I had a soaking wet yet awesome time at the Malaysian Open 2010 yesterday. Met a lot of friends whom I got to know from ATP Malaysian Open last year.
Especially thanks to Dunlop Sporting Goods director Mr Alan Tang who gave me tickets for the entire tournament week. Now I have a lot of ticket allocation job to be done so that most friends, if not all have the opportunity to witness this inaugural tournament.
It was really hot at the tournament site. So my advice is don't dress in black, wear a cap and bring mini towel, umbrella and enough WATER!
So, yesterday, the four qualifier spots in the main draw of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Malaysian Open 2010 were decided today at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Club.
The singles matches of the main draw also kicked off in the afternoon, even though there was a brief delay due to rain.
Ksenia Pervak, Anna Gerasimou, Yurika Sema and Elena Bovina all overcame their opponents in the final round of qualifying and will continue to battle in the US$220,000 tournament.
Check out the complete Main Draw singles here.
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In yesterday's earlier singles Main Draw, Anastasia Rodionova defeated 8th seed Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 while another Belarusian Darya Kustova fell to Ekaterina Ivanova, also in three sets.
The Official Opening Ceremony of the event also took place yesterday evening on Centre Court with Y.Bhg. Dato’ Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Youth and Sports, in attendance as the Guest-of-Honour.
He officially opened the tournament after a lion dance performance and a short sparring session with Kimiko Date-Krumm as his partner against China’s Li Na and Yan Zi.
Today's singles matches will feature the tournament’s 1st seed Elena Dementieva and 2nd seed Li Na in action.
Check out the OOP for Day 2 below.
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Other highlights for today include a players’ visit to The Mines Resort & Golf Club at 11AM as well as two autograph sessions which will be held at 4.30PM and 730PM in the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort Sponsors Village.
(Images by Carbon Media)
Melinda Czink, Alicia Molik, Galina Voskoboeva, Chang Kai-Chen, Yan Zi and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn took time out to visit to the Kassim Chin Humanity Foundation this morning.
Melinda Czink hands out Mandarin oranges and a red packet to the children.
Alicia Molik with the children from the Kassim Chin Humanity Foundation.
The players were greeted by more than 60 children from the Foundation.Malaysian Open 2010's 5th seed Czink said, “We players, lead a privileged life and it is great and necessary for us to give back to the kids who are not as privileged. It helps put things into perspective and I hope we can try and motivate and encourage them through this visit today. It is important for them to know that they can achieve what they want through hard work and perseverance.”
Interacting with the kids, Molik said, “These small gifts that we have are great. It obviously means a lot to them and it is great to see the smile on their faces. If I would bring a gift from Australia, I would bring Vegemite, which is something traditional to Australia”.
Thanks to Carbon Media for the press release.
Juan Martin del Potro defends his title in Washington D.C., coming back from 3-1 down in the final set to defeat Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) in the final.
In the mens' doubles, Martin Damm and Robert Lindstedt added more silverware to an already successful debut season together by clinching their third ATP World Tour title.
The Czech-Swedish duo overcame fifth seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5, 7-6(3).
Meanwhile at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, French Flavia Pennetta defeated Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Sam Stosur in the final.
In the women's doubles, Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei and Zi Yan of China outplayed Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 4-6, 10-7.
(Images via Yahoo! Sports)
"If I had an opportunity to choose what I wanted to do in childhood, I wouldn't go for tennis. It is a sport that I was always pushed to do, first by my parents, then provincial and national sports administrators. It is very important for us to have the right to choose. I really mean it."
Er... okay... but you see many parents, schools and governments made choices for kids.
And would she be a pro tennis player today if it's weren't her parents or the government? I hope she knows what she's talking about and the impact of that statement.
But again I must applaud her outspokenness which resulted in a major overhaul of China's notoriously strict sports administration.
Along with Zheng Jie, Yan Zi and Peng Shuai, the girls were the first to be allowed to leave the state-supported system at the end of last year.
The quartet now have more control over their own careers and can keep a larger proportion of prize money.
