Jennifer Fights for Her Life Grab Women’s Crown

Jennifer Capriati

We started TennisReporters.net in May 2001, 20 years ago. We have posted well over 1,500 articles.

As coronavirus began to strike the tennis world, Indian Wells cancelled the tournament on March 9. Right after that, the tournaments pulled out quickly, including Miami, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros. Now, the WTA and the ATP have shut down until June 7. Or even further. No one really knows.

However, if you love tennis, you can reminisce with TennisReporters.net. We are resurfacing many of our best stories, written by Matthew Cronin.

FROM PARIS (2001): With a smile that reached all the way around the Seine, Jennifer Capriati celebrated the most important title of her career after she willed her way past Kim Clijsters 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 in a nail biting final at Roland Garros on Saturday.

“I was fighting to the end, for my life out there. I just wanted to  win so bad,” Capriati said of two hour and 21 minute sweatfest. “Afterwards, it just all paid off, all the fight. I’m really happy and relieved.”

Sharing seemingly never-ending hugs with her family after a gut-wrenching victory over a more than game opponent, Capriati lit up Roland Garros by beaming toward to sky.

“It doesn’t seem real,” said Capriati to her mother Denise after winning her second straight Grand Slam title.

“It is real,” replied Denise. “You won it with your big heart.”

Capriati dedicated the victory to fellow player Corina Morariu, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy in a Florida hospital for a rare form of leukemia.

“I just wanted to show that my heart is with her,” Capriati said. “We’re all players. It really hits home when something like that happens.”

A heavy favorite entering the contest, a nervous Capriati was completely out of sorts in the first set, becoming distracted by the chair umpire’s microphone  and complained loudly to her.

“I can’t play that microphone,” she said to the umpire. “Are you kidding me? Turn that thing off. Don’t you have a switch?”

According to her mother, Capriati became tense last night while watching television and seeing one of her mentors, Chris Evert, saying that she was favorite to win the title and it was her time to shine in Paris.  Unlike last year when she never entered an event the favorite, Capriati is now widely considered the best player in the world.

“The expectations were on her,” Denise said. “After what Chrissie said, she gave me a look and I knew that she was affected. Everyone was expecting her to win today and that’s not easy.”

Unlike in her previous matches, Capriati was unable to dictate play early, as she moved slowly and dumped numerous groundstrokes into the net. The 18-year-old Clijsters dominated the first set, running beautifully and and keeping her hard groundstrokes deep. Capriati committed a whopping 25 unforced errors in the set and said she was upset by a l
arge contingent of vocal Belgian fans.

But after changing rackets down 0-1 in the second set, Capriati regrouped and began to stand in more confidently in the neck-breaking rallies. Even though Clijsters wowed the crowd with her retrieving abilities, she was unable to control her huge forehand at key moments. Capriati broke her to go ahead 3-2 when Clijsters hit a forehand long and held on to win the set when the Belgian missed a forehand down the line.

While the first two sets were error strewn, both attacking baselines raised their games in the third set. Capriati broke Clijsters to open the set with by bashing away a forehand volley, but the 18-year-old broke her right back when Capriati dumped a backhand.

Both players served extremely well in the set, with Clijsters moving her serves all over the box and confusing her foe and Capriati  frequently jamming Clijsters with hard serves into the body. At 6-6 and deuce , Clijsters tried to sneak in a drop shot, but it fell into the net. Capriati then broke her to 7-6 when the teen missed a backhand.

But Capriati was unable to consolidate the break when she committed  series of shaky errors. “I couldn’t watch. I felt like I was having a heart attack,” said her brother and hitting partner, Stephen.

 Clijsters was two points from the match on a two occasions, but never could control the center of the court. Serving at 9-9, the Belgian started out sloppily, double faulting and committing a bad forehand error. Capriati gained a a break point and quickly cashed in, emphatically circling a ball mark three times after Clijsters missed a forehand down the line to go up 10-9.

But the 24-year-old Floridian against couldn’t hold, when Clijsters passed her with a forehand that clipped the net cord and bounced over her shoulder.

However, Capriati made another charge, breaking her younger foe with a decisive overhead smash. She convincingly served out the match, winning it it a seeing-eye inside-out forehand winner.

“I just watched and prayed,” said Denise. “But she worked through it. I  knew she wasn’t going to give up without a fight. In the last game, she finally said, ‘I’m going for it,” and she did.”

