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Wozniacki, Zvonareva make flying starts in Doha

Caroline Wozniacki crushed Elena Dementieva 6-1 6-1 at the WTA Championships on Tuesday to serve up a timely reminder to critics of her world number one ranking.

Wozniacki was in a different world at times, blasting away from the baseline while Russian Dementieva could offer little in return. The Dane wrapped up the Maroon Group opener in 53 minutes at the Khalifa Tennis Complex.

In the White Group opener, world number two Vera Zvonareva powered past a lethargic Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-0 to keep alive her slender hopes of grabbing the year-end number one spot from Wozniacki.

Wozniacki has come under fire for reaching the pinnacle of women’s tennis without winning a grand slam and the absence of number three Serena Williams from the prestigious $4.55 million tournament has done nothing to quieten the critics.

But the 20-year-old looked every inch the world’s top player on Tuesday, picking off the Russian’s curious windmill-style serves and dominating her own service games.

Wozniacki whizzed through the first set in 25 minutes, Dementieva bewildered by the Dane’s shot-making skills and her own inability to keep the ball in play.

The second set proved just as painful for the Russian, who is making her 10^th appearance at the WTA Championships, as the relentless Wozniacki finished off the match in less than an hour.

UNDER THE WEATHER

Russian Zvonareva, decked out in host Qatar’s colours of maroon and white, had much more verve and zip than her struggling Serbian opponent, who offered only fleeting resistance before capitulating in the second set to lose 6-3 6-0.

Jankovic had exited her two previous tournaments in the second round citing ill health and was clearly under the weather.

“I think it’s very difficult for most of the players to show their best tennis in the first match,” Zvonareva said.

“Maybe I didn’t show my best tennis today. I had a few unforced errors in that first set, but I think overall I played really well.

“I think it was very good performance from me and it just feels an amazing to win my first match at the Championships.”

French Open champion Francesca Schiavone plays Sam Stosur in the last match of the evening.