The Real Glam Slam in Doha

All top eight women's players attended the draw ceremony for the WTA Championships at the Museum of Islamic Art in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday.

Round robin groups for the Sony Ericsson year-end championships are:

WHITE GROUP
Dinara Safina
Caroline Wozniacki
Victoria Azarenka
Jelena Jankovic

MAROON GROUP
Serena Williams
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Elena Dementieva
Venus Williams

The top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals, where each first-placed player will face the second-placed player from the other group.

The 1.55-million-dollar championship willl be held between October 27 and November 1.

World no.2 Serena Williams


World no. 7 Venus Williams


World no. 5 Elena Dementieva

Svetlana Kuznetsova (no. 3), Dinara Safina (no.1), Caroline Wozniacki (no.4)

Victoria Azarenka (no. 6), Jelena Jankovic (no.8)

(Images by Getty Images)

The Fab Five in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

Newly crowned US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro has become the fifth men's singles player to qualify for the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, scheduled to take place at the O2 in London from 22-29 November.

He will join Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

Three spots remain open for the eight-player event.

Meanwhile, players who have qualified for the Sony Ericsson WTA year-ending championships in Doha are Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva and Caroline Wozniacki.

Four slots are still open for the eight-player event.

(Image via ATP World Tour website)

Venus Williams wins season-ending WTA Championship; Cara Black & Liezel Huber win dubs

Venus Williams wins the WTA’s Sony Ericsson Championships for the first time, defeating Vera Zvonareva 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 Sunday at the season-ending event.

“I’m so excited,” Williams said. “That was a hard-fought match, every point, right down to the end.”

Williams won $1.34 million at the event, which for the first time offered the same prize money as the men at the ATP’s season-ending Masters Cup.

The first lady of Qatar, a conservative Muslim sheikdom, presented the trophy to Williams, shaking her hand and kissing her on both cheeks. Sheika Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned wore a traditional black head scarf and robe.

“Thanks to your Royal Highness for coming. Wow!” Williams said.

Such a public appearance by a ruler’s wife is unusual in the region. Mozah might be one of several wives; many emirs and kings in the Gulf have multiple wives—up to the four permitted by Islam.

Billie Jean King sat with Mozah and other dignitaries during the match and joined Williams on the court for the awards ceremony.

The trophy is named for King. Williams’ ranking will improve to no. 6 from no. 8, while the 9th-ranked Zvonareva also will move up two spots.

The two were the lowest-ranked players at the event, which featured the top eight players in the world.

“I know I can go higher” in the rankings, said the 28-year-old Williams, a former No. 1 who defeated top-ranked Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals.

Williams qualified for the championships for the eighth time since 1998.

She had reached the semifinals twice and withdrew five times because of injuries and illness.

“It was missing, this one,” Williams said of the WTA Championships title.

She has won 39 tour singles titles, including five Wimbledon and two U.S. Open crowns.

Williams’ career earnings rose to $21.9 million.

In doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs 6-1, 7-5.

(Via AP, Images via Yahoo! Sport)

WTA Championships: Ana Ivanovic gets her cake then pulls out; Serena Williams withdraws too

We don't get to see Fernando Verdasco celebrating Ana Ivanovic's 21st birthday.

Instead WTA boss Larry Scott and tournament director Karim Alami were the guys celebrating Ivanovic's birthday at the VIP Village of the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.

They presented her with a cake, shaped like a tennis racquet, made by Le Notre Paris.

The bad news is Ivanovic announced today that she has withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Championships due to a virus.

The 20-year-old beauty has felt unwell throughout her stay in Doha and was affected by illness in her opening two round-robin matches.

Good for Agniezka Radwanska though as she will take on Svetlana Kuznetsova in Ivanovic's place.

"It's obviously, very, very hard for me," said Ivanovic.

"After the other night's match, it was a very intense and long match. I actually started to feel worse. Yesterday I didn't feel good, and today even worse."

"I tried to hit yesterday actually. I was on the court for about ten minutes, and as long as I didn't move it was okay. But if I tried to hit a little bit harder or to move to the side, it was impossible to do."

"Even if I were to step on the court [tonight], I wouldn't even be able to go through a few games."

The withdrawal is obviously a disappointing and sad ending to an otherwise glorious season.

But 2008 isn't all bad as Ivanovic won her first ever Grand Slam title and reached No.1 in the world (plus she also pocketed $100,000 at Doha despite the disappointing result).

She said: "Even though I had a tough few months, I still think this was the best year of my career so far. I won a Grand Slam, and I reached the position of No. 1. So there's lots of positive things to take from this year."

In another shocking withdrawal, Serena Williams cited a stomach injury when she pulled out of her match at the Sony Ericsson Championships against Elena Dementieva, who advanced to the semifinals.

“I did feel pain last night,” the U.S. Open champion said.

