Defending champion defeated in Doha

Only hours after Azarenka caused an upset in the white group, the same thing happened in the opening match in the maroon group.

Venus Williams, last year's winner and my second favourite to win this year, was sensationally beaten in three sets by Russia's Elena Dementieva 3-6 7-6 6-2 in the first match of the maroon group.

Williams, the defending champion had beaten Dementieva in nine of their previous eleven meetings and a tenth victory over the Russian looked likely after Venus took a 6-3 3-1 lead but a spirited fightback from the world number five took the match to a third and deciding set.

Dementieva then showed her class and demolished Williams, who made 27 unforced errors, with some powerful baseline shots to take the match and lead the group going into day 2.

Venus's sister, Serena had better fortune in the maroon group after beating French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in their first meeting since the final at Roland Garros.

Serena edged this tight two setter 7-6 7-5. Williams fought hard in the first set by twice coming back from a break down, and winning four straight points in the tie break.

Williams improved in the second set and broke Kuznetsova's serve to take it 7-5 and overtake Dementieva at the top of the group going into day 2.

Day 2 of the round robin stage will no doubt see the clash of the competition with an all William's encounter on the cards and with Serena leading their head to head 11-10, Venus will be looking to even the score and avoid slumping to her second consecutive defeat in the competition.

Shock defeat in Doha

The opening match of the white group saw a shock victory for Victoria Azarenka on her debut at the Sony Ericsson Championships.

The 20 year old number six seed hit hard, deep groundstrokes to beat former world number one Jelena Jankovic in straight sets 6-2 6-3.

Azarenka outplayed Jankovic who was erratic with her shot selection and made thirty three unforced errors in the match compared to Azarenka's fifteen. The Belarussian raced to a 6-3 3-1 lead before allowing Jankovic to get back into the match at 3-3.

However, a mixture of hard groundstrokes and Jankovic errors, help Azarenka to close out the match winning the next three games.

Azarenka, making her debut at these championships, now takes a commanding lead at the top of the group, at least until tomorrow's play where current world number one Dinara Safina takes on another young lady making her debut in Doha, Caroline Wozniacki. The top two in the group will then advance to the semi final stage and if Azarenka continues to play in this fashion, she may shock everyone and qualify for the semi finals.

Preview to Doha

Tomorrow sees the start of the Doha Championships which pits the eight best female players of the season against each other to be crowned WTA Sony Ericsson Champion.


Each tour event has points up for grabs. The better a player does in the event the more ranking points they receive. This year sees probably the eight most consistent female players this season qualifying for the tournament. Below is the list of players, when and how they qualified and my predictions for the tournament.

The first to qualify was former World number 1, Dinara Safina. Safina appeared at last years championships and qualified for this years tournament thanks to a fantastic start to the season. She won titles in Rome, Madrid and Portoroz. From winning Rome and finishing as runner up at the French Open, Safina went on a 16 match unbeaten run which helped her rack up enough points to qualify.

Safina's confidence has rocked a little since being replaced as World number 1, but the hard court is one of her favourite surfaces with five of her twelve titles coming in hard court tournaments. She has experienced this tournament before having played last year but I don't think she'll have enough to win it, although I think she will better her third round finish last year

Verdict: Semi Final

Next to qualify was current World number 1, Serena Williams who qualified on August 19th thanks to her semi-final appearance in the Rodgers Cup and her impressive results at the Grand Slams winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She finally overtook Safina as world number 1 after bettering Safina's perforamance at the China Open.

Serena is probably the most impressive performer going into the tournament and is definately the most successful with eleven singles and ten doubles grand slam titles under her belt. She is playing really well at the moment and although she doesn't play all the tournaments on the WTA tour she certainly deserves her place in Doha. She won the WTA tour championship in 2001 and because she is playing even better tennis now than she did then, I think she will win it for the second time.

Verdict: Winner

Elena Dementieva enjoyed an impressive start to the season by winning fifteen consecutive matches, this unbeaten streak was followed by semi final appearances at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams on both ocassions. Dementieva has impressed on the hard court this season winning the Rogers Cup in Toronto and it is this victory that helped her qualify for this tournament.

