2002 Backspin Archives

July 9 - Wk.27 - "2002 Grasscourt Awards" (S.Williams)
July 15 - Wk.28 - "And a Teen Shall Lead Them" (Casanova)
July 22 - Wk.29 - "Fed Cup QF: A Star Aligns" (Schwartz)
July 29 - Wk.30 - "Sister Act" (V.Williams/Safina)
Aug.5 - Wk.31 - "Not-So-Silent Risers" (Dokic/Kournikova)
Aug.12 - Wk.32 - "The Other American" (Rubin)
Aug.19 - Wk.33 - "Getting Ready" (Mauresmo)
Aug.26 - Wk.34 - "U.S. Open Preview"
Aug.31 - Wk.35 - "Mid-U.S. Open: Of Catsuits & Bagels" (S.Williams)
Sept.9 - Wk.36 - "Serena Slam: Coming Soon to a Court Near You"
Sept.10 - "WTA 3Q Awards"
Sept.16 - Wk.37 - "The Russian with the Magic Touch" (Myskina)
Sept.23 - Wk.38 - "A Tale of Five Russians" (Bovina)
Sept.30 - Wk.39 - "Oh, Boy... Here comes Another One" (Kuznetsova)
Oct.7 - Wk.40 - "Whatever Do You Mean?" (Maleeva/Craybas)
Oct.14 - Wk.41 - "A Separation of Labor" (Clijsters/Hantuchova)
Oct.21 - Wk.42 - "Patty-Cakewalks" (Schnyder)
Oct.28 - Wk.43 - "Waffles, Anyone?" (Clijsters/Henin)
Nov.4 - Wk.44 - "Youth Over Experience" (Fed Cup)
Nov.13 - Wk.45 - "A Closing Burst...of hope?" (Clijsters)
Nov. - "2002 WTA Yearbook/Backspin Awards/10 Most Intriguing Recap"

...in 2002, the column that would eventually become "WTA Backspin," starting in Week 27, appeared simultaneously on Tennisrulz.com -- in complete form -- and on Jelena-Dokic.com -- in abbreviated form, at the end of my "Jelena Corner" columns. It is here that I consider the official "birth" of "WTA Backspin."

Beginning in Week 38, the column appeared exclusively on Tennisrulz. From Week 1-26 in 2002, the column appeared only in the abbreviated form on Jelena-Dokic.com. There was also the first "WTA Report Card/Yearbook" at the end of the '01 season, which appeared on Jelena-Dokic, as well as the "2002 Top 10 Intriguing Questions" (December '01) column. Both are posted on this blog.

Of this group of columns, the one I like to highlight is the Week 36 version in which I first mentioned the "Serena-Slam," Serena Williams' potential string of four consecutive grand slam titles in 2002-03. Taking a cue from golfer Tiger Woods' similar non-calendar year "Tiger Slam," I used this term before I ever heard it become a part of the sport's lexicon over the following few months. I doubt if I was the first to coin the phrase, but I just point this out to note that I wasn't piggy-backing onto the whole idea when I used it. As far as I was concerned at the time, it was an original creation.

Internet links to these articles are hard to find, so if anyone wants to read one that either isn't here or somewhere else on the net (in it's original Tennisrulz form), e-mail me at "Contact Me" button in the site's sidebar (with Backspin in the subject line) and make a request.