Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Caroline Wozniacki Is Ranked World No. 1 on the WTA and World No. 2 & 3 Player Contribution

Caroline Wozniacki-Vera Zvonareva-Kim Clijsters Playing Style and Their Historical Achievement-


Caroline Wozniacki
US Open 2009 4th round 154.jpg
Country  Denmark
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth 11 July 1990 (age 20)(1990-07-11)
Place of birth Odense, Denmark
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 12 in)
Weight 58 kg (128 lb; 9 st 2 lb)
Turned pro 18 July 2005
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money US$ 7,696,846
Singles
Career record 232–88
Career titles 12 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking No. 1 (11 October 2010)
Current ranking No. 1 (15 November 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 4R (2008, 2010)
French Open QF (2010)
Wimbledon 4R (2009, 2010)
US Open F (2009)
Other tournaments
Championships F (2010)
Olympic Games 3R (2008)
Doubles
Career record 30–43
Career titles 2 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking No. 52 (14 September 2009)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2008)
French Open 2R (2010)
Wimbledon 2R (2009)
US Open 3R (2009)

Caroline Wozniacki (born 11 July 1990) is a Danish tennis player. As of 11 October 2010, she is ranked World No. 1 on the WTA Tour and will finish 2010 as World No. 1. She has won twelve WTA singles titles and was the runner-up at the 2009 US Open and the 2010 WTA Tour Championships. (2010 -10-11)

Career-

 2005:

Wozniacki won several junior tournaments in 2005, including the Orange Bowl tennis championship. She made her debut on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour at Cincinnati's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open on 19 July 2005, losing to the top-seeded and later champion Patty Schnyder in the first round. In the Nordea Nordic Light Open, her other WTA tournament of the year, she lost to Martina Suchá in the first round.

 2006:

In 2006, she was the first seed at the Australian Open (junior girls' singles), but lost the final to eighth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. She was seeded second with Anna Tatishvili in the doubles tournament, but the pair was knocked out in the semifinals by the French-Italian pair of Alizé Cornet and Corinna Dentoni, who were seeded eighth.

In February in Memphis, she reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal, beating Kristina Brandi and Ashley Harkleroad in the first two rounds before losing to third-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden.


Wozniacki during the Junior Wimbledon final 

Before Wimbledon, Wozniacki won the exhibition tournament Liverpool International Tennis Tournament beating Ashley Harkleroad in the finals.
Later that year, she was given a wildcard to the Wimbledon senior qualifying tournament, where she was beaten in the first qualifying round by Miho Saeki. However, Wozniacki went on to win the girls' singles tournament, beating Slovak Magdaléna Rybáriková in the finals.

In August, she reached another WTA Tour quarter-final, this time at the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Stockholm. She defeated top 100 players Iveta Benešová and Eleni Daniilidou before falling to eventual champion and third-seeded Jie Zheng.

Wozniacki was seeded second in Girls' Singles in the year's last major tournament, the US Open. In the first round on 3 September she won the first set against Russian Alexandra Panova, but was disqualified in the second set for verbally abusing an umpire. Wozniacki was said to have used an expletive in referring to a linesman who made a disputed call; however, on her blog, she claimed to say "take your sunglasses of [sic]" and to be mistaken for talking to the linesman when she was criticizing herself after the next point.

In her last junior tournament, the Osaka Mayor's Cup, she won the girls' singles and doubles.
Her first senior title came shortly after on 29 October, when she won the $25,000 ITF-tournament in Istanbul by beating Tatjana Malek in the final.

Wozniacki was set to face Venus Williams on 27 November in an exhibition match in Copenhagen, but five days before the event, Williams canceled because of an injury. The two did, however, face each other in the Memphis WTA Tier III event on 20 February. Williams beat Wozniacki, ending the nine-match winning streak Wozniacki had at the time.
On 30 November, Wozniacki was named ambassador for Danish Junior Tennis by the Culture Minister of Denmark at the time, Brian Mikkelsen.

