WTA Championships – Clijsters to open her account
After day one of the WTA Tour Championships in Doha delivered two one-sided clashes in the three matches that were played, can we hope for some more competitive tennis on day two? Here, we preview the matches.
Vera Zvonareva vs Victoria Azarenka
Zvonareva made a winning start to her WTA Championships campaign against a lethargic Jelena Jankovic (who is still suffering from illness she picked up leading into the tournament) and now takes on Kremlin Cup winner Victoria Azarenka.
That title should have provided the eighth seed a confidence boost heading into this season-ending event but she also carries with her into this match a poor head-to-head record against Zvonareva, having won just two of the seven matches they have played against one another in the past.
Those victories though have come in two of their past three encounters, including in the Grand Slam pressure cooker of the Australian Open, where the Belarusian won their fourth round clash. Since then though, Zvonareva has gone on to reach two major finals (at Wimbledon and the US Open) and the world No. 2 should move one step closer to a Doha semi-final berth after this match.
Kim Clijsters vs Jelena Jankovic
US Open champion Clijsters returns to the WTA Tour Championships for the first time since 2006, and with the withdrawal of Serena and Venus Williams through injury she’s the only multiple Grand Slam champion in the draw.
Clijsters knows how to win at the big events, and indeed has emerged victorious at the season-ending championships twice before – in 2002 and 2003.
And with Jankovic clearly ailing it’s hard to see this match being anything other than a winning start for the Belgian comeback queen, who takes a 6-1 winning record over the Serb into this clash.
Caroline Wozniacki vs Samantha Stosur
After the Maroon group played their first round-robin matches yesterday, Wozniacki and Stosur emerged as the two undefeated players after contrasting matches.
Top seed Wozniacki was never challenged by Elena Dementieva, who was clearly still suffering from an ankle injury, while Stosur dropped the first four games of her match against French Open champion Francesca Schiavone before reeling off the next six games to take the first set and eventually winning 6-4, 6-4.
The Australian won’t be able to afford that kind of start against the new world No. 1 – as sunny as Wozniacki’s personality appears to be off-court, she is merciless on it and has one of the most impenetrable defences in the game.
Stosur will rely on that potent serve and big forehand to set up victory, but she can’t afford to make too many mistakes as she attacks the super consistent 20-year-old.
A 2-2 head-to-head record makes this a potentially interesting clash, but Wozniacki has taken her game to another level since they last met in the Osaka semi-finals in 2009 and should prove hard to beat.
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