Serena and Venus Williams
"Queens Supreme or Drama Divas?"
-Serena had quite the 2009 U.S. Open as anyone who reads this surely remembers. After verbally abusing a linesman Johnny Mac style, with an additional threat of a choke slam, Serena was wildly defaulted from the semis of the U.S. Open against Clijsters (a match which Clijsters would have won in her own right, even without a default) Yet, even in the midst of a major distraction, Serena won the 2009 championships with hardly a fight, facing, *sigh* AGAIN her sister Venus. Seriously, as riveting as the Serena-Venus matchups have been recently, I think tennis fans have been bored to tears by seeing Serena and Venus once again dominate the tour, with no one coming close to beating them. At least in the Men's game, you have the belief that a Roddick, Murray, Djokovic, or Del po could ruin the day. Not for the women in '09. Serena and Venus step into the ring and there's almost a feel if immediate intimidation. Serena is the women's game's best fighter, and will hope to continue tour domination with sister Venus. Venus, on the other hand, is much more mercurial than her sister. Venus comes in focused, pouncing like a tiger at some tournaments, and then shrugs her sholders and looks lost on the court in others. Expect Serena and Venus to continue to act like they own the place on all surfaces other than clay.
-The Belgians
"The Comeback Kids"
-If the world has any hope of destroying the Serena-Venus Axis of Power, then their hopes rest on the shoulders of the recently un-retired Belgians. After watching the women's game pushed off the edge of a cliff after their departures, Kim and Justine must have looked at each other and said, "Wow, the game is so bad, I guarantee I can come in and win a few titles." And that's just what Kim did at the '09 U.S. Open. In only her third tournament, she won the big crown and proved she's still got her relentless defense and powerful groundstrokes. She dethroned the reign of Serena and gave hope of tennis fans bored of parody. Now Justine has returned. Can she replicate Kim's success. If her career was any indication, a most definite yes seems to be the answer. Look for both Kim and Justine to cut down the Williams rivalry and make 2010 a much more competitive year.
-Maria Sharapova
"Getting the Weight off her Shoulders"
-Maria was supposed to take over the game. Remember how he destroyed Serena in her first Wimbledon final? Or how she demolished Justine at the Aussie Open that one year when she won the title? Maria was supposed to take over the game after the Belgians left, but her shoulder problems arose and she took a tennis hiatus to regain her form. And thus, we were left without a major contender to Serena and Venus. But, problems aside, Maria has a lot to prove in 2010. She has to show that she's not just a Tracy Austin what-could-have-been, and a heavyweight champion, able to use that iron will, punishing power and shrieks of fury to add a few more majors to her stash. Here's hoping Maria will also be a force in 2010.
-Dinara Safina
"Nerves of Ste...no, nerves of Styrofoam"
Gosh, I wonder if Dinara and Andy are good friends? All both of them seem to do is to tantalize tennis fans with gobs of hype, only to let us down and exit the year without a major. Unlike Murray, however, Dinara does not have nerves of steel. More like nerves of styrofoam. First, there was the Aussies, where she got demolished by Serena (demolished is actually an understatement. annihilation is a little harsh though.) She had the French Open practically handed to her on a silver platter, only to lose it against perhaps the only person just as nervous as she is (Kuznetsova), fell to Venus at Wimbledon and an embarassing loss to Kvitova at the U.S. Open. Can Safina pick herself up again? 2010 will be a year in which she needs to do so, or perhaps be the most anonymous no. 1 in the history of women's tennis....next to Jankovic.
-Jelena Jankovic
"Jelena, where are you?"
-"Jelena, lena, lena, where are you? You've got some work to do now." Like Scooby-Doo, Jelena's 2009 is a big mystery. Where did she go? 2008 was a brilliant year that saw Jelena reach no. 1 with consistent tennis and excellent defense. 2009 saw none of that, leaving Jelena with only one title and several questions. Jankovic needs to wake up if she's going to have a chance at being a tennis champion. A good first start, is to stop blaming the new regimen, life tragedies, etc. and just own up to your shortcomings. The always smiling Jelena needs to win the crowds back with her charm and bulldog-aggressive defense. She also needs to gain confidence by playing less and training more. A good strategy would be to lessen the load and focus on the big titles. If she doesn't expect 2010 to remain a Scooby Doo mystery.
-Elena Dementieva
"Not Breaking Records, but a Broken record"
-She's not getting any younger. Along with the Williams sisters, Dementieva has been around the game for a LONG time. And she has nothing to show for it. 2009 was consistent, yet not spectacular for the Russian. YEt, this seems to be a broken record played every year for her. Every year she fights hard, plays tough and comes out short. She has done a remarkable job fixing that dreadful serve, but she still came out with the same result. So what happened? The belief. She should have put Serena away at Wimbledon, but Serena came storming back. What happened? Serena believed she would win the entire time. Elena didn't. If Dementieva is ever going to be a grand slam champion, she needs to get belief that she deserves to win these majors. Otherwise, Serena will always outgain her in one major department. Mental toughness.
Kuznetsova
"Kuznet-who?"
-I understand Svetlana the least of any player on the tour. While the Belgians were gone, Maria hurt, Jelena, elena, and Safina, mentally ill, Kuznetsova was supposed to be perfectly fine. Yet, why did she never challenge the Williams sisters? Inconsistency. She loses at the Aussie to Serena in QF, okay, expected right? Then she comes from out of nowhere to take the French, taking out Serena and Safina in the final. (God, that final was cringe-inducing to watch) then she loses to Lasicki at Wimbledon, and Wozniacki at the U.S. What in the world? Why can't Kuznetsova put it together. She may be the most anonymous two-slam champ in tennis history. Kuznetsova's athleticism is only rivaled by the Williamses on tour, yet she seems to not put the pieces together. Tennis is a tough sport, and Kuznetsova has to be strong psychologically to survive. Perhaps she's not all that different than Jelena, Elena, and Safina. But the difference should be for Svetlana, that she has already won majors. She doesn't need to prove herself. Hopefully in 2010, Sveta will gain the confidence to compete in majors on a consistent basis.
-The Young Guns
-Azarenka had quite a solid year this year, posting big wins over big names, now she needs to up the ante and win a major. Same with Wozniacki and Oudin, who had great U.S. open runs. Now what? Win a major, play consistently and don't let the spotlight scare you as it seems to have done to all the other women on the tour. You'd think with their naive youthful approack, that maybe they could change this trend. Here's one for hoping they buck the trend and give the Williams and the Belgians a scare.
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