The first two matches at the WTA Championships in Doha finished very quickly, with Vera Zvonareva and Caroline Wozniacki handily defeating their opponents.

Zvonareva lost just three games against Jelena Jankovic in the White Group and it’s Zvonareva’s fourth straight victory over Jankovic, which includes the defeat of Jankovic in 2008 at the same tournament. The second-seeded Zvonareva won eight straight games from 4-3 in the first set and finished the match 6-3 6-0.

The second match of the $4.55-million season-ending event was played in the Maroon Group, and top-seeded Wozniacki thrashed Russia's Elena Dementieva 6-1 6-1. Dementieva came to Doha troubled by an ankle injury which forced her to withdraw from last week’s tournament in Luxembourg.

Zvonareva could take the No.1 ranking from Wozniacki if two conditions are met: 1) that Zvonareva reaches the final unbeaten 2) that Wozniacki doesn't win more than one match. (photos: angelicalbite)

Our reader Milano predicted the year-end WTA singles rankings in the comments of this blog and I decided to make a post out of those comments so that more people get to see Milano's thorough prognosis. Feel free to add your view of the rankings below in the comments section.

The only one who can eventually take No.1 ranking from Caroline Wozniacki is Vera Zvonareva. That will happen only if Wozniacki doesn't gain any points at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha and Zvonareva wins the whole thing without losing a single match. Chances are quite minimal, of course.

When Serena Williams' Doha points fall off she will be No. 5 by default, but if other players behind (Jelena Jankovic, Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur) do really well in Doha, she could fall as low as No. 8, or even No.9 if Elena Dementieva suddenly wakes up and reaches semifinals at least. But these are big if's.

I think that Kim Clijsters and Francesca Schiavone have the best chance to move up the rankings. I think we will watch an interesting battle for No. 2 year-end spot between Zvonareva and Clijsters (or even Schiavone).

Stosur needs to win (just) two matches to reach No. 6 in the world. Jankovic and Stosur are in terrible form, so I don't think they will do any good out there with top players. Jankovic lost at the Kremlin Cup to No. 268, Zarina Diyas 6-1 6-2, she is feeling ill, she is going to have an eye surgery by the end of the season. I'd say she is the weakest Doha player right now.

Venus Williams will have around 5000 points by the end of the year, just like her sister (Serena will have around 5100). Schiavone has 5035 points now but she will automatically gain 210, even if she loses all three of her round robin matches in Doha. That means that both Williamses will be ranked No.5 or lower by the end of the year, with Serena in front of Venus.

The latest qualifier Victoria Azarenka will have to do something really big to make a move up the rankings.

The season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha have already lost two of the elite eighth singles qualifiers, Serena and Venus Williams, and two other, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva, are suffering fitness scares just a week before the $4.55 million tournament.

At the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, top seed Jankovic lost her opener to 268th-ranked Kazakh qualifier Zarina Diyas with a 6-1 6-2 score. The 2008 Kremlin Cup champion Jankovic complained of illness and difficult breathing and said she had been on antibiotics for about a week. In addition, Jankovic told the media she is soon to have a left eye surgery (she is just going to have something taken out from her eye).

The other tournament played this week is taking place in Luxembourg and it lost its top seed as well, as Dementieva retired ahead of her second round match against Polona Hercog. The reason for Dementieva’s withdrawal was an inflammation on her right foot.

All we and Doha can hope for is that the players recover in time and that the tournament doesn’t become the one of injured and tired stars. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

The eight-woman singles field at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Championships is now wrapped up as world No.7 Jelena Jankovic and world No.9 Elena Dementieva became the last two players to qualify for the season-ending tournament which includes only eight players who had the best results during a tennis year.

It will be Jankovic's fourth successive appearance at the Sony Ericsson Championships. In 2008 and 2009 the Serb reached the semifinals which she both lost to Venus Williams who will not play this year. Jankovic's 2010 season has been highlighted by the Indian Wells title, the final of Rome and Roland Garros semis. Read more »

Caroline Wozniacki had been sharing the top position of 2010 WTA titles with Kim Clijsters, but with the victory over Elena Dementieva in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open the Dane became the only leader with five WTA titles this season. Prior to this year, Wozniacki had never won a match at the Tokyo tournament.

The top-seeded Wozniacki lost only seven games en route to the semifinals in Tokyo, but her last two matches were three-setters – a close 6-2 6-7(3) 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka in the semis and a survival of the tough first set loss to defeat Dementieva 1-6 6-2 6-3 in the final. The win at the Toray Pan Pacific Open added $350,000 to the $2,115,988 Wozniacki has earned in 2010.

