Justine Henin-Hardenne
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| Image:Justine henin hardenne medibank international 2006.jpg | ||
| Country | Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium | |
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Date of birth | June 1, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Liège, Belgium | |
| Height | 1.66 m (5'5 3/4") | |
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb.) | |
| Turned Pro | January 1, 1999 | |
| Plays | Right; One-handed backhand | |
| Career Prize Money | $13,573,319 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 414-99 | |
| Career titles: | 29 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 1 (October 20, 2003) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | W (2004) | |
| French Open | W (2003, 2005, 2006) | |
| Wimbledon | F (2001, 2006) | |
| U.S. Open | W (2003) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 47-35 | |
| Career titles: | 2 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 23 (January 14, 2002) | |
|
Infobox last updated on: November 13, 2006. | ||
| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's Tennis | |||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Singles | |
Justine Henin-Hardenne (listen ) (born June 1, 1982 in Liège) is the current World No. 1 ranked female tennis player. She is from the Walloon (French-speaking) region of Belgium. Her mental toughness and her one-handed backhand, a stroke which John McEnroe has called among the best backhands of any male or female player, are reasons she is one of the world's best players.<ref>"Resilient Henin takes U.S. Open title", The Hindu, 2003-09-07. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.</ref><ref>McClure, Geoff. "Sporting Life", The Age, 2004-01-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.</ref> As of November 2006, she has won five Grand Slam singles titles, including three French Open singles titles, as well as a gold medal in singles at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
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[edit] Family life
Henin-Hardenne's trainer, Carlos Rodrigues, has been a father figure for her since her mother died. She does not want any contact with her real father. She married Pierre-Yves Hardenne on November 16, 2002, in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne.<ref>Bedell, Geraldine. "Face to face", The Observer, 2003-10-05. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.</ref><ref>Hometown marriage for tennis star Henin (2002-11-16). Retrieved on 2006-08-29.</ref> Since then, she has used the name Justine Henin-Hardenne on the tennis court. However, since Belgian law does not require a woman to take on her husband's name after marriage, her maiden name—Justine Henin—is still her official name.
Her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and history teacher<ref>Serras, M.. "Justine lanza la raqueta al cielo", El Pais, 2003-06-08. Retrieved on 2006-08-29. (in Spanish)</ref> who routinely took the young Henin-Hardenne across the border to watch the French Open, until she succumbed to intestinal cancer when Henin-Hardenne was only 12 years old.
[edit] Tennis career
[edit] Early career
Henin-Hardenne, known as "Juju" to many of her fans, has been coached by Carlos Rodriguez of Argentina since she was 14 years old. Early on, she regularly reached the late rounds of international competitions and won five International Tennis Federation tournaments by the end of 1998.
She started her professional career on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour in May 1999 as a wild card entry in the Belgian Open at Antwerp and became the fifth player to win her debut WTA Tour event.
Henin-Hardenne established herself as a major competitor in 2001 when she reached the women's singles semifinals of the French Open and the women's singles final of Wimbledon. By the end of the year, Henin-Hardenne was ranked seventh in singles, with three titles to her name.
In 2002, she reached four WTA finals, winning two of them. Henin-Hardenne finished the year ranked fifth. Her German Open victory, her first win at a Tier I tournament, was noteworthy as she beat Jennifer Capriati in a semifinal and Serena Williams in the final, the then number two and number five ranked players, respectively.
[edit] Grand Slam breakthrough in 2003
In 2003, Henin-Hardenne won her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, defeating her compatriot Kim Clijsters in the final 6-0, 6-4. She reached the final after defeating top ranked Serena Williams in three sets, recovering from a 2-4 deficit in the third set.
Later that year, Henin-Hardenne won her second Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, again defeating Clijsters in the final 7-5, 6-1. Henin-Hardenne reached the final by defeating Jennifer Capriati 7-6 in the final set of their semifinal match. During the match, Henin-Hardenne was two points from defeat eleven times. The match ended well after midnight and Henin-Hardenne, after receiving treatment for dehydration and cramping, returned the next day to defeat Clijsters.
On October 19, 2003, Henin-Hardenne replaced Clijsters as the top ranked female singles player. She was named the International Tennis Federation's women's singles World Champion for 2003.
