Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne has won the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships title with a resounding straight sets victory over defending champion Amelie Mauresmo.
Henin-Hardenne, the 2006 Roland Garros champion and finalist at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, dropped just seven games in today’s final at Madrid and handily defeated the Frenchwoman 6-4, 6-3.
An overjoyed Henin-Hardenne spoke to the press after her triumph on what it means to take home the prestigious title and the number one ranking.
“I came here, I played well and I won. I knew I had to be aggressive and that’s what I tried to do. It’s been a great year, reaching the final of the four grand slams, winning the Championships.
“I have to be really satisfied and it’s a big achievement to be the number one too. Now it’s time for maybe a little party and a good vacation.”
(source: The West Australian)
The world’s number one doubles team, Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, scored their final big win of the 2006 season by defeating Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Championships doubles final.
WOOOO! GO SAMMY! So excited about her…
I am watching a repeat fo the singles final as I type this… and words cannot express how disappointed I am haha!
I’ll repeat what I said in the last comment:
Does anyone know where to find a list of the girls who have spent the most weeks at number one in doubles?
So much for my three set prediction . . . . oh well, there’s always next year :)
Brant – sorry it took me so long to reply to your question; I’ve been trying to track down your answer. I can’t find the list on the internet, but I finally found it in the Tour’s media guide. Unfortunately, it is not broken down by the # of weeks, rather the dates on the calendar.
To the best of my knowledge, and I included this season’s results, twenty-one women have held the No. 1 ranking in doubles since 1984, when doubles rankings were introduced.
If you want to know someone’s specific weeks at No. 1, let me know and I’ll look it up for you. But, here’s the list of all the No. 1′s in the order that they ascended the top spot.
1. Martina Navratilova
2. Pam Shriver
3. Helena Sukova
4. Jana Novotna
5. Gigi Fernandez
6. Natasha Zvereva
7. Larisa Neiland
8. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
9. Lindsay Davenport
10. Martina Hingis
11. Anna Kournikova
12. Corina Morariu
13. Lisa Raymond
14. Rennae Stubbs (co-ranked with Lisa Raymond)
15. Julie Halard-Decugis
16. Ai Sugiyama
17. Paola Suarez
18. Kim Clijsters
19. Virginia Ruano Pascual
20. Cara Black
21. Samantha Stosur
Congratulations to Justine on a great win – she was the better player today.
And I have to say – my respect for her has edged up a notch, as from careful observation it appears as though she was the one who made the effort to reach out at the net and do more than the minimal handclasp which has been the hallmark between her and Amelie since Melbourne in January. If that’s so – well done indeed.
Amelie has been conspicuously restrained and high-minded about the whole thing – in public. But she was apparently furious for a long time. Over the past week, a few little comments have indicated a thawing of the situation; here’s a sincere wish that they both put it behind them and move on. That would be a great way to start the 2007 season.
I seriously doubt they’ll ever be as friendly as they once were, but it would be a very positive thing for the players and for the sport if they mended the fences.
Let’s hear it for good sportsmanship – and hallelujah for a great championship full of great tennis!!
ALLEZ AMELIE in 2007!!!
Ah, poor Amélie. She really deserved to defend her title.
But I have to agree with Sapphisto, Justine was clearly the better player. I waited all the time for Amélie to give a shout and get mad but the seemed without energy and full of resignation throughout. Let’s just hope she gets good rest and a great start to 2007.
I think she just peaked too soon / had to expend too much energy to get to the final. Three 3-setters in three days – good lord! And that SF with Kim – mega!!! That should have been the final… terrific match.
It was good to see her smiling and relaxed at the trophy ceremony, though. Even joking about the Porsche – LOL. I think, as I suspect she and Loic must given the nagging injury, that she should be happy the year is over and that she ended it playing as well as she did. I said somewhere – lord knows where – that this week (post-Petrova!) is the first time she’s really been in full-feathered flight on the court since Wimbledon. And darn, it was good to see. That, with adequate rest and recuperation, plus the kind of mental toughness she’s been displaying over the past few months, all point the way to an exciting 2007.
Dunno about Amelie, but I’m pretty pumped for next year!
Agree, Sapphisto, she sure is glad that she made the finals after all and the match against Kim gave me half a heart attack.
She sure is the fittest player on tour (+ Elena D.). And I agree that she had somewhat of a low both before Wimby and after that. I hope she will grow even more mental toughness and consistency.
But honest, don’t you think at times that she lacks the kind of agressive shots of Justine and Sharapova? Geez, the kind of power Justine can put behind a one-handed backhand is just awesome. I can’t remember seeing Amélie pulling shots like that. She’s great at the net but if you end up against someone with passing shots like Justine…uff.
Let’s just hope the best for 2007. If she’s hungry she can do everything. Last year Ozzie open she just had this entire attitude radiatiing that she would never give up. That’s what I wish for her.
Ditto on wishing that attitude for her, Alsacienne. And I know what you mean about the aggression.
Have you ever read that famous book, The Inner Game of Tennis?
Amelie is the perfect example of that whole idea. She suffers from too many brain cells! Not only that, she likes to use ‘em!! I truly think she prefers to “out-think” her opponents, rather than out-power them. She can certainly turn on the power when she wants – and she does, gloriously, at certain times. I believe I’ve seen her rip forehands and backhands that are the equal of anything I’ve seen in the women’s game… she just doesn’t do it habitually. And her touch at the net – oh, boy. I feel she’s just not interested in being all brawn and no brain – and more power to her (pun intended! LOL).
To put it in a nutshell, I think Amelie fights herself a lot of the time, reining in her natural aggression in order to construct the point the way she wants it. When it works, it’s beautiful to watch. But it’s also – possibly even more – beautiful on those occasions when she “hits the OFF switch” on her mind and follows her instincts on the court. Man, when she’s “in the zone” like that, there’s no-one even comes close. Except Justine. At the top of her game.
I think also, that kind of aggression is not something that really feels comfortable to her. If she spent a few months in the US, she’d get an overdose of it and be unbeatable!! ;)
Either that or be miserably homesick for good food and good Bordeaux.
Heres to a great 2007.
Here goes to a great analysis of Amelie’s game – thanks Sapphisto, this is excellent. I hadn’t thought about is this way but it makes excellent sense.
So the real challenge is to find a way to zone in on purpose – she is able to do that when she is motivated head to toe, i.e. is very intense. I think she did that in Australia, Gaz de France and Antwerp, and Wimbledon of course. Has to do with “wanting it more”. And we were able to see that Justine wanted it more on this occasion.
Then she sometimes manages to do it when she is frustrated – hit the off switch like you say. But that’s always dangerous – might turn to mishits and overpowering as much as beautiful shots. We’ve seen both at times, too.
Well, Amelie, may you find the off switch more often!