2008 WTA Tour

Jelena Janković was the year-end No. 1 in a season of disarray at the very top.

The 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 36th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on December 31, 2007, and concluded on November 9, 2008 after 59 events.

The season was characterised by its frequent changes in the No. 1 ranking, with Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković and Serena Williams all holding the position at one point during the season. Eventually, Janković finished the season as the No. 1 player in the world despite not winning a Grand Slam tournament. She did, however, reach the final of the U.S. Open, and won four tournaments throughout the season.

Four different players won the Grand Slam titles, with Maria Sharapova winning her third major title at the Australian Open, Ana Ivanović winning her maiden title at the French Open, Venus Williams winning her seventh Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, and Serena Williams winning her ninth Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open. Dinara Safina also reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open, and won four events during the season.

One of the big stories of the year was the shock retirement of Justine Henin on May 14, less than two weeks before she was set to defend her French Open title.^[1] She became the first player to retire while ranked at No. 1 in the world. Henin later returned for the 2010 season.

Summary

Justine Henin started the season as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, and following her impressive 2007 season and her victory at the warm-up tournament in Sydney, she was considered the outright favourite to win the Australian Open. However, she was beaten in emphatic fashion by Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, who then beat Jelena Janković and Ana Ivanović to win her third Grand Slam title. Daniela Hantuchová also reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. Sister team Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko pulled off an unexpected title run in the doubles draw, while Sun Tiantian teamed up with Nenad Zimonjić to win her first Grand Slam tournament of any kind in the mixed doubles event.

Maria Sharapova started the year on an 18-match winning streak.

Sharapova continued to impress by winning the tournament in Doha, before her 18-match win streak was snapped by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals of Indian Wells. Kuznetsova went on to lose to Ivanović. It was then the turn of Serena Williams to build a win streak, winning the title in Bangalore, Miami—her fifth title at the event, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament—and Charleston. Her 17-match win streak was eventually ended in Berlin by Dinara Safina, who had already beaten Henin in that tournament, and went on to win the title.

During the Rome tournament, Henin then announced her retirement from professional tennis, becoming the first player ever to retire while ranked at No. 1 in the world. Her retirement meant that then-No. 2 Maria Sharapova became the new No. 1 by default. Jelena Janković eventually won the tournament in Rome.

Ana Ivanović won her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open.

With Henin's retirement, the French Open was considered to be wide open. World No. 1 Sharapova was stopped by Safina in the fourth round, who fought back from match points down to win, before doing the same against Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals. She eventually reached her first Grand Slam final. On the other side of the draw, Ana Ivanović came through after an all-Serbian semifinal with Jelena Janković, which meant that Ivanović would move to the No. 1 position regardless of the result in the final. Nevertheless, she ended up beating Safina for her first Slam title. In the women's doubles tournament, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual were victorious, the first Slam for Medina Garrigues and the tenth for Ruano Pascual. Victoria Azarenka won her second Grand Slam in the mixed doubles event.

The third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon brought with it some surprises: for the first time in the Open Era, none of the top four seeds managed to reach the semifinals. World No. 1 Ivanović surrendered to Zheng Jie in the third round, who went on to become the first Chinese women to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam in singles. Tamarine Tanasugarn knocked out Janković en-route to her first major quarterfinal. Sharapova was upset by Alla Kudryavtseva, and Kuznetsova lost to Agnieszka Radwańska, who also won the warm-up tournament in Eastbourne. Eventually, Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams reached the final, the first Grand Slam final between the two since Wimbledon five years ago. Venus eventually beat her sister for her fifth Wimbledon title. They also teamed up to win the doubles title, their seventh as a team. In the mixed doubles event, Samantha Stosur won with Bob Bryan.

Dinara Safina won four titles and improved to No. 3 in the world during the season.

