We'll get to a full Outsports ranking in the official season wrap-up. In the meantime, which WTA player is truly No. 1 ???

Tough question. I voted Sharapova because she won Wimbledon and the Tour Champs. Lindsay won more tournaments, and Justine won the Olympics and the Aussie, but Lindsay won no grand slam and Justine's Olympics win in not really on par with the slams or the championship.

I voted for Maria as well. She accomplished the most, and made the biggest splash on the tour. Didn't she also do it while still being under the age limitations imposed by the tour for at least part of the year? Lindsay was #2 in my book, followed by Myskina.

Oh wait a minute, the question is Who is no. 1? I answered, Who is player of the year? Why my mind made that switch I do not know, but no. 1, my vote would go to Lindsay. Doesn't bother me that she won no slams, it's the cumulative results that gives no. 1. but player of the year--Sharapova.

bump

I have to say that I'm surprised Lindsay is leading the voting. I gave more weight to Grand Slam performance in my assessment of who's No. 1.

Curious to know who voted for Other and what other player they thought to be no. 1. Not in a smart-ass way.

I voted for Amelie, just to represent. I heard Mary Carillo say "Mother Russia" was No. 1 in women's tennis yesterday - sounds good to me.

Carillo is such a goof, but I have to admit that I thought of her phrase "big babe tennis" the other night watching Serena and Lindsay SLUG the ball...

I still haven't voted because I'm not sure what #1 is supposed to mean. Lindsay IS number one--that's not a subjective thing to be voted on. If I'm asked who the best player this year was--well, it was Justine Henin-Hardenne when she played. She won over half the tournaments she entered, and had an amazing 9-1 record against top 10-ranked opponents. On the other hand, there is a subjective sense in which Sharapova made the biggest splash of the year.

Although I voted for Lindsay, I like the Mother Russia nomination...made possible with a huge assist from Madame Injury. The fact that 6 of the top players were seriously curtailed because they were hurt/incapacitated/auditioning for movies/unexplainable head cases (see: JCap in French and US Open semis) certainly puts an asterisk on the final rankings for me. While there's no denying Sharapova's breakthrough, the Kooz' potential, Dementieva's post-serve power game or Myskina's tenacity I highly doubt we'll see a Russian top heavy, top ten next year if everyone's healthy...

Who voted 'other'? And who is 'other'? discuss, please.

Lindsay. Points is points, kids. lol re: Madame Injury btw.

My vote corresponds with the official ranking. I voted for Lyndsay. She won the most titles (7)this year and, I think, was on track to reach the US Open final, if not win it.

Lindsay here as well....
BTW, noticed this article...Looks like a former #1 is planning to step on the courts for charity. Hmmmmm...
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/ne...tory?id=1935604

i wonder if hingis is dipping her toes in the pool to get a feeling for the temperature or if this is truly a one time only charity deal...

MSG televised the charity event that Venus co-hosted. She and Anna Kournikova played a fun match. And Brenda McCarthy and Venus played Serena and Anna in doubles. It was fun to watch.

That said, I can't imagine Anna wants to play "pro" tennis again. She enjoys World Team Tennis and charity events, and even though she really is good, she seems happily resigned to play at the level she's at.

re: Martina Hingis I came across similar info. yesterday that indicated she was playing a "tournament" - bummer to know it's just a charity event. Sigh.

Well, my investigations have turned up three matches that Martina Hingis currently has scheduled:

- Doubles with the Kooz in exhibition in Spain on December 10th. Martina/Svetlana vs. Conchita/Virginia Ruano-Pascual

- Tournament in Thailand ... this is actual WTA tourney, no?

- Exhibtion with Sabatini during Antwerp tourney in February (I think the 11th)

Gaby's been playing more exhibitions lately. Maybe she's gonna come back to the Tour too! (A boy can dream.)

[ December 01, 2004, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: Gaga4Gaby ]

yep. the Thai event that Hingis is playing in is, in fact, a WTA tour event. It starts January 31st.

Nothing against Lindsay Davenport, for whom I actually voted, but it is truly a sad year for the WTA when the top two (Davenport and Amelie Mauresmo) points leaders didn't win a single Grand Slam event.