Henin, a seven-time major champion, will face second seed Nadia Petrova in the first round of the Brisbane International.

The Brisbane International, which is a joint Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and ATP World Tour event, starts the 2010 tennis season Down Under.

Because Justine Henin is returning to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour with a zero ranking after nearly two years in retirement, Henin will rely on wildcards to enter tournaments until her ranking rises.

“The draw will be interesting in the next few weeks [as a wildcard], but that’s what’s exciting about sport,” Henin said this week in comments reported by the Australian press. “These matches will be good preparation for me. Everything will be a bonus for me in the next few weeks.”

Henin and Petrova have a long history of playing each other, although Henin leads their head-to-head record 11-2. They played each other only weeks ago in an exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, which Henin won 7-6, 6-2.

Also in the draw in Brisbane is 2009 US Open champion Kim Clijsters. Clijsters will play Tathiana Garbin in her opening match and could only play Henin in the final.

MIAMI, Florida—Life as a professional tennis player is not only about wins and losses.

For players such as Nadia Petrova, it offers them an opportunity to give back to the community and help make a difference in the lives of the needy around the world.

Traveling across different lands and cultures gives tennis players a unique viewpoint of the world around them. They see the glitz and glamor at the hottest destinations on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but often they observe the realities and hardships of life when adequate housing is a sought after commodity.

Miami-Dade county, home of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, is renowned for its sandy beaches, party atmosphere, and extravagant lifestyle. But despite all the glamor, there exists a dark side. The county, a favorite vacation and winter home location for countless celebrities, is also the place where many of the poorest individuals in America make their homes.

“Miami-Dade county is ranked the most rent burdened county in the United States,” said Michelle Marcos, Communications Director for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami. “About a third of the population lives in poverty.”

Petrova took part in a building project on Thursday morning in the inner-city, although this was not the first time that the eight-time Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles champion has lent her name—and hands—to the Habitat for Humanity cause.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami is an ecumenical Christian ministry which builds homes and communities in partnership with low-income families in need of a simple, decent place to live.

While visiting the building site, Petrova helped mount a window and install insulation into a six-unit residence under construction.

Petrova, an official ambassador for Habitat through the Tour’s partnership with Whirlpool and the Aces for Homes initiative, has helped build houses in locales around the world, including Miami, Poland and Romania.

Families in need of housing are provided with an interest-free loan to finance the building, but are still expected to participate in the process.

“They have to be able to commit to partner with Habitat,” Marcos said. “They have to help build their house and the houses of their neighbors. That’s one of the criteria. They have to invest about two hundred fifty to three hundred hours of sweat equity into their house.”

While the sweat equity of the potential home owners helps contribute to the building, the real moving force behind Habitat for Humanity is the thousands of volunteers who help build houses in over one hundred countries.

“Volunteers are the face of Habitat,” said Johnnie Hall, a skilled builder who helped Petrova cut and install insulation.

Working alongside Petrova on Thursday was a group of college students from Dartmouth College. The young people were part of the Collegiate Challenge program, where students from 47 states and six Canadian provinces volunteer in more than 200 Habitat locations during their school breaks.

Community service is a cause close to Petrova’s heart.

“That’s actually why I am playing out there, not only to become a good and great champion, but also to try to bring the right message to people,” Petrova said. “I’m very happy to be part of Habitat for Humanity.”

“I really appreciate Nadia’s commitment to Habitat for Humanity,” Marcos said. “This is the third year in a row that she’s done this and come out to build for low-income families. It underscores her personal commitment to helping the poor in our community.”

Petrova’s participation does not stop at volunteering her time; she also wants to help motivate others to give back to the needs in their local community.

“I’m really trying to get some more people involved in this and bring the message out to the people that they should come out to help out because they are so many families who are living in need these days, especially right now with the financial crisis,” Petrova said.

To volunteer for a home building project in your area, please visit www.habitat.org today.

On the Baseline’s live coverage of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open is brought to you by Grand Slam Tennis Tours.

Making her fifth appearance in Charleston, Petrova returns with a 9-3 record at this event, including an active five-match win streak stemming from her 2006 title on Daniel Island.

