Tennis Update: WTA Doubles review in 2010 (Part 1)
The perfect way to describe the 2010 WTA doubles year is unpredictable, with an unseeded pair capturing a Grand Slam crown, arguably the most dominant duo of this era suffering a major upset and contenders that had only brief success together before this
season finishing the year atop the rankings.
The commitment shown by the Williams sisters from the United States of America back in 2009 also continued in early 2010, as they captured their second Australian Open crown in a row after getting the better of this era's other most dominant pair Liezel
Huber and Cara Black in the final.
There were also plenty of worthy results to mention at the Premier competitions the next couple of months, with Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke going all the way to the title battle in Dubai before losing to the WTA's 2009 trophies leader -Maria Jose
Martinez Sanchez and Nuria Llagostera Vives.
Few weeks later, Srebotnik and Peschke captured their maiden career trophy in Indian Wells. In spite of the fact that they grabbed just one more in 2010 at New Heaven, they had a remarkable seven finalist appearances, including at the French Open and WTA
Tournament.
Flavia Pennetta and Gisela Dulko also showed the form that would lead to them being this year’s most prolific pair by lifting a crown in Miami. They had contested on and off together in past seasons, with some success, however none would have predicted where
they would end up by the time the year was done.
They played some great tennis to pick up their second and third premier level crown in a row, at Stuttgart and Rome. Their seventeen match winning streak was at last snapped by the Williams sisters in the title battle in Madrid.
The Williams on the other hand, remained unbeaten this season by earning their second lifetime French Open and twelfth Grand slam overall. The U.S pair as a result of winning in Roland Garros also improved their doubles WTA rankings to number one in the
world on the very first occasion in their career.
"We are the longest standing doubles pair. We have been contesting since the '80s. We have got quite a mark. We do not actually remember the first time,” reflected Venus.
Meanwhile, Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond who reunited at the beginning of this season won their first crown in five years at Eastbourne.
Another big surprise this season came at the All-England Club, as Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina thrashed out Williams sisters in the quarter final round of Wimbledon. Sadly, the Williams did not participate in the doubles again in 2010 as a result of
a foot injury suffered by former world number one Serena after the grass court Grand Slam tournament in London.
Vesnina and Zvonareva successfully made their way into the title battle at the All-England Club, where they were overpowered by another unseeded duo Yaroslava Shvedova and Vania King who teamed up on the very first occasions two weeks before.
"I am sure for both of us it really has not gotten in our heads that we just won Wimbledon. We went into each match to play each match. We were not thinking about winning, or even winning the championship,” reflected Vania.
A highlight of the summer hard court year was Lindsay Davenport who while competing in her first WTA tournament in two years captured the Stanford crown along with her partner Huber, who also regained the number one ranking from the Williams sisters.
Moreover, Dulko and Pennetta also added to their trophy haul by lifting another crown in Montreal.
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