| Womens Tennis Association Top 20 WTA singles rankings as of February 8, 2010, with player photos and bio info. Some WTA player photos are linked to larger versions, others to player photo search. |
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 Serena Williams hoisted the trophy after defeating Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5, in the final of the US Open on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008. It was Serena's 9th Grand Slam singles title. |
Venus & Serena Williams Wallpaper WTA bio page ITF: Serena Williams career record Serena Williams record at The WTA since 1996 VenusSerenaFans.com Interview-Feature Aug 19, 2007, International Herald Tribune Serena Williams Interview Transcripts At the 2002 WTA Champ's: fastest serve: 117 MPH; avg 1st serves: 99-100 MPH |
| Winner of 36 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (14): | Semifinalist (15): | |
| 2010 | Australian Open | Sydney | |
| 2009 | Doha YEC, Wimbledon, Australian Open | Miami | US Open, Toronto, Dubai, Paris Indoor, Sydney |
| 2008 | US Open, Charleston, Miami, Bangalore | Wimbledon | Stanford |
| 2007 | Miami, Australian Open | Moscow | |
| 2006 | Los Angeles, Cincinnati | ||
| 2005 | Australian Open | ||
| 2004 | Beijing, Miami | WTA Champ's, Los Angeles, Wimbledon | Rome |
| 2003 | Wimbledon, Miami, Paris Indoors, Australian Open | Charleston | Roland Garros, Rome |
| 2002 | Leipzig, Tokyo Princess Cup, US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, Miami, Scottsdale, Italian Open | WTA Champ's, German Open | Sydney |
| 2001 | WTA Champ's; Indian Wells, Canadian Open | US Open | |
| 2000 | Hannover, Los Angeles, Tokyo outdoor | Paris Indoors, Canadian Open | Wimbledon |
| 1999 | US Open, Paris Indoors, Indian Wells, Los Angeles, Grand Slam Cup | Miami | |
| 1998 | Sydney | ||
| 1997 | Chicago |
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After recovering from knee injury and surgery in August 2003, Serena Williams was less consistent than before. Serena won 8 titles in 2002, her biggest year, and 4 titles in 2003, but won only 2 tourneys or fewer each year from 2004 to 2007. However, in 2008, Serena appeared to have left her injury problems mostly, if not entirely, behind her. Serena has a huge contract to wear Nike togs (she was formerly of the Puma persuasion) and she swings a Wilson K Factor KBlade Team 104" bat. Serena's former racquets have included the Hyper Hammer 6.2 (with a 110 sq." head), and the nCode N3 (with a 113" head, weighing 9.4 ounces and balanced head-heavy). Serena reportedly has her bats strung (at about 67 lbs) with Wilson 16-gauge Natural Gut. Serena is coached by her father Richard; she and sister Venus did spend some time at the Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida, way back in the 20th century. Serena's agent is Jill Smoller at the William Morris Agency. (Dec 8, 2008) # 2 Serena Williams has withdrawn from the ITF Hopman Cup citing a hamstring injury incurred at the 2008 WTA Championships. Serena has been replaced by former # 11 Meghann Shaughnessy, who missed almost all of last year due to a left knee injury. Serena says she will be ready to play before the Australian Open. (Jul 12, 2007) # 7 Serena Williams has withdrawn from the July 14-15 US vs Russia Fed Cup semifinal, and from next week's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Mason (Cincinnati), Ohio, due to a left hand injury she incurred at Wimbledon. Serena sprained her left thumb during her 4th round victory over Daniela Hantuchova on July 4. # 41 Meilen Tu has replaced Serena on the US Fed Cup roster. AP story (Oct 7, 2005) # 11 Serena Williams, still troubled by left ankle and knee problems, has withdrawn from the Zurich and Philadelphia tourneys, and will not play again until 2006. Serena said: "My doctors advised me my leg needs to fully recover in order to play at the level I'm accustomed to." BBC story (Aug 6, 2005) # 7 Serena Willams has withdrawn from the JPMorgan Chase Open which begins August 8 in Los Angeles. Serena is still troubled by a injured left ankle which she incurred last April in the quarterfinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Florida. The injury caused Serena to miss the French Open. After losing in the 3rd round at Wimbledon in June, Serena said that the injury had been a hairline fracture, and that is was still troubling her, although it was not the cause of her defeat. At that time she said that the injury, which was at first called a sprain, had been a hairline fracture. Serena is expected to play in the Rogers AT&T Cup in Toronto, which begins August 15. (May 20, 2005) # 4 Serena Willams has withdrawn from the 2005 French Open. Serena is still troubled by a sprained left ankle which she incurred last month in the quarterfinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Florida. (Oct 17, 2004) 5th-seeded # 9 Serena Williams withdrew from the Swisscom Challenge in Zurich, still troubled by her left knee, which she had surgery on over a year ago. Although Serena has won 2 tourneys this year after returning from the knee surgery, and said several times that her knee has fully recovered, she has had intermittent relapses of trouble with the knee, causing tourney withdrawals. (Dec 13, 2003) # 3 Serena Williams has signed a deal with Nike that an AP source says will pay her $40 million over 5 years, the largest endorsement contract ever signed by a woman. Earlier reports had suggested that the total could be as high as $55 million (over 8 years), but Serena will have to make ends meet with a mere 40 mil. Serena had been wearing Puma while she moved to the top of the rankings. Serena's sister # 11 Venus Williams signed a similar contract with Reebok in Dec 2000: up to $40 million over 5 years. (Aug. 4, 2003) # 1 Serena Williams had surgery to repair a partial tear in the mid-portion of the quadriceps tendon of her left knee in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 1, and will miss the U.S. Open (which starts Aug. 25th). In a statement released by IMG (her agents), Serena's doctor, Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon Rodney Gabriel said: "I expect a 100 percent recovery and Serena's speedy return to competitive tennis." |
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 Dinara Safina is shown after winning her 9th WTA singles title by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3, in the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept 21, 2008. |
WTA bio page ITF: Dinara Safina career record Safina record at The WTA since 1996 DSafina.com official DinaraSafina.com English, French, & Spanish Dinara Safina Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 12 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (12): | Semifinalist (14): | |
| 2009 | Portoroz, Madrid, Rome | Cincinnati, Roland Garros, Stuttgart, Australian Open, Sydney | Wimbledon, 's-Hertogenbosch |
| 2008 | Tokyo PPO, Montreal, Los Angeles, Berlin | Moscow, Beijing Olympics, Eastbourne, Roland Garros | US Open |
| 2007 | Gold Coast | Charleston | Moscow, 's-Hertogenbosch |
| 2006 | Rome, 's-Hertogenbosch | Montreal, Gold Coast | |
| 2005 | Prague, Paris Indoor | Hasselt, Estoril, Luxembourg, Moscow | |
| 2004 | Luxembourg | Paris Indoor | |
| 2003 | Palermo | ||
| 2002 | Sopot, ITF/Mallorca 1/ESP; ITF/Las Palmas-ESP, ITF/Rome Parioli-ITA | Estoril | |
| 2001 | ITF/Rome-ITA |
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Dinara Safina comes from a tennis family. She is the sister of the lesser-known (well, to WTA-specific fans, anyway) ATP pro Marat Safin, who won the 2005 Australian Open. Her mother, Raouza Islanova, gave both Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva their early training at the Spartak Academy in Moscow, and her father, Mikhail Safin, is director of the Spartak Club. Despite the Spartak connection, Dinara received much of her early training in Valencia, Spain, and thus speaks Spanish in addition to Russian and English. Dinara was coached by Frenchman Hubert Choudury (who once coached Patty Schnyder), then by Russian Alexander Zlatoustov. After the 2005 Australian Open she dropped Zlatoustov and, at the suggestion of her agents, was coached by Lars Wahlgren until May when, dissatisfied by Whalgren, she returned to coaching from Zlatoustov. In December, 2005, Dinara took on a new coach again, this time Glen Schaap, who had previously been coaching Nadia Petrova. Since 2008, Dinara has been coached by Zjelko Krajan. Dinara is also coached by her mother, Raouza Islanova. Dinara's progress through the ranks was slowed when she hurt her low back in her 1st round match at Wimbledon in 2004, and missed 3 summer tourneys with a lumbar spine stress fracture. Like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Daniela Hantuchova, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and several other players, Dinara resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Dinara is attired in adidas togs, and chops with a Babolat "Pure Storm Team" axe, which has a 98 sq in head, weighs 11 ounces strung, is slightly head light for better control, and has a stiffness rating of 64. (Oct 28, 2009) After retiring from her 1st round robin match at the 2009 WTA Championships and withdrawing from the tourney, Dinara Safina said: "It's a low back, between L4, L5. I have inflammation there, in the bone, inflammation. I've been having it already, I would say, started slowly since Portoroz. I've been playing on the pain, on antiinflammatory, on everything. So this been already for about three months, this pain... "Definitely there is no surgery. It's kind of starting of fracture on my L5. So this is just the time. You know, of course, it's the time, then it's the rehabilitation. I have to work on my muscles, on my core stability. As I'm tall, I need to be strong, that I can hold myself. This is going to be a very long procedure... "Let's say they give me six weeks until that I can start maybe play tennis. So, I don't know, from now on six weeks that I can start. So I don't know. I don't know exactly play tennis or maybe even start just doing condition... "I still didn't make any schedule. From now it's under question. So now it's gonna just be a matter of how my back is going." postmatch interview - AP story |
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 Caroline Wozniacki is shown after she defeated Anna Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the final of the Pilot Pen Open at New Haven on August 23, 2008. |
WTA bio page ITF: Caroline Wozniacki career record Wozniacki record at The WTA since 1996 CarolineWozniacki.dk official website Caroline Wozniacki Interview Transcripts New Haven champion 2008-08-23 postmatch interview |
| Winner of 6 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (6): | Semifinalist (4): | |
| 2009 | New Haven, Eastbourne, Ponte Vedra Beach | US Open, Bĺstad, Madrid, Charleston, Memphis | Doha YEC, Osaka |
| 2008 | Tokyo (Japan Open), New Haven, Stockholm, ITF/Odense-DEN | Luxembourg | Portoroz |
| 2007 | ITF/Ortisei-ITA, ITF/Las Vegas, NV-USA | Tokyo [Japan Open] | |
| 2006 | ITF/Istanbul 2-TUR |
