Jankovic and Dementieva join Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone and the doubles teams of Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs and Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova.  The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams will compete for the coveted WTA Championships title and a share of the $4.5 million in prize money.

“I congratulate Jelena and Elena on qualifying for the WTA Championships,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.  “Both Jelena and Elena consistently perform at the highest level year in and year out, and it’s great to see them qualify for what promises to be a terrific finale to the 2010 season.”

Jelena Jankovic:

Serbia’s Jankovic is headed to her fourth straight WTA Championships, where she has been a semifinalist in each of the last two years.  A winner of the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), her 12^th career singles title, Jankovic also reached the final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome, l. Martinez Sanchez), the semifinals at Roland Garros (l. Stosur), and the quarterfinals at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai), the Family Circle Cup (Charleston), and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart).  In Rome, Jankovic became only the seventh player in history to defeat both Serena and Venus Williams in the same tournament, and additionally scored her 400^th match win at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open.

Elena Dementieva:

Russia’s Dementieva has qualified for the year-end WTA Championships for the tenth time in her career, achieving her best results at the event in 2000 and 2008 by reaching the semifinals.  Dementieva started off the season by capturing titles at two of her first three tournaments: the Medibank International (Sydney) and the Open GDF SUEZ (Paris).  Additionally, she was runner-up at the Malaysia Open (Kuala Lumpur, l. Kleybanova) and the Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo, l. Wozniacki); and the semifinals of the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale (New Haven, l. Wozniacki).  Dementieva retired with a calf injury during her semifinal match at Roland Garros after losing the first set to Francesca Schiavone subsequently causing her to miss Wimbledon, ending a run of 46 consecutive Grand Slam appearances.  Dementieva has won 16 career titles and has 574 career match wins, second only to Venus Williams (590) among active players.    She has been ranked in the Top 20 for each week of the last seven years.

RACE TO THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS–DOHA 2010

as of the week of October 4, 2010

** Denotes player/team has already qualified

* Denotes player that has qualified yet withdrew due to injury

^Due to Venus Williams’ injury, team unable to participate in the event of eventual qualification

Results – Monday, October 11, 2010
Singles – Final
(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 63 36 63

Doubles – Final (played Saturday)
Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) d. (1) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) 76(2) 16 107 (Match TB)

Final Facts
- Wozniacki wins a Tour-leading sixth singles title of the season, and the 12th of her career, having won the 11th at Tokyo just last week. She is now 12-7 in Tour singles finals.
- Before this Asian swing, the 20-year-old Dane had never won a match at either the China Open or the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Including Montréal (August) she now has three Premier-level titles on her record.
- Wozniacki has won a Tour-leading 59 singles matches this year. Zvonareva has registered 46 match wins (third best).
- By reaching the quarterfinals at Beijing, Wozniacki ensured her rise to No.1 in the rankings the week beginning Monday, October 11. Replacing the injured Serena Williams, Wozniacki is the 20th woman to hold the top spot since the inception of computer rankings in 1975.
- Zvonareva is now 10-16 in Tour singles finals, but rises to a new-career-high ranking of No.3 this week.
- Chuang Chia-Jung and Olga Govortsova win their first Tour doubles title together, having never previously been past the quarterfinals in a partnership that began earlier this year. Their victims en route included three of the four teams that have qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships: No.2 seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik; No.4 seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova; and No.1 seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta.
- Chuang now has 15 doubles titles to her name; Govortsova owns four.

Final Quotes
Caroline Wozniacki, 2010 China Open singles champion:
“I thought I played a really, really good match. Vera was playing really well too. Everything is working for me at the moment. I’ve got to believe I can beat anyone. I feel in great shape and I’m looking forward to Doha.”

Vera Zvonareva, 2010 China Open singles runner-up:
“Rankings don’t matter too much to me, because I knew if I play well I’ll win matches and the ranking will come. If I go on court and think about everything but my game, I won’t be able to win any match and my ranking wouldn’t be there. I just think about what I have to do on the court to win.”

Chuang Chia-Jung, 2010 China Open doubles champion:
“Because it’s in China it’s very special for me. Olga and I have played together about half a year now and this was our best week together. We played aggressively and that was the key today.”

Olga Govortsova, 2010 China Open doubles champion:
“Almost all of our matches this week went to a tie-break, and when we get there we play so focused. CJ was hitting great volleys and I was hitting hard from the baseline. Gisela and Flavia are so good, we’re really happy. I’ve been to Beijing nine or 10 times now. I can’t wait to come back again.”

Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone are headed to Doha for the singles competition.  The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams will compete for the coveted WTA Championships title and a share of the $4.5 million in prize money.

“I congratulate Lisa and Rennae and Vania and Yaroslava on qualifying for the WTA Championships. Lisa and Rennae first teamed up 15 years ago and it’s truly remarkable that they are still one of the best doubles teams in the world.  Vania and Yaroslava have found success immediately after partnering earlier this spring and after two back-to-back Grand Slam doubles titles, a trip to the WTA Championships is a perfect way to end the season,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.

Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs:

After first coming together 15 years ago, Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs have won 33 titles, third in WTA history (Navratilova/Shriver–70, Fernandez/Zvereva–38). Raymond/Stubbs’ most recent title together came at the AEGON International (Eastbourne).  Additionally, the team reached the final at the Mercury Insurance Open (San Diego, l. to Kirilenko/Zheng) and the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open (Cincinnati, l. to Azarenka/Kirilenko).  Raymond/Stubbs also reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open. As a team, Raymond/Stubbs have qualified for the year-end WTA Championships six times and won the title together in 2001.  Raymond also captured the Championships title in 2005 and 2006 with Samantha Stosur, and will play at the Championships for the 11^th time.  Stubbs is headed to the Championships for the 15^th time, having first qualified in 1992.  In addition to winning in 2001, she was a finalist in 2004 (w. Black) and in 2008 (w. Peschke).  Both Raymond and Stubbs are former doubles World No.1’s and jointly held the No. 1 ranking for three weeks in 2000.

Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova:

King/Shvedova have enjoyed a breakthrough season, winning two Grand Slam titles within three months of first partnering at the AEGON Classic (Birmingham). In just their third tournament together they defeated Elena Vesnina/Vera Zvonareva to win the Wimbledon women’s doubles title and followed that up with a US Open title, saving a match point to defeat Liezel Huber/Nadia Petrova and maintain their unbeaten record in majors.  They also reached the final at UNICEF Open (‘s-Hertogenbosch) losing to Alla Kudryavtseva/Anastasia Rodionova.  Both King and Shvedova are headed to the WTA Championships for the first time in their careers.  Shvedova – the first player in history from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam title of any kind – was also a runner up at the 2010 Roland Garros in mixed doubles (with Julian Knowle), while King has won 12 tour-level doubles titles with other partners.

RACE TO THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS–DOHA 2010 as of the week of October 4, 2010

*           Denotes player that has qualified yet withdrew due to injury

**         Denotes player/team has already qualified

^          Due to Venus Williams’ injury, team unable to participate in the event of eventual qualification

“I congratulate both Serena and Kim for qualifying for the WTA Championships and am glad that fans all over the world will have the opportunity to watch these two incredible players compete for the coveted title in Doha,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

SERENA WILLIAMS:

World No.1 Serena Williams has qualified for the WTA Championships for the seventh time in her career and is headed to Doha as the defending champion, having defeated sister Venus in the 2009 final.  In her career, Serena has held the World No.1 ranking for 122 weeks (6^th all-time), including all of 2010 season to date.  Serena enjoyed a successful start to the 2010 season, capturing her 12^th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, in addition to taking home the doubles trophy with Venus.  At Roland Garros, she reached the quarterfinals (l. to Stosur) and also won the doubles title with Venus. She then went on to capture her 13^th Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon two weeks later, passing Billie Jean King’s career number of Grand Slams singles title wins.

In addition to her success at the Grand Slams, Serena reached the final of the Medibank International (Sydney, l. to Dementieva) and the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome, l. to Jankovic).

KIM CLIJSTERS:

“A year into my comeback, making the WTA Championships is a great achievement to me. It’s certainly a personal highlight and goal of mine,” said World No.5 Clijsters.  “I’ve never been to Doha so it will be exciting to travel there as it’s a place I’d like to see and learn about.”

Just one year since making a comeback to the sport after a two-year hiatus, Kim Clijsters is the fourth player to qualify for the WTA Championships and will attempt to win her third year-end title, having previously captured the trophy in 2002 and 2003.  This year marks Clijsters’ seventh year-end Championships appearance, the first since 2006.

Clijsters has had a terrific 2010 season, highlighted by winning her third US Open title, and reaching her “second-career” highest ranking of World No.3 on August 23, 2010.  Clijsters has an impressive 36-6 win-loss record this year and has reached the quarterfinals or better seven times in 10 tournaments played.  In 2010, Clijsters has won four tournaments – the Brisbane International (Brisbane), the Sony Ericsson Open (Miami), the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open (Cincinnati), in addition to defending her title at the US Open.

