It was Anastasia Pavyuchenkova’s fourth appearance at the Kremlin Cup in five years and her fourth defeat in the first round. The highest-ranked teenager and world No.21 lost to Nicole Vaidisova in 2006, in 2007 to fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, in 2009 to Tsvetana Pironkova and this year to Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5) 2-6 6-0.

"I have nobody to blame for the defeat except myself," said the fourth-seeded Pavlyuchenkova, who won just seven points against Cibulkova in the deciding set at her home tournament.

"I played well in the first set and won the second but lost concentration completely in the third. The defeat is my fault only."

Pavyuchenkova and Cibulkova are now tied in head-to-head record at one all. Pavlyuchenkova defeated Cibulkova in the first round of Tokyo last month, 7-5 7-5. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

The Generali Ladies Linz was the last tournament Ana Ivanovic won and two years later the Serb ended her title drought by winning the same event and in a pretty impressive fashion – without dropping a set and by winning the final against 47th-ranked Patty Schynder in just 47 minutes.

Both players had a 100% conversion of break points, but Ivanovic had six such chances compared to Schnyder’s two. After just 18 minutes of play Ivaanovic served for the first set at 5-1 and before you knew it she won the whole match 6-1 6-2.

The 2010 Generali Ladies Linz is Ivanovic’s ninth career title. The world No.29 has earned $37,000 and 280 ranking points with her successful showing at the Austrian tournament. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Tamarine Tanasugarn claimed her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title in a historic HP final in Osaka against Kimiko Date Krumm. The final was special because it was the oldest known women’s final in history where the combined age of players was 73, and also because 40-year-old Date Krumm, who upset top seed Samantha Stosur in the quarters and became the first 40-something player to defeat a Top 10 player, was bidding to become the oldest player to win a WTA singles title and nowhere other than in her home country of Japan.

However, the huge Japanese celebration was not meant to be and 33-year-old Tanasugarn beat sixth-seeded Date Krumm 7-5 6-7(4) 6-1. The Thai No.1 was leading 7-5 3-1 when Japanese No.1 fought back to take the match to the third set before having her serve broken twice in the decider and losing the match after three hours and seven minutes.

The 94th-ranked Tanasugarn, who surprisingly reached the final with an upset of second seed Marion Bartoli in the semis, earned $37,000 with the HP Open title. Her previous three titles include two titles at 's-Hertogenbosch and one at Hyderabad. (photo: solitaire_6812)

Ana Ivanovic’s last title came at the Generali Ladies Linz two years ago and this year she advanced to the final of the same tournament where she will face Patty Schnyder.

Ivanovic was a late entrant into the draw, but her trip to Linz really paid off as she will be playing her first final in 19 months, which she reached without dropping a set. In the semifinals the seventh-seeded Ivanovic defeated Roberta Vinci 6-3 7-5.

Schnyder, twice runner-up at Linz, had a tougher semifinal, and despite winning the first five games of the match she ended up saving two match points against sixth seed Andrea Petkovic in the third set. The Swiss came out as a winner after two hours and 15 minutes with the 6-2 4-6 7-5 score.

Ivanovic and Schyder have a tied 4-4 head-to-head record, but it was Ivanovic who won their last four meetings (between 2006 and 2008). (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

With a combined age of 73 years, Kimiko Date Krumm and Tamarine Tanasugarn will play the oldest known final in the history of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, as both players upset their higher-ranked opponents in the semifinals of the HP Open.

Thailand’s world No.94 Tanasugarn upset second seed and 16th-ranked Marion Bartoli 6-2 7-5 and reached her second final of the year, having been runner-up at Pattaya City to Vera Zvonareva in February.

Forty-year-old Date Krumm followed up her upset of French Open finalist and defending champion Samantha Stosur with another upset, this time over third seed Shahar Peer and the score was 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5. The world No.13 Peer served for the match at 6-3 5-4 but Date Krumm continued to make history and after becoming the first 40-something player to win a match against a Top 10 player (it was against Stosur in the quarterfinals), Date Krumm reached the oldest final and could as well become the first player older than 40 to win a title.