 2007:

In early January she played the Hong Kong exhibition tournament Watsons Water Champions Challenge.

On 4 February, she won the singles title in Ortisei, Italy, at an ITF $75,000 tournament, beating the Italian player Alberta Brianti 4–6, 7–5, 6–3. On 4 March, she won the $75,000 ITF tournament in Las Vegas, beating top-seed Akiko Morigami in the final 6–3, 6–2.

She obtained a wild card for the Pacific Life Open main draw and made her Tier I-debut there. She was knocked out in the second round by Martina Hingis 6–1, 6–3. The two faced each other again on 27 April in Copenhagen for an exhibition match, where Wozniacki again lost 7–6(7), 3–6, 6–2.
She then made the semifinals of the AIG Open in Tokyo in October, her first career WTA semifinal and also the first Danish woman to reach a WTA semifinal since Tine Scheuer-Larsen in 1986 at Bregenz. Wozniacki lost to Venus Williams 6–3, 7–5.

 2008:


At 2008 US Open
At the Australian Open, she defeated Gisela Dulko, 21st seed Alyona Bondarenko on her way to the Round of 16 where she lost to the eventual finalist and fourth-seeded Ana Ivanović.

At the French Open, she was seeded thirtieth, making this the first Grand Slam tournament in which Wozniacki was seeded. She lost in the third round to the eventual champion and World No. 2 Ana Ivanović.

At Wimbledon, she reached the third round but lost to second-seeded Jelena Janković.

Wozniacki won her first ever WTA Tour title at the Nordic Light Open in Stockholm without losing a single set, defeating Vera Dushevina 6–0, 6–2 in the final. She had previously beaten the no. 5 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the quarterfinals and the top seed and World No. 10, Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals.

At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, she beat World No. 12 Daniela Hantuchová in the second round before falling to the eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva. Wozniacki then won her second WTA Tour title at the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, defeating four seeded players in Dominika Cibulková, Marion Bartoli and Alizé Cornet en route to the final, where she defeated World No. 11 Anna Chakvetadze.

She was 21st seed at the US Open, and defeated World No. 14 Victoria Azarenka in the third round. In the fourth round, she lost to second-seeded and eventual runner-up Jelena Janković.

At the China Open, she lost her opening match to Anabel Medina Garrigues. However, she teamed up with Medina Garrigues to clinch the doubles title, defeating the Chinese duo of Han Xinyun and Xu Yi-Fan. It was Wozniacki's first WTA doubles title. At the Tier III AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, she was the top seed for the first time on the WTA Tour, and won her third career title, defeating Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the final.

Wozniacki then took part in an ITF tournament in her hometown Odense. She won the tournament there beating World No. 64 Sofia Arvidsson in the final.

Her final win–loss record for the year (ITF matches included, exhibition matches not included) was 58–20 in singles and 8–9 in doubles. She ended the year ranked 12th in singles and 79th in doubles. She finished thirteenth in the race for the Sony Ericsson Championships. She also won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award for 2008.

Singles-

 World No. 1 ranked players-

The source for the following table through week of January 4, 2010, is the 2010 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Official Guide, page 141.
Key-
* Current number 1 player as of November 1, 2010
#↓ Country↓ Player↓ Start date↓ End date↓ Number of weeks↓ Accumulated total↓

 FRA Amélie Mauresmo Sep 13, 2004                         Oct 17, 2004               5          5

 USA Lindsay Davenport (6) Oct 18, 2004                         Aug 21, 2005             44         82
 RUS Maria Sharapova Aug 22, 2005                         Aug 28, 2005               1          1

 USA Lindsay Davenport (7) Aug 29, 2005                         Sep 11, 2005                2         84

 RUS Maria Sharapova (2) Sep 12, 2005                            Oct 23, 2005                6           7

 USA Lindsay Davenport (8) Oct 24, 2005                         Jan 29, 2006              14         98

