The Dorothy Tour Awards

One slam down. Three to go. One month down. Nine more to go. And, in a few minutes, one Backspin monthly awards presentation down, too.

**Dorothy Tour Awards - January/Wk.1-4*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Serena Williams, USA
...it looks like it's going to be up to her just how tight a grip she's going to have on the tour in '09.
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2. Elena Dementieva, RUS
...she's made great progress over the years, but "glass ceiling" seems to keep coming in conversations about Punch-Sober.
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3. Dinara Safina, RUS
...she's got the entire season to get out of her "2nd place rut." Of course, she could fall back to "3rd," as she did here.
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4. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
...now she knows how close she REALLY is.
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5. Marion Bartoli, FRA
...amazing what a fewer number of truffles has done for La Trufflette.
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HM- Vera Zvonareva, RUS
...Dinara and Elena have been getting all the attention, but Vera might have actually made the MOST progress of all the top Russians over the last few months.
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**RISERS**
1. Dinara Safina, RUS
2. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
3. Marion Bartoli, FRA
4. Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
5. Petra Kvitova, CZE
6. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
7. Hsieh Su-Wei/Peng Shuai, TPE/CHN
8. Elena Vesnina, RUS
9. Sara Errani, ITA
10. Alize Cornet, FRA
HM- Zheng Jie, CHN & Tsvetana Pironkova, BUL

**FRESH FACES**
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
3. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
4. Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
5. Jessica Moore, AUS
6. Gabriela Paz, VEN
7. Melanie Oudin, USA
8. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
9. Christina McHale, USA
10. Urszula Radwanska, POL
HM- Sharon Fichman, CAN

**JUNIORS**
1. Ksenia Pervak, RUS
2. Laura Robson, GBR
3. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
4. Ana Bogdan, ROU
5. Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
6. Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO
7. Elena Bogdan, ROU
8. Christina McHale, USA
9. Anna Orlik, BLR
10. Heather Watson, GBR
HM- Nadiya Kichenok, UKR

**SURPRISES**
1. Anne Keothavong, GBR
2. Elena Baltacha, GBR
3. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
4. Melinda Czink, HUN
5. Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ
6. Alberta Brianti, ITA
7. Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
8. Katie O'Brien, GBR
9. Anna Orlik, BLR
10. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, FRA
HM- Heather Watson, GBR

**VETERANS**
1. Serena Williams, USA
2. Elena Dementieva, RUS
3. S.Williams/V.Williams, USA
4. Nathalie Dechy, FRA
5. Ai Sugiyama, JPN
6. Nadia Petrova, RUS
7. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
8. Iveta Benesova, CZE
9. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
10. Venus Williams, USA
HM- Julie Coin, FRA & Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN

**COMEBACKS**
1. Jelena Dokic, AUS
2. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
3. Sania Mirza, IND
4. Sesil Karatantcheva, BUL (KAZ)
5. Mara Santangelo, ITA
HM- Karolina Sprem, CRO

**DOWN**
1. Maria Sharapova, RUS
2. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
3. Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
4. Agnes Szavay, HUN
5. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
HM- Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA & Jelena Jankovic, SRB

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Gabriela Paz, VEN
2. Sharon Fichman, CAN
3. Emma Laine, FIN
HM- Alexa Glatch, USA

*QUOTES*
"The more you know, the worse you sleep." - Dinara Safina
"(I've been) eating too many chocolates out of depression from not being allowed to play for India." - Shikha Uberoi (IND), who used to play under the U.S.A. flag, on the decision by Indian tennis that players from other nations, even though they have Indian ancestry, will no longer be allowed to represent India in international competitions such as the Fed Cup
"I just thought, 'My eyes, my innocent eyes.'" - Serena Williams, on her thoughts when her Australian Open doubles match was interrupted by a streaker

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
[1]
Serena Williams wins the Australian Open, her tenth career slam singles title (obviously)
[2]
Elena Dementieva opens her season by winning back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney
[3]
Jelena Dokic blooms once more, reaching the Oz quarterfinals in front of the Australian fans

*TOP MATCH*
[singles]
Australian Open 4th Rd. - Jelena Dokic def. Alisa Kleybanova
...7-5/5-7/8-6. The Queen of the Melbourne Night's final gift to the tournament, a come-from-behind (she was down 3-1, love/30 on her own serve in the 3rd) win under the lights during the on-the-seventh-day-Laver-Arena-exploded spectacular, that solidified her out-of-nowhere-after-all-these-years run that became the tournament's best story.
[doubles]
Australian Open QF - Hantuchova/Sugiyama def. Black/Huber
...7-6/3-6/7-6(10). Hantuchova/Sugiyama didn't win the title, but their 3:00 take down of a very game world's #1 doubles team was probably the best match in Melbourne that was almost ignored by the most people.

*QUOTES*
"It's really emotional to win today. What I had to go through, it's really great to have this win. I don't think a lot of people know what it means to me. It's great to be here at a slam." - Jelena Dokic, after winning her 1st Round Australian Open match, her first main draw win at a slam since 2003
"Everybody says the third time's the charm, but for me it's the fifth." - Victoria Azarenka, after finally winning her first WTA singles title in Brisbane in her fifth career final
"I've said always my whole story with him (Damir Dokic) is finished. It would have to be an unbelievable miracle for him to change. I don't see that happening." - Jelena Dokic, on her estranged father

*MOST DRAMATIC MATCH*
Australian Open 1st Round - Jessica Moore def. Christina McHale
...1-6/6-3/9-7. What is it about players cramping during matches that is just SO dramatic? Well, whatever it is, it happened in this matchup of two wild cards. McHale seemed well on her way to victory in the 2nd set, then suddenly could barely make it around the court. She nearly pulled out the match anyway, serving for the whole ball of wax in the 3rd. But Aussie Moore eventually took control of things and put the American out of her misery.

