Henin Caps Off An Amazing Year At The Year End Championships!

November 13th, 2007

Madrid, Spain

The WTA Tour came to an end for the year 2007 this past Sunday at the Year Ending Championships being held for the second consecutive year in Madrid, Spain. And like in 2006, the same outcome happened this year, Justine Henin left Madrid as the champion. For the Belgian, it capped off her best year on tour ever, winning 10 out of 13 tournaments entered, only having losses at, Paris, Miami and at Wimbledon. Henin also was awarded over 5 million dollars in prize money, the most for any female athlete in any sport, in history.

With the win, Henin has claimed titles this year in Dubai, Doha, Warsaw, Roland Garros, Eastbourne, Toronto, US Open, Stuttgart, Zurich and in Madrid. She now has 39 career titles including 7 Grand Slam championships. For Henin, it is the 2nd time she has captured the Year Ending Championships and has ended this season as the Number 1 player in the world.

For the rest of the women who made their way to Madrid, Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams, Daniela Hantuchova and Svetlana Kuznetsova all were disappointments. Williams played 1 set before retiring, allowing Marion Bartoli to come in, who was double bageled by Henin. Maria Sharapova who would not have been at the Championships if Venus Williams hadn't pulled out made it all the way to the Finals only to lose to Henin, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3. Henin was awarded 1 million dollars as the prize.

For the rest of the women, this means they must wait to next season to prosper and try to be successful. Will Henin continue her dominance, will Sharapova be born again, what about the Williams sisters? Will they be a force to be reckoned with in 2008? Will the Serbian duo of Ivanovic and Jankovic continue their strong play? Will young guns like Chakvetadze and Vaidasova take over? We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Davenport Earns 53rd Title of Her Career!

Quebec City, Canada

November 4th, 2007

Lindsay Davenport retired last year after announcing that she was pregnant. So it was safe to assume when she had her baby boy, that the new mother would not return to action on the WTA Tour. However, Davenport has returned to the tour and this week in Quebec City has claimed her 53rd title of her splendid career, and 2nd title of the year, after winning in Bali back in September.

Davenport defeated Julia Vakulenko 6-4, 6-1 in the Finals. The event, titled Bell Challenge was lined up with well known names like Nicole Vaidasova, Lindsay Davenport and Vera Zvonereva. After Vaidasova pulled out of her Quarter-Finals match with a wrist injury, and Davenport defeated Zvonereva in a tough 3 set match in the Semi-Finals, it wasn't a surprise that Davenport was the heavy favorite heading into the Finals. Davenport now has tied Monica Seles in having the 8th most titles on tour in history. Davenport is done playing tennis for the year and is looking forward to 2008.

Next week however the top 8 women compete at the Year Ending Championships in Madrid, Spain. The field includes Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Anna Chakvetadze, Serena Williams, Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Sharapova. Venus Williams who had qualified, pulled out because she was still suffering from dizzy spells dating back to the US Open. The next week should be exciting, with blogs about the days matches and updates daily.

Hantuchova Claims 3rd Title of Career at Linz!

October 28th, 2007

Linz, Austria

This week the WTATour stopped in the city of Linz for the Generali Ladies Linz tournament. Going into this week, many people expected the likes of Anna Chakvetadze or Nicole Vaidasova to be in the finals, however that was not to be the case. Instead, Daniela Hantuchova and Patty Schynder were the two participants competing for the title. The match was even in the first set until around 4-4, when Hantuchova took it to another level and won the first set 6-4.

In the Second set, Hantuchova got a break to go up 3-1 and never officially looked back. The end score was 6-4, 6-2 and Hantuchova had won her third career title and second title of the year. She previously had won at Indian Wells, in March. With the win, the Slovak has qualified for the Year End Championships which are set to begin a week from Monday. Venus Williams has withdrawn from the event citing fatique and dizzy spells, some of which date back to the US Open in August/September.

Next week the tour stops in its final regular stop in Quebec for the Bell Challenge. Nicole Vaidasova is the largest name in the field and she will definitely be trying to end a rollercoaster year for her. The week after is the Year End Championships where all eyes will be on the 8 best players of the season.

Hantuchova was awards $25,840 dollars while Schynder takes home, $13,520.

Justine Henin Captures 9th Title of the Year at Zurich!

October 21st, 2007

The World Number 1 on the WTA Tour, Beligian's Justine Henin has captured her 38th career title and 9th title of the year in Zurich. The Zurich Open is a Tier I title on the tour and awards the champion 182,000 US Dollars. Justine Henin defeated France's Tatiana Golovin in the Finals, with a score of 6-4, 6-4. The Beligian looked solid all tournament long, only having a hiccup in the Semi-Finals against young Czech, Nicole Vaidasova. The rest of the week has been purely stunning with the Belgian having little to no trouble with the rest of the field.

At the beginning of the tournament, Serena Williams was included in the field but pulled out during her First Round match after being down 6-0, 3-0 to Switzerland's Patty Schynder. Williams had been playing in her third consecutive week on the tour, and seemed like she couldn't handle the phsyical toll it took on her body.

Next week the WTA Tour moves to Linz for the Generali Ladies Linz tournament, a Tier II event with a rather subdued field, with only a couple of big named players participating such as Nicole Vaidasova and Anna Chakvetadze. The tour of course is coming to a close for the 2007 season in the next 3 weeks. The Year End Championships will be held in Madrid this year, with the Top 8 qualifying for the event.