Jodi's Epic Tennis Adventure 2.4 - Rain, Rain, Go Away

There are few things more miserable and frustrating than being on a grounds pass on a rainy day at a tennis tournament - particularly when you've packed for blistering heat. Today was a soggy start to the Australian Open, and I was right there in the middle of it, getting soaked. Both Hisense and Rod Laver arenas had their lids on... but outside, there was nowhere to go. Suffice to say that I am pretty sure I am wet through to the bone and would not be surprised if I started developing mildew.

This said, a lot of tennis still happened and it was all very exciting - the upset of the day being the epic takedown of MaSha by MariKiri. I saw bits and pieces of this match on the big screen (read - hiding under the nearest umbrella) and I think it really was a mercy killing by MariKiri. Sharapova's dress looked like a peacock had spewed all over it. No one needs that kind of fashion disaster in their life.

I'm sure the organisers had their hearts in their throats after that match went for, like, several centuries... having flashbacks to the night they finished at 4am! But no, everything else on Rod Laver Arena was very straightforward - straight sets, in fact. Clijsters polished off Random Canadian Whose Name I Can't Remember, Murray completely humiliated Kevin Anderson and, in the night session (f0r which I was inside) Rafa Nadal scored a straight sets win over a competitive Peter Luczak and Jelena Dokic fell to Alisa Kleybanova.

Let's talk night sesh, actually, given as I was, you know, inside for it. First off, men's match first = BEST IDEA EVER. I loved it. The scoreline of the first match might look like it was all Rafa, but I think Luczak has a lot to be proud of in this match. He really troubled Rafa, particularly in the first set, and he returned like a demon. He didn't let Rafa pin him in the corner (to paraphrase Roger, he didn't let him 'go to my backhand, and then with the forehand, forehand, forehand, and when I'm all the way back here, he goes down the line'.) His game matches up relatively well with Rafa's, I think... it's just that Rafa's - well, he's Rafa.

I've always nursed some Rafa love, but after the Hit For Haiti - 'you serve this one - I have no confidence!' - I'm having a Rafa renaissance. And he took his shirt off a lot. Rafa Nadal: break me off a piece of that.

On that subject, Jelena Dokic totally picked the wrong Bikic brother. The coach, Borna? Smokin' like a steam train. That's all I'm saying.

Dokic herself seemed to be a little out of spirits tonight - she had pretty negative looking body language right from the start of the match and Kleybanova came out all guns blazing. There was a glimpse of the Dokic from last year towards the end of the second set, and she hit some sweet winners, but I can't help feeling her heart wasn't in it. Oh well. Next year, Jelena.

I did actually catch some tennis round the grounds during the day as well, in the four seconds it wasn't raining. Watch out for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - I saw a fair bit of her match against Sevastova, and she was looking awesome. Big kudos also to Ivo Karlovic, for toughing out an epic against Radek Stepanek, and to Yanina Wickmayer, for doing the same over Alexandra Dulgheru. Bernard Tomic also had a good win, though sixteen year old Jason Kubler lost - but it was his first ATP match ever, so whatevs. And my favourite around-the-grounds result today - a match so fun to watch that I stood there for a set, transfixed? Andrey Golubev over Mardy Fish in four.

This is a big win for Golubev, who is rising up through my 'favourite players' list like a rocket. He's in Rafa's little section of the draw - I think they could potentially meet third round - and given the insane goodness of Andrey right now, Rafa could be in for a fight. Just as he was in Perth, Golubev was ripping winners like a crazy person. He started slow after the first rain delay, leading to him losing the second set, but when he found his range... bam. BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM. Watch this guy. He has 'I will upset big name players' written all over him.

But the grounds pass is really all about the practice courts. Everyone knows this. And who somehow managed to book the 1 o'clock slot, the one slot where it miraculously did not rain a drop? Why, that would be Roger Federer. And who had an excellent spot, right up against the rail on the baseline? Why, that would be me.

Soderling was due to practice after Federer, and as Roger was finishing up, I could see the Yoker warming up behind the fence - his little Soderhead bobbing up and down as he ran. He has a weird, weird warmup. There was skipping. That's all I'm saying. And then the second he stepped on court... bam. Heavens opened. No practice for Robin.

