Azarenka and Schiavone first players into semi's

As eight becomes four at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Thursday, with Victoria Azarenka the first player to book her spot into the semifinals of the $2-million Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament.

Azarenka, seeded No.8, ended the run of American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, winning five consecutive games from 1-2 in the first set and six straight from 0-1 in the second set for a 6-2 6-1 win. Azarenka has now gone one round better than in her debut appearance here last year, where she was a quarterfinalist.

"I played her in an exhibition match in the summer, so I knew a little bit about her," Azarenka said of Vandeweghe. "She has a big serve, plus she had won a lot of matches here, so I knew it would be tough. My game plan worked well today. She started very well in the beginning but I was able to focus and be aggressive and I'm really excited to be in my first semifinal here in Tokyo."

Next for Azarenka will be either No.1 seed Caroline Wozniacki or No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who played later in the day.

Vandeweghe, just 18 and ranked No.172, was playing her second career quarterfinal, having made it to the final eight at San Diego in the summer. She had upset No.14 seed Aravane Rezai en route to her match-up with Azarenka.

Francesca Schiavone, the No.5 seed, was the second player into the semifinals, outlasting Kaia Kanepi in a tight three-setter, 7-5 4-6 7-5. Schiavone missed a crosscourt backhand on her first match point at 5-4 but closed the match out two games later, finishing it on a big serve that drew a Kanepi return into the net. The marathon match lasted three hours and nine minutes.

Next for Schiavone will be either No.2 seed Vera Zvonareva or No.7 seed Elena Dementieva, who played the last match of the day.

Caroline into quaters and Doha.

Caroline Wozniacki stormed into the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open as well as into the field of the WTA Championships, making her the first into the singles field of the season-ender in Doha.

Wozniacki, the No.1 seed in Tokyo, had never dropped a set to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and that trend continued on Wednesday evening, as she routed the No.16 seed in an hour and 10 minutes, 6-1 6-2.

After a year that has seen her win four Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles and the US Open Series, as well as reach a career-high ranking of No.2, the 20-year-old Wozniacki qualified for Doha for the second consecutive year.

"It feels really good to qualify for the WTA Championships in Doha. I'm really happy I'm in the Top 8 and also I've qualified first, which is a special feeling," Wozniacki said after her win in Tokyo. "At the beginning of the year I was just hoping to qualify; it's great to reach one of my goals for this year."

Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik became the second doubles team to qualify for Doha later in the day, after Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta had already booked their spot in the four-team event this summer.

"Caroline and the team of Kveta and Katarina have had terrific seasons, highlighted by a series of titles," said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Tour. "Caroline's 2010 accomplishments have brought her to a career high ranking of No.2 and Kveta and Katarina are headed to Doha as a team for the first time in their careers. All three of these players are terrific ambassadors for the sport and I congratulate them on qualifying for the WTA Championships."

And the race to the Championships from Tokyo now gets less complicated and here it is:

Vera Zvonareva
reaches semifinals OR
Victoria Azarenka does not reach final AND neither Dementieva nor Radwanska wins title

Serena Williams
Victoria Azarenka does not reach final AND
Dementieva does not win title

Kim Clijsters
Victoria Azarenka does not reach final AND
Dementieva does not win title

Venus Williams
Victoria Azarenka does not reach semifinals AND
Dementieva does not reach final AND
Radwanska does not win title

Vera gets first win at Pan Pacific Open.

Playing her first match since her magical run to the US Open final, Vera Zvonareva was impressive in her opening match of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, dispatching Sara Errani in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.

Zvonareva was 0-2 at the Premier tournament, but as the No.2 seed this time there are more expectations and she shouldered them well on Tuesday, scoring her third win in as many career meetings with the feisty Italian.

In her two previous appearances at this event, Zvonareva lost opening matches in 2007(to Samantha Stosur) and 2009 (to Alisa Kleybanova).

Also scoring wins on Centre Court during the day were Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva. Azarenka, the No.8 seed, improved to 5-0 in matches - and 10-0 in sets - against Lucie Safarova, 6-1 6-3, while Dementieva, seeded No.7, needed just 51 minutes to roll over Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-0 6-1.

"It was a nice and quick match," Dementieva said. "I played very aggressively and consistently the whole match. It's always good to get into a rhythm. There are a few big tournaments left so I want to play my best - no matter how well you do in the beginning of the year, it's always good to have a strong finish."

For the second straight day, rain forced the Centre Court roof to close and some matches to be sent indoors. "It has been tough not being able to practice because of the weather," Dementieva added. "All the girls were waiting hours for their matches, so I was lucky to play under the roof of Centre Court."

Kimiko Date Krumm continued her run while leading Daniela Hantuchova 2-6 6-0 4-0, when Daniela was forced to retire.

Samantha Stosur, Shahar Pe'er and Svetlana Kuznetsova were the only seeded players to fall.

