Former world No.5 Anna Chakvetadze had lost her opening matches on her three previous appearance at the Kremlin Cup, but this time the Muscovite thrilled the home fans with a 6-4 6-2 upset of third seed Li Na in the first round. Despite the low percentage of points won on first serve in the first set, Chakvetadze had a good conversion of break points (3 out of 4). Chakvetadze's serve improved in the second set, not allowing Li a single break opportunity, and she powered into the round two.

The 68th-ranked Chakvetadze won the Kremlin Cup in 2006, when she played fellow Russian Nadia Petrova in the final.

There was another notable upset in the early stage of the $1,000,000 Kremlin Cup and was also executed by an unseeded local favorite. Elena Vesnina defeated fifth seed Flavia Pennetta 6-4 2-6 6-2. The 55th-ranked Vesnina got the first break of the match in the sixth game, and although Pennetta broke back immediately it was the lower-ranked Vesnina who won the opening set. Pennetta was better in the following set, but in the decider Vesnina established a 4-1 lead and didn’t look back to seal victory.

Vesnina has been playing the Kremlin Cup every year since 2003 and lost in the first round four times, including the previous two years. (photo: chascow)

Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and Argentina’s Gisela Dulko earned their first appearance in the season-ending WTA Championships by virtue of their great doubles results this season which include five doubles titles (Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, Bastad. Montreal), quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slams, and a 40-8 win-loss record as a team.

They are the first doubles team to have qualified for the prestigious and generous ($4.45 million) tournament which will take place in Doha from October 26 to 31. Check out the ranking of the other doubles teams in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships. (photo: sr_cranks)

Flavia Pennetta eliminated second seed Samantha Stosur from the Mercury Insurance Open and reached the semifinals with a 6-4 6-3 victory. All the top three seeds are out of the tournament now: Jelena Jankovic, Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonareva.

The world No. 15 Pennetta has never lost to Stosur in their three career meetings, but it’s her first Top 10 victory since last year’s US Open. Stosur is ranked fifth.

During the quarterfinal of the Mercury Insurance Open, Stosur hit no aces and served five double faults, compared to Pennetta’s eight aces and only one double fault. Also, Pennetta had 19 winners and Stosur 12.

The Italian’s opponent in the semis will be Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian ended the hopes of qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, who upset third seed Vera Zvonareva in the second round. Kuznetsova beat Vandeweghe 7-5 6-2. (photo by John Bolan)

Estonian Kaia Kanepi won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title by defeating defending champion and top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3 in the final of the XXIII SNAI Open – Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo.

The wold No.38 Kanepi, seeded fifth in Palermo, had two runner-up finishes in the past: one in the Hasselt final against Kim Clijsters in 2006, and one in 2008 against Caroline Wozniacki in Tokyo. Pennetta’s score in career finals is 9-11 now and 7-7 on clay.

Today in Palermo Kanepi scored her first victory over Pennetta on clay, and they are now 3-3 in head-to-head meetings.

Prior to Palermo, Kanepi had three quarterfinal appearances this season, including one at Wimbledon where she lost to Petra Kvitova. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Wimbledon is just days away and the annual party celebrating the tournament was held at the Roof Gardens in West London's Kensington last night. As usual, the WTA players gave their best to look good and glamorous, and oh well, as usual, their success was sporadic.

Let's start with the bright examples. Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova were spot on. Their dresses are perfect fits and just right for the occasion.

Defending champion Serena Williams looked like a pop star and I'm sure this profile picture will stay remembered for a while. Dinara Safina was having one of her better appearances, although I'm convinced this is not the best she can offer. Read more »