Li Na's breakthrough win

LI NA has been at the forefront of the emergence of women's tennis in China and the Wuhan-born player became the first Chinese winner of a Grand Slam singles title at the age of 29. A finalist at the Australian Open in January, Li Na defeated defending champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6(0) and in doing so, the right-hander will reach a career-high ranking of No.4 on Monday.

With straight-set victories over pre-tournament favourites Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova en route to the final, Li was clearly the in-form player and this showed as she opened her account with a 6-4 set. Even though Li took the first set from Kim Clijsters in the final at Melbourne Park in January, she looked distinctly nervous but having gained in experience, Li played in a much more relaxed and assured manner.

She played the Italian veteran just right in the first set. She mopped up anything which landed short and Li kept tight on the baseline, thus robbing the reigning champion of the time she enjoys on the ball. While her return game wasn't as good as it can be, Li was rock solid on serve and she barely dropped a point behind her first service – with the flat serve down the tee proving most fruitful.

Taking the ball early and playing with controlled power, Li broke Schiavone at the start of the second set and even though the Italian broke back at 4-4, the No.6 seed withstood the onslaught from the reigning champion, who was two points away from winning the second set on at least three occasions.

It looked as though a third set would be played for the first time since 2001 because not only was Schiavone playing with much more authority and using her forehand much more offensively, Li appeared to be feeling the pressure as she gestured impatiently to her support camp but while Li managed to arrest her emotions, Schiavone lost the plot, and the match, after Louise Engzell over-ruled a pivotal point which would have given her a set-point at 6-5.

Instead, this brought up game point for the Chinese and after that incident, Schiavone didn't win another point in the rest of the match. Li coasted through the second set tiebreak to win her first Grand Slam singles title.

Li Na's chances for Wimbledon

UNTIL this year's French Open, clay was very much considered to be Li's least favourite surface and a patchy Roland Garros record certainly illustrated the Chinese was least comfortable on the red-clay and while Li's recent form shows the vast improvements she's made on clay, surely Li can improve her career-best showings at Wimbledon and the US Open too?

It will be interesting to see how Li does on the grass-courts at Wimbledon next month, especially as the cast should be of a stronger calibre with the Williams sisters expected to return to action, while Kim Clijsters should be much more match sharp after an inauspicious return to competition at Roland Garros.

A title in Birmingham and a pair of quarter-final appearances at Wimbledon pay testament to Li's calibre on grass but traditionally, Roland Garros winners don't perform well at SW19. Schiavone suffered first round losses in Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year while Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic also suffered first week losses in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

Li struggled to find any semblance of form after reaching the final at the Australian Open but she's aware she can't afford to rest on her laurels. She commented: “If I didn’t do well in Wimbledon, maybe people forget me already.”

While Li returned to her homeland just after reaching the final in Melbourne, she said she won't be returning to China until after Wimbledon which means she will be able to avoid the brunt of the media attention and focus on her grass-court season which will begin for Li in Eastbourne.

What does it say about women's tennis?

LONG gone are the days of teenage supernovas and the final between two of the tour's veterans confirms how women's tennis is following the trend of men's tennis, with the tour being dominated by older players. Recent finals contested by the likes of Serena Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters certainly proves this.

Likewise, it also shows the new generation just aren't cutting it at the moment. Once 11-20-ranked players in the mid-2000s, Schiavone and Li have taken their chances due to a plethora of retirements and injuries to the old guard while the up-and-comers have yet to prove themselves as Grand Slam material.

Despite being world No.1, Caroline Wozniacki still has a lot of work to do if she wants to be a Grand Slam while Victoria Azarenka can't seem to break past the quarter-final stage at this level. Agnieszka Radwanska seems to have plateaued too.

Victoria Azarenka – a future Grand Slam champion or a second-tier competitor?

