MOSCOW, Russia - The Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2009 has heated up at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, as it's now down to two women for the last berth at the prestigious season-ending event.
The two contenders are Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic, who are fittingly the Top 2 seeds this week. They both won their first round matches on Tuesday and play their second round matches on Thursday.
Thursday's Second Round Scenarios
~ if Zvonareva wins and Jankovic loses, Zvonareva qualifies.
~ if Jankovic wins and Zvonareva loses, Jankovic qualifies.
~ if both players lose, Jankovic qualifies.
~ if both players win and reach the quarterfinals, the race goes on...
Should Zvonareva and Jankovic both reach the quarterfinals, whoever does better from there on qualifies; if both players reach the quarters but lose in the same round from there, Zvonareva qualifies. Is a final showdown in the stars?
The Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2009 counts a player's best 16 results from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season. Going into Moscow. Jankovic's 16th-best tournament this year gave her 120 points, so she needs to reach the semifinals this week to add to her total (a quarterfinal would give her 120 points, thus keeping her total the same); Zvonareva's 16th-best tournament this year gave her 60 points, so she could add to her total by reaching the quarterfinals (which would add 120 points).
Coming into this week, Agnieszka Radwanska was in contention too, but her first condition was she needed to win the tournament, and she fell in the first round on Wednesday. She will be an alternate in Doha; whoever doesn't qualify between Zvonareva and Jankovic will be the other alternate.
Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka snapped up the first seven spots in the singles field over the last few months.
