2009 Revolving Doors

The 2008 season's finish line is in sight, and the 2009 campaign will be here before you know it. So while there's still a month of action remaining before things wrap up at the Championships in Doha, it's never too early to cast a predicting eye toward the players the WTA might see fit to "officially" deem as either "out" or "in" based on their representation in the 2009 version of the annual Official Guide to Professional Tennis.

It's a wonderful acknowledgement for the tour to bestow upon a player the honor of being officially listed as a "mover and shaker" at the beginning of a new year... and a tremendous blow for a player (and her fans) to be dropped from the ranks of "the current." The Guide saw fit to shrink the "in crowd" from 132 listed bios to 114 a year ago, when twenty-six players saw their career stats and stories magically appear while forty-nine others were suddenly declared to be amongst the "freaks and geeks" sitting at the corner table in the school cafeteria.

Ah, but all it takes is one season to prove the WTA wrong and return to a place of prominence with a strong string of results... or slip completely off the radar by falling back into the pack. So, based on the forty weeks of action thus far in 2008, who might be passing each other in the Guide's revolving doors in a few months time?

Some nominations:

==WELCOME INSIDE?==

**THE NextGen ARRIVES?**
Aleksandra Wozniak/CAN: Stanford changed everything, as she became the first Canadian champ in 20 years. She's at the top of the invitee list. No need to RSVP, Aleksandra.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS: the great results might not be there yet, but she's done enough to signal her junior success wasn't a fluke.
Marina Erakovic/NZL: getting into the Guide might not take as much work as getting on the New Zealand Olympic team did.

Yanina Wickmayer/BEL: apparently, a Belgian spot in the Guide has opened up. I mean, unless somebody knows something everyone else doesn't know.

Urszula Radwanska/POL: maybe a year early, but Agnieszka could use the company.
Sabine Lisicki/GER: she's surprised enough top players in '08 to not be considered a surprise inclusion.
Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP: a player to watch in '09, s it'd be a big oversight to leave her out.

Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR: not likely for the '09 Guide, but The Kid is raring to go.

**THE NextGen - TIER II**
Julia Goerges/GER, Monica Niculescu/ROU, Alisa Kleybanova/RUS, Timea Bacsinszky/SUI, Mariana Duque-Marino/COL & Ekaterina Makarova/RUS: some have better chances than others, but it wouldn't be a surprise if none of them make it. Take a coin, flip it and pick one or two.

**BREAKOUT PLAYERS**
Bethanie Mattek/USA: the Guide wouldn't be complete without her.
Petra Cetkovska/CZE & Petra Kvitova/CZE: the Guide needs at least one Petra.

**THE NOVELTY FACTOR**
Anne Keothavong/GBR: until Laura Robson gets a bit older.
Julie Coin/FRA: is one big win enough? Probably not.
Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN: for old time's sake? Julie Ditty made the Guide in '08 with only a Quebec City SF to back it up as far as WTA tour results.

**WELCOMED BACK AFTER A BRIEF ABSENCE?**
Tamarine Tanasugarn/THA & Iveta Benesova/CZE: probably locks to return.
Anna-Lena Groenefeld/GER: Gal Friday should have been given a grace year in the Guide for '08 anyway.
Marta Domachowska/POL: is there room for possibly three Poles in one Guide?

**UNDER THE RADAR**
Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE, Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP, Lucie Hradecka/CZE, Andreja Klepac/SLO & Mariya Koryttseva/UKR: one fears they'll be ignored for no good reason.



==SHOWN THE DOOR?==

**TIME TO MOVE ON?**
Meghann Shaughnessy/USA, Meilen Tu/USA, Milagros Sequera/VEN, Elena Likhovtseva/RUS, Anne Kremer/LUX, Lilia Osterloh/USA & Laura Granville/USA: there's no real compelling reason to reserve spots for ALL of them.

**TO SNOOZE IS TO LOSE**
Vladimira Uhlirova/CZE, Maria-Emilia Salerni/ARG, Yvonne Meusburger/AUT, Angelique Kerber/GER & Tatjana Malek/GER : even though Salerni actually made her first career tour singles final in' 08? Yep, maybe.

**UP FOR DEBATE**
Ashley Harkleroad/USA, Julie Ditty/USA, Mara Santangelo/ITA, Martina Muller/GER & Olga Savchuk/UKR: well, unless Harkleroad's new-found infamy counts for something.

**ADIOS, OF COURSE**
Justine Henin/BEL, Anastasia Myskina/RUS, Nicole Pratt/AUS & Alicia Molik/AUS: well, unless a certain Belgian has a change of heart, that is.

**JENNIFER CAPRIATI SYNDROME?**
Jennifer Capriati/USA & Mary Pierce/FRA: yes, even though she hasn't played since 2004, Capriati was STILL listed in the '08 Guide. It's time to give up the ghost. And let's not have Mary Pierce Syndrome replace JCS (which earlier replaced Monica Seles Syndrome), either.

**A TRUE CONUNDRUM**
Lindsay Davenport/USA: unless Lindsay makes an official announcement soon, the Guide will probably play it safe and keep her around just in case.

**IT MIGHT BE TOO SOON TO RELEGATE THEM TO THE GUEST COTTAGE, BUT IT MIGHT HAPPEN ANYWAY**
Olga Puchkova/RUS, Andrea Petkovic/GER, Aiko Nakamura/JPN, Anastasia Rodionova/AUS & Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP: the Guide probably jumped the gun a bit on Puchkova anyway, and I'm still not sure how Petkovic got there so quickly.

**BASED ON '08, PROBABLY SHOULD BE TEMPORARILY REPLACED, BUT SURELY WON'T BE**
Sania Mirza/IND, Nicole Vaidisova/CZE, Agnes Szavay/HUN, Tatiana Golovin/FRA & Michaella Krajicek/NED: only Krajicek is a possibility for exclusion.
**BASED ON '08 PROBABLY WILL BE REPLACED, BUT SHOULDN'T BE**
Julia Vakulenko/UKR: like ALG in the '08 Guide, she deserves a break.

But then again, who knows how these decisions are made.


All for now.



2008 SEASON REVIEW EDITIONS OF WTA BACKSPIN:
...Revolving Doors - WTA '09 Guide Preview
...Intriguing Answers (Top 20 & More) (coming soon)
...Backspin Awards (coming soon)
...Ms. Backspin (coming soon)
...WTA Yearbook (coming soon)