Stunning breakthroughs by rising stars, rousing comebacks and an intense battle for No.1 provided the defining moments on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in 2009. And it was all played out against the backdrop of the historic Roadmap circuit reforms and change at the top of the Tour's administration.
By the end of the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2009 the matter of the top ranking had been settled in emphatic fashion by Serena Williams. Her second season-ending title, coming on top of her 10th and 11th Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, ensured the 28-year-old American would finish the year in the top spot for the second time. In the process she also became the first female tennis player to earn more than $6 million in prize money in a single season.
But Serena was one of just six players who won three titles in 2009, the others being Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki - who reached eight finals, the most of any competitor. And if further proof is needed of depth in women's tennis, consider this: the 53 Tour titles on offer were won by 34 different players - including 13 first-time champions, from Azarenka in Brisbane in January to Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai, who won her first title at Strasbourg in May and went on to capture the innovative Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali in November.
Thirteen also proved to be a lucky number for the Tour's teenagers, for that's how many of them - led by Wozniacki at No.4 - finished the year inside the Top 100. But if the qualification of Azarenka, Wozniacki and alternate Agnieszka Radwanska for the season finale in Doha hinted at a changing of the guard, established stars shared the Grand Slam spoils.
Joining Serena in the winners' circle, Kuznetsova won her second major at Roland Garros, while Kim Clijsters captured her second US Open title. Kuznetsova also won the China Open in Beijing, one of the four 'mini-Slam' Premier-level events held in conjunction with the ATP World Tour. Vera Zvonareva won at Indian Wells, Azarenka took Miami and Safina prevailed at Madrid's Magic Box, one of several new stadium facilities that were unveiled during the season.
None of this means the sport didn't produce its share of surprises. As a qualifier who had never previously won a Tour match, Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru won the Premier-level Warsaw Open, becoming only the fifth player to win a Tour singles title on a ranking outside the Top 200. Afterwards she leapt from No.201 to No.83 with a bullet - a dreamlike 20th birthday present.
And the battle for No.1 was by no means the only interest in the rankings. Three players cracked the Top 10 for the first time - Azarenka, Wozniacki and Flavia Pennetta, who in the summer became the first Italian woman to reach the elite and also played a key role in Italy's second Fed Cup triumph. For the first time, China had two players - Li Na and Zheng Jie - simultaneously ranked inside the Top 20. Other notable movers included former doubles No.1 Samantha Stosur of Australia, who established herself in the Top 15 in singles.
Speaking of doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber won five titles to carry their co-world No.1 status into a third year, but the formidable duo didn't have things their own way. Taking their joint haul of majors to 10, the Williams sisters pocketed three of the four Slams. And, while Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual defended at Roland Garros, their compatriots Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez were the real standouts, winning a Tour-best seven events - in the process becoming the first Spanish duo to win the Tour Championships.
Hello (again), goodbye
Above all, 2009 may be remembered as the year of the comeback. First, Jelena Dokic dazzled Down Under with her emotional run to the quarters of the Australian Open, while Maria Sharapova's return from shoulder injury culminated with a title at Tokyo in October and a return to the Top 15. On the eve of her 39th birthday, Kimiko Date Krumm won her first title since 1996 at Seoul, becoming the second-oldest woman to win a Tour singles title in the Open Era after Billie Jean King at Birmingham in 1983.
Then, of course, there was Clijsters' astonishing run at Flushing Meadows, in just her third tournament back after two years away. With the win, the popular 26-year-old became the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980; her on-court celebrations with husband Brian and daughter Jada arguably provided the lasting image of the year.
Inevitably, the 2009 season brought its share of fond farewells too. Japanese icon Ai Sugiyama, who played her first professional match in 1990, said goodbye at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo; the 34-year-old had played in 62 consecutive Grand Slam main draws, a record among men's and women's tennis players. Others hanging up their racquets in 2009 included France's Nathalie Dechy and Emilie Loit, and Akiko Morigami of Japan.
And behind the scenes, Larry Scott, the Tour's Chairman and CEO from April 2003 to June 2009, departed to become the commissioner of the NCAA's PAC-10. Scott, who spearheaded unprecedented sponsorship and broadcast deals during his tenure, handed over to a safe pair of hands, with Tour President Stacey Allaster appointed as his replacement.
Allaster has affirmed her resolve to build on the Roadmap, which has already produced quantifiable results, particularly in the area of player commitment. In 2009, Top 10 players met their commitments 90% of the time (up from 78% in 2008), while overall player withdrawals were down 34%. While tournament organizers and fans enjoyed reliable fields, the players were rewarded with a healthier calendar and overall prize money increase of 35%.
Such figures must be music to the ears of Tour founder King, whose reflected glory once again shone on women's tennis when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor by US President Barack Obama. While the spirit of King's off-court work continues with appointments such as Zvonareva's new role as a promoter of gender equality under the Tour's partnership with UNESCO, King and her cohorts can take pride in the fact that at a time of economic challenges when other sports and leagues are struggling, the Tour will add two new International events in 2010, along with larger qualifying draws at several tournaments.
Will Serena extend her reign by delivering week in, week out in 2010 and beyond or will Safina capture that elusive Slam and the top ranking with it? Already safely back in the Top 20, how high will Clijsters fly - and what impact will the much-anticipated return of another celebrated Belgian, Justine Henin, have? While the success of the Roadmap must ultimately be measured by longer, healthier careers and fewer premature retirements, it cannot be denied such comeback stories add extra heart to the Tour's history.