[edit] 2004-2005
Henin-Hardenne started 2004 by winning a warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then won the Australian Open, defeating Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
As of March 22, 2004, Henin-Hardenne had accumulated the highest point total (7626) in the history of the WTA rankings. Because the awarding of quality points was eliminated in 2006, this point total may never be exceeded.
By the end of the 2004 spring hard court season, Henin-Hardenne had built a 25-match Tier I winning streak and a 22-1 win-loss record (winning her first 16 matches).
At the start of the 2004 clay court season, Henin-Hardenne's health was adversely affected by infection with a strain of cytomegalovirus and an immune system problem. She often slept up to 18 hours a day and barely had the strength to brush her teeth, let alone play competitive tennis.
Although she decided to defend her French Open title and was seeded first in the tournament, she lost her second round match against a much lower-ranked player, Tathiana Garbin of Italy. At the time, the loss marked only the second time in 15 Grand Slam events that Henin-Hardenne exited before the fourth round.
Henin-Hardenne returned to competition in August and won the women's singles gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, defeating Amélie Mauresmo of France in the final 6-3, 6-3. Henin-Hardenne reached the gold medal match by defeating Anastasia Myskina in a semifinal.
In September 2004, she unsuccessfully defended her U.S. Open title, losing to Nadia Petrova in the fourth round. This defeat caused her to lose the number one ranking, which she had held for 45 non-consecutive weeks. She then withdrew from the 10 remaining tournaments of the year in an effort to recover her health and improve her fitness. Her plan to rejoin the tour at the beginning of 2005 was delayed when she fractured her kneecap in a December 2004 training session.
On March 25, 2005, after more than six months away from competition, Henin-Hardenne returned to the WTA circuit at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. She lost to second ranked Maria Sharapova in a quarterfinal. She rebounded at her next tournament, winning the clay court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. She won two more clay court titles before the start of the 2005 French Open. Her victories over top ranked Lindsay Davenport, Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Petrova made her a top contender for the title there.
Henin-Hardenne was seeded tenth at the French Open and defeated the French player Mary Pierce, 6-1, 6-1, to take her second title at Roland Garros. The win marked Henin-Hardenne's 24th consecutive clay court win and her tenth consecutive final win, a streak stretching back to Zürich in October 2003. In capturing the title, she defeated Kuznetsova in the fourth round, Sharapova in a quarterfinal, and Petrova in a semifinal.
With her French Open victory, Henin-Hardenne moved from number 12 to number seven in the women's singles rankings. She joined Monica Seles as the only two currently active (in 2005) players on the WTA Tour to have won the French Open at least twice and was a perfect 24-0 in her 2005 clay court season.
At Wimbledon 2005, Henin-Hardenne's win streak of 24 matches was snapped in the first round by Greek Eleni Daniilidou 7-6, 2-6, 7-5. With this defeat, she became the first French Open champion in the open era to lose in the opening round of Wimbledon. A hamstring injury sustained earlier in the year eventually limited Henin-Hardenne to playing in only 11 more matches for 2005.
In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put her in 31st place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.
In November, at the 2005 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships, she was named the inaugural winner of the Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year, which honors the player who has demonstrated the most sixth sense intuition, that is to say "heightened intelligence, unbeatable performance and pinpoint precision."
[edit] 2006
Image:Justine henin hardenne medibank international 2006 02.jpg In January 2006, Henin-Hardenne returned to competitive tennis in a tournament in Sydney, a tune-up for the 2006 Australian Open. She was seeded fifth and played former women's singles number one (and newly returned to competitive tennis) Martina Hingis in a much hyped first round match. Henin-Hardenne won 6-3, 6-3. She then defeated former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a semifinal 6-3, 6-1, before defeating Francesca Schiavone in the final 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
In her Australian Open campaign, Henin-Hardenne defeated top ranked Lindsay Davenport and fourth ranked Maria Sharapova in three-set matches to set up a final against third ranked Amélie Mauresmo. While trailing 6-1, 2-0, Henin-Hardenne retired from the match. Henin-Hardenne was criticized by some (particularly in the Anglo-Saxon press) because she said after her win against Sharapova in the previous round that she was at the "peak of her fitness" and was playing the "best tennis of her life." She was only the second player, and the first woman, to retire from a Grand Slam final in the open era.
Henin-Hardenne captured her second title of 2006 at a Tier II event in Dubai, defeating Sharapova 7-5, 6-2. This was her third Dubai title, having won previously in 2003 and 2004.
