Los Angeles, Nov 04: Serena and Venus Williams are the top two seeds in the season-ending WTA championships. Top-seeded Serena Williams will open play against Israel's Anna Smashnova on Thursday. Williams' older sister, Venus, is seeded second and will play patty Schnyder of Switzerland when the $3 million tournament begins Wednesday at staples center. Other matches Wednesday will be No. 4 Justine Henin of Belgium against Elena Dementieva of Russia, No.5 Kim Clijsters of Belgium against American Chanda Rubin, and No. 6 Monica Seles against Lindsay Davenport. No. 3 Jennifer Capriati plays Thursday against Italy's Silvia Farina Elia.
The six-day tournament features the top 16 singles and top eight doubles teams and will determine the WTA tour's final rankings for the year.

Bureau Report