Top 50 WTA Tour Career Prize Money Leaders - Oct 25, 2010

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American sisters Serena and Venus Williams remain atop the WTA tour career prize money leaders as of October 25, 2010. The two American tennis legends have earned $32.8 million and $27.7 million dollars, respectively, in their careers - way ahead of fellow American Lindsay Davenport who occupies the #3 position. Belgians Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters are the only other players amongst the top 10 earners who are still actively playing. Henin and Clijsters are #6 and #8 in the list. Recently retired Elena Dementieva of Russia is the second highest Russian earner at this point at #13 but is expected to leapfrog Svetlana Kuznetsova in the list when the new money leaders will be released next week. See the top 50 money leaders below:

TOP 50 WTA TOUR CAREER PRIZE MONEY LEADERS
As of: Oct 25, 2010

1 WILLIAMS, SERENA USA 32,773,004
2 WILLIAMS, VENUS USA 27,681,772
3 DAVENPORT, LINDSAY USA 22,166,338
4 GRAF, STEFFI GER 21,895,277
5 NAVRATILOVA, MARTINA USA 21,626,089
6 HENIN, JUSTINE BEL 20,863,335
7 HINGIS, MARTINA SUI 20,130,657
8 CLIJSTERS, KIM BEL 19,981,916
9 SANCHEZ-VICARIO, ARANTXA ESP 16,942,640
10 MAURESMO, AMELIE FRA 15,022,476
11 SELES, MONICA USA 14,891,762
12 KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA RUS 14,443,223
13 DEMENTIEVA, ELENA RUS 14,117,437
14 SHARAPOVA, MARIA RUS 13,744,179
15 MARTINEZ, CONCHITA ESP 11,527,977
16 NOVOTNA, JANA CZE 11,249,284
17 JANKOVIC, JELENA SRB 11,169,440
18 CAPRIATI, JENNIFER USA 10,206,639
19 SAFINA, DINARA RUS 10,040,419
20 PIERCE, MARY FRA 9,793,119
21 ZVONAREVA, VERA RUS 9,393,530
22 PETROVA, NADIA RUS 8,996,412
23 EVERT, CHRIS USA 8,896,195
24 SABATINI, GABRIELA ARG 8,785,850
25 SCHNYDER, PATTY SUI 8,318,383
26 RAYMOND, LISA USA 8,274,826
27 SUGIYAMA, AI JPN 8,128,126
28 ZVEREVA, NATASHA BLR 7,792,503
29 IVANOVIC, ANA SRB 7,763,547
30 HANTUCHOVA, DANIELA SVK 7,157,292
31 SCHIAVONE, FRANCESCA ITA 6,845,259
32 TAUZIAT, NATHALIE FRA 6,650,093
33 WOZNIACKI, CAROLINE DEN 6,491,846
34 BLACK, CARA ZIM 6,457,520
35 SUKOVA, HELENA CZE 6,391,245
36 LIKHOVTSEVA, ELENA RUS 6,237,556
37 STOSUR, SAMANTHA AUS 6,105,650
38 RUANO PASCUAL, VIRGINIA ESP 6,076,081
39 MYSKINA, ANASTASIA RUS 5,606,725
40 COETZER, AMANDA RSA 5,594,821
41 SHRIVER, PAM USA 5,460,566
42 FERNANDEZ, MARY JOE USA 5,258,471
43 SUAREZ, PAOLA ARG 5,134,870
44 STUBBS, RENNAE AUS 5,072,943
45 BARTOLI, MARION FRA 4,855,934
46 SREBOTNIK, KATARINA SLO 4,787,375
47 HUBER, ANKE GER 4,768,292
48 AZARENKA, VICTORIA BLR 4,687,325
49 FERNANDEZ, GIGI USA 4,681,906
50 HUBER, LIEZEL USA 4,605,912

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Players cry as Elena Dementieva Retires

Elena Dementieva retires from the WTA tour after losing to French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the year-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar. In a ceremony witnessed by fellow players in the culminating tournament of the year, Dementieva announced her retirement from professional tennis leaving plenty of fellow players in tears.

