Tamarine Tanasugarn defeats Dinara Safina for Ordina Open title

Tamarine Tanasugarn with her Ordina Open trophyThai qualifier Tamarine Tanasugarn beat Roland Garros runner-up Dinara Safina of Russia 7-5 6-3 to take the Ordina Open trophy.

It is Tanasugarn’s second WTA title, the first one since winning Hyderabad in 2003. In today's Ordina Open final the world No.85 survived a break in the opening set, and won a difficult second set in which she saved eight break points.

"One day you play really good, the next day — I just was not myself on the court," said Safina, ranked 9th in the world.

"(Tanasugarn) plays very different, she has some unbelievable angles and just made me go crazy in the mind." (source: Reuters, photo via Yahoo)

Jankovic could have done without Ordina Open

It’s great that Jankovic is ambitious and determined, and I really enjoy watching her play, but I’m worried that she competes in too many tournaments — that might take a toll on her body.

In my opinion, she really didn’t need to take part in the Ordina Open. After winning Birmingham, she rushed to play in the Netherlands, instead of training and saving energy for Wimbledon, the major tennis event of the year.

And there, at the Ordina Open, she had that tiring final against Chakvetadze on Saturday – only two days before the start of the grass-court Grand Slam. The match against Chakvetadze lasted the whole day, due to many rain suspensions. The rain made the court slippery - a perfect place to get injured!

Should Jankovic have saved herself at least a bit for Wimbledon? Look at Sharapova for example – she played at the DFS Classis, but skipped the Ordina Open, and is getting ready for Wimbledon. To me this is much more reasonable.

But who knows. Maybe Jankovic feels that her body is perfectly fine with her playing that many matches. After all, she knows it better than me.

Henin claims title at Eastbourne, Chakvetadze at Den Bosch

Saturday was the finishing day of two grass-court events – the $600,000 International Women’s Open and the $175,000 Ordina Open. Finals at both tournaments were tough three-setters; at the International Women’s Open Justine Henin defeated Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), while at Ordina Open Anna Chakvetadze beat Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3.

henin-1.jpgTop seed Justine Henin of Belgium has defended her Eastbourne title assuring us that she’s a strong favorite for Wimbledon after defeating France’s Amelie Mauresmo, reigning champion of the upcoming grand slam.

To reach the final, the 25-year-old Belgian beat Agnieszka Radwanska, Nicole Vaidisova, and Marion Bartoli. Read more »

Ordina Open final – Jankovic vs. Chakvetadze

Saturday is the final day of the last Wimbledon tune-up event, the $175,000 Ordina Open in the Netherlands. The winner will earn $25,870 and 140 points, the runner-up $13,630 and 100 points.

Top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia reached the final by defeating the last year’s runner-up Dinara Safina of Russia, seeded-fourth. Jankovic saw five match points slip through her fingers before finally sealing the 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) victory in the tie break of the third set. It was a tough match for both of them, lasting 2h 31min, but Jelena proved that she’s hell of a player by overcoming tough moments and winning the match despite problems with a hamstring which forced her to take a medical timeout. Read more »

Jankovic, Safina, Chakvetadze, Hantuchova semifinalists at Ordina Open

jank-1.jpgsafina-1.jpgchakv-1.jpghantuchova-1.jpg

Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated the Ukranian eighth seed Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-1. Due to rain, the match was suspended for a few hours in the second set, with Jankovic leading 4-1. “It is not easy to wait for a few hours. Fortunately I could focus again from the start,” world No. 3 Jankovic said.

This was the seventh time Jankovic and Bondarenko faced each other, and Jankovic has increased her lead to 7-0.

Number four seed Dinara Safina beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-1 7-5.

FIRST SEMIFINAL: Jankovic vs. Safina >> Head-to-head 1-1, never played against each other on grass.

Third seed Anna Chakvetadze beat Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova overcame second-seeded Ana Ivanovic in straight sets 6-3 6-1. Ivanovic was broken in the seventh game and thereafter never performed to anything like her usual standard.

SECOND SEMIFINAL:
Chakvetadze vs. Hantuchova >> In their head-to-heads Hantuchova leads 2-1, but they have never met on grass.

(source: Ordina Open, photos: Getty Images)


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