Never before had Caroline Wozniacki won a match at either the Tokyo or Beijing tournament, but this year the Dane won both in back-to-back weeks, earning the No.1 ranking on the way.

The final of the China Open in Beijing was postponed to Monday due to rain and top-seeded Wozniacki continued to consolidate her new top ranking by defeating the new No.3 and US Open and Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva 6-3 3-6 6-3. One break in the beginning of the deciding set gave Wozniacki a 2-0 lead and she held her serve and didn’t even give Zvonareva break opportunities until the winner’s trophy was hers. The China Open title earned Wozniacki 1000 points, as well as $775,500, which means she’s earned more than a million in prize money in two weeks.

The 20-year-old Wozniacki doesn’t seem afraid of success: "Everything is working for me at the moment. I've got to believe I can beat anyone. I feel in great shape and now I'm really looking forward to Doha."

Wozniacki has now won six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles in 2010 and is the leader in the number of titles this season. Kim Clijsters follows her with four titles. Wozniacki is also leading other players in the number of matches won this season with 59. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Now we know half of eight players who will compete in the singles competition of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, the tournament which will mark the end of the women’s tennis season.

Caroline Wozniacki was the first to qualify at the end of last month, and shortly after Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters joined. Williams and Clijsters have both won the tournament twice.

Russia’s Vera Zvonareva earned her place in the Sony Ericsson Championships thanks to her great 2010 season which featured back-to-back finals appearances in Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US Open), two Premier-level finals (Charleston and Montreal), title at the PTT Pattaya Open, and the achievement of reaching the career-high ranking of No.4 where she stands now. Zvonareva will make her third consecutive trip to Doha, which will be her fourth appearance at the prestigious season-ending event.

American world No.1 Serena Williams will have a chance to defend her title in Doha. It will be her seventh appearance at the WTA Championships. In 2010 Williams won two of the four greatest tennis tournaments – Australian Open and Wimbledon, and was a runner-up in Sydney.

Another Grand Slam winner qualified together with Williams, Belgian Kim Clijsters, who added the third US Open title to her resume this year. Clijsters hasn’t lost a final this year, and besides winning the US Open she won Brisbane, Miami, and Cincinnati. (photos: © Neal Trousdale, Emmett Anderson)

Many of you may have noticed that Kim Clijsters has fallen in the rankings, from No.3 to No.5, right after winning the US Open. On the other hand, the loser of the final Vera Zvonareva is now ranked higher, having risen from No.8 to No.4. Forty Deuce provided us with a wonderful insight into how this has happened and how it is actually perfectly fair and legitimate.

The rankings measure performance over the past 365 days, not just the current year and apparently not your whole career. Clijsters has had a better 2010 season than Zvonareva and it shows in the Race points, which sum up your points from the ongoing tennis season, that is from 2010 only. In the Race Clijsters is at No.3 ranked one spot higher than Zvonareva.

However, when we look at the last 365 days, Zvonareva has had better results. For example, Clijsters won the 2009 US Open and didn't play for the rest of the season, while Zvonareva earned some points in that period. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Kim Clijsters made last year’s US Open one of the most interesting ones as she won the title playing only her third tournament after a three-year-long break from tennis. The 27-year-old Belgian has now put icing on the cake by defending her title in the shortest women's final since officials started keeping track of match times in 1980 and the most one-sided final in 34 years, since Chris Evert demolished Evonne Goolagong in 1976.

The second-seeded Clijsters defeated Russian Vera Zvonareva, No.7 seed, 6-2 6-1 in just 60 minutes, without dropping even one service game. The match started with consistent play from both players as the score went to 2-2, but from then on Clijsters won seven straight games and barely looked back. Clijsters, who won her third US Open title, had words of consolation for Zvonareva who easily lost her second straight Grand Slam final: "Vera just keep it going, it will happen." Read more »

Top seed and last year’s runner-up Caroline Wozniacki was confidently progressing at the US Open, losing just 17 games en route to the semifinals, but her first Top 10 opponent at the tournament, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, defeated her 6-4 6-3 and ended her 13-match winning streak.

The loss may have cost Wozniacki the number one ranking, a million-dollar US Open series bonus and of course a first Grand Slam title.

And that’s not all, Wozniacki will probably have to deal with proving herself again. It’s true that she displayed stunning form in her first five matches, but all the opponents were unseeded except for Maria Sharapova, who is not in her prime time.

"Most things were going in. I had chances, and I don't know, I made some mistakes today that I usually don't do," said the 20-year-old Wozniacki, who significantly increased her number of unforced errors, to 31, compared to previous matches.

"Yeah, it was a tough day for me in the office."

Zvonareva has reached the title match of a second straight Grand Slam, having played the Wimbledon final against Serena Williams. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)