2005 WTA Yearbook

...overstuffed for your protection.

==STUDENT COUNCIL==

CLASS PRESIDENT: Kim Clijsters
PRESIDENTIAL STAND-IN: Lindsay Davenport
VICE-PRESIDENT: Justine Henin-Hardenne (w/ doctor's permission slip)
CO-VALEDICTORIANS: Venus & Serena Williams
SALUTATORIAN: Amelie Mauresmo
CLASS TREASURER: Maria Sharapova
FACULTY/STUDENT BODY LIAISON: Anna-Lena Groenefeld


==FACULTY==

CAMPUS DEAN (back from sabbatical): Mary Pierce
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: Martina Navratilova
TENURED PROFESSOR (in absentia): Jennifer Capriati
(MIS)COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR (in training): Sania Mirza
GRADUATION MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES: Martina Hingis (in New York only)
COMMENCEMENT KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Steffi Graf (in Houston only)
YEARBOOK PHOTOGRAPHER: Anna Kournikova (in Sacramento only)


==DEPARTMENT HEADS==

BUSINESS: Maria Sharapova
ENGLISH (as a foreign language): Sesil Karatantcheva
FRENCH (as a third language in France): Nathalie Dechy
DRAMATIC ARTS: Serena Williams
(IM)POLITICAL SCIENCE: Patty Schnyder
PSYCHOLOGY (of winning): Nadia Petrova
(In Need of) PSYCHIATRY: Jelena Dokic
SCIENCE (of working well w/ others): Cara Black
MEDICINE (outgoing chairwoman): Justine Henin-Hardenne
MEDICINE (newly appointed): Alicia Molik
NUTRITION/HEALTH: Daniela Hantuchova
WORLD RELIGIONS (and burnings in effigy): Sania Mirza
SOCIAL WORK: Chanda Rubin
HISTORY: Silvia Farina Elia & Maggie Maleeva


==JR/SR PROM COMMITTEE==

PROM QUEEN: Nicole Vaidisova
QUEEN'S COURT: Maria Kirilenko, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Anna Chakvetadze, Tatiana Golovin, Lucie Safarova, Michaella Krajicek, Sesil Karatantcheva, Shahar Peer

LADY(NOVA)-in-WAITING: Maria Kirilenko
PARTY-CRASHER: Sesil Karatantcheva
DECORATING COMMITTEE: Venus & Serena Williams
(TITLE-LESS) WALLFLOWER: Francesca Schiavone
HEARTBREAKER: Jelena Dokic
RULEBREAKER: Sania Mirza
SOPHOMORE SLUMPER: Tatiana Golovin

JR.QUEEN: Viktoria Azarenka
JR.QUEEN'S COURT: Agnes Szavay, Raluca-Ioana Olaru, Timea Bacsinszky, Alisa Kleybanova, Sanja Ancic, Tamira Paszek, Agnieszka Radwanska, Alexa Glatch, Marina Erakovic


==CLASS FAVORITES==

MOST WELL-LIKED: Lindsay Davenport
SEXIEST: Gisela-Maria Sharavaidilenkovic (what a woman!...or 5)
MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED: Nicole Vaidisova

PERSONALITY (w/ a smile): Sesil Karatantcheva
PERSONALITY (w/ t-shirts & nose-rings): Sania Mirza

LOUDEST (on-court): Maria Sharapova
LOUDEST (off-court): Sesil Karatantcheva
LOUDEST (at net): Patty Schnyder
BEST-SMELLING (off-court): Maria Sharapova's own perfume

MOST DANGEROUS (at court-side): Nicole Vaidisova
LEAST DANGEROUS (no-show): Jelena Dokic

QUIETEST (in Top 10): Nadia Petrova
QUIETEST (in Top 20): Nathalie Dechy
QUIETEST (in Top 25): Flavia Pennetta

MOST TALENTED (over 20): Serena Williams
MOST TALENTED (under 20): Nicole Vaidisova
MOST TALENTED (over 30): Mary Pierce
MOST TALENTED (over 40): Martina Navratilova


==RUSSIAN ROUND TABLE==

LEADING LADY: Maria Sharapova
UNDERSTUDY: Maria Kirilenko
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Elena Dementieva
NEXT BIG THING?: Anna Chakvetadze
NOT NEXT BIG THING: Vera Zvonareva
NO LONGER WAITING IMPATIENTLY: Nadia Petrova
OVERTHROWN CHAMPIONS: Anastasia Myskina & Svetlana Kuznetsova
M.I.A.: Elena Bovina
VETERAN: Elena Likhovtseva
SISTER: Dinara Safina
NAME-CHANGER: Vera Douchevina/Dushevina
(THANKFULLY) NOT CHANGING NAME: Ekaterina Bychkova
NextGen HORDETTES: Evgenia Linetskaya, Alisa Kleybanova, Elena Tchalova


==MAIDEN/COOKIE SQUARE TABLE==

MAIDEN STAR: Nicole Vaidisova
COOKIE MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED: Shuai Peng
MOST SURPRISING: Zi Yan
VETERAN: Kveta Peschke
UNDERACHIEVER: Na Li
OVERACHIEVER: Jie Zheng
UNKNOWN ACHIEVER: Meng Yuan
OVERDUE CHAMPION: Klara Koukalova
STILL WAITING TO BE A CHAMPION: Shuai Peng
STILL WAITING (TO REACH THE "NEXT LEVEL"): Iveta Benesova
ITF/WTA DUAL THREAT: Lucie Safarova
ITF STAR: Petra Cetkovska
2006 BREAKTHROUGHS: Tiantian Sun & Zuzana Ondraskova


==ODDS & ENDS==

HARDCOURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kim Clijsters
CLAYCOURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Justine Henin-Hardenne
GRASSCOURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Venus Williams
INDOOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mary Pierce
FED CUP PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Elena Dementieva

BEST QUOTE: "People who never care that they lose have never won so much." (Nicole Vaidisova)
BEST/WORST QUOTE: "She started playing really bad, and it totally threw me off. Next thing I knew I was playing as bad as she was." (Venus Williams)

MOST RESONATING/PROPHETIC QUOTE: "She was afraid to win the match." (Justine Henin-Hardenne, on Svetlana Kuznetsova after their 4th Rd. match at Roland Garros)
MOST MIND OF MYSKINA-esque QUOTE: "I played really well that first set, but then I got a little bored. I was thinking, 'When is this match going to finish?,' and the next thing I knew I was down four-love." (Anastasia Myskina)
MOST IN-CHARACTER QUOTE: "Today something didn't feel right. I guess it's the puberty's fault." (Sesil Karatantcheva)

GRACELESS WINNER: Venus Williams at Wimbledon
GRACELESS LOSER: Venus Williams...always

EMPIRE MAKER (Agassi/Capriati era): Nick Bollettieri
EMPIRE MAKER (Sharapova era): Nick Bollettieri
EMPIRE MAKER (Vaidisova era): Nick Bollettieri

BEST LEADER (stand-in): Elena Dementieva, for Myskina, in Fed Cup
BEST FOLLOWER (of Martina N.): Anna-Lena Groenefeld
BEST FOLOWERS (of Cara Black): Liezel Huber, Rennae Stubbs, Els Callens

BATTLE WON: Clijsters vs. slam jitters
BATTLE STILL BEING WAGED: Mauresmo vs. slam jitters

MOST UNKNOWN CHAMPION: Zi Yan (at #163, won Guangzhou)
MOST UNKNOWN RUNNER-UP: Akgul Amanmuradova (at #257, lost Tashkent)
MOST UNKNOWN (by Venus): Sesil Karatantcheva

BEST EYE FOR TALENT: Martina Navratilova, doubles partner of Kuznetsova, as well as Groenefeld
WORST EYE FOR TALENT: Backspin picks Kuznetsova to finish at #1
WORST BOSS WITH TALENT: Kim Clijsters

MOST PIERCED (off-court): Sania Mirza
MOST PIERCED (on-court): Roland Garros/US Open RU Mary Pierce

MEANT EVERYTHING THEN: Venus Williams wins Wimbledon
MEANS NOTHING NOW: Amelie Mauresmo wins WTA Championships
MIGHT MEAN EVERYTHING IN 2006: Nicole Vaidisova's 3-title, 18-match post-US Open streak

MOST ENCOURAGING: Sania Mirza working with Tony Roche
MOST DISCOURAGING: Jelena Dokic's disapperance

MOST SOULFUL SLAM PERFORMANCE: Serena Williams in Melbourne
MOST SOUL-LESS SLAM PERFORMANCE: Serena Williams at SW19

MOST UNEXPECTED NEAR-UPSET: Angela Haynes vs. Serena Williams, Wimbledon 1st Rd.
MOST UNSHOCKING HUGE UPSET: Jill Craybas vs. Serena Williams, Wimbledon 3rd Rd.

