> Beijing
>
> Singles – First Round: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. Alize
> Cornet 6-1 6-0
> Evidently Victoria Azarenka was right when she said her
> medical results came back clean! If she keeps playing like
> this, she’ll clinch the year-end #1 this week. She leaves
> Alize Cornet still below #40.
>
> Singles – First Round: (2) Maria Sharapova def. Simona Halep
> 7-5 7-5
> Maria Sharapova didn’t play here last year, so all the
> points are a bonus, but she can’t take #1 this week, or even
> get particularly close.
>
> Singles – First Round: (10) Caroline Wozniacki def. Chanelle
> Scheepers 7-5 6-7(6-8) 6-2
> Caroline Wozniacki keeps her Top Ten hopes alive, but she’ll
> need at least two more wins and probably more. And she must
> be very tired.
>
> Singles – First Round: Sabine Lisicki def. Anabel Medina
> Garrigues 6-3 5-7 6-2
> Because so many points are going off and coming on this
> week, this moves Sabine Lisicki very close to a return to
> the Top 25.
>
> Singles – First Round: Sorana Cirstea def. Sofia Arvidsson
> 6-2 6-3
> Sorana Cirstea’s Top Thirty spot now appears sure; one more
> win might take her to the Top 25.
>
> Singles – First Round: (Q) Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino def.
> Zheng Jie 6-2 6-4
> That’s the first disappointing result for China’s Big Three
> of Li, Zheng, and Peng. Zheng Jie loses her chance to hit
> the Top Twenty.
>
> Singles – First Round: (Q) Polona Hercog def. Anastasia
> Pavlyuchenkova 5-7 6-4 3-0 retired (GI Illness)
> Illness is much the standard story of the Asian swing —
> presumably the combination of long plane flights and jet
> lag. But Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was defending
> quarterfinalist points; she will fall out of the Top
> Thirty.
>
> Singles – Second Round: Carla Suarez Navarro def. (4) Petra
> Kvitova 6-3 6-2
> After actually looking good this summer, Petra Kvitova seems
> to be back in her funk. She won’t rise above her current #5.
> We still say she’ll qualify for Istanbul, but this may slow
> down the announcement.
>
> Singles – Second Round: (11) Ana Ivanovic def. Varvara
> Lepchenko 4-6 7-5 6-1
> This raises a slight possibility that Varvara Lepchenko will
> lose her Top Twenty spot. Certainly she won’t rise above
> #19.
>
> Singles – Second Round: Peng Shuai def. Yaroslava Shvedova
> 5-7 7-5 6-2
> It’s likely that Yaroslava Shvedova will hit the Top Thirty
> this week, but this loss means she’ll have to wait a little
> longer to clinch. Peng Shuai will probably hit the Top Forty
> as a result of this.
>
> Singles – Second Round: (Q) Elena Vesnina def. Tamira Paszek
> 7-6(7-5) 6-2
> If Elena Vesnina is trying to reclaim a lost year, she has
> at least one significant barrier in her way: She is likely
> to face Azarenka next. Still, it’s a big week for her. She
> costs Tamira Paszek her Top 25 chance.
>
> Doubles – First Round: Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova def.
> Raymond/Stosur 7-6(7-4) 4-6 10-6 (Match TB)
> Lisa Raymond is on her own while Liezel Huber and her
> husband adopt a child, so she decided to play with Stosur —
> but she and Stosur always seem to need time to jell.
>
> Doubles – First Round: Bacsinszky/Martinez Sanchez def.
> Tatishvili/Voskoboeva 6-7(1-7) 6-2 10-4 (Match TB)
>
> Doubles – First Round: (WC) Tang/Tian def. (WC) Yan/S.Zheng
> 3-6 6-1 13-11 (Match TB)
> We’ll say it again: If Yan Zi wants to have a comeback, she
> needs to find a real partner. Note that that is the “other”
> Zheng….
>
> Doubles – Second Round: Dushevina/Rosolska def. (Alt)
> Liu/Sun 6-4 7-6(7-5)
> A funny team, the Chinese pair. Or at least a funny team
> name. Note that that is not the long-since-retired pair of
> Li Ting and Sun Tiantian; it’s Liu Wan-Ting and Sun
> Shengnan. Who made the main draw only because Errani/Vinci
> pulled out. So they don’t earn any points.
>
> Las Vegas Challenger
>
> This finished on Sunday, but it was already Monday Beijing
> time, so we couldn’t wait to get the results. The Las Vegas
> singles title went to Lauren Davis, who beat Shelby Rogers
> 6-7 6-2 6-2 despite needing a medical timeout in the first
> set (she said afterward that she thought she had gotten
> dehydrated. Perhaps understandable after playing ten matches
> in two weeks, winning nine of them). Her goal was to hit the
> Top Hundred before she turned 19, and she made it with two
> weeks to spare; she is up to #91. More on this in the
> feature. The doubles title went to the Rodionova sisters,
> who beat Bovina/Gallovits-Hall in a match tiebreak.