Player of the Year: Justine Henin did two remarkable things in 2007: She compiled the most impressive record of any player in tennis, and remade her image from austere and aloof to accessible and sympathetic.
The fact that these two accomplishments sprang from the same root seems obvious. Henin repeatedly said that hard-won personal growth made her more at ease in her own formerly prickly skin and expanded her comfort zone on the court.
What she did competitively this year while enduring a divorce and reconciling with her long-estranged family would be admirable for a person in any profession, let alone someone under the media microscope.
Some fans will never forgive Henin for past transgressions, like the first-you-see-it, then-you-don't gesture on Serena Williams' serve in the 2003 French Open semifinal, or her midmatch withdrawal from the 2006 Australian Open final against Amelie Mauresmo.
We think it's time to put those incidents to rest. Unless there's a reprise of that behavior, Henin deserves the benefit of the doubt now, and credit for coming of age, at last, with grace.
I have to wholeheartedly agree, Justine has had an extraordinary year, despite all her personal troubles she still came out on top. Hopefully with all the recent accolades people will start forgetting her aforementioned mishaps.
Part of me really wished that Hingis would have been able to draw some inspiration from Henin and rise above as well. But sadly the whole drug fiasco put the kibosh on everything.
Match of the Year: A tie between the Henin-Venus Williams U.S. Open semifinal and Henin's marathon, last-woman-standing victory over Maria Sharapova in the year-end championships.
Honorary mention to Serena Williams' cat burglar performance in the Miami final. She was bagled in the first set, then staved off two match points and clawed back to pilfer the title.
I remember the U.S. Open semi's that was a hell of a match! it's matches like that that make the women's game so much more exciting then the men's. Sadly I did not see the year end championships. But reading that makes me want to YouTube it;).
Worst High-Level Match of the Year: The other U.S. Open semifinal was as wretched as Justine-Venus was great. Svetlana Kuznetsova survived Anna Chakvetadze in a demolition derby that featured 81 unforced errors against just 31 winners. Kuznetsova carried that negative mojo into the final and didn't give Henin much of a match.
Yep, this was a definite yawn-fest. I have a feeling there'll be more of those to come next year.
Comeback Player of the Year: Jointly awarded to Venus and Serena Williams, who won a Slam apiece in the same season for only the second time in their careers (2005 was the first).
A year ago, the sisters had been written off. Now they're cozied up at Nos. 7 and 8 on the WTA hit parade, and their penchant for defying convention shouldn't negate their accomplishment. Honorary mention to Lindsay Davenport, who fooled a lot of us by bundling up baby son Jagger and going back out on tour, apparently healthier and just as motivated as she was when she left 11 months earlier.
She won two of the three singles events she played and has her sights set on the Beijing Olympics. All three of these players should remind us that women's tennis careers in the 21st century could be a lot more fluid, as great athletes feel increasingly free to get on and off exit ramps.
If there were 2 players in the WTA I care less about those 2 would be it. Well, ok I have to give props to Venus for being the more mature of the pair, her playing ability is not too bad either.
Ah, yes Lindsay the strategist lol. That move was brilliant. I have to say I was genuinally surprised when she announced she would return after having the baby but I'm certainly glad she did. In fact I hope more veteran players have as much success as her. What I wouldn't give to see Monica Seles back next year, here's hoping it happens.
Here to stay: Ana Ivanovic has a terrific game, a terrific personal story that began with practices in an empty swimming pool, and a terrific impact on people.
Now all the fourth-ranked Serbian needs to do is figure out how to solve Henin and the Williams sisters.
The Williams sisters are definitely beatable, as for Henin well there's a reason why people are calling her the female Roger Federer.
Player to Watch in 2007: Hungary's soon-to-be-19-year-old Agnes Szavay won a midseason clay-court tournament, then showed she had stuff on hard court as well when she reached the final in New Haven, Conn., and the U.S. Open quarterfinals before beating Jelena Jankovic indoors in the Beijing final.
Szavay is ranked 20th with a bullet. Honorable mention to No. 26 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, whose cherubic exterior masks a nervy game. Radwanska, 18, charmed the press corps by rattling on about her pet rats in Miami and again six months later at the U.S. Open when she rhapsodized about Louis Vuitton handbags after upsetting Sharapova. How quickly they grow up. P.S.: Her younger sister Urszula can play, too.
I'm in total agreement once again Szavay is definitely the one to watch, and after watching the Sharapova/Radwanska match earlier this year I totally became a fan. Granted Sharapova played that match horribly but all credit goes to the 18 year old for over coming her nerves and holding her ground.
Most intriguing newcomer: Seventeen-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria has precocious poise and shotmaking skills that were displayed to best advantage this year at Wimbledon, where she knocked off two top-20 players. The next chapter should be interesting.
