The best players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will start the New Year afresh in only five weeks as the Tour heads to New Zealand and Australia.
Four Grand Slam titles will be awarded in 2009, but who do you think will likely win her first major next season?
My short list is topped by two of the most successful players of 2008, Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic.
The Likely Candidates
Jelena Jankovic
Dinara Safina
The Unpredictable Veterans
Elena Dementieva
Nadia Petrova
Of the four trophies handed out in 2008, only one went to a first-time champion, Ana Ivanovic at Roland Garros. Still, Ivanovic was no stranger to major finals after finishing runner-up at the 2007 French Open and 2008 Australian Open.
Consider this astounding fact: Thirteen of the last sixteen Grand Slam titles went to a previous major champion. Only Kim Clijsters at the 2005 US Open, Amelie Mauresmo at the 2006 Australian Open, and Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 French Open were first-time winners.
Who do you think will win her first Grand Slam title next year? Will it be Jankovic or Safina? Or do you have your eyes on another star perhaps destined for greatness in 2009?
Have an excellent weekend, everyone!
Elena Dementieva should win one!
I know this is offtopic but I wanted to let you know the new email updates from Otb is awesome.
goodjob!
Jelena Jankovic for sure.
she’ll win atleast one maybe two but she has the ability to win them all.
Thank you, Dapxin!
I think Jelena Jankovic should finally win a slam.
Hi Aaress!
If she avoids injury, I think Vera Zvonareva must be in with a chance. 2008 saw her highest ranking and the best tennis of her career thus far. And Olympic Champ, Elena D if she can maintain the form she showed.
:)
I think that Jelena Jankovic has the highest chance of winning one, but I would really like to see Elena win.
Excellent choices, everyone! Jankovic will certainly have her work cut out for her in 2009, but like many of you, I think she’s up to the challenge.
Jim, Zvonareva definitely has a chance to go deep at a major, especially now that her ranking is high enough to avoid many of the top players until the second week or so.
I am concerned about her mental game, though. I didn’t like what I saw come out during the Doha final when her emotions took over.
The scoreboard clearly showed that the match was not finished, yet once Zvonareva collapsed on court in tears, it was pretty clear that she would not be able to summon the strength to rebound.
If she can just take her game this one step further, it’s not unlikely that we could see her reach the Top 5 in 2009.
I think Elena really had a HUGE chance to win the French and US Open this year. I hope she wins a slam in 2009 before time runs out.
Janky for sure, but what about Wozniacki?!?
I think 2009 will be for Wozniacki what 2004 was for Sharapova. There’s been lots of chatter about her, but this will truly be her breakthrough year. And, she has the perfect game for grass!
Vera came to mind when I first read this post the other day. Sam Sumyk has got her playing well.
But speaking both from the heart and the head, I see my Marion winning a slam before Vera does.
Go for Venus……….
She had a tremendous late season surge……….
Aus open would be great for her………
French open maybe next?