Svetlana Kuznetsova choked for the first time in her life and blew four match points in the second set tiebreak (two of those with double faults), but still the Russian managed to defeat fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska and win the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego. Final score: 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3.

"My knees were shaking and I couldn't push on my serve and now I know why people double fault on match points," said the unseeded Kuznetsova who wasted leads of 4-0 and 6-3 in the tiebreak.

"She's a great player, a top player," said the world No.10 Radwanska. "Now, she's lost some points and she's behind me [in the rankings]. But in the important moments, she was better."

Both Kuznetsova and Radwanska were playing their first final since Beijing in October, when Kuznetsova beat Radwanska 6-2 6-4. By winning her first title in 10 months, Kuznetsova is projected to rise from No.21 to No.14 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings.

The victory at the Mercury Insurance Open came at the perfect time for Kuznetsova, just ahead of the US Open, the Grand Slam she won in 2004. (source: Reuters, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No.10 Agnieszka Radwanska took some time off from tennis at the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego and practiced golf hits. She easily managed to hit the target – that is if it was photographer’s head.

Radwanska, seeded fourth at the tournament, defeated former world No.1 Dinara Safina in the second round and will play Shahar Peer in the quarterfinals.

Dinara Safina ended her six match losing streak in the first round of the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego but lost in the following round already, in straight sets to fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 6-3. This is Radwanska’s first victory over former world No.1 Safina and their head-to-head record is 2-1 now.

Radwanska’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be Shahar Peer who advanced with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova. (photo by John Bolan)

The last match of today’s play at the $700,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart was an upset of defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The third-seeded Russian lost to China's Li Na 6-3 7-5 in the second round.

The only other second-round match that took place on Wednesday happened to be an upset as well, with unseeded Shahar Peer of Israel defeating fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2. Peer had a match point in the second set, but wrapped up victory in the third to upset the Pole who had added to the slump of Ana Ivanovic in the first round.

No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic, No.6 seed Victoria Azarenka, No.7 seed Samantha Stosur, No.8 seed Yanina Wickmayer and unseeded wildcard Justine Henin were all victorious in their first-round matches.

Kuznetsova’s opponent in the last year’s Stuttgart final, Dinara Safina, is in action on Thursday and will play her first match since the Australian Open. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

World No.8 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland extended the slump of Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic by defeating the former world No.1 7-6(4) 6-4 in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Ivanovic’s last match prior to the tournament in Stuttgart had been another loss to Radwanska, in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Despite facing disappointment after disappointment the world No.57 Ivanovic is staying positive, or at least she is trying to project such an image:

It was a tough loss but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I have to be positive. I’m trying to make every shot perfect and it’s just not coming every time. I just need to relax more. A few mistakes here and there are costing me matches. I just have to be patient.

The 22-year-old Ivanovic, champion at the clay-court Grand Slam of Roland Garros in 2008, was playing her first match on clay in 11 months at this year's Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The fifth-seeded Radwanska will play Shahar Peer of Israel in the second round. (photo: sr_cranks)