The No. 4-ranked Capriati’s resurgence from a once burnt out teen phenom who left the tour for nearly four year’s to hottest player of 2001 is a remarkable story.

“She has the confidence and will, the motivation and desire,” said Stephen of hsi older sister, who also won the ’01 Aussie Open. “She can beat anybody right now. If she can beat the best players on the biggest stage, she’s the best.”

Jennifer, who reached the semis here as 14-year-old, said that while she was growing up, she could never imagine holding up the trophy on Philippe Chatrier Court.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” she said. “I never thought Roland Garros. Maybe I thought this would be the hardest one or the last one for me to win. I was having chills up there thinking about it.”

Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters will unretired, again

Kim Clijsters
Photo: Mal Taam/MALTphoto

The 2019 US Open is over, it is done, until 2020, when Flushing Meadows opens up again.

Let’s start with the women, those who went deep, and those were the good players who lost, and who were very disappointed.

But first, the three-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters announced that she will return, on court, even though she is 36 years old. Of course, she loves to play, and that is why she will return in January. 

She retired seven years ago, she won two US Opens and the Australian Open. She has won so many events, “only” 41 titles. She won on different surfaces, but when she competed, she liked the hardcourts much better.

Clijsters was always very fast, side-to-side especially, her forehand and her backhand was hard and deep, and towards the end, she mixed it up better. She is bright, she can focus and she can really think, on court and off. She now has three children, and they are old enough to see her watch the match. 

But can Clijsters win another Grand Slam? Sure, she can, but it will be difficult, as the young players have become better, and they will take on anyone. They won’t be afraid. Just like the Belgian, when she start playing on the court, she will go for the lines and slide so close to the ground. And off the court, she will laugh, because when she started at the WTA 20 years ago, she would always smile. She will do it again.

We already covered Bianca Andreescu, who won the 2019 US Open title. She is just so powerful and thoughtful. As I said before, if she stays healthy, she will reach No. 1 early next year…

In the semis, she out-hit Belinda Bencic, which was a little bit surprising, because I always thought the Swiss would win the title. When she is feeling great, she can swing away, left and right, and she can be very patient. But she isn’t quite there yet. There are times when she gets frustrated, and she over-thinks. We will know next year, but as long she doesn’t get hurt, she will be right there again.

There are two players who have a chance to becoming No. 1, the No. 2 Karolina Pliskova and the No. 3 Elina Svitolina, but they have yet to win a Grand Slam yet. So many times, it looked like the huge-hitter Pliskova was going to grab it, and then she falls back. She can look fantastic at times, but at the majors, she checks out at some point. ..
 
Svitolina is younger than Pliskova, so perhaps next year the Ukranian will reach the final at a major. She reached the semis last week, and it looked like she was going to seriously push Serena Williams, but the American destroyed her. Yes, Williams can play terrific, and she did during the match, but Svitolina was very erratic. She has to keep her head up …

The former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki lost pretty early in the third round, losing to Andreescu. At the end of the tournament, then we knew that the Canadian is a darn good player, but if you look at this year, Wozniacki hasn’t won much. Clearly, she has been hurt over the past year, but before that, the 29-year-old played all the time. Every week, just abpuy. Eventually, her body begins to break down. How long will Wozniacki will continue to play, or retire? That is very hard to say. She just got married this season (to the former NBA basketball player, the American David Lee), so maybe she will want to have a child. She has always loved playing tennis. She is sort of the same with Clijsters: they both just want to crush the ball, as a winner, of course.

It should be mentioned that the No. 1 Ash Barty has had a fantastic year, and I would think that she could finish No. 1, in October, when it ends. Yes, she lost at the US Open, put she also won Roland Garros. That was gigantic, and be with her as the first important step in her career.

Serena Williams returns at Indian Williams: Yes, she won

 

Serena 2012 Aussie

INDIAN WELLS BNP Paribas Open, March 12: Serena Williams talked quite a bit on Thursday when she discussed why she has decided to come back to Indian Wells again. It has been a long, long time for Ms. Williams, almost 14 years ago, when she last play at 2001 Indian Wells and she won the tournament, beating Kim Clijsters in three sets.

In 2001, it was a tough week over the last four days and she was so upset that some of the crowds screamed at Serena, her sister Venus, and her father, Richard. Tennis-wise, during the hot sun, it was very unusual.

