DOHA: Venus Williams beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 on Sunday to win the WTA Championships and complete an undefeated week at the season-ending event.
It was the first time the American had won the event after she reached the semi-finals in her previous two appearances. She retired injured on the second occasion, in 2002, and qualified but failed to play because of injury on five other occasions. "It's fantastic to end the season this way," Williams said. "I've never really had the opportunity to play this tournament very often so it's really awesome to have that opportunity and to play well." Williams, unbeaten in her five matches this time, earned $1.34 million dollars, allowing her to overtake Martina Navratilova for fourth place on the list of top prize money earners in women's tennis. Zvonareva received $715,000. It was her third title of the year, following victories in Wimbledon and Zurich. The American began sluggishly and dropped her serve in the second game when she double-faulted and then made a backhand error. Zvonareva, after saving two break points in the next game, at first showed no sign of relinquishing her advantage, making few unforced errors to build a 5-2 lead but Williams gradually raised her level. Zvonareva failed to convert four set points and was unable to serve out the set at 5-3 before a netted backhand gave Williams a vital break and eventually a first-set tie break. The Russian fell 5-1 behind in the opening set decider but Williams dropped both her serves when leading 5-4, one with a double-fault, and Zvonareva took the tiebreak 7-5 when her backhand clipped the netcord and fell in her favour. Her intensity then faded and Williams's greater strength and versatility dramatically swung the match her way. Zvonareva, who had played every week since September's US Open in a bid to qualify for the event, clearly had nothing left to give as she won just two more games. She briefly recovered a break at 2-0 down in the final set but Williams regained her advantage immediately to leave the Russian lying on the court in tears of frustration. Williams then went on to break again in the last game, closing out the two hour 10-minute match with a forehand winner. "I think I just got more consistent," Williams said. "I was missing some shots early on, and then I think I was more in control of the points and that helps a lot and I felt the tables started to turn a little bit." Zvonareva was happy to have claimed four wins over higher ranked opponents during the week, but found Williams too strong. "Venus is very powerful," she said. "She came up with some great serves when she needed. It was tough on me. "Maybe I didn't use those shots that helped me to win the first set. I didn't use them in the second and third as much so it gave her a little bit more opportunity to dictate the game."
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