Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20

photo credit: twocentsworth

Pictured above is the centre court in Dubai. This post is the 1st in a series that aims to make it much easier for you to find what you are looking for on this tennis website.

In order for you to find out more about what you are interested in or are searching for, we will supply all of the links within this single post that are related to one particular topic.

Today’s topic is the 2010 Dubai Women’s Tennis Championships.

When future information about the Dubai Women’s Tennis Championships is added to this tennis website it will be continually updated on this directory page. Add this page to your favourites to make coming back here EASY!

If there is anything further you would like to know about please email to info@oncourtadvantage.com.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Andres Gomez. Gomez was born on this day in 1960 and is from Ecuador. He won 1 Grand Slam singles title when he defeated Andre Agassi to win the 1990 French Open. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.4 on 11 June 1990.

Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31

photo credit: Johnny Jet

The picture above was taken in Melbourne of the centre court (named the Rod Laver Arena), where the Australian Open is held each year. Green, blue, green are the colours of the sign and interestingly, the courts used to be green and now they are blue. The pattern of the sign hints that the courts may become green again.

This post is the 2nd in a series that aims to make it much easier for you to find what you are looking for on this tennis website. In order for you to find out more about what you are interested in, or what you are searching for, all of the relevant links will be supplied in this single post about one particular topic.

Today’s topic is the 2010 Australian Open.

When future information about the Australian Open Tennis Championships is added to this tennis website it will be continually updated on this directory page. Add this page to your favourites to make coming back here EASY!

If there is anything further you would like to know about please email to info@oncourtadvantage.com.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt was born on this day in 1981 andhas won 2 Grand Slam singles titles thus far. The Australian won the 2001 US Open and the 2002 Wimbledon Championship. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.1 on 19 November 2001.

WTA Tour Champion 2009: Oct 27-Nov 1

photo credit: Hulivili

Pictured above is Elena Dementieva moving forward to attack on the centre court in Doha. This post is the 3rd in a series that aims to make it much easier for you to find what you are looking for on this tennis website.

In order for you to find out more about what you are interested in or are searching for, we will supply all of the links within this single post that are related to one particular topic.

Today’s topic is the 2009 WTA Tour Championships in Doha. When future information about the Women’s World Championships i.e. the end of year championship play-offs is added to this tennis website it will be continually updated on this directory page. Add this page to your favourites to make coming back here EASY!

If there is anything further you would like to know about please email to info@oncourtadvantage.com.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Michael Chang. Chang was born on this day in 1972. The American won 1 Grand Slam singles title. He is the youngest ever male player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Chang won the 1989 French Open when he was 17 years old. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.2 on 9 September 1996.

Dubai Women’s Singles Final

photo credit: Carlos Andrés Restrepo

The 2010 Dubai Women’s Tennis Championship capped off a great tournament with a top women’s singles final to continue its run of going from strength to strength. Venus Williams played one of the best matches of her career to win Dubai for the 2nd straight year.

Dubai is one of the most important and prestigious tournaments for the year on the WTA Tour because it is a Premier FIVE event. Venus earned 900 WTA ranking points which is the same as a Grand Slam singles semi finalist earns and more prize money (350,000 US dollars), than she would by making the semi finals of the Australian Open.

The 29 year old American came out very determined to claim her 42nd WTA Tour singles title which moves her 1 ahead of Justine Henin. Venus is now No.1 in women’s tennis in terms of holding more singles titles than any other active player. Venus also posted another victory for the established champions against the young stars of the game.

Victoria Azarenka won the toss and not surprisingly chose to receive in the ensuing battle of the Venus Serve versus the Azarenka Return of Serve. In the 1st set both players went toe to toe trying to establish the upper hand in being the 1st player to go on the offensive and dictate the points. Throughout this match the standard of play was very high and the variety of play and attacks were great to see. The 1st 4 games saw the match levelled at 2-2.

Venus broke Azarenka in the 6th game after she successfully challenged a line call which the replay verified that it was a double fault. After taking 3 games in a row to lead 5-2 Azarenka then held serve for 5-3 forcing Venus to serve for the 1st set.

The 1.85m Venus prevailed in the 1st set with her consistently big serving to limit Azarenka to just one break point opportunity for the entire set. This chance came for the 20 year old Belarussian when Venus was serving for the 1st set. Venus won the key points in the set by saving that break point against her and converting 1 of 2 break point opportunities against her opponent’s serve.