Just for Batman. (Sorry, I had to).

More from the hopefully less wet Aussie Open tomorrow!

Living on the Ceiling

Rain delay, rain delay, more rain delay.

Sigh.

You know what, USTA? Get a frigging roof!

If I were Rafa Nadal or Fernando Gonzalez I would be mighty pissed off right about now. Whichever one of them manages to get through to the final - Rafa, I would be betting - will have to play three consecutive days. (If one gets through to the final, that is - JMDP might have something to say about that). To sit around waiting for this amount of time and then playing in the tiny breaks between the rain delays puts them at a mammoth disadvantage. And what if the rain continues for a couple of days? We could be here well into next week.

I feel sorry for the women too - particularly Wozniacki and Wickmayer, who would have suffered the ignominy of being moved to Grandstand if the rain had let up - but at least they're all equally disadvantaged. Federer and Djokovic will have a huge amount of rest leading into their semi, and will probably be able to carry that over to the final. JMDP will certainly be more rested than his opponent. Add to which the tournament hassle and the spectator disappointment and all the other badness that comes along with inclement weather...

...which could be saved if they'd just get themselves a frigging roof.

Sure, it's a huge investment. Sure, the US Open is an outdoor tournament - but so is the Aussie Open, and the roof is the best damn thing they ever did. And guess what, US Open: what's good enough for Wimbledon is good enough for you!

The Boss Is Back

Excuse me for a moment while I say AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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Ah, vengeance is very, very sweet. That match felt damn good. I wished Channel Nine here would replay it, though... it was on at one in the morning here, so I only caught a little. And now it's raining, so surely they could show it again? I mean, who wouldn't want to see Roger Federer rubbing Novak Djokovic's nose in 'the king is dead, long live the king'? Oh, that was sweet. Get used to it, Novak - because the king ain't laid up no more. Daddy's home.

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I will say this for Djokovic - he didn't retire, which was a very pleasant surprise. It was nice to see Roger actually win, to have that moment of victory. Oh, how I loved that moment of victory. It was like Christmas. Now all we need is for the Fed to bring it all to the court tomorrow, and I think he's going to walk away with it, no matter who he faces. He's better than Murray, hands down - Murray might take a set, and it might even go to five, but experience will get Roger through in the long run. And if Rafa gets through, he's going to have to play at least two and a half sets of tennis tomorrow before he even begins, on already tired legs. So have fun with that one, Rafa - but even though Rafa has a break in the third, you have to like Murray for this match. I mean, he has a two sets to love lead. That has to count for something.

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But back to Roger, because he played some beautiful, beautiful tennis that I would like to talk about. Let's start with his serve, because that was firing big time, and he really served himself out of trouble when he needed to. He opened with an ace, and that really set the tenor of the match for him. Usually there's a correlation between his serving and his forehand (hardly unusual) and he hit some absolute beauties today. Fifty-one winners in total, to only twenty-eight unforced errors. That is some TENNIS. That is championship-winning tennis.

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And how was that shot he hit past Djokovic so fast that Djokovic didn't even have time to raise his racquet? That was the match for me. Djokovic won a set, sure, but Federer basically just steamrolled him when it got to crunch time. I like this steamroller incarnation of the Mighty Fed. I hope he shows up more often.

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And Federer was coming in to net as well, which is a play I like from him - he didn't come in as often as Djokovic, actually, but he made something of it most of the times he did. And twenty aces to one double fault... nice one, Roger. Gush gush.

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Djokovic clearly did not play his best match ever - he had forty-three winners to forty-seven unforced errors, which is a bad ratio, especially when your opponent's ratio is so good. It may have been one set all at a point, but at no point did Djokovic ever look like winning. And that is the kind of domination I like to see from Roger Federer.

