TENNIS in DEPTH.

Defending champions Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta squeak by after splitting the first two sets against Marina Erakovic and Julia Goerges, Dulko and Pennetta trailed 6-5 in the match tie-break, but then reeled off five straight points to secure a 46 62 106 triumph. ”Nice win today,” Dulko tweeted. “Was a really tough match against Erakovic and Goerges. Tough conditions as well, very windy!” Next up for the No.2 seeds are Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Alicja Rosolska, whom they just beat last week in the first round of Carlsbad. Dulko and Pennetta will be looking to put a disappointing trend behind them, as they have lost in the quarterfinals of five straight events.

The other seeded team in action Thursday, fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko, were up, 4-1, in the first set on Ana Ivanovic and Andrea Petkovic when the Serb-German duo had to retire because of a left wrist injury suffered by Ivanovic. Azarenka and Kirilenko, who have now won 16 of their past 17 matches, will take on Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova in the quarters.

Bookmark It

Gisela Dulko, 26, will marry Real Madrid soccer player Fernando Gago next Tuesday in Argentina, the Spanish press reported. Last week, Dulko, who finished last season as a member of the No. 1 doubles team with Flavia Pennetta, was named her nation’s sportswoman of the year.

Bookmark It

The shocks continued at the French Open this afternoon as world number one Caroline Wozniacki crashed out in the third round with a 6-1 6-3 defeat by Daniela Hantuchova. Yesterday saw second seed Kim Clijsters throw away a winning position against little-known Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus while last year’s finalist Samantha Stosur was beaten by Gisela Dulko this morning.

The match on Court Suzanne Lenglen was reminiscent of last year’s fourth-round clash at Wimbledon, where Wozniacki was thumped 6-2 6-0 by Petra Kvitova, and again showed the Dane has some way to go if she is really to be considered the best player in the world. Wozniacki, who relies on consistency and great movement, really was playing very poorly and Hantuchova continued her onslaught at the start of the second set, breaking twice to open up a 4-0 lead. The 28th seed, who had not taken a set off Wozniacki in three previous meetings, has a reputation for imploding in big matches and the alarm bells were ringing when she lost three games in a row. But for once Hantuchova held her nerve, continuing to go for her shots, and a netted backhand from Wozniacki sealed her fate.

Samantha Stosur’s bid for French Open glory was ended by Gisela Dulko in round three. The Australian eighth seed began poorly against Dulko, throwing in too many unforced errors and not making the most of her powerful serve. Dulko, ranked 51st in the world, quickly found herself 5-2 up in the first set and, although she missed set points in the next two games, she did not let a third chance go begging. Stosur, who lost in last year’s final, appeared to have turned things around in the second set, and when she went a break up at the start of the decider, it seemed the 27-year-old was on track for a place in round four. But from there the Australian fell apart and Dulko did not have to do much more than keep the ball in play to secure a 6-4 1-6 6-3 victory and book her place in the fourth round for the first time since 2006. Stosur, who has been battling a cold for the last five days, admitted struggling with the wind and praised Dulko for the way she controlled the points.

The Australian said: “The conditions were pretty tough and it wasn’t good for either of us. She seemed to be out ahead a little bit better and was really the one dictating the points. I’m usually the one able to do that.

Bookmark It

Jelena Jankovic booked her place in the last eight of the Monterrey Open with a straightforward victory over Austria’s Sybille Bammer. Serbian Jankovic, the world number six, eased to a 6-3 6-4 win over her unseeded opponent to book a quarter-final meeting with fifth-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, who progressed after a 2-6 6-2 6-4 win over Alize Cornet of France.

Gisela Dulko of Argentina won her second-round match with Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4 6-1 to set up a quarter-final tie with Ksenia Pervak of Russia, who was a 6-2 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 victor over Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.

The remaining last-eight matches at the hard-court event see Olga Govortsova face Polona Hercog and Greta Arn take on defending champion and second seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Bookmark It

Gisela Dulko became the first Argentine woman ever to win the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL on Saturday night, beating Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja in a tight two-setter in the title match, 63 76(5). Seeded No.4, Dulko cruised into the final for the most part, a 36 75 60 win over Laura Pous-Tio in the quarterfinals the only scare – apart from that she lost just eight games in her other three matches combined. On the other side of the draw, a No.6-seeded Parra Santonja was also putting her best on display in becoming the first Spaniard ever to reach the finals at this tournament.

“Finals are always special and we were both nervous in the first set, but after that I was playing much better,” Dulko commented. “All of a sudden I started to get a bit nervous again and Arantxa started playing so well. I was three set points down. At the end I ended up winning, so I’m really happy.”

Dulko now has four WTA titles to her name, her first three coming at Budapest and Forest Hills in 2007 and at Fès in 2008. She is now 4-4 in career finals. “I love this tournament but I was always struggling here,” Dulko said. “I felt great this week though, on and off the court. I couldn’t go to the beach too much though, so I’ll try to do that tomorrow morning before I leave.” When Dulko was informed she was the first Argentine woman to win this title she was even happier. “Wow, what an honor!” the 26-year-old said. “It’s great just to win a tournament but to do that too is unbelievable for me. A lot of good things have been happening to me this year and I’m just trying to enjoy it all.”

Bookmark It

Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta survived match points to beat Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko to win the Australian Open women’s doubles title. The top ranked pair, 2010 Wimbledon semi-finalists, struggled in the first set and trailed 5-4 in the second. But Argentine Dulko and her Italian partner powered back, and after a break at 3-1 in the decider, came through 2-6 7-5 6-1 in 131 minutes. The duo won seven titles last year but this was their first Grand Slam crown. “Last year was a great year, this year we are starting really good,” said Pennetta, who lost to the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova in the fourth round of the singles.

Dulko and Pennetta were blown away in the opening set against Russia’s Kirilenko and Azarenka of Belarus and then had to face match points at 5-4 in the second set. With Azaranka wasting chances for glory when serving for the match, the top seeds broke back and then won three games in a row to level the match at one set each. Dulko and Pennetta broke early in the decider and swiftly wrapped up the victory when Azarenka, a fourth-round loser to China’s Na Li in the singles, hit a backhand into the net.

The win means Dulko remains the world’s top-ranked doubles player while Pennetta stays second.

Bookmark It

Gisela Dulko and her boyfriend Fernando Gago, a Real Madrid soccer player, participated in a photoshoot for Gente Magazine in Argentina.

The couple,seen here, were walking around the beautiful neighborhood of Tigre, where Dulko lives where she is not in Spain.

Bookmark It