MOST DISRESPECTFUL TO HER ELDER: Claudine Schaul d. Martina Navratilova, on grass
MOST DISRESPECTFUL TO HER ELDER (twice): Martina Hingis d. Martina Navratilova during WTT play, in their first-ever singles encounters
ELDER REVOLUTIONARIES: Elena Likhovtseva (Russian) & Kveta Peschke (Czech)

"DOWNTURN" THAT WASN'T: Maria Sharapova, three-time 2005 slam semifinalist
DOWNTURN THAT WAS: Svetlana Kuznetsova

6-0: 3rd set TB lead blown by Elena Likhovtseva in Moscow QF vs. Mary Pierce
6-0/6-0: Lindsay Davenport def. Maria Sharapova in Indian Wells SF

LITTLE SISTER (slam winner): Serena Williams
LITTLE SISTER (WTA title winner): Dinara Safina
LITTLE SISTER (ITF title winner): Sanja Ancic

MOST SIMILAR GAMES: Jelena Dokic & Sania Mirza
MOST BURNED IN EFFIGY: Sania Mirza
MOST BURNED-OUT?: Jelena Dokic

BEST START BY AUSSIE: Samantha Stosur
BEST AUSSIE AT AUSSIE OPEN: Alicia Molik
BEST FINISH BY AUSSIE: Samantha Stosur

MOST PLAYED-OUT (in Top 100): Jill Craybas, Hana Sromova & Stephanie Foretz (30 tournaments each)
LEAST PLAYED (in Top 100): Elena Bovina (8 tournaments), Justine Henin-Hardenne (9 tournaments)

BEST U.S. OPEN SHOW: Got Mirza?
WORST U.S. OPEN SHOW: Venus vs. Serena

IT HAPPENED IN 2005: three of four slam winners came back from match point down to win the title
IT DIDN'T HAPPEN in 2005: world #1 played world #2 in a singles match

DEFEATED HINGIS IN PATTAYA 1st RD.: Marlene Weingartner (Hingis' only match)
DEFEATED HINGIS IN WTT PLAY: Meghann Shaughnessy (Hingis' only loss)

SINCE LAST CONCHITA MARTINEZ TITLE: 2000 Berlin (before Pattaya 2005)
SINCE FIRST CONCHITA MARTINEZ TITLE: 17 years, at Sofia in 1988... before Vaidisova was even born

BIZARRO MATCH OF THE YEAR: Canberra Final - Ana Ivanovic (Q) def. Melinda Czink (LL)... Ivanovic had already played and defeated Czink in the 3rd round of qualifying
GENDER-BENDING MATCH OF THE YEAR: WTT - Brian Vahaly def. Meghann Shaughnessy

QUELLED THE QUEEN IN 2004: cytomegalovirus
STOPPED THE STEAMER IN 2005: vestibular neuronitis


==ALL-BACKSPIN TEAMS==

*ALL-VENUS EXCUSES*
Pulled Stomach Muscle
Blister on Palm
Fatigue/Exhaustion
Opponent Played Too Badly
Mental Letdown
Clay-to-Grass Transition
Heavy Balls (courtesy of Serena)
Media/Fan Criticism (courtesy of Richard)

*CHINESE GANG OF FIVE*
Shuai Peng
Jie Zheng
Na Li
Zi Yan
Tiantian Sun

*ALL-FASHION POLICE*
Mirza's slogan t-shirts
Serena's $40,000 "Dream Catcher" earrings
JHH & Petrova's identical RG SF outfits
Topless Ivanovic

*MIRZA T-SHIRT SLOGANS*
"Well behaved women rarely make history."
"You can either agree with me, or be wrong."
"I'm cute? No (shit)!"

*2005 NAME-CHANGERS*
"Karatancheva" to "Karatantcheva"
"Tchakvetadze" to "Chakvetadze"
"Douchevina" to "Dushevina"
"Pistolesi" to "Smashnova"
"Beltrame" to "Bremond"
"Alyona Bondarenko" to "Alona Bondarenko"
"Katerina Bondarenko" to "Kateryna Bondarenko"

*ALL-MYSTERY TEAM*
Serena's knee/ankle
Dokic's whereabouts
Molik's health
Zvonareva's emotional state
Clijsters' relationship with ex-coach
Davenport's next slam title

*ALL-UGLY TEAM*
Dementieva's serve
Schnyder's paranoia
Vaidisova's temper
USTA's U.S. Open Series nicknames
Claude Eerdeken's drug test accusations
Dokic's unprofessionalism
Clijsters' employee payment plan
Weekly tournament injury lists
Venus' excuses
Kolkata Stadium's falling debris
Clijsters' tries for #1 at Filderstadt and L.A.
Seles' career close
1st Sunday night at U.S. Open: Clijsters vs. Vento-Kabchi (not Sharapova/Mirza or Venus/Serena)

*ALL-BEAUTIFUL TEAM*
Dementieva's legs & groundstrokes
Karatantcheva quotebook
Henin-Hardenne's backhand
Serena's grit & soul in Oz
Pierce's forehand
Groenefeld's serve
Maria Kirilenko
Vaidisova's desire
Oracene "No-Nonsense" Price

*ALL-CATFIGHT*
Schnyder vs. Henin-Hardenne
Dementieva vs. Pierce
Dementieva vs. Kuznetsova
Kuznetsova vs. Claude Eerdekens
Mirza vs. Muslim clerics

*ALL-SISTERS*
The Williamses
The Bondarenkos
The Serra-Zanettis
The Clijsterses
The Klemenschits
The Rodionovas

*ALL-WONDER GIRL MIXED SLAMS*
2002 Australian Open
2005 Roland Garros
2001 Wimbledon
2005 U.S. Open

*ALL-OLD BACKSPIN NICKNAME TEAM*
"Punch-Sober"
"Le Petit Taureau"
"Queen Justine"

*ALL-NEW BACKSPIN NICKNAME TEAM*
"The Czech Maidens"
"Ferris"
"The Steamer"
"The Indian Princess"
"AnaIvo"
"Sneaky"
"Girl Friday"

*ALL-ROYAL BACKSPIN NICKNAME TEAM*
"Czarina" Myskina
"The Scarlett Empress"
"The Contessova"
"The Indian Princess"
"Queen B"

*ALL-STREAK TEAM*
Henin-Hardenne's 24-0 run on clay
Clijsters' 23-1 run on hardcourts
Vaidisova's 18-0 post-U.S. Open run
Smashnova's 11-0 career record in finals
Davenport's 24 consecutive games won in Indian Wells
Hingis' 25-1 combined record in WTT play

*ALL-ITF TEAM*
Kristina Barrois
Romina Oprandi
Petra Cetkovska
Sanja Ancic
Alisa Kleybanova

*ALL-COMEBACK TEAM*
Venus Williams
Kim Clijsters
Mary Pierce
Martina Hingis (WTT)
Ashley Harkleroad (ITF)

*ALL-RETIRED TEAM*
Silvia Farina Elia
Maggie Maleeva
Fabiola Zuluaga
Barbara Schett

*ALL-NOT RETIRED TEAM*
Martina Navratilova
Lindsay Davenport
Mary Pierce
Kim Clijsters
Conchita Martinez
Monica Seles (not yet)
Martina Hingis (well, sort of)

*ALL-SEASON SERIES*
Sharapova vs. S.Williams
Sharapova vs. Davenport
Dementieva vs. Pierce
Clijsters vs. Henin-Hardenne
Ivanovic vs. Czink (in Canberra)

*NAVRATILOVA SLAMS IN 2005*
Australian QF with Hantuchova
Australian SF with Mirnyi
Roland Garros 1st Rd. with Sanchez Vicario
Roland Garros RU with Paes
Wimbledon SF with Groenefeld
Wimbledon SF with M.Bryan
U.S. Open SF with Groenefeld
U.S. Open QF with Paes

*ALL-FIRSTS TEAM*
Tokyo (Sharapova's first Tier I)
Hyderabad (India's first champion -Mirza)
Linz (Petrova's first title)
Beijing (Kirilenko's breakthrough)
U.S. Open (Clijsters' first slam)

*ALL-IMPROVED TEAM*
Kveta Peschke
Anabel Medina-Garrigues
Francesca Schiavone
Klara Koukalova
Katarina Srebotnik
Roberta Vinci
Nuria Llagostera-Vives
Mary Pierce's fitness
Kim Clijsters' nerves
Daniela Hantuchova's future
Samantha Stosur's versatility


==BACKSPIN'S FAVORITE BACKSPINS==

1."An Indian Supernova?" (Week 6)
2."now for All. (The Backwards Column)" (Week 19)
3."Long Live the Queen" (Week 22/Roland Garros)
4."Le Petit Taureau est de Retour" (Week 15)
5."Good Fortunes & Maiden Voyages" (IQ 7/8 Review)
6."Killer Kim Slays Her Albatross" (US Open Day 13)
7."If Only..." (Week 26/Wimbledon)
8."Melbourne's Soul Survivor" (Week 4/Australian)
9."1,000,000,000 Indian Fans Can't Be Wrong" (US Open Day 5)
10."The Wonderful, Horrible Serve of Elena Dementieva" (US Open Day 10)
HM-"Mama Mia, That's a Spicy Moonball" (US Open Day 2)


==2006 STATS 0-to-10==

10...most titles by a Russian woman (Sharapova/Myskina)
----------------------------
9...WTA titles won by Russians in 2005, down from 15 in '04 and 11 in '03
----------------------------
8...consecutive years Venus Williams has won at least one title, the longest streak on tour
----------------------------
7...slam titles won by Serena Williams in her career, the most by an active player on tour
----------------------------
6...consecutive years Kim Clijsters has won at least two titles, the longest streak on tour
----------------------------
5...titles won by doubles team of Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, the most on tour in '05
----------------------------
4...2005 singles titlists over 30 years of age, as well as under 17
----------------------------
3...number of '05 slam winners who came back from match point down to win the title
----------------------------
2...wins over the Williamses by Silvia Farina Elia in 2005, making her the sixth player to record victories over both sisters in a single season since 2000 (the other five, though, were either former or current #1-ranked players)
----------------------------
1...Cara Black's year-end doubles ranking, the first Zimbabwe woman to hold the top ranking and the 20th doubles #1 in WTA history
----------------------------
0...#1 women's seeds to win the title in the last seven slams
----------------------------


==ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...==

1.less controversy for Sania Mirza
2.a broken racquet from Nicole Vaidisova
3.for Venus to show an opponent (other than Serena) some respect
4.a doubles presence on tour from Martina Hingis
5.a Lyndrea Price CD
6.Jelena Dokic to show up in Australia
7.a turkey-flavored milkbone for Serena's dog Jackie
8.a rebuilt House of Myskina
9.a healthy Queen Justine
10.instant replay


BEST SESIL QUOTE TO LEAVE ON: "Come on... who can resist me?"