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Sorry, this must really be nauseating. But after Australia, and the horrible semi-final at Melbourne Park, this is just so sweet. Roger showed Novak who the boss really is - and Djokovic can claim as mnay injuries as he likes, but he still got his arse comprehensively kicked. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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It's going to be interesting to see how that work out the scheduling of all this - are they going to push the men's final back a day? Or will they finish the Nadal/Murray semi and then do the men's final in the same day? And what happens if it keeps raining? I mean, it is a tropical storm, yeah? And they don't just go away overnight. Surely they can't just abandon the tournament - if it becomes clear that there's going to be no outdoor play, is there an indoor venue they can move to? Not that it's the same as playing on Arthur Ashe, but the match has to get played sometime before next year's tournament...

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-2

The Good Ship Rafa

Well, the good ship Rafa seems to be on course. I wouldn't call it a demolition - not with Rafa, who knows all about demo jobs - but he pretty handily dismantled Jesse Levine. I mean, Levine is hardly a top ten player, but a good player is a good player. Rafa's looking good. This is when he normally starts to fade off - but things have been different for the Raf this year, what with the - oh, don't make me say it - Wimbledon victory. Maybe he can keep it up. Who knows.

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I like Rafa, and I like him a lot, but I like Federer more, and so I'm hopinh against hope that the traditional fade starts to kick in. Not that Federer can't overcome Nadal, but it would be nice if Nadal sort of overcame himself. Rafa's got the winner of Andreev and Berdych in the next round - they're neck and neck in the third at the moment, so whoever it is might be a little tired, I suppose... but let's get real. If any tennis player is all fatigued after a three set match there's something a little amiss. In Slams I can understand if you back up on huge five setters - kind of like Djokovic (spit spit) in Wimbledon last year, with the Hewitt/Baghdatis double. Either Andreev or Berdych should give Rafa a better game than Jesse 'who?' Levine, methinks... though I still like Rafa to win. My bracket says so! Beware of Ferrer, remember. That's when the problems will start. Mark my words.

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And... watch Rafa go on to win the tournament. And he'll face Andreev in the third round, who just pulled it out over Berdych. Guess it's bye bye to blogger boy... he's not playing doubles, is he? But it is another victory for the Jodi Bracket!

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But things are looking up vis a vis my bracket. I mean, I still suck, but as we go a little deeper into the tournament, I'm getting better at picking. And you heard it here first - Cilic over Robredo. Did I not say that would happen? And did it not happen just as I said? That would be 6-3 6-4, wham, bam, thank you ma'am. The bracket is looking better. Jodi says Cilic is a Star of the Future. Watch him start to shine. That's my boy Marin. And my semi-final pick Soderling just upset Nando Verdasco. Maybe I'm not so dumb, eh?

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Actually, I did really well on the Davydenko/Blake quarter - I only got one wrong, where I picked Ancic over Dancevic... and then Djokovic beat Dancevic, going through to the third round, just as I predicted. Here's hoping I can keep up my good run.

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There's actually not a whole lot of matches to write about, as there was six hours of rain delay before play started. The meat of the matches are going on now as I write this, at about 9am Australian time. Still, it means I get to watch the scores (oh, what a treat) and feel like I'm at the cutting edge of tennis... at least until my boss gets here.

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Oh, before I go... kudos to my Russian boys. Dmitry and Marat are both looking good! Dmitry we knew was good, what with the Indy final last week, but Marat is always the question mark. Querrey is a dangerous player, and Marat took care of business in straight sets like a real champ. And speaking of dangerous players, Dima just took out Feliciano 'Fidgiano' Lopez in straight sets! Davai, boys! And also to Dinara, who won her match in LA. See, look, women's tennis! I mention it... occasionally.