The Russian hasn't impressed as much as she would have liked to this season and I don't think she has the ability to compete with some of the other women in this tournament. She has appeared in the French and US open finals and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her best surface is the hard court winning ten of her fourteen career singles titles on this surface but think she'll struggle here. She is in a tough group and I can't see her winning a match

Verdict: Round robin stage (o wins)

Caroline Wozniacki was next to qualify and this will be the 19 year old's first year-end championship. The Dane won three titles on the tour this year but what was significant was that they came on three different surfaces. She won Ponte Vedra Beach which was a clay event, Eastbourne, a grass event and New Haven a hard court event. Her biggest achievement was reaching the final of the US Open where she lost to Kim Clijsters. This final appearance helped her qualify for Doha and also boost her up to a career high fifth in the world.

Wozniacki has been a real surprise package this season with some really big results, none bigger than her victory over Melanie Oudin to reach the US Open final. Think she is one to watch for the future and at only 19 years old I think she will become a very successful player on the women's circuit, however I really think she will struggle in this tournament. She doesn't have a particularly good record against the seven other ladies in the tournament, think she'll definately pick up one win, maybe two if someone has an off day but won't do better than that.

Verdict: Round robin stage (1 Win)

Fifth to qualify was Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova. She won the China Open in early October to book her place in Doha. This year also saw her pick up her first grand slam title in four years after she won the French Open. She has had a very impressive season on Clay winning at Roland Garros and in Stuttgart and reaching the final Rome where she lost to Safina.

Kuznetsova is an impressive player and is improving all the time. She hasn't been as sucessful as I would have expected at the Grand Slams, but she has had some sucess in the tour events. I expect her to play well in Doha but she is in a group with the William's sisters and I just can't see her beating them. I do expect her to beat Dementieva but that's it.

Verdict: Round Robin Stage (1 Win)

Venus Williams qualified on the 9th October thanks to wins in Dubai and Acapulco. She also racked up some ranking points for her Wimbledon final appearance where she lost to her sister Serena. She has also reached the final in Stanford where she lost to Marion Bartoli.

Venus has had some good results on the tour in the past, but hasn't had a lot of success this season. She has seven grand slam titles to her name and I do expect her to add to that tally over the next couple of years. Venus is the reigning champion in this competition and I think she will do well in the group stage against Kuznetsova and Dementieva. I expect her to reach the final but she won't beat Serena.

Verdict: Runner Up

Victoria Azarenka was the seventh women to qualify and did so on the same day as Venus. The 20 year old from Belarus has had her best season on the tour by far reaching a career high eighth in the world. She began the season with her first career title in Brisbane and then followed that up with titles in Memphis and in Miami, where she beat five time Memphis champion Serena Williams. She also had her best year at the grand slams reaching the quarter finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Although she's had her best season, I think this stage will be too big for her. She has a superb two handed backhand and if the other ladies want to beat her then they must keep her on her forehand where she sometimes struggles and comes up with a lot of unforced errors. Like Wozniacki this is her first year end championship and I think she'll be the weakest of the eight ladies and I really can't see her beating anyone.

Verdict: Round Robin stage 1 (0 Wins)

Jelena Jankovic was the eighth and final lady to qualify for the tournament. She qualified not because of her own result but because of Zvonareva's defeat in the second round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, she will now travel to the tournament but only as an alternate. Jankovic has had a disappointing season by her own standards. She did manage to win in Marbella and in Cincinnati and had Zvonareva done better in Moscow she may not be appearing in this tournament.

Jankovic has a strong forehand which some players find difficult to deal with. She also has a decent net game, however her main weakness is her serve. Although it can be powerful, it is very predictable and easy to read for her opponents, especially those with strong baseline games. I do think she'll pick up a couple of wins in her group that will take her through to the semi finals but I think that's the best she can hope for.

Verdict: Semi Final

Round Robin Predictions:

Maroon Group:

Serena Williams vs Venus Williams
Winner: Serena

Elena Dementieva vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Winner: Kuznetsova

Serena Williams vs Elena Dementieva
Winner: Serena

Venus Williams vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Winner: Venus

Serena Williams vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Winner: Serena

Venus Williams vs Elena Dementieva
Winner: Venus

Serena and Venus will advance to Semi Finals

White Group:

Dinara Safina vs Caroline Wozniacki
Winner: Safina

Jelena Jankovic vs Victoria Azarenka
Winner: Jankovic

Dinara Safina vs Jelena Jankovic
Winner: Safina

Caroline Wozniacki vs Victoria Azarenka
Winner: Wozniacki

Dinara Safina vs Victoria Azarenka
Winner: Safina

Jelena Jankovic vs Caroline Wozniacki
Winner: Jankovic

Safina and Jankovic to progress to semi final stage.