Hmmm.... the name is very familiar I just can't place the face, but I think I'll definitely be on the look out for her in the future.
Biggest upset: No contest here. Who knew that France's Marion Bartoli would be the last player to upend Henin in 2007 when she played her unorthodox two-handed, double-winged game to perfection in the Wimbledon semifinals?.
This was THE match of the tournament for sure, and no doubt made Bartoli a more household name.
Jaw-dropper of the year: We were ready to nominate Martina Hingis' sudden and sad revelation last month that she had tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon, accompanied by a vehement denial of wrongdoing.
The looming battle to try to clear her name, along with nagging injuries, compelled her to retire for the second time in five years.
Then the other shoe dropped. Head-spinning news crossed our transom this week that Hingis' former fiancé Radek Stepanek, 29, has apparently proposed to fellow Czech Nicole Vaidisova, 11 years his junior, only a few months after he and Hingis split. We'll refrain from bad jokes about bouncing Czechs.
No big surprise here, this was a given really. The marriage thing however was a low blow to Hingis, he certainly didn't waste any time.
Put us out of our misery: Ditch on-court coaching. Please.
I second that statement.
Ill-advised shot of the year: A Sharapova overhead smash that hit Serena Williams in the first set of their lopsided Australian Open final. Williams was up 5-0 at that point and didn't need further kerosene dumped on the fire.
The long, malevolent stare and muttered response Williams gave Sharapova was operatic in its intensity. Maybe it's coincidence, but Sharapova and her serve didn't fully recover until the end of the season.
LOL, Yeah maybe there's something behind that.
Most testy exchange with reporters: Serena Williams, deeply perturbed by her third straight quarterfinal loss to Henin at a Slam, told reporters at the U.S. Open she only showed up for the news conference because she didn't want to get fined. If there was a bright side to the churlish four-minute session, it showed that Serena still cares -- a lot.
Yes, just like Sharapova, Serena has always been a class act LOL. Just one more of the many endless reasons why I will always love Hingis.
Good call: We dubbed Jankovic our Player to Watch a year ago when she ended the year ranked 12th. OK, so that wasn't exactly going out on a limb -- but we REALLY hit the bull's-eye.
The personable Serb has figured out what it takes to close big matches, set a real example with her fitness, and wrestled her volatile emotions to the floor.
Heck, her flirtatious chemistry with Jamie Murray at Wimbledon even made mixed doubles interesting. The more we see of Jankovic, the better, but we would like her to think about pacing herself a bit more so she's not played out at the end of the season.
Out of all the Serbian players on tour at the moment she's my favourite and my pick to perhaps one day be #1.
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What she did competitively this year while enduring a divorce and reconciling with her long-estranged family would be admirable for a person in any profession, let alone someone under the media microscope.
Some fans will never forgive Henin for past transgressions, like the first-you-see-it, then-you-don't gesture on Serena Williams' serve in the 2003 French Open semifinal, or her midmatch withdrawal from the 2006 Australian Open final against Amelie Mauresmo.
We think it's time to put those incidents to rest. Unless there's a reprise of that behavior, Henin deserves the benefit of the doubt now, and credit for coming of age, at last, with grace.
I have to wholeheartedly agree, Justine has had an extraordinary year, despite all her personal troubles she still came out on top. Hopefully with all the recent accolades people will start forgetting her aforementioned mishaps.
Part of me really wished that Hingis would have been able to draw some inspiration from Henin and rise above as well. But sadly the whole drug fiasco put the kibosh on everything.
Match of the Year: A tie between the Henin-Venus Williams U.S. Open semifinal and Henin's marathon, last-woman-standing victory over Maria Sharapova in the year-end championships.
Honorary mention to Serena Williams' cat burglar performance in the Miami final. She was bagled in the first set, then staved off two match points and clawed back to pilfer the title.
I remember the U.S. Open semi's that was a hell of a match! it's matches like that that make the women's game so much more exciting then the men's. Sadly I did not see the year end championships. But reading that makes me want to YouTube it;).
Worst High-Level Match of the Year: The other U.S. Open semifinal was as wretched as Justine-Venus was great. Svetlana Kuznetsova survived Anna Chakvetadze in a demolition derby that featured 81 unforced errors against just 31 winners. Kuznetsova carried that negative mojo into the final and didn't give Henin much of a match.
Yep, this was a definite yawn-fest. I have a feeling there'll be more of those to come next year.
Comeback Player of the Year: Jointly awarded to Venus and Serena Williams, who won a Slam apiece in the same season for only the second time in their careers (2005 was the first).
A year ago, the sisters had been written off. Now they're cozied up at Nos. 7 and 8 on the WTA hit parade, and their penchant for defying convention shouldn't negate their accomplishment. Honorary mention to Lindsay Davenport, who fooled a lot of us by bundling up baby son Jagger and going back out on tour, apparently healthier and just as motivated as she was when she left 11 months earlier.