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Caroline Wozniacki, was born in Odense, Denmark, but her parents are both Polish. Caroline's father, Piotr, was playing professional soccer for a Danish team when Caroline was born. Caroline now resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco, but her parents reside in Poland. Caroline's mother, Anna, played volleyball for Polish national team. Her brother, Patrik, plays pro soccer in Denmark. Since she began playing tennis at age 7, Caroline has been taught by her father, who still travels with and coaches her. Like Ana Ivanovic and some other players who wear "the mark with three stripes," Caroline sometimes receives coaching from Sven Groeneveld of adidas. She has also been coached by Morten Christensen at the national tennis center in Denmark. Caroline typically has 4 hours of tennis and 1 hour of fitness training each day. Caroline won 2005 Orange Bowl juniors tourney, was a 2006 Australian Open junior singles finalist, and won the 2006 Wimbledon juniors singles title. Her favorite players while growing up were Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf. Caroline swings a Babolat AeroPro Drive racquet; and is attired in fashions by adidas. Offcourt Caroline likes to read, shop, listen to music, and chow down on a good steak. (Oct 22, 2009) The Tennis Integrity Unit, formed last year by the assorted governing bodies of pro tennis, is reportedly investigating the Tuesday, Oct 20, 1st round match in Luxembourg between top-seeded #6 Caroline Wozniacki and #876 Anne Kremer. Caroline retired from the match while leading 7-5, 5-0 due to left hamstring strain. Caroline's coach and father, Piotr, told her at 3-0 in the 2nd set to retire before winning because her injury would prevent her from playing in the next round. Although Caroline was born and raised in Denmark, her parents are Polish, and Piotr's remarks to her were in Polish. Microphones picked up his statements to Caroline, and his remarks were heard by those watching the match in streaming video on the Internet. The result, apparently, was a large amount of money rapidly bet on Anne Kremer. On Danish radio on Thursday, Piotr said: "I went onto the court and said to her: 'Caro, it does not matter whether it's going to be 5-0, 4-1 or 3-2. You can not play the next round, so you shouldn't take the risk.' I'm very proud of Caroline, because she stopped the fight and gave her opponent a chance." In the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, Caroline said: "So, people bet on my matches. Some win, others lose. I just know that I am clean. It is most important to me. And if anyone is in doubt about my injury, I can both produce scan from the hospital and a report from the tournament physiotherapist." There is little doubt that the incident was unintended by the Wozniackis. The real questions appear to be: 1) Why was Caroline playing at all if she was injured going into the match? (particularly with the WTA Championships next week), and 2) Why did Caroline not retire from the match earlier, at the point when her father made his remarks to her? The fact is that WTA and tournament officials put a lot of pressure on players, particularly "superstars," to play even if injured, and, if they must withdraw or retire, to do so as late as possible. It is likely that the Wozniackis were trying to be helpful to the tourney (and the WTA). Caroline, the top seed, might have withdrawn before the match, a tourney director's nightmare. Instead, she played and retired as late as possible (allowing a local player to advance to the next round), knowing the hamstring strain would have a week to heal before the Championships. Now, for trying to be helpful, they get a deluge of headlines associating their name with a gambling investigation. AP story (Feb 22, 2009) After her loss to Victoria Azarenka in the Memphis final on Saturday, Caroline Wozniacki headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, for two weeks of strength and conditioning coaching from Gil Reyes, former trainer of Andre Agassi. Caroline's next tourney will be at nearby Indian Wells, CA. Memphis Commercial Appeal story |
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 Svetlana Kuznetsova gives thumbs up after defeating Justine Henin 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 during their semifinal match at the Qatar Total Open on March 3, 2004. |
WTA bio page ITF: Svetlana Kuznetsova career record Svetlana Kuznetsova record at The WTA since 1996 Kuznetsova Fanpage Kuznetsova page at Tennis Rulz Svetlana Kuznetsova Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 12 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (18): | Semifinalist (19): | |
| 2009 | Beijing, Roland Garros, Stuttgart | Rome | Miami |
| 2008 | Beijing, Tokyo PPO, Indian Wells, Dubai, Sydney | Roland Garros, Miami | |
| 2007 | New Haven | US Open, Rome, Berlin, Indian Wells, Doha | Moscow, Stuttgart, Warsaw, Dubai |
| 2006 | Beijing, Bali, Miami | Roland Garros, Warsaw | Zurich, Stuttgart, New Haven, Rome, Amelia Island, Dubai, Sydney |
| 2005 | Warsaw | Eastbourne, Tokyo indoor | |
| 2004 | Bali, US Open, Eastbourne | Beijing, Warsaw, Doha, Dubai | Filderstadt |
| 2003 | San Diego | ||
| 2002 | Helsinki, Bali | Casablanca | |
| 2001 | ITF/Cagliari-ITA |
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Svetlana Kuznetsova was born in St. Petersburg, Russia; in 2007, she established her residence (like Justine Henin and several other WTA players) in Monte Carlo, Monaco, thus avoiding double taxation on prize money. She is attired in Fila togs. Svetlana swings a Head MicroGEL Extreme bat, which was adopted in 2007 by most former users of the Head Flexpoint Instinct. In 2004 her racquets were reportedly strung with 16-gauge Luxilon Big Banger Alu Touch, which is a set of 2 different synthetic composite monofilaments (ALU Power & Supersense), one for the mains, and one for the cross strings. Svetlana received her primary tennis training at the Sánchez-Casal Academy Academy near Barcelona, Spain, and has been coached by Sergio Casal, Emilio Sanchez, Stefan Ortega, and others; Ortega was the coach who most often traveled with her. In October, 2008, Svetlana thanked the Sánchez-Casal Academy, but announced that she would now be coached by Olga Morozova, the 1974 Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist, who coached Elena Dementieva for a few years (until Wimbledon in 2005). But by late March, 2009, Svetlana decided that things weren't working out with Olga, and she parted ways with her as well. Later in the spring of 2009, Svetlana hired Larisa Savchenko Neiland as her coach. Svetlana is also an excellent doubles player (13 WTA titles), and a popular partner. She began playing WTA doubles with coach and former ATP player Emilio's younger sister, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, a former WTA # 1. When Arantxa retired, Martina Navratilova asked Svetlana to play doubles with her. When Martina chose to play doubles with an American partner in 2004 to prepare for the Olympics, Svetlana teamed up with Elena Likhovtseva. In 2005 Svetlana played doubles with Alicia Molik, and they won the Australian Open & NASDAQ-100 Open together. Svetlana's agent is someone at IMG. |
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 Venus Williams is shown hugging the big pizza pan called the Venus Rosewater Dish after winning her 4th Wimbledon title by defeating Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1, on July 7, 2007. It was Venus's 6th Grand Slam singles title. |
Venus & Serena Williams Wallpaper WTA bio page ITF: Venus Williams career record V. Williams record at The WTA since 1996 VenusSerenaFans.com Interview Video 2002 Wimbledon QF, Venus (1) d Likhovtseva, 6-2, 6-0, Jul 2 Interview Video 2001 US Open final, Venus (1) d S Williams (10), 6-2, 6-4, Sep 8 Interview Video 2001 Wimbledon final, Venus (1) d Henin (8), 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, July 8 Venus Williams Interview Transcripts At the 2002 WTA Champ's: Fastest Serve: 121 MPH Avg 1st Serve Speeds: 104-105 MPH |
| Winner of 41 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (25): | |
| 2009 | Acapulco, Dubai | Doha YEC, Stanford, Wimbledon |
| 2008 | Doha WTA Championships, Zurich, Wimbledon | |
| 2007 | Seoul, Wimbledon, Memphis | Tokyo (Japan Open) |
| 2006 | ||
| 2005 | Wimbledon, Istanbul | Stanford, Antwerp |
| 2004 | Warsaw, Charleston | Stanford, Berlin |
| 2003 | Antwerp | Wimbledon, Warsaw, Australian Open |
| 2002 | Gold Coast, Paris Indoors, Antwerp, Amelia Island, Stanford, San Diego, New Haven | Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open, Hamburg |
| 2001 | Wimbledon, US Open, Miami, Hamburg, San Diego, New Haven | |
| 2000 | Wimbledon, US Open, Olympics, Stanford, San Diego, New Haven | Linz |
| 1999 | Oklahoma City, Miami, Hamburg, Italian Open, New Haven, Zurich | Hannover, Stanford, San Diego, Grand Slam Cup |
| 1998 | Oklahoma City, Miami, Grand Slam Cup | Sydney, Italian Open, Stanford, Zurich |
| 1997 | US Open |
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Venus Williams occasionally picks up her mail at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She is fleet of foot as well as hitting hard and deep; her service speeds have reached 127 mph, which matches the women's record set by her sister Serena at Wimbledon in 2004 (Brenda Schultz McCarthy set a new record, 130 mph, in 2006). Venus wears her own line of garb called Eleven, and, like her sister Serena, chops with a Wilson K Factor KBlade Team 104" axe. Venus reportedly has her bats strung (at about 65 lbs) with Wilson 16-gauge Natural Gut. Venus is coached by her father, Richard Williams, and her regular hitting partner and "coaching consultant" is David Witt, who has worked with her sister Serena as well. Venus' agent is Stephanie Tolleson at IMG . (April 8-9, 2008 revised) Current Wimbledon champ and former # 1 Venus Williams has announced that she will not be playing for an indefinite period. On Tuesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, Venus said: "I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible. I'm not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport... "Of course I want to be [at the French Open]. I don't want to be at home watching on TV. Watching this week will be enough on TV, so hopefully not too many more weeks." Last summer, after the US Open semifinals, Venus's mother, Oracene Price, said Venus was taking medicine for anemia. On Wedesday, it was announced that Venus was taking the time for unspecified medical tests, but that she hopes to be practicing by the end of next week and playing again by the Italian Open in early May. Venus's agent, Carlos Fleming said: "Venus has assured me that there's no serious medical problem. But she did see this timing as a good opportunity to have these evaluations to make sure that her health is in order." AP story (Apr 17, 2006) Venus Williams has not played since her 1st round loss at the Australian Open. Venus currently suffers from a sprained right elbow. (Oct 2, 2003) # 6 Venus Williams has withdrawn from next week's tournament in Filderstadt, Germany due to her persistant abdominal muscle strain, which has caused her to withdraw from all other events she had entered in the past few months, including the US Open. (Nov. 13, 2002) Venus retired at 0-5 from her WTA Champ's SF against Kim Clijsters due to pain from a previously twisted left ankle. Venus held a news conference at the Pacific Design Center in LA on Nov. 12 to introduce her new interior design company "V Starr Interiors". |
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 Victoria Azarenka is shown after match point as she defeated Martina Hingis 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, in the 3rd round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Sep 1, 2007. |
WTA bio page ITF: Victoria Azarenka career record Azarenka record at The WTA since 1996 vikaazarenkatennis.com official website Victoria Azarenka Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 3 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (4): | Semifinalist (7): | |
| 2010 | Sydney | ||
| 2009 | Miami, Memphis, Brisbane | Rome, Indian Wells | |
| 2008 | Gold Coast, Prague | Stuttgart | |
| 2007 | Estoril, Tashkent | Prague | |
| 2006 | Tashkent | ||
| 2005 | ITF/Petange-LUX | Guangzhou |
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Victoria Azarenka, whose nickname is Vika, not Vicky, was born in Minsk, Belarus (still her favorite city), where she started playing tennis at age 7. Victoria's mother knew the wife of NHL goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. In 2005, the Khabibulins invited Victoria to live with them in Scottsdale, Arizona, and she has lived and trained there ever since. Victoria won the juniors singles titles at the 2005 Australian Open and the 2005 US Open. Victoria prefers her backhand, and hardcourts. She is coached by Antonio Van Grichen; her fitness trainer is Mark Wellington. Victoria swings a Head MicroGEL Extreme bat, and wears Nike attire and shoes (not surprising, since Nike is Greek for "victory"). Victoria, who speaks Belarusian, English and Russian, enjoys listening to music, spending time with friends, and reading. |
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 Elena Dementieva after defeating Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-3 in their quarterfinal of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 1, 2004. |
Elena Dementieva Wallpaper WTA bio page ITF: Elena Dementieva career record Dementieva record at The WTA since 1996 Elena Dementieva: Striking Russian Blonde 100% Elena Dementieva Elena Dementieva Interview Transcripts At the 2002 WTA Champ's: Fastest Serve: 106 MPH Avg 1st Serve Speeds: 96 MPH |
