The groups for the WTA Tour Championships have been drawn and Maria is in the Yellow group with fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova. Maria will play each of these players once in a round-robin format and the top 2 in the group qualify for the semis.
Here is Maria's record against the three:
vs Kuznetsova
Wimbledon 2003 4R lost 1-6 6-2 5-7
Beijing 2004 SF lost 2-6 2-6
WTA Tour Championships 2004 RR won 6-1 6-4
Australian Open 2005 QF won 4-6 6-2 6-2
Miami 2006 F lost 4-6 3-6
WTA Tour Championships 2006 RR won 6-1 6-4
Tied 3-3 and leads 2-0 indoors
vs Ivanovic
Linz 2006 QF won 7-6 7-5
Tokyo 2007 SF lost 1-6 0-1 ret
Roland Garros 2007 SF lost 2-6 1-6
Maria trails 1-2 and is tied 1-1 indoors
vs Hantuchova
Tokyo 2004 2R lost 6-7 1-6
Wimbledon 2004 3R won 6-3 6-1
Zurich 2004 2R won 6-4 7-5
Doha 2005 SF won 6-2 6-4
Australian Open 4R won 6-4 6-4
Zurich 2006 F won 6-1 4-6 6-3
Maria leads 5-1 and 2-1 indoors
The matches will begin on Tuesday.