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Female stars arrive in Qatar for season-ender

After a wide open year in women’s tennis, with half a dozen players sharing the most coveted spoils, the best in the world are in Doha, Qatar, for the WTA Tour’s season-ending championship.

There is no clear favorite with two Serbs, two Americans and four Russians vying for the title.

For now, the women’s game lacks the drama of the men’s side, where the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer reached a peak at the Wimbledon final with a Nadal victory that was hailed as one of the greatest matches in history. But the Women’s Tennis Association says broad parity at the top showcases new talent and that fans enjoy an unpredictable race.

“The whole landscape changed when Justine Henin retired,” said WTA head Larry Scott, recalling the abrupt exit of the top-ranked Belgian in May at the age of 25. “That really opened things up for a lot of players.”

Five players have held the top ranking this year, but only three of them will play in the US$4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships that start with a round-robin format today at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. Henin is out of the rankings, and injury has sidelined Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova.

That leaves Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, who hasn’t won a major but will finish the year in the top spot; No. 3 Serena Williams of the US, who surged to victory at the US Open for her ninth Grand Slam; and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who won her first major at the French Open, but slid to No. 4 after a string of losses.

The other elite contenders are Wimbledon winner Venus Williams and the Russians Dinara Safina, former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva and world No. 9 Vera Zvonareva.

The championships were held in Madrid in 2006 and last year, with Henin winning both times. Prior to Spain, they were mostly held in the US. The transfer of the event to the Gulf partly reflects the lure of commercial backing from the energy-rich region.

The Doha tournament’s White Group includes Jankovic and Ivanovic, along with Kuznetsova and Zvonareva. The Williams sisters, as well as Safina and Dementieva, are in the Maroon Group. The top two players in each advance to elimination rounds.

Also See: Tsonga wins Paris Masters title
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