Ivanović lost her No. 1 ranking in August, and Jelena Janković moved into the position for the first time. Dinara Safina proved strong on the summer hardcourts, winning titles in Los Angeles and Montréal. She then made it to the final match at the Beijing Olympics, but lost there to Dementieva, who achieved her biggest career victory with the gold medal. With Vera Zvonareva also winning the bronze medal, it meant that Russia sweeped the podium in the singles event. Li Na almost made a strong run at home, but lost in the bronze medal match. In doubles, Serena and Venus Williams won their second gold medals together, after winning at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Ivanović regained the No. 1 position following the Olympics, and held it heading into the U.S. Open. There it was up to grabs, with five women—Ivanović, Janković, Safina, Kuznetsova, and Serena Williams—being in contention for the position. Ivanović was upset in the second round by Julie Coin, one of the worst losses for a top-ranked player ever, and by virtue of winning her eighth major title, Williams ascended to the top ranking for the first time since 2002. In the doubles tournament, Cara Black and Liezel Huber won their fourth Grand Slam as a team, with Black also winning the mixed doubles title with Leander Paes.

The fall season saw Jelena Janković return to the No. 1 position after winning events in Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow, and securing the year-end No. 1 ranking. Dinara Safina won the title in Tokyo, beating Petrova and Kuznetsova en-route. Both had a solid indoor season, with Petrova making the final of Stuttgart and winning Quebec, and Kuznetsova finishing runner-up in Beijing and Tokyo. Vera Zvonareva also had a strong finish to the year, reaching the final of Moscow and Linz, where she lost to Ivanović, and the WTA Tour Championships in Doha, where she lost to Venus Williams. Williams won her first title at the championships. Other players at the championships were semifinalists Elena Dementieva and Jelena Janković, and Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanović and Svetlana Kuznetsova, plus alternates Agnieszka Radwańska and Nadia Petrova. In the doubles event, Black and Huber successfully defended the title they won last year.

Schedule

The table below shows the 2008 WTA Tour schedule.

January

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
31 December	Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts Gold Coast, Australia Tier III event $175,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Li Na 4–6, 6–3, 6–4	Victoria Azarenka	Patty Schnyder Shahar Pe'er	Nicole Vaidišová Amélie Mauresmo Dinara Safina Dominika Cibulková
		Dinara Safina Ágnes Szávay 6–1, 6–2	Yan Zi Zheng Jie
	ASB Classic Auckland, New Zealand Tier IV event $145,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Lindsay Davenport 6–2, 6–2	Aravane Rezaï	Marina Erakovic Tamira Paszek	Vera Zvonareva Katarina Srebotnik Sara Errani Maria Kirilenko
		Mariya Koryttseva Lilia Osterloh 6–3, 6–4	Martina Müller Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová
7 January	Medibank International Sydney, Australia Tier II event $600,000 - Hard - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Justine Henin 4–6, 6–2, 6–4	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Ana Ivanović Nicole Vaidišová	Kaia Kanepi Katarina Srebotnik Jelena Janković Francesca Schiavone
		Yan Zi Zheng Jie 6–4, 7–6(5)	Tatiana Perebiynis Tatiana Poutchek
	Moorilla Hobart International Hobart, Australia Tier IV event $170,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Eleni Daniilidou Walkover	Vera Zvonareva	Flavia Pennetta Ashley Harkleroad	Casey Dellacqua Sania Mirza Edina Gallovits Elena Vesnina
		Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–2, 6–4	Eleni Daniilidou Jasmin Wöhr
14 January (2 weeks)	Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam $8,000,000 - Hard - 128S/96Q/64D/32X Singles Draw - Doubles Draw - Mixed Doubles Draw	Maria Sharapova 7–5, 6–3	Ana Ivanović	Jelena Janković Daniela Hantuchová	Justine Henin Serena Williams Venus Williams Agnieszka Radwańska
		Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko 2–6, 6–1, 6–4	Victoria Azarenka Shahar Pe'er
		Mixed Doubles: Nenad Zimonjić Sun Tiantian 7–6(4), 6–4	Mahesh Bhupathi Sania Mirza
28 January	Fed Cup: First Round HaSharon, Israel, Hard California, United States, Hard Beijing, China, Hard (i) Naples, Italy, Hard (i)	First Round winners  Russia 4–1  United States 4–1  China 3–2  Spain 3–2	First Round losers  Israel  Germany  France  Italy

