Main Draw
Main Draw is out, with alot of the top players entered.
Tier II event with 17 of the Top 20 playing, (Venus, Shahar and Tatiana opting to play at Memphis). Top field here, everyone in maindraw are in the top 30, apart from Safarova, Sfar and Qualifiers. Even qualifying draw is a top field :P with Agnieska Radwanksa top seed!

Expected Quaterfinals:
(1) Henin, (7) Bartoli, (Petrova, Bammer)
(3) Ivanovic), (8) Dementieva, (Vaidisova, Schnyder)
(4) Jankovic, (6) Chakvetadze, (Safina)
(2) Kuznetsova, (5) Sharapova, (Szavay, Mauresmo, Li)

Top draw, with *maybe* the top half being easier(?)

scrap that :P just realised a huge mistake there :P not just venus, peer and golovin. Hantuchova, Serena not playing too :P
7 of the top ten, and 15 of the top 20 playing ^^;;

The qualifying event at Dubai is almost a brilliant tournament in itself. In fact the Tier II Dubai event has a better draw than the Tier I Doha event... :unsure:

Final round of qualifying tomorrow.
Agnieska Radwanska wins 2 matches today, to get to the final round in qualifying, playing Zheng Jie tomorrow, want Zheng Jie to get back to where she was last year before her injury.... But il be happy with whoever wins :) Younger Radwanska sister out today

Monday, February 25, 2008

CENTRE COURT start 2:00pm
M Kirilenko (RUS) vs A Bondarenko (UKR)
[WC] S Sfar (TUN) vs D Safina (RUS)
Not Before 7:00pm
P Schnyder (SUI) vs [8] E Dementieva (RUS)
[WC] S Kuznetsova (RUS) / A Mauresmo (FRA) vs S Mirza (IND) vs F Schiavone (ITA)

COURT 1 start 12:30pm
K Srebotnik (SLO) vs A Morigami (JPN) - Final Round Qualifying
E Makarova (RUS) vs A Amanmuradova (UZB) or Y-J Chan (TPE) - Final Round Qualifying

COURT 2 start 12:30pm
A Medina Garrigues (ESP) or I Pavlovic (FRA) vs M Niculescu (ROM) - Final Round Qualifying
A Nakamura (JPN) vs A Klepac (SLO) - Final Round Qualifying

COURT 3 start 12:30pm
V Dushevina (RUS) vs A Sugiyama (JPN) - Final Round Qualifying
A Radwanska (POL) or E Hrdinova (CZE) vs J Zheng (CHN) or E Vesnina (RUS) - Final Round Qualifying
Not Before 3:30pm
A Medina Garrigues (POL) / V Ruano Pascual (ESP) vs [2] K Srebotnik (SLO) / A Sugiyama (JPN)
Z Yan (CHN) / J Zheng (CHN) vs T Garbin (ITA) / G Navratilova (CZE)

For info - Dubai is 4 hours ahead of GMT :ok:

Agnieszka through qualifying in 3 sets against Zheng Jie. Good to see Zheng Jie getting some matches under her belt, and pushing a top 20 player to 3 sets :) Hope she can keep going, and make some main draws soon, and start getting the bigger ranking points, and get herself back into the top 100 and then top 50 :)

First main draw match, Alona Bondarenko d. Kirilenko 36 63 62
Alona hasnt had a very good start to 2008 so far, first round exits at antwerp and paris, and not progressing past 2nd round anywhere else. Cant see her beating Dementieva or Schnyder in the 2nd round...

Yeah but Alona did win the Oz Open doubles with her sister so she isn't exactly having a bad year. :shrug:

Zheng was never going to beat the in form Radwanska... :ok:

Well, a bad singles year anyway ;)

Some of the matchups for the first round are incredible :o

agreed, a bad singles year :P

yeah single matchups are amazing.
Dementieva beats Schnyder 75 60 bagel :o

----------

Order Of Play

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008

CENTRE COURT start 2:00pm
[6] A Chakvetadze (RUS) vs [Q] A Radwanska (POL)
[WC] S Mirza (IND) vs [Q] V Dushevina (RUS)
Not Before 7:00pm
[5] M Sharapova (RUS) vs A Szavay (HUN)
A Mauresmo (FRA) vs [Q] A Medina Garrigues (ESP)

COURT 1 start 2:00pm
S Bammer (AUT) vs [Q] E Makarova (RUS)
F Schiavone (ITA) vs [7] M Bartoli (FRA)
V Uhlirova (ITA) / G Voskoboeva (RUS) vs [WC] S Foretz (FRA) / S Sfar (TUN)
[1] C Black (ZIM) / L Huber (USA) vs S Peng (CHN) / T Sun (CHN)

COURT 3 start 2:00pm
L Safarova (CZE) vs Na Li (CHN)
N Petrova (RUS) vs [Q] K Srebotnik (SLO)
[Q] A Nakamura (JPN) vs N Vaidisova (CZE)