| Winner of 15 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (14): | Semifinalist (41): | |
| 2010 | Sydney | ||
| 2009 | Toronto, Sydney, Auckland | Paris Indoor | Cincinnati, Stanford, Wimbledon, Stuttgart, Charleston, Australian Open |
| 2008 | Luxembourg, (Beijing Olympics), Dubai | Istanbul, Berlin | Cincinnati, Doha WTA Championships, Moscow, US Open, Wimbledon, Eastbourne, Charleston, Paris Indoor |
| 2007 | Moscow, Istanbul | New Haven, San Diego, Tokyo Indoor | |
| 2006 | Los Angeles, Tokyo Indoor | Indian Wells | Moscow, 's-Hertogenbosch, Warsaw, Antwerp |
| 2005 | Philadelphia, Charleston | Moscow, Filderstadt, US Open, Los Angeles, Indian Wells, Sydney | |
| 2004 | Hasselt | Moscow, US Open, Roland Garros, Miami | Zurich, New Haven, San Diego, Los Angeles |
| 2003 | Shanghai, Bali, Amelia Island | Moscow, Toronto, Paris Indoors | |
| 2002 | 's-Hertogenbosch | Filderstadt | |
| 2001 | Acapulco, Moscow | Miami, Leipzig | |
| 2000 | Olympics | US Open, WTA Champ's, Indian Wells, Los Angeles | |
| 1999 | Palermo | ||
| 1998 | ITF-Buchen-GER | ||
| 1997 | ITF/Istanbul-TUR | ||
| 1996 | ITF/Jurmula |
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Elena Dementieva was born in Moscow; in 2008 she joined Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dinara Safina, and Nadia Petrova by changing her residence to tax-free Monte Carlo, Monaco, saving the 13% of her income that would go to the Russian flat rate income tax. Elena received her early training at Moscow's Spartak Academy, as did her friend Anastasia Myskina. Elena's mother Vera travels with her on the tour, and since Wimbledon, 2005, has reportedly been her only coach. Prior to that, former Russian great Olga Morozova, had been coaching Elena. At last report, Elena's agent is someone at IMG. Elena has good groundstrokes on both sides, but prefers her forehand; says Elena: "I really like to be aggressive on my forehand side." Her mobility is good. Her serve formerly was a major problem, but by 2008 she had reduced her frequency of double faults, and began putting more pace on her 2nd serve as well. Elena's garb and her bat are both labeled "Yonex". Elena formerly swung the Yonex MP Tour-1 and Yonex RDX 500 models, then, up until winning the Sydney title in January, 2009, the Yonex RDS 001. Four days later at the Australian Open, Elena came out swinging the new Yonex RDiS 100 Mid a 27" bat with a 93 sq" string area, weighing about 12.1 oz strung, balanced 8 points head light with a stiffness rating of about 68. She reportedly has her bats strung (at about 51 lbs main 48 lbs cross) with 16-gauge Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power, a synthetic composite monofilament made of nylon, fluocarbon resin, and aluminum fibers. (Mar 8, 2006) 5th-seeded # 8 Elena Dementieva has withdrawn from the Pacific Life Open. Elena, a finalist at Indian Wells in 2006, incurred a rib injury during a 2nd-round match in Antwerp on February 15th. While practicing in Moscow last week, she felt pain in the area; the AP reports she has now been diagnosed as having a right rib stress fracture. Apparently she will be out for at least a month. Elena said: "I'm going to miss a couple of tournaments." (June 15, 2005) Elena Dementieva retired from her 2nd round match against Denisa Chladkova at 's-Hertogenbosch due to a shoulder injury. Elena led 4-1, then felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder while hitting a forehand. She tried to continue, but retired from the match after losing 4 of the next 5 games. Elena said: "It was just too difficult to play on... I don't know how bad it is. I will go to hospital to find out if it's a strain or whatever, but I don't know if I'll be able to play at Wimbledon. I'm very upset right now. I was warm enough, but I was just hitting a forehand and felt a sudden pain on the front of my shoulder." Elena had been working with former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek on her serve this week, but she did not think that had anything to do with the injury. Elena said: "We didn't do anything different... I was working really hard for a couple of days and he really helped me a lot. I just think it's one of those grasscourt things, with the bad bounces... "I think my game is in much better shape than at the French Open. Sometimes when you're feeling good, bad things happen to you... I felt really good and ready to play well here and at Wimbledon, and now I don't know if I'll be able to. I have never had anything like this before." Elena got a scan of the shoulder immediately, which revealed that the injury was a strain, not a tear. After the scan, Elena said: "For the moment it's difficult to say if I'm [definitely] going to be able to play at Wimbledon, but I'm trying to be optimistic. The results of my test show that I have a right shoulder strain. I hope that I can play but I'll have to wait and see how it feels over the next few days. I'm going to take care of it and do as much training as possible." Reuters story |
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 Jelena Jankovic is shown after defeating # 7 (and former # 1) Martina Hingis 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the 1st round of the Sydney International on Jan 8, 2007. Jelena had won the Auckland tourney, her 2nd WTA singles title, just 2 days earlier. |
WTA bio page ITF: Jelena Jankovic career record Jankovic record at The WTA since 1996 jj-jelenajankovic.com official website Jelenin svet site of Serbian documentary film about Jelena JelenaJankovic.net Jelena Jankovic Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 11 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (11): | Semifinalist (19): | |
| 2009 | Cincinnati, Marbella | Tokyo PPO | Doha YEC, Paris Indoor |
| 2008 | Moscow, Stuttgart, Beijing, Rome | US Open, Miami | Doha WTA Championships, Los Angeles, Roland Garros, Indian Wells, Dubai, Australian Open |
| 2007 | Birmingham, Rome, Charleston, Auckland | Beijing, Toronto, 's-Hertogenbosch, Sydney | Stuttgart, Los Angeles, Roland Garros, Strasbourg, Warsaw, Doha, Dubai |
| 2006 | Los Angeles | Beijing, US Open, Strasbourg | |
| 2005 | Seoul, Birmingham, Dubai | ||
| 2004 | Budapest | Linz | |
| 2003 | ITF/Dubai-UAE |
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Jelena Jankovic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. She did not start playing tennis until the relatively late age of 9˝. When Jelena was 12˝ she went to Florida and received her primary tennis training at the IMG Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, attending school in the mornings and Bollettieri's in the afternoons. In August, 2008, Jelena became the 10th Bollettieri-trained player to achieve the WTA's # 1 singles ranking. As of 2008, Jelena again resides in Belgrade (but has a second house in Miami, and is building another in San Diego). Jelena prefers hardcourts, and her backhand. In the spring of 2005, Jelena, who had been swinging a Yonex RQ-5 bat, switched to Prince. In 2006 and early 2007, Jelena chopped with the Prince O3 Red. She last swung that bat in the 2007 French Open semis; the following week at Birmingham Jelena unleashed the new Prince Ozone Seven, and liked it so much she won the tourney. In 2008, Jelena started with another new Prince model, the O3 Speedport Pro White MP. Jelena's Prince contract expired in Dec 2008, but she did not sign a new one until August, 2009 (she swung the same bats with the logos taped over in the interim). Contract details were not announced. At last report, Jelena has her main strings strung with Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power at about 73 lbs tension (very, very tight), and her cross strings with Prince Natural Gut at about 71 lbs. Jelena wore adidas in her younger days, then switched to Lacoste togs, and in mid-2005 began sporting the Ralph Lauren Polo logo. Jelena reached the semifinals of the 2006 US Open wearing some nice looking togs of her own. The following month, she signed with Reebok as her new tailor. In January 2009 Jelena became the first WTA player to sign a contract with ANTA, the largest seller of sports shoes in China. ANTA is producing a new "JJ" line of shoes and attire for Jelena. Wheels? "I have a Porsche 911, a turbo. It's a 2008, and it's a very fast car. It's a new one from this year. I'm a promoter of Hyundai cars in Serbia, so I'm driving there Hyundai cars; [also] a Jeep." In August, 2005, Jelena, who had been slumping recently after taking on Roman Savochkin as her first touring coach, indicated she might not keep him. Jelena said: "I don't have confidence so I'm not playing my best. I have a new coach now and he's changing little things in my game. So all the shots feel so insecure at the moment... I don't know [if I will continue with Savochkin]. I will see because now I'm not playing so good." AP story In 2007, the WTA listed Jelena's coach as her father, Veselin Jankovic. In April, 2007, Jelena indicated that she was traveling with her mother and a hitting partner. After she defeated Venus Williams in the 3rd round of the 2007 French Open, Jelena was asked about her current coach. Jelena said: "He's not my full-time coach, so he doesn't like that I mention it yet. But he's helping me here and there, together with my mom, who is my No. 1 supporter and always in my box. But when he becomes officially my full-time coach, then I will announce his name." Times of London story on Jelena's part time coach Richard Brooks. In early 2008 Jelena was coached by Scott Humphries. But they parted ways after the Dubai tourney, and Jelena was again without a coach until April, 2008, when Ricardo Sanchez began traveling with her. As for fitness training, at the US Open in September, 2008, Jelena said: "I was getting tired quite quickly, but I have been working with the Pat Etcheberry quite a lot. Every day I feel that I'm just little by little I'm getting stronger." Jelena's agent is someone at IMG. (Jan 10, 2009) Unfortunately, # 1 Jelena Jankovic, who lost to Venus Williams in their Hong Kong exhibition match on Friday, had to withdraw from her consolation match against Jie Zheng due to stomach flu, which is impairing her preparations for the Australian Open. Jelena said: "I have been weak and sick for the last couple of days. I have been trying my best to get on the court but I feel slow, I have no reactions and it has been a struggle for me. My main goal now is to get back on court as soon as possible and get ready for the Australian. I will try and stay optimistic and hope for the best." story (Oct 25, 2008) The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced on Sunday that regardless of the outcome of remaining matches this season, current # 1 Jelena Jankovic will finish the season holding the # 1 ranking. Jelena has amassed a 63-17 match record in 2008, with the Doha, Qatar WTA Championships left to play. JJ's season record Jelena said: "It has been a truly amazing year for me. Winning four Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles [Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart & Moscow], over 60 matches and to make it to two semifinals [Australian Open and French Open] and a final [US Open] in the Grand Slams this year is a dream come true. I worked really hard this year and to finish No.1 is where I want to be and where I hope to stay." WTA story |
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 Agnieszka Radwanska is shown while defeating Jill Craybas 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(4), in the final at Pattaya City on February 10, 2008, to win her second WTA singles title. |
WTA bio page ITF: Agnieszka Radwanska career record Agnieszka Radwanska record at The WTA since 1996 radwanskaagnieszka.blog.onet.pl unofficial website Agnieszka Radwanska Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 4 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (1): | Semifinalist (6): | |
| 2009 | Beijing | Linz, Tokyo PPO | |
| 2008 | Eastbourne, Istanbul, Pattaya City | Stockholm, Linz, Doha | |
| 2007 | Stockholm, ITF/Biella-ITA | ||
| 2006 | Luxembourg | ||
| 2005 | ITF/Warsaw 2-POL |
