Dementieva retires in Doha

Doha - Elena Dementieva lost 6-4 6-2 to Italy's Francesca Schiavone at the WTA Championships on Friday before stunning the crowd by announcing her retirement from tennis.

The 29-year-old, making her 10th appearance at the prestigious tournament, blinked away tears as she thanked her fans around the world and paid tribute to her mother for her support throughout her career.

"I would like to thank all the people around the world for supporting me," Dementieva told the crowd as her mother and several other players wiped away tears at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in the Qatari capital.

"I'm so emotional and it's so hard to say goodbye."

Dementieva and Schiavone had already been eliminated from the Maroon Group after Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur sealed semi-final spots a day earlier, but with year-end ranking points and $100,000 on offer for the win neither player lacked motivation.

French Open champion Schiavone, making her singles debut at the $4.55 million season-ending tournament, suffered an early break but hit back immediately and moved into a 4-2 lead.

Russian Dementieva broke in the seventh and then levelled at 4-4 but the 30-year-old Schiavone regained the momentum and skipped with delight after sealing the set 6-4.

The Italian upped the tempo in the second set and quickly got the measure of Dementieva's serve and wrapped up the set 6-2.

In the remaining group matches, Kim Clijsters faces Vera Zvonareva before Jelena Jankovic takes on Victoria Azarenka.

Results:

Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Elena Dementieva (RUS) 6-4, 6-2


Vera Zvonareva (RUS) bt Kim Clijsters (BEL) 6-4, 7-5