Defending champion Sharapova sent packing by Date Krumm

One day shy of her 40th birthday Kimiko Date Krumm had ousted Defending champion and former world number 1 Maria Sharapova 7-5 3-6 6-3 at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

After being down 2-3, 0-40 with Sharapova serving in the 3rd set the Vetran went a roll infront of her home crowed and even served out the match to love, in two hours and nien minutes. The loss will also see Sharapova fall out of the top 20.

Date Krumm has proven that she is more than worthy of being a "come back queen" especily at the age of forty. When Date Krumm decided to return to the tour two years ago (aged 37 then) she wasn't given a "free pass" like the Hingis', Clijsters' and Henins of the world get, she had to work her way back, it was no Wild Cards and qualifying all the way for th three time grand slam semi finalist and even having to qualify for ITF tournaments, she was give very few Wild Cards to smaller tournaments because she was a "nobody" to the tennis world.

Date Krumm rose back to the top 100 after winning in South Korea last year. And scince then the former world number four's comeback gained momentum after her twelve year break from the game. This year she has started getting to the later stages of tournaments and taking down big names, including top 20 wins over Virginie Razzano and Nadia Petrova in Australia, Dinara Safina at Roland Garros, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova last week in Seoul and now Sharapova, currently ranked No.15 in the world.

Sharapova said, "It takes a lot to come back and Kimiko is extremely fit."

Next for Date Krumm is Daniela Hantuchova, who won her first round match on Sunday. Date Krumm leads her head-to-head against Hantuchova, 1-0.

Rain has plagued most of the Play at Tokyo so far today with only one other match played so far with Yaroslava Shvedova downing Korean Wild Card Kurumi Nara 4-6 6-2 6-1.

Maria survives 2nd set nerves to see off María

Li Na was forced to withdraw from the tournament before her match due to GI illness.

"My stomach felt terrible this morning. I was in a lot of pain and feeling very uncomfortable," Li, ranked No.12 in the world, said. "After my warm-up I was feeling even worse. I tried everything I could to play but unfortunately I was in too much pain. I want to apologize to all of my fans here in Tokyo. I always want to try my best for them here. I'm really hoping to come back next year."

Li was a semifinalist here last year: "I did well here last year and it's just so disappointing for me to have to pull out as I really wanted to put in a good performance this year. Hopefully I'll start feeling better in the next few days."

Li's opponent, Maria Kirilenko, instead played lucky loser María José Martínez Sánchez and won, 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1. Kirilenko looked headed for a straight set win as she built a 6-3 5-3 lead, even up 30-0 serving for the match at 6-3 5-4; she lost four points in a row from there, three on double faults, and eventually lost the set, but stormed through the decider to reach the second round.

No.16 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova edging Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5 7-5.

Kaia Kanepi, Daniela Hantuchova, Lucie Safarova, Alona Bondarenko, Andrea Petkovic, Olga Govortsova, Kateryna Bondarenko and qualifier Greta Arn also scored first round wins during the afternoon session.

Laura Robson to make first main draw appearance out of England.

Laura Robson reached the main draw of a WTA Tour event on foreign soil for the first time with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Romania’s Simona Halep, at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The 16-year-old Londoner, who beat world number 57 Anastasija Sevastova in the last round, sealed the win with a break in the final game of the decider.

Robson will play Greta Arn with the winner taking on Caroline Wozniacki.

Arn qualified for the tournament proper with a 6-0 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 defeat of British number one Elena Baltacha.

Robson made up a deficit of 127 ranking places in beating world number 100 Halep, but Baltacha found Arn in uncooperative mood once again.

Balata is ranked 56 places above the world number 106, but had succumbed in both their previous meetings, most recently in qualifying in Rome earlier this season.

World number 41 Jarmila Groth also failed to make her way into the tournament proper after 18-year-old Coco Vandeweghe of the United States won their encounter 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

World number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from the tournament, which begins on Sunday, as she continues to recover from a foot injury, but the field remains very strong.

World number two Wozniacki is the top seed with US Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva, world number six Jelena Jankovic, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and defending champion Maria Sharapova among the entrants.

In the Korea Open in Seoul, Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic advanced to the final as top seed Nadia Petrova retired from the opening set of their semi-final with the score at 4-5.

The unseeded Zakopalova will play Alisa Kleybanova in the final after the Russian overcame Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-3 6-2.

Serena pulls out of China, still likely to qualify for Year End Championships.

Serena Williams may have only played in six tournaments this year but she still looks good to qualify for Doha, even after now pulling out of the China Open.

These are the following senarios that could see six playaers qualify after Tokyo;
Caroline Wozniacki
- needs to reach quarterfinals OR Azarenka does not win title
Vera Zvonareva
- needs to reach semifinals OR Azarenka does not reach final and neither Dementieva, Li, Peer, Radwanska nor Petrova (if reaches Seoul final) wins title
Samantha Stosur
- needs to win title
Serena Williams
- Azarenka does not reach final AND neither Li nor Dementieva wins title
Kim Clijsters
- Azarenka does not reach final AND neither Li, Dementieva nor Petrova (if wins Seoul title) wins title
Venus Williams
- will qualify unless one of following three things happens:
i) Azarenka reaches semifinals
ii) Li or Dementieva reaches final
iii) Radwanska, Peer, Sharapova, Rezai or Petrova wins title.

