Tennis Players of the Year 2008
By Emeli Dean
On Wednesday, December 17th 2008, the international tennis association ITF announced the Players of the Year 2008, in both Singles and Doubles categories. Winners of the single segment are the Spaniard Rafael Nadal and the Serbian Jelena Jankovic. The Canadian-Serbian Team with Daniel Nestor and Nenand Zimonijc could celebrate their victory in the male doubles section, while the female double winners this year are Cara Black from Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber from the USA.
Every year’s selection takes place on an unofficial level at first and the prize will be handed over at a later date. This time the prize will be officially awarded on June 2nd 2009 during the French Open Tournament. The winners are not only selected based on their performance and results on the ATP or WTA Tours but also on their achievement at diverse team competitions such as the Olympic Games.
Nadal did not only achieve the title for himself for the first time but also for his homeland Spain because he is the first Spaniard ever who wins the award of Best Player of the Year. The native Majorcan started to play tennis with just four years and participated for the first time at the ATP Tour when he was 15 years old. In 2005 he made the breakdown and won a total of 11 titles, including his first Grand Slam victory at the French Open. Three years later he also won the Wimbledon title and replaced the four-year champion Roger Federer from Switzerland. He achieved another victory at the Olympic Games in Beijing where he won the final game against the Chilean Fernando González.
Nadal is overwhelmed by his achievements from this year, as he has expressed: “It is something very special to finish the season as the number one in the tennis world. I am very proud of my Olympic gold and proud also that I was able to help my homeland to achieve the Davis Cup victory. It was a marvelous year for Spain”.
The female winner this year is Jelena Jankovic. She may not have won a Grand Slam title but she leads the world rankings with an advantage of 844 points; follow in second place by Serena Williams, who could name herself player of the year 2002. Jankovic won a total of 66 games out of 85 played this year and leads therefore also the list of the women’ singles victories, where with only one victory less the Russian Vera Zvonarova is second placed.
Although Serena Williams may have 22 single victories less than Jankovic, her victory quote is 6% higher than the one from Jankovic because she won 44 games out of 53 she participated in. Apart from Jankovic’ single victory she also attained great success for her country since she led Serbian’s Fed Cup Team into the world group for the first time. “I have worked hard to be there where I am right now. And I am proud to win the ITF title,” said the 23-year-old.
ITF president Francesco Bitti will carry out the award ceremony next year and he announced proudly that both of the players of the single valuation have been distinguished as ambassadors of their countries for the Olympic Games.
The male double Daniel Nestor and Nenand Zimonijc won in the finals of the Masters Cup in Shanghai against the US-American twin duo Bob and Mike Bryan and so they secured themselves the top position in the world ranking. The female double winners Cara Black and Liezel Huber, are receiving consecutively the honor since they were selected the Female Duo of the Year 2007.
About the Author
Emeli Dean is a high-ranking writer on sports for the football betting industry. You can also find more of her work at http//:www.instantactionsports.com
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