February

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
4 February	Open Gaz de France Paris, France Tier II event $600,000 - Hard (i) - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Anna Chakvetadze 6–3, 2–6, 6–2	Ágnes Szávay	Marion Bartoli Elena Dementieva	Amélie Mauresmo Virginie Razzano Kateryna Bondarenko Daniela Hantuchová
		Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko 6–1, 6–4	Eva Hrdinová Vladimíra Uhlířová
	Pattaya Women's Open Pattaya, Thailand Tier IV event $170,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2, 1–6, 7–6(4)	Jill Craybas	Ekaterina Bychkova Akgul Amanmuradova	Tamarine Tanasugarn Vesna Manasieva Chan Yung-jan Andreja Klepač
		Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung 6–4, 6–3	Hsieh Su-wei Vania King
11 February	Proximus Diamond Games Antwerp, Belgium Tier II event $600,000 - Hard (i) - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Justine Henin 6–3, 6–3	Karin Knapp	Timea Bacsinszky Li Na	Alisa Kleybanova Daniela Hantuchová Patty Schnyder Sofia Arvidsson
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–1, 6–3	Květa Peschke Ai Sugiyama
	Cachantún Cup Viña del Mar, Chile Tier III event $200,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Flavia Pennetta 6–4, 5–4 ret.	Klára Zakopalová	Pauline Parmentier Mariya Koryttseva	Kaia Kanepi Martina Müller Nuria Llagostera Vives Lourdes Domínguez Lino
		Līga Dekmeijere Alicja Rosolska 7–5, 6–3	Mariya Koryttseva Julia Schruff
18 February	Qatar Total Open Doha, Qatar Tier I event $2,500,000 - Hard - 56S/32Q/28D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Maria Sharapova 6–1, 2–6, 6–0	Vera Zvonareva	Agnieszka Radwańska Li Na	Dominika Cibulková Caroline Wozniacki Jelena Janković Sybille Bammer
		Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs 6–1, 5–7, 10–7	Cara Black Liezel Huber
	Copa Colsanitas Bogotá, Colombia Tier III event $185,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Nuria Llagostera Vives 6–0, 6–4	María Emilia Salerni	Betina Jozami Carla Suárez Navarro	Martina Müller Sara Errani Catalina Castaño Mariana Duque Mariño
		Iveta Benešová Bethanie Mattek 6–3, 6–3	Jelena Kostanić Tošić Martina Müller
25 February	Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tier II event $1,500,000 - Hard - 28S/48Q/28D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Elena Dementieva 4–6, 6–3, 6–2	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Francesca Schiavone Jelena Janković	Justine Henin Ana Ivanović Anna Chakvetadze Amélie Mauresmo
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 7–5, 6–2	Yan Zi Zheng Jie
	Abierto Mexicano Telcel Acapulco, Mexico Tier II event $180,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/16Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Flavia Pennetta 6–0, 4–6, 6–1	Alizé Cornet	Kaia Kanepi Jill Craybas	Edina Gallovits Sorana Cîrstea Iveta Benešová Mariya Koryttseva
		Nuria Llagostera Vives María José Martínez Sánchez 6–2, 6–4	Iveta Benešová Petra Cetkovská
	Cellular South Cup Memphis, United States Tier III event $175,000 - Hard (i) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Lindsay Davenport 6–2, 6–1	Olga Govortsova	Marina Erakovic Shahar Pe'er	Alla Kudryavtseva Caroline Wozniacki Sofia Arvidsson Julia Görges
		Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond 6–3, 6–1	Angela Haynes Mashona Washington

