2011 Backspin Awards, Pt.1

Lists have always been a stock and trade component of Backspin, and that's never more the case than with the annual Backspin Awards.

The final "Ms. Backspin" standings won't show up in this space for a few days. In the mean time, everyone can try to come up with a million wild scenarios why she won't be the player everyone HAS to know she HAS to be. Elsewhere, other top players not named Serena can spend the next few months trying to figure out whether or not they really have what it takes to keep that certain player from backing up her '11 honors with similar and/or more plaudits in 2012. And, thus, next season's storylines are already taking shape.

Anyway, here are 2011's "secondary" player and match lists:

*RISERS*
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
3. Andrea Petkovic, GER
4. Marion Bartoli, FRA
5. Sabine Lisicki, GER
6. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
7. Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
8. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
9. Maria Kirilenko, RUS
10. Julia Goerges, GER
11. Peng Shuai, CHN
12. Victoria Azarenka/Maria Kirilenko, BLR/RUS
13. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
14. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
15. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
16. Kaia Kanepi, EST
17. Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE/CZE
18. Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina, IND/RUS
19. Jarmila Gajdosova (Groth), AUS
20. Polona Hercog, SLO
21. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
22. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE
23. Lucie Safarova, CZE
24. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
25. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
26. Marina Erakovic, NZL
27. Vera Dushevina, RUS
28. Mathilde Johansson, FRA
29. Elena Baltacha, GBR
30. Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP

*FRESH FACES*
1. Monica Niculescu, ROU
2. Ksenia Pervak, RUS
3. Tamira Paszek, AUT
4. Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
5. Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU
6. Simona Halep, ROU
7. Christina McHale, USA
8. Evgeniya Rodina, RUS
9. Arantxa Rus, NED
10. Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
11. Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
12. Anastasija Sevastova, LAT
13. Bojana Jovanovski, SRB
14. Heather Watson, GBR
15. Laura Robson, GBR
16. Petra Martic, CRO
17. Vitalia Diatchenko, RUS
18. Ayumi Morita, JPN
19. Misaki Doi, JPN
20. Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
21. Rebecca Marino, CAN
22. Alison Riske, USA
23. Coco Vandeweghe, USA
24. Irina Falconi, USA
25. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
26. Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
27. Olivia Rogowska, AUS
28. Christina Dinu, ROU
29. Alexa Glatch, USA
30. Chanel Simmonds, RSA
31. Zhang Shuai, CHN
32. Yuliana Lizarazo, COL
33. Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO
34. Anastasia Pivovarova, RUS
35. Timea Babos, HUN

*UP-AND-COMERS & JUNIORS & NCAA*
1. Caroline Garcia, FRA
2. Madison Keys, USA
3. Monica Puig, PUR
4. Sloane Stephens, USA
5. Ashleigh Barty, AUS
6. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
7. Karolina Pliskova, CZE
8. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
9. Grace Min, USA
10. Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
11. Ons Jabeur, TUN
12. Alison van Utyvanck, BEL
13. Indy De Vroome, NED
14. An-Sophie Mestach, BEL
15. Natalija Kostic, SRB
16. Elina Svitolina, UKR
17. Victoria Kan, RUS
18. Krista Hardebeck, USA
19. Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR
20. Lauren Davis, USA
21. Sharon Fichman, CAN
22. Yana Buchina, RUS
23. Zheng Saisai, CHN
24. Demi Schuurs, NED
25. Jana Cepelova, SVK
26. Tamryn Hendler, BEL
27. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ESP
28. Anett Kontaveit, EST
29. Australian Junior Fed Cup Team
30. Taylor Townsend, USA
31. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK
32. Aleksandra Krunic, SRB
33. Alexandra Kiick, USA
34. Francoise Abanda, CAN
35. Johanna Konta, AUS
36. Donna Vekic, CRO
37. Robin Anderson, USA
38. Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN
39. Victoria Duval, USA
40. Jana Juricova (California)
41. Stacey Tan (Stanford)
42. Lauren Embree (Florida)
43. Carina Witthoerft, GER
44. Ilka Csoregi, ROU
45. Hilary Barte/Mallory Burdette (Stanford)