 BEL Kim Clijsters (3) Jan 30, 2006                        Mar 19, 2006                7         19

 FRA Amélie Mauresmo (2) Mar 20, 2006                        Nov 12, 2006              34         39

 BEL Justine Henin (3) Nov 13, 2006                         Jan 28, 2007               11         56

 RUS Maria Sharapova (3) Jan 29, 2007                        Mar 18, 2007                 7         14

 BEL Justine Henin (4) Mar 19, 2007                        May 18, 2008               61       117

 RUS Maria Sharapova (4) May 19, 2008                          June 8, 2008                 3         17
 SRB Ana Ivanović Jun 9, 2008                         Aug 10, 2008                 9           9
4    SRB Jelena Janković Aug 11, 2008                         Aug 17, 2008                 1           1

 SRB Ana Ivanović (2) Aug 18, 2008                           Sep 7, 2008                 3          12

 USA Serena Williams (2) Sep 8, 2008                           Oct 5, 2008                 4          61

 SRB Jelena Janković (2) Oct 6, 2008                           Feb 1, 2009                17          18

 USA Serena Williams (3) Feb 2, 2009                         Apr 19, 2009                11          72
5    RUS Dinara Safina Apr 20, 2009                         Oct 11, 2009                25          25

 USA Serena Williams (4) Oct 12, 2009                         Oct 25, 2009                  2          74

 RUS Dinara Safina (2) Oct 26, 2009                          Nov 1, 2009                   1          26

 USA Serena Williams (5) Nov 2, 2009                         Oct 10, 2010                 49         123
 DEN Caroline Wozniacki* Oct 11, 2010        At least until Jan 9, 2011                 13           13

Year end No. 1 players-

The source for these tables through 2009 is the 2010 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Official Guide, page 148.
Country Player No. of Times
Germany GER Steffi Graf 8
Czechoslovakia TCH/United States USA Martina Navratilova 7
United States USA Chris Evert 5
United States USA Lindsay Davenport 4
Belgium BEL Justine Henin 3
Switzerland SUI Martina Hingis
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia YUG/United States USA Monica Seles
United States USA Serena Williams 2
Serbia SRB Jelena Janković 1
Denmark DEN Caroline Wozniacki

Players who were ranked World No. 1 without having won a Grand Slam tournament-

Player Date of first No. 1 position First Grand Slam final reached First Grand Slam title
Belgium Kim Clijsters August 11, 2003 2001 French Open (June, 2001) 2005 US Open
France Amélie Mauresmo September 13, 2004 1999 Australian Open (January, 1999) 2006 Australian Open
Serbia Jelena Janković August 11, 2008 2008 US Open (September, 2008) N/A
Russia Dinara Safina April 20, 2009 2008 French Open (June, 2008) N/A
Denmark Caroline Wozniacki October 11, 2010 2009 US Open (September, 2009) N/A

Jelena Janković is the only player in tennis history to have reached the top of the WTA rankings without having made a grand slam singles final.


2010:

Wozniacki started the 2010 season playing at an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong where she lost two singles matches for Team Europe but won two mixed doubles with Stefan Edberg. In her first WTA tournament of the year, Wozniacki suffered an opening round loss to Li Na of China in Sydney. She was seeded 4th at the Australian Open, her first top-eight seed in a Grand Slam. She again fell to Na, this time in the fourth round, in straight sets. Despite her 4th round exit, Wozniacki achieved her career high ranking of No.3.

As the 2nd seed at Indian Wells, Wozniacki reached the final, despite dropping a set to three players en route. She was defeated by Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–4. With the result, she again achieved a new career high rank of World No. 2. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Wozniacki lost in the quarterfinals to the newly returned Justine Henin 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–4.

