The first quarter of the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tennis season is in the history books, so now we have a chance to reflect on the last three months of tennis.
Tell us what impressed—or depressed—you during the first part of the year! Join this week’s Open Forum Friday discussion by leaving a comment below.
Before turning things over to everyone, here is my report card list for the first quarter of 2009.
Grade A Performances
Serena Williams
She might have lost the number one ranking, but Serena Williams has been impressive over the past few months. The 2009 Australian Open champion dominated in Melbourne, reached the semifinals in Paris and Dubai, and played her way into the final at Miami before an injury cost her the title to Victoria Azarenka. Often Serena goes underground after winning a major, but this year her results have inspired her to play more tennis.
Victoria Azarenka
The absence of Maria Sharapova has been filled with another talented and aggressive star. Each time I watch Victoria compete, the more I like her game. The first three months is barely over and Vika has picked up as many titles. Give her time and a little more experience and I believe we will be watching a future Grand Slam champion soon.
Dinara Safina
Dinara’s rise to the No. 1 ranking was bound to be accompanied by differing opinions, but I’m confident that she will be a worthy leader on the Tour. She knows that she backed into the top spot, yet is eager to prove that she deserves her new accolade. If she has a chance to recharge her drained batteries before heading onto clay, she will be one of the front-runners to take home the Roland Garros trophy.
Larry Scott
Last spring the tennis world was surprised by the sudden exit of Justine Henin. Not as shocking this year, but still surprising is the news that Sony Ericsson WTA Tour CEO and Chairman Larry Scott will be leaving his position right as the Tour appears to be on top of the world. Scott was an effective leader, a skilled negotiator, and will be missed. His successor will definitely have big shoes to fill.
Grade B Results
Amelie Mauresmo
Mauresmo is still far away from her form in 2006, but she has turned her career around during the first part of the year. After her disappointing last season, I thought Mauresmo would be the next star to hang up her racquet. But the sixteen-year veteran of the Tour is still going strong and picked up her 25th career singles title in February at home in Paris.
Kim Clijsters
By the end of quarter three, this could turn into an “A” or a “C” depending on how well she does, but Clijsters deserves a mention just because she plans to show up for class this summer. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is ripe for the picking, and if Clijsters is still as fast and fit, Top 10 is not out of the question.
Grade C Disappointments
The Serbians
Normally when Ana Ivanovic’s career is in a slump, Jelena Jankovic is wowing the crowds, and vice versa. But right now they are both in trouble. Jankovic is trying to drop the muscle she put on during the off-season, while Ivanovic is hunting for her confidence and mental strength before rolling into Paris next month. The full hopes of a nation are on their young shoulders, especially as the next highest ranked Serbian star is currently outside the Top 200.
Grade D Disasters
FSN
Why bother putting tennis on television if it is next to impossible to watch? I’ve yet to hear one good thing about FSN’s coverage, except that fans were impressed by Lindsay Davenport’s skills in the booth (when they could actually hear her), and I’ve lost count of all the negatives. FSN’s coverage was a farce, although that will at least make us all the more grateful for ESPN2 next month in Paris.
Grade F Failures
Dubai
Dubai is in a grade classification entirely its own after refusing entry to Shahar Peer because of her nationality. The tournament has been fined and sanctioned, but if they pull this same stunt next year, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour needs to cancel the event despite the money involved.
Clijsters gets a “B” just for announcing her return? Funny stuff Aaress. But she is one of my favorite players and there has been a noticeable competitive void since Henin’s departure, Sharapova’s injury, Davenport’s on/off retirement and not to mention Hingis’ woefully ungraceful exit. Clijsters’ return will undoubtably be more solid. Grade pending.
Ivonavic has the talent but at times appears unsteady/lacking in confidence. If anyone should be exerting herself now it should be her. Maybe, she is aware of this and this is causing added pressure. I’m saying C+ for her.
