FanHouse Serena Williams

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency acknowledged that it's too late to punish Andre Agassi for his failed drug test from 1997, darned statute of limitations. But WADA said it still wants some punishment, anyway. Maybe for Agassi's lies to doping officials, which he admits in his book? Maybe for perjury?

Doubtful. But I knew tennis would get its pound of flesh, anyway, as Agassi has embarrassed the sport's governing bodies. What I didn't know was how fast they would get that flesh.

Or that they would take it from Yanina Wickmayer.

She was banned Thursday for a year for a doping offense. It wasn't for failing a test, or apparently even for missing one, though details still aren't out. It was because she failed to report three times to doping officials over the past 18 months where she would be.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- Serena Williams said she didn't arrive at the Sony Ericsson Championships expecting to win.

Plenty of other people did that for her.

Williams bested big sister Venus again Sunday, winning 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the season-ending tournament for her third victory of the season. Williams also won Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and clinched the year-end No. ranking earlier in the week.

"It feels great," said Serena, who also won the WTA Tour's season-ending event in 2001. "I totally didn't expect to come here and win."

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- The Williams sisters will end their season with another title matchup.

Venus Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 Saturday in one semifinal at the Sony Ericsson Championships. Serena Williams won the other when Caroline Wozniacki quit because of an abdominal injury while trailing 6-4, 0-1.

Serena, who secured the year-end No. 1 ranking this week, is returning to the final of the WTA Tour's season-ending championships for the first time since 2004. She was knocked out in the group stage the last two years, but was the only player to go undefeated through the round-robin rounds this time.

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.

Manny Pacquiao will be honored for his humanitarianism on Nov. 24 in Manila, when the world boxing champion will be named a 2009, Gusi Peace Prize laureate.

"I am truly humbled by this incredible honor and I would like to thank the Gusi family and the foundation," said Pacquiao, 30, whose immense popularity in his country has reached Muhammad Ali-like proportions, in a press release. "To be included in such a group of accomplished humanitarians is beyond anything I ever dreamed of. They are inspirational."

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.

In a sport that has had a serious gambling scandal involving suspicions of match-fixing, how are we supposed to take Caroline Wozniacki's match the other day?

I'm starting to wonder exactly how many tennis matches aren't really on the up-and-up. Wozniacki, who reached the U.S. Open final, led Anne Kremer 7-5, 5-0 Tuesday at the Luxembourg Open.

And that's when Wozniacki chose to retire from the match with an injury. No broken bones. No fall. She had won seven straight games and was four points from winning.

"The injury suddenly happened," she said.

No way.

Two days after threatening to shove a tennis ball down her throat, Serena Williams said she would like to give a U.S. Open line judge "a big ole hug."

Unfortunately, that happy -- heartfelt? -- reunion will have to wait. The Serena line judge, whose identity has remained a secret, will not be at the WTA Tour Championships next week in Doha, Qatar.