Her next tournament was at Ponte Vedra Beach, where she defeated Olga Govortsova 6–2, 7–5 in the final. Wozniacki then competed at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. She advanced to the semifinals, where she met Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki was forced to retire down 5–2 after she rolled her ankle chasing down a short ball at 4–2. The injury was cited as serious.

Despite her ongoing ankle injury, she continued to compete in tournaments through the clay court season, suffering early losses in Stuttgart, Rome and Madrid. She then reached the quarterfinals in Warsaw but retired there after losing the first set. Despite her poor clay court season, Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the French Open. She posted her best result at Roland Garros by advancing to the fourth round, without having dropped a set. There, it took almost three hours for Wozniacki to defeat Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7–6(5), (4)6–7, 6–2. In the quarterfinals she lost to Francesca Schiavone, the eventual champion, 6–3, 6–2. Wozniacki partnered Daniela Hantuchová in doubles, but they withdrew before their second round match with the Williams sisters due to a right shoulder injury to Hantuchová.

As the defending champion, Wozniacki lost early at the AEGON International, her first grass court tournament of the year. Wozniacki was seeded 3rd at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Tathiana Garbin, Chang Kai-chen and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to the fourth round, where she was crushed by Petra Kvitová 6–2, 6–0.

Wozniacki was the number 1 seed at the 2010 e-Boks Danish Open. It was the first Danish WTA tournament and was created largely because of Wozniacki's popularity in Denmark. She reached the final where she defeated Klara Zakopalova to win her second title of the year.

In Cincinnati, she lost in the third round to Marion Bartoli 6–4, 6–1. As the number 2 seed in Montreal, Wozniacki was forced to wait two days to play her semifinal match with Svetlana Kuznetsova because of heavy rain. She defeated Kuznetova and Vera Zvonareva back-to-back for her third singles title of the year. As the top seed at New Haven, Wozniacki defeated Nadia Petrova 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final for her third consecutive title there. By virtue of this, she also won the 2010 US Open Series.


Wozniacki in the 2010 US Open
Wozniacki was the top seed at the US Open, due to the withdrawal of World No. 1 Serena Williams. She cruised through to the fourth round with the loss of just 3 games. There, she defeated the 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova 6–3, 6–4. She then defeated unseeded Dominika Cibulková 6–2, 7–5 in the quarterfinals but was upset by Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals by a score of 6–4, 6–3. With her semifinal appearance, Wozniacki became only one of two women (the other being Venus Williams) to have reached at least the fourth round of all 4 Grand Slam events in 2010.

Wozniacki's first tournament during the Asian hardcourt season was the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She won back to back three setters against Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, the latter of which she beat 1–6, 6–2, 6–3 to win her fifth title of the year.

She then entered the China Open in Beijing, where after a first round bye, she defeated Sara Errani 6–4, 6–2. In the third round, Wozniacki faced Petra Kvitova who had heavily defeated her at Wimbledon. Avenging the loss, Wozniacki won the match 6–3, 6–2, ensuring she would replace Serena Williams as the new World No. 1 after the tournament. She was the fifth player to reach the number 1 position without having won a Grand Slam tournament. She also became the first Danish woman or man to reach the top ranking. In the quarterfinals, she defeated resurgent former World No. 1 Ana Ivanović 7–6(1), 6–4. This was Wozniacki's first win over the Serbian. She then defeated Shahar Pe'er in the semifinal by a score of 7–5, 6–2 and Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final to win her sixth title of the year and twelfth overall.

At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Wozniacki was in a group with Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur and Elena Dementieva. She defeated Dementieva 6–1, 6–1 in her first round robin game, but lost 6–4, 6–3 to Stosur in the second. She won her last match in the group against Schiavone 3–6, 6–1, 6–1; securing the year-end World No. 1 rank, and a place in the semifinals against the winner of the other group, Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki won 7–5, 6–0. In the final she lost 3–6, 7–5, 3–6 to Kim Clijsters. Wozniacki ended the season with six WTA singles titles, the most on the tour. Clijsters won five and nobody else won more than two.