*SURPRISES*
1. Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ
2. Angelique Kerber, GER
3. Petra Cetkovska, CZE
4. Tsvetana Pironkova, BUL (at Wimbledon, again)
5. Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
6. Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, ESP
7. Vania King, USA
8. Silvia Soler-Espinosa, ESP
9. Lucie Hradecka, CZE
10. Romina Oprandi, ITA
11. Sofia Arvidsson, SWE
12. Eva Birnerova, CZE
13. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, AUT
14. Johanna Larsson, SWE
15. Anastasia Rodionova, AUS
16. Kristina Barrois, GER
17. Vesna Dolonts (Manasieva), RUS
18. Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS
19. Olga Savchuk, UKR
20. Sanda Zahlavova, CZE
21. Mona Barthel, GER
22. Reka-Luca Jani, HUN
23. Florencia Molinero, ARG
24. Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears, USA/USA
25. Alexandra Panova, RUS
26. Ekaterina Ivanova, RUS
27. Nadia Lalami, MAR
28. Han Xinyun, CHN
29. Varvara Lepchenko, USA
30. Dia Evtimova, BUL

*VETERANS*
1. Li Na, CHN
2. Liezel Huber, USA
3. Samantha Stosur, AUS
4. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO
5. Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
6. Kim Clijsters, BEL
7. Serena Williams, USA
8. Marion Bartoli, FRA
9. Roberta Vinci, ITA
10. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
11. Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
12. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
13. Nadia Petrova, RUS
14. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
15. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
16. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
17. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
18. Jelena Dokic, AUS
19. Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
20. Alberta Brianti, ITA
21. Zheng Jie, CHN
22. Greta Arn, HUN
23. Iveta Benesova, CZE
24. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Meghann Shaughnessy, USA/USA
25. Klara Zakopalova, CZE
26. Laura Pous-Tio, ESP
27. Arantxa Parra-Santonja, ESP
28. Natalie Grandin/Vladimira Uhlirova, RSA/CZE
29. Anne Keothavong, GBR
30. Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
31. Eleni Daniilidou, GRE
32. Tatiana Poutchek, BLR
33. Rennae Stubbs, AUS
34. Anne Kremer, LUX
35. Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA

*COMEBACK PLAYERS*
1. Sabine Lisicki, GER
2. Maria Sharapova, RUS
3. Serena Williams, USA
4. Russian Fed Cup Team & Czech Fed Cup Team
5. Jelena Dokic, AUS
6. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
7. Nadia Petrova, RUS (singles)
8. Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR
9. Casey Dellacqua, AUS
10. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
11. Sorana Cirstea, ROU
12. Marina Erakovic, NZL
13. Mirjana Lucic, CRO
14. Melanie Oudin, USA (mixed doubles)
15. Urszula Radwanska, POL
16. Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
17. Michaella Krajicek, NED
18. Sania Mirza, IND
19. Olga Puchkova, RUS
20. Anne Keothavong, GBR
21. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
22. Sharon Fichman, CAN
23. Stephanie Foretz-Gacon, FRA
24. Anna Tatishvili, GEO
25. Karin Knapp, ITA
26. Marta Domachowska, POL
27. Alize Cornet, FRA
28. Myriam Casanova, SUI
29. Rika Fujiwara, JPN
30. Maggie Maleeva, BUL (Fed Cup)

*DOUBLES*
1. Liezel Huber, USA
2. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO
3. Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
4. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
5. Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
6. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
7. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
8. Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
9. Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE/CZE
10. Victoria Azarenka/Maria Kirilenko, BLR/RUS
11. Daniela Hantuchova/Agnieszka Radwanska, SVK/POL
12. Olga Govortsova, BLR
13. Elena Vesnina, RUS
14. Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ
15. Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina, IND/RUS
16. Natalie Grandin/Vladimira Uhlirova, RSA/CZE
17. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Meghann Shaughnessy, USA/USA
18. Iveta Benesova, CZE
19. Olga Govortsova/Alla Kudryavtseva, BLR/RUS
20. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
21. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
22. Peng Shuai/Zheng Jie, CHN/CHN
23. Casey Dellacqua/Olivia Rogowska, AUS/AUS
24. Jelena Jankovic/Aleksandra Krunic, SRB/SRB (Fed Cup)
25. Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS
26. Chuang Chia-Jung, TPE
27. Mariya Koryttseva, UKR
28. Maria Irigoyen/Florencia Molinero, ARG/ARG (Pan-Am Games)
29. Klaudia Jans/Alicja Rosolska, POL/POL
30. Tatiana Poutchek, BLR

