TheSportsCampus

2009 was a year of unfulfilled potential in women's tennis, with a number of young rising stars failing to live up to the high expectations fostered by an engaging previous year. Serbia's Jelena Jankovic began the year as world no.1 and ended it miserably down the ladder in 8th place. Dinara Safina, who had a fantastic first half of the year, failed to live up to her promise as she ended the season devoid of that one trophy in the cabinet that makes all the difference, a Grand Slam. Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva too, failed to add any Slam to her kitty after promising so much in 2008. She did, however, play one of the finest matches you shall ever see on a tennis court in a losing effort to the one woman who came, saw and conquered 2009 - Serena Williams.

How It All Unfolded

2009 ended with Serena Williams on the top of the pile with a total 9,075 points and an astounding gross prize money of $6,545,586 (record). The season saw a constant shift in power in the women's circuit between Serena and Dinara Safina. But the former eventually came out on top and Safina had to live with the disappointment of spending the off-season as the world no.2. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki improved greatly this year, rising from 8th to 3rd and 12th to 4th respectively. The year end doubles rankings baffled tennis fans as the high-flying Williams sisters had to make do with 2nd place while Cara Black and Liezel Huber ended up with the top spot. The highlight of the year though was definitely Kim Clijsters comeback victory at the US Open, opening up a world of possibilities for 2010.

2009 saw the curtain fall on the careers of a couple female stalwarts of the sport. Two-time US open doubles winner Natalie Dechy ended her relationship with the Tour in July. Asian sporting legend Ai Sugiyama also ended her career in the latter part of 2009. She amassed 6 singles titles and 37 doubles titles (3 grand slams); and was the first Asian to be ranked No.1 in either discipline (singles or doubles)

Here's a look at the season of our top-8 rankers.

1. Serena Williams - 9075 points, (+1), AO-W FO-QF WIM-W US-SF

Williams began the year as world no.2 behind Jelena Jankovic. She had a fairly decent season, contrary to her rivals on the circuit. She ended the year with the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles defeating Dinara Safina and Venus Williams comprehensively in the finals at the respective Grand Slams. She also won the year ending WTA tour at Doha claiming the top spot entering 2010. Throughout the year Safina and Serena played throne-dethrone as they fought hard to be hailed as the BEST IN THE BUISNESS. Serena Williams was penalized for her unsportsmanlike conduct in the semi-final of US Open losing to eventual winner Kim Clijsters, knocking a fair bit of gloss off her accomplishments. She did however laugh all the way to the bank, ending the year by becoming the highest earning sportswoman of all time and also the highest earning female tennis player in a calendar year.

2. Dinara Safina - 7800 points, (+1), AO-F FO-F WIM-SF US-3rdR

Safina began 2009 with a growing reputation and overloaded expectations. She was ranked no.3, at the end of 2008, for the first time in her career. Safina displayed brilliant form at the Australian Open were she lost gruesomely to Serena Williams in the final. In April she topped the WTA rankings for the first time, with Serena skipping a fair number of tournaments due to her engagements outside the sport. Safina's clay court form was brilliant as she won titles at Rome and Madrid in consecutive weeks. Top seeded at Roland Garros, Safina reached the final were she was convincingly beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova. The pressure of the big stage seemed to always get to her as she was creamed in the Wimbledon semi-finals by Venus Williams 6-1, 6-0. Still hanging on to the world no.1 ranking, Safina failed poorly at the US Open where she was ousted in the 3rd round by Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. She had a chance to end the year as world no.1 but pulled out of the season ending Sony Ericsson Championship due to a back injury. Dinara Safina had a year of peaks and troughs of the highest magnitude and one hopes lady luck smiles on her come 2010.

3. Svetlana Kuznetsova - 6141 points, (+5), AO-QF FO-W WIM-3rdR US-4thR

Kuznetsova broke her 5 year old duck in Grand Slams by winning the French Open this year beating top seed Dinara Safina in the final. Though her performances were below par in all the other slams she still managed to gain 5 places and end the year at world no.3. The Russian won three titles in 2009, having not one a single one in ‘08. The year saw significant improvement in her performances and her fans will be hoping that she will take the momentum forward to 2010.

4. Caroline Wozniacki - 5875 points, (+8), AO-3rdR FO-3rdR WIM-4thR US-F

The 19-year old (only Dane in the top 300 of the WTA rankings) had a much improved year this time around. She gained 8 places to end the year at world no.4. ‘Sweet Caroline' won 3 titles this year, each one coming on a different surface. She then almost made it to the big league, nearly going the distance in the US Open, losing to comeback queen Kim Clijsters. Being the runner up at the Open helped her into the year ending WTA Tour Championship where she lost to Serena Williams in the semis. A viral illness plagued her bid for the title and hopefully nothing comes in the teen's way to super stardom in 2010.

