Pierce Qualifies for Champs 05

PRESS RELEASE
Thursday , October 20, 2005
PIERCE BOLSTERS STAR-STUDDED FIELD AT SONY ERICSSON WTA TOUR
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Two-time Grand Slam champion clinches fourth spot in prestigious eight-player singles field that includes fellow Grand
Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport; tight race brewing for last four spots in coveted
season-ending event at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles; reigning Wimbledon champions Cara Black and Liezel Huber
clinch first spot in four -team doubles field
ST. PETERSBURG, FL USA – Two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce clinched a spot in the prestigious seasonending Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche at STAPLES Center, bringing the list of Grand
Slam champions in the field so far to four, the Tour announced today. In doubles, reigning Wimbledon champions Cara
Black and Liezel Huber became the first duo to secure a place in the four-team doubles field.
Pierce, whose resurgence at age 30 has been one of the biggest stories in women’s tennis this year, joins fellow Grand
Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport in the coveted eight-player singles field that will
battle it out in Los Angeles, Nov. 8-13. This will be Pierce’s seventh career appearance in the Championships and her
first since 1999. She posted her best result in 1997 when she reached the final.
Pierce of France sealed a place in the Championships after winning the Ladies Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Sunday, which
vaulted her to fourth place in the latest Porsche Race to the Championships standings with 3,184 points. She is currently
ranked fifth in this week’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings with a match record of 39-12.
At age 30, after struggling for years with injuries and falling in the rankings, Pierce has begun to soar again, particularly
during the second half of the season. She has won two prestigious titles (the Acura Classic in San Diego as well as
Ladies Kremlin Cup title) and reached the final at Roland Garros and the US Open, which has helped vault her back into
the top five in the rankings for the first time since 2000.
Six players – Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Venus Williams, Patty Schnyder, Elena Dementieva and Nadia
Petrova - are locked in an intense battle for the final four singles spots with three events left in the season. Only 666
points separate No. 5 Mauresmo from No. 10 Petrova. Several contenders, including Petrova, Dementieva and
Schnyder, are competing this week at the Zurich Open in Switzerland where one or more of those final qualifying spots
could be at stake.
Black and Huber, currently in first place in the Porsche Race to the Championships, easily locked down a place in the
doubles event with 2,295 points. Black and Huber, who have played together almost all season, have won two titles
together, including Wimbledon.
This will be Black’s sixth straight appearance in the doubles field at the Championships, where she has typically
performed well, reaching the final three times, including last year with Rennae Stubbs. Huber will be making her second
appearance after qualifying in 2002.
Several teams are fighting for the remaining three doubles spots. Second-place Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur are
in the driver’s seat with 1,721 points.
The top eight singles players and top four doubles teams in the final Porsche Race to the Championships standings
qualify for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche. The singles winner will earn $1 million,
one of the richest prizes in women’s sports history.
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s largest premier professional sport for women with more than 1,100 players representing 71 nations competing for $60
million in prize money at the Tour’s 63 events in 32 countries. More than four million people attended women’s tennis events in 2004 with millions more watching
events on television networks around the world. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships presented by
Porsche at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California, November 8-13, 2005. Further information on the Tour can be found on the Internet at www.wtatour.com.
PRESS RELEASE
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Darrell Fry, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, +1.727.502.1244, [email protected]
John Dolan, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, +44.77.128.98.266, [email protected]
Michael Roth, STAPLES Center, +1.213.742.7155, [email protected]
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s largest premier professional sport for women with more than 1,100 players representing 71 nations competing for $60
million in prize money at the Tour’s 63 events in 32 countries. More than four million people attended women’s tennis events in 2004 with millions more watching
events on television networks around the world. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships presented by
Porsche at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California, November 8-13, 2005. Further information on the Tour can be found on the Internet at www.wtatour.com.