*DOWN*
1. Venus Williams, USA
2. Dinara Safina, RUS
3. Aravane Rezai, FRA
4. Italian Fed Cup Team
5. Agnes Szavay, HUN
6. Shahar Peer, ISR
7. U.S. Fed Cup Team
8. Cara Black, ZIM
9. Justine Henin, BEL
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
11. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (in slams)
12. Australian Fed Cup Team
13. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
14. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
15. Daria Gavrilova, RUS
16. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
17. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
18. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
19. Kim Clijsters, BEL (after AO)
20. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS



*COMEBACKS OF THE YEAR*
1. Australian Open SF - Li Na d. Caroline Wozniacki
...3-6/7-5/6-3. How would both players' seasons have been ultimately altered if this one had turned out differently? Armed with her second berth in a slam final, might Wozniacki have pushed eventual AO champion Kim Clijsters in the final and changed the conversation for HER season? If Li hadn't reached the AO final in January, would SHE have been as prepared to do the same (and better) in Paris in June? As it was, Wozniacki led this one 6-3/4-2, served at 5-4 and held a match point before Li put together three consecutive breaks of serve to surge ahead. In the 3rd set, with her opportunity lost and not seized (yet again), Wozniacki produced zero winners.
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2. Fed Cup 1st Rd - Russia d. France 3-2
...the Hordettes became just the fourth team in FC Group 1 history to come back from a 2-0 hole since the best-of-five format was adopted in 1995. They've ridden their early-season close call survival all the way to the upcoming final in Moscow.
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3. US Open 4th Rd - Flavia Pennetta d. Peng Shuai
...6-4/7-6. The humidity was high. Pennetta was sick and near vomiting. She served at 6-4/6-5, 30/love, but committed an error on match point and was broken by Peng. Hardly prepared to last a 3rd set, Pennetta fell behind 5-0, and 6-2, in the 2nd set tie-break as a retirement loss seemed to be in her future. But not so fast. Suddenly, "The Walking Dead's" zombie crew added Flaiva to the cast, as she "came to life" in NYC, saving four set points and closing out the match by winning six straight points and taking the tie-break 8-6 to wrap up the straight sets win.
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4. Roland Garros QF - Francesca Schiavone d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
...1-6/7-5/7-5. In her second '11 slam thriller, Schiavone saw Pavlyuchenkova take a 6-1/4-1 lead. In the 3rd, after nearly squandering a 5-1 lead of her own, the Italian vet took the final two games to secure the match.
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5. Kuala Lumpur Final - Jelena Dokic d. Lucie Safarova
...2-6/7-6/6-4. Naturally, Dokic's latest career comeback included a big match comeback. In the final, she dropped the 1st set and saved two match points before winning the tie-break 9-7. In the 3rd, she fell behind 3-1 before battling back to claim the crown. It was her first tour singles title since 2002.
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6. US Open 3rd Rd - Francesca Schiavone d. Chanelle Scheepers
...5-7/7-6/6-3. In her third '11 slam thriller, Schiavone saw Scheepers take a 7-5/5-4 lead and hold a match point. But, on break point down, Scheepers double-faulted. Schiavone had her right where she wanted her. Don't feel bad for Scheepers, though. The South African vet won her first career tour singles crown a few weeks later.
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7. US Open 2nd Rd - Irina Falconi d. Dominika Cibulkova
...2-6/6-3/7-5. Venus Williams' withdrawal from the tournament caused a late change of venue for this match, allowing young American Falconi to make her Ashe Stadium debut. She made the most of it. Overcoming a 4-1, two-break 3rd set deficit, she served out the match (on her second attempt) at 6-5, finally putting away the win with a running-into-the-changeover-area, angled flip shot winner on match point, and then exploding into a Connors-esque celebration that produced THE image of the Open's early rounds. Fittingly, it came twenty years after Jimmy Connors' energy-filled jaunt into the semis at age 39.
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8. Australian Open 4th Rd - Agnieszka Radwanska d. Peng Shuai
