Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-4 to win the China Open and inspiring $775,500. It’s the Russian’s third title of the season, the first two came at Stuttgart and Roland Garros, and the 12th of her career.

Radwanska was playing in a singles final for the first time since June 2008, and now she will return to the Top 10, although her perfect record in career finals has been ruined.

This latest success seems to have motivated Kuznetsova: "Normally I feel really tired at the end of the season, but now I feel great."

Kuznetsova had already qualified for the $4,550,000 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha (October 27 – November 1, 2009) and before going to the Persian Gulf one week prior to the event in order to acclimatize, she will spend some time practicing in Moscow. (sources AP, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

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Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnieszka Radwanska will face each other in the title match of the $4,500,000 China Open.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova booked her place in the final with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Nadia Petrova, No.13 seed. Kuznetsova broke Petrova five times, while she dropped her serve only once, early in the second set.

In the other semifinal, No.12 seed Radwanska defeated No.14 seed Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-3, and is now projected to return to the Top 10. The Pole rallied from early breaks in both sets, and has now won the last eight sets against Bartoli.

Kuznetsova won the China Open in 2006 and was a runner-up in 2004 and 2008. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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Last year’s runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the semifinals of the China Open, while Elena Dementieva fell at the same tennis complex where she won her Olympic gold medal 14 months ago.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova defeated fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, 6-3 6-3, and will next face No.13 seed Nadia Petrova, who followed up her victory over soon-to-be No.1 Serena Williams with a quarterfinal win over Peng Shuai.

The Russian fourth-seeded Dementieva was upset by 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3. The Pole will play 14th seed Marion Bartoli in the semis, who advanced by upsetting seventh seed Vera Zvonareva.

The 2009 China Open champion will collect $775,500. (photo: Jean-Sebastien Marceau)

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Has the No.1 jinx already transferred to Serena Williams? Just one round after securing to be ranked No.1 in the next week’s rankings the American lost to Nadia Petrova 6-4 3-6 7-6(5).

The 13th-seeded Petrova and second-seeded Williams each won a set of their third-round match and in the decider they both held serve until tiebreak, having each faced only one break point in that final set. Petrova raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak and although Williams showed resistance the Russian managed to close it out.

Before this encounter, Petrova had defeated Williams only once in their seven previous meetings. (photo courtesy of Women Who Serve)

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On Tuesday Maria Sharapova had played a three-hour match against ninth seed Victoria Azarenka and recovered from a 5-2 down in the third set to win the match. That marathon took its toll, and to the delight of the home crowd China's Peng Shuai followed up her upset of defending champion Jelena Jankovic in the second round with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Maria Sharapova in the third.

World No.53 Peng got to lead 6-2 5-2 against Sharapova, and although the Russian almost pulled off one of her trademark comebacks, closing to 6-2 5-4 and getting to deuce, there was no more fuel in her tank and she fell on Peng's third match point.

"My energy level was not where it should have been … there've been occasions where I've been able to fight back, today was just not one of those days unfortunately," said the world No.15 Sharapova, who claimed her first title since returning from injury in Tokyo last weekend.

"She played really solid and really aggressive and did all the right things to win the match." (source: Reuters, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

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