RACE TO THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS – DOHA 2010 (as of the week of September 27, 2010)

** Denotes player/team has already qualified

“I’m thrilled to be going back to Doha.  I’ve been at the year-end WTA Championships for the past couple of years and I am very happy that I have been able to compete there for three years in a row now,” said World No.4 Zvonareva.

“Vera has had the best season of her career, highlighted by reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals in addition to a career-high ranking of World No.4,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.  “After last season plagued by injuries, Vera’s worked incredibly hard to recover and get back to the top of the sport and it’s fantastic that she will finish a great year at the WTA season finale in Doha.”

Zvonareva will make her fourth appearance at the prestigious year-end WTA Championships, having debuted in Los Angeles in 2004, in addition to her three consecutive trips to Doha, where she finished as a runner-up to Venus Williams in 2008.

Zvonareva has enjoyed a breakthrough 2010, highlighted by back-to-back Grand Slam final appearances at Wimbledon (l. to S. Williams) and the US Open (l. to Clijsters).  Zvonareva is currently ranked a career-high World No.4.  Zvonareva also won her 10^th career title at the PTT Pattaya Open (Pattaya), and reached the final at the Family Circle Cup (Charleston, l. to Stosur) and the Rogers Cup (Montreal, l. to Wozniacki), making her one of three players this season to reach five finals (Sharapova, Wozniacki).

Zvonareva’s interests outside of tennis include involvement in numerous charitable organizations in addition to currently studying for a degree in International Relations and Economics at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  She enrolled in this program in 2007 while being sidelined from tennis with an injury.  Earlier this year, Zvonareva became a supporter of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation, an organization fighting the debilitating disease affecting young girls.

RACE TO THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS – DOHA 2010 (as of the week of September 27, 2010)

** Denotes player/team has already qualified

“Caroline and the team of Kveta and Katarina have had terrific seasons, highlighted by a series of titles,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.  “Caroline’s 2010 accomplishments have brought her to a career high ranking of World No.2 and Kveta and Katarina are headed to Doha as a team for the first time in their careers.  All three of these players are terrific ambassadors for the sport and I congratulate them on qualifying for the year-end WTA Championships.”

Caroline Wozniacki:

“It’s fantastic to be going back to Doha.  It was definitely a goal of mine at the start of the season to qualify for the year-end WTA Championships. I’m very happy about my year, and it’s great to know that I’ve already qualified,” said World No.2 Wozniacki.

Denmark’s Wozniacki, who reached the semifinals of her WTA Championships debut last year, has captured four singles titles so far this year: the MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach), the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open – an inaugural WTA event in Wozniacki’s hometown of Copenhagen, the Rogers Cup (Montreal), and the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale (New Haven).  She also reached the final of the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) and the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup (Charleston). During the 2010 season, Wozniacki was one of only two players (along with Venus Williams) to reach at least the fourth round of every Grand Slam, getting to the last 16 at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and the semifinals of the US Open.  Wozniacki amassed a 13-match winning streak, the second longest on Tour this season (Venus Williams, 15) in winning back-to-back titles at Montreal and New Haven and advancing to the US Open semifinals.  Her strong performance during the summer events resulted in capturing the coveted US Open Series title.  Wozniacki is the first player to win 50 Tour-level singles matches this year and reached a career-high ranking of World No.2 on March 22, 2010, which she has held for a total of 15 weeks. During the US Open, where she was seeded No.1 at a major for the first time in her career, Wozniacki surpassed $5 million in career prize money earnings.

Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik:

“It’s definitely great that Katarina and I have made it to the WTA Championships as we’ve been working toward this goal all year and it’s really good to know that our results have put us into the top four doubles teams in the world,” said Peschke.

“The WTA Championships is such a special event and I am thrilled to have qualified because so few players ever get the chance to take part in either singles or doubles competition,” added Srebotnik.  “Kveta and I started playing together this year and we clicked right from the beginning and have become good friends in addition to playing some great tennis together.”

Peschke and Srebotnik will make their first appearance at the WTA Championships–Doha 2010 together, even though both players have previously qualified and played in the year-end event with other partners.  2010 marks Srebotnik’s fifth trip to the Championships (was runner-up with Ai Sugiyama in 2007), while Peschke participated in the event three times during 2006-2008, getting to the final in 2008 (with Rennae Stubbs).  As a team, Peschke/Srebotnik reached seven WTA tournament finals this year, winning two titles – at the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) and the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale (New Haven).  On their way to a 36-12 record in 2010, they also reached the final of Roland Garros, the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai), the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart), the AEGON International (Eastbourne) and the Rogers Cup (Montreal).  Both Peschke and Srebotnik have a career-high doubles ranking of World No.3 and have returned to the Top 10 recently after missing most of 2009 with injuries.

