Fri Nov 7 12:22:30 2008

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Zvonareva beats Jankovic; Serena pulls out in Doha

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Doha, Qatar (Sports Network) - Russian Vera Zvonareva upset world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic to win her round-robin group, while Serena Williams pulled out here on Friday, giving two-time major runner-up Elena Dementieva a walkover into Saturday's semifinals at the season-ending $4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships.

The eighth-seeded Olympic bronze medalist Zvonareva went a perfect 3-0 in this week's four-woman White Group, including a big 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic on Day 4 at Khalifa Tennis Complex. Jankovic, who went 2-1 in round-robin play and will finish this year as the No. 1 player in the world, will also compete in Saturday's semis.

Zvonareva's final four opponent will be fifth-seeded fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, while Jankovic will take on seventh-seeded American Venus Williams, who was a flawless 3-0 in capturing this week's four-player Maroon Group.

The Olympic gold medalist Dementieva was 1-1 in Maroon Group round-robin action and was scheduled to meet a third-seeded Serena, who was also 1-1, here on Friday with a semifinal berth on the line, but the U.S. Open champion from the United States pulled out, citing a stomach muscle injury. The nine-time major champion Serena lost to her big sister and fellow former world No. 1 Venus, 7-5, 1-6, 0-6, here on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Serena was the only former Championships titlist (2001) in this year's field and was the runner-up in 2002 and 2004.

The Maroon Group was rounded out this week by 0-3 Dinara Safina, the Russian third seed that had runner-up finishes at the French Open and Olympic Games this year.

On Saturday, Jankovic and the reigning two-time Wimbledon titlist and seven- time major champion Venus will meet for a ninth time, with the Serb holding a 5-3 lifetime advantage, including a 2-0 record this year. The two stars have never met at the season-ending Championships.

Dementieva and Zvonareva will do battle for a sixth time, with Dementieva leading their all-time series 4-1. Dementieva is 2-1 this year, with the wins coming at the French Open and the semifinals at the Olympics.

The winner of this week's event will collect $1.34 million.