Month of March , 2008

Only two players remain at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presented by HSBC, as the semifinals took the court on Friday at the Tier III clay court stop. One of the finalists will be competing for the title for a fifth straight year while one will be competing in her career-first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final, and only one will emerge victorious.
 

Fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport overwhelmed New Zealand qualifier Marina Erakovic 6-0, 6-3 and set up a shot at her 55th career title in her Memphis debut. Davenport lost only nine points on serve.
 
Davenport will be going for her fourth title since giving birth to her son last June. She won at Auckland this year, but has not won in the United States since New Haven in 2005.
 

David Nalbandian reached the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel with a straight-sets win over Peru's Luis Horna in Acapulco.

After his latest 7-5 6-1 success, world number eight Nalbandian has won his first four matches without losing a set.

The top-seed needed just 80 minutes to dispatch Horna.

But the chance for an all-Argentinian final evaporated when sixth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro outlasted Jose Acasuso 6-4 3-6 7-5 in the other semi-final.

 Top-seeded American Andy Roddick was outgunned 7-6 6-3 by Swede Robin Soederling after a battle of big-serving in the Memphis Championship quarter-finals on Friday.

Soederling, the eighth seed, trumped the Roddick's 15 aces by unleashing 16 of his own to seal victory in one hour and 25 minutes in an explosive match on the Stadium Court.

Elena Dementieva defeated second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6 6-3 6-2 in an all-Russian final at the Dubai Championship on Saturday to win her ninth career title.

It was the eighth seed's first trophy since she won in Moscow in October while Kuznetsova suffered her second defeat in the final here, having also lost to Justine Henin in 2004.
 

Both players struggled to gain an advantage in a closely-contested opening set of long baseline rallies that produced seven breaks of serve.
 

Britain's Andy Murray has been drawn against Swiss world number one Roger Federer in the first round of the Dubai Open, which begins on Monday.

Defending Dubai champion Federer has not played since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-final in Melbourne six weeks ago.

Murray's recent form has been inconsistent, but the Scot has collected two tour titles in 2008.

Maria Kirilenko is all set to be a major attraction at the Bangalore Open Tier-II event to be held in Banglore from March 3-9.

Maria will be vying for honors with William sisters-Venus and Serena. The other major contenders in the field are Patty Schnyder, Agnes Szavay and Sybille Bammer.

"I have been to India before for some WTA tours. I have played some exciting tennis in India. My experience there should give me a little edge over my opponents. I am keenly looking forward to an exciting tournament," she said.

The Bangalore Open is not going to be just about seasoned pros like the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, Jelena Jankovic or Patty Schnyder. The young guns too will be raring to grab their slice of action. One among them is the petite Agnes Szavay of Hungary. The 18-year-old from Budapest has already broken into the top 20 and is hungry for more.
 

Nicolas Almagro claimed his second title of the year on Saturday after derailing top-seed David Nalbandian 6-1 7-6 (7/1) in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tennis tournament.

Sixth-seeded Spaniard Almagro improved to 15-3 this season after following up his victory at the Costa do Sauipe championship last month.

Almagro halted Nalbandian's nine-match winning streak and handed the world number eight, who won in Buenos Aires last weekend, just his second loss in 12 matches this year.

Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky caused a major upset by beating top seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-5 6-4 in the Zagreb Indoor final to win his first ATP title.

Unseeded Belgian Steve Darcis reached the Memphis Championship final by defeating veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman 4-6 6-1 6-4.

Flavia Pennetta came up one win short the last two years but she wouldn't be denied this year, clinching the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presented by HSBC singles trophy after a 60 46 61 championship win over French teenager and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final first-timer Alizé Cornet.
 

At the beginning of the week it looked as though her long time rivalry with Venus Williams would be revived or she would start a fresh one with Tatiana Golovin or Shahar Peer, two of the game's top young talents. But the Top 3 seeds all faltered prior to that possibility and in the end it was No.4 seed Lindsay Davenport who emerged triumphant at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & Cellular South Cup, capturing the title after a 62 61 win over No.5 seed Olga Govortsova in the title match on Saturday night in Memphis.
 

Tennis ace Sania Mirza's withdrawal from the WTA Bangalore Open, starting Monday, might have hugely disappointed her fans, but the organisers insist that it will have little impact on the glitz of the event.
 
The presence of American 'Williams sisters', Venus and Serena, in the $600,000 Tier II event has already created a rousing response from the fans, says Sunder Raju, tournament director and Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) secretary.
 
The star siblings would more than make up for Sania's absence, he says.
 

Bangalore, March 2 (IANS) Russian Maria Kirilenko is no stranger to India and will have an advantage over other foreign players in the $600,000 Bangalore Open tennis tournament starting Monday because of her familiarity with Indian conditions. The 21-year-old, one of the glamour dolls in world tennis, first visited India four years ago and that time she entered the finals at Hyderabad. But her next visit to Kolkata last year ended with the crowning glory at the Sunfeast Open, which eventually might have prompted her to say that she shares a special bonding with the country.

With 14 Grand Slam titles between them - Serena and Venus Williams are undoubtedly the grand attraction at Monday's Bangalore Open.
 
First toe emerge was this familiar figure from the airport - it was Richard Williams, the maverick dad of the two sisters. And then the sisters themselves appeared.
 
The hour was late but the excitement was hard to miss and even Venus soaked it all in.

Shrek, Tarzan and Ariel the little mermaid all converge in Francesca Schiavone's consciousness like participants in a weekly doubles game.
 
The 27-year-old from Milan can be so animated on court — smiling in appreciation after well played points and tearing up after monumental victories such as her first career win over World No. 1 Justine Henin, a 7-6(3), 7-6(4) quarterfinal conquest in Dubai yesterday — it's understandable why she cites "cartoons" as her favorite films.
 

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have been drawn in the same half of the WTA Bangalore Open which begins on Monday.
 

The multiple grand slam winners, who usually avoid playing in the same tournament outside the majors, have been given first round byes in their first tournament appearance in India.
 

"I don't understand why they are playing in the same tournament," their father Richard Williams told Reuters on Sunday when quizzed about his daughters' decision and a probable semi-final meeting.
 

Elena Dementieva was left to reflect on her "best match in a long time" after she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.
The eighth-seeded Russian had to overcame a slow start to claim a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over her countrywoman and lift a ninth career title.
"I think I was playing wrong tactically in the first set," Dementieva said. "I became more aggressive and it worked. It was a great match and I was playing really well, probably my best match in a long time."
 

 Roger Federer, who has always previously said that an Olympic gold medal is one of his biggest goals, has cast doubt on whether he would play in the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

Federer was a little disillusioned with his experience at the Athens four years ago where he lost early on to Tomas Berdych and feels that some of the shortcomings of those Games might be repeated in China.

The world No.1 from Switzerland said he felt that there were several difficulties, apart from the breeze, and he would like to consider avoiding a repeat.