DOHA, Qatar - The Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2009 will take place from October 27 to November 1 at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in the Qatari capital of Doha to conclude the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season.
The Top 8 players using the best of 16 ranking system, starting with the beginning of the Tour season, will qualify for the Championships. After the field has been determined, the next two players who would be accepted into the Championships, based on total Tour ranking points, will be the alternates and will step in should one of the elite eight be unable to play any of their matches.
The event will have four players in each pool (white and maroon, the colors of the Qatari flag). During the first four days of competition, each player meets the other three players in their pool, with the Top 2 in each pool moving on to the semifinals. The first-place player in the White Group will battle the second-place player in the Maroon Group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal will play in the championship match.
In doubles, the Top 4 teams with the highest combined ranking points accumulated as a team during the current Tour season will qualify. It is a single-elimination draw, beginning with the semifinal round.
Doha will also host the Championships in 2010 before the event moves to Istanbul, Turkey, from 2011 to 2013. The Championships were first played in 1972 and since then have been held in such notable venues as Madison Square Garden, New York City; the Olympiahalle in Munich; Staples Center in Los Angeles; and the Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo in Madrid.
A Championships-record prize money of $4.45 million will be at stake this year, with it being awarded as follows:
Singles (all amounts in USD)
Winner*: $1,550,000
Runner-up*: $780,000
Round Robin (3 wins): $400,000
Round Robin (2 wins): $300,000
Round Robin (1 win): $200,000
Round Robin (no wins): $100,000
Alternate: $50,000
(* Prize money if undefeated)
Doubles (per team) (all amounts in USD)
Winner: $375,000
Runners-up: $187,500
Semifinalists: $93,750