In 1999, Dementieva was on her first year on the Russian Fed Cup team. The team reached the finals where they lost to the US Fed Cup team. Dementieva scored the only point for Russia when she beat Venus Williams.

2000 was a banner year for the young Russian. She reached her first Grand Slam semifinals in the 2000 US Open losing to eventual finalist, Lindsay Davenport. Later that year, she would beat Monica Seles to reach the gold medal match against Venus Williams in the Sydney Olympics. Dementieva settled for silver after losing to Williams in straight sets. She later qualified for her first WTA Championships and upset Lindsay Davenport on her way to the semifinals. Dementieva would become a fixture in the year-end championships, qualifying for 10 of the next 11 years.

Dementieva looked headed the path of another talented Russian player - Anna Kournikova in that she would not win a single WTA tournament of any kind in her first 5 years on the tour. She turned that trend around by winning her first three singles titles in 2003. She grabbed her first clay court tournament at Amelia Island in the spring, and she won two Asian tournaments in Bali and Shanghai in the fall.

In 2004, Dementieva along with 3 other young Russian players etched Russia in Grand Slam history. She reached the finals of the French Open in 2004, beating French star Amelie Mauresmo before losing to fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina. She then reached her second Grand Slam final at the 2004 US Open, finishing runner-up to another Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Her run to two Grand Slam finals had experts proclaiming her as a Grand Slam champion in the making.

Alas - that was not meant to be. Dementieva's serve was considered her ultimate weakness and though she made efforts to improve considerably on her serve, her chances of taking a Grand Slam title grew slimmer. She would push Serena Williams in the 2009 Wimbledon semifinals by holding a match point but she couldn't convert. That match is considered to be one of the finest ladies singles matches in recent memory.

Other achievements by the Russian included going 3-0 in Russia's 3-2 win over France in the 2005 Fed Cup final. That included two singles and one doubles victory. She also beat Serena Williams to win the singles title in Moscow in 2007 - one of her 16 career singles titles. Her proudest moment would come in Beijing when she beat fellow Russian player Dinara Safina to win the Olympic gold medal in 2008. Since the Open era, Elena Dementieva is the only ladies Olympics champion who hasn't won a Grand Slam title. Still, the Russian considers the Olympic gold medal her greatest career achievement as a tennis player.

Dementieva made the semis or better at Grand Slams nine times including at least once in the four majors. Her final Grand Slam match was at the 2010 US Open, where she had four match points before losing to Australia's Sam Stosur in the round of 16. Dementieva's 16th and final WTA title came in Paris in February 2010, where she beat Lucie Safarova in the final.

After her last match at the WTA Championships - Doha 2010, Elena Dementieva announced her retirement on court.

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Milestones: Federer matches Sampras Titles; Zvonareva now #2

A couple of tennis milestones achieved in the recent days:

(1) World #2 and 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer won the Stockholm Open last Sunday to tie Pete Sampras with 64 ATP titles. Federer and Sampras are at tied at 4th place, behind John McEnroe (77), Ivan Lendl (94), and Jimmy Connors (107). I think Federer can still catch up with McEnroe's haul if he plays 3 to 5 more years in the ATP tour.

(2) Vera Zvonareva has overtaken Serena Williams and is now ranked #2 in the world, her highest ranking to date. Zvonareva is the fifth Russian to ascend to #2 after Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina. Safina and Sharapova are the only Russian players to go to #1. Zvonareva, who reached 2 major finals this year at Wimbledon and the US Open has a realistic chance of achieving the same milestone as she has minimum points to defend in the first half of 2011.

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New WTA Logo

A new WTA logo has been launched replacing the old logo that had a silhouette of a female tennis player. The new logo has the letters WTA in a purple oval background and the WTA website claims that the "new mark is designed to serve as a distinctive and modern reminder of the captivating athleticism and excitement that has driven the international popularity and growth of women's pro tennis and placed it firmly at the nexus of sport and entertainment". Personally, I think the new WTA logo is sophisticated, contemporary, and reflects the global appeal of women's tennis. In fact, it's even better than the ATP tour logo. Watch the video below:

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Which Grand Slam Titles are Better - Justine Henin's or Venus Williams?

