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Monday, November 02, 2009 DOHA: Serena Williams won her second career WTA Championships title on Sunday with a commanding 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory over sister Venus, a triumph which earned her a cool 1.55 million dollars.Serena, who will finish the season as world number one, also won the trophy in 2001, making her just the second player after Justine Henin in 2007 to win two Grand Slam titles as well as the WTA Championship in the same year.World number one Serena won all five matches at this event, including a group stage win over Venus, and such was her dominance in the final that she gave up just seven points on serve.The 85-minute romp was Serena's 13th victory in 23 meetings with her sister, a family rivalry stretching back to 1998.In a symbol of this injury-hit, desert money-spinner, which had seen four players end their campaigns prematurely through various aches and pains, both sisters arrived on court nursing knocks.Serena had her left thigh heavily-strapped while Venus ha...

Thursday, October 29, 2009 DOHA: Dinara Safina's dream of becoming the first Russian to end the year as world number one was left in tatters on Wednesday when her aching body finally gave out at the WTA Championships.The 23-year-old, who arrived in Doha ahead of 11-times grand slam champion Serena Williams in the rankings, managed just two games in her opening round-robin match against Serbia's Jelena Jankovic before a lower back injury flared up and she was forced to quit in tears.Shortly afterwards she confirmed she would be unable to take any further part in the tournament, meaning Williams, courtesy of her group victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Tuesday, was guaranteed ending the year as the No.1 -- the first time she has done that since 2002.Safina, who has been criticised for her failure to land a grand slam title, said she first injured her back in Slovenia in July but has battled on in pain to protect top spot, a position she held for 25 consecutive weeks this year....

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 DOHA: The eight best tennis stars of the world will be seen in action here in the WTA Tennis Championship, which is beginning today.The championship being held in Doha, a city of Qatar, is not a Grand Slam but its importance is considered equivalent to a Grand Slam event.The tennis season will be ended with this event.Other tennis contests are held on the knockout basis but this event is played like round robin league.As last year, the competitors have been divided into two groups named for the colors of the Qatari flag.The White group comprises number one seed Dinara Safina, number four seed Caroline Wozniacki, number six seed Victoria Azarenka and number eight seed Jelena Jankovic. The Maroon group is made up of number two seed Serena Williams, number three seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, number five seed Elena Dementieva and number seven seed Venus Williams.