After taking the 1st set 6-3 Venus immediately broke Azraenka in the 1st game of the 2nd set and kept that advantage until 3-2. From this point on both players were neck and neck as Azarenka broke back to even the set at 3-3. Azarenka showed that she has taken some steps in the right direction in terms of fighting harder and not free falling when her opponent has a good grip on the match.

At 5 games all Venus broke Azarenka to serve for the Championship at 6-5. Venus held 2 championship points at 40-15. Azarenka saved the 1st with an overhead winner then saved the 2nd with a power cross court forehand winner. On her 3rd championship point Venus triumphed to take the set and match 7-5.

Venus was able to break the serve of Azarenka on 3 occasions from her 4 break point opportunities whereas Azarenka only breaking Venus once and was limited to just 2 opportunities. The Venus Serve prevailed over the Azarenka Return of Serve.

The absolute FOCUS and tremendous early preparation by both Williams sisters was evident once again and really allowed Venus to continually go on the offensive. This resulted in her finishing with more winners (29 clean winners), than unforced errors as opposed to Azarenka, who hit 8 winners to 18 unforced errors.

Pictured above is Azarenka a moment away from making contact with her serve during the 2010 Australian Open semi final against Serena Williams.

For further coverage of the 2010 Women’s Dubai Tennis Championships on this tennis website click this link -> Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20.

Dubai Women’s Semis & Final Preview

photo credit: emmettanderson

Dubai Women’s Singles Semi Final Results & Final Preview:

The 2010 Dubai Tennis Championship is coming to an end. The semi finals especially the 2nd semi final, were very entertaining matches as predicted (click here Dubai Women’s Results & Schedule), setting up a final not to be missed.

The 1st semi final was between No.3 seed and defending champion Venus Williams and the unseeded Shahar Peer of Israel. The 1st set was controlled by Venus due to a combination of her big serving, aggressive game and Peer trying to find her feet in one of her biggest matches of her career to date.

After Venus took the 1st set 6-1 Peer stepped up her intensity, played far more aggressively and really hustled to provide a great challenge to Venus. Venus had to show her champion qualities that have earned her 7 Grand Slam singles titles to edge out Peer for a 6-4 victory. Peer outplayed Venus in the 2nd set in all areas except for the serve, the big serves under pressure that Venus landed were the decisive factor.

In a fantastic display of all court tennis including a variety of shots, tactics and facets of play Azarenka went up 3-2 in her clashes with No.7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. The standard of play was high and only rose in the 2nd set with many points ending with clean winners including a number of key volleys. Azarenka won 6-3 6-4 by being able to break the serve of Radwanska on 3 occasions versus Radwanska only breaking Azarenka once.

Pictured above is Venus Williams playing her best shot - her serve. Venus has already begun launching herself up to the ball in this photo. Venus will be trying to win this year’s battle - the established champions versus the young brigade, who are looking to overthrow them in 2010.

The Dubai Women’s Singles Final to be played on 20 February is between (3) Venus Williams and (4) Victoria Azarenka and begins at 7pm Dubai time. Venus defeated Azarenka in their only previous meeting at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Azarenka defeated Serena Williams to win an even bigger title than Dubai last year, so definitely knows what it takes to win this final.

In what looks like a great match up on paper it promises to be a battle of who can dictate the points before their opponent does and whose greatest weapon is executed best. The Venus Serve versus the Azarenka Return of Serve.

In 2009 Venus finished in the top 10 performers on the WTA Tour in 5 of the 6 serving categories including rated No.1 in servive games won. Venus needs to have her big serves hit the mark on the crucial points to win Dubai.

In 2009 Azarenka finished No.1 in 3 of the 4 Return of Serve categories and finished No.3 in the final category. Azarenka will need to convert her break point opportunities because against the games leading players Azarenka tends to lose her service game at least once per set. Therefore, the 20 year old Belarussian must break Venus in each set to win this match.

Stay tuned to this tennis website for more coverage of the 2010 Women’s Dubai Tennis Championships and click this link for further information-> Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Hana Mandlikova. Mandlikova was born on this day in 1962 and is from the Czech Republic. She won 4 Grand Slam singles titles including the Australian Open in 1980 & 1987, the 1981 French Open and the 1985 US Open. She first achieved her highest career ranking of World No.3 on 16 April 1984.

Dubai Women’s Results & Schedule

photo credit: louistan

Dubai Women’s Singles News & Results:

The 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships now has the final two days of play to go. We are looking forward to great semi finals matches with all four semi finalists in top form.

The following is the quarter final draw, who they play next and which part of the draw they are in. Below you will find the seeded players whose names have a line drawn through them because they were defeated in that section of the draw.

In the top half of the draw only 2 of the 4 remaining players are seeded players and the other 2 are direct acceptances.

(1) Wozniacki Shahar Peer versus (8) Li Na
(3) Venus Williams versus (5) Dementieva Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

In the bottom half of the draw 3 seeds made it through plus a great performance by Russian qualifier and top 10 potential rising star Regina Kulikova who defeated No.2 seed Kuznetsova.

(6) Jankovic (12) Vera Zvonareva versus (4) Victoria Azarenka
(8) Agnieszka Radwanska versus (2) Kuznetsova (Q) Regina Kulikova

The women’s quarter final results were:

Peer defeated (8) Li Na 7-5 3-0 (Li retired with a lower back injury);
(3) Venus defeated Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-4
(4) Azarenka defeated (12) Zvonareva 6-1 6-3
(8) Radwanska defeated (Q) Kulikova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

The best match in the quarter finals was between (8) Radwanska and World No.98 Kulikova with Kulikova being very close to winning this match in the first 2 sets. Radwanska countered Kulikova’s over powering aggressive game by playing the ball earlier and successfully completing a number of moves in to the net with her great volleys.

Pictured above is Peer of Israel during the forward swing to make contact with the ball with her double handed backhand ground stroke. This year Peer was allowed to play this tournament and she is really fighting for her cause by defeating No.1 seed Wozniacki and now No.8 seed Li Na.

The United Arab Emirates denied Peer entry into the UAE just before the 2009 Dubai event in effect banning her from the event firing the fighting between the Middle East and Israel. Peer’s run to the semi finals will earn her 395 WTA ranking points which is her best result in the past 12 months and means she will break into the top 20 after this event.

The semi final matches to be played on 19 February are:

(1) Wozniacki Shahar Peer versus (3) Venus Williams

(4) Victoria Azarenka versus (2) Kuznetsova (8) Agnieszka Radwanska

The first semi final between Peer and Venus will play on court 2 at 2pm (Dubai time) and the 2nd semi final between Azarenka and Radwanska will be played in the evening session on centre court at 7pm.

The 29 year old defending champion Venus leads the 22 year old Peer 2 wins to love in their head to head battles. Whilst the 20 year old’s are tied at 2 wins each in their past encounters, with this match set to be their greatest clash and likely to be an indicator as to how 2010 pans out for Azarenka and Radwanska.

Azarenka has the edge in knowing she can win at this level as she proved by winning the 2009 Premier Mandatory tournament in Miami whereas Radwanska has not won a Premier Five or Premier Mandatory tournament title as yet. 2010 could easily be a great year with many career bests for Radwanska and Azarenka.

Stay tuned to this tennis website for more coverage of the 2010 Women’s Dubai Tennis Championships and click this link for more details -> Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Kafelnikov was born on this day in 1974. The Russian won 2 Grand Slam singles titles the 1996 French Open and the 1999 Australian Open. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.1 on 3 May 1999.

Dubai Women’s Results Update

photo credit: 墨尔本小强

Dubai Women’s Singles Results:

In the main draw of the women’s singles event at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships the 1st and 2nd round matches have been completed. In the 3rd round only the best 16 best players remain.

The best performed Wild Card is Flavia Pennetta of Italy and the best performed Qualifiers are Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Regina Kulikova of Russia, all of whom are still alive in the draw.

Pictured above is Li Na of China at the 2010 Australian Open where she defeated Venus Williams to make the semi finals to achieve her best Grand Slam singles result and her highest career ranking of No.10. Li Na is in full flight, so will make the semi finals and if she can go 3-0 up in head to head matches with Venus, will play off in the Dubai singles final.

The following are the remaining players in the draw, who they play next and which part of the draw they are in. Below you will find the seeded players whose names have a line drawn through them because they were defeated in that section of the draw.

In the top half of the draw only 4 of the 8 remaining players are seeded players and the other 4 are direct acceptances.

(1) Caroline Wozniacki versus (13) Wickmayer Shahar Peer
(11) Marion Bartoli versus (8) Li Na
(3) Venus Williams versus (14) Schiavone Olga Govortsova
(9) Stosur Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova versus (5) Dementieva Daniela Hantuchova

In the bottom half of the draw 6 seeds made it through, with two great performances by Qualifiers.