Chakvetadze against Radwanska, Sharapova and Szavay!
Good luck Li :)

Oh no! Patty S. lost???!!!! :( (Don't want to jinx her but she may be the next to consider quitting)

nah, i dont think so, Patty is doing alright SF at Gold Coast this year, started the year bottom of top 20's, now no.12, and hasnt got much to defend until Berlin (110 points) she will be fine me thinks :)
and she was playing Dementieva aswell :P hard draw

todays results in full

Monday, February 25, 2008

Singles - First Round
(8) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 75 60
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 36 63 62
Dinara Safina (RUS) d. (WC) Selima Sfar (TUN) 61 63

Doubles - First Round
(2) Srebotnik/Sugiyama (SLO/JPN) d. Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual (ESP/ESP) 62 46 106
Yan/Zheng (CHN/CHN) d. Garbin/Navratilova (ITA/CZE) 62 46 104
Mirza/Schiavone (IND/ITA) d. (WC) Kuznetsova/Mauresmo (RUS/FRA) 64 64

Singles Qualifying - Final Round
(1) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 63 36 62
(2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) d. (9) Akiko Morigami (JPN) 76(1) 60
(3) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Monica Niculescu (ROU) 62 64
(6) Vera Dushevina (RUS) d. (7) Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 63 63
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 62 67(5) 62
Aiko Nakamura (JPN) d. Andreja Klepac (SLO) 64 57 76(5)

Elena and Patty have a great rivalry, Elena edges 8-7 in their head to head.
Great match from Elena today only losing her serve once and that bagel is great to see... :D :yahoo:

Schynder played really atriociously in the 2nd set today. I only arrived home after the end of the first set but some of her forehands went miles out of the tramlines.

Patty had a rather slow start to 2007 as well so hopefully she'll improve later. I believe she's playing in Bangalore so hopefully she'll make the QF at least.

I have to say, I didn't realise she was as high as 12!

Just read on Eurosport that Sharapova has pulled out of Dubai citing a viral illnes:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/26022008/58/...pova-dubai.html

yeah sharapova withdrew, replaced by Morigami, Morigami stuns Szavay 61 64 :o good win for her

Li Na withdrew due to right knee injury, hope isn't too bad, she withdrew from Sydney this year with the same problem. Replaced by Sugiyama, but was beaten by Safarova. :( Li not playing till IW and Miami now, and has a SF and QF appearance to defend. She has 335 points to defend :( but after them tournaments, not alot, so she can only go up *hopefully*
Also happy birthday Na ! hope u can recover soon :)

Chakvetadze beat Radwanska in 3sets, 62 26 64
Petrova's bad start to the season continues, knocked out by Srebotnik in straight sets, and Bammer through.

Thanks for the updates folks.

good win for Safarova :ok:

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Singles - First Round
(6) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) d. (Q) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 62 26 64
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (7) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 61 67(5) 61
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) d. (Q) Aiko Nakamura (JPN) 63 60
Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. (Q) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 76(6) 63
Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) d. (Q) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 76(7) 62
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. (LL) Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 16 63 62
(Q) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) d. Nadia Petrova (RUS) 64 64
(LL) Akiko Morigami (JPN) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 61 64
(WC) Sania Mirza (IND) d. (Q) Vera Dushevina (RUS) 76(5) 62


ORDER OF PLAY

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Centre Court (from 14.00hrs)
1. Safarova vs. Kuznetsova
2. Mirza vs. Jankovic
3. Henin vs. Srebotnik (NB 19.00hrs)
4. Ivanovic vs. Vaidisova

Court 1 (from 14.00hrs)
1. Chan/Chuang vs. Poutchek/Rodionova
2. Morigami vs. Mauresmo (NB 15.00hrs)
3. Kirilenko/Szavay vs. Peschke/Stubbs
4. Husarova/A.Radwanska vs. Dushevina/Likhovtseva

Court 3 (from 14.00hrs)
1. Chakvetadze vs. Safina
2. Bammer vs. Schiavone
3. A.Bondarenko vs. Dementieva
4. Black/Huber vs. Mirza/Schiavone

Singles - Second Round
(2) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 61 62
(4) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (WC) Sania Mirza (IND) 46 63 64
(6) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) d. Dinara Safina (RUS) 67(3) 64 63
(8) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 62 61
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 63 62
Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) d. (LL) Akiko Morigami (JPN) 46 61 64
(1) Justine Henin (BEL) d (Q) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 75 67 63

Doubles - First Round
(3) Peschke/Stubbs (CZE/AUS) d. Kirilenko/Szavay (RUS/HUN) 62 63
(4) Chan/Chuang (TPE/TPE) d. Poutchek/Rodionova (BLR/RUS) 63

No big surprises but nice wins for Amelie and my favs Elena and Jelena! :)

