By Chris Soderstrom
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams ended her season on a high note yesterday, rallying from a first set deficit to bag the Doha Masters crown.
An unlikely match-up loomed between Venus and Russia’s Vera Zvonareva – seeded seventh and eighth respectively- who earnt their spots in the final after remaining undefeated through their round robin schedules.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to end the season this way,” said the 28-year-old, who improved from a sluggish first set to take honors 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2.
The reigning Wimbledon champion added a 39 th title to her long and distinguished list that, before yesterday, didn’t include the season-ending title.
“I haven’t thought too much about next year yet, but I have high and wonderful hopes for it, and at the appropriate time I’ll start working hard again and try to take this momentum forward.”
Zvonareva took much from the tournament, including a career-high ranking of World No. 7.
“It’s the first time I’ve played Top 10 players five matches in a row, and I was able to come up with four wins, so of course it has been a good week for me,” said the Russian.
“I could have done a lot better today, but it was still lots of fun, even though I lost the match. I think there are many, many things for me to work on, and I’m going to try and improve those things in my game for next year.”