World no. 2 Jelena Jankovic won her second tour title of the year after thrashing fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3 6-2 at the China Open today.
The 23-year-old Serb looked confident in the final of the $600,000 Beijing tournament, getting revenge for her quarter-final defeat by the Russian world number seven at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last week.Jankovic’s victory avenged two losses this season to Kuznetsova, one just a week ago in Tokyo.“When I came on court I really was motivated and came out with a game plan, especially after playing her last week,” said Jankovic, a former top-ranked player.
Though she could replace Williams as No. 1 after next week’s tournament in Stuttgart, Jankovic would prefer to be in that spot when the season ends. She also has winning her first grand slam in mind.
“I will work very hard in the offseason, trying to get stronger and fitter and trying to bring my tennis game to the next level,” Jankovic said.
“Hopefully I can win a grand slam next year.”
In the women's doubles final, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Caroline Wozniacki defeated China's Han Xinyun and Xu Yi-Fan in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
(Via AFP; Image by PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 (4), 6-4 to win the Thailand Open today, clinching his first career title and avenging his loss to the top-seeded Serbian in the Australian Open final.
The second-seeded Frenchman saved three break points in the last game before sealing his victory.
Playing in his second tour final after losing in Melbourne, Tsonga fired big forehands to outplay Djokovic at the baseline and at the net.
Djokovic, ranked No. 3 in the world, looked sluggish at times. He ended the match by lobbing Tsonga's serve long.
The $576,000 Bangkok tournament was only the Frenchman's second since returning from a three-month layoff following knee surgery.
In the men's doubles final, Top seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes combined to win their first team ATP title with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin at the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Sunday.
The Czech-Indian duo fired five aces, won 74% of points on serve and converted two of four break points to secure the victory in 1 hr., 16 min.
"It’s a great feeling to win the whole thing and I think if we keep working like this we can win more tournaments," said Dlouhy.
"I think we played high-level tennis and when they came back in the second set we just stepped it up and we just focused on the basic things. I hope that we can keep it like this and we can enjoy the rest of the year and we are looking forward to playing the Masters Series events."
"It’s always special stepping on the court with Lukas because not only does he complement my style of playing but he’s also teaching me things," commented Paes.
"It’s interesting that, after playing for so many years, to have a partner who’s also teaching me a few things is really beautiful."
Individually, the 35-year-old Paes has now won 40 ATP doubles titles, while Dlouhy, 10 years his junior, has compiled five.
(Image via PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/Robert Cianflone/AFP/Getty Images)
Andy Roddick claimed his third ATP title of the season, beating unseeded giant-killer Dudi Sela of Israel 6-4, 6-7 (6) 6-3 today in the final of the China Open.
Roddick struggled all the way against Sela, who reached the final by beating top-seeded seed David Ferrer, fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo and Rainer Schuettler of Germany.
It was the first ATP final of Sela's career. Sela is only No. 92 in the ATP rankings and is the first Israeli to reach an ATP final since Harel Levy in 2000.
Announced in the official China Open website, Roddick's agent confirmed that the winner has contributed 25 thousand dollars to China Tennis Association (CTA), the first contribution by a foreign player .
In the men's doubles final, Great Britain’s Ross Hutchins and Australian Stephen Huss (pictured) captured their first team ATP title after defeating No. 3 seeds Ashley Fisher and Bobby Reynolds 7-5, 6-4. “It went fantastically for us, Ross and I played really well,” said the Melbourne resident Huss.
“We’ve played solid all week and haven’t done anything wrong. We really played to the top of our level and that’s been good enough this week to win. It was awesome."
"It’s very satisfying (to win another ATP title), it’s been a long time since I won one at ATP level so that gives me confidence going forward and I hope there’s more round the corner.”
(Images via Yahoo! Sport, atp.com)
Russia's Maria Kirilenko has won the 2008 Hansol Korea Open.
This is Kirilenko third singles title of the year, having also won Tier IV titles during the clay court season in Estoril and Barcelona.
The no.1 seed who was runner-up last year to Venus Williams improved on that result Sunday afternoon against Australia's Samantha Stosur."I think this year, I’m a much better player, and I also had more difficult wins than last year," Kirilenko said during the press conference after her win.
"From the, I don’t know, the first round, I didn’t know the girl with whom I played, but anyway, she played quite good. And then from the second round to the final, I had very good players. And I’m really happy that I beat all of them. I feel that I’m improving, you know."
Kirilenko rallied from a set down to claim the Tier IV title with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.However, Kirilenko who was back on Centre Court for the doubles final with her partner Vera Dushevina lost to defending champions Chuang Chia-Jung and Hsieh Su-Wei. (Image by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)
World no. 2 Jelena Jankovic won her second tour title of the year after thrashing fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3 6-2 at the China Open today. 
In the women's doubles final, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Caroline Wozniacki defeated China's Han Xinyun and Xu Yi-Fan in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
