players who will head from here to the Pan Pacific. On the other hand, the win will probably take Alize Cornet to #45 or higher. And she’s good at jinxing people — this is the second straight match in which her opponent retired!
Singles – Second Round: Hsieh Su-Wei def. (LL) Chang Kai-Chen 6-0 6-3
Hsieh Su-Wei is now just 14 points, or one win, away from the Top Fifty.
Singles – Second Round: Mathilde Johansson def. (WC) Zheng Saisai 6-2 4-6 7-5
Odd to see that Mathilde Johansson had more trouble with Zheng Saisai than with #6 seed Monica Niculescu. Niculescu is really having trouble.
Doubles – First Round: Hsieh/Hsieh def. Kumkhum/Wongteanchai 4-6 6-1 12-10 (Match TB)
This place is really thick with Taiwanese sister acts — Chan/Chan, Hsieh/Hsieh…. Maybe the Kichenoks should move to Taiwan.
Doubles – First Round: Han/Liu def. (WC) Liang/Tian 6-2 2-6 10-6 (Match TB)
Doubles – First Round: (WC) Yan/Zhang def. Babos/Minella 6-4 6-1
Note that that isn’t Yan/Zheng, it’s Yan/Zhang. Not a very strong partner. So this looks like a pretty good sign for Yan Zi’s comeback.