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Seeds Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska will be engaged in a three-way race at the Linz Open chasing the final two spots for next month's season-ending WTA Championships.

Wimbledon champion Williams was virtually guaranteed a place in the November 4-9 Doha tournament after capturing her second title of the year in Zurich on Sunday.

The only way Radwanska can deny the American - who lies ninth in the Doha race standings - a berth in the eight-woman line-up is by winning the Linz Open and the Quebec City event next week.

Russia's Zvonareva (pictured), eighth in race, has enjoyed a good run since the US Open and will secure her place in the WTA Championships if she reaches the Linz semi-finals or Radwanska, 10th in the race, loses before the final.

Six players have so far qualified for Doha: Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina, US Open champion Serena Williams, Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva, French Open winner Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Australian Open holder Maria Sharapova is also in the running to qualify but is not expected to play due to a shoulder injury.

Nine of the world's top 20 are competing in Linz, with world number four Ivanovic leading the field.

With the top players enjoying byes into the second round, Frenchwoman Alize Cornet was the highest seed in action at number eight. She overwhelmed Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng Jie of China 6-3 6-2.

Estonia's Kaia Kanepi will play third seed Radwanska after defeating Austrian wildcard Melanie Klaffner 6-4 6-0 and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia set up a second-round clash with 2005 champion Nadia Petrova by beating Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 7-5.

Reuters