A hotly contested poll at TennisForum.com is the answer to the following question: Which 7 Grand Slams would you rather win - Justine's or Venus'? After 2,200+ views and almost 2 hundred votes, the poll is very slightly ahead in Justine Henin's favor - 51.5% to 48.5%.

Justine Henin and Venus Williams both won 7 Grand Slams each. Henin won 4 French Open titles, 2 US Open titles, and 1 Australian Open title. Venus won 5 Wimbledon titles and 2 US Open titles. Since both players won 2 US Open titles each, the question would come down to what fans consider the more valuable haul: 4 French Open + 1 Australian Open trophy vs 5 Wimbledon trophies?

Those supporting Henin insist that variety is key. Henin have won 3 different majors as compared to Venus Williams - so her haul is more valuable. Those supporting Venus contend that Wimbledon is simply the most prestigious Grand Slam title out there. Thus, a Wimbledon title trumps any other Grand Slam title.

This blogger thinks that indeed, Wimbledon - the longest running Grand Slam, is a dream for all players to win. Most tennis writers think so as well. It's the reason that Ivan Lendl has skipped so many chances of winning the French Open to give himself more chances to prepare for Wimbledon. And, it's also the motivating factor for Henin to have made her comeback.

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Top 15 ATP Tour Career Earning Leaders

View Latest Updates on Men's Tennis Career Prize Money Leaders - 2012 Updates | View Latest Women's Tennis Career Prize Money Leaders - 2012 Updates.

Five active players are in the list of the top 15 ATP Tour career earnings leaders as of October 18, 2010. Sixteen time grand slam champion Roger Federer of Switzerland (#1 - $57.44M) is at the top of the list while current number 1, Rafael Nadal of Spain (#3 - $34.94M), edged past legend Andre Agassi to secure the #3 position this year. American Pete Sampras who won 14 grand slam titles is at #2. The other active players in the list are Serbian Novak Djokovic (#11 - $19.02M), Australian Lleyton Hewitt (#12 - $18.84M), and American Andy Roddick (#13 - $18.72M). Djokovic is expected to enter the top 10 as he is competing in the final weeks of the 2010 ATP season.

	Player	Prize money
1	Roger Federer	$57,439,704.0
2	Pete Sampras	$43,280,489.0
3	Rafael Nadal	$34,936,162.0
4	Andre Agassi	$31,152,975.0
5	Boris Becker	$25,080,956.0
6	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	$23,883,797.0
7	Ivan Lendl	$21,262,417.0
8	Stefan Edberg	$20,630,941.0
9	Goran Ivanišević	$19,876,579.0
10	Michael Chang	$19,145,632.0
11	Novak Djokovic	$19,017,522.0
12	Lleyton Hewitt	$18,843,702.0
13	Andy Roddick	$18,719,173.0
14	Gustavo Kuerten	$14,807,000.0
15	Jonas Björkman	$14,600,323.0

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Maria Sharapova shows off Diamond Engagement Ring

Maria Sharapova was recently photographed wearing her diamond engagement ring. The photos were recently published at GossipCenter.com. The website also reported the engagement of Maria Sharapova and Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Aleksandar "Sasha" Vujačić last Tuesday, October 19. Vujavic reportedly proposed to Sharapova at his Manhattan Beach, California house.

Maria Sharapova is a 3-time grand slam tennis champion and former #1. She has struggled to remain in the top of women's tennis after suffering a shoulder injury that led into a surgery. She has not been ranked in the top ten for the whole year of 2010, and is currently ranked #18. She hasn't reached a grand slam quarterfinal this year.

Aleksandar Vujacic is a Slovenian basketball player who has played for the Los Angeles Lakers since the 2004-2005 season. He is also known as "The Machine". He has a career PPG average of 4.9 and enjoyed his best season in 2007-2008. Vujacic had been dating Russian-born professional tennis player Maria Sharapova, reportedly since 2009.

Click link to view the Sharapova Vujacic engagement photos from GossipCenter.com. 

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