World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki managed to crown her red clay season just a day before the start of the French Open – in the final of the inaugural Premier-level Brussels Ladies Open the Dane defeated surprise finalist Peng Shuai even though the Chinese convincingly took the first set 6-2. Final score: 2-6 6-3 6-3.

Wozniacki improved in the second set against the eighth-seeded Peng, ranked 31st in the world, but a concerning thing happened in the third set when Wozniacki needed medical treatment on her left thigh.

As Wozniacki is one of the favorites for the French Open and bares quite a pressure to win her first Grand Slam title there, let's just briefly have a look at her clay season:

• title win on the green clay of Charleston
• runner-up in Stuttgart
• third round in Madrid
• semifinals in Rome
• title in Brussels

Therefore, her win-loss record on clay courts this season is 17-3. Two of the losses were to Julia Goerges and one to Maria Sharapova. Also, in the Brussels Ladies Open semifinals she defeated reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in a thrilling encounter that lasted more than two hours and a half. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The semifinal encounter of world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone was not interesting only because all eyes are on Wozniacki's clay play ahead of the French Open and because Schiavone is defending her title there, but also because they happen to be in the same half of the today-announced draw for the clay court Grand Slam. Wozniacki proved to be a bit better from her Italian opponent and edged a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory.

At 4-4 in the first set, Wozniacki won her service game to love and to take the first set she followed it by breaking Schiavone to love. The second set was again leveled at 4-4, but then Schiavone broke for a 5-4 lead and won the next, long game, after saving break points. The third set was the most tightly-contested. Wozniacki opened up with a 2-0 lead, as Schiavone piled up three unforced errors in the second game. And even though Schiavone broke back right away, later, in the eighth game, Wozniacki earned a crucial break and went on to reach the Brussels Open final. Read more »

Top two seeds at the Brussels Open had a rest in the quarterfinal after their difficult second round wins. No.1 seed Caroline Wozniacki played only two full games when her opponent, Yanina Wickmayer, retired with a low back injury. Second seed Vera Zvonareva won the first ten games and lost only one game in her match-up with Alexandra Dulgheru.

Seed No.3 Francesca Schiavone defeated Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-3 in the quarterfinals and will play the top-ranked Wozniacki in the semis. It will be an interesting encounter ahead of the French Open, as even though the Dane won their last three encounters, it was Schiavone who was victorious in their only match on clay and it was last year at the French Open.

As for Zvonareva, she will play Peng Shuai in the semifinals, to whom she hasn’t lost in their seven meetings. The eighth-seeded Peng defeated Sofia Arvidsson in the quarters and reached her fourth semifinal of the season. (photo: sr_cranks)

Top two seeds at the inaugural Premier-level tournament of the Brussels Open, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva, both advanced to the quarterfinals, but not without considerable effort.

Zvonareva found herself 6-2 3-2 down against Galina Voskoboeva, before rallying back to beat the Kazakh qualifier 2-6 6-4 6-3. The Russian said she needed some time to get accustomed to the new court and new atmosphere, while her opponent got that sort of preparation during qualifying.

As for the world No.1 Wozniacki, she rallied from a break down in both sets to defeat American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4 7-6(5) on the fifth match point. In their only previous meeting, which was also on clay, Wozniacki was much more productive, defeating Lepchenko 6-3 6-1 in Madrid in 2009. Read more »