Monday, November 1, 2010
Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur (English pronunciation: /ˈstoʊzər/, STOE-zər, born 30 March 1984) is a professional tennis player from Australia with Polish heritage[1], competing in both singles and doubles. She is a former world No. 1 on the WTA Tour in doubles with Lisa Raymond from the United States. In singles, Stosur has notable wins against former No. 1s Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković, Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Lindsay Davenport, Amélie Mauresmo, Justine Henin and Caroline Wozniacki. Her career high in singles was World No. 5, achieved on July 5, 2010. Stosur is currently ranked World No. 6 in singles and No. 26 in doubles and was runner up in singles at the 2010 French Open.
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams[2] (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 5 in singles and World No. 5 in doubles. Considered to be one of the greatest women's tennis players of all time,[3] she has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to achieve the feat.
Williams is the reigning champion in women's doubles at the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all time list[4] and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams: seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her with four other women for twelfth on the all-time list. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth on the all-time list. She is one of only three women in the Open Era to have won 5 Wimbledon titles. Her dominance on the grass has earned her the title "The Queen of Wimbledon". From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships through the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only 5 women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw grand slam matches. In 2010 Yahoo sports ranked Venus as the 8th greatest female tennis player of all time.
Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles.[5] She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924. She holds the record for the fastest serve by a woman in professional tennis; a record speed of 130 mph (210 km/h).
With 43 career singles titles, Williams along with Justine Henin leads active players on the WTA Tour and is tied for 10th overall in all-time titles.[citation needed] Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final, remains the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000.
Venus has played her sister Serena in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Williams is the reigning champion in women's doubles at the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all time list[4] and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams: seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her with four other women for twelfth on the all-time list. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth on the all-time list. She is one of only three women in the Open Era to have won 5 Wimbledon titles. Her dominance on the grass has earned her the title "The Queen of Wimbledon". From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships through the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only 5 women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw grand slam matches. In 2010 Yahoo sports ranked Venus as the 8th greatest female tennis player of all time.
Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles.[5] She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924. She holds the record for the fastest serve by a woman in professional tennis; a record speed of 130 mph (210 km/h).
With 43 career singles titles, Williams along with Justine Henin leads active players on the WTA Tour and is tied for 10th overall in all-time titles.[citation needed] Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final, remains the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000.
Venus has played her sister Serena in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and currently ranked World No. 4 in singles and No. 5 in doubles with sister Venus Williams. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her World No. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She is considered to be one of the greatest women's tennis players of all-time in a career hampered from numerous injuries.[2] She regained this ranking for the fifth time on November 2, 2009. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002.
Williams is the reigning champion in both singles and women's doubles at the Australian Open, the reigning singles champion at Wimbledon, and in women's doubles at the French Open. Her 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so. Her 13 Grand Slam singles titles is sixth on the all-time list.[3] Williams ranks fourth in Grand Slam women's singles titles won during the Open Era, behind Steffi Graf (22 titles) and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (18 titles each).[3] She has won more Grand Slam titles in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles than any other active female player.
Williams has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles.[4] Williams has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history.[5] Williams is the younger sister of former World No. 1 Venus Williams. They have played each other in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Williams is the reigning champion in both singles and women's doubles at the Australian Open, the reigning singles champion at Wimbledon, and in women's doubles at the French Open. Her 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so. Her 13 Grand Slam singles titles is sixth on the all-time list.[3] Williams ranks fourth in Grand Slam women's singles titles won during the Open Era, behind Steffi Graf (22 titles) and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (18 titles each).[3] She has won more Grand Slam titles in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles than any other active female player.
Williams has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles.[4] Williams has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history.[5] Williams is the younger sister of former World No. 1 Venus Williams. They have played each other in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (Dutch pronunciation: [kɪm ˈklɛistərs] ( listen); born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of 1 November 2010, Clijsters is ranked World No. 3.