Tournament Winner: Serena Williams
Runner Up: Venus Williams

So there it is, Doha 2009 has the makings of a really exciting tournament because of the quality that will be on show. I dare anyone to predict against an all Williams final but stranger things have happened. I am going to make another prediction now though, I think the winner of this tournament will meet Justine Henin in the Australian Open final in January. You heard it here first folks!!!!!

Top seeds to compete for charity

Two of the worlds highest ranking tennis players will take part in an all star event to raise money for AIDS charity.

Serena Williams ranked number one in the women's singles and Leizel Huber ranked number one in the women's doubles will compete alongside the likes of Andy Roddick, Ana Kournikova Lindsay Davenport and Former world number 2, Tommy Haas in an all star tennis event in Louisiana during the WTA off season.

The event is sponsored by Elton John AIDS foundation (EJAF) and will be co-hosted by Elton John and Billie Jean King. The evenmt is scheduled to take place on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge.

The event will be opened by a celebrity doubles match that will feature Elton John himself.

The players involved will form two teams and will compete under the World Team Tennis format which will see six sets in all. One set of men's and women's singles, one set of men's and women's doubles and two sets of mixed doubles. The team with the most games won will win the event.

Aswell as raising money for EJAF, the event will also raise funds for Baton Rouge area AIDS charities.

Jankovic loses in Moscow

Number two seed Jelena Jankovic has been knocked out at the quarter final stage of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Jankovic qualified for the WTA season ending championships in Doha thanks to Vera Zvonareva's defeat. Zvonareva was ranked number one for the tournament but was defeated in the second round by Tsvetana Pironkova and she was soon followed out of Moscow by number two seed Jankovic.

Jankovic was defeated 6-4 6-3 by Russia's Alisa Kleybanova in the quarter final in Moscow and the 20 year old will now face either Olga Govortsova of Belarus or her compatriot Vera Dushevina, who meet in their quarter final match later today, for a place in the semi final.

Tennis match investigated for match fixing

The WTA tennis authority are looking into the first round match at the Luxembourg Open between U.S Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki and Anne Kremer.

The 19 year old Dane, ranked sixth in the world retired hurt with a hamstring injury in the first round tie leading 7-5 5-0. The WTA are investigating after betters piled significant sums of money on Kremer even though she was on the verge of losing in straight sets.

Wozniacki's father Piotr was picked up on court microphones telling his daughter at 3-0 up in the second set, to retire before winning becasue the injury would prevent her from playing in the second round and the conversation was heard by television audiences. Thus causing numbers of online bets to be made.

Betfair have said it did not have any concerns about the match at this stage, and that the money won or lost was not unusual.

Women's top seed follows Davydenko out of Moscow

Women's number one seed Vera Zvonareva was smashed 6-0 6-2 in the second round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The Russian might as well not have turned up on Centre Court as she only managed to win two games in the entire match against Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova.

The towering 5 foot 11 inch 22 year old already has five wins against top 20 players this year and with a mixture of strong forehand and backhand winners comfortably made Zvonareva her sixth victim.

Pironkova will now face Alona Bondareko of the Ukraine in the third round, an opponent she hasn't beaten or taken a set from in two previous meetings.

The defeat for Zvonareva means that Jelena Jankovic will travel to the season ending tournament in Doha. Jankovic defeated Lucie Safarova 7-6 6-3 in Thursday's second round match and is five points ahead of Zvonareva in the rankings. This means that Jankovic fills the final spot in Doha.

Seena and Venus Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kusznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka have already qualified for Doha and all elected to sit out the tournament in Moscow. Zvonareva and Radwanska will travel to Doha as alternates.

Seeds continue to topple in Moscow

Fifth seed Nadia Petrova and fourth seed Flavia Pennetta have become the latest women to suffer shock defeats in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The day started bad for the seeded ladies with Vesnina and Radwanska suffering defeats in the first round in Russia, they were soon joined by Italy's Pennetta who had to retire hurt having taken the first set 6-4 against Hungary's Agnes Szavay.

