Wk.35/36-Three Quarters Full

As the U.S. Open came to a close on Sunday with Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur claiming the Women's Doubles title, the WTA's 3rd Quarter officially came to its end. So, as is the ritual around these parts, it's time for Backspin to dole out some awards.

But, first, here's a quick look back at the 2005 U.S. Open champions:

=SINGLES=
Kim Clijsters def. Mary Pierce 6-3/6-1
=DOUBLES=
Raymond/Stosur def. Dementieva/Pennetta
=MIXED=
Hantuchova/Bhupathi def. Srebotnik/Zimonjic
=GIRLS SINGLES=
Viktoria Azarenka def. Alexa Glatch 6-3/6-4
=GIRLS DOUBLES=
Frankova/Kleybanova def. Glatch/King

And now for the tops of the 3rd Quarter (Wk.27-36), keeping in mind the words of Nicole Vaidisova, that "people who never care that they lose have never won so much." Apparently, Killer Kim must have finally started to "care"... guess having your career flash before your eyes has a way of inspiring just a bit more greatness:

=PLAYERS OF THE QUARTER=
1.Kim Clijsters
2.Mary Pierce
3.Lindsay Davenport
4.Patty Schnyder
5.Amelie Mauresmo
6.Justine Henin-Hardenne
7.Elena Dementieva
8.Anastasia Myskina
9.Maria Sharapova
10.Anna Smashnova

=RISERS=
1.Anna-Lena Groenefeld
2.Nadia Petrova
3.Daniela Hantuchova
4.Shuai Peng
5.Katarina Srebotnik
6.Anabel Medina-Garrigues
7.Na Li
8.Akiko Morigami
9.Ashley Harkleroad
10.Jie Zheng

=FRESH FACES=
1.Anna Chakvetadze
2.Sania Mirza
3.Nicole Vaidisova
4.Lucie Safarova
5.Sesil Karatantcheva
6.Agnes Szavay
7.Viktoria Azarenka
8.Alexa Glatch
9.Aiko Nakamura
10.Ekaterina Bychkova

=SURPRISES=
1.Maria Vento-Kabchi
2.Bethanie Mattek
3.Samantha Stosur
4.Tiantian Sun
5.Vania King

=VETERANS=
1.Mary Pierce
2.Lindsay Davenport
3.Anna Smashnova
4.Martina Navratilova
5.Lisa Raymond

=DOWN=
1.Svetlana Kuznetsova
2.Venus Williams
3.Serena Williams

=BEST PERFORMANCE=
Kim Clijsters on North American hardcourts...23-1, four titles and her first grand slam championship

=BEST MATCH=
US Open SF - Clijsters d. Sharapova 6-2/6-7/6-3... Killer Kim Clijsters overcomes Nice Kim's demons after blowing five match points, and the rest is history

=BEST COMEBACK=
US Open QF - Clijsters d. V.Williams 4-6/7-5/6-1... Venus led 6-4/4-2, but then Clijsters played just too "bad" for Ferris to muster up the ability to win the match.

=WORST CHOKE=
Kuznetsova's U.S. Open defense... a year after winning seven straight to take her first grand slam title, the Contessova went 2-4 throughout the entire hardcourt season.

=BIGGEST UPSET=
San Diego QF - Peng d. Clijsters 6-4/6-4... the only loss Clijsters endured during the entire quarter.

=LEAST SURPRISING BIG UPSET=
U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Bychkova d. Kuznetsova 6-4/6-2... Kuznetsova became the first defending champ to go out in the 1st Round. Bychkova opened this week by upsetting Sania Mirza in Bali, by the way.

=BIGGEST BUST=
U.S. Open 4th Rd. - Venus d. Serena 7-6/6-2... another lackluster match knotted their career series at 7-7. Hmmm... just like the fans watching -- no one ever really wins when these two meet on the court.

=SERIES UPDATE=
Clijsters vs. Sharapova... the Supernova has more than met her match in Clijsters. She's 0-4 against her.

=ITF PLAYER OF THE 3Q=
Ashley Harkleroad

=WTT PLAYER OF THE 3Q=
Martina Hingis

=ODDS & ENDS=
...Daniela Hantuchova completed a career Mixed Doubles Slam
...Sania Mirza went farther in the draw (Round of 16) than any Indian before her
...Maria Sharapova gained, lost, then gained the #1 ranking once again as the 3Q ended
...Martina Navratilova, 48, broke her own record for oldest WTA titlist (winning Toronto w/ Anna-Lena Groenefeld)
...Steffi Graf returned to play WTT tennis for Houston

===========================

==WTA LISTS==

**MOST 2005 SINGLES TITLES**
7...Clijsters
4...Henin-Hardenne
3...Sharapova
3...Davenport

**MOST 2004-05 SINGLES TITLES**
10...Davenport (7/3)
9....Clijsters (2/7)
9....Henin-Hardenne (5/4)
8....Sharapova (5/3)
7....Mauresmo (5/2)

