2009 WTA Tour
The 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 37th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 5, 2009, and concluded on November 8, 2009, after 56 events.
Serena Williams finished the year as world No. 1 for the second time in her career. She won three tournaments during the season, including two majors at the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships, as well as the WTA Tour Championships. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | January 3 – November 2, 2009 |
| Edition | 39th |
| Tournaments | 55 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Championships (2) WTA Premier Mandatory (4) WTA Premier 5 (5) WTA Premier (10) WTA International tournaments (30) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles | Victoria Azarenka Elena Dementieva Svetlana Kuznetsova Dinara Safina Serena Williams Caroline Wozniacki (3) |
| Most tournament finals | Dinara Safina Caroline Wozniacki (8) |
| Prize money leader | Serena Williams (US$6,545,586) |
| Points leader | Serena Williams (9,075) |
| Awards | |
| Player of the year | Serena Williams |
| Doubles team of the year | Serena Williams Venus Williams |
| Most improved player of the year | Yanina Wickmayer |
| Newcomer of the year | Melanie Oudin |
| Comeback player of the year | Kim Clijsters |
← 2008 2010 → | |
Serena Williams and Dinara Safina engaged in a battle for the year-end No. 1 ranking, with Williams eventually coming out on top after winning the WTA Tour Championships. She won two Grand Slam titles during the year. Safina ascended to No. 1 in April and held it for much of the rest of the season. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki and Elena Dementieva also enjoyed successful years in 2009.
Jelena Janković also battled with inconsistent results, falling from No. 1 in January to No. 8 by November.
Kim Clijsters returned to competitive tennis in August after giving birth to her daughter, and won the US Open title. Maria Sharapova made her comeback in May, having missed all tournaments since the summer of 2008, and rose back into the top 20.
Former world No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo announced her retirement at the end of the season, while Ai Sugiyama and Nathalie Dechy were among other notable players who retired during the year.