Doha: Why It’s Worth Watching
For most tennis fans, the WTA’s culmination to the season, the Doha Championships are a massive disappointment this year. The season will conclude itself this week in Qatar, and many fans are wondering whether it is even worth following. The point for these
fans, is not who plays at Doha this rather but rather who isn’t playing. Serena and Venus Williams, two of the Top Three Players in the World, have retired from the tournament – this means that the tournament is bereft of both the Williams and of any American
participants, which means minimal media coverage in the US. Other players who have proven disappointments when it comes to Doha qualifications are Justin Henin, who could have made the cut had she played more events this year, and recently-engaged Maria Sharapova,
who is World Number 17 and stood no chance of participation. With these four major names out of the tournament, are there any reason to follow Doha this year?
The answer to that question is yes, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the World Number 1 ranking is still up for grabs. While Serena Williams has dropped out of the running entirely at World Number 3, current Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Number
2 Vera Zvonareva are free to battle each other for the year end Number 1 spot. With Wozniacki’s defeat of Elena Dementieva and Zvonareva’s dismantling of Serbian Jelena Jankovic’s attempt at Doha, these two players may even meet each other in the final for
the tournament, which would leave the entire event to an interesting rollercoaster.
Wozniacki seems quite sure of herself, and as well she should. The 20 year old has had a remarkable season, and 2010 has been a busy and productive year for the young Dane, who says, “I am really feeling good this year. I feel fresh now and ready for this
tournament. Last year I had some injuries going into Doha. Actually, I feel like my scheducling this year has been really good for me.”
Yet another reason to watch this year’s Doha event is US Open champion, tennis mama Kim Clijsters. The Belgian player has been missing in action since her New York performance, taking a break after surgery to remove moles on her feet. However, she seems
to have made a full recovery, and arrived at Doha with Samantha Stosur several days before the tournament in order to acclimatize herself to the atmosphere. She has also been practicing physically, and has been training for tennis for almost three and a half
weeks, in addition to swimming and biking. In an interview with the Peninsula, she says, “Physically, I mean, I feel fine. [I] had a lot of test done with Sam [Stosur]. I feel good. Obviously you feel a little different when you get here. You just feel a
little bit more, how should I say, heavy because of the heat.”
The greatest chances in the tournament for top three at the moment belong to Wozniacki, along with Clijsters and Zvonareva. The players have been divided into two groups, Maroon (consisting of Wozniacki, Schiavone, Stosur and Dementieva) and White (Zvonareva,
Clijsters, Jankovic, and Azarenka). The Maroon group’s strongest players seem to be Wozniacki and Stosur, while the White group holds Clijsters and Zvonareva.
Other qualifying players for the Doha 8 round-robin matches are Francesca Schiavone, Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva. The semi finals may be matches with Clijsters against Stosur and Wozniacki vs. Zvonareva. With
odds such as these, and questions such as the World Number 1 on hold, the Doha event promises to be anything but a waste of time.
Tags: