TENNIS in DEPTH.

So much depends on Maria Sharapova’s condition after her long absence from action that choosing her as a 2009 winner is not a foregone conclusion, but it must be assumed that she wouldn’t be playing again if she wasn’t completely recovered. But will she be ‘match’ ready in January for the Australian Open, or will she require a few weeks of competition to get back into the swing of playing? She is participating in an exhibition in Hong Kong early in the new year where she will play Venus and Jelena Jankovic, a tough combination to play against if she is less than 100%. Maria is young and strong and is motivated to regain the top spot, so I think she will be ready to defend her title in Australia. I’m picking her to repeat as champion.
Jelena Jankovic ended the 2008 season as the number 1 player even though she has yet to win a major title. She has developed a retrieving style of play that is ideal for the red clay of Roland Garros, and of all the top women she is the fittest and the most patient. She will have her best chance of winning that elusive major in Paris, and if she is seeded first or second she will probably make it through to the final relatively easily. She’s my pick for the French Open.
Venus is the dark horse on the Women’s side(pun not intended). She showed in Doha at the season’s end that she can beat virtually anybody if she has her mind set on winning. She is playing the best tennis of her career, and could surprise everyone by winning all four events to cap of her amazing career and to reinforce her position as one of the all time great players. She could do it, but she won’t. Her good nature is her problem, she likes to win but she also unconsciously doesn’t want to dominate, especially when she plays her sister. Wimbledon is the place she considers as her home, and as she showed in 2008, it’s the place where she shines her best. She is the best grass court player and I pick Venus to win again in London.
The US Open in 2009 is wide open for someone to come along and beat the top 3 players. But who? Dinara Safina? Ana Ivanovic? Elena Dementieva? Or a relatively unknown player who has come along during the season and shown that she is ready to win a major event? Predicting what will happen in August is a fool’s game, but if the hat fits then here goes. Just two players will come into the US Open vying for the title of number 1 in the world, and the stage in New York will settle the situation. One of the two will be Maria Sharapova, and the other will be Venus Williams. The 2009 US might be the last Grand Slam for Venus, and if she does decide to retire from active competition, she will go out in style by winning at home in front of her American fans. Make it two for Venus!

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