Kleybanova, Chan Yung-jan/ Zheng Jie win WTA Malaysian Open

Alisa Kleybanova won her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open today after beating favourite Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Russian final.

“It has been a tough week with many tough sets and matches. I’m just so happy to finally claim my first title,” the fourth-seeded Kleybanova said.

“I’ve been waiting so long for this moment, training hard and playing in many tournaments. Everything came together in the final and I would like to thank Elena for the good match.”

Meanwhile, Zheng Jie and Chan Yung-jan defeated sisters Anastasia and Arina Rodionova 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-7 to win the doubles title.

This is their first title in just their second event together and earned $11,000 each for the victory.

Personally, I had a blast through the entire week at the WTA Malaysian Open. Hope to see more players in action again next year!

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Zheng Jie on 全体育 (All Sports) magazine

The petite looking Zheng Jie was recently featured on the 全体育 (All Sports) magazine.

She looks great in these pictures but the photographer could have improved on the lighting.

Currently Zheng Jie is in my country for the WTA Malaysian Open.

(Images via sports.sina.com.cn)


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WTA Malaysian Open 2010: Day 2 Results & OOP for Day 3

Newly crowned world no.10 Li Na crashed out of the Malaysian Open after losing to Tatjana Malek (GER) 1-6, 7-5, 2-6.

Top seed Elena Dementieva and no.3 seed Zheng Jie both progressed to the second round after her easy defeat over Russians Ekaterina Bychkova and Elena Bovina respectively.

Other singles matches saw young Asian players like Chang Kai-Chen and wildcard recipient Noppawan Lertcheewakarn move into the next round.

Here's the complete results for Day 2 at the Sony Ericsson WTA Malaysian Open:

Singles
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) def. Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) 6-0, 3-0 (ret)
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) def. Stefanie Voegelle (SUI) 6-2, 6-1
Chang Kai-Chen (TPE) def. Zhang Shuai (CHN) 7-6 (4) 7-5
Magdelena Rybarikova (SVK) def. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 7-5, 6-3
Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) def. Ksenia Pervak (RUS) 6-1, 6-4
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) def. Yurika Sema (JPN) 6-3, 6-2Zheng Jie (CHN) def. Elena Bovina (RUS) 6-4, 6-3
Sybille Bammer (AUT) def. Anna Gerasimou (GRE) 7-5, 6-4Tatjana Malek (GER) def. Li Na (CHN) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
Elena Dementieva (RUS) def. Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) and Arina Rodionova (RUS) def. Yuliya Beygelzimer (UKR) and Yuliana Fedak (UKR) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-6
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) and Yan Zi (CHN) def. Melinda Czink (HUN) and Natalie Grandin (RSA) 6-2, 6-1
Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) and Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) def. Trang Huynh Phuong Dai (VIE) and Jawairiah Noordin (MAS) 6-4, 6-2
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) and Darya Kustova (BLR) def. Olga Govortsova (BLR) and Ipek Senoglu (TUR) 6-3, 7-5

Meanwhile here's the OOP and event highlights for Day 3:

Click on image for larger view

11AM-12PM: Players’ visit to Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Children’s Home
1PM: Start of main draw
3PM: Malaysian Cuisine Cooking session with players at Bukit Kiara Equestrian Resort
4.30-5.00PM: Autograph session
6.00PM: Feature Match of the day
7.30-8.00PM: Autograph Session

(Via Carbon Media; Li Na's image by Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters)

WTA Malaysian Open 2010: Main draw & OOP unveiled

The main draw for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Malaysian Open 2010 was held on Saturday afternoon and was attended by Elena Dementieva and Ekaterina Ivanova.

Both Zheng Jie and Li Na are placed in the opposite sides of the draw; setting up a potential all-Chinese final between the two.

Check out the complete Main Draw Singles and OOP below.

Click on the images for larger view

And here's the Doubles Main Draw.

Click on the image for larger view

Too bad many players did not turn up at this tournament, which includes crowd-puller at the recent Asia/Oceania Fed Cup Kimiko Date-Krumm, Sania Mirza, Sabine Lisicki and Jelena Dokic.

(Image by Carbon Media)

Maria Kirilenko Swims With Dolphins

Sania Mirza, Zheng Jie, Maria Kirilenko and Elena Dementieva were at the Dolphins and Sea Lions Show at Sunway Pyramid last weekend.

But looks likes Kirilenko is the only tennis babe who gets into the water.

By the way, these are some rare photos I stole from the organiser's Facebook photo page *evil grin* (credit to Mr Blackberry).

At the end of their trip, they were each given a cuddly dolphin plush stuffed toy as souvenir.

