Sony Ericsson Championships

The best eight women this year will compete at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Khalifa Tennis Complex, Doha, Qatar, from 27 October to 1 November 2009. They are divided into two groups of four players and will compete in round robin format.

White Group
1 Dinara Safina (RUS)
4 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
6 Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
8 Jelena Jankovic (SRB)

Maroon Group
2 Serena Williams (USA)
3 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
5 Elena Dementieva (RUS)
7 Venus Williams (USA)

The winner of the White Group will play the runner up of Maroon Group and the runner up of White Group will play the winner of Maroon Group in the semifinals.



Doubles

Along with the singles event, four doubles pairs are set to play in semifinals and final elimination matches. Only the best pairs of 2009 are qualified for the championship.

The Williamses, winner of most Grand Slam titles of 2009 (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), leads the contenders for the year-end tournament. They are followed by co-number one doubles players, Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA). Spanish pair of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez join the elité eight for the first time. They have won six doubles titles throughout the year and will be a serious threat to the top doubles players. Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs are in Doha not only to complete the list of players. They have won the championships twice together (Stubbs' won in 2001 with Lisa Raymond) and will try to get the third.


Dates of Play
Round Robin (Singles) 27 - 30 Oct 2009
Semi-Finals / Finals (Singles and Doubles) 31 Oct - 1 Nov 2009


Prize Money Breakdown

Singles
$1,550,000 Winner
$780,000 Finalist
RR (3 wins) $400,000
RR (2 wins) $300,000
RR (1 win) $200,000
RR (no wins) $100,000

Doubles
Winner $375,000
Finalist $187,500
Semifinalists $93,750

http://www.sonyericsson-championships.com/