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Page 2
Newcomer Player of the Year: SERENA WILLIAMS
Serena was officially awarded this title at the Chase Championships Awards Ceremony, one year after sister Venus was voted for the same award. Serena has notched up Top 10 scalps faster than any other player has in their debut, having defeated five Top 10 players in her first 16 professional matches. In her second ever professional tournament in Chicago in 1997, she defeated Mary Pierce and Monica Seles, and in her first ever Grand Slam singles match in Melbourne, she defeated ever dangerous Irina Spirlea. Her best showing of the year was in Sydney, where she came through the qualifying rounds (ranked #99), to reach the semi-finals, defeating Lindsay Davenport in her path. Other big scalps this year have included Jana Novotna, Conchita Martinez, Nathalie Tauziat, Dominique van Roost, Sandrine Testud, Patty Schnyder and "almost" Martina Hingis (she had match point on Martina at the Lipton quarter finals before losing). Serena has also shown better versatility on different surfaces than her Top 5 ranked sister, as she reached the quarter finals in her first career clay court tournament in Rome (losing to Venus) and the fourth round in her French Open debut. She also reached the quarter finals in her first career grass court tournament in Eastbourne (losing to Sanchez-Vicario). With the exception of the Grand Slam tournaments, Serena did not lose before the quarterfinals of any WTA tournament. However, I would say that most of her 1998 highlights have come on the doubles circuit, having won her first professional title with Venus in Oklahoma City. They went on to capture the doubles title at Zurich for their biggest career doubles victory. Serena had also teamed with Max Mirnyi in mixed doubles to capture two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the US Open. Having only played 11 tournaments due to age eligibility rules, Serena has still managed to finish the year ranked in the Top 20, which was a feat not even Venus could achieve in her debut year. No doubt she will become an even bigger force to be reckoned with next year as she gets more match tough.
One of the biggest stories in tennis this year was the resurgence of Monica Seles when she reached the French Open final two weeks after her father's passing. No one had even expected her to play here, yet she insisted she play, despite her emotional turmoil and lack of match practice. Before the French Open, she had had a rather lacklustre season opener, losing before the quarterfinals in three of the four tournaments she played. No one expected her to do so well.
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