Glam Slam: Great showdown but pathetic turnout

Thanks to Astro SuperSport CH811, I get to watch The Glam Slam - Showdown of Champions in the comfort of my home. It would be great if it's shown on HD though.

Although I did not watch the two-day event from the stadium, I'm glad I attended the meet-the-fans session on Friday.

The Russian babes Elena Dementieva and Maria Kirilenko defeated Asian girls Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie in a 3-0 win at the Melawati Stadium yesterday.

Dementieva/Kirilenko had won the doubles on Saturday beating Mirza/Zheng 6-4, 5-7, 10-8 to give Russia the lead in the exho match.

In the first singles yesterday, Kirilenko was stretched to three sets before defeating Zheng Jie 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes!

Dementieva completed Russian domination by downing Mirza 6-4, 7-6 (7-0).

Overall, I think the exho match is worth watching because the players took their games seriously. It was like watching a real tournament.

However, the attendance was pathetic (lack of publicity, the organiser failed to use social media to promote the event) and so was the official website (it was down during matches and not up to date).

If the organiser is serious in having another event next year, please stop syiok sendiri or might as well just scrap the event and stop wasting the people's money.

Zheng Jie, Sania Mirza, Dementieva, Kirilenko: Meet the fans in KL

WTA babes Zheng Jie, Sania Mirza, Elena Dementieva and Maria Kirilenko are currently in town for the annual tennis exhibition match, The Glam Slam Showdown of Champions 2009.

The tennis stars were at Pavilion KL this afternoon for a meet and greet autograph session.

As a tennis fan, of course I didn't want to miss this event.

I was a bit reluctant to go to KL at first because my office is just next to the shopping mall and I was really lazy to go all the way there on a public holiday!

I went anyway as I've promised to meet up with fellow blogger, Pueh Tian. You can read his take on this event here.

We were on the Speed Lane, a priority queue lane booked in advance through Firefly's Facebook fan page.

Of all the four girls, I would say that I love Dementieva the most! I've never met a player so friendly... she would look deep in your eyes, greet you and give you a big smile! *faint*

Overall, I'm happy that I attended this event.

Just that I wish the players' entrance can be a bit more organised and glamourous (just like the event's tagline - The Glam Slam :P)

And not that I don't like Jay Menon, but I think a guy announcer could have make a slight difference to this event :P

For those who are interested to check out the exhibition match, the event will take place tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday. Click here for event info.

(Images by HCFoo)

Safin, Sharapova among tennis stars to kick off 2010 at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic

Looks like it has becoming a trend in Asia (e.g. Doha, Malaysia, etc) where tennis events are heavily bankrolled by their respective governments.

Now the same thing is happening to the yearly tennis exhibition JB Classic after its title sponsor pulled out recently.

A new event with different format has taken over - the Hong Kong Tennis Classic 2010.

Next January, teams from four regions of the world (Russia, Asia, America and Europe) will consist of two ladies and a man.

Team Russia: Marat Safin, Maria Sharapova, Vera Zvonareva
Team Asia: Paradorn Srichaphan, Zheng Jie, Ayumi Morita
Team America: Michael Chang, Venus Williams, Gisela Dulko
Team Europe: Stefan Edberg, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka

The new team format will feature women’s & men’s singles and mixed doubles matches over four days of action packed tennis at Victoria Park.

Tickets for the Hong Kong Tennis Classic will be on sale from the beginning of December. Details will be announced in due course.

For more information, please contact the following:
KCE Sport and Entertainment
Mr. Terry Catton, Co-Tournament Director
Ms. Amy Tsang, PR & Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2723 8721/ (852)9809 8710 Fax: (852) 2311 0040
Email: amy@kcesport.com.hk

Dementieva, Kirilenko, Mirza, Zheng Jie for Showdown KL 2009

Look who spilled the beans regarding Showdown of Champions 2009!

The Tourism Minister of Malaysia herself announced recently that the yearly event will take place on December 19-20.

The exhibition match will see Elena Dementieva, Maria Kirilenko (not Sharapova as promised in Showdown of Champions last year), Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie (in sequence).

Nevertheless, it is still a good line-up as we'll be having four good looking and talented tennis players in Kuala Lumpur.

It's time for local tennis fans to get to know more women tennis players other than Sharapova.

Personally, I think this is a smart move by the organisers who made this event sort of like a "women tennis preview' as we'll be having a WTA tennis tournament in February next year.

(Via Bernama)

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Wimbledon Day One wrap

The 2009 Wimbledon Grand Slam Tennis doesn't belong to Roger Federer alone. There are many other players in the tournament too.

