On October 16th in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz Dominika Cibulkova was playing for her maiden WTA title and lost to Petra Kvitova. Only a week has pasted and the 22-year-old is in another final, at the Premier Kremlin Cup and her opponent will be Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

Cibulkova and Peng Shuai are the only member of the Top 20 without titles, but the little Slovakian is positive about changing her discouraging  0-3 record in career finals:

I know I've lost all three of my previous finals including the one last week, but I feel if I continue playing the way I do now sooner or later I'll win one.

The world No.20 Cibulkova cruised past her semifinal opponent Elena Vesnina 6-0 6-2, a day after ousting top-seeded home favorite Vera Zvonareva 4-6 6-4 6-4. Kanepi upset two Grand Slam champions, Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova, before coming from a set down to topple Lucie Safarova 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3 in the semifinals.

Cibulkova and Kanepi played each other twice so far, including once this year, and Kanepi won in three sets both times. Also, the 43rd-ranked Kanepi, who used to be ranked 16th earlier this year, has one title to her name – Palermo 2010. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Petra Kvitova finally found her best form after the astonishing Wimbledon triumph and except a tough semifinal against Jelena Jankovic, the Czech pretty much cruised through the Generali Ladies Linz to win her fifth title this season. Her opponent in the final, Dominika Cibulkova, fell to 0-3 in career finals and remains one of only two Top 30 players who have still not won a WTA title.

From 4-4 in the first set, the world No.4 Kvitova won eight of the next nine games to win the final against Cibulkova and keep the Slovak's otherwise successful career without titles. Score: 6-4 6-1.

En route to the Linz title and the prize of $37,ooo, the top seeded Kvitova defeated Rebecca Marino 6-2 6-2 in the first round, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2 6-3 in the second round, eight seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-2 in the quarterfinals, third seed Jelena Jankovic 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the semis, and finally the seventh-seeded Cibulkova. (source: WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

At the Generali Ladies Linz against Petra Kvitova, Dominika Cibulkova, one of two Top 30 players without a title, will try to win her first first one in the Sunday's final. Her opponent Kvitova is currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No.4 and she's a holder of five titles, four of which came this season, including Wimbledon.

Cibulkova saved match points in her opener against Elena Baltacha, and actually her first three matches at the tournament were three-setters. Her semifinal against Lucie Safarova didn't follow the trend, as Cibulkova cruised to a 6-1 6-4 victory. The Slovak won 16 points in a row to take the first set.

Kvitova's semifinal opponent was Jelena Jankovic, who won the first set as Kvitova struggled to find her game. Kvitova was down 6-4 3-1 and then 6-4 3-4, when she took control with six straight games won for a 3-0 lead in the third set and she never looked back. Score: 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Cibulkova is yet to beat Kvitova. The Czech leads their head-to-head record 3-0. (via WTA Tour, photos: Ralf Reinecke)

The Generali Ladies Linz was the last tournament Ana Ivanovic won and two years later the Serb ended her title drought by winning the same event and in a pretty impressive fashion – without dropping a set and by winning the final against 47th-ranked Patty Schynder in just 47 minutes.

Both players had a 100% conversion of break points, but Ivanovic had six such chances compared to Schnyder’s two. After just 18 minutes of play Ivaanovic served for the first set at 5-1 and before you knew it she won the whole match 6-1 6-2.

The 2010 Generali Ladies Linz is Ivanovic’s ninth career title. The world No.29 has earned $37,000 and 280 ranking points with her successful showing at the Austrian tournament. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Ana Ivanovic’s last title came at the Generali Ladies Linz two years ago and this year she advanced to the final of the same tournament where she will face Patty Schnyder.

Ivanovic was a late entrant into the draw, but her trip to Linz really paid off as she will be playing her first final in 19 months, which she reached without dropping a set. In the semifinals the seventh-seeded Ivanovic defeated Roberta Vinci 6-3 7-5.

