Black/Stubbs Take Third Spot

ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA – Cara Black (ZIM) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) are the third team to qualify for the doubles event at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place at Madrid Arena in the Spanish capital, November 7-12.

This season, the duo has won Tier I titles at the Acura Classic in San Diego in August and the Zürich Open in Zürich this past weekend, Black's 27th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles title and Stubbs's 55th. Runners-up another four times in 2006, they are currently in third place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships with 2459 points. Since first teaming up during the summer of 2003, Black and Stubbs have won one Grand Slam title (2004 Wimbledon) and have secured 10 other Tour doubles titles. They have also been doubles runners-up at the last two Championships, in 2004 and 2005. This year, they have a 38-16 match record and are currently ranked No.5 and No.6 respectively on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Doubles Rankings.

"It feels great to qualify again for the Sony Ericsson Championships," Stubbs said. "We're really looking forward to the challenge of taking on the very best teams, and it's definitely our goal to go one step further than 2004 and 2005."

"Cara and Rennae have cemented their position as one of the premier doubles teams in the world and it's fantastic to see them qualify again for the Sony Ericsson Championships," said Larry Scott, CEO of the Tour. "This year's Race to the Championships has been one of the tightest in our history and demonstrates how many world class doubles teams we have competing on the Tour."

"The 2006 Sony Ericsson Championships will again feature the very best doubles players from around the world battling it out to be crowned end-of-season champions," said Dee Dutta, CVP and Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson. "We are very proud to be sponsoring this phenomenal event. The Championships is about bringing together the best of the best and with a whole raft of innovations and events set to be unveiled it will be a truly memorable week in Madrid."

The Championships will gather the Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the regular Tour season as they battle it out for the season-ending titles and a share of the $3-million purse. The defending champions are Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) in singles and Lisa Raymond (USA) and Samantha Stosur (AUS) in doubles.

Roland Garros champions Raymond and Stosur currently lead the Doubles Race with 3805 points, with Australian Open and Wimbledon champions Yan Zi (CHN) and Zheng Jie (CHN) not far behind on 3022. Just one doubles spot in the Sony Ericsson Championships remains, with Kveta Peschke (CZE) and Francesca Schiavone (ITA) doing battle with Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN).