For Serbian Ana Ivanovic, this was her second consecutive French Open final and her third stab at a major title. In the end, experience proved to be the key, as Ivanovic triumphed 6-4, 6-3 over Russian Dinara Safina to hoist her first major’s trophy.

Last year, Ivanovic was in Safina’s shoes as a first time finalist. Unable to deal with the magnitude of the occasion, Ivanovic quickly submitted to give Justine Henin her third straight title. This time around, Safina was the newcomer to the big stage and it showed. Dinara opened the match by losing her serve. With Ivanovic’s strongest wing, her forehand, on target, she got off to a double break lead 4-1. Yet, after venting in her native tongue, Safina quieted her nerves and made headway by winning three successive games to equalize things at 4 all. With this shift in momentum, the championship had the potential of turning into a real contest. But, in the next game, Safina shot herself in the foot again and handed the break back to Ivanovic. Still, as Ivanovic served for the set, Safina had two chances to keep the set alive, but was unable to capitalize.

Now beaming with confidence, which Ivanovic ostentatiously demonstrated with her customary fist pumps, Ana began the second set as she had the last by breaking Dinara in the initial game. Luckily, Safina immediately erased the lead 1-1. Unfortunately, Safina’s pattern of losing serve after breaking back continued and Ivanovic was once more ahead. Habitually with an explosive temperament, Safina had succeeded in controlling her emotions throughout the tournament. But, Dinara cracked under the pressure resulting in an innocent racket getting hammered. After letting off some steam, Safina kept the match close at 3-2 and had deuce on Ivanovic’s serve to try to level things off. But errors took hold of her game, increasing Ivanovic’s lead to 4-2. Serving at 3-5 to stay alive, Dinara committed three unforced errors to give Ivanovic triple championship point. The Serbian gladly accepted the present and with a forehand winner, Ana concluded the match to win her first major.

For both women, this was an unforgettable fortnight. Perhaps, after defeating three top ten players en route to the finals including new world number one, Maria Sharapova, Safina was emotionally spent. After all, Dinara twice overcame match point and 5-2 leads in the second set, once against Sharapova in the round of sixteen, then in quarterfinals against Elena Dementieva. Regardless, all of Safina’s hard work will be rewarded; she will once again be back into the top ten. For Ivanovic, this was a double coronation. By defeating countrywoman Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals, Ana supplanted Maria at number one. Today was just her crowning moment with her capturing the ‘Coupe Suzanne Lenglen’.

One has to look no further than the coverage of the French Open men’s semifinal to understand the reason why the major networks are losing viewership. In their desire to capture revenues, these organizations have failed to keep in mind their audience.

At the odd hours that the French Open is transmitted, only an avid fan would care enough to watch. Therefore, as one such fan, I feel slighted when instead of viewing live action, I am presented with pre-recorded programs. Gone are the days when television had a monopoly on this sort of information. Nowadays, with up-to-the-minute data a click away on the internet, this medium is running the risk of becoming obsolete in the world of sport.

From the outset on May 25^th , I followed the competition on the Tennis Channel. Early on in the tournament, ESPN (ABC’s sister station) picked up where that network left off, making it a seamless transition. Then on June 2, as the Tennis Channel terminated its programming, I expected ESPN to show the next match, Croatian Ivan Ljubicic versus Frenchman Gael Monfils. Instead, there was a replay of the calamity of Maria Sharapova vis-à-vis Dinara Safina, culminated with the annihilation of American Robby Ginepri by Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. Any fan with computer access was probably aware of the results of these completed matches.

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The Qatar Telecom German Open final featured two Russians, the seventh seed, Elena Dementieva and the thirteenth seed, Dinara Safina. At age 22, this was Safina’s first Tier I tournament final despite being an eight-year veteran of the ladies’ circuit. Dinara took full advantage winning it 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

At the beginning of the first set, neither player held her serve. Disgruntled with her poor play, in a move reminiscent of her brother Marat, Safina knocked out a racket. With on court coaching permitted, Safina opted to get advice on her performance, but continued to have some difficulties. With the serve, habitually the most troublesome part of Dementieva’s game holding up nicely, with at 71% first serve, and with sloppy play from her opponent, Elena prevailed in the set 6-3.

The second set started out similarly to the first with exchanges of breaks. But, as the set progressed, with some intelligently placed drop shots and a dramatic improvement in her first serve at 70%, Safina took control of the rallies. Dinara also reverted her ratio of winners to unforced errors with the former outnumbering the latter. Although well known for her defensive play and mobility, Elena found it hard to be effective when pinned far behind the baseline. As a result, Safina leveled the match at one set all.

In the first game of the third set, Safina had a double break chance, but Dementieva swept that off. Yet, from then on, Safina had the upper hand. In the third game, Dinara got the break and consolidated to take a 3-1 lead. Safina further distanced herself from her rival by going up a double break. As the errors pilled up and Dementieva’s second serve became ineffective, Safina served out the set and won the match 6-2.

Ranked 17^th in the world, this represented Safina’s most successful week as a singles player. In the third round, Dinara defeated world number one, Justine Henin 6-1 in the third set. She then dispatched Serena Williams in a third set tiebreaker, putting an end to Serena’s 17 match winning streak. For her part, Dementieva eliminated two Serbs on her way to the finals, Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals, the defending champion. To date, Ivanovic has never beaten Dementieva.

The women’s tour moves on to Rome where Maria Sharapova will make her debut on European clay. Henin withdrew from the tournament stating fatigue; Justine will be fined by the WTA for this eleventh hour move. Germany was Henin’s first tournament since the Sony Ericsson Open; she has been hampered by a knee problem. With Henin battling injury, the field looks wide open as to who might win this year’s French Open.

