Vera Zvonareva, world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska - all those tennis stars fell in straight sets to WTA Championships debutante Petra Kvitova and the Czech confidently moved into the semifinals.

From 5-1 in the first set Radwanska started losing pace and Kvitova forced a tiebreak which she won 7-4. In the second set Kvitova was up a break, 2-0, and even though Radwanska leveled to 2-2, her comeback was brief and she lost the set and the match 7-6(4) 6-3. Nevertheless, Radwanska can be proud of her end-of-the-season achievements – not only of her Premier titles at Beijing and Tokyo, but also of her overall good performance at the WTA Championships.

All the members of the final four are now confirmed: Kvitova and Vera Zvonareva from the Red Group, Victoria Azarenka and Samantha Stosur from the White Group. The semifinal schedule is first Kvitova vs. Stosur and then Azarenka vs. Zvonareva, as the organizers have just announced. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The 2011 year will be remembered as a landmark year in Li Na's career, as the Chinese clinched her first Grand Slam title at the French Open. However, the way she finished her participation at the season-ending WTA Championships, where only the best eight singles players from the season compete, should be forgotten. Li suffered the biggest loss in three years, falling to Samantha Stosur with a horrible scoreline of 6-1 6-0 in 66 minutes. In 2008 in Berlin Li lost to Nadia Petrova by the same scoreline.

Li has never defeated Stosur in their six meetings, four of which were in 2011, but today's defeat is the worst of the six. Just four winners and 32 unforced errors from a recent Grand Slam champion. Must be tough.

The US Open titlists Stosur has now reached her second semifinals at the WTA Championships. Last year she lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. This time Stosur's semifinal obstacle will be Petra Kvitova. (photo: Tidalist)

I'm regularly reviewing fashion at Grand Slams (take a look at this year's tennis outfits at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open) and this time I've decided to add the season-ending Championships, as another great tennis stage. The singles field at the $4,900,000 tournament this year played in Istanbul consists of eight players, so only the mere quantity of players significantly reduces the diversity of outfits. Therefore, nothing can outclass Grand Slams as the best stages for all the fashion fun, although some stars had brand new looks prepared for the WTA Championships.

Li Na and Victoria Azarenka are sporting neat outfits, but they are nothing new, we've seen them in previous tournaments. Li is wearing Nike Women's Holiday Smash Classic Top and Pleated Skort. Azarenka already gave a lot of exposure to her Nike Women's Holiday Set Point Graphic Tank and a matching skort during her run to the Luxembourg title and Tokyo semifinals.

Petra Kvitova, another Nike representative, is just like Azarenka wearing purple and grape tones. Caroline Wozniacki is wearing the best of her recent Adidas by Stella McCartney dresses, which she should've worn at the US Open, in my opinion, instead of the similar dress in white. Read more »

The situation in the Red Group of the WTA Championships is dramatic, as it’s very complicated to calculate who will pass the round-robin phase and reach the semifinals. Our reader, Daniel Bellin, a 61-year-old retired tennis fan from Princeville, Kaua'i Hawai'i, currently living in Bucharest, made a mathematical prediction for us.

Agnieszka Radwanska's victory over Vera Zvonereva sets up a probable 3-way tie between her, Zvonareva and Caroline Wozniacki. Petra Kvitova will probably beat Radwanska. If Kvitova wins in straight sets, then all three of the remaining Reds are 1-2 in matches and 3-5 in sets. Zvonareva beat Wozniacki, but Wozniacki beat Radwanska who beat Zvonareva so there is perfect symmetry there. Read more »

Vera Zvonareva must be devastated after her final round-robin match in the Red Group of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. The Russian won the first set against Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 and after losing the second with 20 unforced errors committed (that's five games!) and starting the third by dropping serve, she rebroke her opponent and established a 3-1 lead and 5-3 lead. However, the decider consisted of Radwanska's series of games and Zvonareva's series of games and after ten games and three match points wasted by Zvonareva they were 5-all. Then Zvonareva lost her serve again and in the final game Radwanska took her opportunity and won the match 1-6 6-2 7-5.

Zvonareva lost her opening match of the tournament to mighty Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-4, but the following day defeated world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 4-6 6-3. As for Radwanska, she lost her first match to Caroline Wozniacki, and tomorrow she will face Petra Kvitova. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)