Two seeds didn't go past the second round of the China Open in Tuesday's matches, and those were Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.

The twelfth-seeded Sharapova lost to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 7-6(3) 6-2. After the match Sharapova gave a lot of credit to Vesnina's game, but also pointed out how she was not able to train properly after the US Open (where she lost in the round of 16 to Caroline Wozniacki) and is still trying to regroup. Following the US Open, Sharapova also played in Tokyo, but lost in the first round already, to home favorite Kimiko Date Krumm.

The eighth-seeded Azarenka retired from her second round match with a left thigh strain, handing Timea Bacsinszky a 4-6 3-2 retirement victory.

All the other seeded players that played today advanced to the third round of the China Open, including No.2 seed Vera Zvonareva, No.5 Francesca Schiavone, No.7 Elena Dementieva, No.9 Li Na and No.15 Shahar Peer. Ana Ivanovic is also through – she managed to stay calm when 4-1 down in the second set against Olga Govortsova and win 6-0 7-5. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Rising Serbian star Bojana Jovanovski faced compatriot and former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic in the second round of the China Open and upset her 4-6 6-2 6-2. Jankovic, who won the tournament in 2008 and reached the final in 2007, was seeded third this year.

The world No.93 Jovanovski advanced through qualifying to make her first appearance in Beijing, and in the first round she defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, now outside the Top 100, but last year ranked 29th. Then against the seventh-ranked Jankovic, Jovanovski scored her first Top 10 win.

Two struggling former world No.1s Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic seem to be making a trend – it’s the fourth successive tournament that they lose or win in different rounds – if Safina wins, Ivanovic loses, and vice versa. Today in Beijing Ivanovic won her first round match, upsetting No.11 seed Marion Bartoli 6-2 6-3, while Safina lost in the same round, to second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-4 7-6(6).

Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Angelique Kerber 5-7 7-6(3) 7-5 in the opening round and the news is that she will miss the rest of the season as well as possibly the beginning of the next season, maybe even including the Australian Open, because of a serious stress fracture to her foot. The Pole is not sure how she picked up the injury, but she felt it prior to coming to Asia to play Tokyo and Beijing. In Tokyo she retired against eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Kim Clijsters underwent a surgery to remove a mole from her right foot and the wound got infected so the US Open champion will have to skip next month’s Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing. In case you’re eager to see Kim’s infected foot, enjoy the sight from Kim’s very own Twitter photo of her foot.

Serena Williams, with her own foot problem, will also not play the $4.5 million China Open which starts on October 2. (via BBC, photo: sr_cranks)

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)

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)