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Agnieszka Radwanska was born in Krakow, Poland, and still resides there. Agnieszka and her sister Urszula (1 year 9 months younger, ranked # 211 as of this writing) are coached by their father, Robert, who travels with them on the WTA Tour. Their mother, Marta, is an accountant. Agnieszka began playing tennis at age 4, and grew up playing at a club in Gronau, Germany, where Robert was club pro. Agnieszka won the Wimbledon juniors title in 2005. Agnieszka is a baseliner who prefers her forehand; her favorite surface is clay. She wears Nike Air Max Breathe Free II shoes, and swings a Babolat Drive Z Tour racquet, a control bat with a 100 sq." head, weighing 10.1 ounces. |
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 Na Li delivering a forehand while defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the 3rd round at Wimbledon on June 30, 2006. Na then defeated Nicole Vaidisova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the 4th round, becoming the first Chinese woman ever to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal. |
WTA bio page ITF: Na Li career record Na Li record at The WTA since 1996 Na Li Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 2 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (4): | Semifinalist (12): | |
| 2010 | Australian Open | ||
| 2009 | Birmingham, Monterrey | Tokyo PPO | |
| 2008 | Gold Coast | Antwerp, Doha, Olympics, Luxembourg | |
| 2007 | Sydney, Indian Wells | ||
| 2006 | Estoril | Berlin | |
| 2005 | Estoril | Hobart, Rabat, Bali | |
| 2004 | Guangzhou, ITF/Beijing 1-CHN, ITF/Tongliao-CHN, ITF/Wulanhaote-CHN, ITF/Beijing 2-CHN, ITF/Shenzhen 1-CHN | ||
| 2003 | |||
| 2002 | ITF/Midland, MI-USA | ||
| 2001 | ITF/Ho Chi Minh City-VIE, ITF/Guangzhou-CHN | ||
| 2000 | ITF/Boca Raton, FL-USA, ITF/Nanjing 1-CHN, ITF/Nanjing 2-CHN, ITF/Shenyang-CHN, ITF/Dalian-CHN, ITF/Seoul 1-KOR, ITF/Ho Chi Minh City-VIE, ITF/Civitanova-ITA | ||
| 1999 | ITF/Shenzhen 1-CHN, ITF/Shenzhen 2-CHN, ITF/Westende-BEL |
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Na Li (sometimes written in the Chinese order, Li Na; Li is her family name, Na her personal name) was born and resides in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Na's mother, Yan-Ping, is an accountant. Na began playing badminton at age six, and has said she could be world champion at that sport, but she prefers to play tennis, which she began playing at age 8. Na also enjoys swimming and reading. Na has been coached by Bjorn Hilberg; as of 2009 her coaches are her husband, Jiang Shan, and Swede Thomas Hogstedt. Her favorite surface is hard court. She wears Nike and swings a Babolat Pure Drive Standard bat. (Jan 27, 2010) The Chinese National Tennis Federation formerly managed the careers of all Chinese players, collecting their earnings and then giving the players a percentage. Na and three other players including Jie Zeng have been released from this system, manage their own careers, and keep most of their earnings. After her 2nd round win at the 2010 Australian Open, Na said: "If they need me, I can take everything back to the national team. I would like to say thank you for Federation that gave me choice... I also can [choose the tournaments I play in]. If I'm lazy, I can take a day or week off." postmatch interview After her quarterfinal win over Venus Williams, a reporter surprised Na by asking "Until last year, you were paying 60% to the Federation, and now only 12%; is that correct?" to which Na said: "How did you know that?... It's true." postmatch interview |
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 Samantha Stosur of Australia celebrates after defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-3 in their quarterfinal of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 3, 2009. |
WTA bio page ITF: Samantha Stosur career record Samantha Stosur record at The WTA since 1996 SamStosur.com Samantha Stosur Interview Transcripts |
| WTA Tour singles titles (1): | Finalist (5): | Semifinalist (5): | |
| 2009 | Osaka | Los Angeles | Stanford, Roland Garros |
| 2008 | Seoul | Eastbourne | |
| 2007 | |||
| 2006 | Prague | New Haven | |
| 2005 | Gold Coast, Sydney | ||
| 2004 | Gold Coast | ||
| 2003 | |||
| 2002 | |||
| 2001 | ITF/Ibaraki-JPN, ITF/Osaka-JPN, ITF/Kyoto-JPN, ITF/Cairns-AUS |
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Samantha Stosur was born in Brisbane, Australia, and resides in nearby Gold Coast. Also known as "Sammy," "Sam," or "Samoid," she began playing tennis at age 8. Her father is Tony, her mother Dianne, and she has two brothers, Daniel and Dominic as well as a dog named Billy. Samantha swings a Babolat Pure Storm racquet, a 27" bat with a 98 sq" string area, weighing 10.9 oz strung, stiffness rating 62, balanced 3 points head light. Sam's tailor is Lacoste. Sam is coached by Rene Moller. She has a fine serve and excellent forehand, both of which utilize a lot of spin, particularly her kick serve. After defeating Samantha in the 2009 French Open semifinals, Svetlana Kuznetsova said: "[Samantha has] been playing great, so I expected very tough match. She serves great. I mean, I been playing ball from the second floor up here [due to the high bounce from the spin Samantha puts on the ball]. It was not very comfortable. I had to play two meters behind [the baseline]... The spin which Sam puts on the ball is really difficult." postmatch interview. Samantha is also a great doubles player; she reached the # 1 ranking in doubles in 2006, and has won 22 WTA doubles titles, including the 2006 French Open and 2005 US Open titles, both partnered with Lisa Raymond. |
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 Flavia Pennetta defeated Alize Cornet 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, to win her 6th WTA singles title on Saturday, March 1, 2008. The Acapulco trophy has been a big ball for some time, but the sombrero was new in 2008. |
WTA bio page ITF: Flavia Pennetta career record Pennetta record at The WTA since 1996 Unofficial Penneta website 1 Unofficial Penneta website 2 nice photos of Flavia offcourt being pretty Flavia Pennetta Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 8 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (9): | Semifinalist (16): | |
| 2009 | Los Angeles, Palermo | Linz, New Haven, Cincinnati, Bĺstad, Stuttgart | |
| 2008 | Vina del Mar, Acapulco | Acapulco, Zurich, Los Angeles | Hobart, Palermo |
| 2007 | Bangkok | Acapulco | Bogotá, Barcelona, Seoul, Tokyo [Japan Open] |
| 2006 | Acapulco, Bogotá, Gold Coast | Estoril | |
| 2005 | Bogotá, Acapulco | Modena, Palermo | |
| 2004 | Sopot | Acapulco, Palermo | Budapest |
| 2003 | Hyderabad |
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Flavia Pennetta was born in Brindisi, Italy, and now resides in Verbier, Switzerland. Flavia was first taught tennis by her father at age 5. In 1996 she won the Italian 14-and-under doubles championship; the following year she won the Italian 16-and-under titles at both singles and doubles. She has been coached by Barbara Rossi and Gabriel Urpi. Flavia is attired in Tacchini togs (with Nike shoes). Formerly a Head chopper, in January 2006 Flavia began swinging a Wilson nCode nBlade axe, a control racquet with a 98 square inch head, which was slightly heavier, slightly stiffer, and balanced slightly more head-light than the nTour model then used by Lindsay Davenport and Justine Henin-Hardenne. With the arrival of Wilson's K-Factor series in 2007, Flavia upgraded to the new Wilson K Blade. |
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 Marion Bartoli is shown after she defeated world # 1 Justine Henin in their semifinal at Wimbledon on Friday, July 6, 2007. Marion won 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. |
WTA bio page ITF: Marion Bartoli career record Bartoli record at The WTA since 1996 Marion-Bartoli.net (unofficial) Marion Bartoli Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 5 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (6): | Semifinalist (17): | |
| 2009 | Stanford, Monterrey | Bali T of C, Brisbane | Beijing, Eastbourne, Charleston |
| 2008 | Stanford | Linz, Eastbourne, Paris Indoor | |
| 2007 | Wimbledon, Prague | Luxembourg, Eastbourne, Birmingham, Strasbourg | |
| 2006 | Quebec City, Tokyo Outdoor, Auckland | Bali | Seoul |
| 2005 | ITF/Dubai 2-UAE | Auckland, Quebec City | |
| 2004 | Auckland, Hyderabad, Cincinnati | ||
| 2003 | Canberra | ||
| 2002 | ITF/Columbus-USA, ITF/Poiters-FRA | ||
| 2001 | ITF/Hatfield-GBR, ITF/Torino-ITA, ITF/Koksijde-BEL |
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Marion Bartoli was born in Le Puy en Velay, France, but her address is now Geneva, Switzerland. She is coached by father, Dr. Walter Bartoli, who introduced Marion to tennis at age six. Her mother, Sophie, is a nurse. In addition to tennis, Marion enjoys jet skiing, volleyball, basketball, painting, music, and movies. Marion wears Nike togs (formerly Le Coq Sportif) and swings a Prince O3 Red bat. The O3 Red has a 105 sq. in. head, is 27.25" long, weighs 10.3 oz strung, and is evenly balanced, with a stiffness of 68. |
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 Vera Zvonareva serves to Francesca Schiavone of Italy while defeating her 6-3, 6-3 in their quarterfinal of the Italian Open in Rome on May 14, 2004. |
WTA bio page ITF: Vera Zvonareva career record Vera Zvonareva record at The WTA since 1996 Zvonareva.ru official Zvonareva.com Vera Zvonareva Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 9 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (11): | Semifinalist (20): | |
| 2009 | Indian Wells, Pattaya City | Australian Open | |
| 2008 | Guangzhou, Prague | Doha WTA Championships, Linz, Moscow, Charleston, Hobart, Doha | Beijing (China Open), Beijing Olympics (bronze), Miami |
| 2007 | Auckland | Charleston, Luxembourg, Québec City; | |
| 2006 | Birmingham, Cincinnati | Auckland | Hasselt |
| 2005 | Memphis | Rome | |
| 2004 | Memphis | Philadelphia, Cincinnati | Beijing, Montreal, San Diego, Eastbourne, Rome, Warsaw |
| 2003 | Bol | Linz, Vienna | |
| 2002 | ITF/Naples-USA | Palermo | Warsaw, Sopot |
| 2001 | |||
| 2000 | ITF/Moscow-RUS | ||
| 1999 | ITF/Tbilisi-GEO |
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Vera Zvonareva was born and resides in Moscow, Russia. Vera formerly swung a Fischer "Pro No. One FT", and reportedly strung her bats with 16-gauge Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky, a polyester monofilament with a textured outer wrap. In 2007 Vera began chopping with a Prince Prince O3 White axe, and recently she has been using Gamma Live Wire Professional, strung at about 64 lbs. Vera, who likes traveling, strawberries, volleyball, hockey, reading and listening to music, speaks very fluent English. Vera began playing tennis at age 6. She was coached by Julia Kashevarova, and then by Lex Carrington, who at times left the court when Vera got very upset with herself after making errors (oncourt Vera is visibly one of the most self-critical players on the WTA Tour, a marked contrast to her bright-eyed cheerful attitude offcourt). Since early 2006, Vera has been coached by Samuel Sumyk, a Frenchman residing in Florida, who also works with Meilen Tu and Elena Likhovtseva. Vera's agent was John Tobias of SFX Sports Group, but in April, 2009, she signed with IMG. Vera's IMG "tennis management team" is led by Ben Crandell in Bradenton, Florida. (Jan 8, 2010) #9 Vera Zvonareva withdrew from an exhibition match against Victoria Azarenka in Hong Kong on Friday due to a recurrance of a right ankle injury. Vera said: "I had surgery at the end of last year and I had a problem after I played Ayumi and I tweaked it a little bit and it is just too sore to compete tonight. I am enjoying my time in Hong Kong, but unfortunately it is not possible to play. But hopefully I can rest it another 24 hours and we will see how it goes and I hope I make it to the court for my mixed doubles tomorrow... "I am hopeful that I can be 100% recovered for the Australian Open. It is hard to say at the moment, but I am trying to take it as easy as possible so I can compete in the Australian Open." Press Association Sport story (Nov 15, 2009) #9 Vera Zvonareva underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove scar tissue from her right ankle in the Netherlands on Wednesday, November 11. Vera, 2009 Indian Wells champion, tore ligaments in her right ankle at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston on April 16, while playing Virginie Razzano in a third round match. Vera did not play again until Eastbourne, and she reinjured the ankle at Wimbledon while playing in the 1st round of doubles. The injury troubled her for the rest of the season. On her official website, Vera said: "I am lying in bed in my hotel in Amsterdam. I had an ankle surgery. All seem to be fine; no pain in my leg so far but certainly there is some inconvenience. "The surgery was done in one of Rotterdam’s clinics, so on Thursday I had to move to Amsterdam... At present I walk on crutches... I hope that by Australian Open I’ll be on-stream... "I will try to walk onto a court only when I am completely recovered. I plan to stay in Amsterdam for two weeks... After this I am going to Florida where I will get busy with physical training to start with. Besides I am going to meet with my coach Sam to discuss our further plans." Vera's website diary - AP story (May 8, 2009) # 6 Vera Zvonareva has withdrawn from the Madrid Open due to torn right ankle ligaments which she incurred in a fall at the Family Circle Cup last month in Charleston. Vera has missed all events since then, and it is feared she will have to withdraw from this year's French Open. (Jun 18, 2007) # 19 Vera Zvonareva has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to the same left wrist injury which has been troubling her for months. (May 24, 2007 revised) # 17 Tatiana Golovin (right foot), # 19 Vera Zvonareva (left wrist), and # 32 Shuai Peng (left ankle), have unfortunately all joined # 6 Martina Hingis (right hip, leg & back) in withdrawing from next week's French Open due to injuries. # 89 (and former # 11) Karolina Sprem has also withdrawn; the reason for Karolina's withdrawal is not yet known. (Aug 23, 2005) # 19 Vera Zvonareva from Moscow, Russia, has withdrawn from the 2005 US Open due to a sprained left ankle. |
