Shahar Pe'erless in Guangzhou

With a stealthy march to the final befitting someone with her military training, Shahar Pe'er quietly stormed through the draw at Guangzhou, not dropping a set during her run to the championship.  The fifth-seeded Pe'er beat eighth-seed (and Justine Henin-doppelganger) Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win her fourth career WTA title, and her first since 2006.

I'm not entirely sure what derailed Pe'er's success in the last couple years, but its good to see her back on track.  Her counterpunching, speed-based style is still a rarity, and comes with more offense than a pure pusher like Caroline Wozniacki. She has the type of game that can easily give a top player trouble, so having her back in the mix should make the sport somewhat more interesting.

Though a quiet tournament like this often builds up to a bigger event, the Asian swing isn't expected to get much louder any time soon. The draw in Seoul features no players inside the top twenty, and the draw in Tashkent, where Pe'er is headed next, includes no one in the top fifty.