{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{TennisEventInfo|2009|ASB Classic| | date = 5–10 January | edition = 24th | category = [[WTA International tournaments|WTA International]] | prize_money = $220,000 | draw = 32S / 16D | surface = [[Hardcourt|Hard]] / outdoor | venue = [[ASB Tennis Centre]] | location = [[Auckland]], New Zealand | champs = {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Elena Dementieva]] | champd = {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Nathalie Dechy]] / {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Mara Santangelo]] | main_name = WTA Auckland Open }}
The '''2009 ASB Classic''' was a [[tennis]] tournament played on [[Tennis court#Hard courts|outdoor hard courts]]. It was the 24th edition of the [[WTA Auckland Open|ASB Classic]], and was part of the [[WTA International tournaments]] of the [[2009 WTA Tour]]. It took place at the [[ASB Tennis Centre]] in [[Auckland]], New Zealand, from 5 January until 10 January 2009.
The singles draw is led by WTA No. 4, [[2008 Fortis Championships Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], [[2008 Dubai Tennis Championships|Dubai]] winner, [[Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's singles|Olympics]] gold medalist [[Elena Dementieva]], [[2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships|Tokyo]], [[2008 Pilot Pen Tennis|New Haven]], [[2008 Nordea Nordic Light Open|Stockholm]] titlist [[Caroline Wozniacki]] and [[2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg|Strasbourg]] champion, [[2008 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem|Fes]], [[2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open|Portorož]] runner-up [[Anabel Medina Garrigues]]. Also competing are [[2008 Bank of the West Classic|Stanford]] champion [[Aleksandra Wozniak]], [[2008 ECM Prague Open|Prague]] quarter-finalist [[Shahar Pe'er]], [[Nicole Vaidišová]], [[Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]] and [[Carla Suárez Navarro]].
First-seeded [[Elena Dementieva]] won the singles title.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dementieva takes ASB Classic tennis title |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/11939/dementieva-takes-asb-classic-tennis-title |website=RNZ |date=11 January 2009}}</ref>
==Finals== ===Singles=== {{main|2009 ASB Classic – Singles}} {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Elena Dementieva]] defeated {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Elena Vesnina]], 6–4, 6–1 *It was Dementieva's first title of the year and 12th of her career.
===Doubles=== {{main|2009 ASB Classic – Doubles}} {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Nathalie Dechy]] / {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Mara Santangelo]] defeated {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Nuria Llagostera Vives]] / {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Arantxa Parra Santonja]], 4–6, 7–6<sup>3</sup>, 12–10
==Changes== At the 2008 tournament, the courts were changed to a blue [[Plexicushion]] surface, replacing the green [[Rebound Ace]]. This was consistent with the surface change that was also implemented at the [[Australian Open]].
For the [[2009 WTA Tour]] the ASB Classic was chosen as part of the new 55 tournament calendar. A new tournament director, [[Brenda Perry]], was brought in, and there was also an increase in prize money from $145,000 to $225,000. The event underwent a change in sponsorship, with [[Zealandia Horticulture|Zealandia]], a New Zealand horticulture firm, becoming a supporting partner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asbclassic.co.nz/2008/06/05/dawning-of-a-new-era-for-asb-classic |title=Dawning Of A New Era For ASB Classic |publisher=asbclassic.co.nz |date=5 June 2008 |access-date=10 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014075743/http://www.asbclassic.co.nz/2008/06/05/dawning-of-a-new-era-for-asb-classic |archive-date=14 October 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Entrants==
===Seeds=== [[Nadia Petrova]], who was set to be the number two seed, was forced to pull out when it was announced that she had contracted [[viral meningitis]] in mid-December.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/4794994a1823.html|title=Meningitis strikes ASB Classic second seed|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|date=16 December 2008|access-date=27 December 2008|archive-date=19 December 2008|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081219040615/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4794994a1823.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Athlete ! Nationality ! Ranking ! Seeding |- | [[Elena Dementieva]] | {{flagicon|RUS|}} Russia | 5 | 1 |- | [[Caroline Wozniacki]] | {{flagicon|DEN|}} Denmark | 12 | 2 |- | [[Anabel Medina Garrigues]] | {{flagicon|ESP|}} Spain | 22 | 3 |- | [[Aleksandra Wozniak]] | {{flagicon|CAN|}} Canada | 34 | 4 |- | [[Shahar Pe'er]] | {{flagicon|ISR|}} [[Israel]] | 38 | 5 |- | [[Nicole Vaidišová]] | {{flagicon|CZE|}} [[Czech Republic]] | 41 | 6 |- | [[Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]] | {{flagicon|RUS|}} Russia | 45 | 7 |- | [[Carla Suárez Navarro]] | {{flagicon|ESP|}} Spain | 49 | 8 |}