But ever though Serena wanted to get out of there, she still kept banging away. Clijsters wasn’t thrilled when some of the fans were yelling so loudly. Kim melted, Serena grabbed the trophy, and even though she was extremely upset, she smiled for a second. Winning matters a great deal, even though there weren’t enough fans cheering for her.

“I don’t remember,” Williams said. “I don’t really watch that match actually. Not a fun match to watch. But I don’t remember being ‑‑ having any emotions besides happiness. I remember sitting down and praying. I think I was losing actually in the first set and I said, ‘I don’t want to win this match. I just want to get through this moment.’ I don’t know what happened. I just won after that. It was really just a moment of just praying and just trying to get through the match. Not win the match, get through the match and got off the court pretty much.”

But this time, it’s 2015. In 2001, Serena had only won a single Slam then. Now she has grabbed 18 majors and when she actually retired she could be called the greatest ever. She has been spectacular. On Friday night, the new fans will stand up and cheer. Give her a bow.

**

So many coaches have moved on to new places. In Britain, Andy Murray will now work with Jonas Bjorkman, the former No. 4 who retired in 2008. The former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo is the main coach for Murray. While many of the top players now work with two coaches, but having two of the former top players at the same time? Extremely rare.

“[He’s] an exceptional tennis player who made the most out of his game who is an very nice person,” Murray said. “I know him very well from when he played. When I came on the tour when I was young, he was very good to me. He’s got a good resume as a player and a lot of the Swedes turn out to be pretty good coaches. I think they have a good mindset, a lot of them are very calm individuals but extremely hard workers – which I know he was as a player.”

But who is going to make the call, Bjorkman or Mauresmo? Are they the same person? Would they sit back, or move forward? Should he mix it up or just crush it down the line? Should he be allowed to become angry, or should he calm down?

No one knows the answer – yet.

**

The top seed would love to win Roland Garros some day. Novak Djokovic has tried winning it all on a number of occasions, but failed, against Rafael Nadal (six losses in Paris!). He has won the Australian Open five times, two Wimbledon and one US Open. But he was never been able to raise the trophy.

Djokovic is thinking more of winning the Indian Wells title again, but Paris is ringing in his ear.

“Generally, I know the highest priority is the French Open,” Djokovic said. ”It’s still too early to talk about it. The difference to those goals and approach is I won’t put too much pressure on myself. I don’t want to take away too much energy thinking about if I will make it or not.  The French Open of course is the Grand Slam I’ve never won, but I’ve had a lot of good tournaments there. I played a couple times the finals there, got a step closer, and I use the losses as a way to grow mentally, physically and emotionally as a player in general so I can understand what I need to do better.”

Here were the most surprising wins on Thursday:

Christina McHale d Petra Cetkovska 6-4 7-5 as the American has been hurt and really needed a win.  Lucie Hradecka d Jana Cepelova 6-3 6-1, as the Czech is serving huge this year. Polona Hercog, who was the top seed at the qualies, blasted Vera Zvonareva 6-1 6-1. Where is the former No.2 going?

The Canadian Vasek Pospisil d Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 4-2 while Kukushkin retired. Not surprised that he was exhausted about playing in the Davis Cup last weekend. Perhaps the same here? Albert Ramos d Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-4 6-4. Juan Monaco is finally playing well again, beats Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2 3-6 6-3. The best match was Ryan Harrison over Mardy Fish 6-4 4-6 7-6 (3). Good for both of them. But more tomorrow…

 

2001 Indian Wells: Serena Soars Amidst Scandal

Editor’s Note: For most observers in the world of tennis, the story of Serena Williams’ emotional rejection of the Indian Wells tournament is a faint and distant memory. However, our coverage of the last 14 years of pro tennis is unrivaled in the world of online news.

Matt Cronin of TennisReporters.net was there.

With the return of Serena Williams to Indian Wells, we are re-running Matt’s story written from the tournament that appeared on this site. Matt’s coverage of the event originally appeared in Inside Tennis. 

020415-TENNIS-Serena-Williams-Kim-Clijsters-SS-PI.vadapt.620.high_.0INDIAN WELLS — Meet cheerful and cheeky Serena Williams, four days into the Tennis Master Series Wells after a casual second-round victory where she wowed fans with blazing groundstrokes and her new hot pink dress. “Hot pink for a hot girl,” said Williams of her color of choice. “Attractive, a very attractive girl.”

