VENUS WILLIAMS FALLS IN DOHA.

Elena Dementieva

Doha (THEWILL) - Venus Williams was defeated by 28 year old Elena Dementieva in three straight sets in a WTA Championship opener in Doha. The match ended 6-3 6-7 6-3. This is the third career win for Dementieva againt Venus in twelve meetings. 

However, second seeded Serena overcame russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in a well contested match with a 7-6 7-5 win.

Venus, the tournaments defending Champion and seven time grand slam winner and Serena are drawn in the same group in the Championship. They may play each other as Venus hopes to retain her title while Serena keeps her eyes on victory and reclaiming her number one position in world’s women tennis ranking. Russia's Dinara Safina is currently number one. Serena lost her number one spot on monday, just before the championship started. She can reclaim it if she does better than Safina in the tournament.