Supertennis Arena (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Bogomolov Jr. vs. Monfils
2. ATP: Tomic vs. Giraldo
3. Anastasia Rodionova vs. Angelique Kerber
4. Sofia Arvidsson vs. María José Martínez Sánchez
5. ATP: Cilic vs. Almagro (NB 19.00hrs)

Pietrangeli (from 11.00hrs)
1. Anabel Medina Garrigues vs. Zheng Jie
2. Aleksandra Wozniak vs. Julia Goerges
3. ATP: Ramos vs. Nalbandian
4. ATP: Stepanek vs. Chela

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Jarmila Gajdosova vs. Chanelle Scheepers
2. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Ksenia Pervak
3. ATP: Wawrinka vs. Haase
4. ATP: Nieminen/Troicki vs. Bracciali/Seppi

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Christina McHale vs. Monica Niculescu
2. Shahar Peer vs. Peng Shuai
3. ATP: Naso/Volandri vs. Ferrer/López
4. ATP: Anderson/Tomic vs. Kubot/Tipsarevic (NB 16.00hrs; after suitable rest)
5. ATP: González/Kas vs. Cipolla/Lorenzi

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Vania King vs. Tsvetana Pironkova
2. Burnett/Virgili vs. Cibulkova/Husarova
3. Govortsova/Voskoboeva vs. Kirilenko/Petrova (NB 14.30hrs)
4. ATP: Kavcic vs. Berlocq

Court 6 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Iveta Benesova vs. Yanina Wickmayer
2. Kops-Jones/Spears vs. Chuang/Dushevina
3. Bacsinszky/Brianti vs. Grandin/Uhlirova
4. Mattek-Sands/Mirza vs. Erakovic/Niculescu (NB 15:00hrs; after suitable rest)

Williams was in command of the final from the start against the World No.1, winning the first four games of the match en route to a 6-1 first set, and after an early second set break settling into a holding pattern until she won, 6-1, 6-3.

Williams was sharp at the most important times, converting on four of her five break point opportunities – and swatting away Azarenka’s lone break point.

“I think Victoria is the player to beat,” Williams said. “She has won I don’t know how many tournaments this year alone. That’s an amazing amount. So if you look at the stats, you just have to put her up there as the player to beat.

“My whole thing is to play consistently. That’s what I’ve done the last couple weeks – and doing what I do best, which at the end of the day is playing tennis.

“I belong on a tennis court. That’s where I feel amazing.”

“She was so much better than me today. I have to give her credit, she’s been showing great tennis the whole week,” Azarenka said. “It wasn’t going my way today, but things happen. From here I can take the positive things from what I’ve been doing all week, and then see the clear picture of what I need to improve.”

As if Williams’ 6-1, 6-3 quarterfinal victory over World No.2 Maria Sharapova wasn’t impressive enough, her dismantling of Azarenka in the final was her 13th career win over a World No.1, tying Venus Williams for most victories over a World No.1 among active players; she also ties Kim Clijsters for second-most WTA titles among active players with 41 (Venus Williams has 43).

Perhaps the biggest message: Williams is now 13-0 on clay this year, having gone 5-0 to win Charleston, 2-0 to help the US back into the World Group of Fed Cup, and now 6-0 to win Madrid. And along the way she has only lost one set, to Caroline Wozniacki in the third round this week (winning that, 16 63 62).

“I absolutely love clay. I grew up on clay – I played on hardcourt until I was 11, then until I turned 16 I only played on clay courts,” Williams said. “I actually love the clay but my results haven’t been stellar. I have won the French Open and lots of clay court tournaments, though. It’s really a myth about me not liking clay. I like it more than grass, which is weird. Hopefully I can start doing better.”

Williams is now 7-1 in her head-to-head series with Azarenka. With the title run, the former No.1 keeps her climb back up the rankings going, No.9 to No.6.

“I don’t play to be No.2. I don’t think Victoria plays to be No.2, nor does Maria,” Williams said. “We all play to be the best. We’re all out here to do the best we can do, and if that’s No.1, that’s my ultimate goal. A lot of people feel that way.”

It was still a strong week for Azarenka, who also lost just one set this week – during her 36 63 63 quarterfinal win over French Open champion Li Na – and reached her 22nd WTA final, still holding a positive stat there, 12-10.