Clijsters has won 40 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles at the US Open in 2005, 2009 and 2010. She has also won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters was twice a singles runner-up at the French Open and a one-time runner-up at the Australian Open, also reaching two Wimbledon singles semi-finals. She announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007,[1] but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season.[2] In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.[3] Clijsters is popularly known as one of the "comeback queens" of tennis
Clijsters has won 40 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles at the US Open in 2005, 2009 and 2010. She has also won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters was twice a singles runner-up at the French Open and a one-time runner-up at the Australian Open, also reaching two Wimbledon singles semi-finals. She announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007,[1] but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season.[2] In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.[3] Clijsters is popularly known as one of the "comeback queens" of tennis
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Igorevna Zvonareva (Russian: Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, pronounced ['vʲɛrə zvənɐ'rʲɔvə] ( listen); born September 7, 1984) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. She has reached a career high and current ranking of World No. 2. Zvonareva has won ten WTA Tour singles titles and reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships and 2010 US Open. She also was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Caroline Wozniacki 2010
Caroline Wozniacki (born 11 July 1990) is a Danish tennis player. As of 11 October 2010 (2010 -10-11)[update], she is ranked World No. 1 on the WTA Tour and will finish 2010 as World No. 1. She has won twelve WTA singles titles and was the runner-up at the 2009 US Open.
Wozniacki started the 2010 season playing at an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong where she lost two singles matches for Team Europe but won two mixed doubles with Stefan Edberg. In her first WTA tournament of the year, Wozniacki suffered an opening round loss to Li Na of China in Sydney. She was seeded 4th at the Australian Open, her first top-eight seed in a Grand Slam. She again fell to Na, this time in the fourth round, in straight sets. Despite her 4th round exit, Wozniacki achieved her career high ranking of No.3.
As the 2nd seed at Indian Wells, Wozniacki reached the final, despite dropping a set to three players en route. She was defeated by Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–4. With the result, she again achieved a new career high rank of World No. 2.[8] At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Wozniacki lost in the quarterfinals to the newly returned Justine Henin 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–4.
Her next tournament was at Ponte Vedra Beach, where she defeated Olga Govortsova 6–2, 7–5 in the final. Wozniacki then competed at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. She advanced to the semifinals, where she met Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki was forced to retire down 5–2 after she rolled her ankle chasing down a short ball at 4–2. The injury was cited as serious.[9][10]
Despite her ongoing ankle injury, she continued to compete in tournaments through the clay court season, suffering early losses in Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid, and Warsaw. Despite her poor clay court season, Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the French Open. She posted her best result at Roland Garros by advancing to the fourth round, without having dropped a set. There, it took almost three hours for Wozniacki to defeat Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7–6(5), (4)6–7, 6–2. In the quarter finals she lost to Francesca Schiavone, the eventual champion, 6–3, 6–2. Wozniacki partnered Daniela Hantuchová in doubles, but withdrew before their second round match with the Williams sisters due to a right shoulder injury to Hantuchová.
As the defending champion, Wozniacki lost early at the AEGON International, her first grass court tournament of the year. Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Tathiana Garbin, Chang Kai-chen and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the fourth round, where she was crushed by Petra Kvitová 6–2, 6–0.
Wozniacki was the number 1 seed at the 2010 e-Boks Danish Open. It was the first Danish WTA tournament and was created largely because of Wozniacki's popularity in Denmark. She reached the final where she defeated Klara Zakopalova to win her second title of the year.
In Cincinnati, she lost in the third round to Marion Bartoli 6–4, 6–1. As the number 2 seed in Montreal, Wozniacki was forced to wait two days to play her semifinal match with Svetlana Kuznetsova because of heavy rain. She defeated Kuznetova and Vera Zvonareva back-to-back for her third singles title of the year. As the top seed at New Haven, Wozniacki defeated Nadia Petrova 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final for her third consecutive title there. By virtue of this, she also won the 2010 US Open Series.
Wozniacki in the 2010 US Open
Wozniacki was the top seed at the US Open, due to the withdrawal of World No. 1 Serena Williams. She cruised through to the fourth round with the loss of just 3 games. There, she defeated the 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova 6–3, 6–4. She then defeated unseeded Dominika Cibulková 6–2, 7–5 in the quarterfinals but was upset by Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals by a score of 6–4, 6–3. With her semifinal appearance, Wozniacki became only one of two women (the other being Venus Williams) to have reached at least the fourth round of all 4 Grand Slam events in 2010.