In the following Pacific Life Open Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, Henin-Hardenne lost a semifinal match to fourth seed Elena Dementieva 2-6, 7-5, 7-5. Henin-Hardenne also was ousted from the Miami NASDAQ-100 Open in the second round by Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-4. In April, Henin-Hardenne failed to defend her title at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, her first clay court event of the season. She lost to third-seeded Patty Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a semifinal. It was her first defeat in the Tier I tournament and the end of her 27 match win streak on clay.
In April, Henin-Hardenne led Belgium to victory over defending champion Russia in a Fed Cup quarterfinal. She defeated fifth ranked Nadia Petrova 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and ninth ranked Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0. The wins were significant for Henin-Hardenne because Petrova had come into the tie with two consecutive clay court tournament victories and a 10-match clay court winning streak, while Dementieva had defeated Henin-Hardenne in their last meeting in Indian Wells and defeated second ranked Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters on the first day of the tie.
Henin-Hardenne played at the Tier I German Open as the defending champion and defeated Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2 in a semifinal. However, she lost to Petrova in the final 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
At the French Open in June, Henin-Hardenne rebounded from her loss in Berlin. In a semifinal match, Henin-Hardenne defeated second seeded Clijsters 6-3, 6-2. She then defeated Kuznetsova in the final 6-4, 6-4 to win her third title in four years there. Henin-Hardenne captured the title without the loss of a set and became the first French Open champion to defend her title successfully since Steffi Graf in 1996.
At the Eastbourne grass court tournament, Henin-Hardenne won the final against Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).
Henin-Hardenne was the third seed going into Wimbledon and advanced to her third consecutive Grand Slam final without losing a set. She defeated Clijsters (who was seeded second) in a semifinal 6-4, 7-6(4) but lost the final to Mauresmo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Henin-Hardenne withdrew from Tier 1 events in San Diego and Montreal because of injury but entered the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven. There, she defeated Kuznetsova and Davenport en route to the title. It was her 28th WTA tour title. She returned to the number 2 ranking and crossed over US $12 millon in career prize money.
At the U.S. Open, Sharapova defeated Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Henin-Hardenne was the first woman since Hingis in 1997 to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in a calendar year.
Henin-Hardenne guaranteed her year end world No. 1 ranking by reaching the final of the WTA Tour Championships, defeating Sharapova 6-2, 7-6(5) in a semifinal. Henin-Hardenne then won the tournament for the first time in her career by defeating Mauresmo in the final 6-4 6-3.
Henin-Hardenne is the first player since Hingis in 2000 to win the WTA Tour Championships and end the year as the top ranked player. Henin-Hardenne is the first woman to win at least one Grand Slam singles title in four consecutive years since Graf from 1993 through 1996. Her prize money earnings for 2006 totaled U.S. $4,204,810.
[edit] Awards
2003
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year.
- ITF World Champion.
2004
- WTA Player of the Year (for 2003).
- Belgian Sportswoman of the Year.
2005
- Family Circle/State Farm "Player Who Makes A Difference".
- Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year.
2006
- Appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport.<ref>UNESCO (2006-06-27). Justine Hénin-Hardenne appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.</ref>
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Wins (5)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2003 | French Open | Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Clijsters | 6-0, 6-4 |
| 2003 | U.S. Open | Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Clijsters | 7-5, 6-1 |
| 2004 | Australian Open | Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Clijsters | 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 2005 | French Open (2) | Image:Flag of France.svg Mary Pierce | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 2006 | French Open (3) | Image:Flag of Russia.svg Svetlana Kuznetsova | 6-4, 6-4 |
[edit] Runner-ups (4)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2001 | Wimbledon | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Venus Williams | 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 |
| 2006 | Australian Open | Image:Flag of France.svg Amélie Mauresmo | 6-1, 2-0 retired |
| 2006 | Wimbledon | Image:Flag of France.svg Amélie Mauresmo | 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2006 | U.S. Open | Image:Flag of Russia.svg Maria Sharapova | 6-4, 6-4 |
[edit] Titles (31)
[edit] Singles (29)
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[edit] Singles finalist (15)
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[edit] Doubles (2)
| No. | Date | Partner | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 2002 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) | Gold Coast, Australia | Hard | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Åsa Svensson (Sweden) & Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Miriam Oremans (Netherlands) | 6-1, 7-6(6) |
| 2. | 2002 | Image:Flag of Russia (bordered).svg Elena Bovina (Russia) | Zürich, Switzerland | Carpet | Image:Flag of Serbia and Montenegro.svg Jelena Dokic (Serbia and Montenegro) & Image:Flag of Russia (bordered).svg Nadia Petrova (Russia) | 6-2, 7-6(2) |
[edit] Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2006 WTA Tour Championships, which ended on November 12, 2006.