VICTORIA AZARENKA regained the Miami title which she first won in 2009 but the Belarussian is something of an anomaly as you read through the roll-of-honour of the Sony Ericsson Open. As things stand, Azarenka is the only winner of Key Biscayne who doesn't have a Grand Slam singles title to her name. Is she ready to make the step up to the highest echelons of the women's game or will she remain a lesser threat at the Grand Slams?

After a fairly cumbersome start to the tournament where she needed three seats to defeat her first three opponents, Azarenka came into her own in the quarter-finals as she ousted defending champion Kim Clijsters, before a 60 63 disposal of her occasional doubles partner Vera Zvonareva. Given the manner of these performances, Azarenka was the odds-on favourite against Maria Sharapova in the final and the 21-year-old defied the burden of this pressure as she prevailed with a 61 64 victory over the three-time Grand Slam champion.

Azarenka's game is deceptively high-percentage and the Belarussian was by far the most watertight from the baseline in the final and she used her excellent return game to great effect, pushing Sharapova behind the baseline with consistently deep returns and the 59% of points won behind her opponent's service proved crucial as she clinched her sixth WTA title.

Another of Azarenka's strengths displayed in the final is her two-handed backhand which is regarded as one of the best on the tour and unlike some of her contemporaries, Azarenka's able to handle herself with some merit in the forecourt. But are these strengths reliable enough to help her claim one of the biggest prizes in tennis?

First things first, Azarenka will need to establish herself as a regular fixture in the second week of Grand Slams before she can legitimately think about claiming one of the major trophies. Quarter-final appearances at three of the four Grand Slams makes solid reading but this still remains an undistinguished record for a player who's been a consistent top-ten operator over the past three years. A telling statistic is Azarenka's six WTA titles have come on hard-courts so it looks unlikely she'll have a realistic shot of a Grand Slam title until the US Open in September.

As good as her return is, Azarenka's serve is one of the most unimposing out of top-flight players and despite the comfortable scoreline in the Miami final, Azarenka was still broken four times. If Azarenka wants to make an impression, particularly in an event such as Wimbledon, she needs to make sure her first-serve percentage is operating at a respectable level. Even though the forehand is improving, this wing can still be a suspect shot when it's put under pressure on a faster surface such as the grass-courts of SW19.

Azarenka isn't the most gifted athletically and she retired on seven occasions last year. Her lack of prowess in this arena is most obvious on clay, where she's not the most fluent mover which means she's unlikely to be towards the forefront of potential Roland Garros winners either. While many pundits laud Azarenka as one of the best hard-court players on the circuit, Azarenka has already come a cropper to the debilitating daytime heat at Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows and while she coped well with the humid Miami conditions, her susceptibility to these conditions must play on the mind somewhat.

The Minsk-born Scottsdale resident used to have something of a reputation for her on-court behaviour but Azarenka appears to have grown out of these tantrums although temperament can still be a factor. Azarenka's now gone 0-3 in major Grand Slam doubles finals, which doesn't augur too well although she'll take heart from defeating one of the most mentally tough players on the tour in Miami.

Hard-courts are clearly Azarenka's forte and wins over A-listers of the ilk of Zvonareva, Clijsters and Sharapova will bring Azarenka's name back into the fray after a sub-standard 2010 season and given the downward form of the old guard of women's tennis, Azarenka must be fancying her chances in upcoming seasons although as things stand, there are a good dozen players who'd be more readily favoured.

Grand Slam timeline;

January 2006 – a semi-final appearance on the WTA tour in Guangzhou in September 2005 confirmed Azarenka's berth into the qualifying draw at Melbourne Park where she progressed into the main draw, before a solid performance in the first round against seeded Sania Mirza.

May 2006 – Azarenka battled into her second successive main-draw at Roland Garros but she fell 9-7 in the third set to the No.27 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.

June 2006 – Wimbledon marked Azarenka's first main-draw appearance via direct entry although she fell to Agnieszka Radwanska.

August 2006 – Azarenka stunned former French Open champion and No.11 seed Anastasia Myskina for her first main-draw win at the US Open. She fell to Anna Chakvetadze in the third round.

