Aside from a few top names pulling out, the draw looks pretty good at Stuttgart...

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/globa...tgart_draws.pdf

Few updates from the early action I caught today:

Srebotnik recovered from a few sketchy results since the US Open, beating Dechy in straights.

Golovin beat a still-recovering-from-injury Likhovtseva after losing the first set. Good to see Elena able to play, first set was a very nice performance from her... but the ankle was visibly a problem in the final two sets as Golovin improved her consistency.

Safina just creamed Santangelo 6-1 in the first set... second set just underway. Safina just make her top 10 debut and has played phenomenally for the first set, going 18/5 on winners/unforced and hammering the ball at the much-improved Italian. Of course... maybe Safina will go walkabout now

B

wow, safina pulls it out 11-9 in 3rd set tiebreak after making it unnecessarily difficult for herself....at least thats how it seemed from watching scoreboard.

were you watching bboy? give us the real deal.

I had to hop out for a bit in the middle of the third set, so I missed the end and thus cannot tell exactly what went on... but I couldn't really fault Safina for losing the second set... she had a very slight lapse and lost her opening service 2nd set... but recovered and took it back to 5-5... Santangelo just played too well on the break point chances she had.

Both of them served excellently through the match, I think Safina hit 12 aces or so and Santangelo 3... although the Italian had a great first serve percentage (Dinara's was good also) - serve was very dominant in general, as you'd expect from two girls near 6' - but both were good at converting the break chances they had. Safina took 5/7 chances and Mara a perfect 4/4. I'd say giving your opponent only 4 break chances is a strong performance in a women's 3-setter... just not a lot you can do if your opponent really steps it up on all four, and they also have a serve that is hard to crack.

Safina was unplayable for patches of the first set... a couple of the passing winners she hit on the run were absolutely amazing. Santangelo really didn't play a poor set there... she made Dinara produce the goods. The remainder of the match that I saw, both played a generally very high level.

It's possible, of course, that the latter half of the third set became very messy... but it wouldn't surprise me if both had played well, with Dinara just edging it by playing a little better.

B

So Hantuchova beats Safina to advance to the quarters. Could Hantuchova actually win this thing? It does seem to be wide open...

Is it too much to ask for?

Wow... that's a nice result for Daniela. I was at work all day today and thus missed out on seeing any of the tennis I'd be interested to hear from anyone who saw the match... from the stats it seems a bit closer than the emphatic 6-2, 6-2 scoreline; looks like a case of Hantuchova(5/8 on break points) taking her chances better than Dinara(1/6) on the day. Also, Daniela must have been on great returning form - Safina was serving at 71% first serves in, but only won 44% of her service points, and Safina definitely has a top 10 serve.

Meanwhile... Amelie pulls out before her first match (which sucks... but at least it meant that a lucky loser was able to enter the draw... Unfortunately Lisa Raymond ((who replaced Mo)) lost 4 and 2 to Michaela Krajicek) leaving the draw fairly open.

Other results... Petrova pulled herself together to beat Groenefeld in straights; a decent result given Nadia's post-summer form. Jankovic and Schynder both pull through tight 3 set matches, against Pironkova and Peer respectively.

All the quarter finals are due to be played tomorrow... here's the lineup:

Krajicek v Golovin
Dementieva v Schnyder

Hantuchova v Petrova
Jankovic v Kuznetsova


So... a tournament that's reasonably hard to predict... the lower half of the draw is heavier, complicated by the fact that the two form players are facing each other (Kuznetsova and Jankovic) - Daniela has a shot at the final, but only if Petrova is still feeling flaky and if the winner of the Jankovic/Kuznetsova (both of them have played relatively heavy schedules since the US Open...) is a little tired.

I feel like predicting something crazy... but I'll go with form and say that Svetlana is favourite for the title, with a dark-horse mention for Patty S, perhaps.

Of course, now that I write all that, the winner of Kraijcek/Golovin will go on to win

B

Quarterfinal day in Stuttgart saw the higher ranked player pull through in all three matches played, with the fourth QF decided by default.