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Career SR | Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 2R | 4R | QF | SF | W | A | F | 1 / 6 | 26-5 | |
| French Open | 2R | A | SF | 1R | W | 2R | W | W | 3 / 7 | 28-4 | |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | F | SF | SF | A | 1R | F | 0 / 6 | 22-6 | |
| U.S. Open | 1R | 4R | 4R | 4R | W | 4R | 4R | F | 1 / 8 | 28-7 | |
| Grand Slam SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 0 | 5 / 27 | N/A |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 1-2 | 4-3 | 17-4 | 12-4 | 24-2 | 11-2 | 10-2 | 25-3 | 0-0 | N/A | 104-22 |
| WTA Tour Championships | A | A | QF | QF | SF | A | A | W | 1 / 4 | 8-5 | |
| Tokyo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0-0 | |
| Indian Wells | A | A | 3R | 4R | A | W | A | SF | 1 / 4 | 13-3 | |
| Miami | A | A | 3R | 2R | QF | A | QF | 2R | 0 / 5 | 7-5 | |
| Charleston | A | A | A | A | W | A | W | SF | 2 / 3 | 14-1 | |
| Berlin | A | A | SF | W | W | A | W | F | 3 / 5 | 24-2 | |
| Rome | A | A | A | F | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 4-1 | |
| San Diego1 | A | A | A | A | W | A | A | A | 1 / 1 | 5-0 | |
| Montreal/Toronto | A | 2R | QF | QF | W | A | F | A | 1 / 5 | 16-4 | |
| Moscow | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0-1 | |
| Zürich | A | A | A | SF | W | A | A | A | 1 / 2 | 6-1 | |
| Tournaments played | 7 | 13 | 21 | 23 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 0 | N/A | 113 |
| Finals reached | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | N/A | 44 |
| Tournaments Won | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 0 | N/A | 29 |
| Hardcourt Win-Loss | 2-2 | 22-7 | 31-11 | 16-10 | 40-6 | 31-2 | 10-4 | 30-5 | 0-0 | N/A | 182-47 |
| Clay Win-Loss | 9-2 | 3-2 | 14-4 | 14-4 | 19-1 | 4-2 | 24-0 | 14-2 | 0-0 | N/A | 101-17 |
| Grass Win-Loss | 0-0 | 1-2 | 10-1 | 7-2 | 8-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 10-1 | 0-0 | N/A | 36-9 |
| Carpet Win-Loss | 3-2 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 13-5 | 5-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4-0 | 0-0 | N/A | 28-13 |
| Overall Win-Loss | 14-6 | 28-13 | 56-18 | 50-21 | 72-11 | 35-4 | 34-5 | 58-8 | 0-0 | N/A | 347-862 |
| Year End Ranking | 69 | 45 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1 The San Diego tournament achieved Tier I status only in 2004.
2 If the ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 24-5; Clay: 33-7) and Fed Cup (10-1) participations are included, then her overall win-loss record stands at 414-99.
