Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Collin Matiza
31 October 2009
Harare — TOP Zimbabwean female tennis player Cara Black and her American partner Liezel Huber will be aiming for a hat-trick of victories at the WTA Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, this weekend.
Thursday's draw of the doubles competition at this prestigious season-ending tournament saw the world number one doubles pair of Black and Huber pitted against the Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in today's semi-finals.
This will be the sixth time this year these two teams meet. And no matter the result, it will probably be the last one, as the Aussie team announced they'd split after the season ending Championship.
While the first two matches had been won by Black and Huber on their way to the title (in Dubai and Madrid), the last two meetings have been won by the Aussie team (in Eastbourne and Toronto).
The Zimbabwean-American duo took the lead at the last US Open, when they won in three sets and two days their semi-finals match.
So the task won't be easy for neither team. Moreover, despite their third spot in the ranking of doubles teams, Stosur and Stubbs have not won any tournament this year, losing in all three finals they've played. Thus, it is needless to say they will want to finish their partnership on a high note.
The doubles draw at this season-ender feature four top teams and it is a direct semi-final knockout round.
The match-ups were announced on Thursday after the draw ceremony held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Williams' sisters Serena and Venus of the United States will face debutantes Nuria Llgostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain also today.
Black and Huber have been co-ranked No.1 in the world since November 2007, with Black having spent the second most weeks all-time at No.1 in doubles, and Huber having spent the sixth most.
Among their 27 career titles together are four Grand Slams and the 2007 and 2008 Tour Championships.
Black and Huber are attempting to complete a hat-trick of Sony Ericsson Championships' title.
They are aiming to be the only duo besides Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver of the United States to win the event at least three straight times.
Tennis great Navratilova ended her career winning the event a record 12 times with three different partners, including six straight times from 1980 to 1985.
She was 12-0 in Championships finals, with 10 of those titles coming with Shriver, including five straight from 1981 to 1985.
Another astonishing record is Navratilova won both the singles and doubles event at the Championships five times.
Only two other players have accomplished that feat even once -- Jana Novotna in 1997 and Martina Hingis in 2000.
Serena, who is ensured of a No. 1 singles finish this year-end, could add doubles' top position as well with her sister Venus.
If the duo wins and Black and Huber don't enter the final they will be number one.
The Williamses had qualified in 1998 but withdrew because Venus was injured.
Roland Garros was the only Grand Slam the sisters didn't win in 2009 while Black and Huber won five titles.
Spanish first-timers Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez have claimed six titles in 2009.
Aussies Stosur and Stubbs are not short on experience as the latter is appearing in her 14th season-ending Championships.
There have been many memorable moments in the history of the Tour Championships, a lot of which have occurred on the doubles court.
Doubles came aboard as part of the event in Boca Raton in 1973, a year after the first singles Championships, with Rosie Casals and Margaret Court the first champions. The event moved to Los Angeles the next year, and once again was captured by Casals, but this time with Billie Jean King.
In 1977 it moved again, this time to New York, where it was won by a player who would get very familiar with the winner's trophy, Navratilova, who partnered with Betty Stove.
Navratilova would end up winning the event a record 12 times with three different partners, including six straight times from 1980 to 1985.
She was 12-0 in Championships finals, with 10 of those titles coming alongside Shriver, including five straight from 1981 to 1985.
After Navratilova won her final doubles Championships in 1991, some fresh faces joined the winner's circle, including Gigi Fernandez and three-time champ Natasha Zvereva, who were victorious in 1993 and 1994, and Lindsay Davenport, who won three straight years with three different partners from 1996 to 1998. Hingis and Anna Kournikova took the title the last two years the event was held in New York, 1999 and 2000.
The one year it was held in Munich, 2001, three-time champ Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs won.
The next four years, Los Angeles was the host, producing four different winning teams. One of those duos, Raymond and Samantha Stosur, won the last year it was held in Los Angeles, 2005, and the first year it was held in Madrid, 2006.
Black and Huber took the title in 2007 and then again in 2008, when the tournament moved to its current home of Doha.
This year's doubles event also promises to enthrall, not least because Serena and Venus are in the field.
Roland Garros was the only Slam the sisters didn't win in 2009, but although they also won at Stanford their trophy haul was surpassed by co-world number ones Black and Huber, who won five titles and are gunning for a third straight SEC crown this weekend.
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