2008 is going to different year for the Swiss star than it was in 2007, 2006 and 2005 for the simple reason that it’s an Olympic year.

With Justine Henin putting up a Roger Federeresque year in 2007, the resurgence of the Williams sisters and the arrival of two instant crowd favorites from Serbia, the WTA is coming off a pretty good year.

There’s a strong implication recreational players can gain from the 2007. The main focus is on the world’s two best players, and as I see it, it can be grasped not just by recreational adults but also by juniors, parents, and coaches.

In a surprise run of events this week in Madrid, Maria Sharapova is playing perhaps her best tennis of the season, Serena Williams pulled out with injury, Anna Chakvetadze is through to the semis and Justine Henin double bagelled Marion Bartoli.

In 2006, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova were all considered favorites to win the year-end Sony Ericsson WTA Championships. Kim Clijsters was in the mix too.

The Top 5 happenings in pro tennis heading into the week of Nov. 5, 2007.

One week into the year’s final Grand Slam event, let’s do a quick round up of what we have seen so far.
The Home Team
Serena Williams and sister Venus both won a Grand Slam this year, but other than that, it hasn’t been an exceptionally great year for American tennis. Now that the tours are back [...]

Whenever the US Open rolls around, my mind starts to reflect on the season that has been, and I think to myself, ‘wow, is it September already?’ Of course there are still three months of tennis to be played after the Open, but in a way, the season comes to a close after the champions [...]

Despite the close scoreline, there could be only one winner in the Justine Henin – Serena Williams blockbuster quarterfinal. Henin dominated Serena for the entire match, even though a couple of loose games from the Belgian in the second set gave her opponent a glimmer of hope.
Henin forced the early break in the final set [...]

I have taken some heat for predicting another Serena Williams championship run here at Wimbledon, after having previously picked her to win Roland Garros.
ADHEREL
Like I wrote in my previews for both the French Open, as for Wimbledon, I believe the tournament winner will come out of the quarterfinal the two of them will play against [...]