Quarterfinals set at the China Open

Now we know all the quarterfinalists of the 4,828,050 China Open. The Marion Bartoli vs. Carla Suarez Navarro quarterfinal was determined yesterday, while after today's third-round matches we know the six remaining members of the final eight: Maria Sharapova vs. Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka vs. Romina Oprandi and Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Li Na.

Second seed Maria Sharapova was the first to advance on Thursday, with an easy 6-0 6-2 victory over Polona Hercog in their first meeting. In other news, on the side of her tennis career, Sharapova is working on spreading her Sugarpova candy products outside the US. Her next destination will be Australia, and what better timing for the launch than ahead of the Australian Open.

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Wozniacki wins Seoul for first title in a year

Caroline Wozniacki has ended a more than a year long title drought by taking the Korea Open, which has upgraded from a $220,000 event to $500,000. In the 62-minute final, the top seed lost just one game, while her third-seeded opponent, Kaia Kanepi, held serve just once. Score: 6-1 6-0.

Before the title match, Wozniacki defeated Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2 in the first round, Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3 in the second, seventh seed Klara Zakopalova 6-1 7-6(6) in the quarterfinals and eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 5-7 6-4 in the semis.

The Seoul title is Wozniacki's 19th, and she's actually lagging behind only multiple Grand Slam champions Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova in the number of WTA titles among active players.

As for Kanepi, her quick loss in the final should not put a shadow over her amazing week. The Korea Open was her first tournament since Roland Garros quarterfinals (in the third round she upset Wozniacki!) and the Achilles injury problems. (source: WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Wozniacki progresses to Seoul semis + underwear photoshoot video

Caroline Wozniacki is showing improved form this week as top seed in Seoul, reaching the semifinals with three straight-set wins, the last one, 6-2 6-3, coming in the quarters against seventh seed Klara Zakopalova, who stopped her five-match losing streak by beating Garbine Muguruza in the first round and then built on it by taking out Magdalena Rybarikova.

This is Wozniacki's first time in three appearances at the Korea Open that she's past the first round. Truth be told, those two appearances were five and six years ago, when the Dane was nowhere near her current top status. Read more »

Caroline Wozniacki safely through to Seoul quarters

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki breezed past qualifier Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the KDB Korea Open in Seoul. Her previous victory at the tournament was also confident, 6-1 6-2 against Arantxa Rus, which is a nice recovery for the Dane after her first-round loss at the US Open. Next for Wozniacki is seventh seed Klara Zakopalova, who beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 7-6(6).

Maria Kirilenko, the 2008 Seoul champion and second seed this year, retired yesterday at 1-all in the first set against Korean wildcard Lee So-Ra due to a left back injury. Fourth seed Nadia Petrova also fell victim to a back injury, withdrawing today before her second-round encounter with the newlywed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. The Spaniard is defending her Seoul title this week, but last time she entered the tournament ranked 36th, while now she’s No.93 – at the end of 2011 she had a knee surgery and this season she joined the circuit in May due to right thigh injuries. (via WTA Tour, photo: sr_cranks)

Top seed Bartoli retires in Guangzhou, Kanepi and Wozniacki cruise in Seoul

Marion Bartoli, top seed at the GRC Bank Guangzhou International Women's Open and quarterfinalist at the recent US Open, retired in the first round while trailing Taiwan’s Chang Kai-Chen 4-3. The reason for the withdrawal from the $220,000 Chinese event was gastrointestinal illness.

At the other tournament going on this week, the $500,000 KDB Korea Open, No.1 seed Caroline Wozniacki cruised past Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2. The Dane, who is playing her first tournament as a non-Top 10 player in three and a half years, has been practicing hard and is trying to focus on one match at a time.

