In the semifinals the U.S. will host Russia in April after the Russians defeated Serbia 3-2. In the deciding doubles match Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova defeated Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4 to advance.

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

“I think we set the bar for pretty high for ourselves for the rest of the year but obviously it’s a great tournament to start off the year and a great match, so I couldn’t be happier with myself, but I would also like to congratulate Justine,” Clijsters told the crowd afterwards. “This is the first tournament that she’s back and she’s really played at a really high level.” Clijsters donated her $37,000 winner’s check to the Royal Brisbane Hospital children’s wing, which she visited before the tournament began.

The Brisbane International in Australia kicks off the 2010 WTA Tour in wild fashion, featuring the return of former world No. 1 Justine Henin, fellow Belgian comeback queen and former No. 1 Kim Clijsters as the top seed, in addition to seeds Nadia Petrova, former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Alisa Kleybanova, Aleksandra Wozniak, Melinda Czink and Iveta Benesova.

“It’s a very nice feeling. We worked hard to get to this point, finally we made it,” Pennetta said. “In the beginning of the week everyone expected so many things…now we are 3-0 and we can enjoy it.”

Looking to join the two in the semifinals in Wednesday play will be an all-unseeded meeting with Belgian Yanina Wickmayer vs. the Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, and in the much-anticipated first night match at 7 p.m. EST, new American sweetheart Melanie Oudin vs. No. 9-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki.

The USTA, ATP, and WTA are set to hold a press conference tomorrow, August 13th, to announce some changes to the U.S. Open Series line-ups.
In 2011, the two separate ATP and WTA events in Cincinnati will become a combined men’s and women’s tournament. This combined event will be held two weeks before the U.S. [...]

Seeds: Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling, Marin Cilic, Tommy Robredo, Tomas Berdych, Mardy Fish, Tommy Haas, Ivo Karlovic, Viktor Troicki, Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov, Dudi Sela, Sam Querrey

“He was very angry with me and I changed my game completely,” Safina said. “It was smart to call him.”

Two stunning results this weekend transformed a bland-looking Fed Cup weekend into a shocker.