Pan Pacific
Singles – First Round: (9) Marion Bartoli def. (WC) Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-1 6-4
We’ll admit it. Our guess was wrong. Kimiko Date-Krumm did not retire after this match. And she played a pretty good second set. But a drunken fan in the audience yelled during the contest and distracted her, and it cost her her chance to return to the Top Hundred.
Singles – First Round: (10) Caroline Wozniacki def. (Q) Bojana Jovanovski 6-0 3-6 6-4
Caroline Wozniacki picks up her sixth straight win, but it doesn’t help her ranking anyway, and it looks as if she is starting to drag….
Singles – First Round: (11) Ana Ivanovic def. (LL) Andrea Hlavackova 6-3 2-0 retired (Left Thigh Injury)
Tough news for Andrea Hlavackova. Huber/Raymond are the defending doubles champions here, and Huber isn’t here and Raymond is unseeded. This might have been Hlavackova’s chance to reach #3. But, obviously, Hlavackova is hurting, which might hurt her chances next week as well as this.
Singles – First Round: (15) Kaia Kanepi def. (Q) Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-4
Kaia Kanepi’s post-injury form remains surprisingly good, but she is defending quarterfinalist points, so she needs more to stay Top Fifteen.
Singles – First Round: (16) Lucie Safarova def. Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 7-6(7-3)
This will drop Tsvetana Pironkova below #45.
Singles – First Round: (17) Nadia Petrova def. Peng Shuai 6-1 6-4
No back problems for Nadia Petrova this week, it would seem. This puts Peng Shuai’s Top Fifty ranking in some danger, although we’d guess she will hang on. Barely.
Singles – First Round: Julia Goerges def. Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-2
Still no signs of comeback for Monica Niculescu, who remains below #40.
Singles – First Round: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Chanelle Scheepers 6-4 4-6 7-5
Chanelle Scheepers loses her chance to return to the Top Fifty.
Singles – First Round: Zheng Jie def. Vania King 6-3 6-4
Vania King was defending third round points, so she will fall below #60. We’d guess Zheng Jie will hit the Top 25.
Singles – First Round: Klara Zakopalova def. Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3 6-7(8-10) 6-1
Hsieh Su-Wei’s streak ends at five, but it looks as if she will stay Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: Tamira Paszek def. (Q) Camila Giorgi 6-4 6-3
This will likely put Tamira Paszek in the Top Thirty.
Singles – First Round: Daniela Hantuchova def. Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 4-6 6-3
A win here for Ekaterina Makarova would have made a Top Twenty spot quite likely. We’d guess she won’t quite make it now.
Singles – First Round: Urszula Radwanska def. (Q) Kurumi Nara 6-2 6-4
Urszula Radwanska should rise above #35 as a result of this. It looks as if we’ll be seeing a pair of seeded sisters at the Australian Open — and it won’t be the Williamses, it will be the Radwanskas.
Singles – First Round: Francesca Schiavone def. Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6 7-6(7-4) 6-4
Francesca Schiavone has fallen so far this year that this is a slight upset. Yaroslava Shvedova loses her chance to rise above #35 — but she’s still ranked above Schiavone for the moment.
Singles – First Round: Simona Halep def. Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-3
These two came in just one ranking spot apart, with Halep the lower-ranked — but the fact that this isn’t clay probably negated that.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Pauline Parmentier def. Alize Cornet 6-3 6-4
Alize Cornet will remain around #45.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Heather Watson def. Sabine Lisicki 6-4 7-6(7-3)
The friendly rivalry between Heather Watson and Laura Robson heats up again as Watson costs Sabine Lisicki the chance to clinch her Top Thirty rankings.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Johanna Larsson def. Romina Oprandi 6-3 3-6 7-5
Romina Oprandi will probably remain below #60.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Jamie Hampton def. (WC) Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-2
We haven’t heard why Caroline Garcia got a wildcard, but it doesn’t look like such a good idea in hindsight….
Doubles – First Round: Jurak/Marosi def. (2) Llagostera Vives/Mirza 6-0 4-6 10-8 (Match TB)
Jurak/Marosi have done surprisingly well this year, but the only word for this is “shocking.” Llagostera Vives/Mirza weren’t even supposed to face them; the original draw had them facing Hlavackova/Martic. But we saw what happened to Hlavackova.