Jankovic beats Cetkovska in Dubai

Jelena Jankovic Jelena Jankovic enjoyed a straightforward victory over Petra Cetkovska, 6-2 6-2 in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships.  In truth, Jankovic was not tested by Cetkovska, who hit 10 double faults throughout the lacklustre 73-minute contest.  The most exciting moment was when the umpire, Mohammed Layani called Jelena “Mr Jankovic”…

WTA Dubai Preview

Victoria Azarenka The women move from Doha to Dubai this week to contest the Dubai Duty Free Championships.  The draw has been downgraded this year from 56 players to 28 as Doha and Dubai have swapped over in the calendar.  To be honest, I completely lost interest in the Doha tournament which featured few entertaining…

Azarenka and Stosur to play Doha final

Victoria Azarenka and Sam Stosur will play out the final of the Qatar Open in Doha after both won their semi-finals on Saturday.  Azarenka won a dramatic semi-final as she overcame an injury to beat Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 6-4 in a somewhat more straightforward match than their previous encounters.  It was interesting to see Radwanska…

Stosur gains revenge over Cirstea in Doha

Sam Stosur The second round matches in Doha saw the exodus of the seeds as a stunning seven seeded players crashed out of the competition.  Sam Stosur was one of the rare few to advance with a hard fought 6-4 7-6 victory over Sorana Cirstea.  Stosur lost her first round match at the Australian Open…

Pavlyuchenkova woes continue in Doha

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova‘s terrible start to 2012 continued as she suffered a 1-6 6-2 6-3 loss to Ksenia Pervak in the first round of the Qatar Open in Doha.  Pavlyuchenkova actually started the match well racing through the first set and boasting solid stats on serve winning 69% of 1st serve points and 78%…

WTA Doha Preview

Victoria Azarenka Victoria Azarenka tops the bill for this week’s Qatar Open in Doha.  This is the first main event in quite sometime where Caroline Wozniacki does not headline the draw.  She is the number two seed and is joined by Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, Vera Zvonareva, Francesca Schiavone and Jelena Jankovic as…

Barthel and Wickmayer set for rematch in Paris

Yanina Wickmayer I am running out of superlatives to describe Mona Barthel as she continued her mightily impressive streak with another convincing win on Thursday.  Barthel won the last nine games of her match with Pauline Parmentier to win 6-3 6-0 and storm into the quarter-finals where she will play Yanina Wickmayer.  Wickmayer recorded a…