2008 WTA Tour Championships

Last updated
2008 WTA Tour Championships
Date4–9 November
Edition38th (singles) / 33rd (doubles)
Location Doha, Qatar
Venue Khalifa International Tennis Complex
Champions
Singles
Flag of the United States.svg Venus Williams
Doubles
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Cara Black / Flag of the United States.svg Liezel Huber
  2007  · WTA Finals ·  2009  

The 2008 WTA Tour Championships (also known as the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 33rd edition of the year-end doubles championships, and is part of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, from 4 November through 9 November 2008.

Contents

Finals

Singles

Flag of the United States.svg Venus Williams defeated Flag of Russia.svg Vera Zvonareva, 6–7(5–7), 6–0, 6–2.

Doubles

Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Cara Black / Flag of the United States.svg Liezel Huber defeated Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Květa Peschke / Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rennae Stubbs, 6–1, 7–5.

Players

The top eight players and the top four doubles teams in the 2008 WTA Tour will qualify for the Championships. Two more players will also come to Doha as reserves. Should any player withdraw, they will enter the tournament.

#PlayersPointsTournamentsDate qualified
1Jelena Janković (SRB)4,78630 July
2Dinara Safina (RUS)3,8234 September
3Serena Williams (USA)3,681134 September
4Elena Dementieva (RUS)3,40018 September
5Ana Ivanovic (SRB)3,3531830 July
6Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)2,62717 October
7Vera Zvonareva (RUS)2,62625 October
8Venus Williams (USA)2,52425 October

Qualified singles players

On 30 July, Jelena Janković and Ana Ivanovic became the first two players to qualify for the year-end championships. [1]

Jelena Jankovic reached her first Grand Slam final at the US Open. Jelena-jankovic.jpg
Jelena Janković reached her first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

Following a surging 2007, Janković started the year at the Hopman Cup where she partnered with Novak Djokovic to reach the final, losing out to United States' Serena Williams and Mardy Fish. [2] She reached the semifinals of the Australian Open a few weeks after falling to Maria Sharapova, the eventual champion [3] where she beat Serena Williams en route in the quarterfinals. In February and March, she reached a lone final at the Sony Ericsson Open losing to Serena Williams 1–6, 7–5, 3–6. She further reached two semifinals and two quarterfinals. In the clay season, Janković won the Italian Open for the second straight year against surprise finalist Alizé Cornet who was an 18-year-old qualifier. At the French Open, she reached her third straight major semifinal but fell in three grueling sets to once again the eventual champion in Ana Ivanovic, a match that decided the new World No. 1.

Janković then headed straight to Wimbledon where she lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the fourth round. Janković eventually became the 18th female No. 1, replacing compatriot Ivanovic on August 11. [4] At the Beijing Olympics, she lost to eventual silver medalist Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals. At the US Open, Janković beat Elena Dementieva in the final four to reach her first Grand Slam final but lost to Serena Williams. In the fall season, she won three consecutive tournaments at the China Open, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Kremlin Cup justifying her return to the top spot.

Ana Ivanovic won the French Open. Ana Ivanovic at Indian Wells.jpg
Ana Ivanovic won the French Open.

Ana Ivanovic began the 2008 season by reaching the finals of the Australian Open where she lost to Maria Sharapova in straight sets. She then managed to win her sixth title and third Tier I title in Indian Wells, beating Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals and finals respectively. Following a mediocre pre-French Open season where she failed to defend her title in Berlin, she entered Roland Garros as the second seed and favourite. She lived up to that expectation by winning her first Grand Slam (and her only to date) and becoming the first Serbian to reach the No. 1 spot, virtue of beating compatriot Janković in the semifinals. [5] She defeated first-time Grand Slam finalist Dinara Safina 6–4, 6–3. In her first tournament as the new world No. 1 at Wimbledon, she was upset in the third round by Chinese wildcard Zheng Jie. Following a disappointing Wimbledon campaign, she suffered an injury-marred US Open Series as she withdrew from Los Angeles and the Olympics, which Ivanovic described as "one of the worst moments in my career". She played only one tournament which was at the Rogers Cup and was eliminated in the third round. As the top seed for the US Open, she suffered for the second straight major a loss to a player ranked outside the top 100 in French qualifier Julie Coin. She returned to form in October by winning the indoor tournament in Linz as well as reach the semifinals at the Kremlin Cup.

On 4 September, Serena Williams and Dinara Safina were announced as the third and fourth qualifiers for the Championships. [6]

Serena Williams won her third US Open title. Serena Wimbledon 2008 trim.jpg
Serena Williams won her third US Open title.

