Pan Pacific
Singles – Semifinal: (3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (5) Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-1
That’s back-to-back finals here for Agnieszka Radwanska. Which means she will keep the #3 rankings — for one more week. She still has Beijing to defend…. Angelique Kerber remains at #6, and not a very strong #6, but she lasted long enough that her Istanbul spot appears certain.
Singles – Semifinal: (17) Nadia Petrova def. (8) Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2
That’s one way to justify a seed!
Nadia Petrova was seeded here only because her doubles partner Maria Kirilenko pulled out. Obviously Petrova did a fine job of justifying the promotion. And it finally means she is starting to move in the rankings. She is up to #15. Whereas Samantha Stosur stays stuck at #9 — and still #9 in the Race; Li Na still leads in the contest for the last spot in Istanbul. On the other hand, Stosur has made the Race a lot more interesting. Unfortunately, Stosur hurt herself in the match — believed to be an abdominal muscle strain — so her chances at Beijing may not be very good.
Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Groenefeld/Peschke def. Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova 1-6 6-1 10-7 (Match TB)
This is probably the best result by Anna-Lena Groenefeld since she decided to become a doubles specialist. Is she finally starting to recover her form? Obviously one event isn’t enough to really let us know….
Doubles – Semifinal: Kops-Jones/Spears def. Lisicki/Raymond 6-4 6-3
A blow to Lisa Raymond, who was last year’s champion with Liezel Huber. This could well be big news for Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova — if Hlavackova can get healthy.
It’s also big news for Kops-Jones/Spears, who have won seven straight and are starting to look as if they might be genuine Istanbul candidates after all. They are now firmly at #5 in the Race, and if they can win the title here, they will be close to #4 Kirilenko/Petrova.
Las Vegas Challenger
It was, finally, a truly good day to be a seed. The four who remained in the draw — #2 Lauren Davis, #4 Anastasia Rodionova (who beat her little sister), #7 Mallory Burdette, and #8 Heidi El Tabakh — all won. That makes Burdette 2-0 as a professional. Davis has now won six of her last seven matches, making the final at the Albuquerque $75K last week and reaching the quarterfinal in Las Vegas. Other Las Vegas quarterfinalists are Jessica Pegula, Shelby Rogers, Elena Bovina, and Adriana Perez — Perez being the one unfamiliar name on the list; perhaps she is a player to watch out for. If she can win her quarterfinal, anyway.