Sadly Elena D had to withdraw from the tournament, after injuring her thigh, so Schnyder received a walkover. In the top-half of the draw, Patty will play an in-form Golovin, who humped an erratic Michaela Krajicek in convincing style.

The bottom quarter of the draw saw Kuznetsova comfortably beating Jankovic - Jelena seemed sluggish and tired, and while Svetlana wasn't playing especially well, it was easily good enough.

The best performance of the day goes to Nadia Petrova... which seemed unlikely coming into the tournament. Nadia bettered Hantuchova in every department, and with more clinical play on break points (something like 3/14), the scoreline could have been much more emphatic than the 6-2, 6-4 result it finished as. The Russian conceded only 7 points on serve, winning 95% of the points on her first serve, and finishing with twice as many winners as unforced errors. Strangely, given those serving stats, Daniela did manage to break serve at the start of the 2nd set... although I think by the end of the match, Nadia had held to love 5 or 6 times. Hantuchova didn't play to her best by any means... but Nadia was pretty impenetrable today. Has Petrova moved on from her injury hangover summer?

SF's : Golovin v Schnyder
Petrova v Kuznetsova

Sooooo annoyed that I'll be at work during the matches tomorrow! If both players play as they did today, the Petrova/Kuznetsova match looks very promising. Past records are interesting for both semi-finals; I don't think Golovin has ever beaten Patty, nor has Petrova ever beaten Kuznetsova. Will it be new ground, or just a little bit of history repeating?

B

Go Tati!!!! Nice win over Schnyder. I hope Golovin wins the whole thing, though she'll be overmatched regardless. Petrova looking good up an early 2 breaks over Kooz.

Well... the semis brought an overturning of the past, with both Golovin and Petrova scoring first wins over their opponents.

That factor might well add some spice to the title match... Nadia has a lot more experience, and possesses (imho at least) the better game; yet Tatiana is up 3-0 in the head-to-head, winning in 3 tight sets in their most recent match at the US Open. Can Nadia overturn the head-to-head, or will it be a first title for Golovin?

Petrova seems to have regained some of her belief/form/momentum this week after a hideous summer, so she is perhaps a slight favourite to win here if she serves the way she has for the majority of the week. Tough match to call... but I'm gonna go for a 3 set Russian victory.

B

A two-set Russian victory, but good call anyway B-Boy. Certainly was a nice week's work for Petrova -- maybe she getting her head back together.

Hehe, thanks... it was a close match, but Nadia served nicely and also volleyed consistently well, and ultimately had a bit too much for Golovin on this occasion.

The Nadia I saw this week on court was much more like the Nadia of earlier in the year. A little early to say, but it does look like she might be back to consistently good form.

Interestingly, it takes Petrova, reknowned for being a flakey player in crunch situations, to a perfect 5-0 record in finals this year. That leaves her equal with Justine for most titles won this year. I still think Petrova is a good bet for a major title in the next few yrs, health permitting.

B

This tournament's over and others are happening, but I wanted to add to one of B-Boy's many great posts.

This match was excellent. Both players were hitting HARD, with some great long rallies. I was impressed by how thoroughly Petrova forced Golovin into hitting nothing but backhands.

Of all the players without a slam, I think Petrova is the one most likely to get one or currently deserving of one because of recent play. That's if she can bring this type of play to a slam -- which is a huge if.

When she's on, her serve is the best on the women's side, and her all court game rivals if not betters Amelie's. (I would love to see a slam final between Amelie and Petrova this coming year.) I'm also impressed with the consistent depth of her groundstrokes. But thus far, she only seems to excel during the "off" season events like this one and certain events during the spring clay season and last winter.

Golovin is really likeable and also has great potential. Her serve isn't exceptional but I love her method of serving, in fact might follow it -- the delayed toss is a great way to minimize faults. What she really needs is killer instinct. She has too many close losses, like this one and the double tiebreak to Sharapova at the US Open, which turned out to be Sharapova's toughest match there.

One last thing -- I loved Golovin's reaction when Petrova ran her ass off one point after supposedly twisting her ankle!