So, let's take a look at some of the happenings on Day 1 yesterday.

First of all, I was really, really upset with ESPN Star Sports yesterday because they failed to show Federer making his Centre Court appearance.

Don't they already know all the hype about Federer's Wimbledon jacket?

Instead they showed Sania Mirza's match!

Besides, as an Asian-based sports broadcaster, how can Star Sports not show Asia's no.1 men's player, Rendy Lu Yen-hsun against the unofficial-GOAT from the beginning?

I supposed Star Sports worried that Rendy may be bageled thrice by Federer? You know what, they only start to show the match after convinced that Rendy can actually play!

And by the way I have nothing against Sania. Just like Vijay Amritraj, I admire Sania too. I'm just as happy when I saw Sania beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

No.4 seed Novak Djokovic came from a set down to defeat Julien Benneteau 6-7(8-10), 7-6(7-1), 6-2, 6-4.

During the match, Benneteau had a couple of painful moments. First, he slipped and hurt his knee earlier in the match before inflicting further damage to himself when he crashed into the screen at the back of the court trying to reach a Djokovic lob! Ouchh!

Robin Soderling continues his Grand Slam run to the second round after rallying to beat Gilles Muller 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.

Thai Danai Udomchoke received a late call-up to the tournament on Monday as a 'lucky loser' after Ivan Ljubicic pulled out with an ankle injury.

Danai could hardly have been any less prepared for the demands of a Grand Slam clash and he never threatened to spring a surprise as American Sam Querrey cruised through with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Another American James Blake however suffered a setback when he was beaten 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (5) by 50th-ranked Andreas Seppi. I'm speechless... disappointed.

British wildcard entrant Jamie Ward suffered a straight-sets defeat on his Grand Slam debut against Fernando "Mohawk-No-More" Verdasco.

Verdasco who spotted a new hairdo wrapped up a comfortable 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 victory in a little over an hour and a half.

Pretty boy Feliciano Lopez joined Blake to become another seeded player to lose on Day 1. Feliciano lost to Slovakian Karol Beck 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 in nearly four hours on Court 18.

Marin Cilic became the last man through to the second round before bad light halted play. Cilic defeated Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Maria Sharapova, who also paraded her military-themed jacket earlier, had a tough Day 1 at Wimbledon on Monday, rallying from 4-1 down in the first set to overcome Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova, the top seed in qualifying, 7-5, 6-4.

Serena Williams decided to go 'all English' this year.

And despite the warm weather the American insisted on wearing her coat as she practised with Neuza Silva before the match began.

Serena easily cruised to the next round after winning 6-1, 7-5.

Michelle Larcher de Brito toned down her grunts yesterday but still able to win against Klara Zakapalova 6-2, 7-5.

Last year's semifinalist, Zheng Jie reached the second round after beating Kristina Barrois of 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). Zheng, the 16th seed, will take on Daniela Hantuchova in the second round.

To check out other results, click here.

(Images by Getty Images)

2009 French Open Day 2: What else but Pink?

Rafael Nadal beat Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the red clay at Roland Garros, breaking the French Open men’s record for consecutive wins.

The win surpassed the mark held by Bjorn Borg, who won 28 straight from 1978-81.

Nadal also equaled the overall tournament record, matching the 29 straight that Chris Evert won between 1974-75 and 1979-81.

Opening his first match at the tournament with a striking fashion statement, people however are more interested to talk about his pink Nike gear rather than his record wins.

Now seriously, if only Maria Sharapova wear the same colour as Nadal, then it would be great.

Instead Sharapova's opponent Anastasiya Yakimova was the one in pink.

Although Sharapova had a shaky start, she eventually won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Earlier of the day, poor Anne Keothavong was bageled twice by the world no.1. Dinara Safina.

Venus Williams also advanced into the second round after defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Asia enjoyed a successful day at the expense of French hopes.

World no.15 and Asian hope, Zheng Jie of China had an easy win over Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-3.

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn also made it through when she overcame Camille Pin 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

Another Frenchwoman who was sent packing was Stephanie Foretz.

She lost to Kirsten Flipkens 1-6, 6-4, 4-6. I guess those cool looking shades didn't help.

Roger Federer cruises into the second round after beating Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Here's an interesting read on CNN. It's fresh from the oven.

I bet Federer can't wait to meet Nadal to prove how 'human' his rival is on clay.

Let's wrap up the day with a shirtless Nikolay Davydenko.

Davydenko admitted that he was not in the best shape.

But still he won his first round match 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 against Stefan Koubek.

Since we already have shirtless photo, let's add another one: Nadal's sexy shoulder.

For more results, you go check it out here.

I'm off to bed now.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)