It was Kaia Kanepi of Estonia who lifted the winner’s trophy at the rainy, windy and cold $690,000 Brussels Open and is now projected to move from current No.40 to No.26 in the rankings.

After edging Jamie Hampton in Saturday morning’s semifinals 7-6(6) 6-4 and just a few hours of rest, Kanepi beat Peng Shuai, who also had a tough match earlier in the day, a 6-4 2-6 6-4 victory over Romina Oprandi. Kanepi converted the fourth match point against Peng to record a 6-2 7-5 win and clinch the fourth title of her career, the first three being Palermo in 2010 and Brisbane and Estoril last year. Read more »

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)

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)

The US Open starts in six days and so far we know that four WTA players will not participate: Flavia Pennetta of Italy, the 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Elena Baltacha of Great Britain. The reasons of their withdrawals have not been stated at the official US Open website, but we know that Pennetta is not playing this week's New Haven due to a right wrist injury, Kuznetsova due to a right knee injury, Kanepi is out with a bilateral Achilles injury, while Baltacha is putting a stop to her career in order to undergo a foot surgery. Read more »

Estonian No.1 and world No.16 Kaia Kanepi has not healed from her Achilles injury and has thus withdrawn from the 2012 London Olympics. Unbelievable! Before the 2004 Athens Olympics, Kanepi broke her little finger when she fell while running and had an appendix surgery just a month before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, she did compete at both events, while this year she's totally out.

Remember the Olympics-dedicated Kanepi interview we published last month, in which she expressed how hopeful she was for the upcoming Games, especially given her successful 2012 with Brisbane and Estoril titles and French Open quarterfinals? Everything is shattered now. Here's Kanepi's statement for her official website:

It is very sad that I cannot participate in the Olympics. I do not know if I will ever get another chance to participate in the Olympic Games. At the moment all I want is my legs to be ok and that I could play tennis without feeling any pain.

The 27-year-old Estonian first started feeling the injury in spring in Estoril and after the memorable French Open she took a break to heal, but the most recent ultrasound examination revealed that the heel problem is still there. (photo: Not enough megapixels)

Women's Tennis Blog's contributor Omair is known for his statistical approach to tennis, but now he's summing up the claycourt season, awarding the WTA players titles based on their performance at Roland Garros 2012. Do you agree with Omair's titles? Feel free to comment!

Maria Sharapova – CLAY QUEEN

Having won Stuttgart and Rome, Sharapova was 11-1 on clay coming into the French Open, and she made it 18-1, her lone loss coming at the hands of Serena Williams on the blue clay of Madrid.

Sara Errani – CINDERELLA

Although Errani was the claycourt wins leader entering the French Open, she had never been beyond the second round of the tournament in her last four attempts, had been past the third round of a Grand Slam only once in the last eighteen majors (quarterfinals at this year's Australian Open) and was 0-28 against Top 10 players. It all changed at this year's Franch Open, she not only reached her first Grand Slam final, but in doing so recorded her first two victories over Top 10 players. Although she fell short to Sharapova in the final, she had a great run to the championship match.

Samantha Stosur – UNDERACHIEVER

Stosur's game is best suited to clay and she is a great claycourt player as is evidenced by her record at Roland Garros – she has been to the semifinals or better for three of the past four years, including this year's semifinal. She is one of the fittest athletes on the Tour at the moment, and with her game she no doubt was an underachiever. Read more »

David Fearnhead, long-time reader of Women's Tennis Blog, professional journalist and author of novel Bailey of the Saints (out now!), did a Q&A with Kaia Kanepi about the Olympics. The interview's timing is perfect, as Kanepi is now under a watchful eye of the tennis world following her big victory over Caroline Wozniacki and over her own chokes in the third round of Roland Garros. Today she's facing Arantxa Rus.

Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi has had a great start to 2012, collecting trophies in Brisbane and Estoril. Then she ousted Wozniacki at the French. It’s hopefully the start of a special summer for the 26-year-old. This July Kanepi is set for her 3rd appearance at the Olympic Games. She has the game which could put her in contention for a medal… as long as she stays clear of injury. Here she speaks exclusively about her Olympic Dream.

Before Athens in 2004 I went running and fell, breaking my little finger on my left hand, it meant that I couldn’t really hit my backhand very well. I still had a great time there with all the other Estonian athletes. My favorite thing was the foodcourt, it was huge!

I had my appendix out one month before Beijing 2008. It was my first tournament back following that operation. I still made it through to the third round before going out to the home favorite Li Na. I didn’t get to go to the opening ceremony in Athens or Beijing because it lasts for such a long time and I had to play the next day. I hope I have the chance to go in London. I also want to go and see some of the track and field. Read more »

Kaia Kanepi survived one immense choking session and one regular-size choking session to beat Caroline Wozniacki in the third round of Roland Garros 6-1 6-7(3) 6-3 on the fifth match point.

Let's first mention the timing of the match points, it will explain quite a lot about the match. The first two Kanepi had when leading 6-1 5-2, the third one came like an hour later, at 5-1 in the third set, and Kanepi double faulted to continue the agony! At 5-3 in the third set she earned the fourth one, which Wozniacki saved with a nice winner, and in that same game Kanepi finally converted a match point, her fifth one. Kanepi was serving for the match five times during the encounter!

Here's how it all began. Kanepi raced to a 6-1 5-1 lead in the match. Wozniacki then won a perfect game on her serve, but I thought that would be just a short defense of pride as Kanepi was serving for the match in the following game. However, the outcome turned out to be quite
different. Leading 6-1 5-2 30-0, Kanepi missed a sure point on the net and her choking session began, which turned into a huge choking session.  Read more »