She will join World No. 1 Serena Williams, World No. 5 Vera Zvonareva, and World No. 6 Venus Williams in headlining the Family Circle Cup, a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier Event, scheduled April 11-19, 2009 at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, SC.

“It’s always nice to welcome a Family Circle Cup champion back to Charleston,” commented Eleanor Adams, Family Circle Cup Tournament Manager.

“Nadia Petrova is a very exciting addition to what is already shaping up to be a world class player field. Her experience and success at this event make her a strong contender for this year’s title, and with four Top 10 players entered so far, our fans are really in for an action-packed week of tennis in April.”

Twenty-six year old Nadia Petrova notched her sixth straight Top 20 season in 2008 where she surpassed $7 million in career earnings and earned her eighth and ninth career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles at Cincinnati and Québec City, respectively.

The Family Circle Cup is scheduled April 11-19, 2009 at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, SC.

This article is part of On the Baseline’s 2009 Players to Watch Series. Please join us for a special look at several rising and resurgent stars on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Way back when, some people thought that Nadia Petrova would be the first Russian to break through in a big way. She had almost everything—a big serve, solid groundstrokes, and quite a bit of finesse at the net.

In 2003, she reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, knocking off Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati on the way. That year, she also reached the final at Linz, played in several semifinals, and won some doubles tournaments.

But it was Maria Sharapova, of course, who won Wimbledon in 2004. That same year, Anastasia Myskina won the French Open, and Svetlana Kuznetsova won the U.S. Open. Elena Dementieva was the finalist in both the French and the U.S.

So where was Petrova?

She was fading away, and it appeared obvious that she was fading because of a lack of focus and mental toughness.

Petrova actually did not win a tournament of any kind until the very last stage of the 2005 season, and—though the tennis media has chosen to ignore it—that victory was somewhat of a gift.

I happened to be in Europe during the 2005 Generali Ladies Linz, so I watched the final on Eurosport. Petrova played Patty Schnyder, who took the first set easily. Petrova then took the second, and during the third, Schnyder injured her hand. She then had to play the remainder of the match with one hand, and it was no surprise that she lost it.

Petrova might have won, anyway—she was playing well—but we’ll never know.

At any rate, this victory changed Nadia Petrova. It must have been a tremendous relief to finally win a tournament, and the muttering, racquet-smashing Petrova (a persona totally at odds with her off-court demeanor) got down to business in 2006. She won Doha, then went on a clay court tear, winning Amelia Island, Charleston and Berlin.

By this time, she looked like a very serious contender to win the French Open, but a terrible thing happened. Petrova injured her hip during a pre-French Open practice session, and consequently lost in the first round.

This very unfortunate situation seemed to knock the wind out of her, as it would just about any player who was poised to win one of the majors. She began to suffer from various injuries, and to hire and fire coaches faster than most of us could follow.

In 2007, she looked frazzled and burned out, and at one point, she said, with characteristic candor, that she had lost her motivation to play tennis, and was doing some serious sorting out of her future.

At some point, Petrova decided to stick with tennis for a while, and, as the 2008 season began, we saw flashes of the 2003 and 2006 Petrova. She has stuck with the same coach for a while now, and she is playing well again. The hip injury returns now and then, but things are generally better for Petrova. She reached the final at Eastbourne, and she won Cincinnati. She continues to do well in doubles.

Petrova finished eleventh in the race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, and is now ranked eleventh in the world. She was the maroon group alternate in Doha, and—on her way to the broadcast booth to do some commentating—she was called on to play a match against Elena Dementieva when Serena Williams withdrew. Petrova lost the match, but she played very well, stayed calm, and appeared to be enjoying herself a lot.

Unfortunately, there is more bad luck for Petrova, and the 2009 season has not even begun. She was scheduled to begin her 2009 schedule at the ASB Classic in New Zealand, but she has contracted viral meningitis, and her Australian Open participation is in question. However, it should not take that long for Petrova to make a full recovery, and if she stays relatively healthy, there is a good chance that she can return to her former status in 2009. She likes hard courts, she says, but she really excels on clay courts.

She has coaching consistency now, she has taken control of her court anger, she has a strong serve, and she brings a lot of doubles expertise with her every time she plays a singles match. Petrova has it all, but has not always brought it all together at big occasions.

