The Race For No.1, Doha

The race for the world No.1 ranking resumes this week in Stuttgart, as Jelena Jankovic has an opportunity to snatch it from reigning No.1 Serena Williams. Williams, the No.1 seed at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and Jankovic, seeded No.2, both received first round byes at the Tier II event, so the race begins in the second round.
 
If one of the two loses second round and the other goes further, the one who goes further will be No.1; if they both lose in the second round, Jankovic will be No.1. If Williams wins her second round match, Jankovic's chances of becoming No.1 diminish significantly - Jankovic would have to do two wins better than Williams, so she would have to be either runner-up (with Williams losing in the quarters) or champion (with Williams losing in the semis). If Williams reaches the final, No.1 is safe, win or lose.
 
Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2008 heats up
 
DOHA, Qatar - With just more than a month remaining until the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2008, five players - Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Dinara Safina, Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva - have secured spots in the singles competition of the season-ending event.
 
While Jankovic continued to build on her current lead in the standings by winning in Beijing last week, Kuznetsova inched closer to qualifying by reaching the final, and is now the leading candidate for the next berth after Maria Sharapova's announcement that she will be out of action for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. At the moment it looks like the last three berths will be snapped up by Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva or Agnieszka Radwanska, as Patty Schnyder and all below her on the standings have a lot to make up.
 
Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships - Singles Standings
 
  1. Jelena Jankovic (4055 pts - qualified)
  2. Serena Williams (3680 pts - qualified)
  3. Dinara Safina (3553 pts - qualified)
  4. Elena Dementieva (2965 pts - qualified)
  5. Ana Ivanovic (2952 pts - qualified)
  6. Maria Sharapova (2515 pts - out for rest of season)
  7. Svetlana Kuznetsova (2512 pts)
  8. Venus Williams (2106 pts)
  9. Vera Zvonareva (2060 pts)
10. Agnieszka Radwanska (2056 pts)
11. Patty Schnyder (1554 pts)
12. Flavia Pennetta (1443 pts)
13. Caroline Wozniacki (1440 pts)
14. Alize Cornet (1426 pts)
15. Nadia Petrova (1378 pts)

 
Cara Black and Liezel Huber are the only team to qualify for the doubles event so far, currently with 5393 points in their total. The next seven teams in line for berths all have between 2000 and 3000 points, potentially making for an exciting doubles race in the weeks to come. Four teams will qualify for the season-ender.

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