Month of August , 2010

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced to her third final of the WTA season, defeating Australian top seed Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday at the Bank of the West Classic.

Azarenka, who won on her 21st birthday, will play for the title on Sunday against the winner of a later semifinal between Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska and Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova.

"I'm happy with the way I played," Azarenka said. "I'm finally injury-free and I'm enjoying my time on the court.

Maria Sharapova shook off a first-set loss to beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday in the Bank of the West Classic to set up a championship match against Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka, from Belarus, celebrating her 21st birthday with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3.

Fifth-seeded and 15th-ranked, Sharapova remained undefeated in four semifinal matches this season and will be looking for her third title.

Top seed and British world number four Andy Murray won a curiously topsy-turvy encounter with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-0 1-6 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the LA Open.

Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain reached the Croatia Open final for a second straight year after dispatching Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-4, 6-2 Saturday.

Ferrero will play Sunday against Potito Starace of Italy, who beat eighth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 to gain his first final in three years.

Richard Gasquet of France beat Yuri Schukin of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-4 Saturday to advance to a Swiss Open final against Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

Both Gasquet and Almagro will be playing for their second ATP Tour title of the season Sunday on Gstaad’s outdoor clay.

The seventh-seeded Gasquet had little trouble against the 147th-ranked Schukin, who was playing in his first career semifinal.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova battled her way into the final of the Istanbul Cup on Saturday, grinding out a two-hour, 10-minute semifinal victory over hard-hitting and rapidly-improving Aussie Jarmila Groth. Pavlyuchenkova, the No.3 seed at the hardcourt tournament, hadn't played Groth before but when the two power players took the courts the sparks flew.

Victoria Azarenka gave herself a 21st birthday present to remember on Saturday, July 31, 2010, ousting the Bank of the West Classic's top seed, Samantha Stosur, in straight sets Azarenka, the No.8 seed, had never lost a set to Stosur in their three previous meetings, and that trend continued as she pushed the aggressive Australian back behind the baseline throughout the match with her trademark penetrating groundstrokes. After an hour and 24 minutes it was all over and she won, 62 63.

Defending champion Sam Querrey needed to call on all his fighting abilities Saturday, saving a match point in the second set en route to a 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-4 win over sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic at the Farmers Classic. Chasing his fourth title of the season, Querrey will face top seed Andy Murray in the final following the Scot's roller-coaster 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-1 in the Swiss Open final on Sunday to claim his second ATP title of the year.

Second-seeded Almagro took just 75 minutes on Gstaad’s outdoor clay to overpower the Frenchman—managing 17 aces against one from Gasquet, who was struggling with a right shoulder injury.

It is Almagro’s seventh title and the second of the year after Bastad two weeks ago.

Russian third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the highest-ranked teenager in the world, defeated compatriot Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday to capture the Istanbul WTA title.

It was the 19-year-old's second career trophy after Monterrey earlier this season.

But she had to do it the hard way taking victory after three hours and 10 minutes on court in the final, and rallying from 0-4 in the second set and 1-3 in the third.

A charged-up Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won her first tournament of the year on Sunday by blowing away Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-1 in the final of the Stanford Classic.

In a breath-taking display of power tennis, Azarenka broke her three-time grand slam champion opponent six times, controlling the match with laser-sharp groundstrokes.

"This shows that I really believe in myself," Azarenka told reporters. "It gives me a lot of confidence, especially going into the US open."

Sam Querrey’s first victory over Andy Murray in five attempts has embellished the big-serving American’s impressive credentials and marked him out as a likely top-10 player in the future.

The 22-year-old from Thousand Oaks, California came from a set down to upset the British world number four 5-7 7-6 6-3 in the LA Open final on Sunday, earning him his fourth ATP title of the season.

Juan Carlos Ferrero won the Croatia Open on Sunday, beating Potito Starace of Italy 6-4, 6-4 for his third title this year.

Ferrero, a former No. 1 player who was seeded fourth, defeated an opponent who was playing in his first final in three years and looking for his first ATP title. Ferrero was a finalist in this tournament in 2009.

The Spaniard’s other titles this year came at the Brazil Open in February and the Copa Telmex in Argentina a week later. he has played in four finals in 2010.

The seventh ATP World Tour 500 tournament of the season, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, gets underway Sunday, with two main draw and six qualifying matches. This year’s field includes 11 of the Top 30 players in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, led by World No. 8 and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, No. 9-ranked and three-time Legg Mason champion Andy Roddick.

In 2008 and 2009, fans of women's tennis in San Diego got hungrier and hungrier for more as the loyal Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stop was discontinued. But that's over now as the Mercury Insurance Open takes place for the first time in what is commonly known as America's Finest City. World No.2 Jelena Jankovic headlines the field.

Newly-crowned Stanford Classic champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus has pulled out of next week's tournament in San Diego, her agent said on Sunday.

Azarenka won her first title of the year by beating Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-1 on Sunday, but her agent said the Belarusian had sustained a right shoulder injury and would skip San Diego.

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic is top seed at the tournament, followed by fifth-ranked Samantha Stosur of Australia, Russia's Vera Zvonareva and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

With the rise of Caroline Wozniacki, it was only a matter of time before the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour hit the Danish capital. And in Copenhagen this week the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open has its first year - with Wozniacki the top seed. Wozniacki, who was Denmark's first ever Top 10 player and has been as high as No.2 in the world, is the favorite on her home turf. Already with seven Tour titles to her name - including one earlier this year on the clay courts of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - she will open her campaign with up-and-coming Croat Petra Martic in the first round.

Andy Murray squandered a match point in the second set and American Sam Querrey rallied Sunday for a 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 victory over the top seed in the final of the Los Angeles Open.

The 23-year-old Scotsman missed a golden chance for his first ATP title of the season and suffered his first loss in five career meetings with Querrey, who had never before taken a set off Murray.

Tennis Standout To Compete For Ninth Time At New Haven

Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska returns into the top 10 of women's tennis in the latest rankings issued on Monday by the WTA.

Radwanska moves up one place to 10th, replacing Li Na of China.

Wimbledon champion Serena Williams continues to top the rankings with 8,475 points, followed by Serbia's Jelena Jankovic (5,900) and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (5,555).

Venus Williams drops one place to fourth.

WTA top 10 as of August 2 (previous ranking in parenthesis):

1. (1) Serena Williams, United States, 8,355