MEDIA

The excitement for the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2009 is growing with the arrivals of two more top players. Russians’ Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova arrived yesterday at the Doha International Airport. Dementieva arrived accompanied by her mother and Svetlana with her hitting partner and coach; Andrei Karatcheina. They are the latest players to arrive to compete in the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2009, after Dinara Safina who was the first one to land on the 18^th of October.

The talented Dementieva was the fourth player to qualify for the event and it’s her ninth appearance at the prestigious tournament, while Kuznetsova was the fifth player to qualify for the singles competitions and it’s her fifth appearance at the Championship.

27 – year – old Russian, Elena Dementieva had a remarkable 2009 season that started by winning 15 consecutive matches, resulting in two back – to back titles in Auckland and Sydney, followed by two semifinal appearances at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, where she lost in both occasions to Serena Williams (6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6) in a memorable game that lasted nearly three hours. The highlight of her season came when winning the Rogers Cup in Toronto, reaching the semifinal at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford and the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, which allowed her to clinch the title of 2009 Olympus US Open Series winner. The professional tennis player has won two Olympic medals in singles, including the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Her performance at the Olympics is the strongest of any competitor in recent times, with an 11–2 record. She has also reached the finals of two Grand Slam events. Her career high ranking was World No. 3 which she achieved on April 6, 2009. As of 14 September 2009, she is ranked World No. 5.

Svetlana also had an amazing season, at the Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals for the second time in her career, but lost to eventual champion Serena Williams. Kuznetsova's 2009 season really picked up when she won her first singles title since 2007 during the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. At Roland Garros, Kuznetsova won her second Grand Slam title, returning to the top five on the world rankings as a result of her win. She was also a runner-up at the Internationali BNL d’Italia (Rome) and a semifinalist at the Sony Ericsson Open (Miami). The Russian star is currently ranked World No5.

“We are very excited with the arrival of Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova to Doha. We welcome them both and wish them great success at the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2009”, said Mr. Nasser Ghanem Al Khelaifi, President of the Qatar Tennis Federation.

 

“It is such a pleasure to have Dementieva and Kuznetsova already in Doha. I am sure they will give the public attending the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2009 memorable moments”, said Mr Karim Alami, Tournament Director.

The Sony Ericsson Championship is the most prestigious and important tournament in professional women's tennis. It is the final event in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, in which only the very best players in the world participate. Since 2008 Doha have hosted the event and it will keep carrying out this amazing challenge until 2010 before passing the flag to Istanbul, Turkey scheduled to host the event from 2011 - 2013.

The Championships were first played in 1972 and since then the event has become an international phenomenon generating an immense amount of media coverage, unrivalled by any other women's only sports event.