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2009 champion wozniackiFinal

player one result player two
C. WOZNIACKI [6]  7-6, 7.-5
 V. RAZZANO

Great Dane shows bite

Wozniacki walks off as winner | Latest news/quotes

20009 champion wozniacki"I enjoy playing on grass and think it suits my game," confessed Caroline Wozniacki who showed her grass court prowess by capturing the AEGON International with a two set struggle over Virginie Razzano.

The Monaco-based Danish teenager (pictured) showed flaws on her backhand but had the winning edge to triumph 7-6, 7-5 for her second title of 2009. 

The 18-year-old predicted during the week-long tournament as an outsider to win Wimbledon 2009, will begin the Championships at SW19 as no9 seed and is certainly a forece to be reckoned with.

At Devonshire Park's final, a tight first set went into a tiebreak after only one break of serve a-piece. And Wozniacki whizzed into a comprehensive 6-1 lead only for French ace Razzano to battle back with brave shotmaking to reel off four successive points before bowing out of the set 7-5.

And powerful blonde Wozniacki continued confidently with an immediate break in the second set, although at times severely struggled to cope with Razzano's approaches to the net and cracking forehand winners. 

Only the great Dane's serve kept matters tight and Wozniacki squealed with delight on match point only for her powerful serve to be called out at a very late stage. Razzano survived that point but eventually fell to finish a close runner-up in 101 minutes.

Runner-up Razzano, 26, admited after defeat: " Today, I just wasn't as fresh as I was before. But I'm happy with my matches against Dementieva and Radwanska though.

Wozniacki smiled: "Every title means something special to me. It’s my first title [senior WTA Tour] on grass, so that means a lot to me. I believe I have a chance and when I go out there I want to win.”
 
And added: “Both sets were very tight and I wish I could close it off a little bit earlier. But I mean it doesn’t matter how I won. I won, and that’s the main thing and I’m very happy.”

caroline wozniackiAnd Wozniacki was among the players who may well win the event long before the tournament began, despite the promise of 10 out of the world's top ranked 13 players looked - in theory at least - a fantastic coup by the tournament organisers. 

Because scanning down the entrants showed far too many Russians, renowned for being unable to adapt to grass courts and for having weak serves. As well as some high profile names who were likely to retire with some sort of injury once the going got tough.

And on Friday the majority of the wind-swept crowd in Devonshire Park's East Stand and North Stand were relieved that their endurance test in near gale force winds was cut short. This was because the awkward-looking Marion Bartoli retired with an inner right calf injury after trailing Virginie Razzano 6-4, 2-0 in the all-French Centre Court semi-final.

"When you play Marion you need to prepare for anything. She tries to affect your concentration and after that you cannot play. It is not nice when you play against her. If you are not ready for it you lose but before the game I prepared mentally and I didn’t think about her," stormed Razzano about facing Bartoli. 

And after Bartoli refused to shake hands with Razzano at the end of their match, Razzano fumed: "She can stop any time in any match. It is good I won the first set because if I had lost the first set she can run anywhere and fight for every point."

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On Thursday defending champion Agenieszka Radwanska was sensationally dumped out at the quarter-final stage by French ace Razzano in straight sets.

With Bartoli storming past Spain's Anable Medina Garrigues on court no1 6-1, 6-4, there was a guaranteed French star in the final, as Razzano faced Bartoli for the first time in just over three years on the Sony-Ericsson WTA Tour. 

Wozniacki, a potential Wimbledon 2009 champion according to 11-time Eastbourne winner Martina Navratilova when the legend spoke to eastbournetennis.com in London, became the only seed in the semi-finals following a routine 6-3, 6-2 success over Russian qualifier Ekaterina Makarova. 

The great Dane was the strong favourite to win the AEGON International but struggled to overcome Aleksandra Wozniack in three sets. The Canadian had previously destroyed Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-0 on court no1.

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ex-eastbourne and wimbledon champ mauresmoAnd controversy was served up throughout Wednesday's second round matches in the strong women's draw, which overshadowed the ailing British interest in the incredibly weak men's draw. Amelie Mauresmo, Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze all showed rare glimpses of feeling the pressure. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

See DAILY NEWS for what happened during the week at Devonshire Park and how the big guns failed to fire on all cyclinders.

Ivanovic in double trouble

Time will tell for out of form ex-world no1 

Ex-French Open champ IvanovicAna Ivanovic's first round exit at singles was swiftly followed by a doubles defeat to make her visit to Eastbourne brief and miserable.

