Week #30: Safina wins in Los Angeles

Dinara Safina proved once again that she's one of the players in best for in the last few months and captured the title in Los Angeles. Safina defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta in the final, who took advance of a very weak half of the draw after the withdrawal of Serena Williams and the early defeats of Anna Chakvetadze, Daniela Hantuchova and Patty Schnyder. But the most expected match was the semifinal between Safina and 1st seed and WTA #2 Jelena Jankovic, who missed a great chance of becoming World's #1. Also remarkable was the performance of American Betthanie Mattek, who made good profit of her Wild Card to the Main Draw reaching the semifinals.
In Portoroz, Italian Sara Errani got her 2nd WTA title in just three weeks after her title in Palermo. Errani exhibited a great form as she defeated 1st seed Maria Kirilenko (WTA 19), 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki (WTA 30) and 4th seed Anabel Medina (WTA 31) in straight sets, extending her winning streak to 10 consecutive victories. German Julia Goerges reached the semis in a WTA event for the first time, while former Top-20 Elena Bovina, who has missed most of the last few seasons due to several injuries, seems to be finally getting some of her best tennis back, as she reached the quarter-finals after going through the qualification.

Los Angeles (USA), Tier II, $600,000
Final: Dinara Safina (RUS) def Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 6/4 6/2

Portoroz (SLO), Tier IV, $145,000
Final: Sara Errani (ITA) def Anabel Medina 6/3 6/3