Nadia Petrova is, once again, definitely a player to watch.

Diane Elayne Dees publishes Women Who Serve, a blog about women’s professional tennis. Diane is a life-long fan of women’s tennis; her interest in the sport began when she first saw Evonne Goolagong play. Diane attends the Family Circle Cup in Charleston every year, and has a fondness for clay court tennis, which she developed while following the career of the great Chris Evert.

The ASB Classic announced the news about Petrova’s illness on Tuesday and confirmed that she will not start her 2009 tennis season in New Zealand.

ASB Classic tournament director Brenda Perry received an email from Katerina Stecova, Petrova’s agent, according to a statement released by the tournament.

“I am very sorry to inform you but Nadia Petrova has contracted a viral meningitis and is currently in the hospital,” said Perry.

“She was looking forward to coming to New Zealand very much but unfortunately she won’t be ready to participate in the ASB Classic this year. She is very disappointed to miss your event and hopes to play in Auckland in the next years to come. She sends her best wishes to you, fans, sponsors, and everyone who has worked so hard to put this wonderful event together.”

Perry said that while she was disappointed to lose such a high-profile player, Petrova’s health is a much more serious issue.

“It’s a shame Nadia will not be coming, I know she was looking forward to playing the ASB Classic, but in this situation she is obviously in need of medical care and our thoughts go out to her,” says Perry.

Petrova’s participation is questionable for her other scheduled tournaments in Australia.

Nadia Petrova is currently ranked at No. 11 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings. She won two titles during the 2008 season in Cincinnati and Quebec City.

The 2009 ASB Classic field is also expected to include Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki, Nicole Vaidisova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic.

The $220,000 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament announced its official player list on Wednesday.

“The 2009 ASB Classic field has plenty of variety with a lot of strength at the top, a lot of players who are at their career-high rankings and a number of exciting young players,” said ASB Classic tournament director Brenda Perry in a statement released by the tournament.

Russian Elena Dementieva, the reigning Olympic champion, will headline the tournament as the top seed, followed by her countrywoman Nadia Petrova. Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki is at her best ranking of No. 12 and will be seeded third.

At a career-high of No. 20 is the 2005 champion and this year’s fourth seed Katarina Srebotnik from Slovenia, who will also team up with Petrova to make a formidable team in the Kia Motors doubles.

The remaining seeds are expected to be Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues, Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, Israel’s Shahar Peer, and former Top 10 star Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.

The ASB Classic will also feature on-court coaching for the first time as part of an initiative on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The tournament will once again offer audio and video podcasting as well as live scoring.

The ASB Classic featuring the Kia Motors Singles and Doubles will be played at the ASB Tennis Centre January 5-10, with qualifying January 3-4. For more information, please visit www.asbclassic.co.nz.

The round robin draw for the 2008 season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar was announced on Sunday.

The eight singles competitors have been divided into two sections, the White group and the Maroon group. White and maroon are the colors represented in the Qatari flag.

World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic is in the White group, along with Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Vera Zvonareva.

Dinara Safina will compete in the Maroon group, which also includes Elena Dementieva, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams.

WHITE GROUP (Number denotes seeding)
1. Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
4. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
8. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)

MAROON GROUP (Number denotes seeding)
2. Dinara Safina (RUS)
3. Serena Williams (USA)
5. Elena Dementieva (RUS)
7. Venus Williams (USA)

During the first four days of competition, each player competes against the other three players in their group, with the Top 2 in each pool of four moving on to the semifinals. The first-placed player in the White Group will play the second-placed player in the Maroon Group in the semifinals, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal will then meet in the championship match.

Because of the round robin format, two alternates will be in Doha in the event of a player withdrawal. This year’s first alternate is Agnieszka Radwanska, followed by second alternate Nadia Petrova.

The doubles event at the Sony Ericsson Championships, which features four teams, is a single elimination draw, beginning with the semifinal round.

Please visit the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour website for an updated copy of the draw throughout the tournament.

Check back at On the Baseline on Monday for an analysis of the singles round robin draw and the launch of our Pick the Winners contest!

I thought I would borrow Van’s idea and create a list of my own. I’m not going to attempt to rank them in any apparent order, because on any given day I’m equally frustrated with them all.

