WTA Oct 26-31: WTA Champ's WTA Championships Doha, Qatar PREMIER $4,550,000 8RR/0q/4d outdoor: hard   Plexipave Free Live Video: Live Scores draws: WTA pics: DL - Y!: sports - news - WTA TV: Tennis Channel & ESPN2 interviews - Doha: forecast Champ's qualifying standings # # # # # # # # # alternate # alternate

Tourney pages: WTA Championships: 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Doha 2009: #2 Serena Williams 5' 9" 135lb RH 2H-BH Doha 2009: #7 Venus Williams 6'1" 160lb RH 2H-BH Doha 2009: 35th WTA Singles Title

    The WTA Championships draw is not yet available. In 2009 the WTA Championships draw was held at 8pm on Sunday at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. The link is above for your convenience when the draw becomes available.

    Play in Doha begins on Tuesday evening.

The WTA Championships System:     Eight top players are selected for singles play in the WTA Championships, based on all the ranking points they have earned during the current WTA Tour season (this differs slightly from the WTA Rankings, which only include a maximum of 17 tourneys in the point totals).     2 groups, White and Maroon (aka Burgundy—and the colors used for names have changed three times in recent years), play in a round-robin format (12 matches), with two winners from each group becoming semifinalists who play off on Saturday. In the semis, the player who finishes first in each group will play the second place finisher from the other group.     If players win the same number of matches, the winner of their head-to-head match in the round robin is placed higher in the standings. 3-way ties will be resolved first by the percentage of sets won, then by the percentage of games won.     Players who qualify for the WTA Championships (in singles) all will receive at least $100,000; the champion receives $1,150,000 (if they are undefeated in the round robin, otherwise somewhat less, a new twist in 2008).     4 doubles teams also play, with no prelims.

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  Doha, 2009:

    On Sunday in Doha, Qatar, in the final of the 2009 WTA Championships, the 2001 year-end champion, 28-year-old 2nd-seeded #2 Serena Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, won the title again, by defeating her sister, the 2008 Doha champ, 29-year-old 7th-seeded #7 Venus Williams (same address) 6-2, 7-6(4) (both ladies are shown during the match, and Serena with the hardware afterward).

    Serena's prize is $1,550,000; Venus's prize is $580,000.

    Venus did not hold a break point against Serena during the match, while Serena converted 4 of 6 break points she held against Venus. Serena put 67% of her 1st serves in the box, and won 89% of her 1st serve points, including 5 aces, with no double faults (Venus: 50% in, 66% 1st serve points won, 1 ace, 3 DFs).

    Serena said: "Playing Venus in the finals was tough. Even though she wasn't feeling good, she was getting every ball back. I can't tell you how frustrating that is! Playing her is never easy. WTA story

    Serena had not won a title outside of Melbourne, Flushing Meadows and Wimbledon since April, 2008. Serena said: "Now my losing streak in tournaments that aren't Grand Slams is over! Coming out here and doing well is so exciting. I totally didn't expect to come here and win. My practice at home wasn't going so great, but I just kept fighting.."

    Venus said: "I have to congratulate Serena for playing a great match today and having a great tournament. Last year I was able to win Wimbledon and the Sony Ericsson Championships, and it felt great. This year I came close to winning both, but it just didn't work out for me. I'll just continue to learn from everything and, more than anything, continue to enjoy what I do."

    Serena now leads Venus 13-10 in career matches, and Serena also won their last three meetings: on a hardcourt in this year's Miami semifinals, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, on grass in the final of this year's Championships at Wimbledon, 7-6(3), 6-2, and on Wednesday in the round robin prelims in Doha, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4).

    11-time Grand Slam tourney champion Serena is now 35-13 in WTA singles finals; she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles this year, but had not reached a final since Wimbledon. Serena finishes 2009 with a 50-12 match record for the year.

    7-time Grand Slam tourney champion Venus is now 41-25 in WTA singles finals; she won the Dubai and Acapulco titles this year. Venus had a 38-16 match record this season.

Doha player's blog by Liezel Huber

2009 WTA Championships Singles Round Robin Standings: name in bold = clinched place in semifinals White Group matches W-L sets W-L #8 Jelena Jankovic 2-1 4-2 #4 Caroline Wozniacki 2-1 4-4 #6 Victoria Azarenka 1-2 4-4 #10 alt Agnieszka Radwanska 1-0 2-1 #9 alt Vera Zvonareva 0-1 1-2 #1 Dinara Safina 0-1 0-2 Maroon Group matches W-L sets W-L #2 Serena Williams 3-0 6-1 #7 Venus Williams 1-2 4-5 #3 Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-2 3-4 #5 Elena Dementieva 1-2 2-5         1st Alternate: #9 Vera Zvonareva         2nd Alternate: #10 Agnieszka Radwanska

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WTA SCOREBOARD: WTA Championships s=seed, #=rank, *=upset ranks are for the current week WTA Championships,  Doha, Qatar   tourney time:    = GMT +4 hours    = US ET +7hrs (final +8hrs)    = US PT +10hrs (final +11hrs) Qatar News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     WTA Championships: Eight players qualify for the WTA Championships: those who have amassed the most ranking points in the calendar year 2008. They play a 12-match round robin in 2 groups, and the top two players in each group advance to the semifinals.   click for broader view   Khalifa Tennis Complex Latitude: 25.313125 Longitude: 51.51507 goto link for World Wind Doha city map, .pdf - venue area map, .pdf - venue map, .pdf     Centre court at Khalifa Tennis Complex holds 4,106 spectators. For the 15th Asian Games in December 2006, eight new training courts were built. More expansion was planned for the 2008 and 2009 WTA Championships. 2009: On Sunday, October 25, in Doha, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Jankovic, row 2: Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina attended the draw ceremony at the Museum of Islamic Art... 2009: On Monday players practiced, including 2008 Championships winner Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, and Caroline Wozniacki... 2009: Also on Monday, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, row 2: Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams played Meet the Press... Doha WTA Champ's round robin, Tue 5pm Doha WTA Champ's round robin, Wed 5pm Doha WTA Champ's round robin, Thu 5pm Doha WTA Champ's round robin, Fri 5pm alternates prizes: $50,000 RR no wins prizes: $100,000 US; points: 105 - RR 1 win prizes: $200,000 US; points: 185 RR 2 wins prizes: $300,000 US; points: 265 - RR 3 wins prizes: $400,000 US; points: 345

Doha WTA Championships, SFs, Sat 4:30pm+

Doha WTA Championships, Final, Sun 6pm loser's prize: RR prize + $380,000 US; points: RR points + 180 winner's prize: RR prize + $1,150,000 US; points: RR points + 405

Doha WTA Championships, Doubles SFs, Sat 2pm loser's prize: $93,750 Doha WTA Championships, Doubles Final, Sun 8pm+ loser's prize: $187,500 winner's prize: $375,000

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2010 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2009 WTA Player Videos page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.