[edit] WTA Tour career earnings
| Year | Majors | WTA wins | Total wins | Earnings ($) | Money list rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 998,704 | 8 |
| 2002 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1,213,093 | 6 |
| 2003 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3,667,430 | 2 |
| 2004 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1,570,656 | 8 |
| 2005 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1,705,173 | 6 |
| 2006* | 1 | 5 | 6 | $4,204,810 | 1 |
| 2007 | |||||
| Career | 5 | 23 | 28 | $13,573,319 | 10 |
[edit] Notable matches
- 2003 Australian Open fourth round: defeated Lindsay Davenport 7-5, 5-7, 9-7. In a match lasting more than three hours, Henin-Hardenne overcame a 4-1 final set deficit, high temperatures, and muscle cramps to defeat Davenport for the first time in her career. [1] [2]
- 2003 French Open semifinal: defeated Serena Williams, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Henin-Hardenne snapped Williams' 33-match Grand Slam winning streak. Controversy enveloped the match in the third set when Williams led 4-2 (15-0). While Williams was in the act of delivering her first serve, Henin-Hardenne put up her hand to indicate that she was not ready. Under the rules, Williams' netted first serve would have been replayed. The umpire, however, did not see Henin-Hardenne's gesture and when he asked her about it, she did not respond. The umpire ordered a second serve, and a visibly upset Williams lost the game, and later, the lead and the match. After the match, the replay showed that Henin-Hardenne did put up her hand as Williams was serving. Although she went on to win the tournament, the question of Henin-Hardenne's sportsmanship remained. [3] [4]
- 2003 U.S. Open semifinal: defeated Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). With the 2003 French Open incident still fresh, Henin-Hardenne refused to ask for the trainer despite experiencing muscle cramps. Capriati was two points away from victory eleven times in a match that stretched to midnight. After her victory, Henin-Hardenne went to the hospital for rehydration treatment. The next day, she defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters for the title. [5] [6]
- 2004 Athens Olympics semifinal: defeated Anastasia Myskina 7-5, 5-7, 8-6. After months of layoff due to a virus, Henin-Hardenne competed in the Olympics. Henin-Hardenne rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to defeat reigning French Open champion Myskina. She went on to capture the gold medal. [7] [8]
- 2005 French Open fourth round: defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5. Henin-Hardenne saved two match points to earn a quarterfinal spot. In winning the tournament, she became only the second woman to win the French Open after saving a match point. (Myskina accomplished the feat a year before, also against Kuznetsova.) [9]
- 2005 Wimbledon first round: lost to Eleni Daniilidou 7-6(8), 2-6, 7-5. It was the first time that a reigning French Open champion failed to win a match at Wimbledon. [10] [11]
- 2006 Australian Open final: lost to Amélie Mauresmo 6-1, 2-0. Henin-Hardenne retired from the match with stomach pain. This was only the fourth Grand Slam women's singles final that ended by retirement since 1900 and the first in the open era. Henin-Hardenne stated afterwards that she feared possible injury had she continued to play. She was widely criticized by tennis commentators and writers for not finishing the match.<ref>Collins, Bud. "Henin-Hardenne took the queasy way out", The Boston Globe, 2006-01-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.</ref><ref>Shriver, Pam. "Shriver: Henin-Hardenne's reputation is tarnished", ESPN.com, 2006-09-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.</ref>
- 2006 Wimbledon final: lost to Mauresmo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The final round was notable for featuring two "finesse" players who used their all-court games, a notable break from the previous years that featured a succession of power baseliners claiming the title. At almost every point throughout the match, both players approached the net to serve and volley. Tipped as the tournament favorite, Henin-Hardenne won the first set over a nervous Mauresmo. But Mauresmo recovered, dominating the next two sets and keeping her composure to win her second Grand Slam title and deny the Belgian a career Grand Slam. [12] [13] [14]
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
<references/>
[edit] External links
- Official site
- WTA Tour profile for Justine Henin-Hardenne
- justine-henin.net: a fansite
- Interview with British Newspaper Guardian
| Preceded by: Kim Clijsters Kim Clijsters Amélie Mauresmo | World No. 1 October 20, 2003 - October 26, 2003 November 10, 2003 - September 12, 2004 November 13, 2006 - present | Succeeded by: Kim Clijsters Amélie Mauresmo Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Elena Dementieva | WTA Most Improved Player 2001 | Succeeded by: Daniela Hantuchová |
| Preceded by: Serena Williams | WTA Player of the Year 2003 | Succeeded by: Maria Sharapova |
| Preceded by: Serena Williams | ITF World Champion 2003 | Succeeded by: Anastasia Myskina |
| Preceded by: Kim Clijsters | Belgian Sportswoman of the Year 2003–2004 | Succeeded by: Kim Clijsters |
| Women's Tennis Association | Top ten female tennis players as of November 20, 2006 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) | 2. Maria Sharapova (Russia) | 3. Amélie Mauresmo (France) | 4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) | 5. Kim Clijsters (Belgium) | 6. Nadia Petrova (Russia) | 7. Martina Hingis (Switzerland) | 8. Elena Dementieva (Russia) | 9. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) | 10. Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) | |