5. Elena Dementieva - 5585 points, (-1), AO-SF FO-3rdR WIM-SF US-2ndR

The Russian entered 2009 with an Olympic Gold medal and a lot of promise in her backpack. She began the year with 15 consecutive wins picking up titles in Sydney and Auckland. She was finally defeated in 2009 by eventual champion Serena Williams in the semi finals of the Aussie Open 6-3, 6-4. Dementieva could only make it to the 3rd round of the French Open losing to Samantha Stosur in 3 sets. The Olympic Gold medalist entered Wimbledon seeded 4th and showed brilliant form throughout the tournament reaching the Semi's without dropping a set. The semi final clash with Serena was arguably one of the best matches of the season as she lost to Williams 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6 in a marathon slugfest. Dementieva's US Open outing was catastrophic as she was ousted by Melanie Oudin, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, ranked 70th at the time. The 28 year old made it 14 semi-finals in 2009 and with a little more luck; she could have had quite an impressive season. Dementieva was awarded Order of Honour by Russian President Dimitry Medvedev after the US Open for her contribution to Russian Tennis and Russia's national image.

6. Venus Williams - 5126 points, (=), AO-2ndR FO-3rdR WIM-F US-4thR

Venus Williams failed to win a single Grand Slam this year exiting 3 of the four events before the quarter finals stage. She did manage to pick up 3 doubles grand slams (except French Open) with sibling Serena. She also made it to the Wimbledon final but lost to Serena in 2 sets. Venus also lost to younger sister Serena in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Championship in Doha, Qatar at the end of the season. She was the defending champion at the event but failed to retain the auspicious title. Venus' motivation in the sport remains a question mark, and one wonders how focused she'll be come 2010.

7. Victoria Azarenka - 4820 points, (+8), AO-4thR FO-QF WIM-QF US-3rdR

The 20 year old Belarusian had quite a staggering season. She won her 1st ever singles title at Brisbane beating Marion Bartoli in the final. Azarenka then made it to the 4th round of the Australian Open crashing out to eventual winner Serena Williams. She won her 2nd title in Florida beating Williams in the Tier I premier tournament. She entered Roland Garros with a budding reputation and made it to the quarters, losing out to Dinara Safina. At Wimbledon the young Belarusian was ousted by Serena Williams (again!) in the quarter finals. At the US Open she fell to Francesca Schiavone in the third round 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, a match she would probably believe she had every chance of winning. Azarenka ended the year at world no.7, qualifying for the season ending Sony Ericsson Championship and with a 45-15 win loss record. The future looks bright for the young marvel.

8. Jelena Jankovic - 3965 points, (-7), AO-4thR FO- 4thR WIM-3rdR US-2ndR

After the best season of her injury plagued career, Jelena Jankovic came into 2009 as world no.1. She failed to reach the quarters of any of the Slams and just fizzled out of the horizon. She did win 2 singles titles in the season one of them at Cincinnati. That win started a revival in form that also saw the Serbian reaching the semis of the year ending tour championship, where she lost out to Venus Williams. While she was undoubtedly the biggest loser in 2009, a troubled year is now behind her, and perhaps the pressure of expectation is also off. 2010 hopefully will see the never-say-die Serb stretch her legs on the courts once again.

THE NEWS MAKERS
2009 may not have been one of the best years of women's tennis but it certainly provided some eye-catching and mind-boggling memories to keep for years to come.

The biggest and most inspiring story came from New York at the US Open were ‘Mommy Kim' Clijsters returned to the circuit with a BANG, Open becoming the first mother in over 25 years to win a Grand Slam.

Jelena Dokic's comeback was one of the many pleasant underdog tales that came to everyone's notice in early part of 2009. Making a return after an amalgam of off field problems, Dokic made a surging comeback by making it to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park (Aussie Open). Her run was cruelly cut short by eventual finalist Dinara Safina.
Israeli Shahar Peer was denied a visa to play in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship. This led to an outcry from tennis communities across the globe and the issue was resolved with financial sanctions imposed on the tournament.

Former world no.1 Monica Seles was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in July for her contributions to women's tennis as an ambassador and as a breathtaking player.

The Federation Cup was lifted by 2006 winners Italy. Flavia Pennetta led the Italian team as they thrashed USA 4-0. Pennetta also became the 1st Italian woman to make it to the top 10 WTA rankings, fossilizing her name in her country's sporting history books.

2009 may have not been the greatest year for women's tennis, but it certainly built up an insatiable appetite for the sport towards the end. The return of Justine Henin only adds more hope that 2010 will be one of the most closely-contested seasons of all time. May the Best Woman WIN!