Sabine Lisicki surprises in Birmingham, beats Hantuchova for the title

German world No.100 Sabine Lisicki defeated Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in a rain-delayed final of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham and collected her second WTA title.

En route to the Birmingham trophy, the unseeded Lisicki defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm (62) in the first round, Kirsten Flipkens (111) in the second, Tamira Paszek (80) in the third, Magdalena Rybarikova (69) in the quarters, Peng Shuai (20) in the semis and finally Daniela Hantuchova (28). As you can see, only one Lisicki's opponent was ranked lower than her. However, it is not really surprising that Lisicki managed to defeat them, as she was ranked No.22 in 2009, prior to her health problems. Read more »

The Williams practice video released

Serena and Venus Williams are set to play the AEGON International in Eastbourne, and even though some fans are still finding it hard to believe the sisters will indeed show up, it is highly likely that their comeback is for real. To celebrate the return of the biggest names, the WTA Tour has even made a short video of the Williamses practicing ahead of their first competitive tournament in a long time – Serena hasn’t played since last year’s Wimbledon, which is practically a year, and Venus hasn’t played since January’s Australian Open (while even before that, after Roland Garros 2010 she played only Wimbledon and the US Open). Read more »

Ivanovic reaches Birmingham semis in a total of 2 hours and 42 minutes

Ana Ivanovic needed less than three hours to win three matches and advance to the semifinals on the grass of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham.

After a first round bye Ivanovic defeated world No.118 Anna Tatishvili 6-1 6-0 in the second round in 44 minutes, in the third round world No.45 Rebecca Marino was beaten 6-3 6-2 in 59 minutes and today in the quarterfinals Ivanovic's quick progress continued with a 6-3 6-4 win over the 94th-ranked Mirjana Lucic, also in just seconds less than an hour. Ok, now, does she even need a coach? :)

The next obstacle of the second-seeded Serb will be pretty serious. It will be Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova who also reached the semifinals without losing a set and has won 11 of her last 14 matches, including the recent 6-1 6-3 victory over world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki at the French Open. (photo courtesy of Tony)

Ivanovic looking for a stable and committed coach

Ana Ivanovic has changed a number of coaches since she won Roland Garros in 2008 and her results and confidence have suffered greatly. Just one illustration: at the Grand Slam she won three years ago, this year she lost in the first round.

The former No.1 Ivanovic’s biggest problem is to find a coach that suits her, someone who would give her proper guidance and be there for her. She's kind of looking for the one which is extremely difficult to find and in the meantime she's watching her tennis results drop, her confidence going away and her career slowly passing by. When you add all the injuries to the picture, the situation is pretty demoralizing. Read more »

Top seed Li beats Sharapova, claims AEGON Classic title

Li Na wins AEGON Classic 2010

The 2009 runner-up Li Na has defeated Maria Sharapova for the second year in a row at the AEGON Classic, last year in the semifinals but this year in the finals to claim her first WTA title on grass.

The first set was closely fought,  with the second-seeded Sharapova making a 3-1 lead only to let Li break back and level at 3-3. During the first set Sharapova, twice titlist in Birmingham, had and converted only that one break point, while Li converted 2 of her 8 chances to break and win the first set 7-5. Li then rolled through the second set 6-1.

By winning her third WTA singles title, the first Chinese women's tennis player to enter the Top 10 will return to the elite group. (photo via AEGON Classic)

Maria Sharapova and Li Na to battle in AEGON Classic final

Maria Sharapova at the 2010 AEGON Classic

Maria Sharapova put an end to an amazing winning streak of qualifier Alison Riske to reach the AEGON Classic final for the fourth time in seven visits to Birmingham. The Russian’s opponent in the title match will be Li Na, who defeated her in the last year’s semifinals.

Riske had never won a WTA main-draw match before this week, but even after victories over Sandra Zahlavova in the first round, former world No.5 Chakvetadze, ninth seed Aleksandra Wozniak and third seed Yanina Wickmayer, the 19-year-old had fuel in her tank and took one set from Sharapova who came through with the 6-2 4-6 6-1 score.

Top seed Li Na of China also played a three-setter to beat Aravane Rezai 6-1 3-6 6-3 in the second semifinal and reach the trophy round. The Chinese No.1, who was upset by Magdalena Rybarikova in the 2009 final, is 1-5 in career meetings with Sharapova. (photo by Richard)

Maria Sharapova moves into AEGON Classic semifinals

Maria Sharapova at the 2010 AEGON Classic

Second seed Maria Sharapova won two matches on Thursday, one of which lasted for three days, and she continued with winning on Friday to reach the semifinals of the AEGON Classic, the tournament she has won two times.

Sharapova first beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round, in a match greatly affected by rain, then she defeated fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3 6-1 (their first encounter after Kudryavtseva upset Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon and later on stated how she got the extra motivation from hating Sharapova’s outfit), and today she has eliminated Sesil Karatantcheva, who had upset tenth seed and defending champion Magdalena Rybarikova in the previous round.

Alison Riske

In her seventh successive semifinal at the tournament, Sharapova will face 185th-ranked qualifier Alison Riske of the United States. The 19-year-old Riske is an interesting opponent because she came to Birmingham without even one main draw victory on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but at the 2010 AEGON Classic she first upset 9th seed Aleksandra Wozniack, then Anna Chakvetadze, and then third seed Yanina Wickmayer in the quarterfinals. (photos by Richard and © Neal Trousdale)

Maria Sharapova takes three days to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Maria Sharapova at the 2010 AEGON Classic

Twice Birmingham champion Maria Sharapova had to play her rain-interrupted second round match for three days to finally beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham.

The match was first supposed to be played on Tuesday before being cancelled, then the rain delayed it for Wednesday when it was disrupted again at 4-0 40-30 in favor of the second-seeded Sharapova. Finally, the match was completed on Thursday with the score 6-0 6-3.

Due to these rain delays Sharapova is forced to play her third round right after her second round, and at the moment she is playing against fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva. (photo by our reader Richard)

Maria Sharapova's on-court fashion in 2009

As promised, Women's Tennis Blog is continuing its tradition of revising on-court outfits from the season behind us. This year's retrospections will start with the best-dressed WTA player – Nike-clad Maria Sharapova.

Maria Sharapova at the 2009 BNP Paribas OpenMaria Sharapova at the 2009 Warsaw Open

Sharapova started the season late, because of her career-threatening shoulder injury, playing her first match of 2009 at the BNP Paribas Open in March. She was introducing herself to competitive tennis slowly, playing doubles first, but her style had to be spot-on from the very beginning, and it was.

Maria Sharapova at the 2009 French OpenMaria Sharapova at the 2009 AEGON Classic

People argued that Sharapova’s Roland Garros dress had too much fabric, but I liked it, and I especially favored the blue color against the red clay. Read more »

Magdalena Rybarikova beats Li Na for AEGON Classic title

Magdalena Rybarikova wins AEGON Classic title

Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova claimed her first WTA Tour singles title after beating Li Na in Sunday’s final at the AEGON Classic.

The 13th-seeded Rybarikova bageled Li in the first set and won the second set in a tiebreaker to close out a 6-0 7-6(2) victory. The 20-year-old Rybarikova wasn’t broken once in her first WTA singles final and beat the fourth-seeded Li in just 73 minutes.

The Chinese world No.20, who knocked out Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, was hoping for her third WTA title.

Winning the AEGON Classic title, the 58th-ranked Rybarikova took home $37,000.

Additional info: Rybarikova has gained direct entry into the Wimbledon main draw for the first time. Last year, she passed the qualifying, but lost in the opening round. (photo: Getty Images via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)


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