Top-seeded Schiavone reaches semifinals of Prague Open with 6-1, 6-1 victory over Bondarenko

October 9th, 2009 Djokovic reaches semifinals at China OpenBEIJING — Novak Djokovic moved into the semifinals of the China Open with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win over Fernando Verdasco on Friday. Djokovic was broken three times in the second set, but the fourth-ranked Serb regained his form in the third set and took advantage of Verdasco's 19 unforced errors in the match.

September 30th, 2009 Dementieva upset in 2nd round at Pan Pacific OpenTOKYO — Third-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia was ousted in the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, losing 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-1 to Ukraine qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko on Tuesday. Dementieva is the latest highly ranked player to be upset in the second round after top-ranked and defending champion Dinara Safina lost to Taiwanese qualifier Chang Kai-chen, and second-seeded Venus Williams lost to Russian qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Monday.

September 24th, 2009 Kirilenko, Hantuchova reach quarters at Korea OpenSEOUL, South Korea — Defending champion Maria Kirilenko of Russia advanced to the Korea Open quarterfinals on Thursday by beating Francesca Schiavone, who retired with an injury early in the second set. Kirilenko was leading the third-seeded Schiavone 6-1, 1-2 in the second round when the Italian, who had taken a medical time-out in the first set with an apparent right thigh injury, retired.

August 20th, 2009 Serena Williams cruises at Rogers Cup in TorontoTORONTO — Serena Williams cruised past one of the Bondarenko sisters at the Rogers Cup. Williams defeated Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals, two days after sister Venus Williams fell to Kateryna Bondarenko.

August 19th, 2009 Safina ousted in second roundTORONTO — Dinara Safina is out of the Rogers Cup. The No. 1-ranked Russian fell 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Aravane Rezai of France in a second-round match Wednesday at the $2 million WTA Tour event.

July 22nd, 2009 Safina reaches quarterfinals at Slovenia OpenPORTOROZ, Slovenia — Top-ranked Dinara Safina has cruised into the quarterfinals of the Slovenia Open by routing fellow Russian Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-2. Safina was playing her first tournament since losing to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals.

July 19th, 2009 Bammer beats Schiavone in Prague Open finalPRAGUE — Sybille Bammer of Austria has beaten top-seeded Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (4), 6-2 to win the Prague Open. Bammer broke Schiavone twice for a 4-0 lead in the first set on Sunday before the Italian rallied tied the score at 5-5.

July 19th, 2009 Schiavone and Bammer in Prague Open finalPRAGUE — Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone has outlasted Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in a rain-delayed semifinal at the Prague Open to set up a title match against Sybille Bammer. Schiavone needed more than 2 hours, 30 minutes on Sunday to prevail in windy conditions against the unseeded Bacsinszky.

July 18th, 2009 Semifinals suspended at Prague Open due to rainPRAGUE — Both semifinal matches at the Prague Open have been suspended because of rain. Second-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria was leading No.

July 17th, 2009 Soderling reaches Swedish Open semifinalsBASTAD, Sweden — Second-seeded Robin Soderling beat Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 Friday to reach the semifinals at the Swedish Open. Defending champion Tommy Robredo, seeded third in the clay-court tournament, Juan Monaco and wild-card entry Andreas Vinciguerra also advanced.

July 10th, 2009 Szavay, Bondarenko reach Budapest semifinalsBUDAPEST, Hungary — Fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated qualifier Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3 Friday to reach the semifinals of the Budapest Grand Prix. Szavay won the last four games of the first set after breaking Bacsinszky for a 3-2 lead, and continued to control the play in the second.

July 6th, 2009 Bondarenko beats Sprem at Budapest Grand PrixBUDAPEST, Hungary — Sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine has beaten Karolina Sprem of Croatia 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the GDF Suez Grand Prix in Budapest. Bondarenko broke Sprem's serve at 1-1 in the first set on Monday and later jumped out to a 4-2 lead, but the Croatian came back to win four games in a row.

June 30th, 2009 Dementieva reaches Wimbledon semifinalsWIMBLEDON, England — Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia has reached the Wimbledon semifinals after a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Dementieva took a 5-0 lead in the first set and converted both of her break points in the second to seal the win in 66 minutes.

June 18th, 2009 Defending champion Ferrer loses in quartersDEN BOSCH, Netherlands — Ivan Navarro upset defending champion David Ferrer 6-4, 6-2 Thursday in a match between Spaniards to reach the Ordina Open semifinals. Navarro next plays Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands.

June 8th, 2009 Faulk of US wins 110 hurdles at meet in PraguePRAGUE — Dexter Faulk of the United States has won the men's 110-meter hurdles at the Josef Odlozil Memorial Grand Prix, posting the fifth fastest time in the world this year. Faulk finished in 13.21 seconds at the meet in Prague on Monday.