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February 22 2014 ITS Staff Dubai, UAE – Former World No.1 Venus Williams defeated Alize Cornet 6-3 6-0 to win the Dubai Duty Free Championships on Friday posting her first tournament victory since 2012 in Luxembourg. It was career No.45 crown for the 32-year old Williams who will move up to No.29 ranking from No.44.

In a post-match interview quoted by the WTA Tour, the 7-time Grand Slam winner paid tribute to Cornet saying, "First of all, I think Alizé is playing great I think if she continues to play like that, she's going to play deep in a lot of tournaments and keep improving. It's great to see that, because she's a great addition to the game. She brings so much passion on the court, so it's great to see her playing well. I mean, I was fully expecting to play Serena, so for her to get that win was awesome. But I have had a good week. Everything is falling together pretty much, is all I can say."

Venus was sizzling all through the week winning her first round match in straight sets against No.21 Elena Vesnina. In the second round Venus turned the tables on No.12 Ana Ivanovic whom she lost to in Auckland finals last month, crushing her 6-2 6-1. In the quarterfinals she continued her run beating No.22 Flavia Pennetta in straight sets 6-3 7-5. In the semifinals, Venus took out No.8 seed and former World No.1, Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-2.

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February 21 2014 Dubai, UAE – Frenchwoman Alize Cornet spoiled the much awaited all-Williams final after stunning World No.1 Serena Williams in straight set fashion on Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Championships.  

The 26th-ranked Cornet posted her first career over the 17-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-4. Cornet had a 0-17 record against top 4 players and a 0-3 head-to-head versus Serena before the match.

In the other semi-final, older sister Venus Williams continued her sizzling performance in the tournament this time upending No.8 seed Danish former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-2.

Cornet, who only received a place in the main draw when Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew with injury, looked confident right from the start, and broke Williams’s serve to lead 5-4 after the top seed had led 40-15.

She served out the first set and then started the second by breaking the Williams serve again, and although Williams levelled at 2-2 Cornet earned a further break to lead 4-3. She then held four match points on Williams’s serve at 5-3 before serving out the match at love. Full article

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February 20 2014 Dubai, UAE - Serena Williams is just one win away from facing sister Venus in Saturday’s final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after both claimed straight-set victories on Thursday. World number one Serena defeated fifth seed Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-2, and Venus fought off a strong late challenge from qualifier Flavia Pennetta to win 6-3 7-5.

Serena’s opponent in the semi-finals will be Alize Cornet, who defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 7-5 6-3, while Venus will tackle 2011 champion Caroline Wozniacki, who overwhelmed Sorana Cirstea 6-1 6-2 in just 62 minutes. Top seeded Serena played a solid match from the beginning, taking a 3-0 lead before closing out the match in style, at one stage winning 12 consecutive points. It was, she thought, an improvement on her opening performance which followed a month of inactivity.

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There was also a win for 2011 Dubai champion Caroline Wozniacki, who ended the run of qualifier Annika Beck with a hard-fought 6-4 6-4 victory, but 2012 winner, world number three and second seed Agnieszka Radwanska fell 6-4 6-1 to qualifier Flavia Pennetta.

Radwanska rarely looked comfortable against Pennetta, who although having to qualify in Dubai, is an experienced opponent who reached the semi-finals at the 2013 US Open. After building a 4-1 lead the former champion’s challenge fell away and Pennetta was able to claim a comfortable victory.

In the last match of the evening, Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro shocked defending champion and No.3 seed Petra Kvitova 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Kvitova joined No.4 seed Sara Errani, last year’s finalist, onto the sidelines after the Italian bowed out to Sorana Cirstea in three sets 6-2 5-7 6-1.

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February 17 2014 Dubai, UAE - Serena Williams took the first steps towards claiming a title she has never yet managed to win during her illustrious career when she defeated Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 6-0 to reach the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. But she needed to overcome a strong challenge against the recent Pattaya champion, saving two set points in the first set before taking charge in the second.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic saved a match point before overcoming sixth seed and recent Doha finalist Angelique Kerber 3-6 6-3 7-6, and 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki fell in the opening round to 2011 Dubai champion Caroline Wozniacki, who won 2-6 6-3 6-3.

Former finalist and world number one Jelena Jankovic overcame qualifier Maryna Zanevska 6-4 6-3, but 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur was upset 1-6 6-1 6-4 by qualifier Annika Beck. Qualifier Flavia Pennetta set up a second round clash with number two seed and 2012 Dubai champion Agnieszka Radwanska by beating Kaia Kanepi 7-5 6-4, and Kirsten Flipkens defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-1 7-5.

But Simona Halep, who on Sunday won in Doha to claim her seventh career title, was forced to retire with a right Achilles injury, handing a first round 6-1 1-1 victory to Alize Cornet. There was initially little sign of the injury in some furiously-contested rallies, but as the match progressed Halep eventually lost some mobility and finally accepted that she was no longer able to compete effectively.

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February 17 2014 Dubai, UAE - Two-time former champion Venus Williams made a winning start to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday, beating Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-2. The 2009 and 2010 champion’s victory set up a mouth-watering second round meeting with sixth seed Angelique Kerber or former world number one Ana Ivanovic.

Lucie Safarova claimed an impressive 6-3 7-5 victory over former Australian Open semi-finalist Sloane Stephens, and recent Pattaya winner Ekaterina Makarova overcame a solid challenge from Alisa Kleybanova to win 6-4 6-7 6-4. The reward for the player currently coached by former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina is a second round clash with top seed and world number one Serena Williams. Carla Suarez Navarro beat Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-2, and Sorana Cirstea defeated 2013 Dubai semi-finalist Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-3.

There was a huge surprise in the final round of the qualifying matches when Australian Open semi-finalist and world number 19 Eugenie Bouchard was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Annika Beck. Others to advance to the main draw were 2013 US Open semi-finalist Flavia Pennetta, who overwhelmed Yvonne Meusburger 6-1 6-3, Karolina Pliskova, who beat Camila Giorgi 7-5 6-2, and Maryna Zanevska recovered from losing the first five games to defeat Mona Barthel 7-6 6-4.