January 2007 – She thrashed soon-to-be Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 60 75 in the second round before a close match against Jelena Jankovic in the third round at the Australian Open.

August 2007 – Azarenka scored her best Grand Slam performance as she defeated Martina Hingis en route to the fourth round of the US Open before losing to eventual finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova.

January 2008 – Serena Williams downed Azarenka in the third round, serving up 15 aces in a comprehensive 63 64 win.

January 2009 – A year later, Azarenka had Serena on the ropes but she was forced to retire with a heat-induced ailment. She won the first set 63 but trailed by a break in the second set.

May 2009 – Azarenka knocked out reigning champion Ana Ivanovic to make her first Grand Slam quarter-final, before coming out second-best to Dinara Safina.

June 2009 – She made back-to-back quarter-finals at Wimbledon but Serena was in top form in the last-eight.

January 2010 – Azarenka came from a set down to beat Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round and she led Serena 64 40 before the defending Australian Open champion fought back to win their quarter-final match in three sets.

May 2010 – Still lame due to a succession of injuries, Azarenka was downed by Gisela Dulko in the first round of Roland Garros.

June 2010 – Petra Kvitova won ten successive games to beat Azarenka 75 60 in the third round of Wimbledon.

August 2010 – Azarenka collapsed in searing conditions in the second round of the US Open against Dulko.

Juniors to Seniors

LAURA ROBSON and Heather Watson are rapidly emerging in the WTA rankings and both players are considered as two of the biggest talents for the next decade but while some Grand Slam winning juniors make a comfortable transition onto the senior tour, others fail to make the same impact.

Grand Slam winning juniors and successful seniors

Martina Hingis (SUI) – won French Open 1993-94 and Wimbledon 1994

HINGIS became the youngest ever Grand Slam junior champion at the French Open in 1993 and the Swiss is still the youngest winner of the Wimbledon junior title at 13 years and 276 days. Less than a year later, Hingis took her first top-ten scalp when she defeated world No.5 Jana Novotna en route to her first tour final in Hamburg. Persistent injuries forced her to retire from the sport in 2001 and even though she failed to make much of an impression on her brief return to the tour in 2006, Hingis still retires with 43 WTA singles titles and 209 weeks at No.1.

Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) – won French Open and Wimbledon 1996

THE Frenchwoman took some time to establish herself in the highest echelons of the senior ranks and while she certainly isn't regarded as a teen supernova, Mauresmo fulfilled her promise with Australian Open and Wimbledon titles in 2006.

Justine Henin (BEL) – won French Open 1997

THE Belgian is another prime example of a player who has etched out a fruitful trade after success in the junior ranks. Henin won the French Open junior title in 1997 and less than two years later, she claimed her first WTA title on home-soil in Antwerp. Since then, Henin has won seven Grand Slam titles in singles and is regarded as one of the greatest clay-court exponents of all-time.

Jelena Jankovic (SRB) – won Australian Open 2001

JANKOVIC won the Australian Open junior title in 2001 and even though it took the Serb a while to reproduce this form in the senior ranks, she was the outstanding player of 2008. Despite failing to claim a Grand Slam title, she finished the year as world No.1 with titles in Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow.

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) – won Wimbledon 2006

IT took the Dane less than three years to crack the top-ten after claiming the junior title at Wimbledon. Wozniacki became the youngest year-end No.1 since Martina Hingis last year and even though the Dane is still without a Grand Slam title, Wozniacki claimed six WTA titles in 2010.

Victoria Azarenka (BLR) – won Australian Open and US Open 2005

THE Belarussian won the Australian Open and US Open junior titles in 2005 and is renowned as one of the best hard-court players on the tour. Azarenka's biggest title to date came in Miami in 2009, where she defeated Serena Williams in straight sets.