Ivanovic currently playing, but current QF lineup

Henin vs. Schiavone
Ivanovic/Vaidisova vs. Dementieva
Chakvetadze vs. Jankovic
Mauresmo vs, Kuznetsova

im glad Mauresmo won today :)

Oh man!! these are some great match-ups!!!! The fans & tv viewers who get to see them are in for a real treat! :popcorn: Would like to see Amelie/Svetlana and Justine/Francesca give us some tight 3-setters. Go Jelena

yeah really good draw here at dubai, better than the Tier I event at doha last week :P apparently Eurosport has good coverage, but im at uni, and dont have a TV let alone Sky :P

Ivanovic beats Vaidisova 64 60 ! 2nd set bagel :o ouch, Vaidisova had a break point in the final game, but couldnt convert. Well done Ivanovic!

QF Singles Lineup:
Henin vs. Schiavone
Ivanovic vs. Dementieva
Chakvetadze vs. Jankovic
Mauresmo vs. Kuznetsova

An Elena vs Jelena final would be good for me

and me? :pray:

can't see it happening though... :unsure:

i'll go for henin/elena & chaky/momo semis.

geez Vaidisova, you're falling off the map here :rolleyes:

i personally want an all Serbian final :P If anyone can tople Henin, it will be Ivanovic this time round :) and i can see Janko take out Chokevetadze, and even Kuzzy in the Semis.

anyway, Order of Play for tomorrow.
Thursday, February 28, 2008

Centre Court (from 14.00hrs)
1. Mauresmo vs. Kuznetsova
2. Chakvetadze vs. Jankovic
3. Henin vs. Schiavone (NB 19.00hrs)
4. Ivanovic vs. Dementieva

Court 3 (from 15.00hrs)
1. Chan/Chuang vs. Uhlirova/Voskoboeva
2. Yan/Zheng vs. Peschke/Stubbs
3. Petrova/Vesnina vs. Srebotnik/Sugiyama

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Singles - Quarterfinals
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (1) Justine Henin (BEL) 76(3) 76(4)
(2) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) 61 76(4)
(8) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (3) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 57 63 63
(4) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (6) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 61 ret. (left thigh injury)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(2) Srebotnik/Sugiyama (SLO/JPN) d. (A) Petrova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) 63 63
Yan/Zheng (CHN/CHN) d. (3) Peschke/Stubbs (CZE/AUS) 46 62 107
(4) Chan/Chuang (TPE/TPE) d. Uhlirova/Voskoboeva (CZE/RUS) 63 64

Henin out, in straight sets :o!!!
Mauresmo and Ivanovic out aswell :(

Dememtieva and Jankovic final PLEASE! :P Was Jelena's birthday today, glad she won :)

ORDER OF PLAY

Friday, February 29, 2008

Centre Court (from 14.00hrs)
1. Jankovic vs. Kuznetsova
2. Yan/Zheng vs. Srebotnik/Sugiyama
3. Schiavone vs. Dementieva (NB 19.00hrs)
4. Black/Huber vs. Chan/Chuang

Note: edited to include Friday's Order of Play

:admin:

What a win for Schiavone. In the previous 7 meeting all she could take is a set off Justine, and now won the match without even losing a set.

Amelie's results was kind of expected. Atleast she made the QFs. (May be thanks to Maria)

Yeah, Elena Vs Jelena sound interesting. Don't want Schiavone VS Kuznetsova finals..

well looks like this will be an all Russian final, Sveta through already and Elena is 4-1 up with a double break in final set against Chokavone... :)

yep and we have an all Russian final for the second week in a row.

Elena beats Schiavone 5-7 7-5 6-2

Sveta v Elena :yahoo:

I dont get the Chokavone tag after beating the world's number one :lol:

The quality of tennis this week has been phenomonal. The final could be just as good.

Go Elena ;)

Sorry Francesca lost. This ought to be a good final.

I'm really pleased for Elena because she's on of my faves but Schiavone has surpassed everyone's expectations with a fab tourney.

Wish I had seen more of it because there have been so many thrilling 3-set matches. I was hoping Jelena would make the final because I don't think I've seen her play on TV since the Oz Open.

Go Elena :D :yahoo:

sory she has been great this week but unfortunaely our Francis has choked away plenty of matches in her time... :yikes:
but yeah good result for her to beat Justine :clap:

glad elena made the final, too bad for jelena though :(
hope elena can topple kuzzy! i want her back in the top 10!

I think Elena is back in the top 10, win or lose today... :)

and Elena wraps up the win with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win, can't believe it really but delighted for her... :D :yahoo:

fantastic result given the strong field :yahoo: :yahoo:

Such a good title win for Elena, just so unflappable in tight 3 setters. Nothing but praise, especially givien her last 3 torturous matches :bow:

Elena creaps back into the elite again :D

She'll be so dangerous come IW/Miami........