Serena, Ivanovic pull out of Doha event

Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic have withdrawn from the season-ending Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championship in Doha.

American Williams was set to take on Elena Dementieva today, with the winner set to progress to the semi-finals, but pulled out with a stomach muscle injury.

Williams, who lost 7-5 1-6 0-6 to sister Venus on yesterday, said: “Once I felt the pain I was like ‘red flags‘. I’m having a great time, a great career. I’m doing so well, it’s not worth it.

“Today when I practised I was in pain when I played the groundstrokes so I didn’t want to risk it.”

Serbian Ivanovic, who was on her way out of the tournament after defeats to Jelena Jankovic and Vera Zvonareva, also withdrew before her final round-robin game against Svetlana Kuznetsova, citing a virus.

The four players through to the semi-finals are Jankovic, Zvonareva, Venus Williams and Dementieva.

Zvonareva capped a surprising run at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex with an impressive 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Jankovic to claim top spot in the White Group.

She will now face fellow Russian Dementieva, while Venus Williams will meet world number one Jankovic.