(6) Jelena Jankovic versus (12) Vera Zvonareva
(16) Zheng (Q) Anna-Lena Groenefeld versus (4) Victoria Azarenka
(8) Agnieszka Radwanska versus (10) Flavia Pennetta
(15) Petrova (Q) Regina Kulikova versus (2) Svetlana Kuznetsova

Stay tuned to this tennis website for more coverage of the 2010 Women’s Dubai Tennis Championships and click this link for more details -> Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20.

Today’s POST is dedicated to John McEnroe. McEnroe was born on 16 February in 1959, so he is now 50 years old! The American won 7 Grand Slam singles titles, 3 Wimbledon Championships (1981, 1983-84) and 4 US Open crowns (1979-81 & 1984) . He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.1 on 3 March 1980.

Dubai Schedule of Play & Seeding

photo credit: 水御龙神

The WTA Tour’s 2nd Major Tournament in 2010 is called the Dubai Tennis Championships. It is being held from Friday February 12 through to the final on Saturday February 20 at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Qatar in the United Arab Emirates .

In this post we will cover how the WTA Tour ranking points and prize money are allocated, the schedule of play, who the seeds are in Dubai and who they are seeded to meet in the round of 16. For further information on this tournament please click this link -> Dubai Women’s Major Tournament.

In Dubai’s 2nd year as a Premier Five tournament the amount of ranking points that can be won has been increased. The WTA ranking points and prize money (in US dollars), is awarded to the players in the following way:

The winner earns 900 points + $350,000;
The runner-up earns 620 points + $175,000;
The two semi finalists earn 395 + $87,500;
The four quarter finalists earn 225 + $40,000,
The 8 players who lose in the round of 16 earn 125 + $20,000;
The 16 players who lose in the 2nd round earn 70 + $10,275;
The 24 players who lose in the 1st round earn 1 point + $5,400.

The seeding and draw for the top 16 players, if they all win through to the round of 16 is:

(1) Caroline Wozniacki versus (13) Yanina Wickmayer
(11) Marion Bartoli versus (8) Li Na
(3) Venus Williams versus (14) Francesca Schiavone
(9) Sam Stosur versus (5) Elena Dementieva

…which is the match ups for the top half of the draw. In the bottom half of the draw, the players who are seeded to meet are:

(6) Jelena Jankovic versus (12) Vera Zvonareva
(16) Zheng Jie versus (4) Victoria Azarenka
(8) Agnieszka Radwanska versus (10) Flavia Pennetta
(15) Nadia Petrova versus (2) Svetlana Kuznetsova

The chances that all of 16 seeds will make it to the round of 16 are very slim. Follow the first two rounds to watch a number of the top seeds get knocked out!

The matches are played in a day session and an evening session. The day session begins at 12 noon in Dubai and the evening session begins at 7pm.

This schedule remains the same throughout except for the day session (ONLY on the final 3 days). The Quarter and Semi Finals day sessions begin at 2pm instead, whereas the Final is at 7pm.

Note: Hong Kong time is 4 hours ahead of Dubai so the Final will be at 11pm Hong Kong time. Please let us know if you need any further details about at what time YOU can see it AND on what channel.

The schedule of play for the main draw matches in Dubai on centre court is:

Sunday 14 February: 1st round;
Monday 15 February: 1st round;
Tuesday 16 February: 2nd round;
Wednesday 17 February: 3rd round or round of 16;
Thursday 18 February: Quarter Finals;
Friday 19 February: Semi Finals; and
Saturday 20 February: The Women’s Singles Final.

No.2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who is pictured above lost in her 1st match in Dubai last year so only earned 1 point. If the 24 year old Russian makes the final she will overtake current World No.2 to equal her career high ranking. Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina 6-4 6-2 in the 2009 French Open Women’s Singles Final.

Stay tuned to this tennis website for further information and results at Dubai through the remainder of the tournament. Click this link for more details -> Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20.

Dubai Women’s Major Tournament

photo credit: lolula

The 2nd Major Tournament on the WTA Tour in 2010 is Dubai. This year Dubai is called the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Dubai is one of the most important tournaments on the WTA Tour because it is one of only 5 Premier FIVE events.

To put it into perspective in terms of the world famous Grand Slam tournaments, the winner of Dubai is equivalent to making the semi finals of a Grand Slam singles event. For both achievements you would earn 900 WTA ranking points. Furthermore, to finish the year ranked in the Top 10, 900 points is more than one quarter of the total points that you would need.