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 Yanina Wickmayer hoisted the trophy after winning her 2nd WTA singles title by defeating Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-4, in the final at Linz on October 18, 2009. |
WTA bio page ITF: Yanina Wickmayer career record Yanina Wickmayer record at The WTA since 1996 yaninawickmayer.com official website in Dutch Yanina Wickmayer Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 3 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (2): | Semifinalist (2): | |
| 2010 | Auckland | ||
| 2009 | Linz, Estoril | 's-Hertogenbosch | Luxembourg, US Open |
| 2008 | ITF/Indian Harbour Beach, FL-USA | Birmingham | |
| 2007 | ITF/Les Contamines-FRA, ITF/Hamanako-JPN, ITF/Taizou-CHN, ITF/Kunming-CHN | ||
| 2006 | ITF/Koksijde-BEL, ITF/Florianopolis-BRA, ITF/Cordoba 3-ARG |
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Yanina Wickmayer was born in Lier, Belgium, and resides in Deurne. Yanina was introduced to tennis at age 9 by friends at local courts. She is coached by her father, Marc Wickmayer; and does off-court training with Marc Frey. Yanina has also been coached by Michel Bouhoulle. Yanina also likes soccer. The person she most admires is Kim Clijsters. Yanina speaks Dutch, English, and French. Her favorite actor is Brad Pitt, her favorite singer is Rihanna, and her favorite types of music are R&B, rap, and techno. Yanina's favorite food is french fries; she also enjoys shopping, going to movies, and seeing friends. Her favorite cities to visit are New York and Paris; her favorite tournaments are Antwerp and Luxembourg. (Nov 7, 2009) A US Open semifinalist, 20-year-old 3rd-seeded #18 Yanina Wickmayer voluntarily withdrew from the Bali Tournament of Champions after having been suspended from play for one year by the Flemish Doping Tribunal for allegedly violating World Anti-Doping Association "whereabouts" rules. Yanina will reportedly appeal the suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Reuters story The "whereabouts" rule states that athletes must notify anti-doping officials every day, seven days a week, of a specific location where they can be reached for 60 minutes that day in the event that the officials want to perform a drug test. Yanina allegedly failed to notify officials three times, and a failure to notify three times within an 18 month period is a violation calling for suspension under current rules. WADA: Whereabouts Requirements Q&A, .pdf |
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 Maria Sharapova reacts after defeating Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-1, in their semifinal match of The Championships at Wimbledon on July 1, 2004. Maria defeated Serena Williams in the final 2 days later, 6-1, 6-4. |
Maria Sharapova Wallpaper photos of all 3 Grand Slam wins, + offcourt WTA bio page ITF: Maria Sharapova career record Sharapova record at The WTA since 1996 MariaSharapova.com (official) Maria World (many photos) The Making of Maria (Sharapova) BBC video narrated by Sue Barker Nov 2004 Eurosport Maria bio-interview video 18 min (link fixed) 2004 Wimbledon Final:
2006 US Open Final: Maria defeated Justine Henin 6-4, 6-4: Match description & full results + pics & quotes Maria Sharapova Interview Transcripts 2006 People Sharapova Q&A - 2008 New York Times Sharapova Feature 2006 Sports Illustrated Maria Sharapova Swimsuit Photos - 2006 pics in NYC Maria Sharapova Biography by Andrew Broad |
| Winner of 20 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (8): | Semifinalist (22): | |
| 2009 | Tokyo PPO | Toronto | |
| 2008 | Amelia Island, Doha, Australian Open | Rome, Indian Wells | |
| 2007 | San Diego | Madrid WTA Championships, Birmingham, Australian Open | Los Angeles, Roland Garros, Tokyo Indoor |
| 2006 | Linz, Zurich, US Open, San Diego, Indian Wells | Miami, Dubai | Madrid WTA Championships, Los Angeles, Wimbledon, Birmingham, Tokyo indoor, Australian Open |
| 2005 | Birmingham, Doha, Tokyo indoor | Miami | WTA Championships (LA), Beijing, US Open, Wimbledon, Rome, Indian Wells, Australian Open |
| 2004 | WTA Champ's, Tokyo outdoor, Seoul, Wimbledon, Birmingham | Zurich | Philadelphia, Beijing, Memphis |
| 2003 | Tokyo outdoor, Quebec City | Birmingham, Luxembourg | |
| 2002 | ITF/Gunma-JPN, ITF/Vancouver-CAN, ITF/Peachtree City-USA |
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Maria Sharapova was born in Nyagan, in the Siberian region of Russia, and later moved to Sochi, on the Black Sea. Maria started at the Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida at age 7, and still has a residence near there. But Maria spends more time at her house at Manhattan Beach (a suburb of LA), California, where she can get the large hamburgers she likes at In-N-Out when she isn't practicing her Italian cooking at home. Maria first went to California to get coaching from Robert Lansdorp, who helped Tracy Austin, Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras perfect their strokes. Maria's father Yuri has shopped around to find the best available coaching for her; Maria also has spent time getting extra clay court training at the Equélite-Juan Carlos Ferrero Tennis Academy near Villena, Spain. Maria's hitting partner is Michael Joyce. Maria serves very well, with an unusually fast 2nd serve when she is healthy. Although she does not move as well as the best runners on the tour, she still hits the ball very well on the run, and she can topspin lob. Maria sometimes does not make very many trips to the net, but when she gets to the net, she has been effective there. It's the bat: Maria, who wears Nike, began swinging a new stick in 2006: she traded in her Prince Turbo Shark MP for a Prince O3 White. Not surprisingly, the O3 White is similar in weight and balance to the Turbo Shark MP, but with the strings passing through wide gaps (that's the O3 innovation) instead of through narrow grommets. The Turbo Shark was slightly lighter, but balanced slightly more head-heavy. At Montreal in 2008, Maria again was swinging a new axe, the Prince O3 Speedport Black. This model is slightly less stiff than the O3 White, and has a slightly higher swingweight, although both are generally similar. Maria made the change to reduce stress on her right shoulder (unfortunately after winning one match it was found to that she had been playing with a torn rotator cuff tendon for over three months). Maria has continued using the Speedport Black through 2009. The O3 Speedport Black has a 100 sq." string area, 27" length, stiffness of 70, swingweight of 327, and weighs 11.3 oz strung, balanced 5 points head-light. Maria has had her bats strung with 16-gauge Babolat VS Touch or Babolat VS Team gut (reportedly strung at about 64 lbs, but Maria says "I change my tension all the time..."), or 17-gauge Babolat Pro Hurricane polyester. Because of her shoulder injuries, she will likely have her racquets strung at a somewhat lower tension in future. Although the standard Russian nickname for Maria is "Masha," Maria prefers to be called "Maria." Maria's agent is Max Eisenbud at IMG. (Dec 5, 2009) Former #1 Maria Sharapova defeated South & Central American #1 Gisela Dulko in two exhibition events in South America. The original schedule for the exhibitions was revised, and a match planned for Gisela's hometown, Buenos Aires, Argentina, was dropped. On December 2, in Santiago, Chile, Maria defeated Gisela 6-1, 6-3, and on December 5 in Porto Feliz, Brazil, Maria won again, this time by a slim margin, 6-3, 3-6, (10-7). Gisela defeated Maria at Wimbledon in 2009; Maria had won their two prior meetings. (Mar 6, 2009) Former # 1 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, which begins March 11. Maria is not yet ready to play as she recovers from a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon she incurred in the Spring of 2008 (see stories below). Although videos from the Bollettiieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida, have shown that Maria is working very hard to get ready to play, the videos also show that Maria is still doing some of her practicing left handed, to avoid overtaxing her right shoulder. (Feb 4, 2009 revised Feb 5 & 6) Former # 1 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from both the Paris indoor tourney (Feb 9) and the following week's tourney in Dubai (Feb 16). Maria is not yet ready to play as she recovers from a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon she incurred in the Spring of 2008 (see stories below). Maria said: "I'm very disappointed to be unable to compete in the upcoming Open GDF SUEZ and Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, both of which are great events that I was very much hoping to be able to play. My shoulder continues to improve every day and I am working very hard on the practice court... "I have been training in Florida the last few weeks and really working hard on getting the strength back in my arm. It's really amazing how you can do all the exercises and rehab in the world but nothing substitutes the time you spent on court running and hitting hundreds of balls. The biggest lesson I have learned throughout this whole process is that it takes so much patience to get back to where you were physically. You are never really going to forget 'how' to hit a tennis ball but what you do forget is how much work and repetition you must put into every single day in order to get back to where you were. And the only way to get back into good shape is by playing tennis. Unfortunately just because the doctor fixes the problem and gives you the green light to practice doesn't mean that you can just go out there playing tournaments. Yesterday I played my first few points with serves in about 6 months which was pretty exciting! Right now I'm aiming for Palm Springs [Indian Wells], or Miami, depending on how things shape up. I cannot wait to get back to playing tournaments!" mariasharapova.com (Jan 11, 2009) 2008 Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the 2009 Australian Open. Maria said: "I am very sorry to announce that I am not going to be able to defend my title at this year’s Australian Open. My shoulder is doing great, but I just started training a few weeks ago and I am just not near the level I need to be to compete at the highest levels." AO story The loss of the 2000 ranking points from her 2008 Australian Open title will mean that Maria will likely drop out of the top 10 in the WTA rankings, but remain well within the top 20. Maria's torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon, originally injured last March, was not