On the opening day Saturday Melanie Oudin defeated Kudryavtseva, then the Russian Dementieva evening the tie at 1-1 with a straight-set win over Mattek-Sands. On Sunday in the opener Oudin failed to match her heroics at the US Open where she defeated Dementieva, falling to the Russian despite winning the second set 6-0.

Matches to look for Friday in Miami include (5) Elena Dementieva vs. (WC) Justine Henin, (14) Kim Clijsters vs. Petra Kvitova, Carla Suarez Navarro vs. (9) Sam Stosur, and Melanie Oudin vs. (11) Vera Zvonareva.

The WTA Tour announced there annual award winners.

“I want to congratulate Alisa, she played really well today,” Dementieva said. “I know it is difficult to organize a tennis event such as this but I think the organizers have done a great job and I hope that this tournament will continue for many years. I am grateful for the warm welcome here in Malaysia and I thank all the fans for staying and supporting us today and through the week.”

Seeds: Elena Dementieva, Na Li, Jie Zheng, Alisa Kleybanova, Melinda Czink, Sybille Bammer, Maggie Rybarikova, Olga Govortsova

Verdasco improved to 4-10 in career finals, and became the first Spaniard to win in the Bay Area since Manuel Santana in 1964. Verdasco had lost his prior 15 straight matches versus Top 10-ranked players. Roddick had previously won San Jose in 2004 (d. Mardy Fish), 2005 (d. Cyril Saulnier) and 2008 (d. Radek Stepanek).

In the semis she will face a US Open rematch against Elena Demetieva, one of four Russians she beat at last year’s Open. On Friday Oudin outlasted Agnes Szavay 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, while Dementieva also endured a tough encounter against Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Weak field for such a storied event; Oudin looking to keep the mojo alive after leading the U.S. to a first-round Fed Cup win; one Top 10-er in Dementieva; openers of interest include (7) Razzano vs. Schnyder, (6) Peer vs. Cornet; Dementieva lost to Amelie Mauresmo in last year’s final

The Belgian Henin made the difference in the match with some timely net forays and aggressive baseline play, taking the action to the Russian.

“It’s just a little pain and the strapping usually helps the pain go away sometimes,” Serena said.