Which WTA Players are most searched in Google for 2009?

To come up with a list of WTA players that are most popular in terms of the volume of searches in Google, I decided to do a 6 round elimination process to determine the top 16 players. Once the top 16 players were compared, I came up with a draw to determine the top 10 players, and finally, come out with the top 5 players.

1st Round Top 30 Group: For the first round, I had two types of groups. The first group is the Top 30 group. This is composed of all top 30 players in the latest WTA rankings. I divided all 30 players into 10 groups of 3 players each. To determine which player goes into which group, I assigned a top 10 player in each group. I then used random numbers to assign players ranked 11-20 and 21-30 into the 10 groups. I then compared the search volume of each player by group. The player was the least number of Google searches in each group was identified and moved into an elimination pool.

1st Round - TOP 30 Groups:

SERENA WILLIAMS
FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE
ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

DINARA SAFINA
AMELIE MAURESMO
MARION BARTOLI - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
NA LI - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA
YANINA WICKMAYER - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

ELENA DEMENTIEVA
SABINE LISICKI
NADIA PETROVA - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

ANA IVANOVIC
VENUS WILLIAMS
SAMANTHA STOSUR - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

FLAVIA PENNETTA
VICTORIA AZARENKA
ARAVANE REZAI - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

MARIA SHARAPOVA
JELENA JANKOVIC
MARIA JOSE MARTINEZ SANCHEZ - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

VERA ZVONAREVA
ELENA VESNINA
VIRGINIE RAZZANO - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

KIM CLIJSTERS
AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA
ALISA KLEYBANOVA - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

1st Round Others Group: The other group in the first round are a combination of players within the top 100 which I deemed as newsmakers, and inactive / retired tennis players. There were 12 of them identified – 6 active, and 6 inactive. They were divided into 3 groups of 4. Their Google search volume index were compared, and the lower two players in a group were identified and moved into an elimination pool.

KIMIKO DATE KRUMM
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
ANNA CHAKVETADZE - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool
SHAHAR PEER - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

ANNA KOURNIKOVA
MARTINA HINGIS
JELENA DOKIC - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool
JUSTINE HENIN - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

MELANIE OUDIN
SANIA MIRZA
STEFFI GRAF - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool
LINDSAY DAVENPORT - 3rd Place, Elimination Pool

2nd Round and first elimination round:
*** 3rd Placers in the 1st round groups were placed in 5 groups of 3 or 4. The lowest ranked person in each group became the first to be eliminated.

ALISA KLEYBANOVA
MARION BARTOLI
STEFFI GRAF
VIRGINIE RAZZANO - Eliminated

ANNA CHAKVETADZE - Eliminated
JELENA DOKIC
JUSTINE HENIN

LINDSAY DAVENPORT - Eliminated
NA LI
NADIA PETROVA

ARAVANE REZAI
SHAHAR PEER - Eliminated
YANINA WICKMAYER

ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES - Eliminated
MARIA JOSE MARTINEZ SANCHEZ
SAMANTHA STOSUR

3rd Round and second elimination round:
All top placers from the top 30 receive a bye in this round.
Top placers in the OTHERS group, along with survivors of Round 2 are drawn randomly in 9 groups of 3 players each. The lowest ranked person in each group is then eliminated.

SANIA MIRZA
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
NADIA PETROVA - Eliminated

JELENA DOKIC
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA
FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE - Eliminated

STEFFI GRAF
JELENA JANKOVIC
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA - Eliminated

MELANIE OUDIN
MARTINA HINGIS
YANINA WICKMAYER - Eliminated

VENUS WILLIAMS
NA LI
AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA - Eliminated

ANNA KOURNIKOVA
KIMIKO DATE KRUMM
ARAVANE REZAI - Eliminated

AMELIE MAURESMO
ELENA VESNINA
MARIA JOSE MARTINEZ SANCHEZ - Eliminated

JUSTINE HENIN
VICTORIA AZARENKA
SAMANTHA STOSUR - Eliminated

SABINE LISICKI
MARION BARTOLI
ALISA KLEYBANOVA - Eliminated

4th Round:

Players were split in 9 groups - 8 groups had 3 players, 1 group had 4.
The 10 players that topped the Round 1 top 30 were distributed in the 9 groups.
All other survivors from the 3rd round were randomly assigned to the 9 groups.
To enable seedings in the following rounds after this, players gained points if they placed 1st or 2nd in a group.

The lowest ranked player in each group was eliminated.

