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)

The WTA launched a new logo on Sunday, which they say is different from other sport logos because it doesn't have a picture of an athlete, but rather puts an emphasis on letters. The logo's oval shape should remind us of the mark a tennis balls leaves on the court and also of the shape of a racquet. Of course, the yellow thing the letter "A" is giving birth to, as Forty Deuce described, is a tennis ball.

What do you think of the new logo? I like the color scheme, and that's pretty much it. (via WTA Tour)

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)

It is Victoria Azarenka who has benefited from Serena Williams' withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Championships, taking the last eighth berth in the singles draw.

Even though Li Na is currently ranked higher in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, with five points more she is one spot ahead of Azarenka, but Li lost in the first round of this week’s Kremlin Cup while Azarenka moved into the second round with a victory 6-4 2-6 6-1 over Andrea Petkovic. Li is now the first substitute.

It will be the Belorussian’s second straight appearance in Doha. Last year she lost in the round-robin stage – she defeated Jelena Jankovic, but lost to Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

We were wondering whether Serena Williams would finally recover from an infamous visit to a restaurant and show up for the prestigious and luxurious Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha where she is nothing less than a defending champion, but the American’s recent resurgence of her foot injury is still her reality and the latest news is that she won’t play tennis for the rest of the season. The fact implies that Serena will skip the Fed Cup final against Italy in San Diego in November.

Can someone who is better at maths than I am calculate how Serena’s skipping of Doha will affect the rankings? How much will it stabilize Caroline Wozniacki at No.1?

There’s one more thing, Serena’s withdrawal is leaving one spot open in the Doha draw and the top contender for that berth is China’s Li Na, who is ranked 10th in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships. (Update: Even though Li is ranked higher in the Race, Victoria Azarenka has now qualified and Li is the first substitute.)

Reminder: Serena’s sister Venus had also withdrawn from both the Sony Ericsson Championships and the Fed Cup final.

The $4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships start next week, on October 26th. (photo by our reader Jacob)

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 »

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)