At LarryC's behest, we have a thread for Luxembourg...

Here's the draw:

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/global/...bourg_draws.pdf

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News thus far:

Big win for Venus on her return against Ivanovic, in straight sets, 4 and 3 (or maybe 3 and 4, I can't recall)

Chanda Rubin scores a win in the first round! Yay! But then goes on to lose 3 and 0 to Patty Schnyder in the 2nd round.

Next up for Venus is talented Polish youngster Agnieszka Radwanska, who qualifed and then took out Mara Santangelo in the first round, who has been in good form this year.

Hmm, why am I doing all the work? Someone else can carry on

B

B-Boy, it's because you are doing such a fine job.

I was also happy to see that Molik has won her first two matches. In fact, I think this is the first time she's gotten to the third round of any tournament since her return from medical leave.

Congrats to Chanda on her first win in over a year! Now I wonder if Chanda can actually play a few tournaments -- and stay healthy while doing it.

Awww, shucks... thanks

Nice day of tennis on Eurosport today... although the last match (Dechy v Petrova) was a bit muted in places. It's the first time I've seen Petrova play during this bad run of form she's been on since being injured (discounting her match at the French, which was woeful and where she was clearly having trouble moving) - she's not quite in "lose to anybody" form, and actually served really well... but while Dechy played a nice match, it was very strange seeing Nadia play with almost no emotion. None of the screaming at herself, none of the spurring herself on and babbling away in Russian.... just a flat, flat, flat emotional performance. In no way is this the same Nadia that was pulling out gritty wins and demolishing lower ranked players that we saw early in the season. Somehow the injury has affected her brain...

Watching Radwanska v Williams atm... hadn't seen Agnieszka play since Warsaw and Wimbledon, where she caused a few waves.... Radwanska looks really solid, volleys well, moves excellently... she's a little Hingis like, with a little more power and a little less variety. Radwanska has just sealed the first set 6-3... early on both players looked fine, although Venus a little rusty... but in the last game Venus has had trouble hitting her backhand, and has been hitting it single-handed at times... seems her left wrist has not healed fully... I'm sensing the trainer is coming, but hopefully it's not going to be a default... which wouldn't be a good result for anyone; Venus is great for the tour when fit, and also it would tarnish the very strong performance put on by the 17yr old, who looks entirely unaffected by the big occasion.

Hmm, we're back from the break... Venus currently receiving treatment for the wrist... medical timeout. She's having it brown-taped... but it seems like she's going to continue. Fingers crossed...

B

A slightly upsetting match, although it brought up some interesting observations about both players...

Venus continued after the medical timeout, and played the match to its completion. However, the matchlasted only six more games, as Radwanska swept to a 6-3, 6-0 victory. Venus was in visible pain, but gamely played on, despite switching to a single handed backhand for all but one or two strokes.

As far as Venus is concerned, the match showed the sort of commitment that she is often accused of lacking... I must confess that she's never been a player I've warmed to (on a non-tennis level) but her willingness to see the match through, despite enduring pain, both for the fans and for her opponent, was a real sign of great sportsmanship. I was hugely impressed by how she handled the match, and hope that the re-aggravated wrist doesn't hold her back for the rest of the season. Bravo Venus!

As far as Radwanska is concerned, the match was equally impressive, but for different reasons. Firstly, through the majority of the first set, where Venus' wrist problems were not a visible factor, Radwanska was solid as a rock. At 3-3, Venus had her down 3 break points after three very swift points... but Agnieszka didn't bat an eyelid, and won the next 5 points on the trot to save the game. I think she saved 7 break points over the match and didn't lose a service game. Similarly, she converted all but one of the break points she had on Venus' serve (albeit that 3 of the 4 breaks were in the second set.) Secondly, she played with the sort of clinical intelligence that is drawing her comparisons with Hingis' - she showed great understanding of where to put the ball, and despite not having big weapons, was able to make Venus run, using angles and lobs with particular effectiveness. Her clinical mindset was especially highlighted in the second set; understanding that Venus was struggling on the backhand side, Radwanska (almost cruelly, it could be said...) hit almost every ball deep into Venus' backhand corner, pinning her right where she couldn't possibly cause damage. It was a bit strange to watch... and as I noted, almost cruel... but the mental toughness and intelligence on court was clearly demonstrated. I think the vast majority of talented, inexperienced players in her position would have been in a mental quandry about what to do, how to play... and ultimately have lost focus due to the injury and the nature of the player on the other side of the net. Despite her clinical, cool play... she didn't seem to have any forced aggression or hostility (as can be seen in JHH, imho) and there was no shouting, or celebrating or any such outburst... just a smart player doing what she had to do to win. I was most impressed.

B

Ok Queen Vee...time to get that wrist taken care of. If surgery is required get it done. You can't have me all hopeful by thrashing the up and coming talented Ivanovic and then turn around and lose to this no name girl you lost to today. Get the wrist FULLY taken care of!!! UGH!!! These injuries are getting on my nerves!!!

You've got to admire Venus's fight, but I'd rather see her withdraw from a fairly meaningless second round match, than risk worsening the wrist. B-Boy, nice report on Radwanska.

Come on Francesca, win that first title already!

Hmm - a day of upset wins in Luxembourg, with the lower lower ranked player pulling off the win in all four.

Schiavone destroys Patty... 6-1, 6-1 - excellent win, although I suspect Patty must have been having a crazy mid-nineties day of mental absence. Still... it bodes well thus far for Francesca, with the draw opening up better than she could have expected, and bringing up the real possibility of a first title for the Italian. How will she handle the pressure of being the highest ranked player left?

