This time last year Petra Kvitova was ranked lower than No.60, while this week at the Mutua Madrid Open the Czech not only earned the introduction to the Top 10 but also her biggest career title by beating Victoria Azarenka in the final of the $4,500,000 Premier-level tournament. Kvitova now has four WTA titles to her name, and three of them came this year (Brisbane, Paris and now Madrid).

In the first set against fourth-seeded Azarenka, Kvitova had a point for a 4-0 lead, but Azarenka came back to level at 3-3. The set slowly progressed to a tiebreak and Kvitova was decisive then. The world No.18 Kvitova started the second set with a break and just like in the first set that advantage did not last and Azarenka leveled at 3-3. The match stayed uncertain until the end, especially when Azarenka saved a match point at 5-3 and held her serve. However, in what was to be the last game of the match, Kvitova was dominant and she stormed to her first Premier title without losing a point in the final game. Score: 7-6(3) 6-4.

Azarenka can console herself with the fact that she will become the highest ranked representative of her country ever, climbing to No.4 in the WTA rankings, and she had a great success in doubles at the Mutua Madrid Open, as together with Maria Kirilenko she beat the Top 3-seeded teams one after another en route to the title. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Julia Goerges may be fatal for world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, but Victoria Azarenka was not frightened by the surging German. The Mutua Madrid Open semifinal between Azarenka and Goerges was the one to watch because they had never played a whole match against each other, and both are hot players in this period, among the favorites for the upcoming Roland Garros. The big-hitting Goerges committed 37 unforced errors and earned only one break point which she didn't convert. Final score: 6-4 6-2.

By virtue of this win, Azarenka will make her country's history and become the first Belarusian to be ranked higher than No.5. Germany's Goerges, the in-form player this clay court season, will also bring a significant improvement to her country's WTA standing – cracking the Top 20 and joining German Andrea Petkovic in the elite.

Azarenka's opponent in the final will be either Li Na or Petra Kvitova, who will as of Monday be a new player in the Top 10. (photo: Tony Osborne)

Victoria Azarenka has reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open and needs just one more win to become the first Belarusian in WTA history to be ranked higher than No.5, where she stands now. She advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova, to whom she hadn’t lost a set before, in their five meetings.

Azarenka’s big obstacle will be Julia Goerges, who has come to the tournament with the big title win at Stuttgart, which she reinforced by beating world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round this week and then world No.21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-2 in the quarterfinals, who is ranked six spots higher than Goerges.

Both Azarenka and Goerges are hot players at the moment. In this two month period, Azarenka has won 18 of 20 matches, including titles in Miami and Marbella, while the losses came only because of injuries (retirements in Indian Wells against Wozniacki and in Stuttgart against Goerges). As for Goerges, not long ago, in Charleston, she reached her first Premier quarterfinal, and now she will play her second straight Premier semifinal. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Germany’s Julia Goerges reinforced her status of a dark horse for the French Open by defeating world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, one of the favorites for the red clay Grand Slam, for the second time in 11 days.

Wozniacki won the title on the green clay of Charleston, and then on the red clay of Stuttgart she lost in the final to Julia Goerges 7-6(3) 6-3. Goerges, who has consequently climbed five spots in the rankings to a career-high of No.27, repeated the feat of upsetting the top-ranked player, taking Wozniacki out of the Mutua Madrid Open in the third round 6-4 1-6 6-3. The 22-year-old Goerges was much more productive in the department of winners, scoring 36 to Wozniacki’s 11, thus outweighing the 38 unforced errors compared to Wozniacki’s 21.

Goerges’ next opponent will be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who saw off fifth seed Samantha Stosur 7-6(4) 6-3. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

World No.18 Petra Kvitova, one of the players deserving special attention at the upcoming French Open, convincingly defeated second seed Vera Zvonareva in the third round of the $4.5 million Mutua Madrid Open.

Russia's Zvonareva scored two aces to Kvitova’s none, and had a better first serve percentage, but it was Kvitova who won more points, both on her first and second serves (20% better than Zvonareva on the second serve), and also, Kvitova saved seven of eight break points, while Zvonareva saved just two of six. Final score 6-1 6-4.

It was a bad day for many Russians at the Madrid Open. Dinara Safina fell to Julia Goerges 6-4 4-6 6-4 in the second round and Alisa Kleybanova fell to Roberta Vinci 6-2 6-2. Let’s see what Maria Sharapova will do against Dominika Cibulkova, their match is currently in progress.

Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic lost to Lucie Safarova 6-4 4-6 7-5, also in the second round, while sixth seed Li Na scored a 6-1 6-4 victory over Iveta Benesova. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)