*BREAKOUT MOMENT*
Australian Open 2nd Round - Carla Suarez-Navarro def. Venus Williams
...2-6/6-3/7-5. Venus led 4-1 in the 3rd, served for the match and even held a match point. But the 20-year old Spaniard made her first appearance in the AO main draw a memorable one, winning this match and getting her second slam QF result in just four career slams.

*BIGGEST UPSET*
Australian Open 3rd - Alisa Kleybanova def. Ana Ivanovic
...7-5/6-7/6-2. Or is it?

*BIGGEST COMEBACK*
Australian Open 4th Rd. - Dinara Safina def. Alize Cornet
...6-2/2-6/7-5 Apparently Safina didn't use up all her tennis lives in '08, after all. As has become her habit in slams, the Russian had to hover on the edge of defeat before she finally raised her game to it's most glorious level. This time, she trailed 5-2 in the 3rd and faced two match points -- one on which Cornet just narrowly missed a winner down the line -- before rebounding and reaching another slam final.

*BIGGEST COLLAPSE*
Sydney 1st Round - Serena Williams def. Samantha Stosur
...6-3/6-7/7-5. The Aussie served at 5-4, 40/love in the 3rd. She had two double-faults on match point, recalling the match she blew against Nicole Vaidisova last year at Wimbledon.

=FINALLY!=
Kimiko Date-Krumm played her first grand slam main draw match in thirteen years (darn, would you know it -- I had a dozen years in the Backspin HQ pool)
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Victoria Azarenka won her first tour singles title (Petra Kvitova did, too.)
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The Wimbledon Centre Court roof is scheduled to be tested for the first time in May!
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Sesil Karatantcheva got her first slam main draw win since 2005
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Jelena Dokic got her first Australian Open main draw win since 1999
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*QUOTES*
"I feel like a grandmother out there, with so many 14 and 15-year olds playing." - 19-year old Sesil Karatantcheva (go ahead, make your own pregnancy joke -- it's very hard to pass up, though I managed to actually do it this one time)
"I love my job. I love hitting balls, running and jumping, chasing after the ball. I love what I do, so I think that's what keeps me motivated." - Venus Williams

=EVENTUALLY?=
...Olga Morozova will get Svetlana Kuznetsova's game and head right. And, hey, at the U.S. Open she won't be able to hang a winnable match that she somehow managed to lose on a closed roof, either.
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...Jelena Jankovic's training in Mexico will pay off
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...Maria Sharapova will be back (just don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen anytime soon)
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...Queen Chaos will get those air-conditioned shoes she wants. Geez. Helicopter rides, red cars, special shoes... needless to say, JJ is a very "high-maintenance" sort of woman, huh?

And speaking of ol' QC, the reigning drama queen of 2008 had a very eventful opening to her 2009 season... only the highlights didn't take place on the court.

*JJ's EARLY-SEASON HITS-and-MISSES
"Jelena's World" is Serbia's #1 movie
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She picked up a "I Went to Hong Kong and All I Got was the Flu and This Lousy T-Shirt" t-shirt during 2009's first week
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JJ got a new boyfriend (see "high-maintenance" comment above)
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Snezana managed to get the license of the truck that ran over Jelena in Melbourne -- I think it was "DrBsKID"
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Queen Chaos signed with IMG. I hope THEY know what they signed up for.
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An actual STAR was dubbed "JJ." It's located in the sc2 Hercules constellation of the North Polar region. (I'll take their word on it.)
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She placed an ad in the Melbourne Tribune's "Lost & Found" for the game that seemed to have abandoned her as soon as she crossed over into Australian air space. (Hmmm, maybe that wouldn't have been a bad idea... though she might want to go on a scavenger hunt-like hike in the Mexican highlands, too.
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Even though she's now #3 rather than #1, Jankovic probably won't have the need for any helicopter rides around the All-England Club this summer... well, unless someone there has a long memory, that is. At least she might get a good view-from-a-distance of the first opening-and-closing of the roof, should it come to that.
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I guess there really WAS only room for one Jelena Down Under. That was good for the (Former-and-Once Again) Fair One (aka Miss Dokic), but not for Queen Chaos.

Oh well, it's only February. She's got time.





FED CUP 2009
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=1st Round=
Russia def. China 4-1
France def. Italy 3-2
USA def. Argentina 3-2
Spain def. Czech Republic 3-2

...China is unlucky again. Mary Joe Fernandez and the American "B" team draw a beatable opponent (though with Bethanie Mattek on the sidelines, I fear this early prediction might now be in jeopardy). Amelie returns to Team France. And CSN tries to carry over her Oz success.

=World Group II=
Slovak Republic def. Belgium 5-0
Germany def. Switzerland 3-2
Serbia def. Japan 4-1
Ukraine def. Israel 4-1


All for now.