On the Baseline Tennis News, the largest independently owned professional women’s tennis news web site in the United States, has announced the nominees for the third annual Baseline Tennis Awards presented by Rebounces.
Led by Sony Ericsson WTA Tour world number one Serena Williams, the list of nominations includes the best tennis players, memorable moments and tennis media personalities during the 2009 tennis season.
On the Baseline Tennis News (www.onthebaseline.com) has partnered with tennis ball recycling company, Rebounces, as the presenting sponsor of this year’s awards. Since 2007, Rebounces (www.rebounces.com) has been a green leader in tennis through its efforts to keep tennis balls in play and out of landfills, while growing the game by making affordable practice balls available to players.
“The 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season was a memorable milestone in women’s tennis history and On the Baseline Tennis News is proud to recognize the talents and skills of these remarkable women,” said Aaress Lawless, Editor of On the Baseline. “We are thrilled to partner with Rebounces and support their efforts to replay, reuse and recycle the millions of tennis balls carelessly discarded each year.”
“We at Rebounces also congratulate all the players who made 2009 a truly fabulous year on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour! We are also excited to partner with On the Baseline to present this year’s awards to such a talented group of women,” said Cannon Fletcher, Co-Founder of Rebounces. “In 2009, Rebounces exceeded its goal of diverting five tons of balls from landfills and we are currently setting our sights on 25+ tons in 2010! These lofty goals would not be achievable without the fantastic players and partners, such as On the Baseline, that Rebounces works with every day.”
Tennis fans worldwide can vote for their favorite tennis players and personalities in eighteen categories by casting a ballot at www.awards.onthebaseline.com. Eligible voters may also enter a contest to win one of five prize packages from Rebounces. Write-in votes are permitted in all applicable categories.
Online voting is open from December 1-28, 2009 and the winners will be unveiled exclusively at www.OnTheBaseline.com on January 1, 2010. This year’s categories include Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Fan Favorite of the Year, Best Tennis Writer, Doubles Team of the Year, and new for 2009, Best Twitterer of the Year.
Complete List of 2009 Baseline Awards Nominees
Player of the Year
Svetlana Kuznetsova / Dinara Safina / Serena Williams / Caroline Wozniacki
Doubles Team of the Year
Cara Black & Liezel Huber / Samantha Stosur & Rennae Stubbs / Nuria Llagostera Vives & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez / Venus & Serena Williams
Most Improved Player of the Year
Victoria Azarenka / Melanie Oudin / Flavia Pennetta / Samantha Stosur / Yanina Wickmayer / Caroline Wozniacki
Newcomer of the Year
Alexa Glatch / Sabine Lisicki / Melanie Oudin / Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova / Yanina Wickmayer
Fan Favorite of the Year
Jelena Jankovic / Melanie Oudin / Maria Sharapova / Serena Williams
Humanitarian of the Year
Ana Ivanovic / Venus Williams / Vera Zvonareva
Twitterer of the Year
Kim Clijsters / Anne Keothavong / Sabine Lisicki / Serena Williams / Venus Williams
Best Grand Slam Final of 2009
Serena Williams d. Dinara Safina (Australian Open) / Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Dinara Safina (Roland Garros) / Serena Williams d. Venus Williams (Wimbledon) / Kim Clijsters d. Caroline Wozniacki (US Open)
Best Non-Grand Slam Final of 2009
Elena Dementieva d. Dinara Safina (Sydney) / Amelie Mauresmo d. Elena Dementieva (Paris) / Marion Bartoli d. Venus Williams (Stanford)
Best Coach of 2009
Zeljko Krajan (Dinara Safina) / Oracene Price (Venus & Serena Williams) / Richard Williams (Venus & Serena Williams) / Piotr Wozniacki (Caroline Wozniacki)
Biggest Upset of 2009
Patty Schnyder d. Serena Williams (Rome) / Agnes Szavay d. Venus Williams (Roland Garros) / Melanie Oudin d. Elena Dementieva (US Open)
Most Emotional Moment of 2009
Melanie Oudin’s run to the quarterfinals at the US Open / Kim Clijsters’ US Open final win / Ai Sugiyama’s Farewell in Tokyo / Caroline Wozniacki’s round robin win over Vera Zvonareva at the Sony Ericsson Championships
Best USA Television Coverage
CBS Sports / ESPN2 / NBC Sports / Tennis Channel
Best USA Television Commentator
Katrina Adams / Tracy Austin / Darren Cahill / Mary Carillo / Bud Collins / Jim Courier / Lindsay Davenport / Cliff Drysdale / Dick Enberg / Mary Joe Fernandez /Chris Fowler / Justin Gimelstob / John McEnroe / Patrick McEnroe / Corina Morariu / Martina Navratilova / Ted Robinson / Leif Shiras / Pam Shriver
Best Tennis Writer
Peter Bodo / Christopher Clarey / Matthew Cronin / Lisa Dillman / Bonnie D. Ford / Sandra Harwitt / Douglas Robson / Steve Tignor / Tom Perrotta / L. Jon Wertheim
Best Tennis Website
SonyEricssonWTATour.com / Tennis.com / TennisNews.com / TennisReporters.net / TennisHead.net
Best Tennis Blog
Open Court with Stephanie Myles / Peter Bodo’sTennisWorld / Steve Tignor’s Concrete Elbow / Straight Sets Blog by The New York Times / Tennis Talk, Anyone? / Women’s Tennis Blog / ZooTennis
Best Official Player Website
Ana Ivanovic / Maria Sharapova / Serena Williams / Caroline Wozniacki
Since the site’s launch in 2005, On the Baseline has provided daily news, interviews, commentary and results from professional women’s tennis and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. As part of its Replay, Reuse, Recycle initiative, Rebounces partners with organizations such as OnTheBaseline.com to collect tennis balls, re-pressurize them and sell them in bulk as practice balls.
Teaching pros, tennis facilities and players can also send lifeless practice balls to Rebounces to be re-pressurized at a fraction of the cost of new practice balls. Balls that are not suitable for further court use are made available to schools or health care facilities for a variety of uses. Rebounces continues to seek environmentally-friendly ways to recycle felt and rubber from severely damaged balls.
To cast your ballot, please visit www.awards.onthebaseline.com.