“Being in the final of such a tournament is a good achievement,” Azarenka said. “It’s disappointing to lose today but what can you do, it’s done. Tomorrow another tournament starts and I have to think about the positive things and take the best out of this week. I’ve been playing some great tennis.
To read the article in its entirety, visit here: www.WTAtennis.com

Doubles – Final
(5) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) 61 36 104 (Match TB)

Order Of Play – Sunday, May 13, 2012
Manolo Santana (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Lindstedt/Tecau vs. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski
2. Singles Final: Victoria Azarenka vs. Serena Williams (NB 13.30hrs)
3. ATP: Berdych vs. Federer (NB 16.30hrs)

Singles – Second Round
(1) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (Q) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) 63 76(2)
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 64 63
(6) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Mona Barthel (GER) 64 76(2)
(9) Serena Williams (USA) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 62 61
(13) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Nadia Petrova (RUS) 75 61
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. (WC) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 63 64
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 61 36 75
(Q) Varvara Lepchenko (USA) d. Shahar Peer (ISR) 76(2) 64

Doubles – Second Round
(WC) Cibulkova/Husarova (SVK/SVK) d. (1) Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) 46 76(6) 1513 (Match TB)
Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) d. (3) Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) 63 62
(4) Kirilenko/Petrova (RUS/RUS) d. Erakovic/Niculescu (NZL/ROU) 63 62
Dulko/Suárez (ARG/ARG) d. Groenefeld/Zhang (GER/CHN) 76(4) 63

Doubles – First Round
(5) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Jans-Ignacik/Kudryavtseva (POL/RUS) 64 63
(7) Shvedova/Voskoboeva (KAZ/KAZ) d. Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) 63 75
Llagostera Vives/Martinez Sanchez (ESP/ESP) d. (WC) Domínguez Lino/Pous-Tio (ESP/ESP) 60 61
Goerges/Stosur (GER/AUS) d. (WC) Soler-Espinosa/Suárez Navarro (ESP/ESP) 63 62

Order Of Play – Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Manola Santana (from 10.50hrs)
1. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Sara Errani
2. ATP: Stepanek vs. Ferrer (NB 13.00hrs)
3. ATP: Davydenko vs. Nadal (NB 15.15hrs)
4. Victoria Azarenka vs. Ana Ivanovic (NB 19.00hrs)
5. ATP: Federer vs. Raonic

Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (from 13.00hrs)
1. Angelique Kerber vs. Li Na
2. ATP: Verdasco vs. Falla
3. ATP: Almagro vs. Granollers
4. ATP: Youzhny vs. del Potro
5. ATP: Simon vs. García-López

Stadium 3 (from 13.00hrs)
1. ATP: Isner vs. Cilic
2. Lucie Hradecka vs. Petra Kvitova
3. ATP: Harrison vs. Tsonga
4. ATP: Delbonis vs. Tipsarevic

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Roberta Vinci
2. ATP: Wawrinka vs. Melzer (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Samantha Stosur vs. Petra Cetkovska (NB 14.30hrs)
4. ATP: Bogomolov Jr./Fognini vs. Cilic/Melo
5. ATP: Gasquet/Monfils vs. Bubka/Marti

Court 5 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Hsieh/Zheng vs. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez
2. ATP: Andreev vs. Monfils (NB 13.00hrs)
3. ATP: Qureshi/Rojer vs. Gimeno-Traver/Navarro
4. ATP: Cabal/Schwank vs. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski
5. ATP: González/Kas vs. Bhupathi/Bopanna

Court 6 (from 13.30hrs)
1. Medina Garrigues/Parra Santonja vs. Shvedova/Voskoboeva
2. Maria Kirilenko vs. Ekaterina Makarova (NB 14.30hrs)
3. Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova vs. Errani/Vinci

Court 7 (from 13.00hrs)
1. ATP: Dolgopolov vs. Seppi
2. ATP: Troicki vs. Gasquet (NB 14.00hrs)
3. Goerges/Stosur vs. Peschke/Srebotnik (after suitable rest)

Azarenka & Sharapova Advance On Upset-Free Day

Results – Sunday, May 6, 2012
Singles – First Round
(1) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 76(5) 64
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 60 63
(4) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (WC) Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino (ESP) 63 61
(6) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) 76(7) 36 64
(Q) Varvara Lepchenko (USA) d. (11) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 64 67(8) 63
(12) Angelique Kerber (GER) d. (Q) Johanna Larsson (SWE) 61 64
(13) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. (Q) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 64 61
Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. (14) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 63 62
(16) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 62 75
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (Q) Jill Craybas (USA) 62 67(6) 61
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 62 64
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 60 62
Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Vania King (USA) 46 63 61
Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Polona Hercog (SLO) 63 75
(Q) Lourdes Domínguez Lino (ESP) d. Monica Niculescu (ROU) 60 76(6)

Order Of Play – Monday, May 7, 2012
Manolo Santana (from 11.00hrs)
1. Elena Vesnina vs. Serena Williams
2. Marina Erakovic vs. Petra Kvitova
3. ATP: Almagro vs. Giraldo (NB 15.15hrs)
4. ATP: Andreev vs. Ferrero (NB 19.00hrs)
5. Angelique Kerber vs. Venus Williams

Azarenka & Sharapova Into Second Round

Errani was the top seed at the International-level event and apart from one three-setter, against Hungary’s own Melinda Czink in the second round, she absolutely cruised through to the final; meanwhile, the unseeded Vesnina was tearing up the bottom half, taking out three seeds to reach the final: No.2 seed Ksenia Pervak, No.6 seed Petra Martic and No.5 seed Marina Erakovic.

