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Caroline Wozniacki rolled up her sleeves and battled back from a set down to defeat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships on Thursday, sewing up the year-end world number one ranking.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki outfought Russia's Elena Dementieva 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open on Saturday. Victory in the $2 million tournament means the Dane can leapfrog Serena Williams at the top of the world rankings if she reaches the quarter-finals at the China Open in Beijing next week.
Alisa Kleybanova beat top seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-disrupted all-Russian final to claim her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open on Sunday.
The 29-year-old American romped to a 5-0 lead against Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and completed a 6-1 6-2 victory on auto-pilot as slumbering Court One fans applauded politely in temperatures soaring into the 30s Celsius again.
World number two Rafa Nadal stopped Marat Safin's Beijing revival in its tracks on Friday with a clinical 6-3, 6-1 victory to reach the semi-finals of the $6.6-million China Open.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Italian Flavia Pennetta caused an upset by beating third seed Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the Stuttgart Grand Prix quarter-finals on Friday.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli beat seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-6, 6-4 at the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Thursday to set up a quarter-final against world number three Elena Dementieva. World number one Dinara Safina also moved into the last eight with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and will now meet Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.
Indian ace Sania Mirza grabbed the last spot to be seeded 32nd at the Wimbledon championhips.
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.
World number one Serena Williams has pulled out injured of the Paris Open before her semi-final against Russian Elena Dementieva on Saturday.
World number one Serena Williams stepped up her bid for a third Paris Open title by reaching the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Emilie Loit on Friday. The American, winner here in 1999 and 2003, next plays Olympic champion Elena Dementieva after the Russian saw off another Frenchwoman, Nathalie Dechy, 6-3, 6-2.
With a heavy rain expected to hit Flushing Meadows later in the day, Serb Jankovic relied on her trademark dogged retrieving to beat Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 before the muscular Williams swept away Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 in the women's singles semi-finals at the US Open.
Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the final of the Dubai Championships by beating Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Champion Venus Williams powered through to her seventh Wimbledon final with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Russian Elena Dementieva.
Top seed Jelena Jankovic was bundled out of the Pan Pacific Open in a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 defeat by Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in Friday's quarter-finals. The defeat ended the Serb's hopes of recapturing the world number one ranking from Serena Williams this week following her recent loss to the American in US Open final.
Venus strongly denied any notion that she and Serena, who have faced each 15 times competitively, decide in advance who should win.
But matches between Venus and Serena are captivating, highly charged yet often disappointing affairs.
Dinara Safina reached the French Open final with a 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Russian and fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday.
Fifth seed Serena Williams reached the Family Circle Cup final by beating French teenager Alize Cornet 7-5 6-3 on Saturday. The 26-year-old next faces ninth seed Vera Zvonareva, who upset fellow-Russian Elena Dementieva, the fourth seed, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in a wildly fluctuating semi-final.
Local favourite Patty Schnyder eased into the second round of the Zurich Open on Tuesday after sixth seed Serena Williams retired injured at 6-0, 3-0 down.
Top seed Maria Sharapova ended Anna Chakvetadze's 12-match winning streak and powered into the San Diego Classic final with a 6-3 6-2 victory over her Russian compatriot on Saturday.
The Indian ace had trouble returning Sharapova's serves and watched the Russian tear apart her second serve in the quarter-finals of the San Diego Classic.
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