Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova wins Istanbul Cup

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova wins Istanbul Cup

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Elena Vesnina 5-7 7-5 6-4 in the all-Russian final of the Istanbul Cup even though her opponent initially had a 7-5 4-0 lead and a 3-1 lead in the third set. The third-seeded Pavlyuchenkova lost her serve seven times, but broke her opponent eight times to win the match.

Despite losing the final on her 24th birthday, Vesnina can be satisfied with the fact that her seven-match losing streak dating back to April is over.

World No.60 Vesnina was playing her third WTA final without success, while world No.29 Pavlyuchenkova added the Istanbul Cup title to her first one won at the Monterrey Open earlier this year. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Vera Dushevina wins Istanbul Cup for maiden WTA singles title

Titlist Vera Dushevina and runner-up Lucie Hradecka at the Istanbul Cup

Russian fifth seed Vera Dushevina won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final, in her fourth attempt, crushing eighth seed Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic at the Istanbul Cup.

World No.49 Dushevina handily defeated world No.70 Hradecka in just 41 minutes, with the final score 6-0 6-1. Dushevina won a total of 51 points compared to Hradecka’s 16, and has even earned the honor of losing the least games en route to a title this year.

Hradecka is now 0-3 herself in Tour singles finals, also having finished runner-up at Bad Gastein in 2008 and Strasbourg this year.

Reminder: No.1 seed Vera Zvonareva and No.2 seed Patty Schnyder lost in the first round of the Istanbul Cup, No.4 seed Aravane Rezai lost in the second, while seed No.3 Anabel Medina Garrigues fell to Dushevina herself in the quarterfinals. (photo via: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Two top seeds Vera Zvonareva and Patty Schnyder upset in Istanbul Cup first round

Vera ZvonarevaTop seed Vera Zvonareva and second seed Patty Schnyder were upset in the opening round of the Istanbul Cup on Tuesday.

The Russian world No.7 was defeated by Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 6-2 1-6 6-4, while the Swiss world No.19 fell to Rossana de los Rios 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3.

Zvonareva was playing for the first time since withdrawing from the third round of Wimbledon with a right ankle injury, and handed Koryttseva her first ever Top 10 win, and first ever Top 30 win as a matter of fact.

The highest seed left in the draw is third-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues who topped Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-4 6-2. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Agnieszka Radwanska beats Elena Dementieva for Istanbul title

Agnieszka Radwanska wins Istanbul CupAgnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat defending champion and top seed Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-2 to capture the Istanbul Cup on Saturday.

The victory in the Istanbul Cup final earned world No.15 Radwanska her third WTA singles title, and the second one this season (she also won in Thailand in February).

Radwanska has never lost in a WTA title match, improving to 3-0. She is also 2-1 lifetime against Dementieva, who had not lost in seven previous matches at this event.

Today’s win earned second-seeded Radwanska $30,500, which means that the 19-year-old has become the first Polish player on the WTA Tour to pass $1 million in career earnings. (sources: Reuters, The Sports Network, photo via Yahoo)

Dementieva, Garrigues clinch titles

Saturday was the final day of the Istanbul Cup and the Strasbourg Open. Elena Dementieva (left) won the title in Turkey, while Anabel Medina Garrigues (right) cruised to victory in France.

dementieva-istanbul-win.jpg Elena, the 13th-ranked player in the world, won the event when France's Aravane Rezai withdrew because of the knee injury she sustained in her semifinal match against Maria Sharapova. Dementieva lead 7-6 (7-5) 3-0 when Rezai retired. This is the Russian's first singles title in 2007, and she hopes that she will continue to play well next week at Roland Garros where she's seeded 13th.
garrigues.jpg

At the Strasbourg International, the top seed Amelie Mauresmo was upset by the sixth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 4-6 6-4. This is Garrigues' seveth career title, and the first tournament win of the year. World No. 5 Mauresmo had been looking for a confidence boost ahead of Roland Garros, her home Grand Slam at which she has been unsuccessful so far — she has never made it past the last eight.