Year-end No. 1 Serena Williams improved to
a perfect 3-0 this week and secured a berth in Saturday's semifinals at the
$4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships.
The reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena, seeded second
here, handled fifth-seeded Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-4 at
Khalifa Tennis Complex, as Dementieva dropped to 1-1 in the round-robin
portion of this event.
Serena captured this prestigious tournament eight years ago.
Seventh-seeded and defending champion Venus Williams wound up at 1-2 in round-
robin play, as she bested third-seeded French Open champion Svetlana
Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 in just under two-and-a-half hours in
Thursday's nightcap. Kuznetsova fell to 0-2 this week.
The Wimbledon runner-up Venus topped Russian Vera Zvonareva in last year's
finale here in Doha.
Meanwhile, fourth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki overcame some
leg cramps and moved to 2-0 for the week with a 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 victory
over the alternate Zvonareva (0-1).
Wozniacki needed a pair of medical timeouts to treat her cramping left thigh
in the third set and collapsed to the court crying and grabbing both legs
after netting a forehand during the final game. She would get back up to
clinch the win when Zvonareva netted a forehand to end the bout.
Zvonareva, who saved two match points before ultimately succumbing on Day 3,
required some medical attention of her own, for a bloody nose in the second
set.
The 2008 Championships runner-up Zvonareva joined this year's exclusive eight-
player field when top-seeded fellow Russian Dinara Safina pulled out of it
on Wednesday because of a back injury. The French and Aussie Open runner-
up Safina's exit guaranteed that Serena would close out 2009 as the top-ranked
player in the world.
Serena had just lost the No. 1 ranking to Safina on Monday.
Round-robin play will wrap up with three more matches on Friday, as Kuznetsova
will meet Dementieva, Wozniacki will battle eighth-seeded former world No. 1
Jelena Jankovic (1-1) and sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka (1-1) will encounter
Zvonareva.
This lucrative tournament caps the WTA season. A four-player Maroon Group
boasts Serena, Kuznetsova, Dementieva and the former top-ranked Venus,
while a four-woman White Group features Wozniacki, Azarenka, Jankovic and
Zvonareva, playing in place of Safina.
An undefeated champ this week would collect $1.55 million.
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