For Whom the Book Tolls, circa 2007

It's that time of the season again. The official 2007 WTA/ATP Tennis Guide is out, and the moment is here when we see which players are on the rise -- and which are on the decline -- in the "official" judgment of the WTA tour... I mean, if you can read the inclusion or exclusion of a player's bio in the new Guide as an indication, of course.

( Again, as is often the case, many of the photos used in the bios in the '07 Guide aren't the same ones that are on the player's official bio on the WTA website, so don't judge every book by it's internet cover... or something like that. )

For the record, in 2006 there were 130 active player bios in the Guide. In 2007, there are 132. Thirty players are new additions, while twenty-eight were ejected either because of retirement, inactivity or career downturns. Here are the numbers, and a few observations and opinions:

**NEW 2007 BIO ADDITIONS**
Victoria Azarenka ('07 Oz Mixed Doubles RU)
Vasilisa Bardina ('07 Hobart RU)
Eva Birnerova ('07 Oz 3rd Round)
Kateryna Bondarenko
Alberta Brianti
Yung-Jan Chan ('07 Oz Doubles RU)
Clarisa Fernandez
Yuliana Fedak
Kirsten Flipkens
Jarmila Gajdosova
Edina Gallovits
Vania King
Varvara Lepchenko
Ting Li
Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez
Bethanie Mattek
Tzipora Obziler
Romina Oprandi
Lilia Osterloh
Tatiana Poutchek
Olga Poutchkova
Agnieszka Radwanska
Aravane Rezai
Anastassia Rodionova
Olga Savchuk
Milagros Sequera
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Julia Vakulenko (professional slam qualifier)
Aleksandra Wozniak (Oh, Canada...)
Meng Yuan
==MOST ADDITIONS==
4...Ukraine
3...Russia
3...USA
2...Belarus
2...China

**2007 EJECTIONS**
Maret Ani
Shinobu Asagoe
Kristina Brandi
Ludmila Cervanova
Yoon-Jeong Cho
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro
Mariana Diaz-Oliva
Jelena Dokic
Amy Frazier
Rika Fujiwara
Sesil Karatantcheva
Evgenia Linetskaya
Conchita Martinez
Conchita Martinez-Granados
Akiko Morigami
Martina Navratilova
Saori Obata
Tatiana Panova
Arantxa Parra-Santonja
Dally Randriantefy
Chanda Rubin
Maria Sanchez-Lorenzo
Antonella Serra-Zanetti
Alexandra Stevenson
Bryanne Stewart
Maria Vento-Kabchi
Mashona Washington
Klara Zakopalova (Koukalova)
==MOST EJECTIONS==
5...Spain
5...USA
4...Japan
2...Australia
2...Russia

**2007 BIOS - BY NATION**
18...Russia
15...USA
11...France
8.....Italy
7.....China
7.....Czech Republic
6.....Spain
6.....Ukraine
4.....Australia
4.....Germany
3.....Argentina
3.....Belarus
3.....Belgium
3.....Isreal
3.....Japan
3.....Slovakia
3.....Switzerland
2.....Croatia
2.....Poland
2.....Serbia
1.....Austria
1.....Bulgaria
1.....Canada
1.....Colombia
1.....Estonia
1.....Finland
1.....Greece
1.....Hungary
1.....India
1.....Netherlands
1.....Romania
1.....South Africa
1.....Slovenia
1.....Sweden
1.....Taiwan
1.....Thailand
1.....Uzbekistan
1.....Venezuela
1.....Zimbabwe



*BEST '07 GUIDE BIO PHOTO*

1. Ana Ivanovic
2. Maria Kirilenko
3. Anna Chakvetadze

*BIGGEST SMILE*

Karolina Sprem

*BEST PHOTO CHANGES*
Alona Bondarenko
Anna Chakvetadze
Eleni Daniilidou
Daniela Hantuchova
Maria Kirilenko
Michaella Krajicek

*GLAMOUR-SHOTS-R-US*

1. Michaella Krajicek
2. Olga Poutchkova
3. Ana Ivanovic

SHOULD BE BETTER: Tatiana Golovin
SO THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES FOR A TEENAGER TO BE EVICTED: Sesil Karatantcheva
FINALLY OUSTED: Jelena Dokic & Alexandra Stevenson
HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE: Jennifer Capriati
ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL: Elena Bovina
CANADIAN PRIDE... and wait 'til next year: Aleksandra Wozniak made it, but Stephanie Dubois didn't
BEST GIRL-NEXT-DOOR SHOT: Olga Savchuk


THEY DIDN'T GET IN???: Tamira Paszek, who won a tour singles title before her 16th birthday, and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, who set the tour's all-time fastest serve record
BUT SHE DID???: Kirsten Flipkens, who imploded in the Fed Cup final and failed to even reach a tour QF in '06 (and her only career tour SF came back in 2004)

**THE PIGEONS STRIKE AGAIN... oh, poo**
Sure, she suffered a knee injury late in the season, but maybe Mashona Washington wouldn't have had her bio cut if she hadn't blown that 5-3 3rd set lead and three match points against Maria Sharapova at Roland Garros around the time those devious birds landed on the court

LAME DUCK BIOS: Lindsay Davenport & Kim Clijsters
2008 CANDIDATES: Madison Brengle, Alize Cornet, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Urszula Radwanska and, of course, an overdue Tamira Paszek... well, unless the pigeons have their way with her.


All for now.