DOHA, (Reuters) – Women’s tennis appears to be in  good shape despite the sight of the world’s best players  limping across the finishing line in Doha last week, where the  WTA Championships often resembled a dance of the walking  wounded.  

It was survival of the fittest in searing heat and  suffocating humidity and while others wilted, American Serena  Williams proved again that when she is fit and really wants  something, she is still top of the food chain.  

A slightly lighter schedule than some of her main rivals —  she played 18 tournaments compared to the 27 of world number  four Caroline Wozniacki — was in evidence as Williams stormed  to the Doha title to ensure she will end the year as world  number one for the first time since 2002.  

Like the skyscrapers that are sprouting out of the desert  in Doha’s dusty suburbs, the 28-year-old, who claimed her 10th  and 11th grand slam singles titles this year in Melbourne and  London, still looms large over the women’s game.  

She was virtually faultless at the Khalifa Tennis Centre  where she pocketed almost one million pounds ($1.64 million),  winning five matches in six days for the loss of just one set,  that against sister Venus in their round-robin clash.  

MERCILESS  

“I wanted to stay consistently fit this year,” said  Williams, whose brilliant year may yet end with a bitter ITF  punishment for her foul-mouthed tirade at a female line judge  at the U.S. Open.  

“I had a little hiccup in March, but I put myself back  together and I kept going.”  

By the time they met again in Sunday’s final, Venus’s tank  was empty while Serena was merciless, giving up just seven  points on serve in her 6-2 7-6 victory. Her post-match comment  that she didn’t expect to win the title fooled nobody. She is  back where she feels she belongs.  

Despite the WTA’s new road map that has lessened the load  for the games’s top players, the $4.5 million Doha showpiece  was marred by injuries and rows of empty seats.