Eleven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams followed world number one Dinara Safina in qualifying for the season-ending Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships.

The 27-year-old Williams won two Grand Slam titles this season and reached the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. In addition, the American held the number one ranking for 11 weeks during 2009, and scored eight wins over Top 10 players this season.

"It’s never easy and it’s never a guarantee, so I am thrilled to be going to Doha and competing against some of the best players in the world," said Williams, who has qualified for the prestigious event for the ninth time.

The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles pairs will share the record of the $4.45 million prize money provided at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar. (source: On the Baseline)

World number one Dinara Safina is the first player to qualify for this year’s Sony Ericsson Championships.

Safina, who has reached the top of the rankings on April 20 and has not left the position since, will make her second appearance at the Sony Ericsson Championships, having qualified for the event last year.

The prestigious season-ending tournament will be held in Doha, Qatar, for the second tennis season in a row. The world’s Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the 2009 season will fight for a share of the prize money of $4.45 million. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has launched a new campaign called Heroes Among Us, which is meant to recognize parents, teachers, coaches and community leaders who have encouraged young women to pursue their dream.

Fans can submit their nominations, by September 18, using the online nomination form. Judges will then select five finalists who best represent the program’s criteria. Voting for the annual program winner, among these five finalists, will take place between September 28 and October 4.

The winner will be announced in mid-October and will receive two tickets to the final match of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, as well as the roundtrip airfare, accommodation, transportation, behind-the-scenes access at the tournament and tickets to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Year-End Party.

Now you have a chance to honor someone who has made a difference in your life and the lives of young women in your community.

Seventh seed Venus Williams clinched her first title at the Sony Ericsson Championships with a 6-7(5) 6-0 6-2 victory over Vera Zvonareva in the last match of the 2008 WTA tennis season.

Zvonareva started off very well, breaking Williams’ first service game, and holding the lead up until what could have been the Russian’s victory in the first set. Namely, Zvonareva served to close out the opening set at 5-3, but wasted four set points and Williams managed to return the break, and later to force a tiebreak.

In the tiebreaker American Venus Williams established what seemed to be a solid lead (5-1), but Zvonareva remarkably fought back, which I didn’t think she was capable of doing as I though the momentum totally switched to Venus. Eighth-seeded Zvonareva won six successive points to take the first set. Read more »

Wimbledon champion Venus Williams won the Whirlpool 6TH SENSE Player of the Year Award for 2008, being the player who has demonstrated the most intuition throughout the year, as voted in an online competition.

There were ten nominees, and fans from across Europe were voting. Along with Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic was the finalist. From the two of them, an expert panel chose the winner.

Therefore, Venus has demonstrated best the 6TH SENSE attributes – intuition, intelligence, and precision – in the year of 2008.

Past 6TH SENSE winners include fellow former No.1s Justine Henin (2005, 2007) and Maria Sharapova (2006).

Williams is currently at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha where she will play the Sunday’s final against Russian Vera Zvonareva. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)