The Serbian starlet was at the peak of her career in May 2008, having captured the French Open to propel to world no1. Fast forward a year and she is not only playing badly and was dire during her Roland Garros defence, but is has slipped out of the world's top 10.

Unsurprisingly, she ended her failed four-month long association with coach Craig Kardon to return to Sven Groeneveld and the adidas group on 9th June. Ivanovic looked excellent on the practice courts at Eastbourne on 14th June, surrounded by more fans than those watching some poor Centre Court matches. But she was a shadow of her former self when Eastbourne 2008 runner-up Nadia Petrova dismantled in the singles.

And although the 21-year-old was granted a wildcard to the doubles despite being unranked, where she will partner German Sabine Lisicki (world no180 at doubles), but by a cruel twist of fate the pair faced the formidable top seeds of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the opening round. 

Out-of-sorts Ivanovic halted her co-operation with Kardon - the ex-coach of American aces Jennifer Capriati, Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport - after dropping out of the world's top 10 following her failure as French Open defending champion to get past the fourth round in Paris.

But Ivanovic smiled: "I'd like to thank Craig for all his hard work, he's a great guy and I enjoyed working with him."

Ivanovic reached the dizzy heights of world no1 after winning her only grand slam under the guidance of Groeneveld, but slipped to world no13 after her 2009 French Open slip up. She is now trained on a part-time basis by the adidas player development programme that comprises Groeneveld, Darren Cahill, Mats Merkel and Gil Reyes.

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Free text alerts | June 2009 | Features

Dokic: south coast to Serbia

Aussie practises at Eastbourne but not in draw

Jelena DokicTroubled tennis player Jelena Dokic remains in Eastbourne after practising for Wimbledon on the grass courts despite not competing in the 2009 AEGON International.

The 26-year-old spent part of the morning on Monday 15th June on the practice courts and then lent her support to ailing Serbia starlet Ana Ivanovic on Centre Court.

Dokic began practising for the pre-Wimbledon tennis tournament on Tuesday 9th June and, according to sources close to eastbournetennis.com, visited Serbia on Wednesday and Thursday because of her's father trial.

She was next seen practising with Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki as from 11am on Friday 12th June at Devonshire Park (pictured), and had been expected to play in the prestigious grass court event.

But the Aussie ace, who has trained at Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in the USA this year, retired in the second round of the 2009 French Open following a mishap and was only cleared of permanent lower back damage following an MRI scan.

And she was spotted practising exclusively by eastbournetennis.com staff at Eastbourne's Devonshire Park on 9th June, then driven away in a silver car with two men - assumed to be her coach and trainer as they were on court with her. This was despite having pulled out of Birmingham's AEGON Classic with a back injury that she incurred at Roland Garros against Elena Dementieva. 

Lawrence Frankopan, Dokic's agent, claimed in early June that Dokic was going to play at Eastbourne in an attempt to better her 2000 run to the Wimbledon semi-finals. Although, given her lowly world ranking and a strong set of players in the ladies draw, Dokic would have had to start in the qualifying rounds on 13th June.

The AEGON International organisers confirmed late on Friday 12th June that the former world no4 had not entered the main draw nor the qualifying draw. It is assumed that the family matters have prevented her from competing at Eastbourne 2009.

Jelena DokicAccording to sources close to eastbournetennis.com, Dokic arrived in Belgrade on Wednesday 10th June - a day earlier than planned - because her father's health had deteriorated - cardiovascular problems and hypertension - at the prison in the Serbian city of Mitrovical. And she returned to London Gatwick airport on Thursday 11th June.

Damir Dokic stood trial on 11th June on a charge of threatening to kill Australia's Ambassador to Serbia - Clare Birgin - with a grenade launcher. But only if Ms Birgin did nothing to halt the Australian media reports that he had beaten his tennis professional daughter.
 
Prosecutors heard that Damir Dokic was arrested in May 2009, after telling the Serbian press that he would "blow up" Ms Birgin. Prosecutors alleged that he made a threatening telephone call to the Australian Embassy in Serbia. But Damir Dokic claims the call was only to ask for help in stopping the press rumours. 

The decision in court at Ruma found him guilty and sentenced him to 15 months at Sremska Mitrovica prison, according to the Serbian Evening News newspaper. However, he could apply for parole after two-thirds of his sentence for good behaviour.

