Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva Clinch Final Sony Ericsson Championships Berths

Venus Williams and Vera Zvonareva have officially qualified for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar.

The final two qualifiers join an acclaimed list of players including No.1 Jelena Jankovic, Roland Garros winner Ana Ivanovic, US Open champion Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams from the 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season will compete for the Championships title and a share of the record prize money of $4.45 million. The season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships are set to take place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, November 4-9, 2008.

Venus will be making her third career appearance at the Sony Ericsson Championships and first since 2002, having reached the semifinals on both previous attempts while Zvonareva will be making her second appearance and first since 2004.

The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams from the 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season will compete for the Championships title and a share of the record prize money of $4.45 million.

Venus’ qualification into the Championships adds upon a season highlighted by two singles titles, including her fifth career Wimbledon championship.

“I am really pleased to have qualified for this year’s season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha,” said Venus Williams.

“Competing in a round robin format against the players who have performed the best in 2008 is an exciting challenge. This year has been a very positive year for me and I am looking forward to continued success in Doha.”

Russia’s Zvonareva won two Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles this season at the ECM Prague Open and the TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women’s Open.

“It’s a great accomplishment that I have reached the Sony Ericsson Championships this year,” said Zvonareva. “It has been awhile since I last played and it feels wonderful to be one of the best eight players of the regular Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season. I look forward to returning to Doha to play the Championships, after I played really well at the Qatar Total Open earlier this year.”

“Having Venus and Vera in Doha rounds out a tremendous field of accomplished players that are sure to deliver a fantastic week of tennis,” said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “Venus is one of the great champions of our sport, and she has proven again in 2008 that her rewriting of the record books is not done. Vera is a wonderful competitor and it is great to see her back among the Top 10. Fans around the world will have the opportunity to watch some amazing tennis at our year-end finale.”

The complete doubles field at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha is still to be determined. To date, the teams of Black & Huber and Medina Garrigues & Ruano Pascual have qualified while the other two spots are up for grabs.

Currently the Czech-Australian team of Kveta Peschke & Rennae Stubbs, the Ukrainian sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko and the Japanese-Slovenian team of Ai Sugiyama and Katarina Srebotnik follow closely behind.

With the official withdrawal of Maria Sharapova due to a continued shoulder injury, Agnieszka Radwanska has secured one of the two singles alternate positions, with the remaining spot up for grabs between Nadia Petrova, Flavia Pennetta and Caroline Wozniacki.