“I was still in pain just getting out of bed.”

Williams lost to her sister, Venus, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 on Thursday.

Serena said she might have tweaked a muscle and that doctors had told her to rest.

(Via AP, Ana Ivanovic website, Images via zimbio.com, Yahoo! Sport)

Finally, Fernando Verdasco spotted in Doha; Anando confirmed couple!

Someone please tell me why Fernando Verdasco is not training for his Davis Cup final?

Instead he is spotted (looking deliciously handsome) watching the match between girlfriend Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.

Fans no longer have to guess whether something is going on between Verdasco and Ivanovic. He is spotted sitting side by side with Ivanovic's parents Dragana and Miroslav.

However, sadly even the support from her parents and boyfriend couldn't help Ivanovic from stopping world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic.

Jankovic wins the round-robin play 6-3, 6-4.

In other results, Venus Williams defeated world no. 2 Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-3, while no. 9 Vera Zvonareva defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3.

(1st image by hcfoo.com, 2nd & 3rd image via Down the Line!, 4th image by Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)

Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva stranded in a desert island in Doha bay

What do two lovely women do when they found themselves stranded in a desert island?

If they are Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva, of course they'll play tennis!

And they are not going to be alone as thousands of fans are already flocking in Doha in Qatar to watch the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships that will begin tomorrow.

In conjunction with the tournament, Sony Ericsson staged a unique tennis match in a place that has never been played in before - a desert island.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Doha skyline, Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva rallied on a replica tennis court, specially built for the occasion, on Palm Island in the middle of Doha Bay in the Arabian Gulf.

According to Ana Ivanovic, "It was such a fun way to start the Sony Ericsson Championships; it was amazing and so unusual to be playing tennis on a deserted island with no one there but Elena, myself and the ballboys. I'm really looking forward to the tournament here in Doha and a great finish to the 2008 season."

Then Elena Dementieva commented, "It was such a special experience to play a game of tennis in the middle of the sea looking back at the Doha skyline - what a great memory to have of Doha. I'm really excited for the Sony Ericsson Championships to begin and showcase my best tennis to end the season."

The Sony Ericsson Championships is the prestigious end of season finale to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour year; and sees the world's top 8 women singles and top 4 women's doubles teams compete for the titles and a share of a record prize money of $4.45 million.



(Via abnnewswire.net, Images via Women's Tennis Blog, tennisforum.com)

WTA Championships in Doha: Let the games begin!

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Dinara Safina of Russia, Serena Williams of United States, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, Elena Dementieva of Russia, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, Venus William of United States and Vera Zvonareva of Russia line up for a photo during the draw for the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships.

The draws are out for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2008.

The 4 Russian women in the draw - Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva - are evenly split between the two groups.

Kuznetsova and Zvonareva are in the White Group and Safina and Dementieva - who squared off in the Olympic final - are in the Maroon Group.

ROUND ROBIN GROUP ALLOCATIONS (numeric prefix denotes seeding)

WHITE GROUP
1. Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
4. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
8. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)

MAROON GROUP
2. Dinara Safina (RUS)
3. Serena Williams (USA)
5. Elena Dementieva (RUS)
7. Venus Williams (USA)

There's nothing split about the allocation of the remaining players.

Both Serbian stars - world No.1 Jelena Jankovic and world No.4 Ana Ivanovic - were randomly selected to be in the White Group, while Serena and Venus Williams are both in Maroon.

World no. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia arrives for the draw for the
Sony Ericsson Championships at the Pearl conference centre.

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia talks to the media during the draw.

However, it doesn't mean that we won't have a chance to watch an all-Serbian or all-Williams final.

After the round robin phase, with each player meeting the other three in her pool between Tuesday and Friday, the top players in each pool play the second-placed player in the other in the semifinals.

The winner of each semifinal advance to Sunday's final.

"It's been a goal of mine all year to qualify for the Championships, so it's a real honor to be here," said Safina, who's enjoyed an outstanding season in 2008, rising from No.15 to No.2.

When asked about being in the same group as her sister, Serena Williams joked: "It doesn't bother me at all; we're always in the same half of the draw, so I'm used to it."

Serena Williams

Venus Williams

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Elena Dementieva

The group colors were in honor of the flag of Qatar, the hosts for the Tour's year-end event for the next three years.

Four doubles teams will also compete in the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2008, although they play in a straight knockout event.

Top-ranked duo Cara Black and Liezel Huber will defend their title against two teams that were in Madrid last year - 2007 runners-up Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama, and Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs - and Spanish Olympic silver medalists Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, who are debuting in the event together.

While Medina is making her season-ending debut, Ruano competed for five consecutive years with Argentina's Paola Suárez, winning the title in 2003.

The doubles draw takes place on Thursday, with the matches set to begin on Saturday.

(Via WTA website)