Vera Zvonareva

Vera Igorevna Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. She has reached a career high and current ranking of World No. 2. Zvonareva has won ten WTA Tour singles titles and reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships and 2010 US Open. She also was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Zvonareva is a baseline counterpuncher with good offensive capabilities. She is known for her fitness and speed, owing to her excellent lateral movement, and can therefore outrun many opponents during rallies. Her groundstrokes are powerful and are usually hit very flat, with minimal topspin, though she herself admits that she can adjust her style of play to the court conditions when needed. This was proven when Zvonareva won the Indian Wells tournament in 2009 against Ana Ivanović despite the windy conditions. Her best shot is her two-handed backhand. Zvonareva's primary weakness is her mental fragility, which costs her matches when she self-destructs. Many tennis analysts, including Lindsay Davenport and Pam Shriver, have noted that Zvonareva has matured mentally and is able to keep control of her emotions for the duration of a match, evidenced by her runs to the 2010 Wimbledon and 2010 US Open finals.

She is currently coached by former player and model Sergey Demekhin since April of 2010. Her doctor is Alexander Bogdanov and Fitness trainer is Sergey Homutov.


statics
Country : Russia
Residence : Moscow, Russia
Date of birth : September 7, 1984 (1984-09-07)
Place of birth: Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height: 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Weight : 59.1 kg (130 lb; 9.31 st)
Turned pro : September 2000
Plays : Right-handed
(two-handed backhand)

Victoria Azarenka

Viktoriya Fiodorovna Azarenka, also known as Victoria Azarenka (Belarusian: Вікторыя Азарэнка, Азаранка, Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 6, which she achieved on October 26, 2009. As of October 4, 2010, Azarenka is ranked World No. 10.

Azarenka has won two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles — 2007 US Open with Max Mirnyi and 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan. She has won five singles titles, including the Premier Mandatory 2009 Sony Ericsson Open and has made three Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances.

At the 2010 Kremlin Cup Azarenka, as the 2nd seed, defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-4 2-6 6-1 , and Alisa Kleybanova 6-1 6-3 in the quarterfinal. She then beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3 6-3 in the semifinals and Maria Kirilenko in the final 6-3 6-4 coming back from 4-0 down in the second set to win her 5th career title.

Azarenka's performance in Moscow qualified her for the season-ending 2010 WTA Tour Championships, where she is in the White Group as the 8th seed. In her first round robin match Azarenka lost to Vera Zvonareva 7-6 6-4 despite serving for the first set at 5-4 and leading 3-1 in the second. She also lost to Kim Clijsters in her second match 6-4 5-7 6-1, which assured that she did not qualify for the semifinals. Then, in her final match of the tournament and season, she defeated Jankovic for the second year in a row 6-4 6-1. Azarenka is set to end the year as World No.10, her second consecutive year-end Top 10 finish.

Criticism
Azarenka has been criticized by ex-professionals for the noise she makes when hitting the ball. During the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinal between Azarenka and Serena Williams, ex-pro Pam Shriver, who was providing court-side commentary, noted that Azarenka's screams were so long that she was still yelling when Williams returned the ball. She has also been noted for her tendency to lose her temper during matches.



statics
Country : Belarus
Residence : Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Date of birth : 31 July 1989 (1989-07-31)
Place of birth : Minsk, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR
now Belarus
Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight : 60 kg (130 lb; 9.4 st)
Turned pro : 2003
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Francesca Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone is an Italian tennis player who turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. Her career high ranking is World No. 6 achieved on June 7, 2010. Schiavone is currently ranked World No. 7.

Schiavone employs an all court game and has a very classic approach to her clay game. She uses an extreme eastern grip (same as semi-western forehand grip) on her one handed backhand much like Justine Henin and also has a strong forehand. She is one of only three women in the top 50 to employ a one handed backhand.

Schiavone has won four singles titles on the WTA tour, but has also achieved ten runner-ups in total, eight of them since the autumn of 2005. Schiavone lost her first eight career finals before finally winning her first title in July 2007. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Flavia Pennetta, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy. This match was a doubles match and Kirsten Flipkens partnered Henin and Roberta Vinci partnered Schiavone. In 2009 she won the Fed Cup with Italy for the second time against the USA, and also made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time. In 2010 Italy with Schiavone won the Fed Cup for the third time.

In addition, she realized a notable victory during the quarterfinals of the 2008 Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, when she upset World No. 1 and four-time champion Henin 7–6, 7–6. She also beat Amélie Mauresmo in a Fed Cup tie in 2006 when Mauresmo was ranked No. 1.

Partnering with Australian Casey Dellacqua, Schiavone was the runner-up in the women's doubles competition at the 2008 French Open.



statics
Country : Italy
Residence : Milan, Italy
Date of birth : 23 June 1980 (1980-06-23) (age 30)
Place of birth : Milan, Italy
Height : 1.66 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Weight : 64 kg (140 lb; 10.1 st)
Turned pro: 1998
Plays : Right-handed (one-handed backhand)

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 5 in singles and World No. 5 in doubles. Considered to be one of the greatest women's tennis players of all time, she has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to achieve the feat during the open era.