**WEEKS IN 2005 SINGLES TOP 10**
[of 36 wks.; CAPS=IN CURRENT TOP 10]
36...SHARAPOVA
36...DAVENPORT
36...MAURESMO
36...DEMENTIEVA
36...S.WILLIAMS
35...Kuznetsova
29...Myskina
27...V.WILLIAMS
22...Molik
19...PETROVA
18...HENIN-HARDENNE
13...Capriati
7....CLIJSTERS
6....Zvonareva
3....Schnyder
1....PIERCE

**2005 TOP 10ers in 3rd Quarter**
23-1...Clijsters (2-0 Fed Cup)
13-3...Schnyder
10-3...Mauresmo (2-0 Fed Cup)
10-1...Pierce (1-0 Fed Cup)
9-3.....Myskina (2-0 Fed Cup)
9-4.....Dementieva (1-1 Fed Cup)
8-2.....Davenport
8-4.....Petrova
7-1.....Sharapova
7-2.....Henin-Hardenne
7-2.....V.Williams (1-1 Fed Cup)
4-1.....S.Williams
2-3.....Zvonareva
2-4.....Kuznetsova
0-2.....Molik
0-0.....Capriati

**TOP 10ers - 2005 WTA W/L**
55-6.....Clijsters
48-8.....Sharapova
46-16..Schnyder
44-8.....Davenport
41-12..Mauresmo
40-16..Petrova
34-4.....Henin-Hardenne
33-9.....V.Williams
33-13..Dementieva
32-11..Pierce
27-15..Kuznetsova
22-15..Myskina
21-6.....S.Williams
19-15..Zvonareva
16-9.....Molik
0-0.......Capriati

**2005 DOUBLES TITLES**
[doubles/mixed]
5...Ruano-Pascual [5/0]
5...Stosur [4/1]
4...Likhovtseva [4/0]
4...Black [4/0]
4...Loit [4/0]

**BACKSPIN SLAM AWARDS**
==MISS OPPORTUNITY==
A: #19 Nathalie Dechy (SF)
R: #21 Mary Pierce (RU)
W: #14 Venus Williams (W)
U: #6 Elena Dementieva (SF)
==UPSET QUEENS==
A: Russians
R: French
W: Americans
U: Americans
==IT GIRL==
U: Sania Mirza

**2005 SLAM - FIRST SEEDS OUT**
A: #16 Sugiyama (lost to Sucha)
R: #25 Safina (lost to Razzano)
W: #10 Schnyder (lost to Ant.Serra-Zanetti)
U: #28 Pennetta (lost to Schruff)

**2005 SLAM JR. FINALS**
A: Viktoria Azarenka d. Agnes Szavay
R: Agnes Szavay d. Raluca-Ioana Olaru
W: Agnieszka Radwanska d. Tamira Paszak
U: Viktoria Azaranka d. Alexa Glatch

===========================

===BATTLE ROYALE 2==
...well, BR2 was a pretty tight affair. But congrats to Pierre for racking up enough correct SF predictions to keep it from being a remarkable tie:

Semifinalists: Pierre Cantin 27-21
Finalists: tied 10-10
Champions: tied 3-3

...there's only one official WTA tournament this week, in Bali (though the presence of Davenport makes it more important than it might be otherwise).

**BALI, INDONESIA (III-HO)**
04 F: Kuznetsova d. S.Williams
05 TOP: Davenport/Schnyder
==========================
SF: Davenport d. Li; Schnyder d. Zheng
FINAL: Davenport d. Schnyder

...though it wouldn't be a surprise to see Sneaky Patty dumped out early here.

There are also some intriguing team events this weekend, as the Fed Cup champion will be decided at this new earlier-in-the-season date, and the WTT's 30th Anniversary playoffs will be held (with the SF giving us another Martina vs. Martina matchup):

FED CUP FINAL (Red Clay)
[Paris, France]
04 Final: Russia d. France
==========================
FINAL: Russia d. France 3-2

...yeah, the Pastries have the home court advantage, but the Russians are pretty adept on red clay themselves. I'll say the singles matches will be split, with the doubles match deciding the championship.

WORLD TEAM TENNIS
=================
SF: NY Sportimes d. Boston; Newport Beach d. Sacramento
FINAL: NY Sportimes d. Newport Beach

...Martina (H.) rules supreme.

Check out the "Links of the Week" for the official Fed Cup and WTT sites.

Also, the 3rd Quarter ATP Awards are up on ATP Backspin, and the 3Q WTA Quiz will be up on The Backspin Quiz Page before the end of the week. Next week, the Backspin Player-of-the-Year Watch officially begins.

All for now.