Wozniacki Ends Title Drought, Klizan Continues Rise

The men returned to tour play with a couple of minor tournaments before heading east while the women were already in Asia kicking off that swing with a couple of International events.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defended his title in Metz and returned to no. 7 the rankings.  Martin Klizan continued to show he may be a player to watch as he won his first career title in St. Petersburg.  The story the week though was probably much maligned and beginning of the year no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki FINALLY winning her first title of the year, albeit at a smaller event in Seoul.  And finally, Su-Wei Hsieh won in Guangzhou, becoming the first of a number of lowly ranked women to back up their first tour title with a second.

ATP 250: Metz, France

1) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) def. 5) Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-1 6-2

-Tsonga wins 9th career title, 2nd of 2012, last '12 Doha
-It is his 2nd win in Metz, all his titles has come on hard courts with 4 of them in France
-Other QF:  2) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER), 4) Florian Mayer (GER), 7) Gael Monfils (FRA)-SF, 8) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)-SF, Ivo Karlovic (CRO), Jesse Levine (USA)
-Other seeds:  3) Granollers (R2 ret. to Karlovic), 6) Nieminen (w/d)

-Tsonga successfully defended his title.
-Tsonga was the only returning quarterfinalist from last year.

-It is good to see Monfils back after a long injury break.
-There were ten Frenchmen in the draw, and they went 11-9 with Mahut, Paire, and veteran qualifier Clement Reix who is ranked no. 410, getting wins other than Tsonga and Monfils.
-Two Americans ventured across the pond, Blake won one match and Levine two.
-Davydenko bageled Karlovic in the 3rd set of their QF but then was himself bageled by Tsonga in the SF before taking the 2nd set and losing in 3.

ATP 250: Saint Petersburg, Russia
3) Martin Klizan (SVK) def. 4) Fabio Fognini (RUS) 6-2 6-3

-Klizan wins 1st career title (in his first final)
-Other QF:  1) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)-SF, 7) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP), Ricardas Berankis (LTU), Roberto Bautista-Agut (ESP), Flavio Cipolla (ITA), Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)-SF
-Other seeds:  2) Istomin (R1 l. to Kubot), 5) Lacko (R1 l. to Zemlja), 6) Lu (R1 l. to Bautista-Agut), 8) Zopp (R2 l. to Berankis)
-Cilic was the defending champion, but did not participate this year.

-Youzhny was the only returning quarterfinalists from last year, though Seppi made the QF this year and played Metz, reaching the final.
-This tournament was played 5 weeks earlier than last year due to the fall shuffle occurring because the season will end 2 weeks earlier.
-There was just one American in the draw, Ram, who beat Bachinger before losing to Youzhny.
-Russians went 4-6 with Gabashvili the only other winner.
-It seems Berankis has righted the ship after a prolonged slump.
-The best scoreline was Klizan's SF win over Youzhny 6-7(11) 6-4 7-6(3).  Youzhny overcame a bagel 2nd set to beat Garcia-Lopez.
-Klizan will rise to no. 33 in the world and is 20-4 since Kitzbuhel (includes 5-0 at challenger win in San Marino) including Kitzbuhel SF, San Marino W, US Open 4th round and 2 Davis Cup wins over POR before winning here in St Petersburg.

WTA International: Quebec City, Canada

Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) def. Laura Robson (GBR) 6-3 5-7 6-4

-Hsieh wins 2nd career title, 2nd of 2012, last '12 Kuala Lumpur

-Other QF:  3) Sorana Cirstea (ROU)-SF, 4) Urszula Radwanska (POL)-SF, 5) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA), 7) Shuai Peng (CHN), 8) Alize Cornet (FRA), Mathilde Johansson (FRA)

-Other seeds:  1) Bartoli (R1 ret. to Chang), 2) Zheng (R2 l. to Robson), 6) Niculescu (R1 l. to Johansson)

-Scheepers was the defending champion and lost to Radwanska in the QF.

-Ironically, Scheepers and Radwanska were the only two who made the QF here in '11 and '12.

-Chinese players were a disappointing 4-5 with two of their wins coming from wildcards Saisai Zheng and Ying-ying Duan.

-There was just one American in the draw, Cohen, who promptly lost to Zheng.

-The only winning qualifier was a Thai named Luangnam ranked no. 211.

-Robson made her first WTA final, and will rise to no. 57 in the world.

WTA International: Tashkent, Uzbekistan

1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) def. 3) Kaia Kanepi (EST) 6-1 6-0

-Wozniacki wins 19th career title, last '11 New Haven (13-month drought)

-Other QF:  6) Varvara Lepchenko (UZB)-SF, 7) Klara Zakopalova (CZE), 8) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)-SF, Tamira Paszek (AUT), Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP), Kiki Bertens (NED)

-Other seeds:  2) Kirilenko (R1 ret. to Lee), 4) Petrova (R2 w/d), 5) Goerges (R1 l. to Soler-Espinosa)

-Martinez Sanchez was the defending champion, but lost to Makarova in the QF.

-Martinez Sanchez and Zakopalova were returning quarterfinalists from last year.

-Not counting the match where Kirilenko retired, 3 Korean wildcards won a grand total of 6 games from Voskoboeva, Kanepi, and Paszek.

-There was two Americans in the draw: King, who promptly lost to Bertens, and Hampton, who qualified and then beat Oprandi before losing to Makarova.

-Young Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia won a match over Cadantu but then played Wozniacki next.