===Other notable entrants=== The return of [[Marina Erakovic]] (a New Zealander) to this event provoked a strong interest from media in the country. In the [[2008 ASB Classic|2008 event]], Erakovic had reached the semifinals, defeating the top seed [[Vera Zvonareva]] in the process. Erakovic went on to have the most successful season of her career, despite some poorer results and injuries in the latter half of the year. Commenting on the 2009 tournament, Erakovic said, "Even though the ASB Classic is important and I want to do well in my home town, my sight is set on the Australian Open and to be 100 percent for that."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/4804731a1823.html|title=Marina Erakovic ready to turn the tide|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|date=28 December 2008|access-date=27 December 2008|archive-date=28 December 2008|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081228133619/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4804731a1823.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Erakovic had had to rely on a [[Wild card (sports)|wildcard]] to gain entry to the previous year's event, but in 2009 was a direct entrant. Another entry which drew attention from the media was that of [[Mirjana Lučić]], who had reached the [[1999 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles|Wimbledon semifinals]] ranked 134 in 1999, but had been largely absent from the Tour in the preceding years for personal reasons. Lučić received a wildcard for the main draw.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/4804728a10393.html|title=Former high-flier hopes Classic will start 'great year'|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|date=28 December 2008|access-date=27 December 2008|archive-date=28 December 2008|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081228235235/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4804728a10393.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gOCTEt5gFTpg1_Eq_W1zLqcCVI6g|title=Lučić receives wildcard|author=Press Association|author-link=Press Association|date=27 December 2008|access-date=27 December 2008}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
===Qualifying=== The qualifying tournament was played from 3–4 January. Four players received wildcards:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/tennis-news/asb-classic-qualifying-wildcards-confirmed-2427937|title=ASB Classic qualifying wildcards confirmed|publisher=[[Television New Zealand]] (TVNZ)|date=22 December 2008|access-date=27 December 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090203062519/http://tvnz.co.nz/tennis-news/asb-classic-qualifying-wildcards-confirmed-2427937| archive-date= 3 February 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> #{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Di Hollands]] #{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Aucklander Kairangi]] #{{flagicon|NED}} [[Michaëlla Krajicek]] #{{flagicon|CRO}} [[Petra Martić]]
The four players to qualify were [[Ayumi Morita]] and [[Aiko Nakamura]] (both Japan), German player [[Kristina Barrois]], and Italian [[Alberta Brianti]].
==Review== ''Day by day summaries of the women's singles and doubles events. The singles draw is composed of 32 players, with 8 of these players seeded, while the doubles draw features 16 players, 4 of which are seeded.''
===Day one=== The singles and doubles events both started on 5 January. In the women's singles, the seeded players who featured on the first day all advanced to the second round.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2850 |title=Strong start for seeds as ASB Classic begins |publisher=sonyericssonwtatour.com |date=5 January 2009 |access-date=5 January 2009 |archive-date=4 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904113127/http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2850 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Third seed and WTA #22 [[Anabel Medina Garrigues]] beat Italian [[Mara Santangelo]] 7–5, 6–0. Fourth seed [[Aleksandra Wozniak]] overcame her opponent [[Magdaléna Rybáriková]] from Slovakia in three sets, winning 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–5. [[Shahar Pe'er]], the fifth seed from Israel, sealed her passage into the next round with a straight sets triumph against [[Petra Cetkovská]] of the Czech Republic. The final seed to go through, Czech [[Nicole Vaidišová]] took three sets before triumphing 7–6(3), 4–6, 7–5 against [[Alla Kudryavtseva]] of Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12110_4749015,00.html |title=Vaidišová wins in Auckland |publisher=skysports.com |date=5 January 2009 |access-date=5 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207203802/http://www.skysports.com/story/0%2C19528%2C12110_4749015%2C00.html |archive-date=7 February 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}</ref> In other matches, another Czech [[Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová]] beat France's [[Virginie Razzano]] 1–6, 6–2, 6–3 to line up a second round match with Pe'er; Romanian [[Edina Gallovits]] also found out her opponent would be Medina Garrigues after beating yet another Czech, [[Klára Zakopalová]] 3–6, 6–2, 7–5. American [[Jill Craybas]] and French [[Aravane Rezaï]] recorded victories against [[Kimiko Date-Krumm]] and [[Eleni Daniilidou]] respectively.
Several matches were played in the doubles event on the first day. The most notable result saw top seeds Jill Craybas (playing her second match of the day following her singles victory) and New Zealander [[Marina Erakovic]] knocked out by the Spanish pairing of [[Nuria Llagostera Vives]] and [[Arantxa Parra Santonja]] 6–4, 6–2. They were the only seeds to fall, with fourth seeds [[Chan Yung-jan]] (from Chinese Taipei) and [[Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]] of Russia advancing comfortably with a 6–2, 6–2 win over [[İpek Şenoğlu]] of Turkey and German [[Jasmin Wöhr]]. Chan and Pavlyuchenkova's win set up a second round match with Russians [[Elena Dementieva]] and [[Elena Vesnina]] who beat [[Natalie Grandin]] from South Africa and Latvia's [[Līga Dekmeijere]] 6–1, 6–3.
