Serena Wins WTA Championships But Azarenka is Year End No. 1

Serena Williams capped off one of the better seasons in recent memory with a win in the WTA Championships in Istanbul.  She has been all but unbeatable since the French Open concluded with wins in Wimbledon, the Olympics, the US Open, and the WTA Championships, besting the other (clear cut) top 4 players in each.  However, because of her poor play early in the year (R4 l. to Makarova at the Aussie Open, R1 l. to Razzano at the French Open) and failure to show up for FOUR Tier I tournaments, Azarenka is world no. 1 and Sharapova is world no. 2.  She is, though, the best player of 2012, with a 53-4 record including a 31-1 record after the French.

-It is her 46th career title, tour leading 7th of 2012, last '12 US Open
-It is her 3rd win at the Tour Championships ('01,'09)
-She will have an excellent chance to get back to no. 1 in the world during the spring as Azarenka started out 26-0 last year and Sharapova had a strong clay season with wins at Stuttgart, Madrid, and the French Open.

Serena (3-0) and Azarenka (2-1) advanced to the semis from the Red Group.
Sharapova (3-0) and Radwanska (2-1) advanced to the semis from the White Group.
The other players records were: Li (1-2), Kerber (0-3), Errani (1-2), Kvitova (0-1), and Stosur (0-2).  There were no round robin ties this year with complicated tiebreakers.  :-)

Azarenka becomes the 11th different to hold the year end no. 1.  She has now been no. 1 for 35 weeks, putting her 11th on the all-time list.  During the offseason she will pass Mauresmo (39 wks) for 10th with Wozniacki's 67 as the next milestone.

------------------------------------------

In ATP action, Juan Martin Del Potro continued his success in smaller tournaments by beating Roger Federer in his hometown of Basel.  In Valencia, the hometown hero was successful with David Ferrer tying Federer for '12 titles with six with a win there.

ATP 500: Basel, Switzerland

2) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) def. 1) Roger Federer (SUI) 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(3)

-Del Potro wins 8th career title, 4th of 2012, last '12 Vienna
-He is on a 9-match win streak
-Other QF:  3) Richard Gasquet (FRA)-SF, 6) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS), Kevin Anderson (RSA), Benoit Paire (FRA), Grigor Dimitrov (BUL), Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
-Other seeds:  4) Wawrinka (R1 l. to Davydenko), 5) Seppi (R1 l. to Paire), 7) Mayer (R1 l. to Matosevic), 8) Troicki (R1 l. to Dimitrov)

-Federer was the 2-time defending champion but came up just short against Del Potro
-Federer was the only returning quarterfinalist from last year.

-Federer has now reached the final of his hometown tournament 9 times including the last 7 years.  He is 5-4 in the finals, and this was his defeat there in a final set tiebreak.
-Swiss players went 5-4 altogether but Chiudinelli got the only win not from Federer by beating Garcia-Lopez.
-There was one American in draw, Baker.  He beat Stepanek then took a set off Del Potro.
-There was yet another 3 tiebreak match, Dimitrov def. Benneteau in R2 7-6(5) 6-7(1) 7-6(3).  That makes 4 of those in 3 weeks!
-Federer loses 200 points from ranking by failing to defend his title.  He remains world no. 1 for now but it will take a poor final 2 weeks from Djokovic for Federer to be the year end no. 1 as Federer is 345 points ahead but defends 2500 points in the next 2 weeks compared to 380 for Djokovic.

ATP 500: Valencia, Spain
1) David Ferrer (ESP) def. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 6-1 3-6 6-4

-Ferrer wins 17th career title, 6th of 2012, last '12 Bastad
-It is his 3rd win in Valcenia, 2nd since it became a hard court event in '09.
-Other QF:  6) Nicolas Almagro (ESP), 7) Marin Cilic (CRO), Marcel Granollers (ESP), Jurgen Melzer (AUT)-SF, David Goffin (BEL), Q) Ivan Dodig (CRO)-SF
-Other seeds:  2) Tsonga (R1 ret. to Malisse), 3) Tipsarevic (R1 ret. to Simon), 4) Monaco (R1 l. to Hewitt), 5) Isner (R2 l. to Goffin), 8) Raonic (R1 l. to Muller)
-Granollers was the defending champion, but lost to Dolgopolov in the quarters

-Ferrer and Granollers were returning quarterfinalists from '11, Del Potro also made the quarters but played Basel in '12.
-Spaniards went 11-8 with Verdasco and Ramos also winning besides Ferrer, Almagro, and Granollers mentioned above. Robredo, Ferrero, Lopez, and Andujar lost opening round matches.
-Former French Open champion and world no. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero retired after his first round loss to Almagro.
-Americans were a disappointing 2-3 in Valencia with Isner and Querrey each getting one win and Ram qualifying then losing to Ramos.
-No 3rd set tiebreaks here so the best scoreline may have been Isner def. Fognini in R1 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5.

The players trying to qualify for London had mixed results.  Tsonga and Tipsarevic both pulled out with injuries while Del Potro won in Basel and clinched his spot.  With Nadal's withdrawal, 6 players are in (Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, Berdych, Del Potro) leaving 2 spots open.  Monaco, Isner, and Raonic crashed and burned while Gasquet and Almagro had decent weeks.  Gasquet must reach the semis in Paris while Almagro, Monaco, or Raonic must make the final to have a chance.

A quick preview of Paris next week which is the final Masters and final regular season tournament of the year:

In 2011, Federer def. Tsonga in the final.
Berdych and Isner reached the SF while Djokovic, Ferrer, Monaco, and Murray reached the QF.  This tournament has often had unusual winners and lowly-ranked players going deep.  A Frenchman has made the final the past 4 years and Soderling won in '10 and was the last non-"Big 4" player to win a Masters.