The draw can be found here.

It's a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. With every last seed sitting in the Top 10 - including scarce Tier II appearances from Henin and Serena - and opening round match-ups like Mauresmo v Dementieva (not so long ago something you'd only see in QFs or better), this Tier II features a much stronger field than some of the Tier Is this year. :unsure:

Seeded QFs:

Henin v Hantuchova
Jankovic v Petrova
-
Ivanovic v Chakvetadze
Serena v Kuznetsova

Jankovic of course lands squarely in Henin's half right on schedule, denied protection due to No 2 Kuznetsova's presence, but will have to face defending champion Petrova first. Luxembourg champ Ivanovic will look to build on her winning streak, and apart from a possibly tricky opener against Schnyder should be through to a quarterfinal clash against either Chakvetadze or recent Slovenia champ Golovin. There are little places to hide in this draw but Serena found one, so will be able to work herself into form against the struggling Bovina and then a qualifier or wildcard before facing Kuznetsova.

If Henin picks up where she left off (and she always does) it's hard to see past her for the title. Serena and Jelena always test her but tend to come up short in the end, so it might a good chance for either to reverse their losing streaks against her. Elsewhere, this is probably a critical event as far as the YEC stakes for Petrova and, to a lesser extent, Serena. Venus meanwhile seems ready to add Tokyo to her Seoul trophy so appears to be taking the back door approach. B) It's just good to see both sisters playing somewhere at the same time, and they are in a strong position to qualify so long as they keep racking up points and stay fit to avoid being overtaken. Hantuchova seems pretty determined to sneak in the way her results have been going of late.

This tournament always have a good number of high caliber players and intersting finals. I can't see Petrova defending her title with the poor recent form. Good luck to Amelie, and hope that she can find her way back soon. Title for Justine? Guess so!

There should be some interesting matches :D

Just wish Amelie and Svetlana make it to the q/fs so i can see them play :pray:

Please Hantuchova go out early here.

I'm not going to Madrid just to see a useless choker like her play.

Where's Hingis? :unsure:
Wonder is she has the desire anymore... :(

i think it is her birthday today tho so :cheers: to Martina :)

Hingis is injured apparently.

Say what you think GS, don't hold back... :P

roflmao

call it a season Martina :shrug:

:blink: That's some draw.

Would like to see Ana put Chakvetadze firmly in her place in the QF - not convinced the Russian ever deserved to be top 5. Wouldn't surprise me too much if she fell first round to Schynder though, after her exploits in Luxembourg.

Elsewhere, very difficult to look past Henin. Getting bored of the Serena rivalry already, but there's not a lot else in the bottom half that could test her at the moment, apart from possibly a non-nervous Ivanovic. Always a possibility that a rejuvenated Mauresmo could spring a surprise in the top half though.

Yeah well normally she doesn't bother me but I'm looking forward to my trip to Madrid and the current top 8 is just so good. I suppose if she replaces Sharapova it wouldn't be that bad. Maria looks most at risk actually since Venus & Serena should both move past her this week.

nice fight back from petrova and 'cheat' toppler aggie radwanska today :clap: aggie came back from a first set bagel to take out an unspirited bartoli 0-6 6-2 6-1 :clap: while petrova was overwhelmed by a German wild card to start before coming through 2-6 6-1 6-1.

:yahoo: :clap:

wow, serena double bagelled LL ondraskova :unsure: she probably doesn't feel like much of a lucky loser now :)

Great match for Serena to start her European indoor season. Really looked the part out there tonight, her serving was flawless and she was so focused. Forehand firing too :ok:

Loving the 70's Afro look too :D

:) I think Venus rocks that look better though.....

I agree, she has the candi-staton look going on when she has that hairdo :D

:yikes: Not that dreadful perm...

Venus looks like she went to the dog grooming parlour when she has that barnet... roflmao

Looks much better in her WTA profile photo, she looks stunning in that one! :ok:

I see Chokovin has beaten Chokevetadze, how thrilling? :rolleyes:

I'm sorry I missed the match... :rolleyes: roflmao

A bit sad Chakvetadze lost... wanted Ana to give her a beatdown in the QF, but a good result for Golovin, who reeled off 10 out of 12 games from 2-5 down in the first set.

Ivanovic impressively bagelled Schynder in the first set... again showing how far she's come since last year, when she held a 0-4 record against the Swiss. :wub:

Edit: She in fact only lost 2 points on serve in that set, and they were both after she had reached 5-0, 40-0. :yikes: And she's now a break up in the second, although Schynder has managed to get a game on the board.