Dokic explained that Tin Bikic, her long-term boyfriend, has helped her to find a way out of the depression after her well-documented split with her father. Although Dokic has since staged a reunion with her father - a ex-boxer, truck and taxi driver - who she accused of torturing her as a rising child prodigy.   

 "Because I needed to live my own life, I realised that the only thing I could do was distance myself from my father," admitted Dokic. "He's very strange and he's very stubborn. There was nothing I could ever do to satisfy him, whether it's on the court or off the court."

Popular comeback queen Dokic last played at SW19 five years ago and two years later failed to make it through the 2006 Wimbledon qualifying rounds at Roehampton, when she was world ranked a lowly no600.

Kuznetsova's in and out 

French Open winner returned to Eastbourne

2009 French Open champ KuznetsovaNewly-crowned French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was granted a wilcard entry to the 2009 AEGON International in a bid to continue her rich vein of form on grass courts in order to tune up for Wimbledon. 

The Russian ace said: "I’m glad to be back and I’m looking forward to playing on the grass courts this week - I really like enjoy competing here."

Kuznetsova made Roland Garros her second grand slam title - adding to her 2004 US Open - after defeating world no1 and compatriot Dinara Safina to move up to world no5.

“I always play in Eastbourne but somehow I managed to forget to enter this year, so I really appreciate the opportunity to play here again,” confessed the 23-year-old. "I like the tournament and I like Eastbourne."

But Kuznetsova tends never to make much of an impact on grass courts and despite being the top seed at 2008 Eastbourne failed to survive her first hurdle against Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki. 

And the Russian star has yet to reach the semi-final stage at Wimbledon and admitted: “I can play good on grass but haven’t done that yet. For me adjusting is the most difficult thing, that is why I have to force myself and go and play at Eastbourne."

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Pole avoids being axed 

Champ Radwanska survives as a seed 

2008 championChampion Agnieszka Radwanska, a shock winner of the 2008 International Open, has a tough job on her hands in trying to defend her title. But it could have been made even harder if the Polish ace had missed out on being one of eight seeds at the 2009 AEGON International.

In the past, tournament organisers have been very strict with their seedings always reflected by the current world rankings. And Radwanska's topsy-turvy season may well see her return to Eastbourne for a third successive season to defend her title as an unseeded player.

Radwanska, who won her biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title at Devonshire Park, cracked the top 10 world rankings last year but has yet to win a title in 2009 and reached five quarter-finals this season but is still hovering outside the world's top 10.

Two other teenagers who made their Eastbourne debuts last year, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, return for another shot at winning the prestigious grass court title. Azarenka retired injured in the opening round for the second year in succession while Wozniacki proved to be one of the stars of 2008 and 2009 Eastbourne.

a force to be reckoned withBelarussian ace Azarenka (pictured left) has established herself as a force to be reckoned with by collecting a trio of titles in 2009. The 19-year-old captured her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title in Brisbane, Australia and showed that it wasn't a flash in the pan by adding trophies at Memphis and Miami - both in America. The Sony Ericsson Open at Miami, known as the 'fifth grand slam', saw Azarenka easily beat semi-injured Serena Williams in the final.

Wozniacki rewrote the history books at the 2008 Stockholm Open, after she became the first Danish player to claim a WTA Tour singles title. Following that victory over Radwanska in Sweden, the 18-year-old added three more titles to break into the world's top 10.

In-form stars signed up two by two for Eastbourne's 2009 AEGON International tournament. Serbian is represented by their former world no1 players, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, with the Russian pair of Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva returning to Devonshire Park.

jelena jankovicJankovic (pictured left) had a torrid start to the year, ousted in her first showing in back-to-back events. But her season was kick-started after she went to Marbella early to relax and cruised to victory in the inaugural Andalucia Tennis Experience.

Compatriot Ivanovic has changed coaches this term and is looking fitter and sharper overall. But having surprisingly scooped the 2008 French Open, her defence of the grand slam was always in jeopardy because of a knee injury. And the Serbian starlet axed coaches against after failing at Roland Garros.

Ivanovic had been due to make her Devonshire Park debut at in 2005 and 2008, but twice withdrew because of injury. Although last year, having won at Roland Garros just before the grass court season kicked off, Ivanovic was clearly too exhausted to play another event before Wimbledon.

"It looks like the perfect place to prepare for Wimbledon," claimed Ivanovic. "It's also a chance to win a prestigious title. You might lose, but you must never lose the belief in yourself. I've won the French, I've won big tournaments and I know I can do it again.”

