Why Doha turned out to be a lot more than we bargained for

There is an ever-flowing constant in this particular decade of womens tennis fans and philosophers discussing the fact that the game is weaker as a result of the Williams sisters, that, by their dominance, the sisters have prevented a healthy state of competition in the female form of the game. And yet, when the sisters are injured, or awol, or just dont feel like it, their absence is bemoaned, denounced, and renders any event that happens without them effectively meaningless. Im a culprit myself.

Thus it was that in the two weeks building up to the newly re-branded WTAs season-ending finale in Doha, pundits pondered the Williams-less lineup, and promptly declared it to be a waste of a weeks tennis. Venus and Serena were missing, so too were Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova who could there possibly be left worth watching? The number of players on the injured list could make up the playing field on its own.

Elena Dementieva celebrates her win over Sam Stosur

But that is where tennis suprised us. Sport seems to like doing that. Strike through, rip up, and throw away perceptions you thought were secure. And its not even over yet. Pondering the line-up last week I did find myself thinking of Doha as half a joke, wrote Tennis.coms celebrated columnist Steve Tignor. But then the tournament started and I sort of automatically got hooked into it.

True, there are those candidates who travel to Qatars Big Tree just for the renumeration. Jelena Jankovic did laugh when she achieved a break point against Kim Clijsters. I guess I would too. But that has been the mouse rather than elephant in the locker room.

Fighting over the two top spots in the game, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zv! onareva came out G.I.Joe-style. Straight sets, boom, boom, splat. The young Dane had a mission programmed into her Babolat racket to win two matches and secure the year-end world No.1 ranking. No flighty, flimsy looking after the top spot on Caros watch. And, after the first day, it looked like shed just be picking up the trophy from the dry cleaners.

Think again. Sam Stosur, the likeable, natural, normal Australian who has suffered a case of Andy Murray-itis since reaching the French Open final, denied her in two forceful, powerful sets. Drama part one. That left Wozniacki with one match to get her fingers on one of the sports highest accolades (which incidentally turned out to be sort of ship-not-in-a-bottle), against Francesca Schiavone. The effervescent Italian, competing in her first year-end Championships, and a widely considered breath of fresh air, might be an easy target. Shes certainly smaller than a Williams. I doubt Wozza was finding her that easy when she found the first set swiped from her adidas-clad grasp.

But rather than shrink and retire from the opportunity, Wozniacki demonstrated why she has been the best player in the world for the past two months. She could have let the match go (and given a beaming Schiavone a chance to show us her victory speech). Instead she stepped aside when the Italian prodded and probed, deflecting the attack, proving to be hypnotically effective, rather than monotonously unimaginative. One might say the same thing of a certain Master Murray.

Thats just tickling the top of what happened in Doha this week. Kim Clijsters has, despite missing her daughter Jada, been sensational. Unbeatable. Whether she can maintain it to win the title remains to be seen. Zvonareva likewise. Elena Dementieva arrived in the Qatari capital with a very wobbly looking ankle. But that ankle (and her ever more bizarre service action) did not stand in the way of a stunning three-set victory over Stosur. And even Victoria Azarenka, who seemed desti! ned to r each No.1 in the world long before Wozniacki, proved her merit. She pushed Clijsters hard. I think she can be proud of that.

The WTA Championships moves to Istanbul, Turkey next year for a new bout of season finales. But Doha has one last turn at the table this weekend. I look forward to watching it.

You can read more from Alexandra at sportingintelligence.com
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Picture: WTA Tour

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