Week #38: Russian domination continues, titles for Safina and Zvonareva

Dinara Safina confirmed once more her great form this season and raised her level in the decissive rounds to take the title in the Tier I of Tokyo. Safina trashed fellow Russian Nadia Petrova in the semifinal by 6/1 6/0 and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final by 6/1 6/3. Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik avoided potential all-Russian semifinals after upsetting Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals. Kuznetsova and Petrova found their best tennis after a dissappointing season and upsetted 1st seed Jelena Jankovic and 2nd seed Ana Ivanovic respectively.
In Guangzhou, Russian Vera Zvonareva ended with the hopes of Chinese crowd after defeating Jie Zheng in the semifinals and Shuai Peng in the final. Zvonareva and Peng were the strongest players and didn't drop a set on their way to the final. In the final, Peng took the first set on the tiebrak, but Zvonareva reacted and lost just two games to take the second and the third by 6/0 and 6/2.

Tokyo (JPN), Tier I, $1,340,000
Final: Dinara Safina (RUS) def Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 6/1 6/3

Guangzhou (CHN), Tier III, $175,000
Final: Vera Zvonareva (RUS) def Shuai Peng (CHN) 6/7 6/0 6/2