Schnyder, twice runner-up at Linz, had a tougher semifinal, and despite winning the first five games of the match she ended up saving two match points against sixth seed Andrea Petkovic in the third set. The Swiss came out as a winner after two hours and 15 minutes with the 6-2 4-6 7-5 score.

Ivanovic and Schyder have a tied 4-4 head-to-head record, but it was Ivanovic who won their last four meetings (between 2006 and 2008). (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Ana Ivanovic followed up her 6-2 6-0 victory over Sorana Cirstea in the first round with a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova at the Generali Ladies Linz. The match will be remembered for an unusual incidenent that happened over a bathroom break – Ivanovic asked to go to the toilet and the umpire gave her the permission to do so, but when she came back to the court she found out she had lost a game because of the time spent away (one point for each 20-second absence, which was summed up to four points, which is one game). It was the second game of the match, Zahlavova Strycova’s service game. Ivanovic was angry at the umpire but it turned out that the umpire’s decision was legitimate as a player should use such a break only before their own serve and not their opponent’s serve.

In the other part of the world, at the tournament in Osaka, Japanese No.1 Kimiko Date Krumm advanced to the quarterfinals with a decisive 6-2 6-0 victory over good friend Aiko Nakamura. Date Krumm won all the games from 3-2 in the first set. The sixth-seeded Japanese will next play top seed Samantha Stosur, who is defending her title. It will be their first career meeting and Date Krumm’s seventh match against a Top 10 player – she won just one of the previous six but four of her five losses were three-setters. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Serena Williams' expected comeback at the Generali Ladies Linz is not to be, as she suffered "a physical problem" which appeared in her last training session for the tournament. The American decided to undergo some more medical tests and later withdrew from the $220,000 Austrian event. Will the Munich restaurant foot injury keep Serena away from the Sony Ericsson Championships as well?

Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva are also not in action, but due to rain in Beijing which has postponed matches until Monday. Wozniacki and Zvonareva, top two seeds at the China Open, are playing the finals as the Dane overcame Shahar Peer in the semis 7-5 6-2, and Zvonareva beat home favorite Li Na 6-3 6-3.

Update: Serena said she restrained her foot because of training too hard and there is a possibility she will miss the rest of the season. (photo: sr_cranks)

On the same day it became known Serena Williams would lose her number one ranking to Caroline Wozniacki, it was announced that the American would return to the Tour for the first time since July. The tournament Williams is scheduled to play is the Generali Ladies Linz which starts on Monday, October 11.

Serena hasn't been playing competitive tennis because of a foot injury and surgery she had to have as a consequence of stepping on glass at a restaurant. Having been very selective as to which tournaments she would play and also because of the injury, Serena has approached the end of the 2010 season with only six tournament appearances (Sydney, Australian Open, Rome, Madrid, French Open, Wimbledon). However, her winning percentage is awesome: out of the six tournaments she has played so far this year, Serena has won two, and those were none other than Grand Slams.

Now that Serena is returning, Caroline Wozniacki’s top ranking could be short-lived, because Serena has qualified for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha as well. (source: ESPN, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Belgian Yanina Wickmayer beat Czech Petra Kvitova in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz, thus winning her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title and ensuring her place in the Top 20 for the first time.

Third seed Wickmayer, a wildcard into the draw, had defeated top seed and world No.11 Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals scoring her career-best win, and in the title match she went past unseeded Kvitova, ranked 55th, in an hour and 25 minutes, 6-3 6-4.

The world No.24 Wickmayer, who turns 20 on Tuesday, was a semifinalist at the 2009 US Open and by this title in Linz she consolidated that Grand Slam success. (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and Czech Petra Kvitova will play for the Generali Ladies Linz title as they upset top seed Flavia Pennetta 7-6(5) 6-3 and second seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-2 respectively.

Both Wickmayer and Kvitova have won one WTA Tour singles title so far in their careers, and both came this season. Wickmayer was victorious in Estoril, while Kvitova claimed her maiden title in Hobart.

Wickmayer was a surprise semifinalist at the 2009 US Open, and even beat Kvitova en route to that career achievement. The Belgian leads the Czech 2-1 in career meetings. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)