*Seeded players out (singles): None *Seeded players out (doubles): Jill Craybas/Marina Erakovic
===Day two=== Day 2 saw the completion of the first round of matches in both the singles and doubles competitions. The remaining seeds who were not in action on the first day all won their matches and qualified for round two. During the day session, top seed and ATP no. 4 Russian [[Elena Dementieva]] had a far from straight forward match against [[Chan Yung-jan]] from Chinese, eventually coming through 7–5, 6–3. The young player from Taipei was hard-hitting but did not have enough to beat Dementieva. Second seed [[Caroline Wozniacki]] of Denmark, ranked at a career high of #12, crushed her opponent, Italian qualifier [[Alberta Brianti]] 6–1, 6–0 in 56 minutes to achieve a meeting with Jill Craybas. No.8 seed [[Carla Suárez Navarro]] from Spain beat [[Nathalie Dechy]] 6–4, 6–0. She found out her opponent for round two later in the day, with [[Anne Keothavong]] from Great Britain winning 6–4, 6–2 against Croatian wildcard [[Mirjana Lučić]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7813129.stm |title=Keothavong wins Auckland opener |work=BBC Sport |date=6 January 2009| access-date= 7 January 2009 }}</ref> In other day matches, [[Elena Vesnina]] routed qualifier [[Aiko Nakamura]], 6–1, 6–0 and qualifier [[Ayumi Morita]] beat [[Marta Domachowska]], 6–4 4–6 6–4.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2854 |title=Dementieva, Wozniacki win openers in Auckland |publisher=sonyericssonwtatour.com |date=6 January 2009 |access-date=6 January 2009 |archive-date=4 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904105111/http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2854 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The unseeded [[Marina Erakovic]] of New Zealand sealed her place in the second round by beating [[Nuria Llagostera Vives]] from Spain 7–5, 6–4. Seventh seed Russian [[Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]] ensured that all eight of the seeds had made it to the second round by winning her match in the night session against German [[Kristina Barrois]] 6–3, 6–1.
In doubles, second seeds [[Shahar Pe'er]] and [[Caroline Wozniacki]] progressed to the quarter-finals by defeating Argentinian [[Betina Jozami]] and Indian [[Shikha Uberoi]] 6–2, 6–2 but no. 3 seeds Czech [[Vladimíra Uhlířová]] and [[Ekaterina Dzehalevich]] of Belarus were beaten 6–4, 6–4 by Italian [[Mara Santangelo]] and French player [[Nathalie Dechy]], a three-times Grand Slam doubles titlist. In other matches, [[Sarah Borwell]] from Great Britain and her partner [[Martina Müller (tennis)|Martina Müller]] qualified for the quarter-finals, overcoming the disappointment of a 6–0 first set to take the next two 7–5, 10-7 on champions tiebreak against [[Aiko Nakamura]] (Japan) and [[Marta Domachowska]] (Poland). [[Edina Gallovits]] and [[Eva Hrdinová]] defeated Australian wildcards [[Shona Lee]] and [[Kairangi Vano]] 6–3, 6–4. Finally, in an all American tie, [[Raquel Kops-Jones]] and [[Abigail Spears]] lost to [[Julie Ditty]] and [[Carly Gullickson]] 6–1, 6–3 to complete the quarter-final lineup.