Res Ipsa Loquitur. All for now.

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

OTHER 2005 BACKSPIN YEAR-END EDITIONS: 2005 WTA Quiz, WTA Backspin Awards, ATP Backspin Awards

PAST YEARBOOKS: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.

And remember to keep an eye out on Tennisrulz.com for the 2005 Reader Award winners. As for Backspin... it'll return in the final two weeks of December with the first of the 2006 Intriguing Questions!!

Read more...

2005 Backspin Awards

45 weeks of action. 67 editions of WTA Backspin. 370 weekly player award winners. All to get to this... the 2005 Backspin Awards.

==PLAYER OF THE YEAR==
1.Kim Clijsters
2.Lindsay Davenport
3.Mary Pierce
4.Justine Henin-Hardenne
5.Venus & Serena Williams
6.Maria Sharapova
7.Amelie Mauresmo
8.Cara Black
9.Patty Schnyder
10.Nadia Petrova
HM-Nicole Vaidisova

==RISERS==
1.Anna-Lena Groenefeld
2.Nadia Petrova
3.Elena Dementieva
4.Francesca Schiavone
5.Patty Schnyder
6.Flavia Pennetta
7.Dinara Safina
8.Cara Black
9.Shuai Peng
10.Daniela Hantuchova
HM-Klara Koukalova
& Anabel Medina-Garrigues

==FRESH FACES==
1.Nicole Vaidisova
2.Ana Ivanovic
3.Maria Kirilenko
4.Sania Mirza
5.Lucie Safarova
6.Anna Chakvetadze
7.Zi Yan
8.Sesil Karatantcheva
9.Shahar Peer
10.Viktoria Azarenka
HM-Alexa Glatch
& Sanja Ancic

==VETERANS==
1.Lindsay Davenport
2.Mary Pierce
3.Kveta Peschke
4.Virginia Ruano-Pascual
5.Conchita Martinez
6.Elena Likhovtseva
7.Anna Smashnova
8.Lisa Raymond
9.Rennae Stubbs
10.Martina Navratilova
HM-Silvia Farina Elia
& Maggie Maleeva

==SURPRISES==
1.Samantha Stosur
2.Kveta Peschke
3.Zi Yan
4.Alona Bondarenko
5.Tiantian Sun
6.Roberta Vinci
7.Katarina Srebotnik
8.Maria Vento-Kabchi
9.Nuria Llagostera-Vives
10.Lourdes Dominguez-Lino
HM-Tszvetana Pironkova
& Kristina Barrois

==DOWN==
1.Svetlana Kuznetsova
2.Vera Zvonareva
3.Jennifer Capriati
4.Alicia Molik
5.Tatiana Golovin
6.Jelena Dokic
7.Elena Bovina
8.Anastasia Myskina
9.Meghann Shaughnessy
10.Paola Suarez
HM-Chanda Rubin
& Jelena Kostanic

**TOP PERFORMANCES OF 2005**
1.Clijsters on North American Hardcourts
2.Henin-Hardenne on European claycourts
3.V.Williams wins Wimbledon
4.Dementieva leads Russia to Fed Cup title
5.Clijsters sweeps Indian Wells & Miami
6.S.Williams win Australian Open
7.Pierce's summer surge
8.Davenport double-bagels Sharapova at Indian Wells
9.Vaidisova wins three straight titles/18 matches
10.Mauresmo wins WTA Championships
HM--Hingis leads New York to WTT title

==TOP MATCHES==
1.Australian Open SF - Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova
...2-6/7-5/8-6. Sharapova serves for match at 5-4 in both 2nd and 3rd sets, but Serena saves three match points and goes on to take the title.
----------------------------
2.Wimbledon Final - Venus Williams def. Lindsay Davenport
...4-6/7-6/9-7. In the longest Wimbledon final (2:45) ever, Venus becomes first woman to save match point and win the title since 1933.
----------------------------
3.Wimbledon 3rd - Anastasia Myskina def. Jelena Jankovic
...6-0/5-7/10-8. First, the Czarina blows a 6-0/5-3 lead and a match point. Then Jankovic rallies and takes a 5-1 lead in the 3rd. She blows her lead, too, as Myskina comes back to win 10-8 in the final set in the 2:43 match. Myskina converted just 9/33 break point chances. Call it the Choke-Comeback-Choke-Comeback Match of the Year.
----------------------------
HM--Roland Garros 4th - Justine Henin-Hardenne def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
...7-6/4-6/7-5. The Contessova leads 5-3 with two match points on JHH's serve in the 3rd, but the Queen fights back -- saying she could see in Kuznetsova's eyes that she was afraid to win the match -- and goes on to take the title. It's the second year in a row the Russian blew match points against the eventual Roland Garros champion (Myskina '04).
----------------------------


**CHOKES OF THE YEAR**
1.U.S. Open 1st - Ekaterina Bychkova def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
...6-3/6-2. Really, though, the "choke" was Kuznetsova's entire North American hardcourt season and failed defense of her 2004 U.S. Open crown.
----------------------------
2.Moscow QF - Mary Pierce def. Elena Likhovtseva
...7-5/4-6/7-6(6). The true on-court choke of the year, as Likhovtseva somehow squandered a 6-0 lead in the 3rd set tie-break.
----------------------------
3.Stanford SF - Venus Williams def. Patty Schnyder
...2-6/7-6/6-2. Schnyder served at 6-5, 40-0 in the 2nd. She thought she had the match-winning ace and ran to the net to celebrate, but then heard the call of "fault." She never recovered from the shock, quickly falling down 5-0 in the tie-break and losing the set. In the end, Schnyder had blown five -- count 'em, five -- match points.
----------------------------


==UPSETS OF THE YEAR==
1.Wimbledon 3rd - Jill Craybas def. Serena Williams
...6-3/7-6. Angela Haynes almost got the honor earlier at SW19 against Serena, but the hobbled Williams sister escaped with a win. She couldn't do the same against the vet Craybas, teetering and finally falling out of the fortnight.
----------------------------
2.Roland Garros 3rd - Sesil Karatantcheva def. Venus Williams
...6-3/1-6/6-1. Venus said she'd never seen or even heard of the 2004 junior champ who sent her packing from Paris. She should have known the 15-year old but, then again, it's just so Venus for her to say that she didn't.
----------------------------
3.San Diego QF - Shuai Peng def. Kim Clijsters
...6-4/6-4. Clijsters' only loss on North American hardcourts, and her first hardcourt loss of any kind since the final of the 2003 U.S. Open.
----------------------------

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

**2005 BACKSPIN LISTS**

**BACKSPIN 2005 PLAYERS-OF-THE-MONTHS**
JANUARY: Serena Williams
FEBRUARY: Maria Sharapova
MARCH: Kim Clijsters
Q1--Serena Williams
APRIL: Justine Henin-Hardenne
MAY: Justine Henin-Hardenne
Q2/Clay--Justine Henin-Hardenne
JUNE: Venus Williams
Q2/Grass--Venus Williams
JULY: Kim Clijsters
AUGUST/U.S.: Kim Clijsters
Q3--Kim Clijsters
SEPTEMBER: Elena Dementieva
OCTOBER: Lindsay Davenport
NOVEMBER: Amelie Mauresmo
Q4--Lindsay Davenport

**MOST WEEKLY BACKSPIN AWARDS**
-PLAYER-
9...Kim Clijsters
5...Lindsay Davenport
4...Justine Henin-Hardenne
4...Amelie Mauresmo
3...Maria Sharapova
3...Elena Dementieva
2...Venus Williams
2...Anastasia Myskina
-RISER-
7...Nadia Petrova
5...Anna-Lena Groenefeld
5...Elena Dementieva
5...Francesca Schiavone
4...Patty Schnyder
4...Daniela Hantuchova
4...Jelena Jankovic
3...Anabel Medina-Garrigues
-SURPRISE-
4...Samantha Stosur
3...Alona Bondarenko
3...Nuria Llagostera-Vives
-VETERAN-
11..Lindsay Davenport
8...Mary Pierce
7...Conchita Martinez
4...Virginia Ruano-Pascual
4...Elena Likhovtseva
4...Lisa Raymond
4...Maggie Maleeva
-FRESH FACE-
6...Nicole Vaidisova
6...Ana Ivanovic
4...Sania Mirza
4...Maria Kirilenko
4...Lucie Safarova
4...Viktoria Azarenka
-DOWN-
8...Vera Zvonareva
7...Anastasia Myskina
5...Svetlana Kuznetsova
5...Venus Williams
4...Serena Williams


==TOP 20 PLAYERS - BY AGE**
30...Mary Pierce
30...Elena Likhovtseva
29...Lindsay Davenport
27...Patty Schnyder
26...Nathalie Dechy
26...Amelie Mauresmo
25...Venus Williams
25...Francesca Schiavone
24...Anastasia Myskina
24...Serena Williams
24...Elena Dementieva
23...Justine Henin-Hardenne
23...Nadia Petrova
22...Daniela Hantuchova
22...Kim Clijsters
20...Svetlana Kuznetsova
19...Dinara Safina
18...Maria Sharapova
18...Ana Ivanvoic
16...Nicole Vaidisova

