American teenager Melanie Oudin's spectacular run at the US Open gathered momentum when she beat Russian 13th seed Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals on Monday.
Andy Roddick, hailed as the next great American player after he won the US Open in 2003, said he got a kick out of watching teenage compatriot Melanie Oudin scamper to an upset victory on Thursday.
Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova stunned world number one Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 to win the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Sunday. Kuznetsova, the world number nine, was more consistent than fellow Russian Safina, holding her serve throughout to clinch her first tournament of the year after an hour and 19 minutes.
World number nine Svetlana Kuznetsova marched into the Stuttgart Grand Prix final on Saturday, crushing fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2 in just 67 minutes.
Maria Sharapova turned a corner in her comeback by reaching the final of the Toronto Cup on Sunday only to find a long road still ahead to get back to the top.
Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva picked up her third title of the year and denied compatriot Maria Sharapova a comeback win with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the final of the Toronto Cup Sunday.
Dressed as a mermaid with shells covering his nipples, Brazilian Murilo Sousa voiced hope that the record number of openly gay athletes at the Rio Games would boost acceptance in his South American nation, amid a backlash over same-sex marriage.
Fourth seeded Dementieva advanced to her fourth final of the year with a clinical 7-6, 6-1 win over world number two Serena Williams. She will play Maria Sharapova, who scored a gritty 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 over Alisa Kleybanova.
Alisa Kleybanova won a riveting three hour, 16 minute 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 slugfest over fifth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic and her gritty performance earned her a loud ovation from an appreciative crowd and a Saturday date with Maria Sharapova.
World number two Serena Williams brushed aside qualifier Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Toronto Cup and set up a mouth-watering clash with Elena Dementieva.
German Sabine Lisicki clinched her first WTA title by upsetting fifth-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 in the Family Circle Cup final on Sunday.
Third seed Venus Williams's return to Canada ended in a shock 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 second-round defeat by Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko at the Toronto Cup on Tuesday.
Top seed Elena Dementieva reached the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup on Friday when Dominika Cibulkova retired in the second set because of a left thigh strain. The Russian, who had lost only four games in her two previous matches, was leading 6-4 1-0 in the quarter-final when the seventh-seeded Slovakian retired. Olympic champion Dementieva will next meet Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, who beat France's Virginie Razzano 6-2 6-0.
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
World number one Dinara Safina will take on a rejuvenated Jelena Jankovic in the final of the Cincinnati Open after hugely contrasting wins on Saturday. Russian Safina stormed into her eighth final of the year with a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Italian Flavia Pennetta, while fifth seed Jankovic saved four match points to beat fourth seed Elena Dementieva 7-6, 0-6, 7-6 after two hours and 46 minutes.
'I have probably made the Produnova vault more famous than Elena Produnova ever did' 'I am kind of dreading going home empty-handed' 'There has been a lot of sadness and pain over the last four days. If I had won a medal, then I would have been in a rush to go back (and show it to everyone)'
Maria Sharapova shook off the rust to beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 in the first round of the Stanford Classic on Monday. Fellow Russian Elena Dementieva joined her in the second round after beating Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-1, 6-4.
British qualifier Elena Baltacha "fought her heart out" to record the biggest win of her career when she upset seventh seed Li Na of China at the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Friday. Former world number one Justine Henin was also a shock loser, beaten 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 by Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
Venus Williams will play Vera Zvonareva in the final of the WTA Championships after both women achieved difficult three-set victories on Saturday. Wimbledon champion Williams overcame Serbian world number one Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, and Zvonareva beat fellow-Russian Elena Dementieva 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
Second seed Serena Williams recovered from match point down to beat Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 in a nailbiting semi-final at Wimbledon on Thursday.
A look at the 'grunt' factor in women's tennis.
World No 7 Elena Dementieva came from a set down to defeat Czech Lucie Safarova 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 to win the Paris Indoor Open for the first time on Sunday.
Number one seed Elena Dememtieva reached the final of the Paris Indoor Open for the second year running on Saturday when she recovered from a set down to beat 18-year-old American Melanie Oudin 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. The Russian, ranked number seven in the world, will face Lucie Safarova in the final after the Czech also came from a set down to overturn the Italian second seed Flavia Pennetta 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Olympic champion Elena Dementieva began her warm-up for Wimbledon with a swift 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko at the Eastbourne International on Monday.
Sania Mirza quelled a late challenge from world number 49 and 11th seed Anne Keothavong to sail into the pre-quarter-finals of the US $220,000 WTA Aegon Classic in Birmingham on Wednesday. The unseeded Indian beat the British No 1 6-1, 7-6(5) in the second round after battling it out for one hour and 27 minutes.
Serena Williams continued her love affair with Melbourne by easing to an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 victory over an in-form Elena Dementieva to advance to a fourth Australian Open final in Melbourne on Thursday. The 27-year-old Williams will meet another Russian in the title match, taking on third seed Dinara Safina, who overpowered compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6.
Second seed Serena Williams admitted closing the roof on Rod Laver Arena because of the soaring temperatures helped her battle back from a first set deficit to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday. The American's victory prevented a Russian sweep of the Australian Open semi-finals and she will now play Elena Dementieva in the last four on Thursday.
Taking a cue from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Hockey India advertised for the position for the first time on its website http://hockeyindia.org.
Elena Dementieva downplayed any suggestions she was the favourite for the Australian Open title after she romped into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova on Monday. The victory, in just 76 minutes, was the 14th in a row for the fourth-seeded Russian, who won the Auckland and Sydney tournaments before arriving at Melbourne Park. She is unbeaten in 2009 and plays Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro in the last eight.
Andy Roddick produced a sizzling display to reach the fourth round of the French Open for the first time but Elena Dementieva's hopes of winning a maiden grand slam title fizzled out on Saturday.
Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva was shown the exit at the French Open with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 defeat by Australian Samantha Stosur in the third round in Paris on Saturday. The Olympic champion, who benefited from Jelena Dokic's retirement in the previous round while she was one set down, bowed out after two hours 12 minutes.
Elena Dementieva beat fellow Russian Dinara Safina 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the final of the Sydney International on Friday to complete a perfect buildup to next week's Australian Open.
The Russian revolution that has swept women's tennis has not gone according to plan for Elena Dementieva. Dementieva was once touted as the woman most likely to lead the charge after she made the French and US Open finals in 2004, but her achievements have largely been undermined by her own compatriots.
Spain's Rafael Nadal and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia have been confirmed as the top seeds for this year's Australian Open, which begins on Monday.
Andy Murray maintained his hot start to the year as he led Britain into the final of the Hopman Cup with a 2-1 victory over Russia on Friday. The Scot put on a masterful display to crush Igor Andreev 6-1, 6-0 after Murray's teammate Laura Robson had been beaten 6-4, 6-0 by Elena Dementieva. Murray then joined his 15-year-old partner to beat the Russians 6-4, 6-7, 10-6 in the deciding mixed doubles.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang advanced to the semifinals of the USD 4,500,000 Madrid Open after Russian-Belarussian duo of Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina conceded their quarterfinal match in Madrid.
A noticeable presence of protestors outside the venue failed to stop Olympic champion Elena Dementieva from marching into the semi-finals of the Auckland Classic on Thursday.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei have upset second seeded Spanish pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual to enter the women's doubles quarterfinal of the Madrid Open event.
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