healing properly by October. So on October 15, Maria had arthroscopic surgery in New York. On Dec 30, Maria said: "The procedure was successful and very simple. I left the hospital a few hours after the procedure and flew to my home in Florida for 3 days and then I flew back to Phoenix to start working on my shoulder... Dr. Altcheck thought my recovery would be very fast and he was right. I had full range of motion after 14 days, after 6 weeks I was throwing a football and after 8 weeks I was back on the court where I belong... "I am trying to do everything possible to be ready for Australia, but I have promised my doctors, coach and family that I will not rush back. Since I only started practicing 16 days ago... But the great news is that we have taken care of the problem that has been bothering me so much over the last couple of years..." mariasharapova.com (Oct 2, 2008) Former WTA # 1 Maria Sharapova is out for the rest of the season due to a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon. On her website, Maria said: "I've been progressing really well, but the recovery is taking a lot longer than I had selfishly planned. Therefore, my team and I decided to `shut it down' for the season." (Aug 1, 2008) # 3 Maria Sharapova will withdraw from the 2008 US Open (Aug 25) as well as from the Beijing Olympics, because she has a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon. Maria had been unknowingly playing with the tendon torn since April. Maria withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday evening after aggravating the ongoing right shoulder injury while defeating # 58 Marta Domachowska, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Maria had an MRI scan on Thursday, which disclosed two small tendon tears in her shoulder. Maria was thus forced to withdraw from next week's 2008 Olympics in Beijing. On her official website on Friday, Maria said: "Well my 24 hour medical tour came to an end yesterday after I met [in New York] with Dr. David Altchek who is the premier shoulder doctor in the world. He looked at all my tests from April and today and informed me that I have been playing with a moderate tear in my rotator cuff tendon since April. He actually couldn't believe that I've been playing this long with this injury. You can imagine that I was not very thrilled to hear that my medical team did not see this tear in my shoulder back in April. "The good news is that it didn't get much worse since April but we could have started the healing time back then instead of now. "He does not believe that I need surgery and is sending me to work with a specialist in Arizona next week to do extensive rehab and strength work and he believes that I should be ready to play in 2-3 months." Maria has struggled with right shoulder problems for over three years. In a newsletter from her website dated July 29, Maria said: "[After Wimbledon] I spent many hours of each day working with Prince on different rackets and string. Ever since Indian Wells and that backhand incident, I haven't been able to get my arm up and close to my head without some sort of impingement and grinding... so I've been trying different rackets with different weight balances that are a bit more flexible and the strings looser to get as much tension away from my arm as possible. "So for the last week I have been playing with a new frame...I'm usually very sensitive to any minor changes and we usually do this in the off season, but we really had no choice this time. Apart from that I spent a good ten or so days concentrating on my fitness and in the last week been playing a few practice matches etc." (Jul 31, 2008) 3rd-seeded # 3 Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday evening after aggravating an ongoing right shoulder injury while defeating # 58 Marta Domachowska, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Maria will have an MRI scan on Thursday, and then decide if she must withdraw from next week's 2008 Olympics in Beijing to give her shoulder time to heal before the US Open. Maria said: "It's obviously unfortunate. You try to do every little possible thing you can. But at the end of the day when you go on court and you're thinking about aggravating things, you're thinking about an injury, it's not really the way to play. It's tough to go on court and not be close to even 50 per cent. I'm too good of a player to go out there and try to fight through something that can eventually become something serious." Maria has struggled with right shoulder problems for over three years. In a newsletter from her official website dated July 29, Maria said: "[After Wimbledon] I spent many hours of each day working with Prince on different rackets and string. Ever since Indian Wells and that backhand incident, I haven't been able to get my arm up and close to my head without some sort of impingement and grinding... so I've been trying different rackets with different weight balances that are a bit more flexible and the strings looser to get as much tension away from my arm as possible. So for the last week I have been playing with a new frame...I'm usually very sensitive to any minor changes and we usually do this in the off season, but we really had no choice this time. Apart from that I spent a good ten or so days concentrating on my fitness and in the last week been playing a few practice matches etc." (April 1-4, 2008 revised) Maria Sharapova has entered both the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, April 7-13, and the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, April 14-20. Maria had withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to rest her sore right shoulder. (March 21-27, 2008 re-revised) # 5 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open citing a right shoulder injury, which, apparently, is not major. After her first loss of the year (to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Indian Wells semifinals) on Friday, Maria said: "...My body is kind of hurting a little bit." Shoulder pain, which kept Maria sidelined often from 2005-2007, occured during her 4th round win over Alona Bondarenko. Maria's agent, Max Eisenbud of IMG, said: "She's going to take a week off and not play any tennis... It was nothing major, but after everything that happened last year, she was a little scared... She has a very loose shoulder. It helps with the serve because she gets that extra whip, but the problem is that when fluid gets in there it's very hard to treat and hard to get out." South Florida Sun-Sentinel story At Key Biscayne on Wednesday, Maria said: "I think I sort of jammed it a little bit, so I wanted to give it some rest... There are good things and bad things to having a loose shoulder. I'm very flexible and my joints are very loose. In a way that's very good because your body is not tight, but on the other hand you're very loose and more prone to getting injured." interview transcript About requesting a wild card for either of the two tourneys following Miami, at Amelia Island and Charleston, Maria said: "If I'm ready, and if I've had a good week or nine days of practice, then I would definitely consider taking those wildcards." (Oct 15, 2007) # 4 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Zurich Open due to a right shoulder injury which has troubled her all year. Maria was the Zurich champ in 2006, and the withdrawal means she will have no chance to "defend" the ranking points she earned there last year (ranking points last 52 weeks, and are then subtracted from a player's total). Maria also won the following week's tourney in Linz, Austria, last year. As she has not yet clinched a place in the season-ending WTA Championships, if she cannot play in Linz next week, she might be done for the season--which would, at least, give her shoulder a couple of months to heal. Maria said: "I'm very sorry to be missing the Zurich Open. I really wanted to play here, but my health comes before my ranking." tourney story (Jul 9, 2007) Due to a lingering right shoulder injury, # 2 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Fed Cup semifinals July 14-15. The USA is hosting Russia at Stowe, Vermont. On her official website, Maria said: "I still have a tremendous amount of swelling in the area." Doctors have told Maria to rest for 10 days. Elena Vesnina will replace Maria on Team Russia. Elena's teammates are slated to be Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anna Chakvetadze, and Nadia Petrova, but Sporting Life reports that Svetlana also has a shoulder problem and that Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev says Svetlana is "a long shot" to play. (May 10, 2007) # 2 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next week's Italian Open in Rome due to an ongoing right shoulder injury which has plagued her since January, as described below. Right shoulder problems also impaired Maria's performance and forced her to miss several events in 2005. On her official website, Maria said: "I am going to have to pull out of Rome today, my body is slowly getting better but in no way will I be ready to play in Rome. It is such a shame because I like playing in Rome and I have to pull out two years in a row. I just want to let my fans know that I am doing everything possible to be ready to play the French Open." Unless Maria makes a late entry into Strasbourg or Istanbul, she will have no clay court match play to prepare her for Roland Garros. (Apr 3, 2007) # 2 Maria Sharapova will be sidelined for 5 to 6 weeks due to right shoulder and left hamstring injuries. Maria has withdrawn from next week's Family Circle Cup in Charleston, and will also not be able to make her planned Fed Cup debut for Russia against Spain on April 21-22. In a statement on her official website, Maria said: "I haven't wanted to talk a lot about my injuries, but I'm afraid it has become obvious that I am having some problems with my right shoulder and left hamstring. "I hurt my shoulder right before I started playing in Hong Kong [at the Watson's Water Challenge in January], and kept hoping that I could work through it. I was told by doctors I had pretty severe inflammation, but decided to give it a shot. I think the anti-inflams and treatment helped me get through H.K and Australia. Unfortunately, my shoulder hasn't been able to be normal on its own, without the medicine. "My doctors have a positive outlook, despite telling me I cannot play for a while. They said I must drop out of the next two events, but they are confident that, with five or six weeks of rest, I will be ready for the next events. "I am especially bummed about the Fed Cup, as I was looking forward to playing in Moscow, and representing my country in a team environment for the first time. I will be speaking with the Russian Federation soon about future matches. The Family Circle Cup is always a great event, and a tournament I look forward to competing in again. "It's difficult for me to take time off from tennis, but the first thing is my health and that's something that I have made a big priority in my career. I can only look forward to getting back on the court ASAP. Thanks, as always, for your support." (Oct 4, 2006) # 3 Maria Sharapova has announced on her official website that she will play for Russia in the 1st round of Fed Cup competition next year. Spain will play Russia in Moscow in the 1st (quarterfinal) round of World Group play, April 22-23. It will be Maria's first participation in Fed Cup play. Maria's compatriot Elena Dementieva said: "If [Maria] plays it's going to be very helpful for the team. She's a very strong player and we have a lot of chances to win if she's playing." Reuters story Maria's father Yuri is boisterous at matches to a point that many people find offensive and distracting. But, Elena said: "I don't see any problems with her father. He's an emotional guy but it is nothing to do with his daughter. Maria is a nice girl and I don't see any problems." (Aug 28, 2006 updated 1/2007) # 4 Maria Sharapova has signed a new racquet endorsement contract with Prince which will pay her around $25 million dollars over the next 10 years. Maria's previous deal with Prince, a five-year contract, was signed when she was 14 years old, and due to expire. Maria currently uses Prince's O3 White model. The deal includes a base pay, plus incentives for high rankings and tournament performance. Maria also has endorsement contracts