Nadia Petrova (RUS) – won French Open 1998

PETROVA is regularly tagged as an under-performer but the Russian still has a highly distinguished résumé in singles and doubles. Petrova reached the semi-finals of the French Open twice, made a career-high ranking in singles of No.3 and won the Tour Championships doubles title with Meghann Shaughnessy in 2005.

Grand Slam winning juniors and solid seniors

Virginie Razzano (FRA) – won Australian Open 1999 and French Open 2000

THE 27-year-old from Dijon has spent most of her senior career inside the top-100 but despite briefly breaking the top-20 in 2009, Razzano's career has ebbed and flowed and having peaked at a career-high of No.16 in 2009, the Frenchwoman dropped from the top-100 the following year. Despite breaking a chain of nine successive year-end finishes in the top-100, Razzano took a win over Maria Sharapova at Fed Cup level, which shows she might be coming back to the level which took her to finals in Dubai and Eastbourne and fourth-round performances at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2009.

Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) – won Wimbledon 1998

SREBOTNIK won the Wimbledon junior title in 1999 but the Slovenian was unfortunate to sustain a succession of injuries after a stellar 2008 season where she cracked the top-20 in singles. On her return to the tour, Srebotnik has struggled to find any semblance of her best form in singles but the 29-year-old is still active in doubles, where she has maintained a reputation as a world-class exponent in the fore-court.

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) – won Australian Open 2002 and 2003

ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA defeated Maria Sharapova 6-0 7-5 en route to the Australian Open junior title in 2002 but since then, their respective careers have gone in different directions. However, the Czech seems to be on the up as she made her first tour final in Prague last year which took her to a career-high ranking of No.37 as well as third round appearances at Wimbledon and the Australian Open in the past year.

Vera Dushevina (RUS) – won Wimbledon 2002

AFTER a successful junior career, Dushevina broke the top-50 in singles at the age of 18 but even though the Russian has enjoyed a solid career, she hasn't been able to build on this initial promise.

Grand Slam winning juniors but struggling seniors

Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) – won French Open 1999

AFTER winning the Roland Garros junior title in 1999, it took the Spaniard seven years to make the main-draw of a Grand Slam. Dominguez Lino reached a career-high of 40 in 2006, which was the same year she won her maiden WTA title in Bogota but despite these successes, the 29-year-old has spent most of her career in the lower echelons of the top-100, although she equalled her best ever Grand Slam showing at last year's US Open when she made the third round as a qualifier.

Aniko Kapros (HUN) – won Australian Open 2000

THE Hungarian won singles and doubles at the Australian Open in 2000 but despite initial success at senior level, especially at Grand Slam competition, Kapros failed to build on this early momentum. Kapros, at 18, upset Justine Henin in the first round of the French Open in 2002, which was followed by a third-round showing at Wimbledon the following year before reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2004, where she defeated Nadia Petrova and Samantha Stosur en route to her best-ever Grand Slam performance. However, Kapros dropped out of the top-100 after a first-round exit at Melbourne Park the following year and failed to re-enter into the leading ranks. After a succession of injuries, Kapros announced her retirement last year.

Michaella Krajicek (NED) – won US Open 2004

KRAJICEK made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2007 but the Dutchwoman was set back by a succession of wrist and knee injuries the following year and hasn't made the main-draw of a Grand Slam since losing in the first-round at Wimbledon in 2008.

Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) – won Wimbledon and US Open 2003

LIKEWISE, Flipkens is another promising junior who has been beset by injuries during her senior career. The Belgian made back-to-back third round appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2009 but despite reaching a career-high ranking of No.59 last year, the 24-year-old was aggrieved by a recurring wrist injury which required surgery during the off-season.

Kristina Kucova (SVK) – won US Open 2007

THE Slovak has so far failed to crack the top-100 and despite being ranked at No.225, there have been some promising signs as the former US Open junior champion scored her first top-50 win at the GDF Suez Open in Paris, defeating Ekaterina Makarova in the first-round. Kucova clearly favours fast surfaces, further illustrated by a second-round appearance at Wimbledon in 2009, and this remains her only Grand Slam main-draw victory to date.