Revisit Serena, 10 minutes after her sister, Venus, had caused the biggest hullabaloo the desert had seen since the discovery of the hot springs by pulling out of the sisters’ highly anticipated semi with a sore knee.

When informed that few people believed that Venus was too injured to play and that Elena Dementieva had stated the day before that it would be Richard’s decision as to who would win the sisters’ match, Serena wowed no one with her casual indignation and less than emphatic denials.

“People have freedom of speech,” she said. “They can say whatever they want. It’s going to happen. Obviously we’re sisters, we’re very close. People often speculate things like that. People are always just going to speculate things.”

God bless America, let the speculation ring.

Over the next few days, newspapers, wire services, TV, radio and the Internet were filled with more tennis-related stories than the sport has seen in a non-Grand Slam week during the Open era. Unfortunately, the stories were of the “Are the Williamses rigging matches?” veriety.

That Serena was able to fight off the most hostile crowd in California history and subdue hard-hitting Belgian Kim Clijsters 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 for the title is a minor miracle, if you consider that the debate that raged for four days over the Williams’ family affairs had ruinous implications for the sport. Serena and Venus rarely read the press and appear sheltered enough that they don’t yet comprehend what even the suspicion of matches being fixed can do to a sport — like the Black Sox scandal did to baseball.

If the Williamses did get this, then they might not have kept shrugging off questions for the two days leading up to the final and would have emphatically denied the accusations when they occurred. Instead, tennis was bloodied from the moment Dementieva let loose on Wednesday evening and didn’t come off the mat until Sunday morning, when the last newspaper hit the sidewalk with Serena’s denials. Without question, the Williamses are partly to blame for the scandal.

Who else is to blame? The players who speculated that the sisters’ matches have been fixed with no evidence save for how badly they usually play against each other. Senior Sanex WTA Tour officials, who ignored the significance of Dementieva’s comments until it was too late; and who have little or no personal connection to the Williams’ family despite the fact that the family has been on the tour for five years now. As a result, the situation got so out of control that the tour gave itself a gigantic black eye, one that may take years to repair. Why didn’t they act more quickly? Some claim that officials feel that any press is good press and that the players should be viewed more as entertainers than athletes — the integrity of the sport be dammed.
So why the meltdown here and why the first two weeks of March, rather than in some other month at some other tournament? Could it be because it was the emotionally volatile Richard who accompanied the girls to the desert, rather than their more mellow mother, Oracene, who is now separated from Richard?

Williams observers say that Venus and Serena are much more skittish when Pop is around and, given the numerous problems that have occurred between Richard and Oracene over the past six months, it’s no wonder that both Venus and Serena have played sparingly since last October. At Indian Wells, both the Williamses played reasonably well, but off court, they were as cagey and as defensive as they’ve been at any time during their careers.

Coming into Indian Wells, Serena had played in only three tournaments since being bounced out of the 2000 UAP C01 RICHARD 26 S TEN USA CA.S. Open quarters by Lindsay Davenport. She won Tokyo at the end of September, but took time off to go to school and suffered a stress fracture in her foot. She didn’t reappear on tour until early January in Sydney, where she lost to Martina Hingis in straight sets. At the Australian Open, Hingis took her down again, this time in three marathon sets.
Serena, who ended last year ranked No. 6 but failed to win a Slam title, wouldn’t let on to what her goals are this year.

“My dad and I already went over my goals and that’s where I’m really going to work harder,” said Serena, who crushed defending champion Davenport in the quarters. “My goal this year is to reach my goals…. But I like to keep them to myself so I don’t put too much pressure on myself or other people.”

Venus, who dominated the tour for five months last year, has yet to win an event this year and is playing nowhere near up to her capabilities. Yet in the quarters she slugged tough-talking Dementieva into the pavement in a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

That’s when the trouble began — KGB style.

When asked what the outcome of the semi between Venus and Serena would be, Dementieva said, “I don’t know what Richard thinks about it,” Dementieva said. “He’ll decide who’s going to win tomorrow.” Dementieva said she suspected foul play when she watched the sisters’ ‘99 Lipton final, which Venus won 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. “I remember when they played,” said Dementieva. “If you saw the match, it was so funny.”

The sisters have played five times, with Venus owning a 4-1 edge. Serena’s won once — in a fairly inconsequential ’99 Grand Slam Cup final.
This wasn’t the first time that players have questioned whether the outcome of the Williams matches are decided by Richard. Hingis has repeatedly said that the outcome of their matches is a “family affair.”

