Top seed Caroline Wozniacki had a very short quarterfinal as sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska retired with left foot injury after 29 minutes at 5-0 down. Wozniacki was trailing by the same score against Aleksandra Wozniak last year in the second round of Tokyo and had to retire with a viral infection.

The 20-year-old Wozniacki could rise from No.2 to No.1 in the rankings for the first time if she wins the Toray Pan Pacific Open and reaches the quarterfinals of the next week’s China Open in Beijing.

The Dane's opponent in the semifinals will be No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka, who ended the successful run of qualifier Coco Vandeweghe 6-2 6-1.

The other semifinal pair includes fifth seed Francesca Schiavone and seventh seed Elena Dementieva. The Italian defeated Kaia Kanepi 7-5 4-6 7-5 in the quarters, the Russian beat compatriot and No.2 seed Vera Zvonareva 7-5 6-2. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-2 in one hour and ten minutes in the third round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the victory ensured the Dane to become the first player to qualify for the singles competition at the 2010 season-ending Doha championships.

Wozniacki’s continued good results during the season enabled her to become the first of only eight singles players to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships. Those good results include four Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles (Ponte Vedra Beach, Copenhagen, Montreal, New Haven), winning the US Open Series and reaching career high ranking of No.2 in March. Wozniacki qualified for Doha last year as well, but retired against Serena Williams in the semifinals.

Let’s get back to Tokyo now. Wozniacki’s quarterfinal opponent there will be No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3 in the third round. Coco Vandeweghe, that we yesteryday dedicated one extensive article to, keeps on winning and her last victim was Julia Goerges, 6-3 6-0. Bad news for tournament host Japan, as their star Kimiko Date Krumm eventually fell to Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-3. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Kim Clijsters underwent a surgery to remove a mole from her right foot and the wound got infected so the US Open champion will have to skip next month’s Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing. In case you’re eager to see Kim’s infected foot, enjoy the sight from Kim’s very own Twitter photo of her foot.

Serena Williams, with her own foot problem, will also not play the $4.5 million China Open which starts on October 2. (via BBC, photo: sr_cranks)

Tennis fan John Bolan from the United States wanted to share with you his thoughts about Coco Vandeweghe, who could be the next big thing his country has been awaiting so much. The 18-year old Vandeweghe keeps advancing at the current $2,000,000 Tokyo tournament, having defeated Klara Zakopalova in the first round and seed No.14 Aravane Rezai today in the second round.

For years, America has been wondering which young player would rise up to replace the aging Williams sisters on the WTA Tour. Coco Vandeweghe may be the answer. The first hint came in San Diego this year where she reached the quarterfinals defeating Vera Zvonareva along the way before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the tournament winner. She had a new coach, Tom Gullickson, and was supported by many fans since her home is not far from the tournament site at La Costa. San Diego was where she first played in a WTA tournament after being granted a wildcard at age 14 in 2006. At age 16 in 2008 she played Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the US Open on Arthur Ashe Court. Although she lost, it was an amazing experience for her to play there against such a great player. She went on that year to win the US Open Girl's Championship. Read more »

After defeating seed No.12 Maria Sharapova in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, home favorite Kimiko Date Krumm, who turned 40 in the meantime, won her second round match when Daniela Hantuchova retired in the third set.

Date Krumm lost the first set against Hantuchova 6-2, but since then her fellow former Top 5 player lost ten straight games and retired with a right shoulder injury. The Japanese has become the first 40-year-old woman since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon 2004 to win a main draw match of a WTA tournament.

Date Krumm’s next test will be French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 7-5 6-3 in the second round.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki progressed with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Greta Arn, as well as second seed Vera Zvonareva who defeated Sara Errani 6-3 6-3. No.4 seed Samantha Stosur and No.10 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost – the Australian to Julia Goerges 7-5 6-3, the Russian to Andrea Petkovic 6-3 7-5. Ana Ivanovic’s Tokyo happiness was short-lived and she fell to seed No.11 Marion Bartoli. (photo: sydney-yokochin)

Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova came to the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo fresh off her second career title in Seoul and lost in the very first round to none other than Ana Ivanovic who had a disappointing showing in Seoul the week before, losing in the first round.

The world No.38 Ivanovic had a pretty easy victory over Kleybanova, 6-3 6-2, and as I read she played very well "great serving, fantastic movement, and phenomenal hitting on her forehand side."

Unlike last week in Seoul where Ivanovic lost in the first round and Dinara Safina won, this time we had reverse situation and Safina fell to Julia Goerges 6-1 5-7 6-2. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Just a day shy of her 40th birthday Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan sent Maria Sharapova packing in the first round match featuring former champions at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

The 1995 Tokyo winner Date Krumm, a wild card this year, edged the first set 7-5, then lost three straight games in the second set and never recovered to lose it, while in the decider the home favorite managed to come back and even though twice Tokyo champion Sharapova had a 3-2, 40-0 lead, the momentum shifted to the veteran’s advantage who won 17 of 21 points since that moment. Final score: 7-5 3-6 6-3.

With this victory Date Krumm has scored five Top 20 wins in 2010, over Virginie Razzano, Nadia Petrova, Dinara Safina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and now world No.15 Sharapova, who was seeded 12th and defending her title at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

In the second round, the world No.67 Date Krumm will play Daniela Hantuchova, who advanced with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Russian world No.28 Alisa Kleybanova won her second career title in her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final with a 6-1 6-3 victory over 39th-ranked Czech Klara Zakopalova at the Hansol Korea Open. Kleybanova's first title came at the inaugural Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur this year.

After winning the longest tiebreak of the year (15-13) against Ksenia Pervak in the second round, the fifth-seeded Kleybanova didn’t lose more than three games per set on her way to the Seoul title.

Zakopalova, who advanced to the title match as top seed Nadia Petrova retired because of stomachache in the first set of their semifinal, has now lost seven of her eleven career finals. (photo via Hansol Korea Open)

A hard fought 6-4 6-4 victory over Elena Vesnina in the all-Russian final of the Tashkent Open gave world No.82 Alla Kudryavtseva her first WTA singles title.

The seventh-seeded Kudryatseva had never before last week been past the quarterfinals of a WTA event, but after losing the final of Guangzhou to Jarmila Groth, the Russian bettered the result next week already and defeated fourth-seeded Vesnina, who has now fallen to 0-4 in career finals. Kudryatseva won the first set with her first ace of the match on set point. She had four aces in the second set where she was able to break Vesnina with the score tied at 3-3.

Kudryatseva, who upset No.2 seed and Uzbek favorite Akgul Amanmuradova in the quarterfinals of the Tashkent Open, won $37,000 and 280 ranking points with the title which could move her up another 20 spots in the rankings. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters has been honored with a fountain in the city she grew up in, Opitter, Belgium. The three-time US Open champion was there to unveil the fountain which consists of three statutes of her, in three different poses. If you visit Opitter, you can see the fountain, designed by local artist Stefan Bongaerts, in Itter Square.

Of course, present for the inauguration were also Clijsters’ husband Brian Lynch and adorable daughter Jada, who was playing with the other kids there. You can see them here, in another video from the ceremony. (via Women Who Serve)