Vesnina came in with a dubious 0-5 record in WTA finals; it looked like things might change as she went ahead 5-3 in the first set with two set points, but it just wasn’t to be, as Errani won seven games in a row to build a 75 30 lead, and she barely looked back, eventually recording a 75 64 championship victory.

“Elena was playing very strong today – my congratulations to her for that,” Errani said afterwards. “I had to run a lot and fight hard to keep up with her today.”

“I was playing very well at the beginning, but Sara is the kind of player who destroys your game and makes you feel uncomfortable on the court,” Vesnina said. “I tried to play aggressively throughout the match but the slow court suited Sara’s game better than it did mine, and all credit to her for winning.”

Errani has now won three clay court tournaments in a row: Acapulco, Barcelona and now Budapest. She is the first player to win three straight WTA titles on clay since Nadia Petrova won Amelia Island, Charleston and Berlin back in 2006. The Italian’s 15-match winning streak on clay is also the longest clay court winning streak since Dinara Safina won 16 in a row on the dirt in 2009.

“I didn’t imagine to win any titles this year and now I have three,” Errani added.

The 25-year-old Italian now has a total of five WTA titles, having won two in 2008 as well, and she is also projected to crack the Top 25 on the new rankings.

To read the full article, please visit: www.WTAtennis.com

After an Australian season that saw her win her first Premier title in Brisbane, Kanepi sat out for a month and a half with a shoulder injury. It took her a little while to find her footing again - but then came the start of the clay court season.

As the No.6 seed in her first clay court event of the year in Estoril, Kanepi took out No.4 seed Petra Cetkovska and No.1 seed Roberta Vinci en route to the final, with Suárez Navarro waiting in the final, hungry for her first WTA title.

With trademark tenacity and some flashy one-handed backhands, the unseeded Suárez Navarro came close – after winning the first set she built a 5-3 lead in the second set, held two match points in the tie-break and, after missing out on those, even led 4-2 in the third – but Kanepi’s power game was just too much, as she clawed back every time to prevail in two hours and 37 minutes, 36 76(6) 64.

“I’ve won a few matches from match points down but I’ve never won a final like this,” Kanepi said. “I’ll remember this final in a good way for a long time.

“This title means a lot. I was injured and it was tough to come back. And though my fitness trainer was with me here, I quit with my coach recently, so it means a lot I did this on my own. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need a coach now!”

Stepping onto the clay, the surface on which she reached her first WTA title, didn’t hurt either. “I was looking forward to the clay court season. As a junior I grew up on clay, so I like this surface a lot. But I didn’t play my best tennis today, and I definitely still have some things I want to work on and improve.”

Kanepi is the only Estonian ever to win a WTA title and she now has three: Palermo in 2010, the aforementioned Brisbane title this year, and now Estoril.

Suárez Navarro fell to 0-3 in WTA finals, having lost in the Marbella finals of 2009 and 2010 (to Jelena Jankovic and Flavia Pennetta, respectively).

“I was a point away, but Kaia played really well and credit to her for the way she recovered,” the Spaniard said. “It was a good week for me and I’m motivated to keep working and getting better. I like clay a lot. I’m looking forward to Madrid.”

“I’ve never played on blue clay,” Kanepi said of the Madrid court surface. “I’m very excited to play on it this year, and to see how good we see the ball on it!”

Kanepi and Suárez Navarro could potentially play again in the second round in Madrid next week, should they get by their first round opponents (Kanepi opens against Lucie Safarova, Suárez Navarro starts against Jankovic).

To read the article in full, please visit… www.WTAtennis.com

Results – Thursday, May 3, 2012
Singles – Quarterfinals
(1) Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. (7) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 62 16 64
(6) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (4) Petra Cetkovska (CZE) 63 36 63
Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Sílvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) 63 63
(Q) Karin Knapp (ITA) d. Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 76(4) 26 64

Doubles – Semifinals
(3) Shvedova/Voskoboeva (KAZ/KAZ) d. (2) Mirza/A.Rodionova (IND/AUS) 63 76(6)

Doubles – Quarterfinals
Panova/Watson (RUS/GBR) d. Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) 64 61

Order Of Play – Friday, May 4, 2012
Central (from 10.25hrs)
1. Roberta Vinci vs. Kaia Kanepi
2. Carla Suárez Navarro vs. Karin Knapp
3. ATP: Muñoz de la Nava vs. Gasquet (NB 13.50hrs)
4. ATP: del Potro vs. Montañés (NB 15.45hrs)
5. ATP: [Qureshi/Rojer or Huey/Inglot] vs. Gasquet/Roger-Vasselin

Centralito (from 12.30hrs)
1. ATP: Qureshi/Rojer vs. Huey/Inglot (tbc)
2. ATP: Sousa vs. Ramos (NB 13.30hrs)
3. ATP: Wawrinka vs. Haase
4. ATP: Brunstrom/Marx vs. Elgin/Istomin

Court 1 (from 13.00hrs)
1. Panova/Watson vs. Chuang/Zhang

Vinci Passes Petrova Test To Reach SF