DOHA // Dinara Safina travelled to Qatar for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships in buoyant mood, having risen from 17th in the world rankings to No 2 in the second half of the year.
Two days into the end-of-season showpiece, the Russian was ready to pack her bags after being put firmly in her place by the Williams sisters, whose reduced commitment to the tour has led to lower ratings but, as Safina painfully discovered, little or no reduction in ability.
Firstly, Safina was dispatched by the Wimbledon champion Venus and then, in the early hours of yesterday, was well beaten 6-4, 6-1 by the US Open champion Serena, leaving her hopes of a bumper pay day from the record prize pool of US$4.55m (Dh16.5m) in tatters.
Safina, the highest ranked of four Russians taking part here, is likely to be followed through the departure door by Ana Ivanovic, who is a pale shadow of the player who rose excitedly to the top of the world by winning the French Open less than five months ago.
Since then, she has suffered through injury and loss of confidence and endured a series of surprise defeats in matches she had been expected to win.
Losing her first encounter in Doha to her Serbian compatriot Jelena Jankovic, the world No 1, was no disgrace but when her survival prospects depended on beating the eighth-ranked Russian Vera Zvonareva in the second of her three round- robin matches, Ivanovic yet again came up short.
Again fitness, or the lack of it, was an issue as the fourth seed's 21st birthday celebrations were marred by the unusual occurrence of having her blood pressure checked on court as she slumped into her chair fatigued and seemingly dehydrated.
wjohnson@thenational.ae
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.