Justine Henin - a statistical tribute

JUST eighteen months after announcing her return to the tour, persistent elbow injuries have forced Justine Henin to re-retire from competitive action. The Belgian made her decision after a third-round loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Australian Open.

Win-loss record

Overall
527-116 (82.0%)

By year

1996 – 1-1

1997 – 11-2

1998 – 20-4

1999 – 33-10

2000 – 36-15

2001 – 57-18

2002 – 52-21

2003 – 75-11

2004 – 35-4

2005 – 34-5

2006 – 60-8

2007 – 63-4

2008 – 16-4

2010 – 32-8

2011 – 2-1

By surface

Hard outdoor – 226-44 (83.7%)

Hard indoor/carpet – 93-32 (74.4%)

Clay/indoor clay – 155-29 (84.2%)

Grass – 53-11 (82.8%)

By tournament

Grand Slam – 144-28 (83.7%)

Tour Championships – 13-5 (72.2%)

Tier I/Premier Mandatory – 116-25 (82.3%)

Other WTA events – 179-44 (80.3%)

Olympic Games – 6-0 (100%)

Fed Cup – 12-2 (85.7%)

ITF events – 57-12 (82.6%)

Titles

By year

1999 (1) – Antwerp

2001 (3) – Gold Coast, Canberra, Rosmalen

2002 (2) – Berlin, Linz

2003 (8) – Dubai, Charleston, Berlin, Roland Garros, San Diego, Toronto, US Open, Zurich

2004 (5) – Sydney, Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, Olympic Games

2005 (4) – Charleston, Warsaw, Berlin, Roland Garros

2006 (6) – Sydney, Dubai, Roland Garros, Eastbourne, New Haven, Tour Championships

2007 (10) – Dubai, Doha, Warsaw, Roland Garros, Eastbourne, Toronto, US Open, Stuttgart, Zurich, Tour Championships

2008 (2) – Sydney, Antwerp

2010 (2) – Stuttgart, Rosmalen

Total – 43

By surface

Hard outdoor - 19

Hard indoor/carpet - 7

Clay/indoor clay - 13

Grass - 4

By tournament

Grand Slam - 7

Tour Championships - 2

Tier I/Premier Mandatory - 11

Other WTA events - 22

Olympic Games - 1

Finalist

2001 (3) – Wimbledon, Hawaii, Filderstadt

2002 (4) – Gold Coast, Antwerp, Amelia Island, Rome

2003 (3) – Rosmalen, Leipzig, Filderstadt

2005 (1) – Toronto

2006 (4) – Australian Open, Berlin, Wimbledon, US Open

2007 (1) – Miami

2010 (2) – Brisbane, Australian Open

Total – 18

Win-loss record in final – 43-18 (70.5%)

Record in Grand Slams

Australian Open – 38-8 (W 2004, F 2006 and 2010, SF 2003, QF 2002 and 2008)

French Open – 41-5 (W 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, SF 2001)

Wimbledon – 30-8 (F 2001 and 2006, SF 2002, 2003 and 2007)

US Open – 35-7 (W 2003 and 2007), F 2006)

7 W, 5 F, 5 SF, 2 QF, 8 R4, 1 R3, 3 R2, 4 R1

Overall – 144-28 (83.7%)

Record at Tour Championships

13-5 (72.2%) - W 2006 and 2007, SF 2003, QF 2001 and 2002 (72.2%)

Record in Grand Slams and Tour Championships combined

157-33 (82.6%)

Record in Tier I/Premier Mandatory Tournaments

By tournament

Indian Wells – 14-4

Miami – 20-8

Charleston – 14-1

Berlin – 28-4

Rome – 4-1

Madrid – 0-1

San Diego – 5-0

Montreal/Toronto – 21-4

Moscow – 0-1

Zurich – 10-1

Overall – 116-25 (82.3%)

By surface

Hard outdoor – 60-16 (78.9%)

