Today is Ladies Day at the Dubai Tennis Championships, as the women's quarterfinals are underway. Of the 8 quarter finalists, three are Russian, one is Belorussian and one each for Poland, China, Israel and the good old US of A. Venus Williams is the highest seed left at #3, and as the defending champion she has a bit of bad luck in the draw to have to play 18-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia. Interestingly, Anastasia has the better of Venus in their three past meetings, up 2-1, after being plastered by Venus at Wimbledon a few years back. She has the heft to take Venus to the limit if she plays well. The #4 seed Victoria Azarenka (Belorussia) faces #12 Vera Zvonareva (Russia), while the #7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) faces qualifier Regina Kulikova (Russia). Finally, unseeded Shahar Peer (Israel) faces #8 Li Na (China).
Quite a few upsets so far: the #1 seed Caroline Wozniacki lost to Peer, the older Russians, #2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and #5 seed Elena Dementieva, also lost as did #6 Jelena Jankovic and #11 Marion Bartoli.
I will not be vying for a prize as best-dressed, which comes with tickets to the finals, but I will be watching the finalists play today and the first of the two semifinals tomorrow. I have absolutely no idea who will win--it's really up for grabs!
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