==TOP 20 - BY COUNTRY==
7...Russia
3...USA
3...France
2...Belgium
1...Switzerland
1...Italy
1...Czech Republic
1...Serbia & Montenegro
1...Slovak Republic

==TOP 100 - BY COUNTRY==
15...Russia
10...USA
8....France
7....Czech Republic
7....Italy
6....Spain
5....Japan
3....China
3....Germany
3....Bulgaria
2....Argentina
2....Australia
2....Belgium
2....Colombia
2....Croatia
2....Israel
2....Serbia & Montenegro
2....Slovak Republic
2....Switzerland
1....Austria
1....Estonia
1....Finland
1....Greece
1....Hungary
1....India
1....Korea
1....Madagascar
1....Netherlands
1....Poland
1....Puerto Rico
1....Slovenia
1....Sweden
1....Ukraine
1....Venezuela

==TOP 20 PLAYERS - CAREER TITLES==
51...Lindsay Davenport
33...Venus Williams
30...Kim Clijsters
26...Serena Williams
23...Justine Henin-Hardenne
19...Amelie Mauresmo
18...Mary Pierce
10...Anastasia Myskina
10...Patty Schnyder
10...Maria Sharapova
5....Svetlana Kuznetsova
5....Nicole Vaidisova
4....Elena Dementieva
4....Dinara Safina
3....Elena Likhovtseva
1....Nathalie Dechy
1....Daniela Hantuchova
1....Ana Ivanovic
1....Nadia Petrova
0....Francesca Schiavone

**RUSSIANS IN TOP 100**
#4 Maria Sharapova
#8 Elena Dementieva
#9 Nadia Petrova
#14 Anastasia Myskina
#17 Elena Likhovtseva
#18 Svetlana Kuznetsova
#20 Dinara Safina
#25 Maria Kirilenko
#33 Anna Chakvetadze
#39 Vera Dushevina
#42 Vera Zvonareva
#53 Evgenia Linetskaya
#62 Elena Bovina
#69 Ekaterina Bychkova
#89 Tatiana Panova

**AMERICANS IN TOP 100**
#1 Lindsay Davenport
#10 Venus Williams
#11 Serena Williams
#47 Jill Craybas
#55 Amy Frazier
#61 Laura Granville
#66 Meghann Shaughnessy
#74 Mashona Washington
#75 Jamea Jackson
#76 Lisa Raymond

**CHINESE IN TOP 100**
#37 Shuai Peng
#44 Jie Zheng
#57 Na Li

**CZECHS IN TOP 100**
#15 Nicole Vaidisova
#26 Kveta Peschke
#36 Klara Koukalova
#50 Lucie Safarova
#54 Iveta Benesova
#78 Zuzana Ondraskova
#98 Hana Sromova

==AMERICAS TOP 10==
#1 Lindsay Davenport (USA)
#10 Venus Williams (USA)
#11 Serena Williams (USA)
#27 Gisela Dulko (ARG)
#47 Jill Craybas (USA)
#55 Amy Frazier (USA)
#56 Mariana Diaz-Oliva (ARG)
#59 Catalina Castano (COL)
#61 Laura Granville (USA)
#63 Maria Vento-Kabchi (VEN)

==EUROPEAN TOP 10==
#2 Kim Clijsters (BEL)
#3 Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)
#4 Maria Sharapova (RUS)
#5 Mary Pierce (FRA)
#6 Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL)
#7 Patty Schnyder (SUI)
#8 Elena Dementieva (RUS)
#9 Nadia Petrova (RUS)
#12 Nathalie Dechy (FRA)
#13 Francesca Schiavone (ITA)

==ASIA/PACIFIC TOP 10==
#29 Alicia Molik (AUS)
#30 Ai Sugiyama (JAP)
#31 Sania Mirza (IND)
#37 Shuai Peng (CHN)
#38 Shinobu Asagoe (JAP)
#44 Jie Zheng (CHN)
#46 Samantha Stosur (AUS)
#48 Akiko Morigami (JAP)
#57 Na Li (CHN)
#71 Aiko Nakamura (JAP)

=="REST OF THE WORLD" IN TOP 300==
#43 Anna Smashnova (ISR)
#45 Shahar Peer (ISR)
#68 Dally Randriantefy (MAD)
#87 Kristina Brandi (PUR)
#134 Tzipora Obziler (ISR)
#157 Vilmarie Castellvi (PUR)
#159 Nathalie Grandin (RSA)
#170 Selima Sfar (TUN)
#174 Cara Black (ZIM)
#227 Yevgenia Savransky (ISR)
#234 Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)
#300 Surina De Beer (RSA)

**2005 RANKING JUMPS - #1-20**
[end of '04 to end of '05]
+81 Ana Ivanovic (#97 to #16)
+62 Nicole Vaidisova (#77 to #15)
+24 Mary Pierce (#29 to #5)
+24 Dinara Safina (#44 to #20)
+20 Kim Clijsters (#22 to #2)

**2005 RANKING JUMPS - #21-50**
[end of '04 to end of '05]
+175 Sania Mirza (#206 to #31)
+138 Shahar Peer (#183 to #45)
+135 Lucie Safarova (#185 to #50)
+92 Sesil Karatantcheva (#127 to #35)
+90 Kveta Peschke (#116 to #26)
+86 Maria Kirilenko (#111 to #25)
+74 Roberta Vinci (#115 to #41)
+59 Katarina Srebotnik (#87 to #28)
+54 Anna-Lena Groenefeld (#75 to #21)
+51 Anna Chakvetadze (#84 to #33)

**2004 TOP 20 - RANKING FALLS**
[end of '04 to end of '05]
OUT - Jennifer Capriati (#10 to DNP)
OUT - Silvia Farina Elia (#20 to retired)
-216 Paola Suarez (#16 to #232)
-47 Elena Bovina (#15 to #62)
-47 Karolina Sprem (#18 to #65)
-31 Vera Zvonareva (#11 to #42)
-16 Alicia Molik (#13 to #29)
-13 Svetlana Kuznetsova (#5 to #18)
-12 Ai Sugiyama (#17 to #30)
-11 Anastasia Myskina (#3 to #14)


All for now.

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

Next week: WTA Yearbook & the 2005/4Q Quiz

Read more...

Wk.45-Anatomy of a Killer

The long trek through the WTA season is effectively over except for the shouting... and bookkeeping. So, in keeping with that theme, and in a prelude to this week's 2005 Backspin Awards, it's time to take a final look -- in reverse order -- at the race for "Player of the Year":

7.AMELIE MAURESMO: Albie ended her season on a high note with back-to-back titles in Philadelphia and at the WTA Championships (her biggest win to date), after having won the Tier I at Rome earlier in the season. But the lack of consistent success at slams (other than a SF at Wimbledon) that would befit her #3 ranking prevents her from scaling to further heights on the POY list. She'll need to win a slam someday to ever get the respect her talent says she should receive.
============================
6.MARIA SHARAPOVA: expectations can color reality, and nothing is a better example of that than the Supernova's '05 season. Despite rising to #1 for seven weeks, reaching the SF at three slams and the WTA Championships, and winning a Tier I event at Tokyo, Sharapova's season can't help but feel like a slight letdown after her series of mountain-climbing moments in 2004. The subjects of this year's "Intriguing Questions 1 & 2," Sharapova and the Horde were still a major force in 2005... just not as much so as last season. Some of the Horde went up (Petrova, Safina & Kirilenko), some went down (Kuznetsova, Myskina & Zvonareva) and some did both (Dementieva won some big matches, but failed to take a title). Sharapova won fewer titles (five to three) than in '04 and no slam, and ended the year at #4 -- precisely where she began it. As Sharapova goes, so goes the Horde. 2005 was a good year, just not a particularly memorable one.
============================
5.VENUS & SERENA WILLIAMS: the sisters rose to tremendous heights (both winning slam crowns), and experienced predictable lows (injuries struck...again and again). Their uneven seasons nonetheless produced a combined 55-16 record in WTA action. But the enigma that will forever be the Williamses can be summed up with one ironic fact: even with both Venus and Serena winning slam titles in 2005, their singles rankings still ended up going down between the end of last season and now. Venus fell from #9 in 2004 to #10, while Serena went from #7 to #11.
============================
4.JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: as stated in the "#3 Intriguing Question", there was a cloud of doubt about whether JHH could fully escape the illness and injury troubles of 2004. They didn't go away, but they also didn't strike with such a force that they kept the Queen tied down all season long. Le Petit Taureau only played nine events, but she won four of them (including Roland Garros), went 34-5 and raised her ranking from #8 to #6.
============================
3.MARY PIERCE: at age 30, Pierce proved to be healthy and prudent (and sneaky, if you ask Elena Dementieva) enough to fashion one of her best seasons ever. Two Tier I titles and RU results at Roland Garros, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championships got her all the way to #5 in the rankings nearly eleven years after she rose to a career-high of #3 in 1995. If 2004 was considered a "comeback" season for her, what was 2005? Maybe a preview of things to come in 2006? 31 -- which Pierce will turn in January -- could be an even luckier number for Prideful Mary.
============================
2.LINDSAY DAVENPORT: she didn't win a slam (again), or the WTA Championships (again) and didn't take a Tier I title until the year was nearly over. But there's something to be said for consistency, and Davenport's found it at age 29. She was #1 for all but seven weeks in 2005, and will enter 2006 with a total of 95 weeks in the top position throughout her career. Her fourth year-end #1 ranking is the third time she's done so in a season in which she didn't add to her slam trophy case. Divine justice would allow her to end that six-year (as of Oz '06) drought next season. Of course, then she'd probably end the season at #2.
============================
1.KIM CLIJSTERS: back when she was the focus of "Intriguing Question #4", Clijsters' future was in doubt after she'd ended her 2004 season in Hasselt with a wrist injury that a Belgian doctor said might end her career. A year later, Clijsters won the title in Hasselt for her ninth crown of 2005 to further dress up a season of redemption of a magnitude rarely seen on the WTA tour. Killer Kim won more titles and matches than any other woman this year, was 9-0 in finals, and ended her long slam drought by claiming the U.S. Open. The swoon at the WTA Championships that prevented her from ending the season at #1 can't cloud the fact that Clijsters was the top player on tour in 2005. Even a newly-armed assassin has to have some downtime.
============================

The rest of the POY rankings, as well as the other year-end awards will be published in this week's second edition of WTA Backspin.


