Wk.40- Last Belgian Standing

For a year that began under such dark clouds, 2007 has turned out to be a pretty good one for Justine Henin.

Actually, it's been quite remarkable.



La Petit Taureau's wild ride from personal turmoil to the best season of her career continued this weekend in Stuttgart with her claiming her eighth title of the season (double the next two highest tour totals... combined) with a win in the final over Tatiana Golovin. Amazingly, she's claimed the eight championships while playing just twelve events (she reached a final and three SF in the four tournaments she didn't win), going 54-4 and stringing together three separate winning streaks of at least thirteen matches, and two 16-match runs (one of which is still active).

A year after reaching the final of all four grand slams, Henin did so again in '07 in two of the three majors she played. Her name is already being engraved on all the "Player of the Year" trophies, and her 1850-point lead on the computer over #2-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova means she'll be the year-end #1 for the third time in the last five seasons, and the second in a row.

Even with her record of reliability over the years, it would have been difficult to envision a season quite like the one Henin has produced if you'd been forced to give a "yay" or "nay" on the possibility back in January when her personal entanglements had just forced her to skip the Australian Open.

And to think that between then and now there was ALSO all the drama surrounding some OTHER Belgian, too. What was her name? It seems like a lifetime ago... almost as if she was never there at all.

Oh, well. At least we know which Belgian is still standing... and, all measurements aside, doing so in a very "tall" fashion, as well.

*WEEK 40 CHAMPIONS*

STUTTGART, GERMANY (II-Hard Indoor)
S: Justine Henin def. Tatiana Golovin 2-6/6-2/6-1
D: Peschke/Stubbs d. Chan/Safina

TOKYO, JAPAN (III-Hard)
S: Virginie Razzano def. Venus Williams 4-6/7-6/6-4
D: T.Sun/Yan d. Chuang/King

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN (IV-Hard)
S: Pauline Parmentier def. Victoria Azarenka 7-5/6-2
D: Poutchek/Rodionova d. Dzehalevich/Yakimova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Justine Henin
... wins over Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic (naturally) and Tatiana Golovin paved the way for career title #37, Henin's first indoor title of '07. Meanwhile, the other Belgian -- who'll soon produce a mini-Waffle -- has released a book of fan letters. (No comment is really necessary on that, of course... I'm sure the sound of eyes rolling is audible through the world wide web, right?)
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RISERS: Virginie Razzano & Tatiana Golovin
... Pastries accounted for two of this weekend's three singles champions, and three of the six singles finalists. Before last weekend in Guangzhou, Razzano had never won a tour singles title. Then on Saturday she won her second in a six-day span, taking the Tokyo title by overcoming three Venus Williams match points to win her tenth consecutive match and move into the Top 30 for the first time. Golovin didn't win the Stuttgart title, but the Frussian Pastry did claim the opening set from Henin after having previously handled the likes of Anna Chakvetadze, Alona Bondarenko and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
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SURPRISES: Pauline Parmentier & Zi Yan