...7-5/1-6/7-5. After previously being told by a doctor that injury gave her a 1% chance of playing in Melbourne, A-Rad was healthy enough quickly enough to show up at the season's first slam and make a QF run. But to get there, after having lost her own 4-1 3rd set lead, Radwanska, down 5-4 in the deciding stanza, had to survive two match points on Peng's serve.
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9. US Open 1st Rd - Sloane Stephens d. Reka-Luca Jani
...6-2/3-6/7-6. To get her first grand slam match win, the 18-year old Bannerette had to stare down the Hungarian twice as she served for the match in th 3rd set, as well as overcome a mini-break deficit in the tie-break.
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10. Never Say Never Again
...Serena Williams returned to action on the grass after 50 weeks off the court due to an off-court foot injury several serious health scares. Nadia Petrova won her first singles title since 2008, while Daniela Hantuchova got her first since 2007. At Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova reached her first slam final since her shoulder surgery. Kimiko Date-Krumm won her first tour-level doubles title since 1996. And Casey Dellacqua, who'd entered 2011 having not played a singles match since last June, has now won as many ITF singles (and doubles) titles as any other woman on the circuit this season.
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*CHOKES OF THE YEAR*
1. Roland Garros 1st Rd - Sara Errani d. Christina McHale
...6-7/6-2/9-7. McHale led 5-0 in the 3rd, then lost six straight games before saving a match point and knotting things at 6-6. She still lost the set at 9-7. Afterward, McHale admitted that "panic" set in in the final set. Doing what players should always do in such sitautions, the Bannerette was determined to immediately change the storyline in her mind. The next week, she entered the qualifying of a challenger event. She made it through and ended up winning the title for her first professional singles crown. Later in the year, she upset the world #1, and then had her best slam result (so far) by reaching the U.S. Open 3rd Round.
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2. Roland Garros 2nd Rd - Vera Zvonareva d. Sabine Lisicki
...4-6/7-5/7-5. Lisicki served for the match at 6-4/5-4, coming within two points of a straight sets win. In the 3rd, she served at 5-2, and held a match point on Zvonareva's serve one game later. Soon after, Lisicki again came within two points of victory. Slipping emotionally, she called for the trainer to treat cramps, then saw Zvonareva win seven straight points. After her ultimate loss, Lisicki shook Zvonareva's hand and then crumpled to the clay in the changeover area. A sobbing mess, Lisicki was dramatically carried off the court on a stretcher. The postscript, of course, to this quite literal collapse was the German's triumphant post-Paris redemption run to the Wimbledon SF.
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3. Sydney Final - Li Na d. Kim Clijsters
...7-6/6-3. Clijsters had led 5-0 in the 1st, and took a 3-1 advantage in the tie-break. The Belgian would win a quick rematch in the Australian Open final, though.
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4. Roland Garros 2nd Rd - Maria Sharapova d. Caroline Garcia
...3-6/6-4/6-0. For a while, the 17-year old French wild card looked like she was going to become an instant star on the grand slam stage. Outhitting the Russian like she herself was a clone of a teenaged Sharapova, Garcia served with a 6-3/4-1, two-break lead. Then the world #188 realized where she was, who she was playing, and that she probably wasn't quite yet ready for such a moment. She lost the final eleven games of the match.
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5. Tokyo SF - Vera Zvonareva d. Petra Kvitova
...7-6/6-0. Kvitova was scary in two ways in this one. First, the Czech was "scary good" while building 4-0 and 5-1 (with three set points) leads, then she was "scary bad" when she took on all the characteristics of fellow Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna when the Hall of Famer would sometimes crash out of matches with a series of shots that clanged off her racket, or worse. Kvitova lost her next match a few days later, but hasn't lost since, sweeping to titles in Linz and at the WTA Championships to very nearly catch Wozniacki (she came up 115 points short) for year-end #1. Of course, if she'd won this one, Kvitova would likely be the world's #1-ranked player RIGHT NOW.
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6. Wimbledon 2nd Rd - Petra Cetkovska d. Agnieszka Radwanska
...3-6/7-6/6-4. Radwanska led 6-3/5-4, 30/30. After failing to take advantage of multiple opportunties to put away the match, A-Rad's father/coach had a very public outburst that eventually led to the (at least for now) end of their longstanding coaching relationship... and then Agnieszka's best extended run of results of her career after getting some additional/new coaching tips from a non-bullying, non-family member.