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Today's Results

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Rogers Cup (Toronto)

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Rafael Nadal def. Jesse Levine, 6-4 6-2

David Ferrer def. Robby Ginepri, 6-4 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Tommy Robredo, 6-3 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3 6-4

Marat Safin def. Sam Querrey, 6-3 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Frank Dancevic, 6-4 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 3-6 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 7-6 (8-6)

Richard Gasquet def. Alexandre Kudryavtsev, 7-5 6-3

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East West Bank Classic (Los Angeles)

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Dinara Safina def. Peng Shuai, 6-2 6-2

Ai Sugiyama def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 7-5

Victoria Azarenka def. Chan Yung-Jan, 6-1 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-1 3-6 6-1

Bethanie Mattek def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4 6-0

Sybille Bammer def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-3 7-5

Samantha Stosur def. Regina Kulikova, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5

Melanie South def. Petra Kvitova, 6-4 6-2

Melinda Czink def. Olga Savchuk, 6-4 2-6 6-4

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Banka Koper Slovenia Open (Portoroz)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Karolina Sprem, 6-1 6-1

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-4 6-4

Petra Martic def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-3)

Vera Dushevina def. Katie O'Brien, 6-3 6-2

Stan the Man

So, on the whole, not so much tennis happened yesterday. While the rain was great yesterday, today it bit the big one as it delayed the start to an hour unsensible for Aussies. How dare it rain in France when I don’t want it to?

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As a result, the Nadal/Belluci match I was looking forward to never eventuated. Alas. You’d think that with three days for a first round instead of two it might all get done, but no. I’m beginning to have flashbacks of Wimbledon where, due to rain and a walkover, Federer basically didn’t have to play for a week. Great for my nerves but not so much for the tournament, I suspect!

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In lieu of the promised Nadal match, I followed Wawrinka/Kohlschreiber instead. Who knew Stan the man was good enough to break the top ten? I sure didn’t, till wham! There he was, the week after Rome. I was lucky enough to see him play when I was in Australia – I saw the first set of his first round match on Show Court 3, though I can’t for the life of me remember who he played! I knew then that Roger’s #2 was a good player, but I never would have guessed this top 10 thing. But ain’t no one can say he doesn’t deserve it!

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I suppose it shows just how close the guys in the middle of the pack are. You have Federer, Nadal and (unfortunately) Djokovic at the top, then you have your Davydenko, Ferrer, Roddick and Nalbandian, and then a clump of guys who are really, really close. Wawrinka jumped fourteen places by reaching the final in Rome – from #24 to #10, no less. That’s pretty remarkable. And those guys in the middle aren’t slouches. That’s where your Berdyches and Baghdatises and Youzhnys hang out.

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So, to sum up: Go Stan! You the man!

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Philipp Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, is always someone I’m underwhelmed by. I think I might be under the impression that he’s a better player than he actually is. He certainly has great potential and a wonderful backhand – anyone remember him knocking out Roddick in the third round of the Australian Open this year? Kohlschreiber is a good player, and I’m always surprised that he’s unseeded. The 32^nd seed at this tournament is Janko Tipsarevic and the 31^st is Andreas Seppi (both of whom lost in the first round, incidentally.) If you asked me to take a gamble in a Seppi/Kohlschreiber match or a  Tipsarevic/Kohlschreiber match, I’d take Kohlschreiber in either instance. But he is the lower ranked one.

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So, with my misguided impressions of Kohlschreiber, I was expecting a tight one yesterday. I expected Stan to come out on top, but I wouldn’t have been surprised to see it go to five. Instead, it had a very similar scoreline to the Federer/Querrey match. I was cheering for Stan, so I was glad he won, but I must say I felt a bit cheated.

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Like yesterday, there was another upset of an Argentinian seed – Soderling (who played extraordinarily well in World Team Tennis in Dusseldorf last week) took out Juan Monaco. Like Stan, Monaco is another one who has snuck up the rankings with me noticing. He was seeded #13 here. I thought the days when the Argentines were all up in the top 20 was gone with the demise of Coria and Gaudio and the fall of Nalbandian from #3 to #7ish. But no… although they aren’t exactly having the greatest Roland Garros this year.

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And, on a side note, I tuned into Radio Roland Garros for a bit before the start of play to find them interviewing Roger Rasheed… the genius (ahem) who believes that ‘tennis is about getting into the other guy’s kitchen.’ I’m unsure why he felt the need to elaborate ad nauseam about how he nearly punched out Florent Serra’s coach at Roland Garros ’06, but although I like tennis gossip, I could have lived quite happily without the Rasheed monologue there.

