October 25, 2004
Sharapova Joins WTA Tour Championships Field
Reigning Wimbledon champion is third Grand Slam winner of 2004 to clinch spot i
n the coveted season-ending event; more big stars wrestling for remaining two s
pots; four team doubles field now set
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova will make her first ap
pearance in the WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche, the Tour announced
today.
Sharapova, coming off a final round performance at the Swisscom Challenge in Zu
rich last week, clinched a spot in the prestigious season-ending tournament Nov
ember 10-15 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The 17-year - old Russian tennis
sensation adds even more star power to the Championships field, which includes
Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo, reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetso
va, reigning French Open champion Anastasia Myskina and two-time Grand Slam fin
alist Elena Dementieva.
The final three spots in the Championships doubles field have been filled. Cara
Black and Rennae Stubbs, Elena Likhovtseva and Kuznetsova, and Nadia Petrova a
nd Meghann Shaughnessy clinched places in the four-team draw, joining current P
orsche Race to the Championships leaders Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascua
l, who qualified earlier this month. Black and Stubbs, currently second in the
Race standings with 3,122 points, have been particularly hot lately, winning do
ubles titles at the Swisscom Challenge last week and the Porsche Tennis Grand P
rix in Filderstadt two weeks earlier.
Sharapova, seventh in the latest Porsche Race to the Championships standings wi
th 2,809 points, has been on a meteoric rise since this summer. She captured th
e world’s attention by winning Wimbledon and has been virtually unstoppable du
ring the fall season, sweeping back -to-back titles (Hansol Korea Open and AIG
Japan Open) and 12 straight matches before finally losing in the Swisscom Chall
enge final. She gives the Championships field three of the four Grand Slam sing
les winners from 2004.
More marquee names will likely join the Championships field during these final
two weeks. Serena Williams (2,596 points), Venus Williams (2,332 points), Jenni
fer Capriati (2,300 points) and Vera Zvonareva (2,219 points), who are No. 8 th
rough No. 11, respectively, in the Race standings, are battling for the remaini
ng two singles positions (Justine Henin-Hardenne, sixth in the Race standings a
nd out for the year with a continuing virus, is being replaced by the ninth -pl
ace finisher) . Serena and Zvonareva are competing at the Generali Ladies Linz
in Linz, Austria this week, and all four are scheduled to compete the following
week in the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia, setting up what could be on
e of the most dramatic Race finishes in recent years.
The top eight singles players and the top four doubles teams in the final Porsc
he Race to the Championships standings qualify for the prestigious Championship
s. The Championships singles winner will earn $1 million in prize money and a P
orsche to donate to their favorite charity.
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