Hard indoor/carpet – 10-2 (83.3%)

Clay/indoor clay – 46-7 (86.8%)

Record in other WTA Tournaments (Tier II, Tier III, Tier IV, Tier V, Premier, International Tournaments

179-44 (80.3%)

By surface

Hard outdoor – 73-13 (84.9%)

Hard indoor/carpet – 46-19 (70.8%)

Clay/indoor clay – 37-9 (80.4%)

Grass – 23-3 (88.5%)

Record for Belgium

18-2 (90%)

By surface

Hard outdoor – 8-0 (100%)
 Hard indoor/carpet – 4-1 (80%)

Clay/indoor clay – 6-1 (85.7%)

Record on ITF circuit

Titles won

1997 – Le Touquet ($10k), Koksijde ($10k)

1998 – Gelos ($10k), Grenelefe ($25k), Ramat Hasharon ($25k)

1999 – Reims ($25k)

2000 – Liege ($50k)

By year

1996 – 1-1

1997 – 11-2

1998 – 20-4

1999 – 17-4

2000 – 8-1

Overall – 57-12 (82.6%)

By surface

Hard (outdoor) – 10-0 (100%)

Hard (indoor) – 14-5 (73.7%)

Clay – 33-7 (82.5%)

Hard indoor/carpet – 4-1 (80%)

Clay/indoor clay – 6-1 (85.7%)

Record against top-ten opposition:

1999 – 0-1

2000 – 0-8

2001 – 3-9

2002 – 5-13

2003 – 16-9

2004 – 8-1

2005 – 9-2

2006 – 16-7

2007 – 22-1

2008 – 2-2

2010 – 5-3

Overall – 86-56 (60.6%)

Top ten wins by year

2001 – V. Williams-2 (Berlin)

2002 – Dokic-8 (Amelia Island), Capriati-2 and S. Williams-5 (Berlin), Clijsters-4 (Rome), Seles-4 (Wimbledon)

2003 – Davenport-10 (Australian Open), Myskina-10 and Capriati-6 (Dubai), S. Williams-1 (Charleston), Mauresmo-6 and Clijsters-3 (Berlin), Rubin-8, S.Williams-1 and Clijsters-2 (French Open), Clijsters-2 (San Diego), Myskina-10, Capriati-7 and Clijsters-1 (US Open), Dementieva-8 (Filderstadt), Myskina-8 and Capriati-5 (Tour Championships)

2004 – Rubin-10 and Mauresmo-4 (Sydney), Davenport-5 and Clijsters-2 (Australian Open), Myskina-5 and Davenport-4 (Indian Wells), Myskina-3 and Mauresmo-2 (Olympic Games)

2005 – Molik-8, Davenport-1 and Dementieva-5 (Charleston), Kuznetsova-7 (Warsaw), Sharapova-2 (Berlin), Kuznetsova-7, Sharapova-2 and Petrova-9 (French Open), Mauresmo-3 (Toronto)

2006 – Davenport-1 and Sharapova-4 (Australian Open), Sharapova-4 (Dubai), Dementieva-9 and Petrova-4 (Fed Cup), Kuznetsova-10 and Mauresmo-1 (Berlin), Clijsters-2 and Kuznetsova-10 (French Open), Clijsters-2 (Eastbourne), Clijsters-2 (Wimbledon), Kuznetsova-7 (New Haven), Hingis-7, Petrova-5, Sharapova-2 and Mauresmo-1 (Tour Championships)

2007 – Kuznetsova-5 and Mauresmo-3 (Dubai), Jankovic-10 and Kuznetsova-5 (Doha), Petrova-7 (Miami), Jankovic-7 (Warsaw), Jankovic-6 (Berlin), S. Williams-8, Jankovic-5 and Ivanovic-7 (French Open), Mauresmo-4 (Eastbourne), S. Williams-8 (Wimbledon), Petrova-9 and Jankovic-3 (Toronto), S. Williams-9 and Kuznetsova-4 (US Open), Jankovic-3 (Stuttgart), Chakvetadze-7, Bartoli-10, Jankovic-3, Ivanovic-4 and Sharapova-6 (Tour Championships)

