Russian WTA players received well-deserved awards from their home country. Dinara Safina, Elena Demetieva, Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova were present at the event. Read more »

Vera Zvonareva’s fantastic form continues to bring fruitful results, as the eighth seed defeated fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 to reach the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.

In the first set, which featured as much as eight breaks of serve, fifth-seeded Demetieva had a 4-1 lead, but Zvonareva recovered and forced a tiebreak which she won 9-7.

Dementieva then broke Zvonareva’s first service game in the second set, and holding that initial lead the fifth seed won the second set, in which Zvonareva, by the way, had only 38% first serve percentage.

In the third set, Zvonareva was the one who established a 4-1 lead, but later on, in the seventh game, Dementieva managed to break back. Zvonareva, however, rebroke right away, and served out the match in the following game to reach her first final of the Sony Ericsson Championships.

Prior to today’s meeting, Dementieva held a perfect record on hardcourts against her compatriot.

Zvonareva will next play either Venus Williams or world No.1 Jelena Jankovic, depending on whom of the two wins the semifinal. (photos: Getty Images)

Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams were supposed to fight for the last spot in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Championships, but the third-seeded American withdrew shortly before the match due to a stomach injury.

Instead of Serena, fifth-seeded Dementieva is currently playing second alternate Nadia Petrova. First alternate Agnieszka Radwanska will replace Ana Ivanovic, who withdrew because of a viral illness, in a dead rubber against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Dementieva's place in the semifinals is certain, even if she loses to Petrova. She will play Vera Zvonareva for a spot in the final.

As Russian Vera Zvonareva continued her winning ways in her White Group, beating world No.1 Jelena Jankovic 2-6 6-3 6-4, the Serb will have to face the player who tops the Maroon Group, American Venus Williams. (photos: Getty Images)

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic and fifth seed Elena Dementieva marked the start of the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha by playing a historic tennis match staged in an extraordinary place – a desert island. Read more »

Top seed Elena Dementieva came back from a set down to defeat fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki at the FORTIS Championships Luxembourg and win the third title of the 2008 season

"You don't feel great after you've lost 7-6 in the third, but Elena has had a great tournament and played a great match today, and really deserved to win here," said Wozniacki after losing 2-6 6-4 7-6(4). "I knew it was going to be tough. I was fighting for every point. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to win the match today. But she played great."

The 27-year-old Russian also won her only other meeting with the Danish teenager, beating her on en route to winning gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

With Dementieva winning her 11th career title, Wozniacki failed to win her fourth one.

BTW: Last season Ana Ivanovic was the winner of the FORTIS Championships Luxembourg, but this year the Serb played at Linz instead, and won the title today. (source: Sports Network, photo via Yahoo)