Serena Williams started the year at the Hopman Cup where she teamed up with Mardy Fish to win it for the US. At the Australian Open, she made the quarterfinals losing to Jelena Janković.

Dinara Safina won four titles during the year. Dinara Safina (2826825436).jpg
Dinara Safina won four titles during the year.

On 18 September, Elena Dementieva became the fifth qualifier for the Championships. [7]

Elena Dementieva won Olympic Gold. Elena Dementieva.JPG
Elena Dementieva won Olympic Gold.
Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon title. Venus Williams playing to Agnieszka Radwanska.jpg
Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon title.

On 17 October, by reaching the quarterfinals at the Kremlin Cup, Svetlana Kuznetsova was confirmed as the sixth qualifier. [8]

Svetlana Kuznetsova qualifies for the third straight year. Svetlana Kuznetsova (i7948) (3337471887).jpg
Svetlana Kuznetsova qualifies for the third straight year.

On 25 October, the final two spots were taken by Vera Zvonareva and Venus Williams. [9]

Singles alternates

Withdrawn players

Qualified doubles teams

In doubles, team Cara Black and Liezel Huber qualified with convincing lead with more than 6,000 points, while other three teams all failed to collect even a half of that number of points, with all of them being around 2,000.

Singles Championship Race

Singles

Players in gold have qualified for Doha. Players in brown withdrawn. The low-ranked players in blue after them would be played as alternates in Doha.

RankPlayerGrand SlamTier IBest OtherTotal pointsTourn
AUS FRA WIM USO DOH IW MIA CHA BER ITA CAN TOK MOS 123456
1 Flag of Serbia.svg Jelena Janković SF
450
SF
450
R16
140
F
700
QF
110
SF
210
F
350
QF
110
QF
110
W
430
QF
110
QF
110
W
430
W
300
W
275
SF
125
SF
125
4,78621
2 Flag of Russia.svg Dinara Safina R128
2
F
700
R32
90
SF
450
R16
60
R32
40
QF
125
R32
35
W
430
A
0
W
430
W
430
SF
195
W
275
S
245
F
100
QF
75
QF
35
3,82320
3 Flag of the United States.svg Serena Williams QF
250
R32
90
F
700
W
1000
A
0
A
0
W
500
W
430
QF
110
QF
110
A
0
A
0
A
0
W
275
SF
125
QF
90
R16
1
3,68112
4 Flag of Russia.svg Elena Dementieva R16
140
QF
250
SF
450
SF
450
A
0
A
0
QF
125
SF
195
F
300
A
0
R32
1
QF
110
SF
195
G
353
W
275
W
165
SF
125
F
100
QF
75
3,40018
5 Flag of Serbia.svg Ana Ivanovic F
700
W
1000
R32
90
R64
60
R16
60
W
465
R32
45
A
0
SF
195
R32
1
R16
60
R16
1
R16
1
W
275
SF
125
SF
125
QF
70
QF
70
3,35317
6 Flag of Russia.svg Vera Zvonareva R128
2
R16
140
R64
60
R64
60
F
300
QF
115
SF
225
F
300
A
0
R16
60
R32
1
A
0
F
300
B
175
F
190
W
140
SF
125
W
115
F
80
2,62624
7 Flag of Russia.svg Svetlana Kuznetsova R32
90
SF
450
R16
140
R32
90
R16
60
F
325
SF
225
A
0
R16
60
R16
60
QF
110
F
300
QF
110
F
190
F
190
F
190
R16
1
R64
1
2,62318
8 Flag of the United States.svg Venus Williams QF
250
R32
90
W
1000
QF
250
R16
60
A
0
QF
125
A
0
A
0
QF
110
A
0
A
0
R32
1
W
275
SF
140
SF
125
QF
90
R32
1
2,52213
9 Flag of Russia.svg Maria Sharapova W
1000
R16
140
R64
60
A
0
W
430
SF
210
A
0
QF
110
A
0
SF
195
R16
60
A
0
A
0
W
275
2,5159
10 Flag of Poland.svg Agnieszka Radwańska QF
250
R16
140
QF
250
R16
140
SF
195
QF
115
R64
1
R32
35
R16
60
R16
60
A
0
QF
110
A
0
W
275
W
140
SF
125
W
115
SF
50
R16
40
2,25623
11 Flag of Russia.svg Nadia Petrova R16
140
R32
90
QF
250
R32
90
R64
1
A
0
R64
1
A
0
R32
35
R64
1
R16
60
SF
195
QF
110
F
215
F
190
W
140
W
140
QF
70
QF
70
1,91424

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