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STARS

Nicolas Almagro beat Robin Soderling 7-5 3-6 6-2 to win the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad, Sweden

Albert Montanes beat Gael Monfils 6-2 1-2 retired to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany

Kaia Kanepi beat Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3 to win the XXII SNAI Open in Palermo, Italy

Agnes Szavay beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 1-6 6-2 to win the ECM Prague Open by Glanzis in Prague, Czech Republic

Robert Farah beat Carlos Salamanca 6-3 2-6 7-6 (3) to win the Seguros Bolivar Open in Bogota, Colombia

SAYINGS

“This is the best moment of my career. After doing well at Wimbledon, now I’ve confirmed I’m playing really well.” – Kaia Kanepi, after winning her first career singles title, the XXIII SNAI Open Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo.

“That’s the way it is in finals – it should be close, nervous and exciting.” – Robert Lindstedt, who, at age 33 finally won the doubles title at the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad, Sweden.

“It’s very nice to have a second title in a row. I’ve been working very hard and this is the reward.” – Agnes Szavay, after winning the 2010 ECM Prague Open.

“All week I was playing very good tennis. It’s a shame I don’t have a trophy.” – Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who lost to Agnes Szavay in the final at Prague, Czech Republic.

“It’s my home tournament and I can honestly say that nobody wants to win this tournament more than me. To finally win this at 33 is too much.” – Robert Lindstedt, who teamed with Horia Tecau to win the doubles at Bastad, Sweden.

“By the time the match ended, the ball boys were ball men.” – ESPY Award host Seth Meyers, referring to the marathon Wimbledon first-round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.

“The rankings are, naturally, important and I want to get back on the top as soon as possible. Still, I think my bigger wish is to win a couple more Grand Slam titles. Just look at the Williams sisters; it’s been almost 15 years since they made their debut and they are still on the top, it’s still hard to beat them. They are the living proof how much a career in tennis can last.” – Ana Ivanovic.

STAR FOR ESTONIA

Kaia Kanepi is continuing her rise up the rankings and carrying Estonian tennis with her. Seeded fifth in Palermo, Italy, Kanepi won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title, besting Flavia Pennetta in the final 6-4 6-3. Kanepi is the first Estonian player to win a tournament. She also was the first Estonian to be ranked in the top 20 in the world and the first Estonian player to reach a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal, which she did at the French Open in 2008. She repeated that performance at Wimbledon this year. ”Flavia was playing well but today I was more aggressive in the most important moments of the match,” said Kanepi, who was playing in her third career final. She lost in 2006 to Kim Clijsters and in 2008 to Caroline Wozniacki.

Italian Alberta Brianti also won her first career title. The 30-year-old teamed with Sara Errani to capture the doubles at Palermo, defeating Jill Craybas and Julia Goerges 6-4 6-1. It also was the first tournament triumph for the pair as a team.

SURGERY FOR SERENA

The injury jinx has struck Serena Williams again. This time the world’s top-ranked player reportedly cut her right foot on a broken glass at a restaurant. Serena will undergo surgery on the foot and will miss three tournaments leading up to the US Open. She has withdrawn from tournaments in Istanbul, Turkey; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and Montreal, Canada. “I’m so upset I won’t be able to play in the upcoming events because of this foot surgery,” Williams said on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour website. “Thank you for all your support. I can’t wait to get back on the courts.” The first word of her injury came from World TeamTennis when it announced she would miss its entire one-month season. The Washington Kastles team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches. Serena attended the wedding of Denver Nuggets basketball star Carmelo Anthony in New York. In a photo, it appeared she had two bandages on the top of her right foot. After winning the Australian Open in January, Williams was sidelined with an injured left knee until April. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before winning Wimbledon for her 13^th career Grand Slam tournament title.

SINGLED OUT

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, who engaged in a marathon match at Wimbledon, won an ESPY Award for Best Record-Breaking Performance. Isner accepted the award and immediately paid tribute to his French opponent. “He was an absolute warrior that day,” Isner said of Mahut. “You can’t fathom a match going 70-68 in the fifth, but somehow we did it. It was a pleasure to share the court with him that day.” The two beat out fellow nominees Roger Federer, sprinter Usain Bolt, National Football League quarterback Brett Favre and the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team. The first-round match stretched over three days, with the fifth set alone lasting eight hours, 11 minutes – 98 minutes longer than the previous longest match on record. It concluded just in time to make the ESPY Awards cut, with nominations announced that same day.

Isner and Mahut weren’t the only tennis players honored at the ESPY Awards. Federer and Serena Williams took top honors in the sport of tennis, while Kim Clijsters was named “Comeback of the Year.”

SNAZZY SZAVAY

The hottest player currently on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is Agnes Szavay. The Hungarian right-hander won her second consecutive tournament title, running her match-winning streak to 10 in a row, by capturing the ECM Prague Open by Glanzis. In the final, Szavay bested Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 1-6 6-2. Her previous longest match win streak was seven in a row, which she did twice in 2007. Just the second player this year to win titles in consecutive weeks, Szavay now owns five career titles, including Budapest, Hungary, the week before Prague. Venus Williams won consecutive weeks at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Acapulco, Mexico, in the spring.

Szavay wasn’t the only double winner. Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin captured the doubles at Prague, just as they had the week before in Budapest. While it was Bacsinzsky’s second WTA Tour crown and Garbin’s 10^th, the pair had teamed to win three International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit titles.

