Less than a month after British No.1 Laura Robson made it to the final of the Guangzhou Open and became the first British woman in 22 years to reach a WTA final, twenty-year-old Heather Watson came through an epic battle against Taiwan's Chang Kai-Chen to win 7-5 5-7 7-6(4) in her first career WTA final at the HP Open in Osaka. The singles trophy is the first on the women's side for Great Britain since 1988 (Watson was born for years later)!

Watson is ranked No.71 and is the second ranked player of her nationality, after Robson who is No.56 and the youngest player in the Top 100. Before this week, Watson's best results were three quarterfinals, all in 2011. Robson was also successful in Osaka, having reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to the eventual finalist Chang, who later took out top seed and Grand Slam champion Samantha Stosur.  Read more »

Because of rain, the semifinals and final at the HP Open in Osaka had to be played on the same day. The final took place "after suitable rest"of the victorios semifinalists, who were Samantha Stosur and Marion Bartoli. Later in the final, Bartoli defeated Stosur 6-3 6-1 and won the International-level title by losing more than four games only in one match!

The top-seeded Stosur beat Zheng Jie after two hours and 36 minutes, 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3. The second-seeded Bartoli saved both break points she faced and without dropping serve defeated Angelique Kerber 6-1 7-6(5) in one hour and 38 minutes. As you can see, Stosur spent one hour more on the court on Sunday than her final opponent.

Later, Bartoli defeated Stosur 6-3 6-1 without dropping serve. The loss must be a disaapointment for Stosur even more so because she won her first title at the HP Open two years ago.

Bartoli won her seventh career title and second this season, after Eastbourne. The players Frenchwoman beat en route to the trophy: Melinda Czink, Vania King, Ayumi Morita, Angelique Kerber, and finally the reigning US Open champion Stosur. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

After a big battle in the first round, Samantha Stosur scored a straight-set win over Japan's Misaki Doi in the second round and reached the quarterfinals of the HP Open in Osaka, the International tournament where the Australian won her maiden WTA title just two years ago.

Stosur opened the event against Thailand's world No.168 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (you can call her Nok for short). Leveled at 5-5 in the final set, Stosur survived a six-deuce game and scored a break to win 6-3 3-6 7-5 for only her second victory since her US Open triumph. Luckily, Stosur had an easier job in her following match, beating Misaki Doi 6-2 6-4.

Last year at the tournament Stosur lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm at the quarterfinal stage. Date-Krumm later played the historic final in which she and eventual champion Tamarine Tanasugarn had a combined age of 73. This year, Tanasugarn is through to the quarters so far. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Tamarine Tanasugarn claimed her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title in a historic HP final in Osaka against Kimiko Date Krumm. The final was special because it was the oldest known women’s final in history where the combined age of players was 73, and also because 40-year-old Date Krumm, who upset top seed Samantha Stosur in the quarters and became the first 40-something player to defeat a Top 10 player, was bidding to become the oldest player to win a WTA singles title and nowhere other than in her home country of Japan.

However, the huge Japanese celebration was not meant to be and 33-year-old Tanasugarn beat sixth-seeded Date Krumm 7-5 6-7(4) 6-1. The Thai No.1 was leading 7-5 3-1 when Japanese No.1 fought back to take the match to the third set before having her serve broken twice in the decider and losing the match after three hours and seven minutes.

The 94th-ranked Tanasugarn, who surprisingly reached the final with an upset of second seed Marion Bartoli in the semis, earned $37,000 with the HP Open title. Her previous three titles include two titles at 's-Hertogenbosch and one at Hyderabad. (photo: solitaire_6812)

With a combined age of 73 years, Kimiko Date Krumm and Tamarine Tanasugarn will play the oldest known final in the history of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, as both players upset their higher-ranked opponents in the semifinals of the HP Open.

Thailand’s world No.94 Tanasugarn upset second seed and 16th-ranked Marion Bartoli 6-2 7-5 and reached her second final of the year, having been runner-up at Pattaya City to Vera Zvonareva in February.

Forty-year-old Date Krumm followed up her upset of French Open finalist and defending champion Samantha Stosur with another upset, this time over third seed Shahar Peer and the score was 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5. The world No.13 Peer served for the match at 6-3 5-4 but Date Krumm continued to make history and after becoming the first 40-something player to win a match against a Top 10 player (it was against Stosur in the quarterfinals), Date Krumm reached the oldest final and could as well become the first player older than 40 to win a title.

The 56th-ranked Date Krumm is favorite to win the HP Open title, although she and Tanasugarn are tied in their head-to-head at 1-1. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: sydney-yokochin)

Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm upset world No.8 Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals of the HP Open in Osaka and became the first 40-something women’s tennis player to defeat a Top 10 player. With this victory in her home country Date Krumm broke her own record set at the French Open earlier this year when she became the oldest woman ever to beat a Top 10 player with a win over Dinara Safina in the first round. Date Krumm was then 39 years, seven months and 26 days old.

Stosur was No.1 seed at the 2010 HP Open and was defending her title there, but despite winning the first set and saving a match point at 5-4 down in the third set, she lost the match in a tiebreaker. Final score: 5-7 6-3 7-6(4).

The world No.56 Date Krumm, seeded sixth, will next play third seed Shahar Peer who defeated Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-0 in the quarterfinals. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: sydney-yokochin)

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)

World No.8 Samantha Stosur won her first WTA singles title last year at the HP Open in Osaka and this year she won her first two matches with the score 6-0 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the $220,000 tournament.

The top-seeded Stosur defeated wildcard Sachie Ishizu in the first round and on Wednesday she beat another Japanese, Junri Namigata, firing three straight aces at one point in the match.

Stosur, who also won an ITF title in Osaka in 2001, is now 7-0 at the HP Open and will next face her third Japanese opponent in a row, either sixth seed Kimiko Daet Krumm or wildcard Aiko Nakamura. (photo: chascow)