Not only is world No.2 Wozniacki the Tour leader in the number of titles this season, she’s also the leader in both the number of finals played (she played six finals and lost only one at Indian Wells) and the number of matches won (54 matches). (photos via Toray Pan Pacific Open)

Caroline Wozniacki is closing in on the No.1 ranking by reaching the final of the $2 million Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo where she will face Elena Dementieva.

The top-seeded Wozniacki advanced to the final with a 6-2 6-7(3) 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka, No.8 seed. Wozniacki stormed through the first set, before losing the second set which featured eight breaks of serve. In the final set, the second-ranked Dane won five straight games for a 5-0 lead, but Azarenka managed to take the score to 5-4, winning 16 of 19 points. However, Wozniacki held serve in the sixth game and won the match of the young stars.

The other semifinal was seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva vs. fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone. Dementieva won the match 6-4 7-5 even though she started it by winning only two of the first ten points.

Wozniacki and Dementieva are tied at 3-3 in their head-to-head record. However, Wozniacki won three of their last four meetings, including a close semifinal this year en route to New Haven title. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Women's tennis fashion is attracting a lot of attention, especially at Grand Slams when clothing sponsors and players try to showcase the best they have. So let's see what they've come up for the 2010 US Open.

I'll start with adidas, my overall favorite, as they always make outfits that have a glamorous touch but can also be easily worn at everyday practice.

Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic are sporting pink adidas Women's Fall adilibria Dress.

Russians Dinara Safina and Maria Kirilenko are cled in adidas Barricade Top and Skort.

Caroline Wozniacki is looking great in Stella McCartney Tennis Performance Dress, contrasting nicely with Tennis Performance Bra Top. Elena Dementieva and Yonex once again failed to impress with design and fellow blogger C Note, who saw the dress live at the US Open, said that it even looks two sizes too big on Dementieva.

As usual for a Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova has two versions of a Nike dress – one for day matches and a darker piece for night. When we reviewed the dresses from the photos prior to the Open they looked somewhat questionable, but when seen on Sharapova they are a perfect match. You can see the dresses closer here and here.

Read more »

Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva advanced to the fourth round of the US Open after surviving the first set against seed No.24 Daniela Hantuchova and then moving through the second set much more easily for a 7-5 6-2 win. Dementieva converted all six of her break points, three in each set, while Hantuchova was serving for the first set and permitted Dementieva to recover.

Hantuchova hasn’t really defeated Dementieva since 2005 and they have played six times since then (I said "really" because Hantuchova did score one victory over Dementieva, but it was when Dementieva retired, this year in Dubai).

Dementieva’s opponent in the fourth round will be fifth seed Samantha Stosur who defeated 37th-ranked Sara Errani 6-2 6-3. Stosur had a pretty solid victory over Errani and the Italian has now fallen to 0-15 against Top 10 players.

Dementieva won all four meetings with Stosur on hardcourts and is 4-1 lifetime against the Australian. Dementieva was finalist at the US Open in 2004, and played the semifinals three times, while Stosur has never before been further than the second round of the US Open. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The New York Times Magazine used various forms of media to show how power has changed women’s tennis. The feature including an article by Michael Kimmelman, extraordinary photos and awesome short slow motion videos by Dewey Nicks has attracted a lot of positive attention in the tennis world, so make sure to check it out.

The article mentions a number of women’s tennis players and their stories, the expansion of the WTA to the Chinese market, the increase in prize money and equal pay at Grand Slams, the difficulties tour pros (or "independent contractors" as Stacey Allaster, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, likes to call them) can face in earning a living, the influence of Serena and Venus Williams, etc.

The slideshow and videos include Serena Willams, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonareva. I love how Dementieva's grace accompanies the delicate music of the video. Also, it's a nice surprise to see Sam looking like a ballet dancer. (via Down the Line)

Zheng Jie dethroned Elena Dementieva in the third round of the Rogers Cup with a 7-6(3) 6-4 victory in their first career meeting. The Chinese has recorded her seventh Top 10 win.

Before defeating the fourth-seeded Dementieva, Zheng made one more upset, coming back from 7-5 4-2 down to beat seed No.16 Aravane Rezai in the second round. Zheng is now the only unseeded player left in the Rogers Cup draw.

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating 15th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 4-6 6-3 6-1 for her fourth win in as many meetings with the Italian. Next for Wozniacki is French Open champion Francesca Schiavone who ended Dinara Safina’s seven-match winning streak in Montreal by defeating the Russian 6-4 6-3.

Fifth seed Kim Clijsters followed up her second round thriller against Bethanie Mattek-Sands with an easy victory over Kaia Kanepi, 6-2 6-1.

The Rogers Cup quarterfinals are set now: Marion Bartoli vs. Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters vs. Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Zheng Jie, and Francesca Schiavone vs. Caroline Wozniacki. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)