MARIA SHARAPOVA
DINARA SAFINA
MELANIE OUDIN
ELENA VESNINA - Eliminated

AMELIE MAURESMO
VICTORIA AZARENKA
VERA ZVONAREVA - Eliminated

SERENA WILLIAMS
JUSTINE HENIN
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA - Eliminated

ANNA KOURNIKOVA
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
NA LI - Eliminated

MARTINA HINGIS
SABINE LISICKI
DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA - Eliminated

STEFFI GRAF
ELENA DEMENTIEVA
MARION BARTOLI - Eliminated

ANA IVANOVIC
JELENA DOKIC
KIMIKO DATE KRUMM - Eliminated

SANIA MIRZA
KIM CLIJSTERS
JELENA JANKOVIC - Eliminated

VENUS WILLIAMS
FLAVIA PENNETTA
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA - Eliminated

5th Round:

At this point, only 19 players remained.
By using points acquired in the previous rounds, 6 groups were formed.
5 groups had 3 players, 1 group had 4 players.

The 5 last place finishers in the groups with 3 players will be put in an elimination pool. The last 2 finishers in the group with 4 players will be put in an elimination pool.

SERENA WILLIAMS
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
FLAVIA PENNETTA - Elimination Pool

DINARA SAFINA
MELANIE OUDIN
AMELIE MAURESMO - Elimination Pool

ANNA KOURNIKOVA
STEFFI GRAF
SABINE LISICKI - Elimination Pool

SANIA MIRZA
VENUS WILLIAMS
MARTINA HINGIS - Elimination Pool

ANA IVANOVIC
JELENA DOKIC
ELENA DEMENTIEVA - Elimination Pool

MARIA SHARAPOVA
KIM CLIJSTERS
VICTORIA AZARENKA - Elimination Pool
JUSTINE HENIN - Elimination Pool

6th Round:

Players in the elimination pool were pitted against each other.
The lower 3 players were removed.
After removal, only 16 players remained.

FLAVIA PENNETTA
AMELIE MAURESMO - Eliminated
SABINE LISICKI - Eliminated
MARTINA HINGIS
ELENA DEMENTIEVA
VICTORIA AZARENKA - Eliminated
JUSTINE HENIN

Top 16:

At this point, the top 16 were determined. I came up with a draw using points from previous rounds. The points accumulated determined who were in the top 8. The other 8 players were randomly paired to a top 8 player. The Google search index were compared between each pair.

SERENA WILLIAMS - Wins
MARTINA HINGIS

KIM CLIJSTERS - Wins
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI

ANNA KOURNIKOVA - Wins
FLAVIA PENNETTA

SANIA MIRZA - Wins
JUSTINE HENIN

JELENA DOKIC
DINARA SAFINA - Wins

STEFFI GRAF
ANA IVANOVIC - Wins

MELANIE OUDIN
VENUS WILLIAMS - Wins

ELENA DEMENTIEVA
MARIA SHARAPOVA - Wins

Top 8:

Those advancing to the top 8 were paired against each other. The top 4 were determined.

SERENA WILLIAMS - Wins
KIM CLIJSTERS

ANNA KOURNIKOVA
SANIA MIRZA - Wins

DINARA SAFINA
ANA IVANOVIC - Wins

VENUS WILLIAMS
MARIA SHARAPOVA - Wins

At this point, there were only 4 players left. The losers in the top 16 and top 8 rounds were compared against each other. Of the 12 players who have lost at this point, the lowest 6 were chosen. The lowest six, which I'll call my BRONZE GROUP would be amongst the top 16 most Googled players.

BRONZE Group, Top 16:

ELENA DEMENTIEVA
JELENA DOKIC
STEFFI GRAF
JUSTINE HENIN
MARTINA HINGIS
FLAVIA PENNETTA

The remaining 6 players that are not in the top 4 were matched against each other to determine the most googled player on the group. Anna Kournikova came out on top.
The lowest five, which I'll call my SILVER GROUP, would be amongst the top 10 most googled players.

Silver Group, Top 10:

KIM CLIJSTERS
MELANIE OUDIN
DINARA SAFINA
VENUS WILLIAMS
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI

Top 5

Anna Kournikova was put back in the top 5 and all the google search index between the remaining players were compared.

The final 5 came out. Here's the list:

#5. Anna Kournikova
#4. Sania Mirza
#3. Ana Ivanovic
#2. Maria Sharapova
#1. Serena Williams