Wozniacki's first tournament during the Asian hardcourt season was the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She won back to back three setters against Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, the latter of which she beat 1–6, 6–2, 6–3 to win her fifth title of the year.
She then entered the Beijing, where after a first round bye, she defeated Sara Errani 6–4, 6–2. In the third round, Wozniacki faced Petra Kvitova (who had heavily defeated her at Wimbledon). Avenging the loss, Wozniacki won the match 6–3, 6–2, replacing World No. 1 Serena Williams as the new World No.1 in the process. She is the second youngest player in WTA history to reach the number 1 position without having won a Grand Slam. She also became the first, and only Danish woman to reach the top ranking. In the quarterfinals, she defeated resurgent former World No.1 Ana Ivanović 7–6(1), 6–4. This was Wozniacki's first win over the Serbian. She then defeated Shahar Peer in the semifinal by a score of 7–5, 6–2 and Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final to win her sixth title of the year and twelfth overall.
At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Wozniacki was in a group with Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur and Elena Dementieva. She defeated Dementieva 6–1, 6–1 in her first round robin game, but lost 6–4, 6–3 to Stosur in the second. She won her last match in the group against Schiavone 3–6, 6–1, 6–1; securing the year-end World No. 1 rank, and a place in the semifinals against the winner of the other group, Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki won 7–5, 6–0. In the final Wozniacki lost 3-6, 7-5, 3-6 to Kim Clijsters.
Wozniacki started the 2010 season playing at an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong where she lost two singles matches for Team Europe but won two mixed doubles with Stefan Edberg. In her first WTA tournament of the year, Wozniacki suffered an opening round loss to Li Na of China in Sydney. She was seeded 4th at the Australian Open, her first top-eight seed in a Grand Slam. She again fell to Na, this time in the fourth round, in straight sets. Despite her 4th round exit, Wozniacki achieved her career high ranking of No.3.
As the 2nd seed at Indian Wells, Wozniacki reached the final, despite dropping a set to three players en route. She was defeated by Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–4. With the result, she again achieved a new career high rank of World No. 2.[8] At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Wozniacki lost in the quarterfinals to the newly returned Justine Henin 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–4.
Her next tournament was at Ponte Vedra Beach, where she defeated Olga Govortsova 6–2, 7–5 in the final. Wozniacki then competed at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. She advanced to the semifinals, where she met Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki was forced to retire down 5–2 after she rolled her ankle chasing down a short ball at 4–2. The injury was cited as serious.[9][10]
Despite her ongoing ankle injury, she continued to compete in tournaments through the clay court season, suffering early losses in Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid, and Warsaw. Despite her poor clay court season, Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the French Open. She posted her best result at Roland Garros by advancing to the fourth round, without having dropped a set. There, it took almost three hours for Wozniacki to defeat Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7–6(5), (4)6–7, 6–2. In the quarter finals she lost to Francesca Schiavone, the eventual champion, 6–3, 6–2. Wozniacki partnered Daniela Hantuchová in doubles, but withdrew before their second round match with the Williams sisters due to a right shoulder injury to Hantuchová.
As the defending champion, Wozniacki lost early at the AEGON International, her first grass court tournament of the year. Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Tathiana Garbin, Chang Kai-chen and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the fourth round, where she was crushed by Petra Kvitová 6–2, 6–0.
Wozniacki was the number 1 seed at the 2010 e-Boks Danish Open. It was the first Danish WTA tournament and was created largely because of Wozniacki's popularity in Denmark. She reached the final where she defeated Klara Zakopalova to win her second title of the year.
In Cincinnati, she lost in the third round to Marion Bartoli 6–4, 6–1. As the number 2 seed in Montreal, Wozniacki was forced to wait two days to play her semifinal match with Svetlana Kuznetsova because of heavy rain. She defeated Kuznetova and Vera Zvonareva back-to-back for her third singles title of the year. As the top seed at New Haven, Wozniacki defeated Nadia Petrova 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final for her third consecutive title there. By virtue of this, she also won the 2010 US Open Series.