*Seeded players out (singles): None *Seeded players out (doubles): Vladimíra Uhlířová/Ekaterina Dzehalevich
===Day three=== After the first round passing without losing any seeds, five were knocked out on day three, all in straight sets, leaving just three seeds qualifying for the quarter-finals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2856 |title=Dementieva, Wozniacki survive seeded exodus |publisher=sonyericssonwtatour.com |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022114615/http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2856 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 3rd seed [[Anabel Medina Garrigues]] lost to [[Edina Gallovits]] 6–3, 6–3. No. 6 seed [[Nicole Vaidišová]] was beaten 6–4, 6–3 by [[Elena Vesnina]]. [[Aleksandra Wozniak]], the 4th seed, was knocked out by [[Ayumi Morita]] 7–5, 6–2, no. 7 [[Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]] failed to progress as she lost 6–2, 6–3 to [[Aravane Rezaï]] while [[Carla Suárez Navarro]] succumbed to Briton [[Anne Keothavong]] who continued her good start to life in the top 60 with a 6–2, 6–4 win.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsline.com/tennis/story/11231041/cbsnews |title=Dementieva reaches Auckland quarters, five seeds lose |work=CBS News |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-date=10 September 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910055520/http://www.sportsline.com/tennis/story/11231041/cbsnews |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7814966.stm |title=Keothavong beats seed in Auckland |work=BBC Sport |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107144732/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7814966.stm |archive-date=7 January 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}</ref> As for the seeds that progressed, top seed [[Elena Dementieva]] beat New Zealand's [[Marina Erakovic]] 6–2, 6–3; No. 2 seed [[Caroline Wozniacki]] narrowly saw off veteran [[Jill Craybas]] 6–4, 7–5. 5th seed [[Shahar Pe'er]] had to try hard to concentrate on her tennis because an Auckland-based protest group staged protests at her decision not to pull out of the tournament with a [[2008–2009 Israel-Gaza conflict|war]] taking place in [[Gaza City|Gaza]]. Nevertheless, she became the third seed to progress, beating [[Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová]] in a topsy-turvy match 6–3, 4–6, 6–2.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010700696.html |title=Pe'er ignores protests to reach Auckland quarter-finals |work=Washington Post |date=7 January 2009| access-date= 7 January 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref>
<!-- Need to add doubles review --> *Seeded players out (singles): Anabel Medina Garrigues, Aleksandra Wozniak, Nicole Vaidišová, Anastasia Palyuchenkova, Carla Suárez Navarro *Seeded players out (doubles): Shahar Pe'er/Caroline Wozniacki
===Day four=== <ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7817160.stm |title=In-form Keothavong reaches semis |work=BBC Sport |date=8 January 2009 |access-date=8 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116144356/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7817160.stm |archive-date=16 January 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}</ref> *Seeded players out (singles): Caroline Wozniacki, Shahar Pe'er *Seeded players out (doubles): Chan Yung-jan/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
===Day five=== Day five saw both semi-finals take place in the singles draw. The only seeded player left in the draw, top seeded Russian [[Elena Dementieva]] and the world no. 4 as of the start of the tournament was involved in the first match. She faced French player and last year's beaten finalist [[Aravane Rezaï]]. Dementieva won the match 6–2, 6–2 in less than an hour.
Later in the day, unseeded Russian [[Elena Vesnina]] took on British number 1 and world no. 60 [[Anne Keothavong]], playing in only her second WTA Tour semi-final and whose ranking should improve after her progress during the tournament. Keothavong matched Vesnina for much of the first set, falling behind 5–3 with a single break of serve. But she did not give up and she broke back and then held her service game to level the first set. The set eventually went to a tiebreak, which the British player took 7-3. The second set was a completely different story, Vesnina dropping just one game to win it 6–1. This set up a final-set decider which went with serve until the seventh game when Keothavong felt she had been given a wrong linecall and ended up being broken. She fought back to 5–5 but was broken again in the eleventh. Keothavong managed to save two match points but then, after saving two break points of her own, Vesnina hit an ace to seal victory and complete a match lasting almost two hours.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7819400.stm |title=Keothavong denied in semi-finals |work=BBC Sport |date=9 January 2009 |access-date=9 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116123635/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7819400.stm |archive-date=16 January 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wtatour/4206491/Anne-Keothavong-narrowly-misses-out-on-first-WTA-final.html |title=Anne Keothavong narrowly misses out on a first WTA final |publisher=Telegraph Online |date=9 January 2009 |location=London |access-date=9 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122095717/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wtatour/4206491/Anne-Keothavong-narrowly-misses-out-on-first-WTA-final.html |archive-date=22 January 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}</ref>
The second semi-final of the doubles competition was a match between American pair [[Julie Ditty]] and [[Carly Gullickson]], and France's [[Nathalie Dechy]] partnering Italian [[Mara Santangelo]]. Santangelo and Dechy, bidding for their second title as a partnership following [[2007 Rome Masters#Champions|Rome Masters]] victory in 2007 advanced to the final 6–2, 6–4. Their final opponents being Spaniards [[Nuria Llagostera Vives]] and [[Arantxa Parra Santonja]].
*Seeded players out (singles): None *Seeded players out (doubles): None
===Day six=== *Seeded players out (singles): *Seeded players out (doubles):
==See also== * [[2009 Heineken Open]] – men's tournament
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://www.asbclassic.co.nz/ Official website] * [https://wtafiles.blob.core.windows.net/pdf/draws/archive/2009/1049.pdf WTA tournament draws]
{{ASB Classic tournaments}} {{2009 WTA Tour}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 Asb Classic}} [[Category:2009 WTA Tour|ASB Classic]] [[Category:2009 in New Zealand women's sport|ASB]] [[Category:WTA Auckland Open]] [[Category:January 2009 sports events in New Zealand|ASB]] [[Category:2009 in New Zealand tennis]]