2008 I.A.'s, Pt.2 (Questions & More)

No real in-depth analysis here. Just a simple yah or nay (with a few exceptions) on all those pre-season predictions from myself and Tennisrulz Head Honcho Pierre Cantin. plus a quick look at the Top 10 most intriguing players to watch in 2009 (with about two months left in 2008, at least... by January, who knows?).




NORTH AMERICA: Will the NextGen ever arrive? Finally, it looks like the American NextGen's might be here. Coco Vandeweghe, one of many U.S. teens demanding to be noticed in 2008, won the Open Girls title, and four of the final eight (and half the semifinalists) were young Americans. Even Canada is getting into the act, as 20-year old Aleksandra Wozniak's title in Stanford made her the first Canadian singles champ on tour in twenty years.

ASIA/PACIFIC: Can Australia import a women's tennis champion? Well, almost. While Alicia Molik retired, Jelena Dokic managed to keep her head above water on the ITF circuit and Samantha Stosur took half the year to begin her comeback from health problems, the soon-to-represent-Australia Jarmila Gajdosova continued to make progress, recently advancing to her first tour SF in Tokyo. Meanwhile, home-grown Casey Dellacqua was the most important Aussie on tour in 2008, causing a stir at multiple grand slam events with upsets of seeded players.

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Is 2008 the year Shahar Peer becomes a star? Ummm, nope. Boy, I certainly didn't see this one coming. Rather than rise into the Top 10, Peer fell from #17 to nearly out of the Top 40.

SOUTH AMERICA: Where have all the Gaby's gone? There was at least a hint of an Argentine player making a little headway in '08, as Maria-Emilia Salerni reached her first career tour final in Bogota. Gisela Dulko won her third career title in Fes, but her results (under .500 for the season) were inconsistent, as usual.

RUSSIA: Can Sharapova be super again? Well, she WAS for a while. Sharapova went on an eighteen-match winning streak early in the season and won the Australian Open (where she ended Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak and beat both Serbs in consecutive rounds. She inherited Henin's #1 ranking when the Belgian retired, but shoulder problems (and a medical misdiagnosis of the malady) prematurely ended her season before the Olympics.

THE REST OF EUROPE: Are the Serbs destined to shine, or disappoint? Well, BOTH. Both became #1. Ana Ivanovic won her first slam at Roland Garros, then promptly saw her results fall off the table under the scrutiny of the #1-player magnifying glass. Jelena Jankovic reached her first slam final in New York, and won three straight tournaments in recent weeks to almost wrap up the year-end #1. But AnaIvo needs to rebound in '09, while Jankovic needs to win a slam title to validate her ranking in the eyes of much of the public.

2008 MOST INTRIGUING QUESTION: Is "The Valkyrie" (Agnes Szavay) about to rise? Call is a Szophomore Szlump? Just when Szavay looked ready to take the next step, she stumbled in her first full season on tour with expectations hanging over her head. Hopefully, we won't be talking about a Vaidisova-like tease a year from now.



*HOW SMART WE WERE/HOW DUMB WE WERE**:


=SMART=
In pre-season predictions, had Maria Sharapova winning the Australian, Venus Williams taking Wimbledon and Serena claiming the U.S. Open. (Of course, Henin was the choice at RG.)
Said a Williams would win Wimbledon
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Said Marion Bartoli, Tatiana Golovin & Amelie Mauresmo -- the highest-ranked Pastries at the start of 2008 -- would combine for no more than a single WTA singles title. So far, they've won zero.
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Said both Kataryna Bondarenko and Sorana Cirstea would win their first tour singles titles, and that K-Bond, Dominika Cibulkova, Alize Cornet, Sara Errani, Karin Knapp, Maria-Emilia Salerni and Caroline Wozniacki would all appear in their first tour singles finals.
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Said Novak Djokovic would win his first slam singles crown in 2008.
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Had Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic in 2008 pre-season Top 6. Currently, they're all ranked in the Top 9.
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=DUMB=
Didn't have Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva or Agnieszka Radwanksa in pre-season Top 10. They're all there now.
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Had Agnes Szavay, Nicole Vaidisova, Shahar Peer and Lindsay Davenport in pre-season Top 10.
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Said a healthy Davenport would lead the U.S. to a Fed Cup title. As it turned out, she didn't stay healthy and the "B-team" lost in the FC semifinals.
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Said 17-year old Tamira Paszek would be the youngest player ranked in the year-end Top 100. #62 Paszek is the second-youngest. Current #67 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, also 17, is younger by about seven months. 15-year old Michelle Larcher de Brito is #120.
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Said the trio of sisters Williams, Bondarenko and Radwanska would include five different tour singles champions. Four have won titles in 2008... but there still might be time for either Alona or U-Rad to turn this into a "smart" prediction.
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=TO BE DETERMINED, BUT...=
Began the year stating the belief that Jelena Jankovic would never win a grand slam title in her career. Now, the chances of picking her to win one in the first month of 2009 look pretty good.
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=SMART=
In pre-season predictions, had Maria Sharapova winning the Australian Open.
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Said Russia would win a fourth Fed Cup title in the last five years.
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Said Andy Murray would rise to the #4 slot in men's tennis behind the Big 3 of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
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Said the trio of sisters Williams, Bondarenko and Radwanska would include exactly four different singles champions. So far, so good.
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Had Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic in pre-season Top 10.
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=DUMB=
In pre-season predictions, had Maria Sharapova winning Wimbledon and Ana Ivanovic taking the U.S. Open.
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Had Jelena Jankovic at #10 in pre-season Top 10.
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Had Lindsay Davenport #3, as well as Nicole Vaidisova, Anna Chakvetadze and Amelie Mauresmo in pre-season Top 10.
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Didn't have Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Agnieszka Radwanska or Venus Williams in pre-season Top 10.
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Said Urszula Radwanska would be the youngest player ranked in the Top 100. She's the third-youngest, one day older than Paszek, and is currently #137.
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=TO BE DETERMINED=
Agreed that Jankovic would never win a slam in her career. We'll soon find out if he's changed his opinion, as well.
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In all, we both had sixteen of the current Top 20 listed as being under consideration for our pre-season Top 10's (including a "Second 10" plus additional "Extras"). The four Top 20ers neither of us had in the mix were Alize Cornet, Dominika Cibulkova, Flavia Pennetta and Caroline Wozniacki.



Hey, it's never too early to look ahead to next year. Two and a half months from the kickoff of the 2009 season, the progress of which ten players would seem to be the most intriguing? Well...


Jelena Jankovic: The craziest grand slam quest ever officially commences in Melbourne.
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Michelle Larcher de Brito: she's only 15, but so far nothing hints that the hype doesn't match the reality.
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Dominika Cibulkova: Without Henin around, she has the best small-in-stature, big win ratio in the women's game.
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: The Next One is coming.
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Carla Suarez-Navarro: With Justine Henin retired, any young athletic player with a one-handed backhand is worth keeping an eye on.
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Anna-Lena Groenefeld: Back for a full season, with her serve on her side.
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Caroline Wozniacki: She learned to win mid-level tournaments in 2008 and reached the Top 20. We'll see what she does with her learned skill in 2009.
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Agnes Szavay: Hey, I'm not going to just abandon her.
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Laura Robson: What next? I mean, besides a heap of great new quotes for the Robson Rolodex.
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Ana Ivanovic & Nicole Vaidisova: Will AnaIvo be the next Nicole Vaidisova, or vice versa? At least there are no questions about whether or not Ivanovic wants it.
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I know, I know. That's more than ten. But after a season which looks like it's going to end with Jelena Jankovic as the year-end #1, who says everything has to be tied up with a nice red bow?

Hmmm, it WOULD match Jankovic's new car, though, now wouldn't it?

All for now.



2008 SEASON REVIEW EDITIONS OF WTA BACKSPIN:
...Revolving Doors - WTA '09 Guide Preview
...Intriguing Answers, Pt.1 (The Top 20)
...Intriguing Answers, Pt.2 (Questions & more)
...Regional Honors (coming soon)
...Backspin Awards (coming soon)
...Ms. Backspin (coming soon)
...WTA Yearbook (coming soon)