The 56th-ranked Date Krumm is favorite to win the HP Open title, although she and Tanasugarn are tied in their head-to-head at 1-1. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: sydney-yokochin)

Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm upset world No.8 Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals of the HP Open in Osaka and became the first 40-something women’s tennis player to defeat a Top 10 player. With this victory in her home country Date Krumm broke her own record set at the French Open earlier this year when she became the oldest woman ever to beat a Top 10 player with a win over Dinara Safina in the first round. Date Krumm was then 39 years, seven months and 26 days old.

Stosur was No.1 seed at the 2010 HP Open and was defending her title there, but despite winning the first set and saving a match point at 5-4 down in the third set, she lost the match in a tiebreaker. Final score: 5-7 6-3 7-6(4).

The world No.56 Date Krumm, seeded sixth, will next play third seed Shahar Peer who defeated Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-0 in the quarterfinals. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: sydney-yokochin)

Ana Ivanovic followed up her 6-2 6-0 victory over Sorana Cirstea in the first round with a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova at the Generali Ladies Linz. The match will be remembered for an unusual incidenent that happened over a bathroom break – Ivanovic asked to go to the toilet and the umpire gave her the permission to do so, but when she came back to the court she found out she had lost a game because of the time spent away (one point for each 20-second absence, which was summed up to four points, which is one game). It was the second game of the match, Zahlavova Strycova’s service game. Ivanovic was angry at the umpire but it turned out that the umpire’s decision was legitimate as a player should use such a break only before their own serve and not their opponent’s serve.

In the other part of the world, at the tournament in Osaka, Japanese No.1 Kimiko Date Krumm advanced to the quarterfinals with a decisive 6-2 6-0 victory over good friend Aiko Nakamura. Date Krumm won all the games from 3-2 in the first set. The sixth-seeded Japanese will next play top seed Samantha Stosur, who is defending her title. It will be their first career meeting and Date Krumm’s seventh match against a Top 10 player – she won just one of the previous six but four of her five losses were three-setters. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

World No.8 Samantha Stosur won her first WTA singles title last year at the HP Open in Osaka and this year she won her first two matches with the score 6-0 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the $220,000 tournament.

The top-seeded Stosur defeated wildcard Sachie Ishizu in the first round and on Wednesday she beat another Japanese, Junri Namigata, firing three straight aces at one point in the match.

Stosur, who also won an ITF title in Osaka in 2001, is now 7-0 at the HP Open and will next face her third Japanese opponent in a row, either sixth seed Kimiko Daet Krumm or wildcard Aiko Nakamura. (photo: chascow)

Justine Henin has recovered from the right elbow injury sustained at Wimbledon in June and besides warming up for the 2011 season on tennis courts, she's dancing and singing on TV. The video clip above shows Henin's performance on a Belgian show Cap 48, which aired on Sunday.

As for scheduled tennis appearances, Henin's plans for 2011 have not been defined yet, but she will play an exhibition match against Kim Clijsters at the Diamond Games in Antwerp on December 9, 2010, and is also expected to play the Hopman Cup in Australia in January. (via Justine Henin's official website)

Never before had Caroline Wozniacki won a match at either the Tokyo or Beijing tournament, but this year the Dane won both in back-to-back weeks, earning the No.1 ranking on the way.

The final of the China Open in Beijing was postponed to Monday due to rain and top-seeded Wozniacki continued to consolidate her new top ranking by defeating the new No.3 and US Open and Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva 6-3 3-6 6-3. One break in the beginning of the deciding set gave Wozniacki a 2-0 lead and she held her serve and didn’t even give Zvonareva break opportunities until the winner’s trophy was hers. The China Open title earned Wozniacki 1000 points, as well as $775,500, which means she’s earned more than a million in prize money in two weeks.

The 20-year-old Wozniacki doesn’t seem afraid of success: "Everything is working for me at the moment. I've got to believe I can beat anyone. I feel in great shape and now I'm really looking forward to Doha."

Wozniacki has now won six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles in 2010 and is the leader in the number of titles this season. Kim Clijsters follows her with four titles. Wozniacki is also leading other players in the number of matches won this season with 59. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)