Szavay then led the second set 3-0 until Pennetta was forced to retire with a knee injury handing the Hungarian a place in the second round. The defeat for the Italian means that she is no longer in with a shot of being an alternate in next weeks tournament in Doha.

The shocks kept coming on a lively day in Moscow as fifth seed Nadia Petrova lost her second round match to Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 7-6 6-3, the Russian who beat Yana Buchina comfortably 6-2 6-0 in the first round couldn't handle the power of Bondarenko who won in straight sets.

Shock in Moscow number one seed out

Nikolay Davydenko ranked number one for the Kremlin Cup in Moscow was defeated in three sets to fellow Russian Marat Safin in the first round of the tournament in Moscow.

Safin, who is a two time runner up in this competition will retire at the end of the ATP World Tour season, but started his 12th and final Kremlin Cup campaign with a well fought victory over Davydenko, the man who beat Safin in the 2006 Kremlin Cup final.

The 6-4 4-6 2-6 defeat to Safin means that Davydenko will not receive any additional South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points which would help him book his place at the ATP tour final in London.

Davydenko, who recently won the Shanghai Masters title looked tired as the match progressed into the second set and was undone by a stunning performance from the 29 year old former world number one.

Safin will now face world number 51 Evgeny Korolev who defeated fellow Russian and last year's champion Igor Kunitsyn 7-6 6-3

Jankovic enters Guiness Book of Records

Serbian tennis star Jelena Jankovic has been entered into the Guiness Book of World Records, along with Wrigley's chewing gum, Orbit.

A mosaic of 137,264 photos of smiling faces was placed in the Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. The mosaic measures over 930 square metres. Jankovic, renowned for her smile is the brand embassador for Wrigley's most popular gum and helped promote the event.

The previous record was set in the UK, however this record beat the one set in the UK by 23,271 smiles.

Clement breaks winless streak

French qualifier Arnaud Clement has broken his five month winless run on the ATP tour. Clement, who hasn't won a tour level match since May dispatched fifth seed Andreas Beck in the first round of the Stockholm Open in Sweden.

Clement, a former World number 10 and Australian Open finalist beat the 23 year old German in straight sets 6-4 6-2. Clement saved both break points he faced and won the match in 76 minutes to record only his eighth tour level win of the year.

Beck, who reached his first ATP final back in July was totally outplayed by Clement who will now face fellow qualifier Michael Berrer also from Germany, in the second round in Stockholm.

Seeds sent crashing in Moscow

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska and sixth seed Elena Vesnina have both been sent crashing out of the first round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Radwanska, the 20 year old former Wimbledon junior champion lost in straight sets to world number 61 Maria Kirilenko who is from Moscow 6-3 6-3

Kirilenko, who beat Radwanska in this year's US Open, dominated from the outset and booked her place in the second round with a display that could not be matched by Radwanska.

Radwanska had five break points, but couldn't take any of them and was outplayed and outclassed by the Russian who is yet to win a tournament this year.

The defeat for Radwanska came not long after sixth seed Vesnina was subject to a shock defeat to Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, the match was a close encounter between two relatively young ladies.

The qualifier from Moscow came out on top with a well fought 6-1 3-6 6-2 victory over the world number twenty two Vesnina.

Henin confirms tennis return at Brisbane

Former world number one, Justine Henin has confirmed that she will make her return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International tournament held in Australia, which starts on January 3rd. The tournament will be an ideal warm up event for January's Australian Open.

The 27 year old Belgian retired from tennis in May last year, but announced her return in September. Henin, who won the Australian Open in 2004 has already been given a wildcard to appear in next year's tournament, but will make her competitive return in Brisbane a tournament that will also feature former French Open Champion, Ana Ivanovic and home favourite Jelena Dokic.

Henin won the Brisbane tournament back in 2001 and will no doubt be looking to record her first win back as a professional.

Henin's compatriot Kim Clijsters beat newly crowned world number one Serena Williams in controversial circumstances in the US Open semi-final before beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final of Clijsters grand slam return from retirement and if Henin wants to follow in her footsteps she may also have to beat Serena who is the current Australian Open Champion.

Welcome

Well thanks folks for stumbling across my blog about the wonderful world of tennis. Here I will post match reports, general tennis news from the WTA and ATP tours and any interesting stats and facts I think you will enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the site!!!!