Lucky Venus through to Doha final
Venus Williams: "1,000 per cent"
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By James Christie
Wins for Serena and Venus Williams kept alive hopes of the elder of the two siblings reaching the semi-finals of the end-of-season WTA championships in Doha. |  |
Saturday, 31, Oct 2009 06:13
By James Christie
Venus Williams booked her place in the final of the end-of-season WTA Tour Championships event in Doha but might consider herself a little lucky to do so.
At match point during her 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jelena Jankovic she saw a rather hopeful shot hit the net cord and trickle over on to her Serbian opponent's side of the court.
Williams can also thank her lucky stars that there is a round-robin group stage format at the lucrative tournament. This meant that despite losing two of her four matches this week she can still lift the trophy.
The event is open to the eight highest-ranked ladies in the world and strangely excludes Grand Slam winners. As a result current US Open champion Kim Clijsters wasn't part of the line-up, an omission which meant the championships arguably lacks a little credibility.
The elder Williams sister twice went a break down in the deciding set but finally prevailed to keep alive her chances of retaining her title.
Looking ahead to tomorrow's final, the 29-year-old said: "It's my last tournament of the year, so I am trying to give a thousand per cent."