Wozniacki in the 2010 US Open
Wozniacki was the top seed at the US Open, due to the withdrawal of World No. 1 Serena Williams. She cruised through to the fourth round with the loss of just 3 games. There, she defeated the 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova 6–3, 6–4. She then defeated unseeded Dominika Cibulková 6–2, 7–5 in the quarterfinals but was upset by Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals by a score of 6–4, 6–3. With her semifinal appearance, Wozniacki became only one of two women (the other being Venus Williams) to have reached at least the fourth round of all 4 Grand Slam events in 2010.
Wozniacki's first tournament during the Asian hardcourt season was the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She won back to back three setters against Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, the latter of which she beat 1–6, 6–2, 6–3 to win her fifth title of the year.
She then entered the Beijing, where after a first round bye, she defeated Sara Errani 6–4, 6–2. In the third round, Wozniacki faced Petra Kvitova (who had heavily defeated her at Wimbledon). Avenging the loss, Wozniacki won the match 6–3, 6–2, replacing World No. 1 Serena Williams as the new World No.1 in the process. She is the second youngest player in WTA history to reach the number 1 position without having won a Grand Slam. She also became the first, and only Danish woman to reach the top ranking. In the quarterfinals, she defeated resurgent former World No.1 Ana Ivanović 7–6(1), 6–4. This was Wozniacki's first win over the Serbian. She then defeated Shahar Peer in the semifinal by a score of 7–5, 6–2 and Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final to win her sixth title of the year and twelfth overall.
At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Wozniacki was in a group with Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur and Elena Dementieva. She defeated Dementieva 6–1, 6–1 in her first round robin game, but lost 6–4, 6–3 to Stosur in the second. She won her last match in the group against Schiavone 3–6, 6–1, 6–1; securing the year-end World No. 1 rank, and a place in the semifinals against the winner of the other group, Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki won 7–5, 6–0. In the final Wozniacki lost 3-6, 7-5, 3-6 to Kim Clijsters.
Tournament categories
The current tournament structure was introduced in 2009. Premier Tournaments replaced the previous Tier I and Tier II events, and International Tournaments replaced Tier III and IV events.
1. Grand Slam tournaments (4)
2. Year-ending championships (Sony Ericsson Championships).
3. Premier tournaments:
1. Premier Mandatory: Four combined tournaments with male professional players, with U.S.$4.5 million in equal prize money for men and women. These tournaments are being held in Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Madrid, and Beijing.
2. Premier Five: Five $2 million events in Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto / Montreal, and Tokyo
3. Premier: Ten events with prize money from U.S.$600,000 to U.S.$1 million.
4. International tournaments There are 31 tournaments, with a prize money for every event at U.S.$220,000, except for the year-ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, which has prize money of U.S.$600,000.
Ranking points are also available at tournaments on the ITF Women's Circuit organised by the International Tennis Federation, which comprises several hundred tournaments each year with prize funds ranging from U.S. $10,000 to U.S. $100,000, and at the Olympic Games.
1. Grand Slam tournaments (4)
2. Year-ending championships (Sony Ericsson Championships).
3. Premier tournaments:
1. Premier Mandatory: Four combined tournaments with male professional players, with U.S.$4.5 million in equal prize money for men and women. These tournaments are being held in Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Madrid, and Beijing.
2. Premier Five: Five $2 million events in Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto / Montreal, and Tokyo
3. Premier: Ten events with prize money from U.S.$600,000 to U.S.$1 million.
4. International tournaments There are 31 tournaments, with a prize money for every event at U.S.$220,000, except for the year-ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, which has prize money of U.S.$600,000.
Ranking points are also available at tournaments on the ITF Women's Circuit organised by the International Tennis Federation, which comprises several hundred tournaments each year with prize funds ranging from U.S. $10,000 to U.S. $100,000, and at the Olympic Games.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)