Venus Rises, Beats Jankovic to Reach WTA Championships Final in Doha
Venus Williams is into the WTA Championships final after defeating top seed Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. In the title match Venus will meet the surprising Vera Zvonareva, a 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 victor over Elena Dementieva. ADHEREL
The Venus-Jankovic match really hinged on that lengthy fifth game of the third set, which Venus finally won after about 20 minutes to go up 4-2.
Both finalists are a perfect 4-0 this week at the Championships. Williams will make her first appearance in a year-end final while Zvonareva will make her second such appearance.
With regards to the event, I again have to question the selection of Doha as the host. It’s a money issue we know, but it just doesn’t look good to see so many empty seats in the stadium like we did today. There were also noticeable “empties” during much of the round-robin matches as well.
And it was disappointing to see Serena and Ana Ivanovic both withdraw from their matches Friday. Especially Serena, who would have reached the semifinals with a win over Dementieva. Serena of course withdrew with a stomach injury, but by the looks it today, at least the injury wasn’t bad enough to prevent her from continuously texting from the player box during Venus’s match (is she still dating the rapper Common?).
Speaking of dating, Ivanovic had to pull out due to a virus, perhaps contracted from new/rumored boyfriend Fernando Verdasco who was in Doha rooting on Ana. I guess Fernando finally made it to a year-end Championship event, and he’s doing it in style.
As for tomorrow, Venus has won five of six meetings with Vera including 10 straight sets, so it’s tough to bet against Venus in this one.
You Might Like:
Venus Beats Serena, Joins Jankovc, Zvonareva in Doha Championships Semifinals
Serena, Venus to Meet in Doha WTA Finals
Serena Beats Venus, Clinches No. 1 at Doha
Jankovic in, Year-end WTA Champs Field Set; Safina No. 1 Again
Serena Williams vs. Dinara Safina at WTA Champs: Do You Care?