Williams is the reigning champion in women's doubles at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all time list and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams: seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her with four other women for twelfth on the all-time list. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth on the all-time list. She is one of only three women in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles. From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships through the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only five women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches.

Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles. She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924.

With 43 career singles titles, Williams along with Justine Henin leads active players on the WTA Tour. Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000.

Venus has played her sister Serena in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches. They have met in eight Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they met in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.



statics
Country : United States United States
Residence : Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Date of birth : June 17, 1980 (1980-06-17)
Place of birth: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Height : 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight : 83 kg (182 lbs)
Turned pro: October 31, 1994
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Giulia Casoni

Giulia Casoni (born 19 April 1978) is an Italian tennis player. As a junior player, she won 1996 French Open in doubles, while her best professional results include singles quarterfinals at Internazionali Femminili di Palermo in 1999 and Tier I Italian Open in 2000, and three WTA Tour doubles titles. A member of Italy Fed Cup team from 2000 to 2001, Casoni defeated players such as Dominique Monami, Katarina Srebotnik, Mariya Koryttseva, Francesca Schiavone, Émilie Loit and Nuria Llagostera Vives. She has also enjoyed success at the ITF Circuit, winning four events in singles and 27 in doubles.


statics
Country : Italy
Residence : Italy Ferrara
Date of birth : 19 April 1978 (1978-04-19)
Place of birth : Italy Ferrara
Height : 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Turned pro : 1993
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career : prize money US$326,936

Singles
Career record : 269–233
Career titles : 0 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking : 83 (8 January 2001)

Grand Slam results
Australian Open : 1R (2001)
French Open : 3R (2000)
Wimbledon : 1R (2000, 2001)
US Open : 3R (2000)

Doubles
Career record : 225–127
Career titles : 3 WTA, 27 ITF
Highest ranking : 51 (19 February 2001)

Liga Dekmeijere

Līga Dekmeijere (born May 21, 1983 in Riga) is a professional tennis player from Latvia who has won sixteen International Tennis Federation doubles titles and one Women's Tennis Association doubles title. Dekmeijere has been as high as World Number 54 in the overall women's doubles rankings, a ranking that she achieved on April 5, 2010. The Latvian has also played in twelve various Grand Slam tennis events (as at March 2010).

Dekmeijere won her only WTA title at the 2008 Cachantún Cup, where she entered the doubles event with Poland's Alicja Rosolska. The team reached the final after defeating the number two seeded doubles team on the way to the finals, where the team defeated Mariya Koryttseva and Julia Schruff.


statics
Country : Latvia
Residence : Riga, Latvia
Date of birth : May 21, 1983 (1983-05-21)
Place of birth : Riga, Soviet Union
Height : 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Weight : 65 kg (140 lb; 10.2 st)
Retired : Active
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money : US$283,676

Singles
Career record : 162–242
Career titles : 0 WTA; 0 ITF
Highest ranking : No. 287 (August 26, 2002)

Doubles
Career record : 240-232
Career titles : 1 WTA; 17 ITF
Highest ranking : No. 54 (April 5, 2010)

Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open : 2R (2005, 2010)
French Open : 2R (2006)
Wimbledon : 1R (2006, 2009)
US Open : 2R (2008, 2009)

Bethanie Mattek

Bethanie Lynn Mattek-Sands (born March 23, 1985, in Rochester, Minnesota) is an American professional tennis player who competes on the WTA Tour. She lives in Miami, Florida but trains in Phoenix, Arizona. Mattek has won five singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, and her best results on the WTA Tour to date are reaching the semifinals of the tournaments in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2005 and Birmingham, United Kingdom in 2008 and the finals of the Bell Challenge in 2008 and 2010. In doubles, she has won four WTA Tour titles. Mattek also plays for the New York Sportimes for World Team Tennis.

Mattek has achieved extensive publicity as a result of her eccentric fashion sense on the court. Notable outfits include leopard print outfits at the 2004 US Open and 2007 US Open, a striped cowboy hat that garnered her a fine at the 2005 US Open, a "soccer theme" at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships that included £10 football socks, chandelier earrings, a tube top worn over a strappy vest top, tiny running shorts and a headband, pink knee-high socks at the 2006 JPMorgan Chase Open , and a loosely draped beige top, with a crocheted waist and split sleeves that resembled a toga and beige knee-high socks at the 2006 US Open . She has since toned down her tennis outfits, but still wears knee-high socks.




statics
Country : United States
Residence : Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Date of birth : March 23, 1985 (1985-03-23)
Height : 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight : 145 lb (66 kg)
Turned pro : 1999
Plays : Right-handed
Career prize money : US$ 1,248,657

Singles
Career record : 187–157
Career titles : 0 WTA (5 ITF)
Highest ranking : No. 37 (March 23, 2009)
Current ranking : No. 59 (October 4, 2010)

Grand Slam results
Australian Open : Q3 (2006, 2007, 2010)
French Open : 2R (2008, 2010)
Wimbledon : 4R (2008)
US Open : 2R (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

Doubles
Career record : 148–99
Career titles : 7 WTA (3 ITF)
Highest ranking : No. 12 (April 5, 2010)