... Week 40's third French finalist and second champion, 21-year old world #87 Parmentier played like anything but a player who'd never really any real success on the WTA tour. Although, 1st Round wins at Roland Garros and the US Open (for which she qualified) earlier this season did hint at something brewing below the surface other than the ability to win three ITF crowns in '07. In Tashkent, that potential became reality as Parmentier knocked off the #1 (Victoria Azarenka), #2 (Dominika Cibulkova) and #3 (Olga Govortsova) seeds en route to winning her first career tour title without dropping a set in the tournament. Elsewhere, while Zi Yan's fortunes with oft-injured doubles partner Jie Zheng haven't exactly panned out over the course of the season, a Toronto Tier I singles SF and her fourth doubles title of the year this weekend in Tokyo (with Tiantian Sun) have helped to fashion an otherwise pretty memorable '07 campaign for her.
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VETERANS: Elena Dementieva & Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs
... don't write off Punch-Sober just yet. In Stuttgart, she pulled out a QF result and straight sets wins over Amelie Mauresmo and Daniela Hantuchova. This week, she's back home in Moscow for the Kremlin Cup. In the same event, Peschke & Stubbs won their second doubles title of the season.
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FRESH FACES: Victoria Azarenka & Caroline Wozniacki
... Azarenka is going to be kicking herself for losing the Tashkent final to Parmentier, especially after fumbling away leads in both sets in a straight sets loss. But still, the rising Belarussian's second final of the season (with Estoril) is just another step along the road to that first tour singles crown. Denmark's Wozniacki, too, is still looking for career title #1, but her first career SF in Tokyo means she's now one step closer, as well.
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DOWN: Venus Williams & Lucie Safarova
... looking for her second title in as many weeks, Venus blew three match points in the Tokyo final against Razzano. Safarova lost in the 1st Round in Stuttgart, making in ten straights events without a QF result after attaining three (Australian QF, Paris RU, Estoril SF) in her first six '07 tournaments.
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1. Tok F - Razzano d. V.Williams
...4-6/7-6/6-4. This match lasted 2:44, but it didn't have to take that long. In the 2nd set, which she eventually lost in a 9-7 tie-break, Venus held three match points. This is the second match since her Wimbledon triumph that Venus has failed to close out despite holding MP.
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2. Stutt F - Henin d. Golovin
...2-6/6-2/6-1. But this WAS the first set Henin's lost since that Wimbledon SF against Marion Bartoli.
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3. Stutt SF - Henin d. Jankovic
...7-6/7-5. Jelena must have a severe case of deja vu. She's now 0-8 against Henin, and even lost this one by the exact same score as their last match-up in the Toronto final.
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4. Stutt 2nd - K.Bondarenko d. Ivanovic
...6-2/1-6/6-3. The Radwanskas aren't the only sisters other than Venus and Serena who are causing waves on tour.
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5. Stutt QF - Kuznetsova d. S.Williams
...6-3/6-3. At least Serena is back on the court.
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6. Tash F - Parmentier d. Azarenka
...7-5/6-2. Parmentier is the fifth different French woman to win a title on tour this year, and the third first-time champion (Razzano & Golovin). In this one, Azarenka served at 5-3 in the 1st set and held two set points. She also led 2-0 in the 2nd. You can't say she didn't have her chances.
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7. Tash 1st - Poutchkova d. Tulyaganova
...7-5/6-3. Olga's long international nightmare is finally over.
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8. Tok Doub F - T.Sun/Yan d. Chuang/King
...1-6/6-2/10-6. In Tokyo, two Chinese players defeated a team composed of a player from Taiwan and an Asian-American. The face of the tour is changing, all right.
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9. Stutt QF - Jankovic d. Petrova
...6-7/5-1 ret. A hip injury gave Petrova her fifth loss by retirement this season.
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10. Tok 1st - Pin d. Kirilenko
...3-6/4-6/6-4. Pin finally beat one of the Marias.
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**LONG 2007 WIN STREAKS**
16...JUSTINE HENIN (AUG-current)
16...Justine Henin (May-Jul)
13...Justine Henin (Feb-Mar)
13...Serena Williams (Jan-Mar)
13...Anna Chakvetadze (Jul-Aug)

**CONSECUTIVE 2007 TITLES**
3...JUSTINE HENIN (TORONTO=US=STUTTGART)*
2...Justine Henin (Dubai=Doha)
2...Serena Williams (Australian=Miami)
2...Justine Henin (R.G.=Eastbourne)
2...Anna Chakvetadze (Cincy=Stanford)
2...VIRGINIE RAZZANO (GUANGZHOU=TOKYO)*
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*-current

**MOST DIFFERENT CHAMPIONS - BY NATION**
8...Russia
5...FRANCE
4...United States
2...BELGIUM
2...Italy
2...Serbia

**2007 FINALISTS - BY NATION**
25...Russia (11 titles)
16...FRANCE (7)
13...Serbia (7)
11...BELGIUM (9)
8.....UNITED STATES (7)

**WON 2007 WTA & ITF TITLES**
PAULINE PARMENTIER / FRA
Agnieszka Radwanska / POL
Agnes Szavay / HUN

**2007 WINS OVER JUSTINE HENIN**
Paris SF - Lucie Safarova
Miami Final - Serena Williams
Berlin SF - Svetlana Kuznetsova
Wimbledon SF - Marion Bartoli




MOSCOW, RUSSIA (I-Supreme Indoor)
2006 FINAL: Chakvetadze d. Petrova
2007 TOP: Kuznetsova/Sharapova
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=QF=
Kuznetsova d. Bartoli
S.Williams d. Vaidisova
Chakvetadze d. Kirilenko
Dementieva d. Sharapova
=SF=
Kuznetsova d. S.Williams
Dementieva d. Chakvetadze
=FINAL=
Kuznetsova d. Dementieva


=QF=
Kuznetsova d. Bartoli
S.Williams d. Vaidisova
Mauresmo d. Chakvetadze
Sharapova d. Schnyder
=SF=
Kuznetsova d. S.Williams
Sharapova d. Mauresmo
=FINAL=
Kuznetsova d. Sharapova


BANGKOK, THAILAND (III-HCO)
2006 FINAL: King d. Tanasugarn
2007 TOP: Jankovic/V.Williams
=============================
=SF=
Jankovic d. Razzano
V.Williams d. Peer
=FINAL=
Jankovic d. V.Williams


=SF=
Jankovic d. Razzano
V.Williams d. Pennetta
=FINAL=
V.Williams d. Jankovic


All for now.