TheSportsCampus

Serena Williams guaranteed herself the world number 1 ranking by booking a place in the semi-finals of the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships at Doha with a narrow final set tiebreak win over elder sister Venus in the final Maroon Group match on Day 2. Earlier in the day her arch-nemesis and current world no.1 Dinara Safina withdrew from her match with Jelena Jankovic after just 2 games, and also announced that she had a potential back fracture that could take 6-8 weeks to heal, practically also ruling her out of the first Grand Slam of next year, the Australian Open. In the other White Group match on Wednesday, Caroline Wozniacki came back from matchpoint down to beat Victoria Azarenka in a three hour thriller.

Serena Williams edged ahead of sister Venus in homeland bragging rights extending her lead in their head-to-head duel to 12-10 with a victory in Doha last night. After trading the first two sets, Serena had jumped to an early 4-1 lead in the decider with an insurance break. Venus however, who has had a poor year by her high standards was fighting for not just the match, but to keep alive her hopes in Doha having lost her opening match of the tournament to Elena Dementieva. The 5-time Wimbledon champion clawed her way back into the contest winning 5 of the next 6 games, and even earned herself a matchpoint on the Serena serve at 5-6.

However, a highly motivated Serena was not to be denied on the day, dismissing that opportunity with a commanding overhead, and racing through the tiebreak that followed to record a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (4) win.

The result means that Venus' chances of making the last four are no longer in her own hands. She needs Serena to keep her run going by beating Elena Dementieva first, follow that up with a victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova herself, and then needs Kuznetsova to beat Dementieva in the final Maroon Group match on Friday. If all those results work in her favour, the sets and games won would be counted, and she might just sneak in through the back door. A tall ask, but one that her fans would still hope to cling to.

Over in the White Group, Caroline Wozniacki made her debut in the Sony Ericsson Championships with a fabulous come from behind win against Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian dropped the opening game of the first set, but then hammered 11 winners enroute to winning the next 6 in a row to pick up a one-set lead. The second set lasted an amazing 80 minutes including a massive 5th game that went to deuce 14 times. Azarenka saved 7 breakpoints to win that game for a 3-2 lead only for Wozniacki to break later in the set and level the match at a set apiece.

The final set was as break-ridden as it gets with Azarenka breaking the Wozniacki serve 4 times to go ahead including for a 5-3 lead and a chance to serve for the match. As she did all set, Caroline broke back, but was immediately under pressure on her own serve as she faced a matchpoint. An error from Azarenka saw that come and go, and Wozniacki was soon back on level terms at 5-5.

The pressure got too much for Azarenka as she first incurred a code violation for hitting a ball out of the stadium, and then a point penalty on breakpoint for breaking her racquet. A composed Wozniacki in contrast on the other side of the net calmly served out the match in the following game for an impressive 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 win.

Safina's withdrawal from the event open the door for Vera Zvonareva to come in and still be competive in the event with two matches to play. She will be up against it right from the start opening play on Thursday against an in-form Caroline Wozniacki. Caroline's win meanwhile has set the White Group up brilliantly with her, Azarenka and Jankovic all tied with a win each, and both semi-final spots still very much for the taking.

Wednesday Scores:

WHITE: (4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (6) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 16 64 75
WHITE: (8) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (1) Dinara Safina (RUS) 11 ret. (low back injury)
MAROON: (2) Serena Williams (USA) d. (7) Venus Williams (USA) 57 64 76 (4)

Thursday's Schedule:

1. Vera Zvonareva vs. Caroline Wozniacki
2. Serena Williams vs. Elena Dementieva
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Venus Williams

File Photograph Copyright:  Constantini (Italian Open)