We’re only 5 days away from the start of the WTA Year End Championships a.k.a. the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar. And with Jelena Jenkovic progressing to the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup this week (and Vera Zvonareva being upset in the second round), the Serbian’s secured the 8th and final spot in the line up:
(Graphic swiped from the the Sony Ericsson Championship’s website.)
Dinara Safina will be back to number one this Monday, and is therefore the tournament’s top seed. With the year end number one ranking up for grabs in Doha, I think Serena Williams will have that extra bit of motivation to do well. It’s also interesting to see Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki in spots 3 and 4, benefiting from some late-season play. And does Venus have any chance of defending her title?
I, for one, wish that the WTA had “pulled a Lucy” as Jon Wertheim put it, and given US Open champ, Kim Clijsters, the final spot as a special exemption. I don’t think it’s unfair. The YEC should be about the 8 best players in the world slugging it out. I think Kim belongs in this group more than Jelena Jankovic does this year, no matter how much I (really do) adore ol’ J.J. Plus Fila’s sponsoring this year!
Loading ...Only 4 doubles teams participate in the Championships: Black/Huber, Williams/Williams, Llagostera/Martinez, Stosur/Stubbs. Could we see a Williams sister sweep?
The Sony Ericsson Championships run from October 27 – November 1.
Tags: Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Safina, Serena, Sony Ericsson Championships, tennis, Wozniacki, WTA, Year End Championships
It’s hard to tell. I mean as a Grand Slam winner, Kim should definitely be there and I think they SHOULD have a clause where a Grand Slam winner is automatically in the YEC.
Having said that, they don’t have such a clause, so rules are rules I suppose. Plus it’s a little unfair to compare Jankovic who has been playing ALL YEAR (many people think too much) to Clijster who has only played three events. Let’s say Clijsters reached the semifinals at the US Open and nothing more, would you say the same thing I wonder (about her being placed in the Top 8)?
I agree with Ryan.
While it would be nice to mirror the ATP where, I think, all of the Grand Slam champions automatically qualify, the WTA doesn’t have that rule. When Venus won Wimbledon in both 2005 and 2007, she didn’t make it because she hadn’t played enough other tournaments. I do think she was the alternate one of those years, maybe 2007.
Hey guys, thanks for you comments. Actually, the WTA does have a wild card rule. Check out page 157 of the rule book, which is available for download on their website:
“The Tournament shall consist of a singles draw of eight (8) players (including one (1) Wild Card, if applicable) in a round robin format to be determined by the WTA.
The top seven (7) players using the best of 16 ranking system, starting with the beginning of the Tour Year, shall qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships. The qualification method will count the 51 weeks of events, dropping off the ranking points earned in the previous Sony Ericsson Championships the week prior to the current Sony Ericsson Championships.
At its sole discretion and taking into account extraordinary circumstances, the WTA may select the 8th player for participation in the singles draw. If the WTA does not exercise its option to select the 8th player, the 8th spot in the draw will be awarded to the player who is in the 8th position using the method described above.”
If winning a Major isn’t an extraordinary circumstance, then what is?
Personally I think the WTA has been super-sensitive about its ranking system ever since the battle of the Real No. 1s this season. During a press event at the LA tournament I even overheard a WTA staffer talking to Safina as they left a press conference, saying something like: “But we want YOU to have faith in the rankings system, too!” So I’m sure the WTA didn’t want to so publicly give favor to a Major winner vs. a player who actually complains about not being able to enter International level tournaments (i.e. Jelena Jankovic.)
And to answer Ryan’s question, I don’t think making it to the US Open finals would cut it in terms of giving Clijsters a Wild Card into the tournament. But winning the US Open definitely does, i.m.h.o.
No question about it – Kim should be in. All Slam winners should automatically qualify. To make sure that all of the best players participate, the number should be increased to 12 and then Slam finalists could be included as well. Eight is not enough. Same goes for men too.
Kim wins US Open then sits out and you guys expect her to play YEC? If you were Jelena and they picked Kim to play how would you feel? Not fair…..Let’s wait and see how consistent Kim’s results will be in 2010.
With all due respect, Edy, this is not about fairness but about the best players participating in this prestigious event. Winning a Slam is a tremendous accomplishment at any time, but winning it after two years away from the game is a mind-boggling achievement.
As much as I admire Clijsters, I don’t think she belongs in this year’s Doha 8. Sure, she won the US Open after being away for a while, but like Ryan said, the other players have been slugging it out for an entire year. They played all season, built up their points and earned their spots. Dissing Jankovic to give Clijsters a wild card for the last spot would’ve been a slap in the face for JJ. The year-end championship slots are reserved for the best players of the season. Although I think the WTA ranking system is flawed, it is the only official and objective way of determining “the best” (whether they are the “real” best or not) in the WTA.
My understanding of “extraordinary circumstance” is if they can’t get enough players to qualify. Like if all the players after #7 fall way behind and have no way of earning enough points to get in.
Anyway, the season’s almost over. I can’t wait for next season, when the WTA gets interesting.
Imagine a top-ranked player A decisively winning the Australian Open while not losing a single set. Then, because of injury or family reasons, A is unable to compete for the next 8 months and loses a bunch of points falling all the way to fifteenth in the rankings. In October, A finally comes back strong and dominates everyone again, quickly improving to number 9. Are you saying that A who is clearly the best player on the planet does not deserve to be in the YEC because others played more tournaments? To me, that is nonsense. All Slam winners of that year should be automatically qualified for the event.
It would be unfair not only to Jelena but also the other players if Clijsters was in Doha, she would be the freshest player by far in Doha and she would have an unfair adavantage after only playing four events this year, yes grand slam winners should automatically qualify but only if they have played a full year and to be honest Clijsters was playing some of her best ever tennis during the US open and she didn’t look nearly as good against Patty Schnyder in Luxembourg and got off lightly being beaten in 3 sets, it remains to be seen whether she can play at or near the same level of play that she showed at the US open.
Maybe she can’t. Maybe she will never play that well again in her life. Or maybe she will win all four Slams next year. Who knows? The future is irrelevant for this discussion. The winners of Slams should be in the season-ending tournament.