2008 – Ivanovic-4 and Kuznetsova-2 (Sydney)

2010 – Dementieva-5 (Australian Open), Dementieva-6 and Wozniacki-2 (Miami), Jankovic-7 and Stosur-10 (Stuttgart)

Record against top-ten opposition at Grand Slams:

Australian Open – 6-7 (46.2%)

French Open – 11-2 (84.6%)

Wimbledon – 4-7 (36.4%)

US Open – 4-3 (57.1%)

Overall – 25-19 (56.8%)

Overall record against top-ten opposition at Grand Slams and Tour Championships combined:

Overall – 36-23 (61.0%)

Record against top-ten opposition by surface

Hard (outdoor) – 35-22 (61.4%)

Hard (indoor) – 13-15 (46.4%)

Clay – 31-11 (73.8%)

Grass – 7-8 (46.7%)

Record against top-twenty opposition:

1999 – 1-4

2000 – 1-9

2001 – 10-14

2002 – 14-15

2003 – 26-10

2004 – 11-3

2005 – 13-3

2006 – 30-7

2007 – 36-3

2008 – 2-3

2010 – 12-5

Overall – 156-76 (67.2%)

Record against top-twenty opposition at Grand Slams:

Australian Open – 10-7

French Open – 15-3

Wimbledon – 9-7

US Open – 10-7

Overall – 44-24 (64.7%)

H2H records

Head-to-head record with current top-ten

Caroline Wozniacki 1-0

Vera Zvonareva 6-0

Kim Clijsters 12-13

Serena Williams 6-8

Venus Williams 2-7

Samantha Stosur 1-1

Francesca Schiavone 7-1

Jelena Jankovic 10-0

Victoria Azarenka 0-0

Elena Dementieva 10-2

H2H over current top-ten – 55-32 (63.2%)

Head-to-head record with Grand Slam champions

Kim Clijsters 12-13

Serena Williams 6-8

Venus Williams 2-7

Francesca Schiavone 7-1

Svetlana Kuznetsova 16-3

Maria Sharapova 7-3

Ana Ivanovic 6-0

Amelie Mauresmo 8-6

Anastasia Myskina 8-2

Jennifer Capriati 5-2

Lindsay Davenport 7-5

Mary Pierce 4-1

Martina Hingis 2-2

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 0-1

Monica Seles 3-4

Conchita Martinez 8-0

H2H over Grand Slam champions – 101-58 (63.5%)

Other noteworthy head-to-head records

Nadia Petrova 14-2

Patty Schnyder 8-1

Best wins by score

60 60 over Aurelie Vedy – F Gelos (April 1998)

60 60 over Olivia Lukaszewicz – R1 Australian Open (January 2004)

60 60 over Aiko Nakamura – R3 Indian Wells (March 2006)

60 60 over Marion Bartoli – RR Tour Championships (November 2007)

60 61 over Nathaly Tijssen – R1 Koksijde (August 1997)

60 61 over Katalin Miskolczi – Q1 Reims (March 1999)

60 61 over Anna Kournikova – R2 Australian Open (January 2002)

60 61 over Patty Schnyder – SF Berlin (May 2005)

60 61 over Meng Yuan – R1 Wimbledon (June 2006)

61 60 over Laurence Combes – SF Gelos (April 1998)

61 60 over Sonya Jeyaseelan – R2 Gold Coast (January 2001)

61 60 over Sarah Pitkowski-Malcor – R1 Wimbledon (June 2001)

61 60 over Conchita Martinez – QF Wimbledon (June 2001)

61 60 over Janette Husarova – R2 Sydney (January 2003)

61 60 over Lina Krasnoroutskaya – F Toronto (August 2003)

61 60 over Conchita Martinez – QF Dubai (February 2004)