Sadly tennis enthusiasts, the time has come to bid adieu to the 2007 season, but fear not, the hiatus will be brief. Soon enough, the courts will be ablaze with the shrilling grunts of Maria Sharapova, the artistry of Roger Federer and the mercurial ever-flamboyant fashions of Serena and Venus Williams. Prior to foretelling what 2008 may unwrap, let’s take a moment to reflect on the marquee events which shaped tennis this past year.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams started 2007 in grand fashion by winning the calendar’s first major. Serena, who had been sidelined for most of 2006 by a myriad of injuries, was unseated when the 2007 Australian Open started; consequently, she was the dark horse of the tournament. Serena not only reached the finals, but also comprehensively beat a befuddled Sharapova. Who can forget Oracene Williams’s advice to her daughter “ get out of Melbourne”, referring to the painted sign on the court where Serena had been camping out, pushing her too far off the baseline. Well, Serena followed her mother’s pointer and got out of Melbourne, but not before snatching the coveted Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. At another prestigious venue, the Ericsson Open, Serena again demonstrated her tenacity coming back from a bagel lost in the first set and fought off two championship points by her opponent to win the tournament against a relentless foe in Justine Henin. Although the year started out with a sizzle, it would end with a fizzle with Serena losing consecutive quarterfinal matches against Henin at each subsequent major tournament. Once more, Serena’s last few months on tour were racked by injuries leading to her withdraw from the season ending tournament in Spain.

After a tumultuous start to her year, with the turmoil in her personal life (the dissolution her marriage) and being forced to skip the Australian Open where she had been a finalist in 2006, Justine Henin had undisputedly her best season on tour. Henin won 10 of 11 finals including her third straight French Open while participating in only 14 events. The sign that Henin is human came at Wimbledon where she lost to a French player in the semifinals, not Amelie Mauresmo, but relatively unknown, Marion Bartoli, whom Venus Williams summarily defeated in the next round to claim the Venus Rosewater dish. Therefore, as Rafa Nadal seems to be Federer’s handicap on the clay in Paris, in 2008, it will be interesting to see if the All England grass and the French women continue to be Henin’s kryptonite.

In a run reminiscent of 2005, Venus worked out the rust in her game to make Wimbledon the highlight of her year. Fit and focused, Venus showed the brilliance that can illuminate her game toppling three top ranked opponents to capture the cup with her namesake. Venus continued to excel the remainder of the season although she had to cede her place at the season ending championship tournament to Sharapova because of illness. The Russian diva took full advantage of the gift by making it to the finals in Madrid where she gave Henin a run for the money prior to falling in a thrilling three setter rescuing a par year plagued by a sleuth of health problems. Thus, it remains to be seen whether in 2008 the Siberian ice queen’s game will continue to heat up or will need to be rescued from the frozen tundra once more.

2007 will be remembered as the year which propelled a small nation called Serbia into the tennis spotlight and one woman in particular Ana Ivanovic. The teenage phenom heralded her arrival with her phenomenal play at the French Open culminating with an appearance in the finals prior to collapsing under the weight of the occasion by losing to Henin. With a blistering forehand, Ivanovic will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season; the question that will need to be answered is whether fellow countrywoman Jelena Jankovic will also be a factor.

A woman’s right to choose saw the exit of a champion and return of another for contrasting reasons. Kim Clijsters decided that after winning one major trophy, she had her fill. For Kim, it was time to move on to marriage and children. While Lindsay Davenport returned to the court after the birth of her son hoping that there is still life in her career. Moreover, the 2007 sports season will be recalled as the year marred by drugs from steroids use in baseball to the career-ending shocker whereby Martina Hingis abruptly retired disputing the outcome of positive cocaine on a drug screen at Wimbledon.

Since this is a locally slanted outlet, I would be remised if I did not mention Ahsha Rolle and her exceptional performance at the U.S. Open. After earning a spot as a wildcard, the 109 ranked Rolle became the buzz of the tournament after her opening round victory over the 17 seeded and talented star Tatiana Golovin. The bee from Miami would have the best showing of her career to date in a major making it to the third round where she was ousted by Danira Safina. I was fortunate enough to attend one of Ahsha’s matches, in my opinion, a major weakness in her game is her one-dimensional backhand; she constantly slices it back. If Rolle is to have continued success on the circuit, she will need to develop more sting and variety to her backhand.

Considering the horde of new comers who impacted the game in 2007 and with so many youngsters doing particularly well at the final major of the year defeating experienced players to make it past the fourth round, the upcoming season promises to be gripping. In my viewpoint, the newcomer to watch will be Agnes Szavay from Hungary. Szavay looked impressive on the hardcourt making it to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after being a finalist the previous week in New Haven where she was forced to retire against the #1 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova due to a back injury. With the surface change in Australia to reflect more of a hardcourt feel, I predict that she will be poised for another great run there. Overall, the young guns from the Soviet Union and the former Eastern Block look ready to make an even greater mark on the game this coming year. On the other hand, Henin appears to have taken a liking to the #1 spot; therefore, everyone will be vying to dethrone her. At times, the psychological part of her game has proven to be her weakness, thus, along with skill, mental fortitude will be the key to the opponent’s ability to dismantle her game. A player who does possess these weapons in her arsenal is Lindsay Davenport; I anticipate that with her return Henin and the Williams sisters will be breathing a little tighter.