 Personal life-

Wozniacki is the daughter of Polish immigrants, Piotr and Anna Wozniacki. Her mother having played on the Polish women's national volleyball team, and her father played professional football. The couple moved to Denmark when Piotr signed for the Danish football club Boldklubben 1909. Wozniacki's older brother Patrik is a professional footballer for Brønshøj BK in Denmark.

Wozniacki supports Liverpool and the club's Spanish striker Fernando Torres. Her best friend is her fellow Danish tennis player Malou Ejdesgaard, her doubles partner in some WTA tournaments. They are trying to gain entry to the 2012 Summer Olympics in doubles.

When asked in 2008 by Teen Vogue magazine what sports beside tennis she liked to play, Wozniacki said "I like handball, soccer, swimming, playing the piano, and all kinds of different things."

On 20 December 2010, she signed a three-year deal to endorse Turkish Airlines' business class service.

 Career statistics-

 Singles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome↓ Year↓ Championship↓ Surface↓ Opponent in the final↓ Score in the final↓
Runner-up 2009 US Open Hard Belgium Kim Clijsters 7–5, 6–3

 Singles performance timeline-

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Career SR Career
Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A 4R 3R 4R 0 / 3 8–3
French Open A A 1R 3R 3R QF 0 / 4 8–4
Wimbledon A LQ 2R 3R 4R 4R 0 / 5 9–5
US Open A A 2R 4R F SF 0 / 4 15–4
SR 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 16 N/A
Win-Loss 0–0 0–1 2–3 10–4 13–4 15–4 N/A 40–16

 Awards-





2006:
  • Junior No. 2 In The World
  • Junior Girls Wimbledon Singles Title
  • Junior Girls Australian Open Runner-Up
  • Junior Girls Roland Garros Doubles Runner-Up (w/A.Radwanska)
2008:
  • WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year
2010:
  • ITF Women's Singles World Champion
  • Year end No. 1
  • WTA Tour Championships Race winner
  • US Open Series winner
World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki arrived in Hua Hin yesterday and is ready for her exhibition match with US Open champion Kim Clijsters on New Year's Day.



Caroline Wozniacki, left, arrives at Suvarnabhumi Aiport with her father Victor and mother Anna. The world’s No 1 tennis player will face Kim Clijsters in an exhibition match in Hua Hin on New Year’s Day. 

TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD-

Wozniacki arrived in Bangkok with her father Victor and mother Anna and then went straight to Hua Hin.
They were greeted at Suvarnabhumi Airport by Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand secretary-general Sarn Rangkasiri and deputy LTAT president Chartchai Phukyaporn.

Denmark's Wozniacki will play Clijsters of Belgium in an exhibition match in honour of His Majesty the King at Hua Hin's Centennial Park on Saturday.


Australian Open 2011 Preview - Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki on top:

Roger Federer and Vera Zvonareva will be the second seeds while Kim Clijsters will be third seed in the women's draw.
The 2011 Australian Open will be starting in just over a month as the short ATP and WTA off-seasons are about half over.

The Aussie will be the first Grand Slam of the 2011 calendar year and it will come from Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia between January 17th and January 30th. The current champions for the event are Roger Federer, who beat Andy Murray in the 2010 final, and Serena Williams, who bested Justine Henin in the 2010 women's championship match.

Federer is fully expected to be back in the draw this upcoming January but Serena Williams will be a no-show as the former American number 1 continues to have problems with her foot injury. With 2000 ranking points going undefended for Williams, she looks as though she may be dropping out of the top 10 when the rankings are updated post-Melbourne.

Some seeds are already known for the upcoming Grand Slam event. 