At 2000 Wimbledon, Serena came into their semi red hot, losing only 13 games in five matches and was favored by many to win it. But Serena fell apart and Venus won 6-2, 7-6(3). “I thought Venus was going to win,” Davenport said in the desert. “I just thought that Serena had won a Grand Slam title, whether it was on purpose or subconsciously or whatever, Venus was going to win the match. That was my opinion.”

The Williams family chose not to respond to Dementieva’s comments during the day on Thursday and it wasn’t until after Venus’ withdrawal four minutes before her semi against Serena that they discussed it. But now the situation had been compounded, because most observers believed that Venus should have at least tried to play, despite patellar tendonitis in her right knee. WTA Primary Health Care Provider Michelle Gebrian did back up Venus’ claim, saying that Venus was unable to pass basic functional testing.

Pete Sampras rolled his eyes when questioned about Venus’ knee. “I guess it flared up, the tendonitis,” Sampras said, adding that he would have played if he had a similar problem. “Yeah,” he said. “There’s always something you’re feeling. Every morning you wake up, it’s a little stiff here, your arm is sore from serving. I don’t think any player on tour really walks out there feeling great.”

Because the match was canceled until most people had already taken their seats, fans reacted in anger, raining a loud chorus on to the court when it was announced that Venus was pulling out. A handful of fans went to ticket windows and demanded their money back. “I did everything I could do to be able to play tonight,” said Venus.

When asked about her peers’ suspicions, Serena said,
“We always go out to compete and that’s how it’s been,” said Serena. “I think if my dad would decide, then maybe Venus wouldn’t be up 4-1 [in their matches], maybe it would be 3-3 by now. So I don’t think so.”

Venus added, “It’s not a true opinion at all. Everyone makes their own comments. That’s how rumors get started. I guess rumors are more exciting than the truth.”

But neither Williams yelled, “No,” at the top of their lungs, even when they were specifically asked to do so.

The next day, the National Enquirer published a cover story that alleged that Richard had rigged their 2000 Wimbledon match. When approached by IT the day before the final, Richard said, “I don’t want to open my mouth anymore. Every time I do, all that’s printed is lies. I’m scared. I’ll never talk again. It’s all lies. I don’t speak English anymore.”

At the final, Serena faced Kim Clijsters. First the crowd raged at Serena when she walked on court, then booed and hissed at Richard and Venus Williams as they walked down the stair to the Friends Box. The crowd continued to hoot and holler with a vein-popping intensity throughout Serena’s three-set win.

So it wasn’t until after Serena’s ragged victory over Clijsters in the final that the issue was somewhat sorted out. But not before Serena was subjected a two-hour symphony of booing. Serena felt hurt. “I wasn’t happy,” said Serena, who nervously went down 3-0 in the first set. “I won here before. I don’t think I was mentally ready for that. But eventually you get over it and start playing.”

In her acceptance speech, Serena told the crowd, “You guys were a little tough on me today. I want to thank everybody who supported and everyone who didn’t. I love you anyway.”

For the past 18 months, Serena hadn’t shown the mental fortitude that she displayed in winning the ‘99 U.S. Open, frequently skipping tournaments and folding in big matches. But in the desert, she dug within herself and rediscovered the it’s-me-against-the-world mental toughness that made her the Queen of New York.

“I won a big battle today mentally, more than anything,” Serena said.

Serena then (finally) took the Enquirer’s Wimbledon claim head on.

“C’mon, it the National Enquirer,” Serena said. “Next thing you know, I’m going to be pregnant by some Martian. It’s just not true. It’s really kind of hurtful because it’s just lies, just scandalous lies…..Besides, I was really trying to make the singles competition in the Olympics, so I was really disappointed about that. I didn’t make the singles when I lost. That was heartbreaking for me.”

Robson Destined for Greatness

robson_laura_

Now that Murray is at the top of his game, debate swirls around Robson’s future.

Britain has a tendency to overhype their young players to the point where they can seemingly do no right in their bid to live up to expectations – only Andy Murray has bucked that trend in the last two decades.

However, in Laura Robson, could the expectant Brits have another Grand Slam champion in the making? Or is she destined to be the next Annabel Croft, more well known for her television exploits than tennis ones?

