Dear readers, Women's Tennis Blog has become an attractive place for guest posters. This time Jay from www.OnCourtAdvantage.com wanted to contribute his preview of the Sony Ericsson Championships. Check out his favorites for the prestigious Doha title.

The Sony Ericsson Championships (SEC) have begun and will run for 6 days through to Women’s Singles Final on Sunday 31 October. Due to the unique Round Robin format used for this tournament we are blessed with the fantastic opportunity to see these top players clash more often than in any other tournament.

The SEC will produce a number of rematches of Grand Slam quarterfinals, semifinals and singles finals like Schiavone versus Stosur (2010 Roland Garros Final), Clijsters versus Wozniacki (2009 US Open Final) and Clijsters versus Zvonareva (2010 US Open Final).

In no other tournament are you required to beat at least 4 if not 5, of the world’s Top 8 ranked players to win the title. The degree of difficulty is extreme and at least one player will show us the qualities of a true champion this week.

The maroon group is:

(1) Caroline Wozniacki
(4) Francesca Schiavone
(5) Samantha Stosur
(7) Elena Dementieva

The white group is:

(2) Vera Zvonareva
(3) Kim Clijsters
(6) Jelena Jankovic
(8) Victoria Azarenka

Predictions:

Let me just warn you that in tennis more than any other sport you should never bet on the outcome of a match. Instead invest your funds into enjoying, watching, playing and improving the great game we love.

Anyone who REALLY understands this game knows that in the vast majority of matches, both players will have critical moments and opportunities that can swing the match either way and often there can be a number of these situations with the same match.

On any given day it is the player who in the above mentioned situations that can:

Produce the better strategic nous;
Make the better decisions;
Execute their shots during the BIG points; and
Copes best with mental challenges that usually dictate who triumphs on the day.
But if you really want a prediction THEN…

Who will make the semifinals?

The maroon group:

Based on the form that has taken the 20-year-old Wozniacki to be the current World No.1, you would have to lean towards the 1.77m Dane as the favorite to win her group. The youngest player in the field leads the WTA Tour in match wins – 59 – and singles titles this year, 6 titles from 7 finals.

The 1.66m Schiavone would probably be the next best chance to take the second semifinal spot. The eldest player in the field is in great physical condition and will be prepared to peak this week and in the Federation Cup Final following the SEC.

The 30-year-old Italian has enormous pride in representing her country and in her own performance, which suggests she will fight relentlessly. The steely resolve of the Lioness could prove too much for Dementieva’s fragile ankle and Stosur’s current lack of confidence.

The 29-year-old Dementieva forfeited with an ankle injury last week in Luxembourg as she did in the 2010 Roland Garros semifinals. The 1.8m Russian’s strongest component of her game is her court movement and court coverage, so if that is compromised it will be much tougher for her.

The 26-year-old Stosur has not been in good form recently but does possess a serve and forehand that can win her matches. The 1.72m Australian is well suited to hard courts and has won her most recent match against Wozniacki and Dementieva. Stosur also holds a winning record over Schiavone.

Best Guess = No.1 Schiavone and No.2 Wozniacki. Read more »

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 »