It was another memorable year on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, highlighted by the No.1 ranking changing owners several times, a couple of veterans making exceptional comebacks, and of course, Serena Williams adding to her legacy
Best in Show
Six players won three titles in 2009: Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki - who reached eight finals, the most of any competitor. But if proof is needed of depth in women's tennis, consider this: The 53 Tour titles on offer were won by 34 different women, including 13 first-time champions, from Azarenka in Brisbane in January to Timea Bacsinszky in Luxembourg.
But if the qualification of Azarenka and Wozniacki for the season-ending Championships signals some kind of changing of the guard, the Grand Slam spoils were shared by three established stars. Williams reigned at the the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while Kuznetsova won her second major at Roland Garros and Kim Clijsters captured her second US Open title. Kuznetsova also won Beijing, one of the 'mini Slam' Premier-levelevents, with the others going to Vera Zvonareva (Indian Wells), Azarenka (Miami) and Safina (Madrid).
There was still room for surprises, though. As a qualifier who had never previously won a Tour match, Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru won the Premier-level Warsaw Open, becoming only the fifth player to win a Tour singles title on a ranking outside the Top 200. Afterwards she leapt to No.83 with a bullet, a terrific 20th birthday present.
Meantime, the battle for No.1, which began at the start of the year with Jelena Jankovic in charge and ended with Williams on top, wasn't the only interest in the rankings. Three players cracked the Top 10 for the first time - Azarenka, Wozniacki and Flavia Pennetta, who became the first Italian woman to reach the elite. For the first time, China had two players ranked in the Top 20 - Zheng Jie and Li Na - with other notable movers including former doubles No.1 Samantha Stosur of Australia, who established herself in the Top 15 in singles.
And speaking of doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber won five tournaments to maintain their co-world No.1 status, although they didn't have things all their own way. The Williams sisters pocketed three of the four Slams - Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual defended successfully at Roland Garros - but the real breakthrough was made by Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez, who won a Tour-best seven events, including the Tour Championships.
Hello, Goodbye
As well as the 'Roadmap' revamp of the schedule, 2009 will be remembered as the year of the comeback.
First, Jelena Dokic dazzled Down Under with her emotional run to the quarters of the Australian Open, while Maria Sharapova's return from shoulder injury culminated with a title at Tokyo in October and a return to the Top 15. Kimiko Date Krumm, who returned to professional tennis in April 2008, triumphed in Osaka, becoming the second oldest woman to win a Tour singles title in the Open Era after Billie Jean King at Birmingham in 1983. From the way the 39-year-old played, it was hard to believe she initially retired after the Chase Championships at Madison Square Garden in 1996.
Then, of course, there was Clijsters' astonishing effort at Flushing Meadows, in just her third tournament back after two years away. With the win, the popular 26-year-old became the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 - and inspired fellow Belgian Justine Henin to launch her own comeback in 2010.
Inevitably this year had its share of fond farewells too. Japanese icon Ai Sugiyama, who played her first professional match in 1990, appropriately said goodbye at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo; she had played in 62 consecutive Grand Slam main draws, a record among men's and women's tennis players. Others hanging up their racquets included France's Nathalie Dechy and Emilie Loit, and Akiko Morigami of Japan.
And behind the scenes, Larry Scott, the Tour's chairman and CEO from April 2003 to June 2009, departed to become the commissioner of the NCAA's PAC-10. Scott handed over to a safe pair of hands, though, with former Tour president Stacey Allaster appointed as his replacement.
