The Women's Tennis Association has agreed to bring back byes to certain tournaments in 2009 in order to give players more time to rest between certain high-intensity events.

Rome is a 56-draw tournament followed by Madrid which is a 64-draw tournament. Similarly in the fall, Tokyo is a 56-draw tournament followed by Beijing. Several players were concerned there was too many matches in too few days.

The WTA responded by reintroducing byes for semifinalists in Rome and Tokyo, so that they can play one match less and have more time to rest. (source: Reuters)

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Dinara Safina powered to her fourth title of the season with a solid 6-1 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Powerful Safina, seeded fourth, lost only one game in her Tokyo semifinal against Nadia Petrova, and in the championship match against Kuznetsova she took the first set giving away only one game. A third break in the second set sealed the victory.

In addition to this year’s titles in Berlin, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Tokyo, the 22-year-old Safina has been in three other finals, including Roland Garros and the Beijing Olympics. The fifth-seeded Kuznetsova, on the other hand, didn’t manage to win her first title of the season and lost in a final for the fourth time.

Safina currently sits at a career-high of number five in the world and is projected to move to spot number three in the rankings.

Safina will collect $196,900 for the win at this Tier I tournament, while Kuznetsova earned $105,800. (photo via Yahoo)

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Marion Bartoli and Nadia Petrova made sushi while in Tokyo for the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Read more »

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Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina both claimed comfortable straight-set wins to advance into the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The fourth-seeded Safina won her first in six matches against Nadia Petrova and the score was more than impressive, 6-1 6-0. With the victory, in-form Safina moved into her seventh Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final of the year.

Kuznetsova, the fifth seed, beat Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik 7-6(5) 6-2. Kuznetsova, who recently lead Russia to a win over Spain in the Fed Cup final, started slowly before taking the first set, but at 2-2 in the second, she won four straight games to win the match.

Safina will be bidding for her fourth title of 2008 (after Berlin, Los Angeles and Montreal), and Kuznetsova for her first. (photos: Getty Images)

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Top seed Jelena Jankovic’s chance of reclaiming the number one ranking has been ruined as she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Third seed Elena Dementieva, Olympic gold medalist and the latest player to qualify for the prestigious season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, was upset by Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Jankovic started well against the fifth-seeded Russian but eventually went down 2-6 7-5 7-5. Had she went all the way to the Tokyo title, Jankovic would have overtaken Serena Williams in the rankings.

Dementieva, the winner in Tokyo two years ago, failed to keep an early lead before going down to qualifier Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3 6-4. Srebotnik earned her fourth Top 10 win of the year.

Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also lost in a day of upsets, falling to Russia's Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-0. Fourth seed Dinara Safina of Russia was the best-ranked player to remain after beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2.

Semifinal pairs: Kuznetsova vs Srebotnik, Safina vs Petrova. (photos: Getty Images)

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