**WEEK 45**
============================
WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS (L.A.)
S: Amelie Mauresmo d. Mary Pierce 5-7/7-6/6-4
D: Raymond/Stosur d. Black/Stubbs
============================

*PLAYER AWARDS*

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Amelie Mauresmo
...Mary Pierce starred in this year's "L.A. Story," but Mauresmo won it. With her first YEC title (and win in Philly), Albie managed to erase her late-year slide and maybe even pick up some momentum... possibly for another Grand Slam Gambit in Melbourne? Well, let's not go too far. It should be good enough -- for now -- to say this nineteenth title has moved her out of a career tie with fellow Pastry Pierce.
============================
RISER: Nadia Petrova
...so what if her win over Sharapova came in a meaningless match to end the round robin portion of the Championships. After getting her first title a few weeks ago, the Empress can look at any win as a truly great one to build upon now. If she can just stay healthy in 2006, maybe she can ride her great 4Q (16 victories, more than anyone else in the quarter) to an even better full season next time around.
============================
SURPRISE: Samantha Stosur
...Slingin' Sammy started the season with surprising singles results (back-to-back finals) and doubles success. She ends it by staking a claim to being the best doubles player on the planet. Her Championships crown with Lisa Raymond (they also won the U.S. Open) gives her a tour-leading seven doubles titles for 2005, and moved her to a career-high #2 doubles ranking (just 50 points behind #1 Cara Black). Roll on Sammy... with the Steamer out indefinitely, you're the best the Aussies have to offer.
============================
VETERANS: Mary Pierce & Lisa Raymond
...Pierce topped off her great 2005 by playing even better than she did during her resurgent summer, winning four straight YEC matches (including wins over #1 Davenport, #2 Clijsters and #3 Mauresmo) before falling in the final in a rematch with Mauresmo. She's at #5, and looking to climb even higher next year. Raymond's doubles prowess outlasting her best singles days was always an inevitable moment. Well, it's here... and she's joined up with Stosur to produce a pretty lethal team (their five titles led the tour in '05).
============================
FRESH FACE: Romina Oprandi
...the 20-year old from Italy won her sixth ITF title of 2005 (one behind season leader Kristina Barrois' seven) at the $25K in Mexico City.
============================
DOWN: Kim Clijsters
...well, it had to happen sometime, right? Killer Kim had to suffer a letdown after her incredible late summer journey. It finally happened in L.A., where Clijsters fumbled away a lead in her first round robin match against Pierce and effectively thwarted her own opportunity to claim the year-end #1 ranking.
============================

**MATCHES**

1.RR - Pierce d. Clijsters
...6-1/4-6/7-6. Clijsters held triple break point for 4-1 in the 3rd, then served at 6-5. She lost anyway. After having blown a previous shot at the #1 ranking in Filderstadt by losing early to Dementieva, can it be asked whether Killer Kim has lost the killer instinct she showed at Flushing Meadows? Are her guts no longer fortified? Can the mind of an assassin go soft so quickly? Ah, that anatomy lesson can wait until the 2006 edition of the "Intriguing Questions."
----------------------------
2.Final - Mauresmo d. Pierce
...5-7/7-6/6-4. The all-French final, between the two women who began the 4Q by playing doubles together (and losing) in the deciding fifth match in the Fed Cup Final, ended up lasting three hours.
----------------------------
3.Doubles Final - Raymond/Stosur d. Black/Stubbs
...the only Australia-born doubles #1 in WTA history has been Rennae Stubbs (for three weeks back in 2000). Stosur will try to become the second in 2006.
----------------------------
4.SF - Pierce d. Davenport
...7-6/7-6. Davenport still ended up at #1, but Pierce unceremoniously ended her season right here.
----------------------------
5.RR - Sharapova d. Davenport
...3-6/7-5/6-4. This was their first meeting since the infamous double-bagel match.
----------------------------
HM-SF - Mauresmo d. Sharapova
...7-6/6-3. Albie is now 2-0 in her career vs. the Supernova.
----------------------------
HM-RR - Clijsters d. Dementieva
...6-2/6-3. After going 0-2 in the round robin, Clijsters' first (and last) win was far too little too late.
----------------------------

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

**OCTOBER/NOVEMBER AWARDS**

=PLAYERS-OF-THE-MONTHS=
1t.October - Lindsay Davenport
1t.November - Amelie Mauresmo
3.Mary Pierce
4.Nicole Vaidisova
5.Nadia Petrova

RISER: Nadia Petrova
SURPRISE: Kveta Peschke
VETERAN: Lindsay Davenport
FRESH FACE: Nicole Vaidisova
DOWN: Vera Zvonareva

Noteworthy performances...

RUN OF THE MONTHS: Vaidisova wins three straight titles, 18 consecutive matches
----------------------------
CHOKE OF THE MONTHS: Moscow QF - Pierce d. Likhovtseva... the Russian blows a 6-0 lead in the 3rd set tie-break
----------------------------
UPSET (THAT WASN'T) OF THE MONTHS: Moscow 2nd - Sharapova d. Groenefeld... 1-6/2-4 ret. Girl Friday was knocking the Supernova upside the head and all over the court, then she turned her ankle and had to concede the match. If she'd won, she'd have had victories over both Davenport and Sharapova in '05 when they were ranked #1.
----------------------------


**4th QUARTER AWARDS**

=TOP PLAYERS=
1.Lindsay Davenport
2.Nicole Vaidisova
3.Amelie Mauresmo
4.Mary Pierce
5.Kim Clijsters
6.Nadia Petrova
7.Elena Dementieva
8.Francesca Schiavone
9.Patty Schnyder
10.Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur
HM-Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs

=RISERS=
1.Anna-Lena Groenefeld
2.Nadia Petrova
3.Elena Dementieva
4.Francesca Schiavone
5.Patty Schnyder
6.Cara Black
7.Dinara Safina
8.Klara Koukalova
9.Daniela Hantuchova
10.Tatiana Golovin
HM-Roberta Vinci

=FRESH FACES=
1.Nicole Vaidisova
2.Maria Kirilenko
3.Ana Ivanovic
4.Michaella Krajicek
5.Zi Yan
6.Ekaterina Bychkova
7.Viktoria Azarenka
8.Sesil Karatantcheva
9.Alisa Kleybanova
10.Jamea Jackson
HM-Sania Mirza

=SURPRISES=
1.Zi Yan
2.Kveta Peschke
3.Samantha Stosur
4.Sofia Arvidsson
5.Akgul Amanmuradova

=VETERANS=
1.Lindsay Davenport
2.Mary Pierce
3.Amy Frazier
4.Lisa Raymond
5.Rennae Stubbs

=DOWN=
1.Vera Zvonareva
2.Jelena Dokic
3.Alicia Molik
4.Maria Sharapova
5.Venus & Serena Williams

BEST PERFORMANCE: Elena Dementieva leads Russia in the Fed Cup final
----------------------------
BIGGEST MATCH: Fed Cup Match #5 - Dementieva/Safina(RUS) d. Mauresmo/Pierce(FRA)
...6-4/1-6/6-3. The Horde defends their FC title 3-2.
----------------------------
BEST COMEBACK: Zurich 2nd - Davenport d. Hantuchova
...3-6/7-5/6-2. Davenport survives two match points held by Wonder Girl, ends the week with a title and regains (for good) the #1 ranking.
----------------------------
TOP 4Q RUSSIAN (WTA): Nadia Petrova
TOP 4Q RUSSIAN (ITF): Alisa Kleybanova
----------------------------
WORST CHOKE: Moscow QF - Pierce d. Likhovtseva... 6-0 is supposed to be an insurmountable lead in a tie-break, right?
----------------------------
BIGGEST UPSETS:
Beijing 2nd - Tiantian Sun d. S.Williams
Guangzhou QF - Zi Yan d. Na Li
----------------------------
BIGGEST WIN (that didn't help the winner much down the stretch): Filderstadt QF - Dementieva d. Clijsters
...6-3/3-6/6-2. Clijsters lost her shot at #1. Punch-Sober said it was her best match ever. Clijsters never got the #1 ranking. Dementieva was blown out by Killer Kim the next time they met.
----------------------------
BEST WEEK IN AN ULTIMATELY LOSING EFFORT: Francesca Schiavone in Moscow
...she defeated Dementieva, Kuznetsova and Mauresmo en route to a Tier I RU.
----------------------------
GOODBYES: Silvia Farina Elia and Maggie Maleeva retired. Alicia Molik left the tour indefinitely to get over her balance-effecting bout with vestibular neuronitis. And Kim Clijsters' coach said sayonara after being paid just $9000 of the Killer's $2.2 million take for winning the U.S. Open Series and tournament.
----------------------------
HELLOS: first-time titlists Nadia Petrova, Michaella Krajicek, Maria Kirilenko and Zi Yan.

