Ms.Backspin Update

Time for a quick "baker's dozen" update on the 2007 horse race for "Player of the Year":

=THE LEAD PACK=
1. Justine Henin: in rare form on the court in Paris, and in new form off it, Le Petit Taureau is #1 with a bullet... and now the two-time Wimbledon RU heads to SW19 with a shot to sew up the career slam.
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2. Serena Williams: she's hardly sporting the luster she had after Melbourne, as some of the usual maladies have prevented Serena from being a regular on tour during the 2Q. But she HAS added a post-Oz Tier I in Miami, and will be Favorite #1a or #1b at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
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3. Jelena Jankovic: she plays (20 of 24 weeks) and wins more than any other player on tour, and will finish in the Top 5 as long as her arm doesn't fall off... but Ivanovic beat her to a first slam final. If the recent one-upsmanship between the Fantastic Two is truly a pattern, though, then Jankovic might match AnaIvo's accomplishment before the end of the summer.

=THE PELETON=
4. Cara Black & Liezel Huber: an Aussie Open crown, along with three other titles, has moved this pair past Raymond/Stosur into the #1-ranked doubles team slot. On Monday, Cara Black replaced Raymond as the top-ranked doubles player in the world.
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5. Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur: they've won four Tier I titles in '07, but missed out at both Oz and Roland Garros.
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6. Ana Ivanovic: AnaIvo is rising like a rocket through the Top 10 (hello #6) and, remember, she won the U.S. Open Series last year.

=LAPPED, BUT WITH THE SPEED TO CATCH UP=
7. Maria Sharapova: even with her service problems and prolonged injury-related absence (and zero '07 titles), it's hard to overlook the Supernova's Oz RU and Roland Garros SF. Not with her best two slams still on the schedule.
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8. Svetlana Kuznetsova: the Contessova is getting close, but nothing more. She's reached four finals in '07, three of them Tier I's, but lost them all.
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9. Amelie Mauresmo: before the appendectomy, and between her slam losses to Lucie Safarova, Mauresmo three-peated in Antwerp to claim the diamond racket. Plus, no one really expected a carbon copy of her two-slam winning '06 season... which could mean she's a quiet favorite despite being the defending champ at the All-England Club.

=OF NOTE=
10. Yung-Jan Chan & Chia-Jung Chuang: the doubles revelations of 2007.
11. Lucie Safarova: has made more waves than fellow Czech Maiden Vaidisova.
12. Sybille Bammer: the Mommy Surprise of the season.
HM- Daniela Hantuchova: sure, the Indian Wells win was great. But, once again, the follow-up has been pretty much nonexistent.


All for now.