Serena and Venus to battle for title in Doha

It will be Serena Williams and older sister Venus Williams who will fight for the crown in Doha, as they both won their semifinals matches, Serena getting through after her opponent, Caroline Wozniacki retired, and Venus getting through after three tough sets of battling against Jelena Jankovic.

Serena was able to come back from 0-2 in the first set against her Danish opponent to win the set with a close score. In the second set, Wozniacki retired after winning the first game of the match with a abdominal injury. The final score was 64 01.

"She's been struggling throughout the tournament," Williams said. "Just to come out today and try to put up a fight for the crowd, it's so good to see a face like hers on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. She's an incredible fighter."

"It was just too much for me to keep playing," Wozniacki said. "I could either smile or cry, so I chose to smile. There's nothing else you can do. I had a great year. I did all I could. I used all the strength I had left. Today I just didn't have any left. I've learned that I'm a huge fighter and impossible is nothing."

Venus lost the first set against her Serbian opponent, but regained strength and bounced back to win the next two sets. The final score was 57 64 63.

"The crowd really helped me through it," said Williams, who won her very first season-ending title right here in Doha a year ago. "It was great. In the first set I couldn't feel the ball; coming back from not being able to get a ball in to beat such a consistent player like Jelena is great. It's my last tournament of the year so I'm giving 1000%."

Serena leads the head-to-head series with a score of 12-10 to Venus, the last match being a couple of days ago, which Serena won in three tough sets.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Singles - Semifinal
(2) Serena Williams (USA) d. (4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 64 01 ret. (left abdominal strain)
(7) Venus Williams (USA) d. (8) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 57 63 64