Vera Zvonareva-

Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva at the 2010 US Open 01.jpg
at the 2010 US Open
Country  Russia
Residence Moscow, Russia
Date of birth September 7, 1984 (age 26)(1984-09-07)
Place of birth Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 12 in)
Weight 59.1 kg (130 lb; 9.31 st)
Turned pro September 2000
Plays Right-handed
(two-handed backhand)
Career prize money 10,093,530
Singles
Career record 361–174
Career titles 10 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking No. 2 (October 25, 2010)
Current ranking No. 2 (November 29, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open SF (2009)
French Open QF (2003)
Wimbledon F (2010)
US Open F (2010)
Other tournaments
Championships F (2008)
Olympic Games Bronze medal.svg Bronze medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record 138–91
Career titles 5 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking No. 9 (August 8, 2005)
Current ranking No. 33 (November 8, 2010)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open SF (2005)
French Open QF (2006)
Wimbledon F (2010)
US Open W (2006)
Mixed Doubles
Career record -
Career titles 2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon W (2006)
US Open W (2004)
Last updated on: November 8, 2010.
Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Bronze 2008 Beijing Singles

Vera Igorevna Zvonareva (Russian: Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, pronounced [ˈvʲɛrə zvənɐˈrʲɔvə] born September 7, 1984) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. She has reached a career high and current ranking of World No. 2. Zvonareva has won ten WTA Tour singles titles and reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships and 2010 US Open. She also was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

2009:


Vera Zvonareva at the 2009 US Open.
Zvonareva was the seventh-seeded player at the Australian Open. She defeated tenth-seeded Nadia PetrovaMarion Bartoli in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–0. She then lost to World No. 3 Dinara Safina in the semifinals 6–3, 7–6. This tournament, however, caused Zvonareva's ranking to rise to World No. 5, the highest of her career. in the fourth round 7–5, 6–4 and sixteenth-seeded

In February, she won the Pattaya Women's Open, an International Event in Thailand, where she defeated Sania Mirza in the final. She also played the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Premier 5 Event, where she defeated Marion Bartoli in the third round before losing to Virginie Razzano in the quarterfinals 7–6(7), 7–5.

In March, Zvonareva was the fourth seed at the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. She won the title, overcoming Santa Ana winds and defending champion Ana Ivanović in the final. In the doubles final, she and Victoria Azarenka beat fellow unseeded tandem Gisela Dulko and Shahar Pe'er.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, the second Premier Mandatory event of the year, Zvonareva beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy in the second round before being upset in the third round by Li Na of China 6–4, 3–6, 6–2. Zvonereva had beaten Li the previous week in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.

2011:

Zvonareva will be seeded No.2 at the 2011 Australian Open. She is contemplating whether or not to continue playing Doubles as she has felt after her two recent Grand slam losses, she feels she has not had enough energy to play to her full potential in these matches and this may be due to doubles play making it unable for her to fully apply herself.

 Playing style-

Zvonareva is a baseline counterpuncher with good offensive capabilities. She is known for her fitness and speed, owing to her excellent lateral movement, and can therefore outrun many opponents during rallies. Her groundstrokes are powerful and are usually hit very flat, with minimal topspin, though she herself admits that she can adjust her style of play to the court conditions when needed. This was proven when Zvonareva won the Indian Wells tournament in 2009 against Ana Ivanović despite the windy conditions. Her best shot is her two-handed backhand. Zvonareva's primary weakness is her mental fragility, which costs her matches when she self-destructs. Many tennis analysts, including Lindsay Davenport and Pam Shriver, have noted that Zvonareva has matured mentally and is able to keep control of her emotions for the duration of a match, evidenced by her runs to the 2010 Wimbledon and 2010 US Open finals.

She is currently coached by former player and model Sergey Demekhin since April of 2010. Her doctor is Alexander Bogdanov and Fitness trainer is Sergey Homutov.