During the Australian Open NBC had my man Cliff Drsysdale in the hot sun, commenting court side. “Cliffy,” as Mary Joe Fernandez affectionately calls him, would have been in much better form commenting from the both. So i’ll ding NBC and take a little off resulting in the grade of a “B” for their coverage of the first major of the year.
your comments about Dubai are spot on and I only hope it’s a non-issue next year and that the focus on the event will return to the on-court action.
Well, when you think about all the bad news the Tour has had over the past quarter, Kim’s comeback announcement at least helped swing the pendulum back in the right direction!
Personally, I enjoy seeing the stars of the past battle the newcomers of the future. Clijsters could still have some good years ahead of her. Just think about all the times she was denied a title by Justine Henin. So with Henin out of the picture, Kim could be making up for lost time.
Giving Kim a B for her comeback is a bit harsh. I like Kim and look forward to following her comeback and it’s all good for the tour as far as I’m concerned.
Lindsay being the only good thing about FSN’s Indian wells and Miami coverage doesn’t surprise me. Heard Lindsay last year commentating the Doha matches and was excellent and yes I’m bit biased.
Vicki, the B was actually meant to be a compliment. I didn’t give her an A just because we have not seen her compete yet, but thought she at least deserved a good mention for planning to return.
Oh ok your going with the wait and see approach. I agree with that everyone else has been on Kim saying she can get back to the top ten ect
I hope she does well let wait and see how things go. One thing Kim has on side is her youth and it all depends on how often she wants to complete.
sorry about the misunderstanding.
Vera Zvonarëva deserves Grade A for her continuing progress so far this year.
She reached her first Major semi-final at the Australian Open, won her eighth WTA singles-title at Pattaya City, and won her first Premier title at Indian Wells.
Of course, I might have to upgrade her to A* when she wins the French Open!
No worries at all, Vicki! Like I said, I don’t think top ten is out of the question for Kim, but I don’t have too high expectations for her first couple of tournaments.
Andrew, after Indian Wells, I’m definitely learning to respect your opinion about Vera! I guess we’ll see!
Grade A for Zvonareva and Azarenka.
I’d replace Mauresmo with Marion in the grade B spot.
Mauresmo has moved up 4 or 5 places, but only from a relatively low base of 24. She did well to win Paris indoor, but that’s about it.
Marion broke new ground with her AO QF, and beat the world number 1. She has also broken her recent title drought, in Monterrey, and reached the final in Brisbane. She is up from 17 to 13 in the rankings – 4 places in the teens is a bigger achievement than 4 or 5 from the mid twenties.
Miami and Indian Wells were big disappiontments, but Marion has had a good enough season to merit a B and challenge those who were airbrushing her out of the top 20 before the season had even begun.
However, for Marion and for Amelie, and also for the other French rival Alize Cornet, it’s what happens over the course of the whole season that they will judged. So Amelie musn’t be written off.
I also think that Zvonareva deserves an A for her first GS semi, an international title and Mandatory premium title. She has started off the year well. I agree w Azarenka for an A. Despite being new and not tested over time, she has won two smaller titles and then the semis at IW and the Mandatory premium win at Miami. I don’t know if Safina should get an A; she is humble about the #1 and wants to prove herself but not quite playing up to par after the Aussie season-a GS final and Sydney final. Dementieva wasn’t mentioned and I believe she should get an A. She won two titles before AO. Reached the semi at AO. finalist at Paris and semi at Dubai. Although she didn’t perform well at the double premium, the rest of the year so far gives her an A and #3 ranking. She probably did play too much tennis as she said for her performance in IW-Miami. FSN was horrible-I was glad to be able to have TennisTV online. I don’t know what grade Amelie should get but it was good to see her win a title after questioning her motivation last year and retirement.
What about Venus Williams ?
I would have given Venus an B. Only reason i would give her an A is because of her erly loss at the Australian Open. But since then, She has won 2 titles and reached the semis of Miami.
FSN should not have been given a D, they should have been given a Z…. They were Horrible. I didnt even get to see 1 match.