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7. Miami 4th Rd - Kim Clijsters d. Ana Ivanovic
...7-6/3-6/7-6. Playing on an outside court after a rain-out the previous night, AnaIvo led 5-1 in the 3rd and failed to convert five match points.
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8. Australia Open Doubles Final - Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta d. Victoria Azarenka/Maria Kirilenko
...2-6/7-5/6-1. Azarenka and Kirilenko, at 6-2/4-1, were two games away from their first slam Doubles title. Instead, Dulko and Pennetta got THEIR first.
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9. So Close, and Yet So Far
...in the spring, Shahar Peer was one match win in Charleston away from becoming the first Israeli woman to reach the Top 10. But she lost the match to Julia Goerges. Soon, she was the first seed ousted at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and saw her ranking tumble all the way out of the Top 20.
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10. Roland Garros 1st Rd - Johanna Larsson d. Ana Ivanovic
...7-6/0-6/6-2. Larsson came into the match with just one grand slam singles match win to her credit, and a 1-8 career mark against Top 30 players. That didn't stop former slam champion and one-time #1-ranked player in the world Ivanovic from losing to her, though, even after the Serb seemed to have taken control of the match by winning the 2nd set at love. AnaIvo's subsequent press room tears were well-"earned."
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11. Doha 1st Rd - Dominika Cibulkova d. Jarmila Groth (Gajdosova)
...6-4/4-6/7-6. Even after holding quadruple match point at 6-2 in the 3rd set tie-break, Gajdosova (then Groth) couldn't take down Cibulkova.
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12. Fed Cup World Group Playoffs: Jankovic/Krunic (SRB) d. Hantuchova/Rybarikova (SVK)
...2-6/7-5/9-7. On the road, Serbia comes back from a 2-1 deficit in the tie, completing the comeback by winning this 3:17 match in which Jankovic/Krunic trailed 6-2/5-1, overcame two match points and escaped the Slovaks serving for the match in both the 2nd and 3rd sets.
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*UPSETS OF THE YEAR*
1. Roland Garros 2nd Rd - Arantxa Rus d. Kim Clijsters
...3-6/7-5/6-1. Clijsters wasn't in top form physically, but she led the 20-year old 6-3/5-2 and held two match points. Fifty-three minutes later, the AO champ was ousted as Rus began to hit out on all her shots, and Clijsters' game became an error-strewn (65 on the day) mess. The young Dutch woman won eleven of the final twelve games, while the Belgian suffered her earliest slam loss since 2002.
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2. Wimbledon 4th Rd - Tsvetana Pironkova d. Venus Williams
...6-2/6-3. Here's what I said in last year's BSA's about Pironkova's defeat of Venus -- by the same score -- at Wimbledon: Even though it happened at Wimbledon, this win wasn't totally OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD SHOCKING at the time since Pironkova had defeated Venus in a slam once before. But since Pironkova did virtually nothing the rest of the season, it makes this upset look more "flukey" than it should. It mostly all holds up for this year's meeting at the All-England Club, too. Well, except for the fact that the Bulgarian has now defeated Williams THREE times in grand slams, and that it's impossible to call such a result anything close to a "fluke" anymore.
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3. US Open 1st Rd - Alexandra Dulgheru d. Petra Kvitova 7-6/6-3
US Open 1st Rd - Simona Halep d. Li Na 6-2/7-5
...a pair of Romanians take out both the Wimbledon and Roland Garros champions in the 1st Round, a first in U.S. Open history.
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4. 's-Hertogenbosch 2nd Rd - Romina Oprandi d. Kim Clijsters
...7-6/6-3. Clijsters' foot injury caused her to skip Wimbledon after this defeat, as this loss ended up being her last completed match of the 2011 season. The Belgian's only other 2011 match ended via a retirement.
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5. Auckland QF - Greta Arn d. Maria Sharapova
...6-2/7-5. The Hungarian vet's knocking off of the impatient Russian was arguably the high point of her "dream come true" week in New Zealand, in which she won her first tour singles title since 2007.
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6. Fed Cup World Group Playoff - Ukraine d. Australia 3-2
