Venus Williams defeated unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (1), 6-2 in yesterday's Zurich Open final to all but guarantee the American a place at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Third seed Williams, who had lost her last three meetings with Pennetta, took full control of their latest encounter after rampaging through the first set tiebreak 7-1.

Yesterday's victory will lift Williams comfortably clear of rivals Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the race for the last two Doha qualifying spots when the latest standings are published today.

Radwanska, in the worst position of the trio, will now have to win both the remaining tournaments in Linz, Austria, and Quebec, Canada, where she is not currently entered, to deny Williams a place at the finale.

In keeping with her previous poor record against Pennetta, Williams was made to work hard during the opening stages of yesterday's match with neither player offering up a single break point during the first set.

The subsequent tiebreak proved surprisingly one-sided, however, with Williams storming into a 6-0 lead after forcing two early errors from her opponent with a couple of powerful groundstrokes directly to Pennetta's feet.

After losing the tiebreak, Pennetta could find no way back.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal became the first Spaniard to secure the men's yearend No. 1 ranking on Saturday despite losing in the Madrid Masters semifinals.

Nadal toppled Roger Federer from top spot in August and after the Swiss also perished in the last four in Madrid the five-time grand slam champion was guaranteed to finish the season on top of the ATP rankings.

Saturday's defeat meant it would be the first time since 2003 that Federer, who won his fifth successive US Open crown last month, would not end the year as world No. 1.

"To become No. 1 during the year was one of my goals and it is important to have achieved it," said Nadal. "Moreover, if you finish the year as No. 1 it is even more special," added the 22-year-old after being beaten by Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3, 5-7, 6-7 (6).

"I am also very happy to bring something more to Spanish sport, something for Spanish history and for our great tennis tradition."

The Mallorcan is also the first left-hander to claim the accolade since John McEnroe in 1984.

After bagging a fourth successive French Open title in June, Nadal ended Federer's five-year reign at Wimbledon by winning what is considered the greatest ever tennis match in July.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 20, 2008)