Agnieszka Radwanska

Pancho Segura, 90, once ranked No. 1 in the world and wise in the ways of tennis, considered the 2-hour 10-minute semifinal match he watched Saturday afternoon between Agnieszka Radwanska and Andrea Petkovic, which featured Radwanska compensating for a sore right shoulder and Petkovic running to a bathroom mid-game to throw up. Segura smiled. "There was some excellent tennis played today," Segura said from his seat at the La Costa Spa and Resort tennis court, under an umbrella.

Stadium Court 1 Starting at 11 a.m. (Seedings in parentheses) Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Pablo Andujar. Not Before 1:30 p.m. Victoria Azarenka (1) vs. Agnieszka Radwanska; Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov (21); Roger Federer (3) or Milos Raonic (27) vs. Tomaz Bellucci. Not Before 7 p.m. Angelique Kerber (18) vs. Li Na (8). Not Before 8:30 p.m. Denis Istomin vs Juan Martin Del Potro (9).

Reporting from Carlsbad, Calif. — It had been just over 10 months since Svetlana Kuznetsova last won a tournament. On Sunday, Agnieszka Radwanska tried to prolong that drought as long as she could. After 2 hours 35 minutes of play at La Costa resort, the unseeded Kuznetsova converted her fifth match point, sending the ball past Radwanska's right side to win the Mercury Insurance Open title, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3. The last point was a "big relief," Kuznetsova said. "First of all, after such a long time not winning.

While the majority of attention in pro tennis is devoted to the top men's trio of Novak Djokovic , Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer , there is close competition for the top spot on the women's side, too. Tuesday in Indian Wells, No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 2 Maria Sharapova of Russia (by way of Bradenton, Fla., and Manhattan Beach, Calif.) advanced to the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open. That brought a rematch of their recent Australian Open final, won by Azarenka, a step closer.

Today's featured matches at BNP Paribas Open Stadium 1 Beginning at 11 a.m. (Seedings in parentheses) Juan Martin del Potro (9) vs. Marinko Matosevic; Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Leonardo Mayer; Victoria Azarenka (1) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (25); Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (6) vs. Michael Llodra. Beginning at 7 p.m. Roger Federer (3) vs. Denis Kudla; Agnieszka Radwanska (5) vs. Flavia Pennetta (27).

Novak Djokovic won the China Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic , and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-4, in the women's final Sunday. The second-seeded Serb broke Cilic's serve in the sixth game and again in the eighth to take the first set following a 90-minute rain delay. The second set was much tighter, with each breaking the other's serve three times to force the tiebreaker. But Cilic then struggled, and his return at 6-4 went wide, giving Djokovic the win. "My patience and the choice of certain shots and a little more experience than he has decided the winner today," said Djokovic, who has won all four matches between the two, all on hard courts.

MERCURY INSURANCE OPEN Saturday's featured matches: at La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad (seedings in parentheses) Stadium Court Beginning at 2 p.m. Agnieszka Radwanska (3) vs. Andrea Petkovic (2). Beginning at 7 p.m. Vera Zvonareva (1) vs. Ana Ivanovic (5).

It's a matter of experience as much as talent, a battle in the brain as much as on the tennis court sometimes. Sloane Stephens is 18 years old and has played only 10 WTA-level matches. Andrea Petkovic is 23 and has been a pro since 2006, and when you play against the best more often you learn things. For example, Stephens made a crucial mistake in the first set, in the sixth game of her quarterfinal match Friday at the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, when she and Petkovic had traded service holds and the match seemed destined to stay competitive.

While the majority of attention in pro tennis is devoted to the top men's trio of Novak Djokovic , Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer , there is close competition for the top spot on the women's side, too. Tuesday in Indian Wells, No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 2 Maria Sharapova of Russia (by way of Bradenton, Fla., and Manhattan Beach, Calif.) advanced to the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open. That brought a rematch of their recent Australian Open final, won by Azarenka, a step closer.

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were perfect as Presidents Cup partners, and they got enough help from everyone else Saturday in San Francisco to put the Americans in position to stay perfect on home soil. With an improbable rally by Woods in the morning and pure putting by Stricker in the afternoon, they became the first partnership in the Presidents Cup -- and the first in 30 years of any team competition -- to go 4-0. Phil Mickelson had a chance to join them with an undefeated record using different partners.

Pancho Segura, 90, once ranked No. 1 in the world and wise in the ways of tennis, considered the 2-hour 10-minute semifinal match he watched Saturday afternoon between Agnieszka Radwanska and Andrea Petkovic, which featured Radwanska compensating for a sore right shoulder and Petkovic running to a bathroom mid-game to throw up. Segura smiled. "There was some excellent tennis played today," Segura said from his seat at the La Costa Spa and Resort tennis court, under an umbrella.

MERCURY INSURANCE OPEN Saturday's featured matches: at La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad (seedings in parentheses) Stadium Court Beginning at 2 p.m. Agnieszka Radwanska (3) vs. Andrea Petkovic (2). Beginning at 7 p.m. Vera Zvonareva (1) vs. Ana Ivanovic (5).

It's a matter of experience as much as talent, a battle in the brain as much as on the tennis court sometimes. Sloane Stephens is 18 years old and has played only 10 WTA-level matches. Andrea Petkovic is 23 and has been a pro since 2006, and when you play against the best more often you learn things. For example, Stephens made a crucial mistake in the first set, in the sixth game of her quarterfinal match Friday at the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, when she and Petkovic had traded service holds and the match seemed destined to stay competitive.

The Mercury Insurance Open experienced a mass exodus of top players before the tournament even started, but the top Germans apparently didn't get the memo. Kim Clijsters isn't here and neither are defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova or new Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. That has left headlining duties to such players as Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki. All three Germans are ranked in the top 25 and having career years. Petkovic made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Goerges won an event in Stuttgart, and Lisicki is fresh off a run to the Wimbledon semifinals.

Were it not for Caroline Wozniacki, No. 1 player in the world, the women's tennis draw of the BNP Paribas Open would pretty much be a worthless piece of paper. Nor was Wozniacki a shoo-in, on a Tuesday when the Nos. 2-, 5- and 6-seeded players joined Nos. 3, 4 and 7 in the category of shocking early departures. Wozniacki, the Dane who would have lost her top ranking with a loss and a victory by No. 2 Kim Clijsters, emerged from the rubble with ranking in place and a reduced obstacle path to this prestigious women's title.

The final match in the Mercury Insurance Open at La Costa on Sunday provided a snapshot of the current state of women's professional tennis. There was the good, the bad and the ugly. But in the end, the main participant in all that, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, made it all better. First, she won, which made amends for a horrible second set. Second, she fessed up about what really happened in that second set. She even used the C-word, an untouchable for athletes. "I choked," she said.