DOHA, Qatar - The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's supreme performers assemble in Doha this week for the 39th staging of the Sony Ericsson Championships, the second time the Qatari capital has hosted the season finale. As well as a total prize money purse of $4,550,000, the coveted year-end No.1 ranking is also up for grabs.
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The stellar eight-woman line-up includes four players who have been No.1, three Grand Slam champions, and four who've been to at least one major final. Two of the field made their Top 10 debuts this season and are at the championships for the first time. Between them, they pocketed 21 of the 53 titles that were on offer during this landmark 'Roadmap' season.
As last year, the competitors have been divided into two groups named for the colors of the Qatari flag. The White group comprises No.1 seed Dinara Safina, No.4 seed Caroline Wozniacki, No.6 seed Victoria Azarenka and No.8 seed Jelena Jankovic. The Maroon Group is made up of No.2 seed Serena Williams, No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova (the only player who arrives on a winning streak after her triumph at Beijing), No.5 seed Elena Dementieva and No.7 seed Venus Williams.
Last year's runner-up Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska wait in the wings as alternates.
Meet the White Group! Meet the Maroon Group!
Before anyone thinks of the semifinals and final they need to survive the round robin, which makes the career head to heads relevant. Against her White group peers Safina is 8-4; Wozniacki is 1-5; Azarenka is 4-8 and Jankovic is 8-4. In the Maroons, reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Serena is 22-16, French Open champion Kuznetsova is 12-12, Dementieva is 10-21 and Venus is 22-17.
Whether or not these numbers mean anything remains to be seen, but the tournament's honor roll reveals certain trends.
Of the 17 women who have triumphed at the SEC since 1973, 14 have also held the No.1 ranking, the most recent exception being Jana Novotna in 1997. Serena and Venus have both won this title once already - they are the only former champions in the field - so if there is to be a first-time champion this week the odds are stacked in the favor of Safina and Jankovic, who've both held the top spot this year.
History hasn't been so kind to the debutantes, though: only Serena (2001) and Maria Sharapova (2004) have won on their first try. But no doubt Azarenka, one of 13 women to win her first Tour title this year (she actually won three) and Wozniacki - who also won three titles, from an unmatched eight finals - will do their best to join that exclusive club.
At the other end of the experience scale, defending champion Venus may again be the one to watch. Not only did the American sizzle in the desert when the Sony Ericsson Championships were held here last year, her biggest title win so far in 2009 was just down the road in Dubai.
But if anyone is due, maybe it's Dementieva. Having won three titles and reached two Grand Slam semis this year the 28-year-old is making her ninth appearance at the event - the most of any active player. Serena has also qualified nine times, but on three occasions injury or illness has kept her on the sidelines.
This year's doubles event also promises to enthrall, not least because Serena and Venus are in the field.
Roland Garros was the only Slam the sisters didn't win in 2009, but although they also won at Stanford their trophy haul was surpassed by co-world No.1s Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who won five titles and are gunning for a third straight SEC crown this week. Spanish first-timers Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez did even better, though, winning six titles. The draw is rounded out by Australians Samantha Stosur and, making her 14th SEC appearance, Rennae Stubbs.
The Williamses, who also qualified in 1998 but withdrew because Venus was injured, could achieve joint No.1 status if they win here - as long as Black and Huber don't reach the final. Serena, therefore, has a rare shot at finishing the year as No.1 in both disciplines. At the start of the week, the difference between No.1 (Safina) and No.2 (Serena) is 155 points. Each round robin win awards 160 points, so the math is simple.
