Victoria Azarenka won’t be in Washington.

(8) Goerges vs. Alla Kudryatseva…Wildcards went to Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-wei, Malaysia’s Jawairiah Noordin and Germany’s Sabine Lisicki…Donna Vekic beat Dominika Cibulkova in last year’s final…Hsieh Su-wei (2012) is the lone returning champion in the field.

“Being in that stage a few times now in the finals, obviously you want to take it a little bit further, but it wasn’t there,” he Anderson, who dropped 12 aces on Nishikori in two sets. “I have a couple of other tournaments coming up now, so I can’t afford to dwell on this.”

Notes: Loaded field with a slew of floaters testing seeds early…Li Na out with a knee injury…The Top 8 seeds receive first-round byes…

Keep your fingers crossed for the Serena vs. Maria and Kvitova vs. Venus quarterfinals, and the champions should unravel from there.

Notes: Serena is shooting for her third Charleston title in a row…Surprising lack of floaters…(10) Maria Kirilenko vs. (Q) Bencic could be interesting…Wildcards went to Melanie Oudin, Nadia Petrova, and Shelby Rogers…Qualifying to the main draw were Swiss Belinda Bencic. Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens, Aussie Jarmila Gajdoeova, Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, Portugal’s Michelle Larcher de Brito, American Grace Min, the Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, and China’s Zheng Saisai…Notable pulls from the event were Alize Cornet, Casey Dellacqua, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands…Former champs in the field are Serena Williams (2013,’12,’08), Stosur (2010), Jankovic (2007), Nadia Petrova (2006), and Venus Williams (2004).

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pulled from the event citing a stomach virus…Ferrer shooting for third title in a row…Wildcards went to Ferrer and Argentines Facundo Arguello and Guido Pella…Returning champs in the field are Ferrer (2013-12), Almagro (2011), Robredo (2009), and Monaco (2007).

Eight of the Top 10 take to the court in Beijing, with play starting on Saturday…Six current or former No. 1s in the field…Tough starts go to (3) Radwanska vs. Keys 2nd rd., (14) Ivanovic vs. Pennetta, (2) Azarenka vs. Petkovic (winner to likely face former world No. 2 Kuznetsova), (5) Errani vs. Flipkens, (13) Lisicki vs. V.Williams likely 2nd rd., and (4) Li vs. Hantuchova…Wildcards went to Francesca Schiavone, Venus Williams, and China’s Zhang Shuai and Zheng Jie…Pulling from the event were Martina Hingis (from doubles citing personal reasons) Marion Bartoli (retirement), Jamie Hampton (left ankle), Ekaterina Makarova, Romina Oprandi, Nadia Petrova (left hip), and Maria Sharapova (right shoulder)…The Williams sisters took a doubles wildcard…Former champs in the field are Azarenka (2012), Radwanska (2011), Wozniacki (2010), Kuznetsova (2009,’06), Jankovic (2008), Maria Kirilenko (2005), and Serena Williams (2004)…No player has ever won back-to-back singles titles in Beijing.

Tough openers for (4) Simon after a bye vs. the winner of Karlovic-Tomic, and (7) Nieminen vs. the Dutch riser Sijsling…Wildcards went to three dudes whose names you can’t pronounce…Pulling from the event were Ivan Dodig, Andy Murray (back surgery), and Tommy Robredo…Gasquet beat Simon in last year’s final…Returning champs in the field are Gasquet (2012) and Simon (2009).

We are less than a week from the conclusion of the 2013 Grand Slam season, and things in both draws are going to form thus far. Serena Williams continued her domination rudely double-bageling birthday girl Carla Suarez-Navarro tonight in a quarterfinal content that felt like a first round mismatch. Because, really, it was. But Serena […]

Andy Murray got British pulses pounding by capturing the title at the Aegon Championships with a hard-fought 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 win over defending champion Marin Cilic for his third Queen’s Club title.

Kirilenko fell to 5-5 in career finals. The Russian faced a match point in her first-round win, and in the second round overcame a 2-5 third-set deficit.

Andy Murray and Bernard Tomic meet in an intriguing semifinal at Brisbane tonight.

The big showdown between Djokovic and Del Potro began but never finished.

Petra Kvitova and Daniela Hantuchova win WTA titles this weekend.