And when Amelie raises her arms in triumph again in England’s green and pleasant land, you remember mine.

For seven long years, Amelie toiled away with humility, courage in the face of adversity, and undeniable skill. She never gave up, she never went away, she never let the petty and mean-spirited comments stop her from reaching for glory. Her truest supporters share her triumphs and tragedies in equal measure; and like her, we also know how to stay the course.

When Amelie next hoists a major trophy, I will have forgotten your name as you are unimportant to me in the grand scheme of things. I will, however, remember the comments of you and your ilk, and spare a brief moment to indulge in savage delight at how this remarkable woman has yet again gainsaid her detractors.

I look forward to that moment.

Enjoy it girls! Amelie has said herself in Zurich the other day that she’s happy with her two GS titles, and doesn’t care if Justine becomes number again. Well… what can you expect from the #1 player that receives bagels?

To paraphrase an old saying, anyone who *wants* to be a role model, shouldn’t be allowed to be one! And it’s usually the case that the best role models don’t see themselves as such and express doubts when other people say anything to that effect.

And I may take you up on that translation offer once in a while!

thanks for your comments and replies - glad to see you agree! I meant to provoke a discussion after all. Of couse I know that not everyone in the US is all s e x and money driven and you guys here on the website sure aren’t.

Unfortunately, in today’s world what we know and start to believe is very much driven by the media. Sharapova being the one player heavily featured means lots of casual watchers will equate tennis = Sharapova.

About Kirilenko’s dress:
very bad taste of you ask me. The way it accentuates breasts and butt - has s e x written all over it.

On stewpot’s comment:
you are right of course that we can’t judge from an impression or outward behaviour what one’s values really are. But in the case of public persons such as top athletes I think the case is a little bit different: just because they are in the media so much they are role models and have an obligation to act as such.

Who of you (apart form lucky Aaress) has ever met any of the players, and knows them well enough to really know? We as “the public” build an opinion based on what commentators say, reporters write, but mostly what we hear and see on TV and how we interpret all that for ourselves. And based on that opinion each one of us will happen to become a fan of one person and not of another.

Players and media have a responsibility - I would like the players to be more aware of that and the media to act more responsibly in what kind of values they promote. Definitely not as censorship, but as a reflection of a society’s values.

Let me know if you need help with some translation from French - pas de soucis du tout mesdames!

As for the fashion poll, I think the results may be a little skewed because they’ve left off a lot of contenders.

It’s a little difficult to post that many images in comments, but here are the links to each player’s profile, and they may give you a good idea of what they look like.

Elena Dementieva
Tatiana Golovin
Daniela Hantuchova
Jelena Jankovic
Maria Kirilenko
Anastasia Myskina

The only one that I kind of raised an eyebrow over was Maria Kirilenko. To quote the words of the always witty Steggy over at Peter Bodo’s TennisWorld, the tennis dress that Stella McCartney (Paul’s daughter) designed for Kirilenko at the US Open looked a bit too much like a “limp, gray gunny-sack”.

Vicki - to answer your question on how Amelie could not end the year No. 1 with two GS titles - it has happened before. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario won Roland Garros and the US Open in 1994, but still did not manage to end the season at No. 1. Obviously this was during the time that Steffi Graf was reigning, but Arantxa still started the year at No. 2, and even though Steffi only won 1 GS that year, she still came in second.

I agree with you - if Amelie does not get the top spot, I think it should be Justine. Unfortunately, Maria has played a whole more than Justine this season, and its QUANTITY that matters on the rankings sometimes more than QUALITY.

Aaress, for us new fans of women’s tennis could you post a little photo of each of the contenders? I am curious about the fashion statements referred to above in that poll.

In order to get more American stars in tennis, we need to increase the number of girls choosing tennis as their sport.Tennis is not what the kids on the block get together and play. They prefer soccer, football, volleyball, or baseball. It costs little to participate in those sports early on and one can learn the game and scoring without much difficulty. If The WTA wants to encourage the popularity of tennis in general and women’s tennis especially, then they need to encourage the sport in the communities. It seems to me it is a sport that is difficult for the youth to get involved in as tennis courts are not prevalent and expensive lessons can prohibit many young folks from entering the sport.