Serena and Nadal Pick Up Where They Left Off, Federer Denied By Hewitt

New year, new season, but nothing new for tennis.  Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams each won titles, the latter knocking off Azarenka in the final.  Roger Federer reached the final in Brisbane but lost to Lleyton Hewitt.  However, a Swiss still won a title this week - Stanislas Wawrinka.  Na Li defended his title in Shenzhen, and Ana Ivanovic prevented the elder Williams sister from also winning.

ATP 250: Brisbane, Australia
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) def. 1) Roger Federer (SUI) 6-1 4-6 6-3
-Hewitt wins 29th career title, but first since '10 Halle (def. Federer), 3.5-yr drought
-Americans: 1-3, Querrey def. 7-Tursunov, l. to Matosevic; q-R.Harrison l. to Groth, l-Kuznetsov l. to Ebden
-Aussie Samuel Groth, reached his first ATP quarterfinal at age 26.  He is now ranked #157.
-Romanian Marius Copil, reached his first ATP quarterfinal at age 23.  He is now ranked #138.
-Cilic returned to action and reached the quarters before losing to Nishikori.
-Murray was the defending champion but was dumped out of the first round of Doha this year.

ATP 250: Chennai, India
1) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) def. 7) Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 7-5 6-2
-Wawrinka wins 5th career title, last '13 Oeiras
-Americans: 0-1, Smyczek l. to Lu
-Indian Yuki Bhambri, the '09 Aussie Open boys champion, reached his first ATP quarterfinal at age 21.  He is now ranked #172.  No Indians reached an ATP quarter last year.
-The Indian #1 Devvarman was dumped out in the first round by his qualifying compatriot, 19-yr-old Ramkumar Ramanathan, who picked up his first main draw win.
-Tipsarevic was the defending champion but did not play this year.

ATP 250: Doha, Qatar
1) Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Gael Monfils (FRA) 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2
-Nadal wins 61st career title, last '13 US Open
-No Americans here
-German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk reach his first ATP quarterfinal, then made the semis and took a set off Nadal
-German Dustin Brown saved several match points in a 15-13 2nd set tiebreak en route to a 3-set win over Karlovic
-Murray and Berdych both crashed out in their opening match
-Gasquet was the defending champion, he lost to Monfils in round 2

WTA Premier: Brisbane, Australia
1) Serena Williams (USA) def. 2) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
-Serena wins 58th career title, last '13 Tour Championships
-Americans: 5-3, Serena went 5-0 while Lepchenko, Mattek-Sands, and Keys lost to Svitolina, Petkovic, and Voegele.
-Young Aussie Ashleigh Barty, 17-yr-old, qualified and beat Hantuchova.  She is now ranked #190 and no. 3 among those born in '96.
-Serena successfully defended her title

WTA International: Auckland, New Zealand
2) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) def. Venus Williams (USA) 6-2 5-7 6-4
-Ivanovic wins 12th career title, last '11 Bali, she ends a 2-yr drought
-Americans: 9-5 but they beat each other up.  Davis made the quarters and lost to Hampton, who pulled out of her semi match with Venus.  McHale and Riske lost first round matches to Muguruza and Ivanovic.
-Japanese qualifier Sachie Ishizu reached her first WTA quarterfinal, at age 21.  She is now ranked #204.
-Young Croatian Ana Konjuh, ranked no. 2 among players born in '97 (behind Bencic) received a wild card and then upset top seed Vinci for her first main draw win.  She is now ranked #259.
-A.Radwanska was the defending champion but did not play this week.

WTA International: Shenzhen, China
1) Na Li (CHN) def. 5) Shuai Peng (CHN)
-Li wins 8th career title, but '13 Shenzhen was her last, a 1-yr drought.  She is the only winner in Shenzhen
-Americans: 3-1, King reached the semis with wins over Martic, Errani, and Zahlavova Strycova before handing Peng a walkover to the final.
-German qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam, ranked no. 7 among players born in '92, won her first WTA main draw match by upsetting Jovanovski.  She is now ranked #116 due to ITF success.
-Two other qualifying players born in '92, Nadiya Kichenok (UKR) and Viktorija Golubic (SUI) picked up main draw wins, though they have accomplished that feat before.
-Li successfully defended her title.