Samantha Stosur’s official website nurtures simple, old-school and user-friendly design, without music and fleshy features. Large letters in the navigation menu clearly take you to Sam’s tournament schedule, news, photos, video, blog and biography.

In the right sidebar there is a welcome note and other things you may like to check back for – like Sam's current ranking, her upcoming tournament and match, and a link to Sam’s Facebook page, an obligatory feature nowadays. Sometimes there is also a drop-down menu containing archives dating back to December 2007.

Sam updates her blog from time to time, and in addition to giving first-hand behind-the-scenes information, she answers fan questions.

I like Sam’s website because it’s very straightforward and easy to use, which is, of course, most important.

It's been high time Samantha Stosur and Lacoste found their place in our well-known overviews of women's tennis fashion. This is our first feature of the best-ranked Australian WTA player and the French brand of Lacoste with tradition dating back to 1933.

Stosur's orange Lacoste dress received a lot of exposure, as she wore it at six tournaments, including the Australian Open, and at two Fed Cup ties, in Adelaide and Kharkiv.

In the above dark version of the same dress Stosur reached her first Grand Slam final, at the 2010 French Open.

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Vera Zvonareva played one of her longest two-setters to record her second win at the 2010 WTA Championships. The second-seeded Zvonareva saw off Victoria Azarenka 7-6(4) 6-4, but only after recovering from 2-4 in the first set and 1-3 in the second. Seed number eight Azarenka came to Doha fresh off her Premier-level Kremlin Cup title, but that very victory in the Russian capital gave her less time to prepare for the season-ending Championships. Zvonareva is now the leader in the White Group with 4-0 set win/loss record.

In the second match of the day, Kim Clijsters, playing her first match since winning the US Open in September, opened her Doha campaign with a 6-2 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic. The third-seeded Clijsters hit seven aces, but double faults were her weak point this time as she made a total of 10. The Belgian is the only player in the field to have won the WTA Championships in the past and she achieved that feat two times, in 2002 and 2003.

In the Maroon Group, Samantha Stosur pulled off the first upset of the tournament by beating world number one Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3, without even losing her serve. Stosur did face break points, but saved all six of them, while she converted two of her three opportunities to break the top-seeded Wozniacki. Stosur is now the best performer in her group, with 4-0 set win/loss record. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

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 »

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.