She won two of the three singles events she played and has her sights set on the Beijing Olympics. All three of these players should remind us that women's tennis careers in the 21st century could be a lot more fluid, as great athletes feel increasingly free to get on and off exit ramps.
If there were 2 players in the WTA I care less about those 2 would be it. Well, ok I have to give props to Venus for being the more mature of the pair, her playing ability is not too bad either.
Ah, yes Lindsay the strategist lol. That move was brilliant. I have to say I was genuinally surprised when she announced she would return after having the baby but I'm certainly glad she did. In fact I hope more veteran players have as much success as her. What I wouldn't give to see Monica Seles back next year, here's hoping it happens.
Here to stay: Ana Ivanovic has a terrific game, a terrific personal story that began with practices in an empty swimming pool, and a terrific impact on people.
Now all the fourth-ranked Serbian needs to do is figure out how to solve Henin and the Williams sisters.
The Williams sisters are definitely beatable, as for Henin well there's a reason why people are calling her the female Roger Federer.
Player to Watch in 2007: Hungary's soon-to-be-19-year-old Agnes Szavay won a midseason clay-court tournament, then showed she had stuff on hard court as well when she reached the final in New Haven, Conn., and the U.S. Open quarterfinals before beating Jelena Jankovic indoors in the Beijing final.
Szavay is ranked 20th with a bullet. Honorable mention to No. 26 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, whose cherubic exterior masks a nervy game. Radwanska, 18, charmed the press corps by rattling on about her pet rats in Miami and again six months later at the U.S. Open when she rhapsodized about Louis Vuitton handbags after upsetting Sharapova. How quickly they grow up. P.S.: Her younger sister Urszula can play, too.
I'm in total agreement once again Szavay is definitely the one to watch, and after watching the Sharapova/Radwanska match earlier this year I totally became a fan. Granted Sharapova played that match horribly but all credit goes to the 18 year old for over coming her nerves and holding her ground.
Most intriguing newcomer: Seventeen-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria has precocious poise and shotmaking skills that were displayed to best advantage this year at Wimbledon, where she knocked off two top-20 players. The next chapter should be interesting.
Hmmm.... the name is very familiar I just can't place the face, but I think I'll definitely be on the look out for her in the future.
Biggest upset: No contest here. Who knew that France's Marion Bartoli would be the last player to upend Henin in 2007 when she played her unorthodox two-handed, double-winged game to perfection in the Wimbledon semifinals?.
This was THE match of the tournament for sure, and no doubt made Bartoli a more household name.
Jaw-dropper of the year: We were ready to nominate Martina Hingis' sudden and sad revelation last month that she had tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon, accompanied by a vehement denial of wrongdoing.
The looming battle to try to clear her name, along with nagging injuries, compelled her to retire for the second time in five years.
Then the other shoe dropped. Head-spinning news crossed our transom this week that Hingis' former fiancé Radek Stepanek, 29, has apparently proposed to fellow Czech Nicole Vaidisova, 11 years his junior, only a few months after he and Hingis split. We'll refrain from bad jokes about bouncing Czechs.
No big surprise here, this was a given really. The marriage thing however was a low blow to Hingis, he certainly didn't waste any time.
Put us out of our misery: Ditch on-court coaching. Please.
I second that statement.
Ill-advised shot of the year: A Sharapova overhead smash that hit Serena Williams in the first set of their lopsided Australian Open final. Williams was up 5-0 at that point and didn't need further kerosene dumped on the fire.
The long, malevolent stare and muttered response Williams gave Sharapova was operatic in its intensity. Maybe it's coincidence, but Sharapova and her serve didn't fully recover until the end of the season.
LOL, Yeah maybe there's something behind that.
Most testy exchange with reporters: Serena Williams, deeply perturbed by her third straight quarterfinal loss to Henin at a Slam, told reporters at the U.S. Open she only showed up for the news conference because she didn't want to get fined. If there was a bright side to the churlish four-minute session, it showed that Serena still cares -- a lot.
Yes, just like Sharapova, Serena has always been a class act LOL. Just one more of the many endless reasons why I will always love Hingis.
Good call: We dubbed Jankovic our Player to Watch a year ago when she ended the year ranked 12th. OK, so that wasn't exactly going out on a limb -- but we REALLY hit the bull's-eye.
The personable Serb has figured out what it takes to close big matches, set a real example with her fitness, and wrestled her volatile emotions to the floor.
Heck, her flirtatious chemistry with Jamie Murray at Wimbledon even made mixed doubles interesting. The more we see of Jankovic, the better, but we would like her to think about pacing herself a bit more so she's not played out at the end of the season.
Out of all the Serbian players on tour at the moment she's my favourite and my pick to perhaps one day be #1.
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