2008 - Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha

[CoolGirl]

Doha, Qatar
November 4-9, 2008
Season-Ending Championships
Prize Money: $4,450,000
Draw: 8M/4D
Surface: Hardcourt/Outdoors

The Contenders



Jelena Jankovic



Dinara Safina



Serena Williams



Ana Ivanovic



Elena Dementieva



Svetlana Kuznetsova



Venus Williams



Vera Zvonareva

[CoolGirl]

Dinara Safina is first to arrive in Doha.

The Russian, currently No. 2 in the world, landed Tuesday in the capital of Qatar for the November 4 WTA Championship, an event that brings together the eight best tennis players of the season.

Safina posed for the photo at the Qatar airport, she was met upon arrival by the tennis federation president of the Qatar, Saad Abdulrahman Al-Shathri (on the left.), The Secretary General of the same entity, Mohammed Rashid Al Mohannadi, and the director of tournament , Karim Alami.

[CoolGirl]

Kuznetsova, Safina hit the court

Doha - 10/30/2008

Russian players Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina were the first ones to sweat it out at the newly-renovated Khalifa Tennis Complex yesterday.

Safina arrived in Doha on Tuesday followed by Kuznetsova, who landed in the Qatari capital yesterday.

Players who are expected to fly into Doha in the coming days include world number one Jelena Jankovic, French Open winner, Ana Ivanovic, Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, US Open champion Serena Williams, Beijing Olympics Gold Medallist, Elena Dementieva and Beijing Olympics Bronze Medallist, Vera Zvonareva.

[CoolGirl]

Championships Profile: Dinara Safina




DOHA, Qatar - Dinara Safina didn't just shift gears in 2008; she graduated to a whole new league. Although the Russian's natural talent was never in doubt - how could it be, with former world No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Marat for a brother - the mental side of her game had sometimes let her down. But that all changed on a spring day in Berlin, when a patient and composed Safina upset the world's best player, Justine Henin, in the third round. Henin duly announced her retirement while Safina went on to beat Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva to claim her first Tier I title.

Since then, "Marat's little sister" has been busy proving her exploits that week were no fluke. Although the 22-year-old would finish the main playing season with a far-from-shabby win-loss record of 55-17; her figures from Berlin onwards are rather more telling: 45-7; more than enough to ensure the Russian qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships for the first time in her career.

New-model Safina's first test post-Berlin was the French Open, where she marched all the way to her first Grand Slam final as the No.13 seed, collecting the scalps of Maria Sharapova, who had replaced Henin as No.1, Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova before falling to Ana Ivanovic in the championship match.

In the ensuing five months, Safina lost just two matches that, on paper at least, might be considered an upset. The first was at the hands of Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final of the Ordina Open, a grasscourt event held in the Netherlands as a lead-in to Wimbledon. The second came at Wimbledon itself, with a third round loss to fellow seed Shahar Peer, after an epic match that left both players on the point of collapse.

That disappointment failed to snap the magic as Safina crossed the Atlantic to the hardcourts of North America. As the jostling for position at the top of the rankings heated up, Safina beat Jelena Jankovic in the semis at Los Angeles, then Flavia Pennetta in the final, for a second title of the year; the following week a second Tier I title was collected at the Rogers Cup in Montréal. At the Olympics, Safina again beat Jankovic on her way to the final, where it took a particularly determined Dementieva to stop her. Safina nonetheless went home with a silver medal - something her brother doesn't have.

Notwithstanding a semifinal loss to Vera Zvonareva at Moscow, since the Olympics it has taken a Williams sister to stop Safina in her tracks, and there is never shame in that. In Safina's first US Open semifinal she fell to Serena - clearly a woman on a mission that week. At Stuttgart, Safina played Venus - perhaps surprisingly, for the first time - and the American won in straight sets. But Safina won the third Tier I title of her year and career at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, easily beating Kuznetsova in the final, for another 430 Championships Race points.

Indeed, as far as Race to Doha points go, winning a Tier I tournament rates about the same as reaching the semis of a Slam, which earns a player 450 points. Not only did Safina's three Tier I victories earn her 1,290 points out of her eventual total of 3,832, she was also the most successful player at that level; Jankovic won two, at Rome and Moscow; Serena also won two, at Miami and Charleston.

Safina's qualification for Doha was announced at the same time as Serena's, after both had reached the semis at Flushing Meadows. As Serena had 3,130 points, seven more than the Russian, Safina was technically the fourth to make the cut. But by the time the Race had ended she was easily in second place behind Jankovic, on 3,823 points.

"I am really happy about qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships," Safina said at the time. "I think this is the goal for every player, to reach the Championships at the end of the year, and finally my dream has come true."

In May she was ranked No.14, but she arrives at Doha as the world No.2. She can't catch Jankovic this week, but she can set the scene for even greater achievements in 2009. It is worth noting that the old Safina lost in the first round at both Sydney and the Australian Open last January, so she has little in the way of points to defend early in the New Year. And who knows, a certain Marat may yet come to be known as "Dinara's older brother."

[CoolGirl]

[Julie]

worst draw ever!!!!!

[taylor]

i wish i could watch. i dont have the tennis channel =[
this is definatly going to be an awesome tournatmant!
Go Safina!

[taylor]

so today was when it started.
Dinara lost to Venus Williams =[
lets hope that Serena won't win. then she'll be #2
=[

[g00fball]

Nov 2, 2008 11:19:23 GMT -5 Julie said:

worst draw ever!!!!!

that's exactly what I thought! the white group would have been such a good start for dinara.

she lost to venus at the kremlin cup, to elena at the olympic final and to serena at their last meeting, too. psychologically that's so much pressure on dinara!

she started so well against venus, but somehow lost her nerves I guess?? I just hope, she'll beat serena. guess I'll know this evening. anyways, I keep my fingers crossed!

[taylor]

one last chance! but its okay if she loses cuz she'll have a long time to practice =]
but i think she can beat Dementiava.

[nastya]

What had happenned to Dinara? She always plays brilliantly, but in Doha she played a little bad! I don't know what to think about her playing! But I supported her till the end, because, despite of her loses, she is No. 1 for me forever!

[¤º¤ Anik ¤º¤]

big year for Dinara !
maybe a little bit tired...

[taylor]

since Serena got to the semis in Doha, she will be number 2.
Dinara will be #3 =[

[khaled85]

thank you dinara.............................my love..........................