Third seed Kaia Kanepi is also through, with a 6-1 6-0 victory over Han Sung-Hee. Kanepi is playing her first event since the French Open, having recovered from a bilateral Achilles injury. The only seed that lost in Seoul was No.5 Julia Goerges, who fell to Silvia Soler-Espinosa 1-6 7-6(5) 6-2. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

US Open women's fashion celebrates Kim Clijsters and the color of yellow, semifinalists all in Nike

Grand Slam are always the most exciting venues for tennis glamour and the US Open is the unofficial fashion queen of all the four majors, so let's see what the best brands put on their brightest WTA stars.

Let's start this fashion overview with maybe not the biggest fashion star, but definitely the player who marked this US Open – Kim Clijsters, whose inspiring career has come to a close at her favorite tournament where she had lifted the trophy three times. To honor the Belgian's last event, her clothing sponsor Fila produced a special collection with a symbolic star pattern.

Ana Ivanovic (who reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since her title win at Roland Garros 2008), Angelique Kerber (last year's semifinalist) and Laura Robson (besides Clijsters, the biggest story of the tournament) were all sporting Adidas Adizero. The bright yellow Adidas outfits may have ruled the US Open courts, and the three players mentioned here all played the fourth round, but the next brand we'll cover is clothing all the four semifinalists!

Of course, it's Nike! Champion Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova traditionally have both day and night dresses. Serena wore navy and pink with lime details, while Sharapova went for more subtle tones – liquid pink and solid dark without many loud contrasts.

PREVIOUS US OPEN FASHION OVERVIEWS

2011 - A look at the beautiful colors at Flushing Meadows
2010 - Fashion hits and misses of tennis in New York

Victoria Azarenka and Sara Errani prefer separates. The world No.1 is popping in a yellow and black combination, while the Italian, sharing the look with Julia Goerges, wore a pleated navy skirt with pink and yellow stripes and a tank. Read more »

Wozniacki loses in the first round of second straight Grand Slam

At the US Open, where she played the final in 2009 and semifinals in 2010 and 2011, Caroline Wozniacki quietly went out in the first round to 96th-ranked Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-2 6-2. At the previous Grand Slam, Wimbledon 2012, Wozniacki also lost in the first round, which was her first first-round loss since the 2007 French Open.

Even though Wozniacki did not blame the defeat on her right knee injury that forced her to give up on chasing five straight titles at the New Haven Open, it can’t be denied that the Dane is not fully fit. Hopefully, the injury is just a temporary issue, as Wozniacki believes, and will heal quickly.

Begu got her first US Open win and her first victory over a Top 10 player in six tries. However, Wozniacki might not be in the Top 10 for long – if Marion Bartoli beats Romina Oprandi in the second round, the Dane is out of the elite group. (photo: sr_cranks)

Wozniacki retires in New Haven semifinal, Vinci wins Texas Open title

When doctors assured her that her right knee injury wouldn't be aggravated by further play, Caroline Wozniacki decided to enter her semifinal against Maria Kirilenko and try to crawl to her fifth-straight New Haven title. However, the 20-0 winning streak was over after the first set, when the Dane, trailing 5-7, realized she had to retire due to the injury she picked up in the second set of her quarterfinal against Dominika Cibulkova.

Wozniacki, confident of her health for the upcoming US Open, tweeted:

Some treatment and ice and I should be all good for the Open next week!

Despite the unlucky circumstances, the New Haven Open will always remain a special tournament for Wozniacki. Plus, last year in New Haven she kissed her boyfriend Rory McIlory in front of the world for the first time.

In the title match, Kirilenko will face Petra Kvitova and will try to repeat the recent Olympic performance, where she beat the Czech 7-6(3) 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Elsewhere, at the Texas Tennis Open, Roberta Vinci defeated Jelena Jankovic 7-5 6-3 in the final and earned her seventh career title. Serving at 5-4 30-15 in the first set, there was a close call which didn't go Jankovic's way and, as things often end up with JJ, she lost her nerve and eventually the entire match. En route to the $220,000 title, before Jankovic the third-seeded Vinci double bageled Bojana Jovanovski in the semis, while against Chanelle Scheepers, Polona Hercog and Hsieh Su-Wei she also didn't drop a set. (photos: sr_cranks, © Neal Trousdale)


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