King, Shvedova to face Peschke, Srebotnik

   Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova figure to be the underdogs when they play Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik on Saturday in the semifinals (first round) of doubles at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul.
  Peschke, a 36-year-old Czech, and Srebotnik, a 30-year-old Slovenian, have won a WTA-high six titles this year. Among them was Wimbledon for their first Grand Slam crown.
   Peschke and Srebotnik became the first team to qualify for the WTA Championships, featuring the top eight singles players and top four doubles teams in this year's standings. They also reached last year's final, losing to Gisela Duko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
   King, a 22-year-old American who plays for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis, and Shvedova, a 24-year-old Moscow native who competes for Kazakhstan, have won two titles this year (Cincinnati in August and Moscow last week). They also lost a heartbreaker in the U.S. Open final as the defending champions.
   King and Shvedova are 2-1 lifetime against Peschke and Srebotnik but lost the most recent meeting 6-4, 6-4 indoors in the Beijing semifinals three weeks ago. The WTA Championships also are indoors.
   "We've played them a few times and had a good match against them in Beijing so we can't wait to play!" Shvedova blogged at wtatennis.com.
   In the other semifinal, Australian Open champions Dulko and Pennetta will face U.S. Open winners Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.
   Below are this week's singles results and Friday's schedule (live on Tennis Channel at 7 a.m. PDT and taped at 4 p.m.).
   Bryans survive -- No. 1 seeds and former Stanford All-Americans Bob and Mike Bryan saved one match point in a 6-7 (9), 7-6 (4), 11-9 tiebreak victory over Christopher Kas of Germany and Alexander Peya of Austria in the first round of doubles at the $905,000 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
   The Bryans are playing in Vienna for the second time after a nine-year absence.
   Tursunov ousted -- Eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, a Moscow native living in Folsom, lost to Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the $663,750 St. Petersburg (Russia) Open.
   Tursunov, a semifinalist in St. Petersburg last year, fell to 0-3 lifetime against Starace. The first two matches were on clay. St. Petersburg is played on an indoor hardcourt.
   Ilyushin advances -- Artem Ilyushin, a senior at Mississippi State from Granite Bay, beat wild card Austin Smith of Atlanta 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the $10,000 Players' Choice Open in Birmingham, Ala.
   Ilyushin will meet top-seeded Nicolas Devilder of France in Friday's quarterfinals.

TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Istanbul

Tuesday's results

Round Robin -- Red Group

   (1) Caroline Wozniaki (DEN) d. (8) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. 

   (3) Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. (6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 6-2, 6-4.

Round Robin -- White Group

   (7) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-1, 7-5.

Wednesday's results

Round Robin -- Red Group

   (6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (1) Caroline Wozniaki (DEN) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Round Robin -- White Group

   (5) Li Na (CHN) d. (2) Maria Sharapova ((RUS) 7-6 (4), 6-4.

   (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (7) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 6-2, 6-2.

Thursday's results
Singles

Round Robin -- Red Group

(3) Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. (1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 64 62 (Kvitova qualifies for semifinals).
(8) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 16 62 75 (saved three match points).

Round Robin - White Group

(4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (5) Li Na (CHN) 62 62 (Azarenka qualifies for semifinals).

Friday's schedule
(Beginning at 7 a.m. PDT)

1. Li Na vs. Samantha Stosur.
2. Petra Kvitova vs. Agnieszka Radwanska.
3. Marion Bartoli (substitute for injured Maria Sharapova) vs. Victoria Azarenka.