Maria Sharapova (RUS) and Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) have clinched the final two singles berths at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place in Madrid's Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo arena, November 6-11.  They join an already impressive line-up that includes Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze.

For Maria Sharapova, this is the fourth consecutive year in her career that she has qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships.  She was former champion in 2004 and a semifinalist the last two years.

"This has been a very frustrating year for me physically, but I am a big competitor and I am determined to compete at the Sony Ericsson Championships," said Sharapova.

Following her win at this week's Generali Ladies Linz in Austria, Daniela Hantuchova clinched her spot by outperforming her nearest challenger, Marion Bartoli, currently in the first alternate spot.   This is the Slovak's second appearance in singles at the Sony Ericsson Championships, having previously competed in the year-end event in 2002.

"It is definitely a dream come true for me this year and I know I did everything possible to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid," said Hantuchova.  "All my hard work this year will make this is a great reward.  I am just going to enjoy every single match so much.  I'm thrilled to be a part of it and am really looking forward to going to Madrid."

Venus Williams, originally in seventh place on the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships points standings, has been forced to withdraw.  Following the incident of dizziness that she suffered at the US Open earlier this year, Venus underwent a series of tests, along with follow-up tests after returning from tournaments that she played in Asia in the fall, with her doctors' advice at this time to finalize the testing process and take a break from competitive play.

"This year has been a great one for many reasons," said the Wimbledon champion.  "I am pleased that I finished the year in the top eight and in recent weeks I have remained optimistic about participating in the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships.  Nevertheless, the accumulation of matches has taken its toll and I have received several medical opinions to delay my return to competitive tennis.  As a result, I will miss the Sony Ericsson Championships.  I look forward to playing in the New Year for what will hopefully be an even better 2008."

"This year's Sony Ericsson Championships will feature one of the very best fields in the tournament's history, with so many compelling champions and rising stars," said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.   "Having a global megastar such as Maria Sharapova and the hugely popular Daniela Hantuchova, each of whom has had fantastic 2007 seasons, round out the singles event is a tremendous boost for the event and will showcase the very best women's tennis has to offer."

"The Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships this year has been thrilling, and it's a great credit to Maria and Daniela that they have secured spots for Madrid," said Dee Dutta, CVP and Global Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson.  "With so many current and future champions in the field, fans will truly be treated to the best of the best in women's tennis."

"Once again we have a tremendous field. Having Maria and Daniela in Madrid is great news. I look forward to seeing them all next week. It is going to be an extraordinary week of women's tennis," said Manolo Santana, Tournament Director.

The Sony Ericsson Championships is one of the richest annual women's sporting events in the world.  The tournament is the season-ending punctuation to an 11-month global Tour which finally gathers the Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the season to battle it out for a share of the $3-million prize purse. Since its inception in 1972, the event has been held in such notable venues as Madison Square Garden, New York, the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany and The Forum and Staples Centre in Los Angeles.  Former singles champions read like a who's who of women's tennis: Tracy Austin, Kim Clijsters, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini and Serena Williams. The title holders are Justine Henin (singles) and Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur (doubles).


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Shame about Venus having to withdraw.. I guess it was based on good advice. Hopefully Hantuchova and Maria can put up a good performance... at least Daniela could..... anyway a good season ending run for Daniela... :)

What a real shame that Venus has pulled out. If we are honest I think this is between Serena and Justine unless there is a major wobble from both of them. I'll be supporting "The Cheat" though and hoping she can pull herself out of her bad form and achieve something here!!!! :D :D

i'll totally support 'the cheat' (the last time i will refer to her in this way) and hope she does well. she does not deserve all the venom tossed her way.

and, oh Venus :rolleyes:

She so does... :rolleyes:

She is only showing up for the attention... :rolleyes: :(

How the hell has Maria had a fantastic year? Wow, Larry Scott is well-informed :rolleyes: roflmao

Exactly... :rolleyes: :shrug:

Maybe being thrashed by Serena twice in one season is a measure of success on the WTA these days... roflmao

and being decidely beaten in all four slams this year :rolleyes:

larry scott is obviously in the sharapova camp's pocket :rolleyes:

Exactly he was probably peeing his pants when he heard Dani had won Linz.... :rolleyes:

and I know Venus will be missed at the YEC but I bet he was glad someone pulled out to let The Cheat through... :angry:

Don't think that there's that much venom directed at Sharpie.. :unsure:

If Sharpie isn't that fit btw then she should pull out too. However, I guess being finalist at the AO, SF at RG, QF at SW19 and R3 at USO probably mean that she's scraped into contention. But given the downward slope of her slam achievements, she isn't exactly going to be carrying any momentum (or form for that matter!) into the YEC, is she??

Now had Venus been playing then there would have been the X factor that the Williams always bring. Sharpie could end up being caned by Justine, and I daresay that a few of the others will fancy their chances too. But of course we shall see..

Perhaps it's the only way Larry gets an erection .... mention the name Sharapova and he goes

:lmaao: :lmaao: :lmaao: :lmaao:

Where did you find that emoticon roflmao roflmao

Priceless... :D :hug: :yahoo: roflmao :lmaao:

http://www.yelims.com/English/


I'm giving away all my secrets :unsure:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

:( :( :(

Justine has this in the bag :(

And i was hoping for an all Williams match up too :(

I will give Maria my support though

:unsure: That's an interesting stat.

It's not that interesting... :unsure:

She only qualiied this year because someone wasn't fully fit, that's the bottom line... :ok:

I think Nick's meaning was that the wording of "Former champion in 2004" doesn't really make 100% sense.

...and aren't Daniela and Maria equal 8th in the race.... who would have taken the place had Venus been fit?

Ah ok, as far as I know it was Dani who would have gone through ahead of The Cheat. Not sure why but it said on the WTA site that Dani was the 7th to qualify... :unsure:

Sam Smith said it was because Dani had played more tournaments, but i would have thought that would have gone against her :huh:

I'd have to agree. Ratio of points per tourney should be the important factor skill wise. Still, I guess it encourages the players to go out and play more tournaments.