The debate about Robson has been raging on the betfair.com forums since she won the Wimbledon girls’ event at the age of 14, the British media describing her as the “new darling of British tennis” following her success at SW19. Since then there has been plenty of pressure placed upon Robson’s shoulders to fly the Union Jack flag for Britain in the women’s game.

After an understandably slow start given her age, Robson showed glimpses of what she is capable of in the latter part of 2012, picking up a silver medal in the mixed doubles at the Olympic Games with partner, Murray. That was followed by a run to the fourth round of the US Open, which included victories over Kim Clijsters and perennial favourite in the Betfair odds, Li Na.

Since then, Robson has made steady progress up the rankings ladder and returns to Flushing Meadows this year as a seed for the first time in her career. While a wrist injury sustained in Toronto hindered her build-up to the US Open, Robson was able to blow away the cobwebs with a straight sets win over Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the first round.

The teenager’s powerful groundstrokes and ability to cover the court have made her a force to be reckoned with on Tour. Robson looks to have all the makings of a Grand Slam winner, especially considering she will be hitting her peak after Serena Williams has called it a day.

However, while the Brit has the potential to be a superstar, she still needs time and fans and Betfair pundits will have to be patient with her. While a major title isn’t just around the corner, the signs all point to her having “Grand Slam winner” under her name when she does make the move to TV punditry, rather than the more common “former British number 1”.


The views expressed here are by Betfair.com and do not represent those of TennisReporters.net.

Let me tell you, tough as nails

Kim has been saddled with injuries but is still a threat

WIMBLEDON – Kim Clijsters will retire after the US Open, and has three more big events ahead of her to reestablish her Hall of Fame form: Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open. Some see this tournament as the start of a retirement ceremony for Clijsters, but I don

Milos to take measure of Murray in Miami

Milos will take on Murray

Andy Murray does not need to win Miami to regain the huge amount of confidence he gained from terrific play at the Australian Open and at Dubai, but after his early exit at Indian Wells, he does need to go fairly deep and that means finding a way to fend off Milos Raonic, who is going to come at him hard and often.

Raonic has yet to reach the quarters of Masters Series, and the time has come for him to make a big push at the top 10. He

12 New Year’s Wishes for 2012

 

 

Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIIroy wish you a New year from Thailand.

No. 1 : That Kim Clijsters and Serena play each other in at least four big matches before the Belgian retires.

No. 2: That Andy Murray plays as well as he’s capable of against a Big 3 member in a Grand Slam final so we can see if that level is good enough to win a major.

No 3: That Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic return to their 2008 levels and consistently push Generation Caro to show how good they really are,

No. 4: That Juan Martin Del Potro returns to his 2009 level so the ATP has potential Big 5 & that the promising youngsters (i.e. Tomic, Raonic, Harrison and Dmitrov) show the elite they can really play with them

No. 5: That Kvitova, Wozniacki, Azarenka, Radwanska et al develop intense rivalries that we’ll still be taking about 5 years from now.

No. 6: That the Big 3 of Djokovic, Nadal & Federer stay healthy all year and play each other on every surface & at least 5 times each.

No. 7: That both tours focus less on branding and more on how the sport is played. After all, tennis is a sport played on a court

No. 8: That Aussie, French & British players have huge impacts at their home Slams — its been a long time coming.

No. 9: That deserving WTA players like Radwanska, Pennetta, Petkovic, Pennetta & Peng reach at least onne Slam quarter so they can make strong go at their first final fours.

No. 10: That American veterans Roddick, Fish, Blake & Ginepri stay healthy enough so they can have major impact at least one more Slam again.

No.11: That all players would actually use social media as a way to interact with fans and not as a substitute texting service

Wish 12 for 2012: 24 highly dramatic, very well played Grand Slam semifinals and finals making 2012 the best year in tennis history!

WTA 2011Review, No

Kim played brilliantly Down Under, but then the injury bug bit her again.

 

In some ways, this list is more intriguing than the top 10, because it contains four Grand Slams winners, as well as three ex number ones, and three up and comers. All 10 are capable of finishing 2012 ranked in the top 10, but at least four of the veterans could slide out of the top 20. A couple of the younger players may have peaked, too.

11. FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE: As Pennetta said, when Francesca is motivated, she

Dog day late afternoons

Maria and Caro did not have the seasons they wished for.

So Caroline Wozniacki will end the year ranked No. 1 again, possibly a position she doesn