How ever, According to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, in Serena’s absence from both Asian events, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva both have a mathematical chance of seizing the No.1 spot, but not until the week of the Beijing tournament (4-10 October). The 19-year-old Dane, runner-up at the US Open last year, will have three opportunities to become the first Dane to be ranked No.1 in the world: if she wins Beijing (regardless of her result in Tokyo), if she reaches the semi-finals or better in Tokyo and the final in Beijing, or, if she wins Tokyo and makes the quarter-finals or better in Beijing.

In the event that Wozniacki does not achieve either of the three scenarios, should Zvonareva win both titles, or reach the final in Tokyo and win the Beijing tournament, she will overtake Serena as the world No.1.

If Serena were to retain top spot and qualify for Doha, I think it shows how Dominate she is, even in playing just six tournaments.

Serena Williams withdraws from Pan Pacific Open.

Tennis fans in Japan will have to wait at least one more year before they can see Serena Williams in action, after she has not returned to Tokyo after her 2002 title.

Williams has withdrawn from the Toray Pan Pacific Open, set to begin next week at Ariake Tennis Forest Park in Tokyo, due to her ongoing recovery from surgery on her right foot two months ago. It has been eight years since the 28-year-old Williams last played in Japan.

The number-one ranked women’s tennis player cut her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant in Munich on 7 July and has not played since. Immediately after the incident, Williams received stitches on her foot. It was about one week later when Williams underwent surgery on a lacerated tendon on her right foot 15 July in Los Angeles.

The odd injury forced the 13-time major champion to withdraw from every summer event she was scheduled to play in, including tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati, and Montreal. She did not participate in this year’s U.S. Open in New York City, where a controversial tirade aimed at a lineswoman during last year’s semi-final ended up costing her a spot in the final.

She said she still plans on playing in the Fed Cup final against Italy in November.

Her 13 major titles, which include five victories at the Australian Open and four at Wimbledon, ranks her sixth in career major victories. She won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, which upped her WTA career win total to 37.

Even though the tournament has lost its top draw, there is no shortage of top-tier players set to take the court. Second-ranked player Caroline Wozniacki, fourth-ranked Vera Zvonareva, and French Open champion Francesca Schiavone will all participate in the event. Maria Sharapova, who won the title last year, will be back to defend her title.

Kimiko keeps her winning steak at seoul.

A year ago, Kimiko Date Krumm hit the big time in her comeback, capturing her eighth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title here at the Hansol Korea Open. On Wednesday she kept that momentum going, winning her first round match against fellow Japanese Junri Namigata, 6-2 7-5.

Date Krumm, who won this title at age 38 last year, the second-oldest player ever to win a Tour title, started strongly, cruising through the first set and twice going up a break in the second set; Namigata broke back and eventually held for 5-4 but Date Krumm won 12 of the last 15 points to close it out.

"This is a lucky place for me that brought me another title last year, and I have lots of good memories," Date Krumm said. "I felt a lot of pressure coming here as defending champion, so I try to keep thinking I'm just the challenger."

Date Krumm was 38 years, 11 months and 30 days when she won here last year, second only to Billie Jean King, who won Birmingham in 1983 at 39 years, 7 months and 23 days. Date Krumm is now older than that, meaning should she win another title on the Tour, she would break that record.

"I have a lot of tournaments coming up and my goal this season is to stay in the Top 50," said Date Krumm, who has cracked the Top 50 since her comeback, but is just a bit down at No.51 this week. "I already made it to the Top 50, but I want to keep it. I want to be in the Top 50 on the season-ending rankings."

A wave of seeds passed their first tests earlier in the day too, with No.2 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova saving set point in the first set tie-break then easing past Anastasia Rodionova, 7-6(6) 6-1; No.3 seed Maria Kirilenko beating Urszula Radwanska handily, 6-3 6-1; No.4 seed María José Martínez Sánchez beating qualifier Hsieh Su-Wei, 7-6(3) 6-4; and No.6 seed Yaroslava Shvedova edging last year's runner-up Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4 7-5.

Paszek wins in Quebec City.

Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek made a forceful return to the winner's circle in Québec City Sunday afternoon, edging Bethanie Mattek-Sands for her second career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title.

Paszek, a former No.35 who had to make it through qualifying this week on account of her current No.151 ranking, didn't drop a set en route to the final and showed she could still play big time tennis on Court Bell, saving two set points in the first set and rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the third to win, 76(6) 26 75.

"It's overwhelming," said Paszek, who has ties with Canada - her father lived there for 15 years. "I'm extremely happy. Anytime you win a tournament for the first time it's very special. This is something I'll remember the rest of my life."

Paszek's 2009 was marred by injury, and at only 19 she is trying to work her way back up. She is projected to return to the Top 100 after this. "I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me during tough times last year.

"I always believed I could come back."

Paszek is now 2-1 in career finals, also winning in Portoroz as a 15-year-old in 2006. She was a runner-up to Patty Schnyder at Bali in 2008.