Kim Clijsters-

Kim Clijsters
US Open Tennis 2010 1st Round 192.jpg
Country  Belgium
Residence Bree, Belgium
Date of birth 8 June 1983 (age 27)(1983-06-08)
Place of birth Bilzen, Belgium
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 12 in)
Weight 68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Turned pro 17 August 1997
Retired 6 May 2007
Returned 11 August 2009
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money US$21,431,916 (6th in overall rankings)
Singles
Career record 476–113 (80.8%)
Career titles 40 WTA (13th in overall rankings)
3 ITF
Highest ranking No. 1 (11 August 2003)
Current ranking No. 3 (1 November 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open F (2004)
French Open F (2001, 2003)
Wimbledon SF (2003, 2006)
US Open W (2005, 2009, 2010)
Other tournaments
Championships W (2002, 2003, 2010)
Doubles
Career record 131–54
Career titles 11 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking No. 1 (4 August 2003)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open QF (2003)
French Open W (2003)
Wimbledon W (2003)
US Open QF (2002)

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (Dutch pronunciation: [kɪm ˈklɛistərs] born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of 6 December 2010, Clijsters is ranked World No. 3.

Clijsters has won 40 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles at the US Open in 2005, 2009 and 2010. She has also won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.

 2011:

Clijsters started 2011 on new years day in a rematch of the WTA Tour Championship final against Caroline Wozniacki at the Hua Hin Centennial Invitation in Thailand. Clijsters’ first competitive tournament was the Medibank International Sydney.

Major finals-

 Grand Slam finals-

 Singles: 7 finals (3 titles, 4 runner-ups):

Outcome↓ Year↓ Championship↓ Surface↓ Opponent in the final↓ Score in the final↓
Runner-up 2001 French Open Clay United States Jennifer Capriati 1–6, 6–4, 12–10
Runner-up 2003 French Open (2) Clay Belgium Justine Henin 6–0, 6–4
Runner-up 2003 US Open Hard Belgium Justine Henin 7–5, 6–1
Runner-up 2004 Australian Open Hard Belgium Justine Henin 6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Winner 2005 US Open Hard France Mary Pierce 6–3, 6–1
Winner 2009 US Open (2) Hard Denmark Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3
Winner 2010 US Open (3) Hard Russia Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–1

Playing style-

Clijsters is recognized for her deep, powerful, well-placed groundstrokes. She is capable of hitting outright winners off both wings and from any part of the court, but particularly off her forehand which is one of the best and most powerfull of all time in the women's game. However she is sometimes erratic off her forehand and is capable of hitting far too many unforced errors wheras her backhand is more of a reliable and consistent shot and which she can also hit with heavy slice as a defensive shot. Clijsters is also recognised for her all courtwide defense, characterized by speed and athleticism. Clijsters, along with Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova is among the few tennis players on either the Association of Tennis Professionals or Women's Tennis Association tours who can slide (known as the straddle) on all surfaces. After being defeated by Clijsters in the 2005 Nasdaq-100 Open, Maria Sharapova implied that Clijsters' strength lies in how she always forces her opponent to hit an extra shot, that "you just have to expect that she's going to get every ball back". 

Her first serve, while not overwhelmingly powerful, is placed well and earns aces and unreturnables. Clijsters tends to rush between first and second serves, which may contribute to her occasional matches with high numbers of double faults. Having been a World No. 1 player in doubles, Clijsters volleys are considered exceptional and she has no problem in transitioning from being a baseline striker to finishing points at the net with a volley or over-head. Her mental fragility was considered her biggest weakness, and at the earlier stages of her career she was considered a "choker", often surrendering big leads in the latter rounds of Grand Slams. Since winning the 2005 US Open, Clijsters has gained more control over her nerves and since her return to the tour in 2009 she has been known along with Serena Williams as being the toughest players to beat mentally and Clijsters is now seen as a player who is capable of rising to the occasion and playing her best tennis at the important stages of matches. Clijsters is also considered to be one of the most popular players on the tour, known for her grace on the court and even temper. She has been voted the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award by her fellow players seven times in her career and the WTA Player Service Award three times.





From Wikipedia-

No comments:

Post a Comment