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Serena Williams celebrated being crowned world no.1 again with an emphatic straight sets win over Elena Dementieva, doing her sister's chances of making the final 4 no harm at all. Venus then stepped on court and did herself a huge favour by scraping past Svetlana Kuznetsova in her final round robin match. Before the Williams tennis saga added a new chapter to its book, 19-year old Dane Caroline Wozniacki put her growing legions of fans through another emotional roller coaster, throwing away a huge lead and then battling back to edge Vera Zvonareva in the only White Group match of the day.

Caroline Wozniacki, wearing the wounds of her three hour marathon with Victoria Azarenka yesterday, and a thigh injury which forced her to withdraw from the Luxembourg Open last week took on Vera Zvonareva in the opening contest in the Sony Ericsson Championships on Thurday. Zvonareva, last year's losing finalist narrowly missed out on making the cut for this year's event, and got the late call up when Dinara Safina pulled out of the tournament due to a possible back fracture.

Zvonareva's lack of match sharpness was there for all to see as she got blanked in the opening set and fell 5-2 behind in the second. With the match looking as good as over and Caroline appearing on course for an easy win, it all went pear shaped for the young Dane. Zvonareva rallied from the brink to win 4 of the next 5 games, including saving two matchpoints at 6-5 to force a tiebreak. The breaker was all Vera as she raced through it 7-3, and suddenly it was game on.

The girls took a 10-minute mandatory heat break before the start of the final set and Wozniacki appeared to have recovered her composure as she came out firing taking an early 3-1 lead. A visibly exhausted Caroline however struggled to keep the momentum on her side as Zvonareva broke back and the match was very much on the line at 4-4. However tennis' hottest rising young star lifted her level of play once again when it mattered, breaking Vera's serve in the following game and then serving out the match to record her second win in the tournament.

The loss knocks Zvonareva out of contention, and she promptly announced her withdrawal from the tournament, meaning a debut in the event for young Agnieszka Radwanska. She will take on Victoria Azarenka tomorrow in a match of critical significance to the Belarusian. Unfortunately for Wozniacki, her contest with Jelena Jankovic is the first match on court tomorrow with Jankovic still alive in the competition with a win and a loss so far in her two matches. A loss for Caroline could still see her qualify for the last four, but it is unlikely that she would forfeit or take it easy with her spot in the semis still not guaranteed. Had her match been after the Azarenka - Radwanska match, she could have opted to rest in an attempt to conserve some energy ahead of the semi-finals.

Over in the Maroon Group Serena Williams came into her battle with arch nemesis Elena Dementieva with a 6-4 head-to-head record, and a look back at their duels over the last few years would have given fans plenty of reason to expect a classic. With both players unbeaten so far in the tournament, something had to give. Sadly the match failed to live upto its hype, with Serena completely dominating the Olympic champion 6-2, 6-4 in a rather simple 94 minute encounter.

An excellent first serve percentage of 75 negated the fact that she won just 1 of 7 points on her second, as Serena made up for the one break of serve she conceded by ripping the Dementieva second serve to shreds winning 12 of 15 points instrumental in earning her three breaks. Dementieva's 10 double faults in the match didn't help at all, and though she had her chances in the second set creating 5 break points, it was Serena who picked up the vital break in the final game of the match with Elena serving at 4-5.

Serena's win gives her top place in the Maroon Group with three wins out of three, and gave Venus Williams hope of making the last four should she be able to win the last match of the day, her clash with Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Well, Venus did just that, and probably should have wrapped the contest in straight sets against the no.3 seed who came into the match with a 4-3 record against the American. Williams breezed through the opening set 6-2, and had plenty of chances to break the Kuznetsova serve in the second. The gritty Russian hung in the set and forced it into a tiebreak which she won rather easily 7-3.

The final set was a rather close affair too with Williams getting the decisive break in the 9th game and serving out the match in the next to give the defending champion a glimmer of hope.

The equation in the Maroon Group is pretty simple, should Elena Dementieva beat Kuznetsova in their match tomorrow, Dementieva qualifies for the semi-finals. However, if Kuznetsova manages to pull one over her compatriot, things get really interesting. Such an outcome would tie Venus, Elena and Svetlana on 1 win and 2 losses each, and the sets win loss ratio would determine who joins Serena in the semis. Venus won a set in each of the matches she lost, putting her at 4 sets won, a feat that neither Elena or Svetlana can match having both lost to Serena in straight sets. A win for Kuznetsova in other words irrespective of the scoreline would knock both Russians out of the tournament, and give Venus a chance to defend her crown.

Thursday's Scores:

WHITE: (4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 60 67(3) 64
MAROON: (2) Serena Williams (USA) d. (5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) 62 64
MAROON: (7) Venus Williams (USA) d. (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 62 67 (3) 64

Friday's Schedule:

1. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Jelena Jankovic
2. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Elena Dementieva
3. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Victoria Azarenka

File Photograph: Madrid Open