With Berlin and it's many rain delays, as well as Rome for the men, dominating all of the discussion on CC, this wee tournament got overlooked yet it has a few talking points that I feel are worth raising:

Akiko Morigami beat Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-3 to take her first WTA title. Great for the Japanese who I saw in the very first match I watched live at Wimbledon back in 2003. Also good to see Marion beginning to recapture some of her form from late last year

Victoria Azarenka followed up her finalist finish in Estoril with a semi-final in Prague - this former Junior Champion could easily win a few rounds in Paris.

Also it was great to see Klara Zakopalova (nee Koukalova) reach the Semis, she used to be top 30 but had a torrid 2006 - so I'm glad she's winning matches again (we do share a birthday afterall) :)

Well done to Morigami; the Japanese veteran was appearing in only her second career final and yet managed to pick up her maiden title. I was favouring her as Bartoli seemed a bit too highly ranked to be swooping down upon a Tier IV :P although it was a good way for the Frenchwoman to get some matches under her belt and restore confidence.

Also good to see Azarenka follow up on her run of form (she's done wonders for my Fantasy Tennis points of late) but a shame about the injury, as a third set seemed assured in her SF. Lastly it was a nice showing by home favourite Zakopalova.