...on the road without the Bondarenko sisters, even with the Aussies playing without Stosur or Dokic, the Ukrainian team seemed a long shot, at best, to put up a fight. Team Australian took a 2-1 lead in the tie, and held two match points in the deciding doubles match. But heroics from Lesia Tsurenko (a 7-6/7-6 winner over Anastasia Rodionova in singles before teaming with Olga Savchuk to overcome a love 1st set to win in three in doubles over Rodionova and Jarmila Groth) helped produce one of the more unexpected FC results in recent seasons.
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7. Toronto 1st Rd - Galina Voskoboeva d. Marion Bartoli 6-3/6-3
Toronto 2nd Rd - Galina Voskoboeva d. Flavia Pennetta 2-6/6-3/6-2
Toronto 3rd Rd - Galina Voskoboeva d. Maria Sharapova 6-3/7-5
...the #135-ranked qualifier's win in Toronto just kept getting more and more improbable with each round.
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8. Marbella 1st Rd - Estrella Cabeza-Candela d. Aravane Rezai
...6-3/6-0. This loss set the tone for an extremely disappointing season for the Opinionated Pastry.
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9. Fed Cup 1st Round - Virginie Razzano/FRA d. Maria Sharapova/RUS
...6-3/6-4. Sharapova was making her first FC appearance in three years, but saw the French vet pull the unexpected upset soon after the Russian had beaten her at the Australian Open.
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10. Roland Garros 3rd Rd - Daniela Hantuchova d. Caroline Wozniacki
...6-1/6-3. The Dane had no answers against the Slovak's aggression, hitting zero winners in the 1st set and ultimately being blown out by Hantuchova, who'd entered the match with a 0-6 career record against world #'1s (and a 0-3 mark against C-Woz, having never taken a set off her and winning more than three games in a set just once before).
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11. Cincinnati 2nd Rd - Christina McHale d. Caroline Wozniacki
...6-4/7-5. Wozniacki's second half inconsistency was especially evident in this one, which ended with a wild forehand error, as the Dane lost to the #76-ranked American. McHale is the lowest-ranked player Wozniacki has lost to since becoming #1.
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12. Wimbledon 2nd Rd - Sabine Lisicki d. Li Na
...3-6/6-4/8-6. Lisicki served for the set in the 2nd, only to be broken. She then broke back to take the set in a nine and a half minute game. But it was in the 3rd, from match point down at 3-5, that Lisicki had her "moment" by booming four consecutive 120mph+ serves -- two for aces -- to hold. Li still served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, but the just-minted Roland Garros champion couldn't close things out. Lisicki won, then rode the wave of momentum to new career heights by reaching the Wimbledon semis while putting together an eleven-match winning streak following her RG collapse against Zvonareva.
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**HARD COURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS**
2004 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2005 Kim Clijsters, BEL
2006 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2007 Justine Henin, BEL
2008 Serena Williams, USA
2009 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2010 Kim Clijsters, BEL
2011 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN

**CLAY COURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS**
2004 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2005 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL
2006 Nadia Petrova, RUS
2007 Justine Henin, BEL
2008 Dinara Safina, RUS
2009 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2010 Samantha Stosur, AUS
2011 Li Na, CHN

**GRASS COURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS**
2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2005 Venus Williams, USA
2006 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2007 Venus Williams, USA
2008 Venus Williams, USA
2009 Serena Williams, USA
2010 Serena Williams, USA
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE

**INDOOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS**
2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2005 Mary Pierce, FRA
2006 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2007 Justine Henin, BEL
2008 Jelena Jankovic, SRB
2009 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2010 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE


All for now.



SEASON REVIEW EDITIONS STILL TO COME: The Backspin Awards, Part 2 (with "Ms. Backspin" rankings, "Performance of the Year" and "Match of the Year" winners, plus 2011 season-ending ranking lists), and 2011's WTA Yearbook