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

**WTA LISTS**

=MOST WTA CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES=
[active]
2...Kim Clijsters
1...Lindsay Davenport
1...Amelie Mauresmo
1...Maria Sharapova
1...Serena Williams

=MOST 2005 WTA TITLES=
9...Kim Clijsters
6...Lindsay Davenport
4...Amelie Mauresmo
4...Justine Henin-Hardenne
3...Maria Sharapova
3...Nicole Vaidisova

=MOST 2005 WTA FINALS=
10...Lindsay Davenport (6-4)
9....Kim Clijsters (9-0)
7....Amelie Mauresmo (4-3)
5....Justine Henin-Hardenne (4-1)
5....Mary Pierce (2-3)
5....Patty Schnyder (2-3)
4....Maria Sharapova (3-1)
4....Nicole Vaidisova (3-1)
4....Venus Williams (2-2)

=MOST CONSECUTIVE 2005 FINALS=
5...Lindsay Davenport (Jan-Apr)
4...Justine Henin-Hardenne (Apr-May)
4...Kim Clijsters (Aug-Oct)
4...Mary Pierce (Jul-Nov)
3...Nicole Vaidisova (Oct)
3...Lindsay Davenport (Sep-Oct)

=MOST FINALS - BY NATION=
17...USA (10 titles)
17...Russia (9)
14...Belgium (13)
13...France (6)
11...Czech Republic (7)

=2005 WINS OVER #1 PLAYER=
2...Maria Sharapova
2...Mary Pierce
1...Kim Clijsters
1...Elena Dementieva
1...Anna-Lena Groenefeld
1...Justine Henin-Hardenne
1...Maria Kirilenko
1...Dinara Safina
1...Serena Williams
1...Venus Williams

=MOST WTA TITLES - last 2 seasons=
13...Lindsay Davenport (7/6)
11...Kim Clijsters (2/9)
9....Justine Henin-Hardenne (5/4)
9....Amelie Mauresmo (5/4)
8....Maria Sharapova (5/3)

=MOST WEEKS IN 2005 TOP 10=
[of 45 weeks]
45...Lindsay Davenport
45...Amelie Mauresmo
45...Maria Sharapova
45...Elena Dementieva
37...Serena Williams
36...Venus Williams
35...Svetlana Kuznetsova
28...Nadia Petrova
27...Justine Henin-Hardenne
26...Anastasia Myskina
22...Alicia Molik
16...Kim Clijsters
13...Jennifer Capriati
11...Patty Schnyder
10...Mary Pierce
6....Vera Zvonareva

=4Q WON/LOST - 2005 TOP 10ers=
16-6...Nadia Petrova
14-2...Lindsay Davenport
12-3...Anastasia Myskina (0-2 FC)
12-8...Patty Schnyder
11-3...Kim Clijsters
11-4...Amelie Mauresmo (1-1 FC)
8-1....Mary Pierce (1-1 FC)
8-8....Elena Dementieva (2-0 FC)
5-4....Maria Sharapova
3-6....Vera Zvonareva
2-2....Svetlana Kuznetsova
1-0....Venus Williams
1-5....Alicia Molik
0-0....Jennifer Capriati
0-1....Justine Henin-Hardenne
0-1....Serena Williams

=2005 WEEKS AS SINGLES #1=
38...Lindsay Davenport
7....Maria Sharapova

=2005 WEEKS AS DOUBLES #1=
40...Virginia Ruano-Pascual
5....Cara Black

=CAREER WEEKS AS SINGLES #1=
[active]
88...Lindsay Davenport (+7 to end '05)
57...Serena Williams
45...Justine Henin-Hardenne
17...Jennifer Capriati
12...Kim Clijsters
11...Venus Williams
7....Maria Sharapova
5....Amelie Mauresmo

=MOST 2005 DOUBLES TITLES=
-INDIVIDUALS-
7...Samantha Stosur (+1 mixed)
6...Cara Black
6...Emilie Loit
-TEAMS-
5...Raymond/Stosur
3...Ruano-Pascual/Suarez
3...Black/Stubbs
3...Loit/Srebotnik


All for now. Remember to vote for the Tennisrulz Awards!

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

Later this week: 2005 Backspin Awards

Next week: WTA Yearbook & 2005/4Q Quiz

Read more...

Wk.44-How Smart We Were/How Dumb We Were

Ah, now is the time of the year when we all like to remind everyone of how great some of our pre-season predictions were... and try to forget the ones that didn't turn out as planned. But there'll be no such selective memory here at Backspin. Back in January, both Tennisrulz head honcho Pierre Cantin and myself walked the plank... err, I mean went out on a limb... with some prognostications for the 2005 WTA season. Some were good. Some were bad. Some were, well, just plain unfortunate.

**HOW SMART WE WERE**

Backspin brilliantly predicted that...

1)Nadia Petrova, Ana Ivanovic, Klara Koukalova and Zi Yan (who was ranked #296 as '05 began -- so I'm pretty proud of that one!) would win their first WTA singles crowns this season... and that Jennifer Capriati, Chanda Rubin, Karolina Sprem and Eleni Daniliidou would go title-less
----------------------------
2)no American teenager would win a WTA singles title. Okay, I know that wasn't exactly a stretch... but I wanted a way to bring up the "Intriguing Question #6" that wondered whether Lindsay Davenport might be the last American woman to be ranked #1 in the 2000's. With the decade half over, it surely looks like there won't be another before 2010 (probably not even a Williams), and the next decade isn't looking very promising, either. In fact, the only American not named Davenport or Williams to claim a WTA singles title in 2005 was 33-year old Amy Frazier last week in Philadelphia. Not a good sign. 15-year old Alexa Glatch, though, did reach the U.S. Open girls final. So it looks like she might have an undue amount of pressure unfairly placed on her shoulders over the next few years.
----------------------------
3)no 2004 slam winners would defend their titles in 2005, Justine Henin-Hardenne would win her fourth slam title (she did it at Roland Garros), and Amelie Mauresmo's "Grand Slam Gambit" would fail in Australia, but that Wimbledon might offer her the best chance at success (her top '05 slam result was a SF at SW19)
----------------------------
4)Venus Williams would have a healthier season than sister Serena (Venus played 43 matches to Serena's 28, with Serena counting up two walkovers and two retirements to Venus' one premature in-tournament exit due to injury). The subject of "Intriguing Question #5," the sisters didn't provide enough evidence to reverse the thinking that "The Williams Era" is over, but they did remind everyone of their past glories by each taking a slam title this season. As predicted, Venus made a slam final (won it, in fact) and her season surpassed Serena's as the older sibling had more titles (2 to 1) and a higher ranking (#9 to #11).
----------------------------
5)Martina Navratilova would not retire in 2005, and that Martina Hingis would provide us with more than just an on-court cameo this season (she was the outright star of the World TeamTennis season, leading New York to the title)
----------------------------
6)Kveta Peschke, at 30, would have a late career surge (she's behind only Nicole Vaidisova in the rankings amongst the Czech Maidens) and garner Comeback Player of the Year consideration
----------------------------
7)speaking of Vesuvius, I predicted that Vaidisova would win three titles (hit that one right on the button!) and finish in the Top 25 (she's currently #16 at age 16). I also had Daniela Hantuchova finishing in the Top 30 (#19), but not winning a title in 2005.
----------------------------
8)Cookies Shuai Peng (#37) and Jie Zheng (#44) would finish in the Top 50
----------------------------
9)Serena Williams would have three great weeks in 2005. They turned out to be two in Melbourne, then the first in Miami just before she hurt her ankle at Indian Wells, an injury that plagued her the remainder of the season. Of course, I also predicted that none of her great weeks would occur consecutively... Serena's Australian Open title stuck a pin in that one. Can't win them all, I guess.
----------------------------
10)and, finally, I threw in a longshot prediction that a Top 100 player would pose nude ala Aussie basketball star Lauren Jackson (in the magazine B&W last year). It didn't look like this one was going to play out in my favor, then just-turned-18 Ana Ivanovic came to the rescue. I wasn't sure if this counted as a correct prediction, but Pierre assured me that it met the qualifications.
----------------------------

Pierre brilliantly stated that...

1)Justine Henin-Hardenne wouldn't return to the Top 2 in the rankings because she wouldn't play enough the season after her virus-plagued 2004, but...
----------------------------
2)...when she played, she'd be dominant. JHH played just nine tournaments in 2005, winning four and making a final in a fifth. She was 24-0 on the European clay circuit, concluding it with her Roland Garros title.
----------------------------
3)Nicole Vaidisova would be the "rising star" of 2005 (she might be of 2006, as well, I'd say)
----------------------------
4)Lindsay Davenport would be the "veteran of the year" (I'd say the #1 ranking would qualify her for that)
----------------------------
5)Sesil Karatantcheva would be the "fresh face" new star of 2005. She was certainly one of them... just ask Venus about her "unknown" conqueror at Roland Garros.
----------------------------
6)Jennifer Capriati would have a "down" season. Hmmm... this one's kind of like whether a tree would make a sound if it fell in the woods with no one around to hear it. In Capriati's case, the sound of her nonexistent season was deafening.
----------------------------
7)Daniela Hantuchova's results would begin to pick up during the grass season. Wonder Girl was just 14-13 heading into Wimbledon, then was 23-12 the rest of the way.
----------------------------
8)Serena Williams would win the Australian Open
----------------------------
9)Russia would easily defend its Fed Cup crown. It might not have been "easy," but the Horde surely managed to maintain their 2004 excellence with another title.
----------------------------


**HOW DUMB WE WERE**

Backspin actually said that...

