WTA

• Zvonareva and Venus advance to finals in Doha

  
  

  Doha, Qatar (Sports Network) - Russian Vera Zvonareva and American Venus Williams both won their semifinal matches on Saturday at the season-ending $4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships.

  Williams, the seventh seed, downed top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 at Khalifa Tennis Complex.

  Williams improved to 4-5 in her career against Jankovic and avenged losses in Rome and Stuttgart earlier this year.

  Jankovic will finish this year as the No. 1 player in the world.

  Williams will next face eighth-seed Zvonareva, who beat compatriot and No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3. Neither Russian hit a single ace in the two hour 20-minute battle.

  It was the sixth time that Dementieva and Zvonareva faced each other, with Dementieva leading their all-time series, 4-2.

  Williams is 5-1 lifetime against Zvonareva and has won five straight matches after dropping her first match against Zvonareva in 2003 in the French Open.

  The winner of this week's event will collect $1.34 million.

  11/08 15:05:30 ET