Dubai has 2 million U.S. dollars up for grabs and is held from Friday February 12 through to the final on Saturday February 20 at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Qatar in the United Arab Emirates .

This year for the very first time in Dubai all 10 of the Top 10 women entered to compete for the Dubai Tennis Championships. Subsequently, Serena Williams and Dinara Safina had to withdraw with injury. This creates a great opportunity for World No.3 Caroline Wozniacki (pictured above), to achieve the World No.2 ranking for the very 1st time. Wozniacki will move to No.2 if she can make the final in Dubai. A 20 year old ranked No.2 would be another big plus for the future of women’s tennis.

The 2010 edition of the Women’s Dubai Tennis Championships is the 10 year anniversary for Dubai on the WTA Tour. Dubai commenced in 2001 and has really forged ahead ever since.

Dubai Duty Free made a landmark decision in 2005 to offer an unprecedented equal prize money for the women with a $1 million total for both the men and women. Dubai paved the way for the top tournaments like Wimbledon to follow and offer equal prize money.

Last year was the first time that Dubai was graded as a Premier FIVE tournament. Venus Williams won Dubai in 2009 by defeating Virgine Razzano of France 6-4 6-2 in the final. The American won 800 WTA ranking points for that victory whilst Razzano won 550 WTA ranking points as the runner-up.

Venus beat Serena Williams whilst Razzano defeated Kaia Kanepi in the 2009 semi-finals. The 2009 quarter finalists were Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Elena Vesnina and Ana Ivanovic.

The Honour Roll of Past Champions at Dubai is very impressive with Martina Hingis winning the inaugural event in 2001, Amelie Mauresmo in 2002, Lindsay Davenport in 2005 Elena Dementieva in 2008 and Venus Williams in 2009. Venus Williams will be aiming to join Justine Henin as the only multiple champion. Henin has won 4 Dubai titles: 2003-04 & 2006-07.

This year instead of a 64 player draw Dubai has 56 players in the singles main draw. Dubai is played on blue Deco-Turf II hard courts. There are 16 seeded players yet only the top 8 seeds have a BYE in the 1st round. Therefore 48 players play in the 1st round with the 24 winners joining the top 8 seeds in the round of 32.

The WTA rankings as of February 1, 2010 were used to determine the seeding of players and who would be accepted into the qualifying and main draws. There were 44 direct acceptances with the cut-off being World No.59 Tathiana Garbin of Italy. The cut-off is the ranking of the last player (lowest ranked player), who is directly accepted into the main draw.

There were 4 main draw wild cards awarded, two of which were given to players who are ranked high enough to be directly accepted into this event but only decided to play after the entry deadline. These 2 players were No.10 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy and World No.37 Maria Kirilenko of Russia. The final 2 wild cards were given to World No.69 Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland and World No. 277 Selima Sfar of Tunisia.

The cut-off for the qualifying draw was World No.156 Camille Pin of France. The were 32 players in the qualifying draw which meant that you needed to win 2 matches in a row to qualify.

The players who lost in the 1st round of qualifying won $1,500 US dollars whereas the players who lost in the 2nd round or ”Qualifying Round” won $2,900 US dollars. The name “Qualifying Round” comes from the fact that the players who win that round qualify for the main draw.

The 8 players who won through to qualify for the main draw in Dubai were; Ekaterina Makarova, Vesna Manasieva, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Chan Yung-Jan, Regina Kulikova, Anastasija Sevastova, Kirsten Flipkens and Alicia Molik.

This year there was also one spot in the draw for a Lucky Loser.This spot was awarded to a Lucky Loser because direct acceptance Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic had to withdraw due to flight problems. Alberta Brianti of Italy was awarded the Lucky Loser spot because she was the highest seeded player remaining who lost in the “Qualifying Round”.

Stay tuned to this tennis website for further information and results at Dubai including the schedule of play, results for the entire tournament, the seeding, the draw, the prize money and how the ranking points are allocated. Click this link for more details -> Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20.

What’s Next in Women’s Tennis? Part 2

photo credit: Not enough megapixels

In this post we will cover the remaining biggest and most prestigious tournaments of 2010 in women’s tennis. Events 1 to 6 were covered in part 1 of this series, click here for part 1-> What’s Next on the 2010 Women’s Tour?).