SHARING EVERYTHING

Two Czech tennis players, Radek Stepanek and Nicole Vaidisova, are now Mr. and Mrs. The two were married in St. Vitus Cathedral, the largest and most famous church in the Czech Republic. According to Czech public radio, guests at the wedding included ice hockey star Jaromir Jagr and tennis player Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who played – and lost – in her first WTA Tour final at the Prague Open. The 31-year-old Stepanek, who is ranked 29h in the world, has missed most of this year with health problems. The 21-year-old Vaidisova, a former top 10 player, retired this year after struggling with form.

SKIPPING SLOVENIA

Tendinitis in her left wrist is keeping French Open champion Francesca Schiavone from playing in this week’s Slovenia Open. The first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title, Schiavone was scheduled to be seeded second at the tournament in Portoroz, Slovenia, behind third-ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

SANIA’S PLUNGE

India’s top female player, Sania Mirza, lost in straight sets in a USD $25,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Woking, Great Britain. Once ranked as high as 27^th in the world, Mirza is now at 131 and dropping. She lost to 17-year-old Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4 6-4 at the British tournament. She reportedly entered the low category tournament to be close to her husband, Shoaib Malik, a member of Pakistan’s cricket team. Pakistan and Australia are currently playing a two-Test series in Lord’s, which is 14 miles (23 km) away from where Sania was playing tennis.

SOUTH AFRICA RISING?

Chani Scheepers made a splash onto the world tennis stage when she came through qualifying to reach the round of 16 at the French Open earlier this year. Now, she has beaten former number one Martina Hingis in their World TeamTennis matchup. Playing for the New York Buzz, Hingis had posted six straight victories before losing to Scheepers, who is playing for the Springfield Lasers in the month-long league. Beating Hingis was significant and a morale-boosting achievement, the South African said. “Martina hasn’t played full-time for a while, but she is still a special player and it was great to have played her during my career,” Scheepers said.

SPLITSVILLE

Tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi and his model wife of six years, Shvetha Jaishankar, have divorced. They did so at a court in Mumbai, India, by mutual consent on the grounds that they were “no longer compatible partners.” She said she felt there was “no point in keeping their 6-year-old marriage intact when nothing remained in it.” She did get to keep their spacious apartment in the posh Langford Gardens area of Bangalore, India.

STUFFED BALLS

Police in New Zealand foiled an attempt by a recently released prisoner to toss two tennis balls filled with marijuana into the prison. Acting on a tip, police were waiting outside Wanganui prison, about 122 miles (200 km) from Wellington, New Zealand, when the former prisoner showed up in a car. Police stopped the vehicle and recovered the two tennis balls containing about 65 grams of cannabis with a market value of more than USD $3,000, according to the New Zealand Herald. The man and driver of the car were arrested and charged with possession of cannabis with intent to supply it inside the prison.

SWITCHING COACHES

Stanislas Wawrinka has changed coaches. Switzerland’s number two player announced he is now being coached by Peter Lundgren, a former coach of Switzerland’s top player, Roger Federer. “When I asked what he wanted help with, he said he wants to return to the top 10,” Lundgren said. “It’s what you want to hear as a coach. I’m going to try to get Stan to become more aggressive.” Once ranked as high as number nine in the world, Wawrinka was coached by Dimitri Zavialoff from the age of eight until his first-round loss to Denis Istomin at Wimbledon in June. Besides Federer, Lundgren also has coached Marcelo Rios, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis and Grigor Dimitrov.

SPOTLIGHT ON VENUS

Venus Williams has been named the Phenomenal Woman of the Year by the YWCA Greater Los Angeles. “Venus Williams exemplifies the YWCA’s core mission of ‘eliminating racism, empowering women,’ said Faye Washington, CEO of YWCA Greater Los Angeles. “She is the quintessential example of our theme, ‘Saluting Women who Change the Game.’ We are so proud of her accomplishments on and off the court, and so grateful to her for embracing our Job Corps program and students.” In addition to accepting the award, Williams was guest speaker for the YWCA GLA Job Corps graduation ceremony.

SET FOR ASHE DAY

Pop superstars Jonas Brothers and TV and recording sensation Demi Lovato will team up with Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters and Novak Djokovic at the 15^th annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day presented by Hess. The full-day tennis and music festival will be held August 28 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis center in Flushing, New York, beginning at 9:30 a.m. (New York time). The day kicks off the 2010 US Open, which runs from August 30 to September 12.

SLAPPED

The NCAA has put the Ball State women’s tennis program on probation for three years over what it says were excessive practice requirements and attempts by the former coach to have players lie to investigators. The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions also put limits on former coach Kathy Bull’s contact with players if she has another coaching job in the next three years. Bull, who coached the Cardinals for 20 years before being fired last October, has filed a federal lawsuit against the university arguing that administrators “intentionally trumped up the allegations” against her. The school has reduced its women’s tennis activity hours from 20 to 16 per week during the current academic year, and will have just 18 hours per week in 2010-11. The penalties were self-imposed by the school.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bastad: Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau beat Andreas Seppi and Simone Vagnozzi 6-4 7-5

Bogota: Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah beat Victor Estrella and Alejandro Gonzalez 7-6 (6) 6-4

Palermo: Alberta Brianti and Sara Errani beat Jill Craybas and Julia Goerges 6-4 6-1

Prague: Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin beat Monica Niculescu and Agnes Szavay 7-5 7-6 (4)

Stuttgart: Carlos Berlocq and Eduardo Schwank beat Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6)

SITES TO SURF

Hamburg: http://german-open-hamburg.de/

Atlanta: www.atlantatennischampionships.com/

Portoroz: www.sloveniaopen.si/

Bad Gastein: www.gastein-ladies.at/

Petange: www.tennispetange.lu/