ZURICH // Venus Williams defeated the unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-6 6-2 in today's Zurich Open final to all but guarantee the American a place at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha.
The third seed Williams, who had lost her last three meetings with Pennetta, took full control of their latest encounter after rampaging through the first set tiebreak 7-1.
Today's victory will lift Williams comfortably clear of rivals Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska in the race for the last two Doha qualifying spots when the latest standings are published tomorrow.
Radwanska, in the worst position of the trio, will now have to win both the remaining tournaments in Linz and Quebec, where she is not currently entered, to deny Williams a place at the finale.
In keeping with her previous poor record against Pennetta, Williams was made to work hard during the opening stages of the match with neither player offering up a single break point during the first set.
The subsequent tiebreak proved surprisingly one-sided, however, with Williams storming into a 6-0 lead after forcing two early errors from her opponent with a couple of powerful groundstrokes directly to Pennetta's feet.
After losing the tiebreak, Pennetta could find no way back.
Dropping her serve for the first time in the third game of the second set, she then had to watch as Williams fired in four straight aces to lead 3-1.
Following a further break of the Italian's serve, Williams was denied her first chance to wrap up the match when a Pennetta backhand on match point which looked long was controversially ruled in.
Williams kept her cool, hitting a fierce winner to the corner of the court before producing a final service winner.
*Reuters
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Fifa Club World Cup:
When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid
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Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