61 60 over Nicole Pratt – R3 Olympic Games (August 2004)

61 60 over Maria Kirilenko – R3 Berlin (May 2006)

61 60 over Shahar Peer – R4 US Open (September 2006)

61 60 over Zheng Jie – SF Australian Open (January 2010)

61 61 over Barbara Rosenberger – R2 Athens (May 1999)

61 61 over Joannette Kruger – QF Gold Coast (January 2001)

61 61 over Dally Randriantefy – R3 French Open (May 2003)

61 61 over Eleni Daniilidou – R2 San Diego (July 2003)

61 61 over Anastasia Myskina – SF Indian Wells (March 2004)

61 61 over Mary Pierce – F French Open (June 2005)

61 61 over Tatjana Malek – R2 Berlin (May 2007)

60 62 over Stephanie Content – Q1 Joue-Les-Tours (Oct 1998)

60 62 over Lenka Nemeckova – Q2 Hobart (Jan 2000)

60 62 over Nadejda Ostrovskaya – R2 Cergy Pontoise (December 2000)

60 62 over Nadia Petrova – QF San Diego (July 2003)

60 62 over Eleni Daniilidou – QF Dubai (February 2007)

60 62 over Ekaterina Makarova – R3 US Open (August 2007)

60 62 over Dinara Safina – R4 US Open (August 2007)

60 62 over Yung-Jan Chan – R2 Berlin (May 2008)

62 60 over Angeles Montolio – SF Reims (March 1999)

62 60 over Francesca Lubiani – R2 Palermo (July 2000)

62 60 over Evie Dominikovic – R1 Hawaii (September 2001)

62 60 over Katarina Srebotnik – R2 Australian Open (January 2003)

62 60 over Tamarine Tanasugarn – R3 Miami (March 2003)

62 60 over Elena Dementieva – Fed Cup (April 2006)

62 60 over Kaia Kanepi – QF Sydney (January 2008)

Firsts and lasts

First top-100 win – def. Jana Kandarr 6-3 6-0 (Joue-Les-Tours, Oct 1998)

First top-50 win – def. Miriam Oremans 5-7 7-5 63 (Fed Cup, April 1999)

First top-20 win – def. Anna Kournikova 7-6 6-4 (Philadelphia, Nov 1999)

First top-10 win – def. Venus Williams 6-1 6-4 (Berlin, May 2001)

First No.1 win – def. Serena Williams 6-3 6-4 (Charleston, April 2003)

First ITF title – Le Touquet (May 1997)

First WTA title – Antwerp (May 1999)

First Grand Slam title – French Open (June 2003)

First professional match – vs. Laura Frias (ESP) in Palma, November 1996. Won 3-6 6-3 6-4

First WTA match – vs. Lubomira Bacheva (BUL) in Antwerp, May 1999. Won 6-2 6-1

First Grand Slam match – vs. Mashona Washington (USA) at French Open qualifying, May 1999. Won 6-3 6-1

First Grand Slam main-draw win – vs. Kristina Brandi (PUR) at the French Open, May 1999 – 6-4 6-2

First Grand Slam match as direct-entrant – vs. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) at the US Open, August 2001. Won 6-1 6-4

Last top-100 win – def. Elena Baltacha 6-1 6-3 (Australian Open 2011)

Last top-50 win – def. Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-4 (Wimbledon 2010)

Last top-20 win – def. Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-4 (Wimbledon 2010)

Last top-10 win – def. Samantha Stosur 6-4 2-6 6-1 (Stuttgart 2010)

Last No.1 win – def. Amelie Mauresmo 6-4 6-3 (Tour Championships 2006)

Last WTA title – Rosmalen (June 2010)

Last Grand Slam title – US Open (September 2007)

Last win – vs. Elena Baltacha (GBR) at the Australian Open, January 2011. Lost 6-1 6-3

Last professional match – vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) at the Australian Open, January 2011. Lost 6-4 7-6