2008 German Open (tennis)

TennisEventInfo|2008|German Open
date=May 5 – May 11
edition=37th
champs=flagicon|RUS Dinara Safina
champd=flagicon|ZIM Cara Black / flagicon|USA Liezel Huber

The 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open was a women's tennis event that was played from May 5 to May 11, 2008. It was one of two Tier I events that took place on red clay in the build-up to the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open. It was played at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in the German capital of Berlin. The tournaments offered a total prize fund of US$1,300,000 across all rounds.

World number one Justine Henin, the three-time French Open defending champion, was the tournament's top seed. She was hoping to win this event for the fourth time after collecting titles here in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Defending champion Ana Ivanović was Henin's biggest threat for the title as the number two seed, with Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova rounding out the top four seeds. Fifth seed Serena Williams was also a big threat for the title; she had won her last three tournaments and is a former French Open champion. Russian pair Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva brought the field up to seven of the world's top ten players. [cite web|url=http://www.german-open.net/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Entry+List+%5BEN%5D|title=Entry List 2008|publisher=German Open Official Site|accessdate=2008-05-04] Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchová were also due to play the event but it was announced that both had pulled out on April 30. [cite web|url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/30042008/3/sharapova-hantuchova-pull-german-open.html|title=Sharapova, Hantuchova pull out of German Open|publisher=Yahoo! Eurosport UK|date=2008-04-30|accessdate=2008-05-03]

Review

The tournament was won by Dinara Safina, who started the tournament as the thirteenth seed. She enjoyed the best week of her career to win her first ever Tier I title. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7394883.stm|title= Safina secures German Open title|publisher=BBC SPORT|date=2008-05-11|accessdate=2008-05-11] In the third round, she beat top seed Justine Henin in a match that turned out to be the last of her career, her second victory over a world number one, and followed it up by stopping Serena Williams's 17-match winning streak. [cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/05/09/tennis.germany.ap/index.html|title= Safina ends Serena's winning streak|publisher=CNN.com|date=2008-05-09|accessdate=2008-05-11] She beat Elena Dementieva in the final, in the 14th all-Russian final on the WTA Tour, and the third so far in 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2243|title= Dementieva, Safina Set Up 14th All-Russian Final|publisher=Sony Ericsson WTA Tour|date=2008-05-10|accessdate=2008-05-11]

Ana Ivanović was the only top six seed to reach the semifinals in a tournament littered with upsets. Henin and Williams lost the aforementioned matches to Safina, third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Alyona Bondarenko, Jelena Janković lost to Elena Dementieva and Anna Chakvetadze went down in her first match to Victoria Azarenka, who eventually made her first ever Tier I semifinal.

World number ones Cara Black and Liezel Huber won the doubles title, beating the unseeded Spanish pairing Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez, who had upset number two seeds Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in a thrilling match tiebreak in the semifinals, which ended at 16–14.

Champions

ingles

flagicon|RUS Dinara Safina def. flagicon|RUS Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
*It was Safina's first title of the year and 6th of her career.

Doubles

flagicon|ZIM Cara Black / flagicon|USA Liezel Huber def. flagicon|ESP Nuria Llagostera Vives / flagicon|ESP María José Martínez Sánchez, 3–6, 6–2, 10–2

Prize money & points

Total prize money: $1,300,000 [cite web|url=http://www.german-open.net/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Turnament+Facts+%5BEN%5D|title=Prize Money & Points|publisher=German Open Official Site|accessdate=2008-05-03]

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External links

* [http://www.qatar-german-open.org/ Official Website]

References