2008 Qatar Telecom German Open

2008 Qatar Telecom German Open 5–11 May 97th Tier I $1,340,000 56S / 28D Clay / outdoor Berlin, Germany Rot-Weiss Tennis Club RUS Dinara Safina ZIM Cara Black / USA Liezel Huber WTA German Open WTA German Open 2021 The 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open was a women's tennis event that was played from 5 May to 11 May 2008. It was one of two Tier I events that took place on red clay in the build-up to the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open. It was the 97th edition of the tournament and was played at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in the German capital of Berlin. The tournaments offered a total prize fund of US$1,300,000 across all rounds. World number one Justine Henin, the three-time French Open defending champion, was the tournament's top seed. She was hoping to win this event for the fourth time after collecting titles here in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Defending champion Ana Ivanovic was Henin's biggest threat for the title as the number two seed, with Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova rounding out the top four seeds. Fifth seed Serena Williams was also a big threat for the title; she had won her last three tournaments and is a former French Open champion. Russian pair Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva brought the field up to seven of the world's top ten players.http://www.german-open.net/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Entry+List+%5BEN%5D Entry List 2008 German Open Official Site 2008-05-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20080410104058/http://www.german-open.net/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Entry+List+%5BEN%5D 2008-04-10 dead Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchová were also due to play the event but it was announced that both had pulled out on 30 April.http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/30042008/3/sharapova-hantuchova-pull-german-open.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081006141920/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/30042008/3/sharapova-hantuchova-pull-german-open.html dead 2008-10-06 Sharapova, Hantuchova pull out of German Open Yahoo! Eurosport UK 2008-04-30 2008-05-03 Review thumb|Champion Dinara Safina during the final match. The tournament was won by Dinara Safina, who started the tournament as the thirteenth seed. She enjoyed the best week of her career to win her first ever Tier I title.https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7394883.stm Safina secures German Open title BBC Sport 2008-05-11 2008-05-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20080513200202/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7394883.stm 13 May 2008 live In the third round, she beat top seed Justine Henin in a match that turned out to be the last before she retired, her second victory over a world number one, and followed it up by stopping Serena Williams's 17-match winning streak.http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/05/09/tennis.germany.ap/index.html Safina ends Serena's winning streak CNN.com 2008-05-09 2008-05-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20080511063827/http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/05/09/tennis.germany.ap/index.html May 11, 2008 dead She defeated Elena Dementieva (who had defeated defending champion Ivanovic in the semi-finals) in the final, in the 14th all-Russian final on the WTA Tour, and the third of five in the 2008 season (Dementieva would go on to beat Safina in the final of the Olympics).https://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2243 Dementieva, Safina Set Up 14th All-Russian Final Sony Ericsson WTA Tour 2008-05-10 2008-05-11 Ana Ivanovic was the only top six seed to reach the semifinals in a tournament littered with upsets. Henin and Williams lost the aforementioned matches to Safina, third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Alyona Bondarenko, Jelena Janković lost to Elena Dementieva and Anna Chakvetadze went down in her first match to Victoria Azarenka, who eventually made her first ever Tier I semifinal. Ivanovic, for her part, was defeated in the semi-finals by Elena Dementieva; the defeat dropped her to World No. 3 behind Henin and Maria Sharapova at the conclusion of the tournament. World number ones Cara Black and Liezel Huber won the doubles title, beating the unseeded Spanish pairing Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez, who had upset number two seeds Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in a thrilling match tiebreak in the semifinals, which ended at 16–14. Finals thumb|250px|Dinara Safina (l) and Elena Dementieva (r) shake hands after the final. Singles 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open – Singles RUS Dinara Safina defeated RUS Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 It was Safina's first title of the year and 6th of her career. Doubles 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open – Doubles ZIM Cara Black / USA Liezel Huber defeated ESP Nuria Llagostera Vives / ESP María José Martínez Sánchez, 3–6, 6–2, [10–2] Prize money and points Total prize money: $1,300,000http://www.german-open.net/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Turnament+Facts+%5BEN%5D Prize Money & Points German Open Official Site 2008-05-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20080506095149/http://www.german-open.net/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Turnament+Facts+%5BEN%5D 2008-05-06 dead RoundSinglesDoubles Prize money ($) WTA ranking points Prize money ($) WTA ranking pointsWinner 196,900 430 59,000 430Finalist 100,000 300 30,000 300Semifinal 51,000 195 15,351 195Quarterfinal 26,050 110 7,800 110Round of 16 13,285 60 3,980 60Round of 32 6,775 35 2,030 1Round of 64 3,455 1 - - Images References External links WTA tournament draws ITF tournament edition details Qatar Telecom German Open 2008 Berlin Category:May 2008 sports events in Germany Category:2008 in German women's sport Category:2008 in Berlin