I really dislike Golovin as well :rolleyes: Average player who gets far too much hype and attention...........

Anna was just all over the place today, her forehand became increasingly errant as the match went on, just spraying errors all over the place. She just hasnt produced any form at all in luxembourg or here in Stuttgart. I wonder if that Us Open semi affected her a little :shrug:

I just think Anna is really average and she never can beat any of the top players except Jelena :rolleyes:, oh and Venus...
She always loses to The Cheat :angry: for example...

Ivanovic through 6-0, 6-2. :clap: Had to fight off a mini-comeback from Schynder midway through the second set, saving some break points with some big serving, which seemed to demoralise her opponent.

She should make the semi-finals now, where I'd like to see her put in a much better performance against a Williams sister than we've seen so far from her.

:lmaao: :lmaao:

Trisco

I love your Avatar!

Proper Bo ..... ya Bastad!!!!!!!! roflmao roflmao

Oh I miss Bo Selecta ... I wish it was on again.

Wise

Isn't our :wub: doing fabulously (if that's a word)?

Even though Justine is my pure :wub: :wub: Ana is making me proud that I found her a few years ago. My friends tell me I should be a tennis talent scout!!

I'm going to the exhibition match in Germany on 27 October between Steffi Graf and Justine Henin! :bow: :bow: :party: :yahoo:

I'm so looking forward to it! I'm going with the Chairwoman of the Steffi Graf Appreciation Society - I know her and she got me tickets to sit with her and a few others. She said that we will meet the players afterwards!! I just can't wait, I really can't. :wub: I wonder if Justine will remember me from breakfast at the Grand at Eastbourne this year? People say with me, once seen never forgotten :roflmao:

I'll report on that match when I get back.

Meanwhile Allez Justine and Ajde (sp) Ana :wub:

I actually like Anna's game though, great variety and court sense. Lovely technique on her backhand too...........

Although yes i agree, she's a bit of a flake :crazy1:

Yeah I know what you mean dl, she does have a nice game but you honestly never feel she is going to beat anyone good when it counts.

People were saying she would beat The Cheat at the French Open.
I so knew she was going to lose in straight sets AGAIN... :rolleyes:

Does Bo Selecta really have a Maria thing on it? :P

I think I'd like to see that! :D roflmao

I don't know, but I've just ordered series 1 and 2 from Amazon (£4.50). I'll let ya know!

If it does, I'll record it for ya. :hug:

Petrova through.

Ivanovic out to Kateryna Bondarenko!

Who would have expected a Golovin v K Bondarenko QF given the strength of this field.

:huh: Yeap.... wasn't expecting that..... maybe just one of those days....
cause she will still make YEC.....

:( Wise Analyst will be gutted..... but she wasn't really disgraced..or anything so ..should still turn out okay..!

A bit of a shock seeing Ana go out, considering how superlative her form was against Patty in her first round win. I didnt see all the match, only patches of the third, but Ana was up against a real dogged competitor today. What Bondarenko lacks in huge weaponary off the ground and off the serve, she's very solid and does keep great depth, especially off the forehand side. Consistency won the day it seems....... especially as Ana seemed so errant on her return games.

Golovin vs Bondarenko........ I jope the pusedo French-woman bites the dust :rolleyes:

Nah... no real Maria Bo Selecta.. I Photoshopped Bo' Madonna's head onto Marias body and also be Mel B's bra onto her body :P

What a pity?!
It's hilarious! :lol: :D

Elena has so far hit 5 aces to one double fault and has won over 70% of her second serves! :yikes:

and Elena beats Dani to reach the quarters. Her serving was good today! :bow:

I think her ground game was a bit shaky in set 3 as she was a bit tense getting such a scalp.

Her serve is not strong but her forehand and especially backhand were really big shots in the first set. She was playing more aggresive than Ivanovic and hitting harder. Okay Ana was down but she still had pretty heavy artillery.

In the end she pulled out the solid game though as you said and consistency triumphed again.

another retirement for Nadia :cry: you know, i can see her being the next Sue Barker :(

Justine beats Dementieva 64 64 :) Elena fought back from behind in both sets and then got broken at 54* :lol:

Typical Elena! :lol:
Still I'm pleased she has had a good week! :)

Nice to see Elena coming back to some sorta form and challenging Justine.

Who are we picking for Kuzzy and Serena then?

I'll go with Serena in 2 tight sets.