RACE TO THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS – DOHA 2010 (as of the week of September 27, 2010)

“I am very sorry to have to cancel for Beijing,” Clijsters said on her official site. “After I returned from New York, I had some moles removed. The operation had been planned for quite a while. However, the wound on my foot sole heals really bad. Therefore playing tennis is not possible.”

Clijsters’ next tournament should be the WTA Championships (Masters) in Doha. Physically, she will be ready for it, no doubt about that. It is just a matter of reeling in enough points to make it to the top 8 who are allowed to play there. On December 8 Clijsters also plays the Diamond Games in the Antwerp Sportpaleis.

“It is very exciting to qualify for the WTA Championships. We are thrilled to play in the prestigious event for the first time in each of our careers and look forward to competing in Doha against the best doubles teams in the world,” said Dulko.

“I’m so happy to qualify for the year-end Championships with Gisela as we are close friends on and off the court and it is very special for us,” added Pennetta.  “We have worked very hard this year and reaching the Championships is a perfect way to end the season.”

Dulko and Pennetta have played 13 tournaments together in 2010, winning five titles to take their career tally together to eight.  Earlier this season, they compiled a 17-match winning streak – the longest on Tour since March 2007 (when Cara Black and Liezel Huber won 22), which garnered three consecutive Premier-level titles at the Sony Ericsson Open (Miami), the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome) and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart). Their run was finally stopped by Serena and Venus Williams at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open (Madrid), where Dulko and Pennetta finished as runners-up.

The second half of the season has been highlighted by two additional titles – the Rogers Cup (Montreal) and the Collector Swedish Open (Bastad).  Dulko and Pennetta also recorded strong Grand Slam results this year, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open.  Dulko and Pennetta have amassed an impressive 40-8 record as a team so far this season. Dulko also won a sixth doubles title this year, collecting the Copa BBVA Colsanitas (Bogota) with Edina Gallovits.

“I congratulate Gisela and Flavia on qualifying for the WTA Championships for the first time in their careers,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA. “They are an exciting and charismatic team and have worked incredibly hard to become the most consistent doubles champions during 2010.  Gisela and Flavia will make a great addition to the doubles roster during the WTA’s season finale in Qatar and it’s great that the fans will be able to watch them compete with the best doubles teams on Tour.”

After it’s over, you have to wait 50 more weeks to see some live tennis in New York City.

Of course, a true fan of the sport can travel across the country – or even the world – to see the best play, but nothing compares to, as it’s called, the rock-and-roll atmosphere of the big city.

That’s why it’s refreshing to see an event line the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup which took place on last Monday at Madison Square Garden. With Kim Clijster, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Venus Williams playing an exhibition, a glimpse of the last summer came to New York during the cold winter.

And it really didn’t matter the first matches only went one set each and the played with the no-Ad rule, what was seen was very exciting tennis at the Mecca.

“There was definitely a real connection [at the Garden],” said Williams, the eventual winner over Clijsters, 6-4 3-6 7-5. “They were just rooting me on and it felt great. That’s the most fun I had in front of a crowd anywhere. It’s nice to see how much it means to them having tennis at the Garden.”

Back about 20 years ago, the New York area was the capital of Tennis. Besides the Open, the WTA championships were held at the Garden and even the Davis Cup came to New York. There was an event in Northern New Jersey over the summer, and even old Forest Hills hosted bigger events.

But then everything changed when world class facilities popped up around the globe offering top dollar prizes. Most of the tournaments moved out of the Metropolitan Area, leaving the last major of the year as the only tennis in the city.

And that’s why putting an event at the Garden is so important for the sport. With less and less coverage in the in the papers, having a any event in the largest media market means tennis will get the exposure it desperately needs.

That’s not to say all these other cities that want to host events shouldn’t get them, but the ATP and WTA needs to keep the sport in the focus of the largest media markets in order to keep it in conscience of the TV, radio and print.

So, maybe the powers that be should consider expanding this new late winter event into a weekend event. Instead of making it one night, it could be a full weekend with no gimmicky rules and an expanded card. And since it would be in February or March, the event won’t get the distracted of other sports. Football will be over, baseball is in Florida, and the Knicks and Rangers obviously are road teams for that weekend.

And every newspaper looking to fill their pages will be there and tennis, once again, may get the spotlight it so desperately seeks.