2010 Women’s Tennis Player of the Year

Now that the last major tournament for the year just completed (sorry – Bali doesn’t really matter), it’s a good time to think about the best women’s tennis player for 2010. I’ve narrowed down my list to the players who, as a tennis fan, I consider to be the ones who achieved the most for this season.

There have been plenty of inspiring stories this year – Justine Henin’s un-retirement and her journey to the finals of the Australian Open in just her second tournament back. Kimiko Date-Krumm’s age-defying play giving notice that a top-notch player in her 40s can still challenge players nearly half her age. Then, there’s Sam Stosur who made a successful switch from doubles to singles last year, and re-affirmed that she belonged to the tennis elite by reaching the finals of her first grand Slam at Roland Garros. And, Venus Williams continue to excel at the ripe old age of 30 staying in the top 3 for most of the year and actually contending at a Slam not named Wimbledon. She’s also one in 2 players who have reached at least the fourth round in all Grand Slam tournaments this year.

Inspiring stories do not however, define the best overall performance in a year. For me, five players stood out from the rest of the pack. Ranking points be damned, these players were shortlisted based on the following criteria – Grand Slam play and over-all consistency. Some may not agree with tennis achievements based solely on Grand Slam play, but as an online poll indicates, majority of fans consider Grand Slam performance as the best barometer for a tennis career. Still, I have also used consistency as part of my criteria. After all, these rewards the players who, despite not performing well in the sport’s greatest stages, earned respect from tennis fans and players alike by performing consistently well through-out the year. Below are my top 5 women’s tennis players for 2010.

#5. Vera Zvonareva – the “crying” Russian becomes the top Russian player after reaching the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open. If memory serves me right, she’s the second Russian player to have reached consecutive Grand Slam finals after Maria Sharapova did this is 2006-2007. She ends the year as world #2, her highest ever ranking. She won her 10th singles title at Pattaya City, and finished runner-up at the above mentioned Slams, in Charleston and Beijing.

#4. Francesca Schiavone – the Italian won a Grand Slam – a career achievement not accomplished by more talented players (see Elena Dementieva). She did it at the age of 30 after never having gone beyond the quarterfinals in prior 38 Grand Slam main draws. Before her win, her best performance was a quarterfinals appearance in her first French Open in 2001, US Open in 2003, and Wimbledon in 2009. She won only her third tour singles title earlier this year in Barcelona. After falling in the first round at Wimbledon, she bounced back with a quarterfinal showing at the US Open.

#3. Caroline Wozniacki – the young Dane won the most titles this season, backed that up with the most number of wins in the tour this year and was rewarded with a rise to the top of the tennis rankings in October – only the 20th player to have ever achieved such. However, she failed to perform well in the sport’s greatest stages, though she was consistent in reaching the fourth round of all Grand Slams this year. Titles at Ponte Vedra Beach, Copenhagen, Montreal, New Haven, Tokyo, and Beijing should make her a toughened and more mature competitor; ready to take on Grand Slam challenges come 2011. That is, if she doesn’t fall into the same category as previous non-Grand Slam winners like Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic.

The top spot was a rather difficult choice to make. Using my criteria, one of these ladies can be WTA Tennis Player of the Year but as it is, there is only one winner.

RUNNER – UP. Kim Clijsters – successfully defended the US Open crown she won as a sentimental favorite in just her 3rd tournament back after retirement last year. She finished strong by winning the year end WTA Tour Championships at Doha, and secured the #3 ranking for the year. She added titles at Brisbane, Miami and Cincinnati to push her total number of WTA tour singles titles to 40. Her paycheck wasn’t bad either having earned more than $5 million dollars this year – the top in the league. Still, Clijster’s 1 title in 3 Slams is edged by the performance of the:

2010 Women’s TENNIS PLAYER of the Year - Serena Williams. In a year when her rivals un-retired from tennis and vocally made winning Wimbledon their ultimate goal, the American stamped her class by beating rival Justine Henin for Grand Slam #12 at the Australian Open, and then defending her 2009 Wimbledon title when all three expected rivals for the title (sister Venus, Henin and Clijsters) fell before the semifinals. Her Grand Slam haul of 13 pushed her above American legend Billie Jean King and cemented her position as the best player of her generation. Along the way, she also picked up 2 more Grand Slam titles in doubles at the Australian Open and French Open, and joined Navratilova as the only other player in history to have won all Grand Slam major titles in singles and doubles, and reached #1 in both ranking categories. She remains the richest woman athlete in history with a haul of almost $33 million dollars - $4 million + of which were from this year alone.