Ivanovic's game is suited to grass, and since 2006 has been backed to be crowned the Wimbledon singles champion. Her best showing has been a semi-final berth, although that could easily alter if the crowd-pleasing beauty tunes up with victory at Eastbourne despite having slipped out of ther world's top 10 so is not seeded for the event. 

elena dementievaDementieva (pictured left) and Zvonareva have never done particularly well at Eastbourne, the windy conditions not helping Dementieva's notoriously weak serves.

But this season the Russian pair have captured a string of singles titles and should put up more resistance than previous showings.

Free text alerts | June 2009 | Features

Strong set confirmed

2009 AEGON International | 13-20 June

ivanovic is aiming to be a big hit at eastbourneWith Ana Ivanovic anticipated to lead the popularity stakes as much for her grace as her smile and looks, there is a very strong showing expected to try and be a big hit during Eastbourne's AEGON International.

And Ivanovic is purring about playing at Devonshire Park to instil some much-needed confidence and said: "I've always thought that British tennis fans are among the best in the world, and I enjoy playing in front of them."

But the majority of players ranked in the current world top 50 makes it impossible for the Serbian to be among the top four seeds and receive an automatic bye, as Ivanovic has slipped out of the world's top 10 after falling at the fourth round when she was defending her French Open title at Roland Garros.

The Russian contingent has recently been the strongest set of players on the circuit with the usual splattering of French aces and stars from the Czech Republic. When Serena Williams quips "There's 12 Russians in the top 10", something is happening on the WTA Tour that needs addressing.

And Eastbourne 2009 also welcomes a number of Russian stars, as all of last year's stars return for another shot at the title. Nadia Petrova finished Eastbourne 2008 as runner-up but is getting more selective about events. Although Vera Zvonareva may have failed to impress at Devonshire Park last year, she is now hitting red-hot form in 2009. While French Open champion Svetlana Kutnetsova returns to Devonshire Park, having bowed out of the second round at Eastbourne 2008 to Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki.

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British tennis fans are among the best in the world, and I enjoy playing in front of them

- Ana Ivanovic

Serving up a new era

2009 AEGON International | 13-20 June

click for men's tennis siteDevonshire Park will play host to the combined tennis tournaments at Eastbourne for the first time this summer when the 2009 AEGON International brings together the world's leading players on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour. 

The ATP event, formerly held in Nottingham, moves to the English south coast resort for a five-year stint and already there are some big names expected though not likely to be much British interest unluess veteran Greg Rusedski or  Andy Murray suddenly arrive courtesy of a wildcard.

There should be plenty of excitement for fans because this tournament is the final chance for players to tune up before Wimbledon, which starts the following week. 

The ATP's 2008 event in Nottingham saw Ivo Karlovic retain his title to register a three set thriller over Spanish livewire Fernando Verdasco. And the Croatian ace saved a match point to register a 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(8) triumph. But Karlovic is not among the names of players pencilled in to play Eastbourne in the men's event.

The 2009 AEGON International tennis feast kicks off on the sunny courts of the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club from 13-20 June. Click here for free text alerts that take place throughout the tournament. And everyone who signs up goes into the monthly draws to win a mobile phone if they include their name, postcode and email details.

Free text alerts | M 2009 | Features

Security at the ready

Cavendish: No Tom, Dick or Harry welcome

Cavenish hotelWhen only seven top class players were initially confirmed for the 2009 AEGON International, the guessing game continued for the women's draw. And eastbournetennis.net exclusively revealed the men's draw more than a month before it was announced by the Lawn Tennis Association.

With two first-class hotels in Eastbourne having always proved popular with the leading names from the sport during the pre-Wimbledon tournament, there had long been whispers around town that many leading players will return to visit the sunny south coast of Eastbourne in June.

With rumours crashing around Eastbourne larger than the winter waves at the fashionable seaside resort, Ashley Proctor - manager of the seafront Cavendish hotel - claimed: "We've already got all the top players staying here for the tournament so I don't want any Tom, Dick and Harry staying, otherwise I'll have to sort out more security!"

So, if you consider yourself to be a "Tom, Dick or Harry", forget stopping at the Cavendish in Eastbourne during tennis week as there are surely plenty of other hotels and guesthouses that would be much more welcoming that Ms Proctor. 

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Free text alerts | May 2009 | Features