FanHouse Dinara Safina

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- Serena Williams became the first player to clinch a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Sony Ericsson Championships on Thursday, defeating Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-4 for her third straight win in the tournament's round-robin group phase.

Her sister Venus, the defending champion, stayed alive by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 for her first win in three matches. She needs Kuznetsova to beat Dementieva on Friday to have a chance of advancing to the semifinals.

Earlier, Caroline Wozniacki overcame severe leg cramps and a tenacious Vera Zvonareva to win 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4.

She threatened a player, didn't try most of the year, famously threatened a line judge and was thrown out of a match.

The other thing Serena Williams did in 2009 was this:

She won the year-end No. 1 ranking. It became official Wednesday in Doha, Qatar, at the WTA Championships when Dinara Safina, the current No. 1 Williams was trying to overcome, withdrew from the tournament with a bad back. It guaranteed that Williams would finish the year No. 1 for the first time since 2002.

Two more things: She deserves it.

And it's the best thing for tennis.

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Serena and Venus Williams have plenty of experience playing against each other. But you wouldn't have been able to tell that by the way the two played when they faced off for the 22nd career time on Wednesday in the WTA Tour Championships in Doha.

It took Serena almost three hours and a full three sets (including a third set tiebreak) to top her older sister 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) in a somewhat sloppy match. They didn't play well at the same time until the last three games of the match, where the two finally seemed to put forth their best effort.

With Serena trailing 5-6 in the third, both players turned on the jets and provided the fans in Doha with a brief glimpse of what they were hoping to see throughout the match. Asked what changed for her late in the third, Serena said, "I just tried to relax. Whenever I relax, I play better." Seems simple enough.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- After months of debate about who is more deserving of the No. 1 ranking, Serena Williams and Dinara Safina will settle the issue on the court at the WTA Tour's season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships.

Safina recaptured the top ranking from Williams on Monday, but the margin is so slim that the player who performs better at this week's tournament in Doha will end the year at No. 1.

Safina has held the top spot for 26 weeks this year, but the Russian has faced persistent questions about whether she's worthy of the title without having won a Grand Slam tournament. Williams won her 11th major title at Wimbledon this year, after also taking the Australian Open.

The pain is over. The anguish, the torture, the pressure, the agony.

When Dinara Safina took the No. 1 ranking in women's tennis in April, she said it was her childhood dream. She also apologized for it, which was our first warning.

But now, finally, she has lost the ranking. Serena Williams, after her 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the China Open Tuesday, will move to No. 1 next week. It's a much better fit for everyone.

NEW YORK -- You can be cocky, polite or crude. You can be defiant, petulant, single-minded or worldly. You can be a sportsman or a cheat.

There are so many different personalities, mindsets and mannerisms for champions.

Whatever it is that matters most, though, whatever the common thread, it's just not in Dinara Safina.

"I serve, and then sometimes I don't even think what I'm doing," she said Tuesday, after squeaking past young Olivia Rogowska, who seems to have won one match in her career. Safina won 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open. "I double-fault and I look at my coach, like, and he's like...

"I know what I have to do, but I just don't do it. And then at the changeover, it's like, 'Please, just look at the ball to the end.' "

Whatever is in the mind of a champion, that's not it.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Federer and Dinara Safina were seeded No. 1 for the U.S. Open on Tuesday, with the U.S. Tennis Association following the ATP and WTA rankings.

The top-ranked Safina leads the women's U.S. Open field, ahead of No. 2 Serena Williams. Safina is 0-3 in Grand Slam tournament finals, while Williams is the defending champion at Flushing Meadows and has won 11 major championships.

Serena Williams is becoming a fraud. There is no other way to put it.

She is throwing matches. Tanking.

She lost to Sybille Bammer Thursday at the Cincinnati Open 7-5, 6-4, committing 44 unforced errors. That's two per game.

"Anyone could have beaten me today,'' she said.

That could actually be Serena's motto during non-majors. This is getting embarrassing, and it would be nice if someone else would hold her accountable. No one wants to anger the golden goose, I guess.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Some of the biggest names in tennis, like Dinara Safina, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, are competing this week in The LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife, taking place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. It's all part of the WTA Tour and has an impressive $700,000 purse. In this FanHouse Exclusive we talk to the No. 1 player in the world, Safina, about her ranking. We also find out from Ivanovic whether or not she enjoys all the attention she gets because of her stunning looks.

Check out the video after the jump.

Quite frankly, to use her own words, Serena Williams really is the best. She said so a few months ago, when the computer dropped her from the No. 1 ranking, and then embarrassed herself a few times, even losing to a journeyman hours after her self-proclaimed greatness.

But on Saturday, she proved it. She's right. Serena beat her sister, Venus Williams, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to win Wimbledon.

Serena is the best.

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