Not much to say about the first semifinal: Kvitova dispatched Mattek-Sands 6-2 6-0 in 59 minutes.

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Another day, another marathon win for Petra Kvitova. She defeats Yanina Wickmayer 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3).
The Belgian served for the match at 5-4 in the third, but Kvitova came back and qualified for he semifinals.

Next match: Petkovic vs Mattek-Sands
For whatever reason, I was thinking Petkovic was a nice, funny player, able to do other things than hit hard from the baseline. How wrong I was.
She just kept shouting at her coach, at the umpire and at herself. And her tennis? Well, nothing new under the sun: baseline play with a couple of dropshots. Disappointing.

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Yesterday was my first day in Paris for the Open GDF Suez, which takes place at Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris (same place as the Lagardère Trophy).

The first match allowed me to discover a player I didn’t know:

How come, you didn’t recognize her, really?

Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.

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From now on, a new series of posts: Tennis Buzz, the week in review, with all the latest tennis news and a preview of next week action.

This week’s biggest news was of course Elena Dementieva‘s retirement.
She announced her retirement following a 6-4, 6-2 loss to French Open champion Francesca Schiavone at the WTA Championships in Doha.
The 29-year-old Russian reached two Grand Slam finals, won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 16 WTA singles titles.

An offensive baseline player with powerful groundstrokes, she was able to play well on any surface. Her biggest weaknesses were her serve and her inability to win big matches. She will now and forever be a candidate for the title of Best Player Never to Win a Major.
She will be truly missed for her class, her work ethic and also her smile. Thanks Elena and all the best for the future.
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