Svetlana Kuznetsova
Kuznetsova is one of the biggest underachievers on the Tour. The skills are clearly there—no one would ever deny that the former US Open champion does not have the game to succeed. But, how does a former No. 2 in the world lose ten of her last eleven finals?

Patty Schnyder
Journeywoman, thy name is Patty Schnyder. The lefty is a fixture on the Tour circuit and is likely to remain that way until she finally gets tired of slipping in and out of the Top 15. On her best day, Schnyder can beat nearly any player on the Tour, but on her worst, anyone can knock her out of the draw.

Marion Bartoli
Bartoli insists that reaching the Wimbledon final in 2007 was not a fluke, but since then she has not produced anything that can defend her against that claim. Like Schnyder, she can beat nearly anyone on a good day, but the trouble is those days are coming fewer and farther between.

Jelena Jankovic
I included Jankovic on this list not because of her results, which have been remarkable over the past month, but because of her schedule. She is playing in her twenty-first tournament of 2008 this week in Zurich. As I still have fresh memories of Kim Clijsters, I have to wonder how long Jankovic can continue to push herself this hard.

Amelie Mauresmo
Mauresmo, one of the greatest headcase achievers of all-time, is currently a shell of her former self. Granted, the headcase part is still there, but the achieving edge left with her appendix last season. Mauresmo managed to win just three games against Victoria Azarenka on Monday, a dismal defeat for a two-time Grand Slam champion.

Sania Mirza
Living up to the expectations of a billion fans can either help or harm you. In Mirza’s case, it is the latter. The former superstar from India is now only three spots away from slipping outside the Top 100.

Lindsay Davenport
To comeback or not to comeback, that is the question. Okay, I’ll drop the Shakespeare references, but not even the Bard could figure out Lindsay Davenport’s intentions. Her original plans called for a return to tennis through the US Open when she would reevaluate her schedule.

It has been five weeks since Flushing Meadows, and the only thing we know is that she will definitely not defend her title at the ASB Classic in January. She mysteriously appeared on Luxembourg’s entrance list, only to be removed.

Nicole Vaidisova
Although some people blame Radek Stepanek, Vaidisova’s problems surfaced long before the two became an item. Vaidisova’s power can rival Maria Sharapova’s hardhitting game, but her mental instability often gets in the way of her performance. Vaidisova, a former No. 7 player, has struggled to a 19-19 record for the season.

Notable mentions: Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova, Shahar Peer

Jankovic defeated unseeded Nadia Petrova in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

“I’m very proud of winning my second tournament in a row. It wasn’t easy coming here from China and I had very tough matches against Zvonareva and Venus, but I’m thrilled to win the Porsche today,” said Jankovic after the victory.

“This is a great event – one of my favorite tournaments – and having both my parents and my godfather and his wife here made it extra special. Today’s match was not the highest level from either of us but I’m happy I was able to hang in there in the end and be the champion.”

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is Jankovic’s second straight Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title, having won another Tier II event—the China Open in Beijing—-last week.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder won their first doubles title together by defeating top seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs 6-2, 6-4 in the doubles final on Sunday.

Jankovic, the second seed at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, will face unseeded Nadia Petrova in the championship match.

The 23-year-old Serbian star has won five of their eight previous meetings, including their most recent meeting in the quarterfinals at Los Angeles this summer.

“It’s not easy playing Nadia,” said Jelena Jankovic, who beat 2008 Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the semifinals. “She’s an excellent player indoors but I’ll give it my all tomorrow trying to win my second tournament in two weeks.”

Although her third title of 2008 is tempting, the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet is an added inducement for a victory.

“It’d be great to see the car in my garage,” said Jankovic. “I’ve already got a red 911 Turbo but why not a Carrera as well.”

Nadia Petrova is not an unfamiliar face to the fans in Stuttgart. She won the title in 2006, but has struggled recently with inconsistent results.

“It’s great to be back in the final,” said currently ranked No. 18 Petrova. “I’m playing my best tennis at the moment. It’s especially pleasing as I feel I’m getting close to the top again. All the work I did at the beginning of the year is paying off. I’ve got my focus back, am concentrated and am following my game plan. Things are going well.”

Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder will face title holders and top seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in the doubles final.