1)Serena wouldn't win a slam in 2005 (got that one out of the way early)
----------------------------
2)Anastasia Myskina would be the first Russian female #1 (it was Sharapova), and that a Russian would win in Oz (again, Serena stuck a pin in that prediction balloon mere weeks after I made it)
----------------------------
3)Tatiana Golovin and Vera Dushevina (well, at that time it was "Douchevina") would win their first WTA titles, and Iveta Benesova would win her second.
----------------------------
4)a Chinese player would make a slam QF, and that Na Li would end the year in the Top 30 (after a few injuries, she's only #58)
----------------------------
5)Nicole Vaidisova would reach a slam QF and pull off a big upset (this one almost happened, as she blew a lead against Nadia Petrova in the 4th Round of the U.S. Open)
----------------------------
6)Svetlana Kuznetsova would end the year at #1, and either Elena Dementieva or Vera Zvonareva would reach a slam final (Dementieva was up a set on Mary Pierce in the U.S. Open SF, at least)
----------------------------
7)Monica Seles (not yet) and Lindsay Davenport (doesn't look likely) would retire in the 2005 calendar year
----------------------------
8)Kim Clijsters wouldn't end her slam drought. I battled this one to the bitter end in Flushing Meadows, but "Killer Kim" ended up being born anyway. Oh, well... the tour's more interesting the way things turned out.
----------------------------


Pierre really did say that...

1)Jelena Dokic would get her game together in 2005. She fell from #125 to #353 in the rankings, and has essentially become "The Invisible Girl"
----------------------------
2)Five or six Russians would end the year in the Top 10. Right now, it's just three.
----------------------------
3)Maria Sharapova would be the 2005 Player of the Year after rising to #1 during the season. She did rise to #1 (she's currently #3), but even defending her WTA Championships title wouldn't allow her to wrestle away the "Top Player" honors from Kim Clijsters.
----------------------------
4)Svetlana Kuznetsova would be the "best all-around player" on tour this season and...
----------------------------
5)...finish the year at the top of the rankings. She went 29-17, reached just one final and is ranked #15. This is a truly awful prediction both Pierre and I unfortunately shared.
----------------------------
6)an eastern European player (possibly from the Czech Republic) would be a slam threat in 2005. The closest he came on this was one was Ana Ivanovic reaching the QF at Roland Garros. Vaidisova, though, might make this a good candidate for a similar prediction in 2006.
----------------------------
7)Vera Zvonareva would win a slam. She was just 22-21 on the year, though she did win a title in Memphis. She's currently #40, after going just 4-3 in 2005 slams (and missing the U.S. Open due to injury).
----------------------------
8)Kim Clijsters would not be able to make a successful comeback from her wrist injury and would retire before the end of the season. Whoops.
----------------------------

**2005 TOP 10 FORECASTS**
[]-actual rank
--BACKSPIN'S Top 10--
1.Svetlana Kuznetsova[15]
2.Justine Henin-Hardenne[6]
3.Amelie Mauresmo[4]
4.Maria Sharapova[3]
5.Anastasia Myskina[12]
6.Venus Williams[9]
7.Lindsay Davenport[1]
8.Serena Williams[11]
9.Elena Dementieva[7]
10.Tatiana Golovin[24]

--PIERRE's TOP 10--
1.Svetlana Kuznetsova[15]
2.Maria Sharapova[3]
3.Amelie Mauresmo[4]
4.Justine Henin-Hardenne[6]
5.Serena Williams[11]
6.Anastasia Myskina[12]
7.vera Zvonareva[40]
8.Elena Dementieva[7]
9.Lindsay Davenport[1]
10.Daniela Hantuchova[19]


...see, I knew back in January that we'd put the ultimate curse on Kuznetsova. All in all, a pretty decent record for both of us, I'd say. We'll have to see if we can do even better for 2006, though.

Now, onto to Week 44...

============================
PHILADELPHIA, PA USA (II-HI)
S: Amelie Mauresmo d. Elena Dementieva 7-5/2-6/7-5
D: Black/Stubbs d. Raymond/Stosur
============================
QUEBEC CITY, QUE CAN (III-HI)
S: Amy Frazier d. Sofia Arvidsson 6-1/7-5
D: Rodionova/Vesnina d. Dekmeijere/Harkleroad
============================

*PLAYER AWARDS*

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Amelie Mauresmo
...Albie finally stemmed the tide of her late season slide, injury-related or not. When Dementieva dropped the ball in the Philly final, Mauresmo picked it up and ran away with her third title of the season (#18 for her career) as she completed a three-peat championship run at this draw-decimated (Davenport, Sharapova and V.Williams all withdrew) event.
----------------------------
RISERS: Cara Black & Elena Dementieva
...world doubles #1 Black won her sixth title of the year (and third of '05 with Rennae Stubbs) in Philly, and will go to L.A. this week to try to win another. Dementieva's serve went back to its old ways in the Philly final, but she at least avenged her recent loss to Kveta Peschke. Still, she failed to win a title in 2005 (so far, at least) and was just 2-6 in eight SF. She recently said that there's really nothing preventing her from becoming the #1 player in the world, after gaining confidence from a win over Kim Clijsters in Filderstadt. Well, there might be one thing.
----------------------------
SURPRISE: Sofia Arvidsson
...remember when the Swedes ruled the women's tennis world? Yeah, me either. But 21-year old Arvidsson is at least making a move up as the season comes to a close. Her Quebec City RU was a career best (after three previous QF results on tour in 2005), and continued the forward mobility hinted at earlier this year with unlucky draws (she lost to both Vaidisova & Petrova en route to 4Q titles), and main draw victories at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
----------------------------
VETERANS: Amy Frazier & Rennae Stubbs
...hey, picking Frazier to win Quebec City last week didn't turn out to be a bad choice after all! Before recent weeks, the 33-year old American hadn't had much of a season. But an ITF tour title likely gave her the momentum she needed to carry a nice run through last week for her eighth career crown on the WTA tour. After finishing 2004 at #26, Frazier was ranked #70 before last week (she's now #55). While Frazier was the oldest singles winner on tour in 2005, 34-year old Philly champ Stubbs became the season's oldest doubles winner not named Navratilova. Liezel Huber's injury earlier this year turned out to be a boon for Stubbs, who moved into the vacant position as Black's doubles partner after having been supplanted by Huber as the lady from Zimbabwe's partner for much of the year. Now, rather than Black/Huber going to L.A. as the #1-seeded team for the season, it'll be Black/Stubbs (#5 in the season points race) on the court.
----------------------------
FRESH FACES: Nicole Vaidisova & Alisa Kleybanova
...Vaidisova's kind of taken up residence in this spot this quarter. She was up to her old tricks again in Philadelphia. She extended her winning streak to 18 matches before finally losing to Mauresmo in the SF by a tight 7-5/7-5 score. Just wait until 2006. Russian 16-year old Kleybanova won her third ITF title since August, taking the Sutama $25K event in Japan.
----------------------------
DOWN: Vera Zvonareva
...speaking of taking root in a category. Vera the Almost's singles season finally was put out of its misery by Sesil Karatantcheva in the 1st Round in Philadelphia. She'll be in L.A. this week playing doubles, though.
----------------------------

**MATCHES**

1.Phil F -- Mauresmo d. Dementieva
...7-5/2-6/7-5. Punch-Sober served two DF in the game and double-faulted at break point while up 5-4 in the 3rd set. Ouch. Mauresmo is now the only currently-reigning three-peat champ (2003-05) at any event as the 2005 season ends.
----------------------------
2.Phil SF - Mauresmo d. Vaidisova
...7-5/7-5. Look at that -- Mauresmo won four 7-5 sets out of five in the SF and Final.
----------------------------
3.Que F - Frazier d. Arvidsson
...6-1/7-5. Frazier's closing in on 500 career victories (she has 484), and her first title came nearly 17 years ago in 1989 (when Maria Sharapova was just 22 months old, by the way).
----------------------------
4.Phil 1st - Karatantcheva d. Zvonareva
...7-5/6-3. Zvonareva ends the year on a four-match losing streak.
----------------------------
5.Phil QF - Dementieva d. Peschke
...4-6/6-0/6-3. It wasn't easy, but Dementieva wouldn't let Peschke beat her twice within a week's time.
----------------------------

**WTA LISTS**

*2005 WTA TITLES*
9...Kim Clijsters
6...Lindsay Davenport
4...Justine Henin-Hardenne
3...Maria Sharapova
3...Amelie Mauresmo
3...Nicole Vaidisova

*2005 WTA FINALS*
10..Lindsay Davenport (6-4)
9...Kim Clijsters (9-0)
6...Amelie Mauresmo (3-3)
5...Justine Henin-Hardenne (4-1)
5...Patty Schnyder (2-3)

*2005 OLDEST SINGLES CHAMPS*
33...Amy Frazier (Nov.-Quebec City)
32...Conchita Martinez (Feb.-Pattaya)
30...Mary Pierce (Aug.-San Diego)

*2005 OLDEST DOUBLES CHAMPS*
48...Martina Navratilova (Toronto w/ Groenefeld)
34...Rennae Stubbs (Philadelphia w/ Black)
34...Els Callens (Antwerp w/ Black)

*WTA/ITF TITLES IN 2005*
Lucie Safarova (2 WTA, 3 ITF)
Amy Frazier (1 WTA, 1 ITF)

*MOST ITF TITLES IN 2005*
7...Kristina Barrois (Germany, 23)
6...Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic, 20)
5...Romina Oprandi (Italy, 19)
4...Madalina Gojnea (Romania, 17)
4...Monica Niculescu (Romania, 17)
4...Su-Wei Hsieh (Tapei, 19)
4...Anne Keothavong (Britain, 22)

*LONGEST WTA WINNING STREAKS*
24...Justine Henin-Hardenne (Apr-Jun)
22...Kim Clijsters (Aug-Oct)
18...Nicole Vaidisova (Sept-Nov)

*WORST FINALS WIN PCT. - 2+*
0-3...Anna-Lena Groenefeld
0-3...Jelena Jankovic
0-3...Francesca Schiavone
0-2...Elena Dementieva
0-2...Samantha Stosur

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

*YEC PREDICTIONS*

...ah, the final event of 2005. Time to close out the Prediction Corner after a great 4Q that saved this year's selection record from being an embarrassment (again, big thanks to Amy for last week!).

WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS; L.A. (HI)
04 F(s): Sharapova d. S.Williams
04 F(d): Petrova/Shaughnessy d. Black/Stubbs
----------------------------
GREEN GROUP PICKS: Davenport 3-0, Sharapova 2-1, Petrova 1-2, Schnyder 0-3
BLACK GROUP PICKS: Clijsters 2-1, Pierce 2-1, Mauresmo 2-1, Dementieva 0-3

SF: Davenport d. Pierce; Clijsters d. Sharapova
FINAL: Clijsters d. Davenport

...and Clijsters ends the season as #1. Although, things began Tuesday with Pierce upsetting Clijsters 7-6 in the 3rd set -- so it might be wise to hold onto your hats for a wild week.

DOUBLES QUALIFIERS:
Raymond/Stosur
Ruano-Pascual/Martinez
Black/Stubbs
Likhovtseva/Zvonareva

DOUBLES CHAMPION: Black/Stubbs


All for now.

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

Remember to vote for the Tennisrulz Awards while there's still time!!

Up next: 2005 Backspin Awards

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2005 Review: Good Fortunes & Maiden Voyages

With the "Russian Revolution" having changed the face of the sport in the first half of the 2000s, one can't help but be on the lookout for the next breakout nation whose wave of young stars will quickly alter the tennis landscape. Before this season began, the fledgling stages of an eventually-burgeoning Chinese tennis empire were already an established talking point, and the "Intriguing Questions #7-8 column" attempted to gauge what would be the advances made by the "Cookies" in 2005, as well as determine which was to be the next "country to watch."

The choice then was the Czech Republic. As it turned out, it was a very accurate one. In fact, as the season comes to a close, the "Czech Maidens" have overtaken the Chinese as the current powerplayers in the "revolution" that could change the last half of this decade.

On May 1, in the final of a Tier IV event in Estoril, representatives of both the Maidens and Cookies faced off in a sort of "Gunfight at the Portugal Corral" between the two nations. The result -- 18-year old Czech qualifier Lucie Safarova (world #155) defeating the player generally considered to be China's best, Na Li (#40) -- was the on-court crystallization of how both's collective fields of players stack up against each other. If you want quantity, you'll likely look to the Cookies in a few years. But if you want quality -- right now, the Maidens take the cake. That may not be the case a few years from now, but it certainly is in 2005.

But the Chinese tennis organization has long range plans in mind when it comes to building an "empire." The foundation for the Cookies' future success has been constructed with one date in mind -- 2008, when Beijing hosts the Summer Olympics. With the athletics establishment given the task of building up China's prowess in all sports, women's tennis was given a significant boost.

In 2004, the strides were obvious. The first WTA singles champion from China (Li) was crowned in Guangzhou, three players were ranked in the Top 100 (up from one in '03) and six were in the Top 200 (two in '03). In 2005, progress continued to be made as Jie Zheng (Hobart) and Zi Yan (Guangzhou) won WTA titles, and the number of Cookies in the Top 100 (four) and 200 (seven) increased. But the buzz around the Chinese girls wasn't as loud this season as it was as '04 ended.

None of the Chinese players had great grand slam success in 2005, and the whole lot of them were held out of Wimbledon to participate in the Asian Games (important there, granted, but the Cookies need to face the top players on a consistent basis if any are going to improve enough in time to be a factor in the battle for Olympic medals in singles come 2008). Not surprisingly, the one player perhaps most disconnected from the rest because of her training in America -- Shuai Peng -- now looks to have surpassed Li (and the underrated Zheng) as the best of the bunch. Her defeat of Kim Clijsters in San Diego this summer, the Belgian's only hardcourt loss on the North American circuit that ended with her U.S. Open crown, might be more important a result than either of the titles won by Chinese players in 2005. Peng ends the season as the top-ranked Cookie, and her bigger game could make her a threat to reach the second week of a slam in 2006.

**CHINESE PLAYERS IN TOP 200**
[as of October 31]
#33 Shuai Peng
#42 Jie Zheng
#56 Na Li
#100 Tiantian Sun
#102 Zi Yan
#152 Meng Yuan
#170 Ting Li (Sr.)

The Chinese talent pool is like a trench -- narrow, but deep. They'll be spending the next two-plus seasons working feverishly to fill in that trench with more and more skilled female players. By 2008, who knows, maybe there will be at least one with the ability to consistently challenge the top players. The Chinese have the time, inclination and a tremendous number of athletes to choose from in the world's most populous country... but "the one" has to be found for the Cookies' uprising to begin to become a true revolution.

The Maidens have no such worry. The Czech Republic's "It Girl" has already been identified as 16-year old Nicole Vaidisova, and she's poised to become (at least) the second-most popular tennis-playing teenager (after you know who) on tour in 2006.

**CZECH PLAYERS IN TOP 202**
[as of October 31]
#19 Nicole Vaidisova
#31 Kveta Peschke
#40 Klara Koukalova
#51 Iveta Benesova
#52 Lucie Safarova
#78 Zuzana Ondraskova
#103 Hana Sromova
#118 Eva Birnerova
#130 Katerina Bohmova
#132 Denisa Chladkova
#140 Michaela Pastikova
#145 Barbora Strycova
#168 Libuse Prusova
#178 Sandra Kleinova
#184 Olga Blahotova
#201 Petra Cetkovska
#202 Lucie Hradecka

In 2005, the Czechs showed the promise that had largely eluded them since the days when nearly every top player in the world who wasn't an American seemed to have been born in the former Czechoslovakia (Navratilova, Mandlikova, Sukova, etc. combined to win 22 slams from 1975-93, and were RU an additional 25 times). After some decidely lean years after the Czech and Slovak Republics split (in fact, Jana Novotna's '98 Wimbledon title is the only by a Czech-born woman in the last fifteen years), the Czech tennis empire looks to be well on its way to being fully rebuilt. Vaidisova won three straight titles (and 18 consecutive matches, more than anyone not named Justine or Kim) this season, while Klara Koukalova and 18-year old Lucie Safarova were first-time WTA singles champions... twice each (Vaidisova won her first two titles in 2004 at age 15, when she became the sixth-youngest WTA champ in history). 20-year old Petra Cetkovska won half a dozen ITF titles in 2005, and might be the next Maiden to voyage into the deeper tour waters next season. And even 30-year old Kveta Peschke, one of the few holdovers from the largely "lost" Czech decade of champions after so much 70's & 80's success, perhaps spurred on by the exploits of her more junior compatriots, put up some of her best results since she was a young Miss Hrdlickova.

If Peschke's part in the latest Czech uprising is akin to veteran Elena Likhovtsova's in the "Russian Revolution," Maria Sharapova's counterpart is most surely Vaidisova. Everyone wants to spot "the next Maria," be it in marketability or talent (or both)... so it's become en vogue to label the latest Nick Bollettieri pupil as just that. Everyone may be right.

Vaidisova narrowly missed a quarterfinal berth at this year's U.S. Open, blowing a lead in the Round of 16 against Nadia Petrova. Her volatile reaction -- for which she's been nicknamed "Vesuvius" here at Backspin -- to the loss got her fined and reprimanded, and she countered negative comments about her behavior with words that essentially said, "Anyone who doesn't get upset when they lose hasn't won very much." Touche, Nicole.

What was more important, though, was her immediate on-court reaction after her loss: she won those three straight titles and eighteen matches before finally going down on Saturday in the Philadelphia SF to Amelie Mauresmo by a 7-5/7-5 score. Another few months, and that scoreline could be reversed... maybe in Melbourne.

So as the Chinese attempts to manufacture a tennis empire from the top down will continue in 2006, the Czech Maidens' retro-revolution from the bottom up might just hit full stride. The Cookies have a few more seasons to sweeten the field before an up-or-down verdict on their revolution's fortunes will be read. The Maidens, though, could be ready to "arrive" in the sporting world's full consciousness in 2006 if Vaidisova continues to follow in the rather large footsteps Sharapova set down as a 17-year old in 2004. In 2005, only the Russians (17), Americans (17) and Belgians (14) made more finals than the Czechs (11). It's only the beginning.

In the first half of this decade, the Russians flooded the field with quality. In the last half, it'll be the Czechs. Either way, the "ova's" have it.

All for now.

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