Bondarenko through in 3 (6-0 in the third) against Dechy, who played great against Petrova the round before. Alyona is one of those girls I've always thought should be ranked somewhat higher than she is... maybe she'll have a breakthrough this week?

Peschke wins 4 and 3 against Safina... after a strong spring and early summer, Safina has been rather indifferent lately... she's still in with a shot at the WTA champs (especially with the potential of Kim and Nadia's respective struggles) but needs to do much better to get back to her form earlier in the season. Kveta has a really nice backcourt game, but lacks a bit of variety at times... she's had problems with her form and injury this year, perhaps the veteran Czech is fully fit again and is playing into form for the last weeks of the season.

Finally, the biggest paper upset... Radwanska continues her run by taking out Elena D, 7-5, 6-2. Didn't manage to see the match (damn work) so it's hard to tell what went on. Did Elena have a horrible day, or was she out-thought on the court? This was their second meeting... Dementieva beat her in the quarters of Warsaw, but Radwanska showed her some challenge by taking the first set in that match... in any case, it's a strong showing for the young Pole, who has now beaten Dementieva, Venus and Myskina in an impressive debut season. Can she continue her dream run?

B

So, does that mean that someone will win their first WTA title here? We know Schiavone hasn't one a tour title yet despite her esteemed career. And my quick research says the other girls have only won ITF events. I'm completely pulling for Francesca, especially after her brave Fed Cup performance, but it would be great to see one of the other girls get their breakthrough as well.

Nearly, Curtj!

I had a feeling that Peschke must have won a tour title somewhere along the line... and upon checking, she won the Makarska (Croatia, apparently) title in 1998 (although she was, I think, still playing as Kveta Hrdlickova then, rather than her married name of Peschke) - I don't remember this tournament at all... so I'm guessing it was Tier IV or V event, most of which seem to drift in and out of existence over the years. Call it the equivalent of winning Tashkent or Portoroz or something, I'd say. Soooo... a rather small title, but a tour level title nonetheless, making her the only prior champ in the draw.

Interestingly, on recent form, she's probably the least favourite to win the title of the four... chances are we will see a new champion... or will the old experience somehow inspire Peschke to an unlikely victory?

While I'd love to see Schiavone win (she so deserves a title by now) I'm really hoping that Radwanska can fight her way to victory. However... given that she's already won 3 matches in qualifying, a very long first round against Santangelo and then two euphoric wins over Venus and Elena... there may be less emotional and physical reserve left in her tank than will be needed to claim the crown.

B

Ah. I was *wondering* where Peschke came from! I think players who change their names should be obligated to hyphenate for at least a year, so people can figure out who they used to be. Like Smashnova-Pistolesi, who apparently now has dropped her Pistol and gone back to just being a Smash divorcee.

Anyway, Kveta is out now. I'd like to see Radwanska win, just because I've never heard of her either.

Hehe... well young Radwanska is out, beaten in three sets against Schiavone... however, I think (barring injury) we'll see a lot more from the Polish player next season.

For the benefit of Larry and anyone else not familiar with Radwanska... she(17) and her younger sister Urzsula(15), both coached by her father, have been causing a few waves on the junior tour in the past few seasons. Agnieszka won the junior Wimbledon last year and won Roland Garros this year. She made her main draw tour debut at Warsaw earlier in the year, taking out Klara Koukalova and then shocking Myskina in 3 sets before bowing out to Dementieva in a 3-set quarterfinal. As the junior champ from last year, she had a wildcard for this year's Wimbly, where she made the 4th round before losing to Clijsters. Despite the successes, she needs to work on her consistency (understandable) - she has lost some matches this year in lesser tournaments that she probably shouldn't have. Meanwhile, Urzsula was a semi-finalist at this year's junior Wimbledon, and appears to be equally promising. Both girls seem very technically solid and have a strong tactical awareness of the game to counteract their fairly slight builds and relative lack of power when compared to the recent trend of emerging young girls on tour.

Meanwhile, in the other semi, Alyona Bondarenko continued her run of upset wins to oust Kveta Peschke, meaning Luxembourg will definitely crown a 'virgin' champion!

B

PS - Just to annoy Larry more, the above-mentioned Koukalova (another Czech... they just love getting married) has also changed her tour name recently, to her newly married name of Zakopalova. Perhaps LarryC is getting his cosmic revenge on the former Ms Koukalova (for her unwillingness to hyphenate for a grace period of 1yr!) - the two-time 2005 titlist ('s-Hertogenbosch and Portoroz) has slid from her career high of 27 in March, to outside the top 100... either that, or Mr Zakopalova is really, really (distractingly) good in the sack!

Cosmic revenge indeed! And Koukalova was one of my favorite names on the tour, alas.

Still, I can understand why she didn't opt for Koukalova-Zakopalova. Maybe the Czech Republic needs to encourage women to keep their maiden names.

I bet you could have gotten a 40 to 1 payout in Vegas if you had bet on Bondarenko to win this thing. (Assuming Vegas cares about women's tennis). But good for her, and Daniilidou too.

Yeah - I watched the Luxembourg final... and wow, Bondarenko was on fire. She seems to be a player who needs to be confident to play near her potential, because she can hit fantastically off the ground, but when nervous or tentative she is very guilty of just pushing the ball into the court with no great depth or bite. I guess the need for confidence in your shots is common to all tennis players... but I think some are affected more than others; Hantuchova comes to mind, and I'd fit Bondarenko into that category also.

Not sure exactly what rank she moves up to with the win... but I think it's top 30, a new career high by some distance. Perhaps she'll be a late bloomer on the tour? (22 atm)

B

Poor Francesca. But both Bondarenko and Radwanska jump 29 ranking spots, up to 33 and 66 respectively.