2008 Regional Honors

The 2008 Backspin Awards are still a week away, so consider this something of a mini-preview... region by region.

==NORTH AMERICA==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Serena Williams, USA
POY (RUNNER-UP): Venus Williams, USA

RISER: Bethanie Mattek, USA
SURPRISE: Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
VETERAN: Venus Williams, USA
FRESH FACE: Coco Vandeweghe, USA
COMEBACK: Jamea Jackson, USA
DOWN: Meghann Shaughnessy, USA
ITF PLAYER: Julie Ditty, USA
UNDERRATED: Jill Craybas, USA
DOUBLES: Liezel Huber, USA

==SOUTH AMERICA==

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Gisela Dulko, ARG
POY (RUNNER-UP): Maria-Emilia Salerni, ARG
RISER: Betina Jozami, ARG
SURPRISE: Gabriela Paz, VEN
VETERAN: Milagros Sequera, VEN
FRESH FACE: Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
COMEBACK: Rossana de los Rios, PAR
DOWN: Catalina Castano, COL
ITF PLAYER: Veronica Spiegel, ARG
UNDERRATED: Jorgelina Cravero, ARG
DOUBLES: Betina Jozami, ARG

==ASIA/PACIFIC==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Zheng Jie, CHN
POY (RUNNER-UP): Chan Yung-Jan/Chuang Chia-Jung, TPE
RISER: Li Na, CHN

SURPRISE: Marina Erakovic, NZL
VETERAN: Rennae Stubbs, AUS
FRESH FACE: Casey Dellacqua, AUS
COMEBACK: Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
DOWN: Sania Mirza, IND
ITF PLAYER: Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
UNDERRATED: Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
DOUBLES: Rennae Stubbs, AUS

==AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST==

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cara Black, ZIM
POY (RUNNER-UP): Shahar Peer, ISR
RISER: Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
SURPRISE: Marinne Giraud, MRI
VETERAN: Tzipora Obziler, ISR
FRESH FACE: Julia Glushko, ISR
COMEBACK: Cara Black, ZIM (singles)
DOWN: Shahar Peer, ISR
ITF PLAYER: Natalie Grandin, RSA
UNDERRATED: Kelly Anderson, RSA (doubles)
DOUBLES: Cara Black, ZIM

==RUSSIA==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Dinara Safina
POY (RUNNER-UP): Maria Sharapova
RISER: Vera Zvonareva
SURPRISE: Alla Kudryavtseva
VETERAN: Elena Dementieva

FRESH FACE: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
COMEBACK: Elena Bovina
DOWN: Svetlana Kuznetsova
ITF PLAYER: Elena Kulikova
UNDERRATED: Vera Dushevina
DOUBLES: Nadia Petrova

==REST OF EUROPE==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jelena Jankovic, SRB
POY (RUNNER-UP): Ana Ivanovic, SRB
RISER: Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
SURPRISE: Petra Kvitova, CZE
VETERAN: Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP
FRESH FACE: Caroline Wozniacki, DEN

COMEBACK: Flavia Pennetta, ITA
DOWN: Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
ITF PLAYER: Masa Zec-Peskiric, SLO
UNDERRATED: Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
DOUBLES: Anabel Medina-Garrigues/Virginia Ruano-Pascual, ESP





Looking to "buy stock" in a few players for 2009? Getting cold feet and thinking you should "sell" your holdings in one of those past investments? Here are a few WTA "market tips"... take them to heart at your own peril.

=BUY=
NORTH AMERICA: Alexa Glatch & Kristie Haerim Ahn, USA
...or Asia Muhammad and Gail Brodsky. Or Madison Brengle and Melanie Oudin. Actually, getting in on the ground floor on any number of the new batch of young Americans might be a wise investment.

SOUTH AMERICA: Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
...she's the only on-the-rise South American ranked in the Top 100.

ASIA/PACIFIC: Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
...as Tamarine Tanasugarn eases into the latter stage of her career, a new Thai heroine is waiting in the wings.

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Julia Glushko, ISR
...umm, not that there are really any other possibilities scrambling to be noticed at the moment.

RUSSIA: Ekaterina Makarova
...the most anonymous Russian ranked in the Top 50.

REST OF EUROPE: Anna-Lena Groenefeld, RUS
...her mind is clear (again). Her body is fit (again). Her serve is on (again). Now, where were we a few seasons back?

=SELL=
NORTH AMERICA: Ashley Harkleroad & Lindsay Davenport, USA
...life is intruding. Well, life and Harkleroad's series of surprising choices. At any rate, they'll be able to set up a play date for their kids a little ways down the line.

SOUTH AMERICA: anyone not named Gisela or Mariana (and maybe Gabriela)
...there are only three South Americans in the singles Top 100, and one in the doubles Top 100.

ASIA/PACIFIC: Rennae Stubbs, AUS
...TV is calling, though she might be able to balance the two for a little while longer.

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Tzipora Obziler, ISR
...I mean, how much longer can a 35-year old late bloomer continue to reach new career heights?

RUSSIA: Olga Puchkova
...all the self-hype might have been just that.

REST OF EUROPE: Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
...even if Amelie manages to have a resurgent '09, her best tennis is likely in her rear-view mirror.

=HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN THE INVESTMENT=
NORTH AMERICA: Carly & Chelsey Gullickson, USA
...the Naturals emerged a bit in '08. Teen Chelsey won her first challenger title, while older sis Carly won one, too, and reached a career-high rank in singles. They teamed in doubles to reach a challenger final, an event in which they very nearly met in the singles final, as well.

SOUTH AMERICA: Gisela Dulko, ARG
...the only South American ranked in the Top 100 in both singles and doubles, though she's never lived up to her early promise.

ASIA/PACIFIC: Sania Mirza, IND & Jelena Dokic, AUS
...very similar games. Very bright stars that burned white hot for a short time, but have seemingly been lost in the darkness of space for both different and quite similar reasons. But Dokic won three challengers in '08, while Mirza is on the way back with a new coach.

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Shahar Peer, ISR
...the Corporal will need to rededicate herself in '09. It'll be hard to believe if she doesn't do just that.

RUSSIA: Anna Chakvetadze
...no player needs a quiet offseason to collect herself more.

REST OF EUROPE: Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
...remember, she was one match away from a pair of grand slam finals in 2006-07. One bad season isn't enough the throw the bonus baby out with the bath water. Not yet, anyway.


All for now.



2008 SEASON REVIEW EDITIONS OF WTA BACKSPIN:
...Revolving Doors - WTA '09 Guide Preview
...Intriguing Answers, Pt.1
...Intriguing Answers, Pt.2
...The Best of Jankovic 2008
...Regional Honors
...Backspin Awards (next week)
...Ms. Backspin (coming soon)
...WTA Yearbook (coming soon)