with Gatorade & Tropicana, Colgate-Palmolive, Motorola, Parlux Fragrances, Canon, watchmaker TAG Heuer, Land Rover, Nike, and others, plus Japan-only deals with Honda & Pepsi, which make her the highest-paid female athlete in the world, earning an estimated $25 to $30 million a year. (Sep 24, 2005) # 1 Maria Sharapova retired from her semifinal match at the China Open in Beijing due to an ongoing right pectoral muscle strain. Maria's friend and compatriot Maria Kirilenko was leading 6-4, 2-1 when Sharapova found she could no longer play. Sharapova's injury is the same one that forced her to withdraw from the Los Angeles tourney in August, and slowed her service speeds at the US Open. Maria Sharapova said: "Even if I couldn't walk I'd want to finish the match. It's something that I can't control. It's a very mysterious injury... comes on unexpectedly from day to day... I'm very disappointed, obviously. With every shot, with every forehand and serve I hit, it got worse and worse... it's very painful. I had an MRI in L.A. and they said it was just a muscle problem or inflammation. It's kind of up and down and it comes unexpectedly. I took a week and half off to get ready for the U.S. Open and after all that it was still not better, so that's a concern." AP story (Aug 23, 2004) The New Haven Register has published a good background article (free registration required) on 17-year-old Wimbledon champ & current WTA # 7 Maria Sharapova. The article says that Maria's father Yuri Sharapov took Maria, already training at the Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida, to Robert Lansdorp in California for additional coaching because he had taught 6'2˝" Lindsay Davenport such good strokes, and it was clear Maria would also be very tall (6'0"). About coaching Maria, Lansdorp said: "In the six years since she first came to see me, she has never walked off the court in a bad mood. Never. But she’s also so determined, so focused." Lansdorp has recently had Maria working (in Bradenton, where she still resides) with former ATP pro Mauricio Hadad, a player who ran everything down. Lansdorp said: "He’s capable of making her work hard for her points, which is what she needs. She needs to get into position to hit 10 or 15 balls in a row, not just four or five." |
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 Kim Clijsters after match point of the final of the Roger's AT&T Cup in Toronto on August 21, 2005. Kim defeated her compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne 7-5, 6-1 to win her 3rd tourney in 4 weeks. |
Kim Clijsters Wallpaper WTA bio page ITF: Kim Clijsters career record K. Clijsters record at The WTA since 1996 KimClijsters.be official website Interview on Real Video 2002 Wimbledon 1st Rd, Kim (5) def. S. Reeves 6-2, 7-6(5), June 25, 2002 Interview on Real Video 2002 Australian Open 3rd Rd, Kim (5) def. C. Watson, 6-1, 6-2, Jan 19, 2002 Kim Clijsters Interview Transcripts At the 2002 WTA Champ's: Fastest Serve: 111 MPH Avg 1st Serve Speeds: 93-96 MPH |
| Winner of 36 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (16): | |
| 2010 | Brisbane | |
| 2009 | US Open | |
| 2008 | DNP | DNP |
| 2007 | Sydney | Antwerp |
| 2006 | Hasselt, Stanford, Warsaw | San Diego, Antwerp |
| 2005 | Hasselt, Luxembourg, US Open, Toronto, Los Angeles, Stanford, Eastbourne, Miami, Indian Wells | |
| 2004 | Antwerp, Paris Indoor | |
| 2003 | WTA Champ's, Luxembourg, Filderstadt, Los Angeles, Stanford, 's-Hertogenbosch, Rome, Indian Wells, Sydney | US Open, San Diego, Roland Garros, Berlin, Scottsdale, Antwerp |
| 2002 | WTA Champ's, Hamburg, Filderstadt, Luxembourg | Stanford, Tokyo outdoor |
| 2001 | Stanford, Leipzig, Luxembourg | Roland Garros, Indian Wells, ’s-Hertogenbosch |
| 2000 | Hobart, Leipzig | Filderstadt |
| 1999 | Luxembourg, ITF/Sheffield-GBR | Bratislava |
| 1998 | ITF/Brussels 1-BEL, ITF/Koksijde-BEL |
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Kim Clijsters first reached the # 1 ranking in WTA singles in August 2003, and although she was displaced by her compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne, retained a solid # 2 position. Then Kim seriously injured her left wrist in her 2nd round match at Indian Wells in March 2004, and when she returned to play in October, she incurred another, separate left wrist injury, which required surgery. Kim then won 2 titles in her 1st 3 tourneys after returning to play at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp in Feb 2005. At the 2006 French Open Kim was still swinging her old Babolat Pure Drive Team Standard, a terrifically popular 11.2 oz (strung) 27" bat balanced head-light with a 100 sq." string area & stiffness 70. Two weeks later at Eastbourne Kim began chopping with the "new" Pure Drive Standard. The new racquet has weight and balance stats almost identical to the older Pure Drive Team, but has something that Babolat calls "Cortex" just above the handle, which purportedly "reduces harmful racquet vibrations without filtering out the feedback required for feel." This upgrade is very similar to what Wilson claims for their nCode nTour Two bats. Kim's racquets are reportedly strung with 16 gauge Babolat VS Natural ThermoGut Touch. Kim wears Fila togs. Kim was coached by Marc Dehous until she won the 2005 US Open, after which Dehous stepped down, and Kim has acted as her own coach. (Mar 26, 2009) Retired former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters announced today that she will return to the WTA Tour in August. 2005 US Open champion Kim has requested (and will receive) wild cards for this Summer's hardcourt tourneys in Cincinnati and Toronto, and for the 2009 US Open. Kim had previously scheduled exhibition matches against Steffi Graf (May 17 at Wimbledon) and Michaella Krajicek (June 14 during the Ordina Open), and will also play 2 dates of World Team Tennis. Kim retired two years ago, citing primarily that she was tired of the frequent injuries she incurred on the WTA Tour. Kim said: "I have missed playing tournaments most. I am doing it for the challenge. I have been training for 11 or 12 weeks. Training harder than ever before. Then this drive came back... "When I started preparing for the Wimbledon game with Steffi Graf I felt this drive. I wanted a new challenge. This is just for fun for now to see if I can do it. I don't need to be number one again. I have done that and I don't need to do it again. I am just going to see how things evolve... "I train six days a week, half of which is building up stamina and physique. I am really looking at (my) weak points to prevent injuries." AP story - Reuters story (May 6, 2007) WTA # 4 (and former # 1) Kim Clijsters has announced on her official website that she is retiring immediately. Kim is marrying American basketball player Brian Lynch on July 14 in her hometown, Bree, Belgium. She had planned on playing in Wimbledon and a few other tourneys the rest of the year, but, in her online diary, Kim said: "After a fantastic and moving goodbe in Antwerp my motivation wasn't the same anymore... The recurring injuires, having difficulty in getting out of bed in the morning, needing about an hour to get all the muscles warmed up, the demanding preparations of the marriage with Brian... It all makes things a bit difficult to keep on going." 23-year-old Kim won 34 WTA singles titles in her short career, including the 2005 US Open and the 2002 and 2003 WTA Championships. She finishes with a 427-104 career match record, and $14,764,296 in career prize money. WTA story (Apr 21, 2008) Kim Clijsters confirmed on her official website that she will not play in the 2007 US Open, and that the 2007 Wimbledon will be the last Grand Slam tourney of her career. Kim might play doubles as well as singles at her final Wimbledon. (Mar 19, 2007) # 5 Kim Clijsters may play in as few as six tourneys this season. She will not play at Roland Garros, and Kim might skip the US Open as well. Kim is marrying American basketball player Brian Lynch in July, and will retire after the Stuttgart tourney in October. Kim said: "The 14th of July is going to be our Big Day: our marriage in Bree. 10 days later, we'll party in the US as well, and after that we'll be on a two week honeymoon. Therefore it is difficult to know whether or not I'll be able to make it to the US Open. I am sure about Luxemburg and Stuttgart... For some fans these tournaments will be the last chance to see me play one more time." (Aug 18, 2006 revised) 2005 US Open champion and WTA # 2 Kim Clijsters will miss the 2006 US Open because of a left wrist injury. Kim will be probably be out of action for about 6 weeks, which means she will also miss the Belgium v Italy Fed Cup final in September. original AP story On Wednesday night, August 16, in Montreal, Kim lost to Canadian wild card 19-year-old # 153 Stephanie Dubois1-6 3-2 retired, when Kim could no longer play due to a left wrist sprain. Kim missed most of the 2nd half of the 2004 season due to left wrist injuries. Since then, Kim said: "I definitely have days where it feels a lot stiffer, but not in a way where it restricts me. I warm it up, and then that's fine when I get out there-- but not like this." Kim won 9 tourneys in 2005. Kim said: "Halfway through the first set I just started feeling my backhand, I couldn't get down with my racquet. I couldn't produce the spin that I normally do... I started slicing and just trying to protect, it kind of got worse and just stiffened up and then I called the trainer out. Obviously with the history that I have with my wrist, it's something that really worries me... Falling on it definitely didn't help, either." postmatch interview - WTA story (Jan 26, 2006 revised) # 1 Kim Clijsters incurred a torn ligament in her right ankle during her Australian Open semifinal against Amelie Mauresmo. The injury forced Kim to retire from the match. It was thought that Kim would be off the WTA Tour for at least 2 months, but she was healing so rapidly that she played in the Antwerp, Belgium tourney, February 13. During that tourney Kim aggravated the injury, and she subsequently announced her withdrawal from the Indian Wells tourney, which begins March 6. Because Kim won at Indian Wells in 2005, the ranking points she will lose by not defending her title will almost certainly make # 2 Amelie Mauresmo # 1 by March 20, (if Amelie does not reach that postion earlier). On her official website, Kim said: "After the press obligations and the doping test, I went straight to the hospital for an ultrasound. The front ligament in the ankle, which links the shinbone with the calf bone, is torn. This means I really can't do a single thing to have the injury heal. One ought to count for at least eight weeks until the tissue is strong enough to have a go at tennis again. Another annoying recovery ahead." (Sep 28, 2005) US Open champ # 3 Kim Clijsters has been quoted in Belgian newspapers as saying she will not seek a replacement for her former coach Marc De Hous. Kim had previously announced that she plans to retire in 2007 (at age 24). Kim said: "I want to play my remaining two years without a coach. I don't need one any more. I think I'm adult enough to know what I have to do. I believe I know my body and my tennis better than anyone." (Sep 16, 2005) US Open champ # 3 Kim Clijsters' coach Marc De Hous has announced that he is stepping down because he wants, as they say, to go out on top. Kim does not plan on finding another coach until the end of the season. Kim said: "I would have loved to have played another year under his guidance." De Hous had been Kim's coach since 2002. (Aug 26, 2005) Former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters, who won 3 tourneys in 4 weeks this summer, has told the Belgian publicaton Het Laatste Nieuws that she doesn't figure on playing more than 2 or 3 more years. Kim said: "My body is already giving me a lot of problems. Maybe I will still play the (Antwerp) Diamond Games in 2008, as a goodbye tournament, but that will be it... I like to win and I put in a lot to do that but the quality of life in and outside tennis are at least as important. It might sound odd but it's all becoming tougher on me - the tournaments, the travelling. I can't see myself playing for more than two or three years." (May 6, 2005) Clijsters knee update: Kim Clijsters flew home to Belgium on Thursday night to get an immediate MRI scan of the knee injury she incurred during