Published>Thu, Oct 28 10 12:56 AM
Vera Zvonareva beat Victoria Azarenka 7-6 6-4 on Wednesday to claim her second win of the WTA Championships and stay in the hunt for the year-end world number one ranking.
Kim Clijsters also got her campaign in Doha off to a successful start with a 6-2 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic in another White Group clash. World number one Caroline Wozniacki plays Sam Stosur in the Maroon Group in the day's last match.
In contrast to her straightforward victory over ailing Serb Jankovic on Tuesday, Russian Zvonareva was pushed hard by Azarenka, who arrived in the Qatari capital fresh from capturing her second title of the year in Moscow.
After an uninspired opening, punctuated by a bizarre breakdancing interlude on the purple-coloured court following the second changeover, Zvonareva's superior groundstrokes began to tell as Azarenka became increasing erratic and emotional.
The 21-year-old from Belarus squandered a glorious chance to break in the eighth game, letting out a deafening shriek of frustration.
The first set went to a tiebreak, Zvonareva breaking immediately to jump out to an early lead and despite struggling on her own serve she wrapped it up 7-4.
PUSHING THE PACE
In the second set, Zvonareva had the pony-tailed Azarenka on the back foot, arrowing deep backhands to the corners and finding her target with unerring consistency.
Despite playing the previous day, the Russian was the one dictating the pace, pushing Azarenka around the court and forcing her into a string of unforced errors.
At 5-4 down, Azarenka saved two match points but she netted a weak forehand on the third to hand victory to the Russian.
Clijsters, who won the prestgious tournament in 2002 and 2003, raced out of the blocks against Jankovic and never let up.
Taking the first set in 25 minutes, the Belgian stuttered on serve but treated the crowd at the Khalifa Tennis Complex to a shot-making masterclass.
At 2-2 in the second, Jankovic let a 40-15 lead slip with a catalogue of unforced errors and looked imploringly at her mother Snezana sitting courtside for answers.
Clijsters secured the pivotal break to go 3-2 up and held serve in an error-strewn sixth game to cement the advantage.
With Clijsters leading 5-3, Jankovic double-faulted on a third match point to hand the Belgian victory.
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