At the Brisbane International, which is now a Premier tournament, Kaia Kanepi won her second and biggest title after beating Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-1 in the final. Her maiden WTA title came two years ago at the International-level event in Palermo.

The first to lead, 2-1, was Hantuchova, but from then on Kanepi won nine straight games and in the second set she lost just one point in the first four games. 

Kanepi's most thrilling match was in the first round against Alexandra Panova, 121st-ranked qualifier, which ended after more than two hours of play, 7-5 3-6 6-2. Three seeded players followed and the scoreline was more straightforward, often much more: 6-0 6-3 against seed No.7 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-1 7-6(7) against seed No.2 Andrea Petkovic, and 6-3 6-0 against seed No.3 Francesca Schiavone in the semis.

The 26-year-old Kanepi is a significant Estonian in many ways: she's the first from her country to reach a WTA final, the first to play a Grand Slam quarterfinal, the first to crack  Top 20, win a WTA title and beat a regining world No.1 when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in Tokyo last year.

The prize of $110,000 reached Kanepi's pocket with the Brisbane title and the Estonian is projected to rise from No.34 to No.26 in the rankings. (photo via Brisbane International)

Playing her first tournament since a four-month abdominal injury lay-off, Kim Clijsters had to give up her Brisbane International semifinal against Daniela Hantuchova because of a left hip injury, thus handing the Slovak her second straight uncompleted victory, as Serena Williams gave her a walkover in their quarterfinal due to an ankle problem.

Clijsters won the tiebreak 7-4 and already in that first set she felt stiffening, which was getting worse. She didn't want to risk and cause a complete spasm and muscle tear, so she stopped while trailing 3-1 in the second set.

Australian Open title defense is just a week and a half away for Clijsters. Tomorrow she will have an MRI to check the seriousness of the injury, but she's not blindly optimistic: "I don't doubt that there will be a problem once I start in Melbourne".

Hantuchova's opponent in the final will be Kaia Kanepi, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-0 in the semifinals.

Additional info: The 2012 season has barely started, and it seems that my New Year's wishes are not coming true – injuries are already piling up. Besides Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters, Sabine Lisicki is having a left abdominal muscle injury, Ksenia Pervak migrane, Polona Hercog low back injury, and not to mention Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova who have delayed their beginning of the season due to illness and injury. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Two surprising fashion switches welcomed us at the very start of 2012. Without prior notice, Jelena Jankovic took the 2012 courts in Fila and not in Anta which had been her clothing sponsor for three years. Samantha Stosur also made an apparel change and substituted her Lacoste tennis clothes with Asics, whose shoes she has been wearing for two years.

No official information on Jankovic's cooperation with Fila has been announced yet, but the world No.14 debuted her possible new clothing sponsor in the first round of the Brisbane International, in the match against Carla Suarez Navarro. The Fila Center Court Dress was on the courts for two more matches, until Jankovic lost to Francesca Schiavone in a quarterfinal marathon, 5-7 7-6(2) 6-3, after wasting two match points in the second set.

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Dear readers,

Women's Tennis Blog is wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy 2012. Let health be with you in the new year, followed by love, friendship, harmony, prosperity and fun. Of course, I am wishing all this to our WTA players as well, so that they can bring us another enjoyable tennis season, with less injuries hopefully.

Thank you for supporting Women's Tennis Blog, which is now unbelievably entering its fifth year of existence (the official birthday is on March 31). By reading us every day you are making this online WTA portal successful and I can't thank you enough for that. I hope to continue receiving your support in 2012.

And talking about support, if you haven't already, do vote for Women's Tennis Blog at the Baseline Awards in the Best Tennis Blog category. There's only one day left! Follow this link, click on Vote Today, and the survey will lead you.

Take care and indulge in celebration!

Cheers,

Marija

(photo: ewphoto)