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Though speaking of gossip… Monfils and Cibulkova! Who knew?

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And can I just say… you know how everyone was all like, ‘oh my God, they’ve put Federer on Suzanne Lenglen instead of Philippe Chatrier! Mon dieu! Le slap in face!’ the other day? Well, it’s tournament policy that no one can play all seven matches on the same court… so you can bet Rafa will be out there for one of his matches (unless he loses against Belluci, but really, as if!) But where have they put Djokovic for tomorrow, hmmm? Court #1. Not even Lenglen. And to that I say… ahahahahaha!

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Roland Garros Results – Day #3

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Men’s Draw

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Nikolay Davydenko def. Thomasa Johansson, 6-3 6-3 6-3

Robin Soderling def. Juan Monaco, 6-2 6-3 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-4 6-3

Paul Capdeville def. Mischa Zverev, 6-1 6-4 6-2

Mario Ancic def. Andreas Seppi, 6-2 7-6 (7-1) 6-2

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Women’s Draw

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Amelie Mauresmo def. Olga Savchuk, 7-5 4-6 6-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-2 6-3

Dinara Safina def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-4 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 2-6 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Elena Vesnina, 3-6 6-4 6-0

Olivia Sanchez def. Jarmila Gajdosova, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (10-8)

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-4 5-7 6-2

Fairweather Fan?

I have to confess that I was selfishly glad that rain stopped play yesterday, as it was about 1am in the morning here in Australia, and although I was determined to follow the Nadal/Belluci match, the likelihood of me falling asleep would have been quite high. Now it will be on at a much more sane time for we Aussies.

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It will come to no surprise for anyone who read this blog over the Australian summer that I intend to devote a large part of this post to the Federer match, as he is my hero and all and I really, really want him to win. The matches aren't televised here, but I followed his match on Radio Roland Garros (to which I am terribly addicted) and was pretty pleased, overall. I can see how people might say it was a scratchy start - he certainly wasn't in GodMode - but really, he didn't need to be. Kudos to Querrey, who isn't really a claycourter, for staying with him for a good part of the match, but there really wasn't much doubt that the Fed was going to come out on top.

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The official Roland Garros website's roundup of the match refers to Federer as 'in-form' and it's nice that he's finally getting some recognition. His first half of the season has certainly been lacklustre by his standards, but hey! what with the mononucleosis and all, who can blame him. I've seen some of his clay matches this season - that semi in Monte Carlo against Djokovic comes to mind - and I think I can honestly say that this is the best I have ever seen him play on clay. Sure, he didn't win Hamburg by beating Nadal like he did last year, but I really don't think that's the huge psychological blow people are saying it is. Actually, I think Federer might have been hiding his real game - he played very differently in that final to the way he played all week. And even then, if he had managed to hold out in that first set, then he would have won the match in straights. Rafa is the greatest dirtballer in the world, sure - maybe even ever - but Roger's pushing him, I think. And for that, I am glad.

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Speaking of Rafa, I am torn between wanting a throwdown semi between him and Djokovic and wanting Djokovic to get knocked out embarassingly early. It is no secret that Djokovic is potentially my least-liked tennis player - I never thought I'd see the day that someone who overtake Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray in that standing, but it has arrived. He had a scratchy start against Gremelmayr yesterday, and, even though he won Rome and reached the semis here last year, has hardly established himself as a force to be reckoned with on clay.

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No one can doubt the prowess of Djokovic as a player - he deserved his Australian Open win - but his personality leaves a lot to be desired. It is understandable that he wants to be #1 - who wouldn't? - but the lack of respect he shows for Federer is criminal. (Did anyone else get a surge of glee when Federer told Djokovic's abrasive family to 'be quiet, okay?' in that semi at Monte Carlo.) This is one reason, actually, that I'd like to see a semi between Nadal and Djokovic. Djokovic is always going on about he's going to be #1 and be better than Federer, and he totally forgets about Nadal. There is no one in the history of tennis that has been a more dominant #2 than Rafa. It was great to see Rafa lay the beatdown on him in Hamburg. It is time that Rafa taught Djokovic some respect.