her 3rd round match against Patty Schnyder at the German Open on May 5. The scan revealed that she had strained the medial ligament of her right knee, but nothing was torn. She will sit out the next 2 weeks, but Kim still hopes to play in the 2005 French Open at Roland Garros, which begins May 23. (April 3, 2005) In her interview after winning the Bausch & Lomb Championships final in Miami (Key Biscayne), Kim recited the entire story of her wrist injury. Kim said: "I got injured in Indian Wells last year. Then I was in a brace for about two months. And then I tried to play Fed Cup. I played with a brace. Then I was still sore. "Then I tried to play Berlin. I played one match with a brace [May 5, 2004] and then the next day it just flared up again. And then I went to the hospital. They put me in a sort of like a cast for like a month, just to see how it was recovering. Then every two, three weeks I needed to have an MRI just to see if it was getting better. For two weeks, like the first two MRIs, it was getting better, but then it just stopped. Like, it didn't go back completely. "So then on the 12th of June I had surgery. I had a tear in my tendon. They sort of fixed that. Then while my wrist was open, they saw that I had a cyst under the tendon and they shaved off the bone. Every time I would hit a backhand, like they could see that it was too long. That's what sort of caused the tear in the tendon. "Then I was in a plaster for two months, which was very annoying because it was like a plaster up to here. I was walking around like that all the time. "And then you start rehab. That was probably the toughest time because once you come out of the plaster, you think, 'How the hell am I ever going to play tennis again?' You come out and you have no more muscles there. You can't even move your fingers anymore. The first two weeks, you're doing rehab maybe three hours a day and it's not improving a lot... "Then I went to America for six weeks. Started to hit. My first week that I got there, started doing some movements with the racquet, backhand movements... Each week gradually built up my training and started to hit with some softballs, then some mini tennis, with a hard ball. "I started training a little bit at the US Open. But I always had the feeling that something wasn't right, but I didn't know if it was surgery pains or if something was wrong. So then I had an MRI in Belgium. The doctors sort of gave me the 'all-clear'. "So I played Hasselt [Belgium]. I was very happy. You know, I played well for two matches and won those two matches. But then against Bovina [Saturday, Oct. 2, 2004]... in the first set, I hit this backhand return and I felt something snap. That's when the capsule around the tendon snapped, not completely, but it was sort of like half off [a separate injury from the earlier one]. "So they put me in a cast again for two months. And then everything started to get better [laughing]. So from then on, everything started to get more positive, and then on the 3rd of January I hit my first backhands. And I'm here so..." (Oct 22, 2004) Former WTA # 1 Kim Clijsters, who is recovering from left wrist injuries, and former ATP # 1 (& 2004 US Open finalist) Lleyton Hewitt have broken off their relationship and cancelled their engagement, a statement on Kim's official website announced today. The pair were to be married in Australia in February, 2005. (Jan 12, 2004) # 2 Kim Clijsters says she will play in the Australian Open next week (she is playing this week in Sydney), although she has an ankle injury that may eventually require surgery. [The ankle injury never did require surgery, and was soon forgotten, as Kim was sidelined by left wrist injuries instead.] |
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 Francesca Schiavone after match point as she defeated Serena Williams in the 2nd round of the Italian Open in Rome on Wednesday, May 11, 2005. Francesca won 7-6(2), 6-1. |
WTA bio page ITF: Francesca Schiavone career record Schiavone record at The WTA since 1996 Francesca Schiavone Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 2 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (9): | Semifinalist (8): | |
| 2009 | Moscow | Osaka | |
| 2008 | Dubai | ||
| 2007 | Bad Gastein | Zurich | |
| 2006 | Luxembourg, Amelia Island, Sydney | ||
| 2005 | Hasselt, Moscow, Bali | Los Angeles | |
| 2004 | Warsaw, Sydney | ||
| 2003 | Canberra | Stanford, Los Angeles | |
| 2002 | |||
| 2001 | Auckland | ||
| 2000 | Tashkent |
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Francesca Schiavone was born in Milan, Italy; she now lives in London, England. Francesca swings a Babolat AeroPro Drive Cortex; she formerly chopped with a Fischer Pro Number One. Francesca's tailor is Lotto (she formerly wore Diadora attire). She is coached by Daniel Panajotti. |
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 Nadia Petrova of Russia after defeating compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in a QF match of the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Tuesday, June 3, 2003. |
Nadia Petrova Wallpaper WTA bio page ITF: Nadia Petrova career record Nadia Petrova record at The WTA since 1996 Nadia-Petrova.org (official website) Nadia Petrova Interview Transcripts Nadia's fastest serves at Amelia Island in April, 2004 reached 118 MPH. |
| Winner of 9 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (10): | Semifinalist (21): | |
| 2009 | Beijing, Ponte Vedra Beach | ||
| 2008 | Quebec City, Cincinnati | Stuttgart, Eastbourne | Bali |
| 2007 | Paris Indoor | Los Angeles, Amelia Island | Tokyo PPO, Eastbourne |
| 2006 | Stuttgart, Berlin, Charleston, Amelia Island, Doha | Linz, Moscow | Antwerp |
| 2005 | Linz | Bangkok, Berlin | Philadelphia, Roland Garros, Amelia Island, Paris Indoor |
| 2004 | Gold Coast | Philadelphia, Linz, Bali, Amelia Island, Miami | |
| 2003 | Linz | Philadelphia, Zurich, Roland Garros, ’s-Hertogenbosch | |
| 2002 | Gold Coast | ||
| 2001 | Amelia Island | ||
| 2000 | |||
| 1999 | |||
| 1998 | ITF/Makarska-CRO, ITF/Hvar-CRO, ITF/Dubrovnik-CRO | ||
| 1997 | ITF/Tbilisi-GEO |
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Nadia Petrova was born in Moscow, Russia, and resides in income tax-free Monte Carlo, Monaco. Once a Prince user for both clothes & racquet, in late 2003 Nadia was converted to the adidas religion for shoes & clothing; then she wore Venus Williams label for a while, and most recently wears Elesse. She kept using her Prince bat sans logo for a while, then signed with Babolat, at first swinging a Pure Drive (the model used by Clijsters & Roddick), then adopting the Babolat "Pure Storm Team" axe. Nadia reportedly has her bats strung with 16-gauge Luxilon Monotec Supersense, a synthetic composite monofilament made of nylon and fluocarbon resin. Nadia's 1st serves at times exceed 120 mph (her father, Victor Petrov, was a hammer thrower), and Mary Joe Fernandez considers Nadia the best server of the current crop of quality Russian players. Nadia's mother, Nadejda Ilina, won the bronze medal at the Montreal Olympics in the 400 meter relay, and Nadia moves very well for a player almost 6 feet tall. Nadia favors hardcourts. She was coached by Glen Schaap until late 2005 (Schaap then moved to coaching Dinara Safina). Nadia hired Alexsande Mityaev in December, 2005, but in February 2006 her coach reportedly became Andy Fahlke, a German. As of April, 2006, Nadia's WTA bio reported that her coach was Tomasz Iwanski, a Pole. Writing in her Moscow player's blog during the Kremlin Cup in Oct 2006, Nadia reported that she had two coaches: Roger Anderson (of South Africa) and Tatiana Matoukhnuke. From 2008-2009 Nadia's coach was another Pole, Matias Polonski, who has also worked with Marta Domachowska. In 2009 Christian Zahalka became Nadia's coach. Nadia has won 11 WTA doubles titles, most of them partnered with American Meghann Shaughnessy. (Jun 25, 2006) # 5 Nadia Petrova from Moscow, Russia, has withdrawn from Wimbledon. Nadia had a right hip injury which led to her early defeat at the French Open; she has also been plagued by chronic adductor muscle strains. Nadia had won 3 straight tourneys before Roland Garros. (Jan 24, 2006) After losing to Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open quarterfinals, Nadia Petrova told reporters she was shopping around for a new coach. Nadia said: "I do have a couple of people [in mind]. As soon as I'm back at home, I'll probably just repack my bags and go further. I have someone in Germany that I'd like to try out. I haven't met him, but I heard good things about him. So I'm just going to try out. I'm in a search for someone." [The German was reportedly Andy Fahlke.] interview (March 2, 2009) Nadia Petrova, who incurred a right foot injury in early February after arriving at Pattaya City, Thailand, and had to withdraw from the Pattaya Open, has also had to withdraw from all tourneys she was to play in since then, and has now withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California (which begins March 11). |
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 Jie Zheng prepared to fire a forehand as she defeated Ana Ivanovic 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4 in their quarterfinal of the China Open in Beijing on Sep 26, 2008. |
WTA bio page ITF: Jie Zheng career record Zheng record at The WTA since 1996 Jie Zheng Interview Transcripts |
| Winner of 3 WTA Tour singles titles: | Finalist (1): | Semifinalist (7): | |
| 2010 | Australian Open | ||
| 2009 | Monterrey | ||
| 2008 | Wimbledon, Guangzhou, Beijing | ||
| 2007 | |||
| 2006 | Estoril, Stockholm | ||
| 2005 | Hobart | Rabat | Guangzhou |
| 2004 | ITF/Beijing 3-CHN | ||
| 2003 | ITF/Bronx, NY | Tokyo [Japan Open] | |
| 2002 | ITF/Shanghai-CHN, ITF/Tianjin 1-CHN |
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Jie Zheng was born in Cheng Du, China, and still resides there. Her parents are Shu Kai Zheng and Zhi Bin Lei. Jie's first memory of tennis was watching a match between Steffi Graf and Monica Seles; she started playing tennis at age 10 after seeing her older sister playing first. Jie graduated from Si Chuan Sports Academy in June 2000. Jie is coached by husband, Chang Yu; her favorite shot is her backhand. Jie wears Nike togs, and swings a Yonex bat. Her other sports interests include golf, table tennis, badminton, and her favorite cuisine is Chinese. In addition to her singles titles, Jie has won 11 WTA doubles titles, including the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, all partnered with Zi Yan. |
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(Jan 5, 2009) The WTA has again raised the ranking point scale above previous years, approximately doubling the points awarded. For example, in 2007 and 2008, Grand Slam champions received 1000 points; in 2009 they will receive 2000 points, and Grand Slam finalists 1400 points. At the lower end of the scale, last year's winner at Auckland (then a "Tier III" tourney) received 115 points; this year's winner at Auckland (now an "International" tourney) will receive 280 points. (Dec 29, 2006) The WTA has substantially raised the ranking points ("round points") scales for 2007 above previous years. For example, in recent years Grand Slam champions have received 650 points; in 2007 they will receive 1000 points, and Grand Slam finalists 700 points. At the lower end of the scale, last year's winner in Gold Coast (a Tier III tourney) received 95 points; this year's winner will receive 115 points. Players' best points from up to 17 tourneys in the past 52 weeks are added to generate the players' rankings. The new scales will mean that tourneys in 2007 will carry more weight in players' rankings than 2006 tourneys, until the end of the season (when all 2006 points are over 52 weeks old and have been dropped). For more info and the full point scales, see the 4-page WTA .pdf, How Rankings Work. Also available: 2007 WTA Tour Official Rules, 391-page 3.3MB .pdf (Jan 1, 2006 revised) From 1996 through 2005, in addition to the "round points" used to determine their rankings, WTA players received "quality points" on sliding scale based on the ranks of players they defeated. In 2006, the WTA Tour eliminated quality points from the rankings.
Full singles rankings: numeric .html - printable .pdf - - Full doubles rankings: numeric .html - printable .pdf
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