(Via The Press Association)
Vera Zvonareva (R) of Russia poses with Peng Shuai of China while holding their respective trophies after the final of the Guangzhou Open women's tennis tournament in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province.
World no.9 Vera Zvonareva won her seventh WTA Tour singles title Sunday, beating China’s Peng Shuai 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-2 in the Guangzhou International final.
The 24-year-old Russian won her second title of the year after winning the Prague Open in May. The top-seeded Zvonareva recently won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.
"I wasn't going for my shots enough in the first set; I think I was playing a bit too passively," Zvonareva said.
"She's a very good player and fights well, and she took advantage. But I had more experience behind my back and was able to turn the match around by going for my shots again. We had a tough match in our first time playing each other - if she keeps playing like this, she has a great future."
The Chinese contingent was very strong in Guangzhou, with nine - almost a third - of the 32 competitors in the main draw representing the home nation.
Peng made it the furthest and continued to show improved consistency in her week-to-week results, reaching her second Tour final in as many months, having finished runner-up at Forest Hills in August (to Lucie Safarova).
"I was really happy I could get to the final," Peng said.
"There were a lot of fans here, and whenever I was in a tough match they helped me fight through it. Every year this tournament gets better and I hope to be back here next year."
"She had a lot of expectation when she was younger," Zvonareva said of Peng.
"She is improving every year and this year she's playing very well. Chinese tennis is strong right now. People don't want to play in Russia because there are so many Russian players, but now people don't want to come to China either! And I think there are going to be even more young players coming up."
It was a Top 2 showdown in the doubles final, which followed the singles final, with No.1 seeds Sun Tiantian and Yan Zi taking on No.2 seeds Mariya Koryttseva and Tatiana Poutchek.
And it was Koryttseva and Poutchek that prevailed, taking the title by a match tie-break victory, 63 46 108. It was their first Tour doubles title as a team; they now each hold four Tour doubles titles individually.
(Image by AFP/AFP/Getty Images)
Silver medallists Anabel Garrigues (2nd L) and Virginia Ruando Pascual (L) of Spain, gold medallists Venus Williams (3rd L) and Serena Williams (3rd R) of the US and bronze medallists Yan Zi (2nd R) and Jie Zheng (R) of China pose on the podium at the awards ceremony following the women's doubles tennis final during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games yesterday.
Venus and Serena Williams play together in the Olympic women's doubles and walk away with the gold medal. The famous American sisters overpowered Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2, 6-0 in an 1 hour 6 minutes match. “I’m so excited, I can’t even speak,” said the 28-year-old Venus, who has already won seven doubles Grand Slam titles and a gold medal in Sydney alongside younger sister Serena.
The pair didn’t enter the doubles competition in Athens four years ago because Serena was injured at the time. “To share this kind of moment with your sister,” Venus said, “it never grows old.”
It doesn’t hurt when your sister is one of the best in the world. “I don’t know anyone out there who would get tired of playing with Venus Williams,” said the 26-year-old Serena, who as a singles player is ranked eighth in the world, three spots behind No. 5 Venus.
“We were really focused from the first point. We really wanted to win,” said Serena, whose trophy cabinet includes 30 singles titles, eight of them Grand Slams. “We feel like we’ve contributed to our country in a huge way. That’s really what it’s all about.”
When the red carpet was rolled out on center court, the sisters climbed the medal podium together holding hands. A beaming Venus bobbed her head to the beat as “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played. Both Venus and Serena were beaten in the quarterfinals of the women's singles.The bronze medal went to China's Yan Zi and Zheng Jie who delivered the host country’s only tennis medal by beating Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.(Images by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)
(Text viaYahoo! Sports)
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The Official Opening Ceremony of the event also took place yesterday evening on Centre Court with Y.Bhg. Dato’ Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Youth and Sports, in attendance as the Guest-of-Honour. 
Today's singles matches will feature the tournament’s 1st seed Elena Dementieva and 2nd seed Li Na in action.
Click on image for larger view