The following tournament details apply to the 7th to 14th major tournaments on the 2010 WTA Tour calendar. This list is in date order and the starting date is the 1st day of qualifying for each event.

The Australian Open
Dubai
Indian Wells
Miami
Rome
Madrid
Roland Garros
Wimbledon
Cincinnati
Montreal
The US Open
Tokyo
Beijing
Sony Ericsson Championships

Roland Garros is the 2nd of 4 Grand Slams in 2010

Roland Garros is often called the French Open and it is held in Paris, France at Stade Roland Garros. The centre court is called Court Philippe Chartrier. The singles main draw had 128 players in it will be played on clay courts. When: May 18 to June 6.

Wimbledon is the 3rd of 4 Grand Slams in 2010

Wimbledon is often called The Championships and it is held in Wimbledon, Great Britain at the All England Club. The centre court is simply called The Centre Court. The singles main draw had 128 players in it will be played on natural grass courts. When: June 14 to July 4.

Cincinnati is the 3rd of 5 WTA Premier FIVE tournaments in 2010. Where: Cincinnati in the USA. This year this event is called the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open and is held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The singles main draw will have 56 players in it and it will be played on hard courts. When: August 9 to 15.

Montreal is the 4th of 5 WTA Premier FIVE tournaments. Where: Montreal in Canada. This year this event is called the Rogers Cup and is held at the Uniprix Stadium. The singles main draw will have 56 players in it and it will be played on hard courts. When: August 16 to 22.

The US Open is the last of the 4 Grand Slams in 2010

The US Open is often called The Open and is held in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York City, USA at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The centre court is called Arthur Ashe Stadium. The singles main draw had 128 players in it will be played on hard courts. When: August 24 to September 12.

Tokyo is the 5th and final Premier FIVE tournament in 2010. Where: Tokyo in Japan. This year this event is called the Toray Pan Pacific Open and is held at the Ariake Colosseum, Ariake Tennis Forest Park. The singles main draw will have 56 players in it and it will be played on hard courts. When: September 26 to October 2.

Beijing is the 4th and final WTA Premier Mandatory tournament. Where: Beijing in China. This year this event is called the China Open and is held at the National Tennis Center. The singles main draw will have 60 players in it and it will be played on hard courts. When: October 2 to 10.

Sony Ericsson Championships which are the season ending championship play-off’s for the WTA Tour in 2010.

Where: Doha, Qatar in the United Arab Emirates. This event is the end of year championships for the WTA Tour and only 8 players can qualify to participate in the Round Robin event which then has semi finals and a final. This event is held at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex and it will be played on hard courts. When: October 26 to 31.

Pictured above is Dinara Safina playing displaying great positioning for the contact point on her forehand ground stroke. Safina has had trouble with her back since late 2009 and pulled out in the 4th round of the 2010 Australian Open and has withdrawn from Dubai.

The 23 year old is approaching a critical time in her career because she earned a lot of points during the 2009 clay court season. Those clay court points are keeping her ranked at No.2 in women’s tennis. Safina only won 5 matches in the 5 months from mid-August 20o9.

In 2009 the Russian made the final at Stuttgart earning 320 WTA ranking points, won Rome and Madrid (800+1,000 points) and was runner-up at the French Open (1,400). The former World No.1 collected 3,520 points in the clay court season out of her 12 month ranking points total of 6,480.

This year Safina will be attempting to reach her 3rd successive French Open final in an attempt to achieve one of her main career goals – to win her 1st Grand Slam singles title. At this point she is not inspiring much belief that she will do anything other than fall out of the top 5.

For further information about these tournaments and how the women’s tennis tour works, read these links on this tennis website -> Understanding the Women’s Pro Tour #1 and Understanding the Women’s Pro Tour #2.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Juan Carlos Ferrero. Ferrero was born on this day in 1980. The Spaniard has won 1 Grand Slam singles title to date and that was the 2003 French Open. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.1 on 8 September 2003.

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Live It, Love It, Learn It! (The Junior & Pro Tours + Tennis Tips)

Dubai 2010 Women: Feb 12-20

Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31

WTA Tour Champion 2009: Oct 27-Nov 1

Dubai Women’s Singles Final

Dubai Women’s Semis & Final Preview

Dubai Women’s Results & Schedule

Dubai Women’s Results Update

Dubai Schedule of Play & Seeding

Dubai Women’s Major Tournament

What’s Next in Women’s Tennis? Part 2

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