Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone, two players that played the final of the 2010 French Open, have now qualified for the singles competition at the Sony Ericsson Championships for the first time in their careers, although they had competed in doubles before.

Highlight of their season and of their careers is for sure the French Open final, which Stosur lost and Schiavone won, thus becoming the first Italian to win a Grand Slam title. In addition to the success in Paris, Stosur won her biggest career title at the Premier-level event in Charleston, while Schiavone won the tournament in Barcelona. Read more »

Venus Williams hasn’t competed since losing to Kim Clijsters in the semifinals of the US Open and it’s now official that the seven-time Grand Slam champion will not play until the start of the new season. The reason she put an end to tennis tournaments in 2010 is a left knee injury and you can see some recent photos of Venus walking with the help of crutches.

The fact that Venus will be out of the competition for the remainder of the season encompasses both the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha and the Fed Cup final against Italy.

Here’s what the third-ranked Williams said about the situation:

I have been getting treatment and therapy on my knee and have been making progress, but unfortunately must continue to keep weight off my knee for the short term and won't be ready to return to competition in 2010. I am looking forward to returning to full health in time for the start of 2011 season and hopefully having the opportunity to play in both the Fed Cup and WTA Championships next year.

(source: AP, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

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)

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-2 in one hour and ten minutes in the third round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the victory ensured the Dane to become the first player to qualify for the singles competition at the 2010 season-ending Doha championships.

Wozniacki’s continued good results during the season enabled her to become the first of only eight singles players to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships. Those good results include four Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles (Ponte Vedra Beach, Copenhagen, Montreal, New Haven), winning the US Open Series and reaching career high ranking of No.2 in March. Wozniacki qualified for Doha last year as well, but retired against Serena Williams in the semifinals.

Let’s get back to Tokyo now. Wozniacki’s quarterfinal opponent there will be No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3 in the third round. Coco Vandeweghe, that we yesteryday dedicated one extensive article to, keeps on winning and her last victim was Julia Goerges, 6-3 6-0. Bad news for tournament host Japan, as their star Kimiko Date Krumm eventually fell to Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-3. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and Argentina’s Gisela Dulko earned their first appearance in the season-ending WTA Championships by virtue of their great doubles results this season which include five doubles titles (Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, Bastad. Montreal), quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slams, and a 40-8 win-loss record as a team.

They are the first doubles team to have qualified for the prestigious and generous ($4.45 million) tournament which will take place in Doha from October 26 to 31. Check out the ranking of the other doubles teams in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships. (photo: sr_cranks)