TENNIS - year in review

ESPN.com - TENNIS - DeSimone: Sharapova wins, wails, whines in year in review

Player of the Year: Amelie Mauresmo

Match of the year: The backstory between Mauresmo and Henin-Hardenne gave the Wimbledon final

Comeback player of the year: Even Martina Hingis' most ardent fans

Player to watch in 2007: The vivacious, assertive 21-year-old Jelena Jankovic of Serbia

Most intriguing newcomer: Vania King of Long Beach, Calif., who turned pro in July at age 17, won her first tournament in October and finished the season ranked No. 60.

Sophomore slump: India's Sania Mirza, hailed as an It Girl for her play and status as a cultural pioneer during her first full season on the WTA Tour in 2005, battled wrist pain, logged a losing record and sagged from a career-high No. 31 late in 2005 to her current ranking of 65th.

Biggest upset, individual: Russia's Nadia Petrova steamed into the French Open having won three straight clay-court tournaments but was upended in the first round by 69th-ranked Akiko Morigami of Japan.

Biggest upset, team: It's a Fed Cup tie! (Get it?) Zina Garrison's hodgepodge U.S. team shouldn't have had a shot against Germany in the first round. Italy stared down Belgium in the final, and we all know who blinked.

Here-to-stay award: Nadia Petrova followed up her first top-10 finish in 2005 by winning five events (three last spring on clay, as mentioned above). She then suffered through that embarrassing first-round ouster at Roland Garros, injuries and midseason doldrums. But she recovered for a win in Stuttgart in September and appeared in two other finals.

Determined-to-go award: Kim Clijsters, 24, stuck to her guns, saying 2007 will be her last on the tour because of her other priorities, which include starting a family with fiancé and former Villanova basketball player Brian Lynch, getting more education and perhaps working with children.

Most provocative public scolding: Chris Evert penned a letter in Tennis Magazine that called out Serena Williams for recent subpar results that were "hard to fathom."