Oct 28, 2009, 19:28 GMT
Doha, Qatar - The tight race for the year-ending world number one looked set to end in dramatic fashion Wednesday at the Sony Ericsson Championships when tearful Dinara Safina was forced to quit her match with Jelena Jankovic after 12 minutes due to back pain.
The unexpected turn of events would send Serena Williams to the final 2009 top spot if Safina is unable to play either of her other two group matches.
Williams won the Australian Open and Wimbledon but competed in a scarce only 11 other events outside of the four majors and the year-ender this week.
Safina won three titles this season but has yet to win a Grand Slam, the major knock on her tenancy at the top ranking.
Jankovic, who lost her opening round-robin White group match 24 hours earlier against Victoria Azarenka, took the victory over the injured Safina at 1-1 with just 15 points played.
'It's really unfortunate. Dinara said she had hurt her lower back,' said Jankovic. 'I wished her well for her recovery. We all have problems with our bodies at this time of the year.'
The blink-of-an-eye contest was in sharp contrast to the nearly three hours it took fighting Dane Caroline Wozniacki to rally past Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The struggle featured a massive 39 break points, with Wozniacki rallying from the depths after being crushed in the first set.
The 20-year-old lost her serve eight times over a long evening while Azarenka was broken seven times.
In the day's final encounter, Williams was facing her sister Venus, the Doha holder who lost her opening match to Russian Elena Dementieva.
Safina only took back the top WTA ranking from Serena Williams prior to arrival in the Gulf for the year-end event which ends Sunday.
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