Succes 2011: Kim Clijsters, former World No. 1 tennis player in both singles and doubles

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters ( born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 29 August 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 3 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles.

Clijsters is the reigning singles champion at the US Open and the Australian Open. She has also won 41 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won four Grand Slam singles titles: three at the US Open, in 2005, 2009 and 2010 and one at the Australian Open in 2011. She has also been runner-up in four Grand Slam singles tournaments, and won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002, 2003 and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.
In June 2011, TIME Magazine named her one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future".
According to Forbes in August 2011, she became the fifth highest-paid female athlete over the past year.

Clijsters is recognized for her deep, powerful, well-placed groundstrokes. She can hit outright winners off both wings and from any part of the court. Her forehand is one of the best and most powerful the women's game has ever seen, yet occasionally erratic and prone to unforced errors; her backhand is more reliable and consistent, and can be hit with heavy slice as a defensive shot. Clijsters is also recognised for her all-court defence, characterized by speed and athleticism. Clijsters, along with Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova, is among the few tennis players on either the Association of Tennis Professionals or Women's Tennis Association tours who can slide (or "straddle") on all surfaces. Maria Sharapova, interviewed after losing to Clijsters in the 2005 Nasdaq-100 Open, said, "You just have to expect that she's going to get every ball back". Her first serve, while not overwhelming, is placed well and earns aces and unreturnables. Clijsters tends to rush between first and second serves, which may contribute to her occasional matches with high numbers of double faults. A former World No. 1 player in doubles, Clijsters has exceptional volleys; she has no problem switching from baseline to finishing points at the net with a volley or over-head. Her mental fragility was considered her biggest weakness, and at the earlier stages of her career she was considered a "choker", often surrendering big leads in the latter rounds of Grand Slams. Since winning the 2005 US Open, Clijsters has gained more control over her nerves and since her return to the tour in 2009 she has been known, along with Serena Williams, as among the toughest players to beat mentally. She is now seen as capable of rising to the occasion and playing her best tennis at the important stages of matches. Clijsters is also considered to be one of the most popular players on the tour, known for her grace on the court and even temper. She has been voted the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award by her fellow players seven times and the WTA Player Service Award three times.

Succes 2011: Yaroslava Shvedova, winner of the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open Ladies' Doubles tennis titles

Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (Russian: Яросла́ва Вячесла́вовна Шве́дова, born 12 September 1987 in Moscow) is a Kazakhstani professional tennis player of Russian descent.

She has achieved a career high ranking of No. 29 as of 21 June 2010. She has won 1 WTA singles title, 3 ITF Women's Circuit singles titles and 3 doubles titles, including the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open Ladies' Doubles titles. She was taught tennis at the age of six by her father who is currently her coach. She has made one Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, at the 2010 French Open.
2007–2008

In February 2007, she unexpectedly reached the final of the Sony Ericsson International, beating homecrowd favourite and No.2 seed Sania Mirza in the quarterfinals, 6–7 (2–7), 6–4, 6–4. In the final, she defeated top-seeded defending champion Mara Santangelo 6–4, 6–4, to win her first WTA Tour title.[3][4] This win caused her to be in the top 100 for the first time, at 78.

At the 2007 Miami Masters, she came through qualifying and impressively recorded her first-ever top 20 win over future number one Ana Ivanović in the second round, beating her 7–5, 6–4. Tathiana Garbin beat her 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 in the third round.

In August 2008, she won an ITF title in Monterrey, Mexico, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková in the final 6–4, 6–1. Just over a week later, she won through the qualifying rounds for 2008 US Open, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round 4–6, 2–6.

2009

In 2009, Shvedova qualified for the main draw of Roland Garros, defeating Americans Shenay Perry in the first qualifying round 6–4, 6–4 and Angela Haynes, 6–1, 6–2 in the second qualifying round. She then beat Elena Baltacha 6–2, 6–2 in the final qualifying round to enter the main draw. She beat Kaia Kanepi in the first round and advanced to the third round after defeating Arantxa Rus, also a qualifier, in the second. There she lost in a close 3rd round match to former number one Maria Sharapova, returning from a long-lasting shoulder injury and then ranked 102, 6–1, 3–6, 4–6.

At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships in the first round she faced Romanian Monica Niculescu and demolished her 6–1, 6–0, but lost 6–3, 2–6, 4–6 to American teenager Melanie Oudin in the second. At the 2009 U.S. Open, Shvedova pulled off the biggest win of her career by beating then No. 5 Jelena Janković 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–6(6), in a match where she saved two match points.

2010

Shvedova experienced a good run at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. She gained direct entry into the main draw and won a tight first round match against wildcard Ajla Tomljanović 6–7(1), 7–6(3), 7–5. She then defeated 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki in the second round after she retired whilst trailing 3–6, 1–0. In the third round, Shvedova advanced against unseeded Andrea Petkovic by winning another close match 6–0, 5–7, 7–5. She fell to 6th seed Agnieszka Radwańska 6–1, 6–4 in the fourth round.

At the 2010 Barcelona Ladies Open Shvedova defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–1, 6–4 in the first round before upsetting 4th seed Maria Kirilenko 4–6, 6–2, 6–2 in the second round. Next, she defeated Iveta Benešová 6–4, 6–4, before falling to eventual tournament and 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals.

Shvedova enjoyed arguably her best career result at the 2010 French Open. There, she advanced to the quarterfinals in the Women's Singles competition. Shvedova defeated 8th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, avenging her loss to her in Miami, en route to the quarters. As the last unseeded player in the tournament, Shvedova was defeated by 4th seed Jelena Janković in the quarterfinal, 7–5, 6–4. In mixed doubles, Shvedova partnered with Julian Knowle of Austria to reach the final, beating doubles legends Cara Black and Leander Paes, the second seeds, along the way. They fell 4–6, 7–6(5), [11–9] in a nailbighting final to sixth seeds Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Nenad Zimonjić of Serbia.

At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, Shvedova entered the Women's Doubles competition unseeded with partner Vania King. The two began playing together at the start of the grass court season two weeks before, and were only in their third event together. In a stunning string of upsets, Shvedova and King won the tournament, beating Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva 7–6(6), 6–2 in the final. The pairing they beat in the final beat Serena and Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, and Zvonareva lost in the women's singles final.

Both Shvedova and King continued their good form onto the hard courts of the 2010 US Open, being seeded 6th, the team continued to win match after match before taking a spot in their second consecutive Grand Slam final, this time facing Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova. King and Shvedova won 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(4) after the match was played over two days due to heavy rainfall.