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The upset of the day yesterday was obviously Willy Canas's loss to Wayne Odesnik. I can't say much about the match as I didn't see it, but I'm not sure what happened there. Willy must've just had an off day, I guess... especially in the breakers! Odesnik is hardly one of the dangerous young guns - whereas Schwank, who took out Moya yesterday, obviously is. And speaking of upsets, I thought Venus Williams was a goner for sure in her match against Obziler. She dug herself out of it, but it was tight. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Venus has ever won the French... and I don't think she ever will. (The Roland Garros website would have you believe that Jankovic had a scare too, but that is melodramatising a bit, I think. That 12-10 final set against Paszek in Australia? That was a scare. Not a straight sets victory.) However, the US is doing better than last year, in the men's at least... anyone else remember that 0 from 9 last year?

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And speaking of nations doing poorly, how 'bout them French? I mean, the ones that are still there are doing okay - Florent Serra and Michael Llodra, for example - but Tsonga out? And Grosjean? And now Gasquet? It ain't so good. I hope the break will be good for Richou at least, of whom I am quite fond... he has semifinal points to defend at Wimbledon, so I hope he gets his head back in the game by then. And if there is going to be a Marcos at this year's Roland Garros, it's not going to be Jo-W this time... or, indeed, Marcos, who got knocked out by Simone Bolelli today. (Although considering it was his first claycourt match of the season, I'm hardly surprised.)

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And can I just say how much I love Radio Roland Garros? Infinitely preferable to the commentators we had in the Australian tennis summer (Jim Courier excepted - he's a champion.) No one has mentioned kitchens yet, and for that I am very glad! It was interesting to hear them talk about David Nalbandian, actually... they agreed that he is the most unpleasant man to interview on the ATP circuit. I always enjoy hearing the gossipy little details like that... often it reinforces my own assumptions! The commentator in Monte Carlo commentating the Federer/Djokovic match said that there was little love lost between them, to which my response was 'ha! I knew it!' I would love to know more about this... about who is friends with whom and who sits alone in the player restaurant because no one likes them. Sometimes tennis gossip is more interesting than tennis itself!

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And finally, poor Robert Smeets. It wasn't a happy day for the Aussies yesterday - Guccione went out as well - but he got pounded by Berdych. That can't have been a happy moment.

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Roland Garros Results - Day 2

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Sam Querrey, 6-4 6-4 6-3

Florent Serra def. Santiago Giraldo, 6-4 6-3 6-2

Tommy Robredo def. Guillermo Coria, 5-7 6-4 6-1 6-4

Michael Llodra def. Olivier Patience, 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5

Simone Bolleli def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-2 6-4 6-2

Nicholas Devilder def. Chris Guccione, 6-4 6-1 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Sergio Roitman, 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Tomas Berdych def. Robert Smeets, 6-1 6-0 6-0

Oscar Hernandez def. Ivo Minar, 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5

Wayne Odesnik def. Guillermo Canas, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8)

Hyung-taik Lee def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-4 6-4 6-3

Marcel Granollers def. Michael Berrer, 6-3 3-6 6-2 6-3

Pablo Andujar def. Filippo Volandri, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-3 6-3

Fernando Gonzalez def. Pablo Cuevas, 6-3 6-3 6-1

Fernando Verdasco def. Santiago Ventura, 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-1

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Women's Draw

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Venus Williams def. Tzipora Obziler, 6-3 4-6 6-2

Jelena Jankovic def. Monica Niculescu, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

Jelena Pandzic def. Severine Bremond, 4-6 6-3 6-2

Patty Schnyder def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-3 6-4

Emilie Loit def. Yan Zi, 1-6 6-4 8-6

Gisela Dulko def. Sara Errani, 6-4 4-6 7-5

Agnes Szavay def. Ayumi Morita, 6-1 4-6 6-4

Karin Knapp def. Martina Muller, 6-0 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Maria-Emilia Salerni, 6-1 6-1

Timea Bacsinszky def. Tamira Paszek, 1-6 6-3 6-3

Petra Cetkovska def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-3 6-0