March

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
3 March	Canara Bank Bangalore Open Bangalore, India Tier II event $600,000 - Hard - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Serena Williams 7–5, 6–3	Patty Schnyder	Yan Zi Venus Williams	Jelena Janković Akgul Amanmuradova Anastasia Rodionova Vera Zvonareva
		Peng Shuai Sun Tiantian 6–4, 5–7, 10–8	Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung
10 March (2 weeks)	Pacific Life Open Indian Wells, United States Tier I event $2,100,000 - Hard - 96S/48Q/32D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Ana Ivanović 6–4, 6–3	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Jelena Janković Maria Sharapova	Vera Zvonareva Lindsay Davenport Daniela Hantuchová Agnieszka Radwańska
		Dinara Safina Elena Vesnina 6–1, 1–6, 10–8	Yan Zi Zheng Jie
24 March (2 weeks)	Sony Ericsson Open Key Biscayne, United States Tier I event $3,770,000 - Hard - 96S/48Q/32D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Serena Williams 6–1, 5–7, 6–3	Jelena Janković	Svetlana Kuznetsova Vera Zvonareva	Justine Henin Venus Williams Elena Dementieva Dinara Safina
		Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama 7–5, 4–6, 10–3	Cara Black Liezel Huber

April

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 April	Bausch & Lomb Championships Amelia Island, United States Tier II event $600,000 - Clay (Green) - 56S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Maria Sharapova 7–6(7), 6–3	Dominika Cibulková	Lindsay Davenport Alizé Cornet	Alona Bondarenko Ágnes Szávay Virginie Razzano Amélie Mauresmo
		Bethanie Mattek Vladimíra Uhlířová 6–3, 6–1	Victoria Azarenka Elena Vesnina
14 April	Family Circle Cup Charleston, United States Tier I event $1,340,000 - Clay (Green) - 56S/24Q/28D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Serena Williams 6–4, 3–6, 6–3	Vera Zvonareva	Elena Dementieva Alizé Cornet	Jelena Janković Patty Schnyder Ágnes Szávay Maria Sharapova
		Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama 6–2, 6–2	Edina Gallovits Olga Govortsova
	Estoril Open Estoril, Portugal Tier IV event $145,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Maria Kirilenko 6–4, 6–2	Iveta Benešová	Maret Ani Klára Zakopalová	Camille Pin Olga Savchuk Karin Knapp Tathiana Garbin
		Maria Kirilenko Flavia Pennetta 6–4, 6–4	Mervana Jugić-Salkić İpek Şenoğlu
21 April	Fed Cup: Semifinals Moscow, Russia, Clay (i) Beijing, China, Hard (i)	Semifinals winners  Russia 3–2  Spain 4–1	Semifinals losers  United States  China
28 April	Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem Fes, Morocco Tier IV event $145,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/24Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Gisela Dulko 7–6(2), 7–6(5)	Anabel Medina Garrigues	Gréta Arn Aravane Rezaï	Olga Savchuk Petra Cetkovská Alisa Kleybanova Sorana Cîrstea
		Sorana Cîrstea Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–2, 6–2	Alisa Kleybanova Ekaterina Makarova
	ECM Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic Tier IV event $145,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Vera Zvonareva 7–6(2), 6–2	Victoria Azarenka	Katarina Srebotnik Klára Zakopalová	Roberta Vinci Iveta Benešová Karolína Plíšková Shahar Pe'er
		Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká 1–6, 6–3, 10–6	Jill Craybas Michaëlla Krajicek

May

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
5 May	Qatar Telecom German Open Berlin, Germany Tier I event $1,340,000 - Clay (Red) - 56S/32Q/28D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Dinara Safina 3–6, 6–2, 6–2	Elena Dementieva	Victoria Azarenka Ana Ivanović	Serena Williams Alona Bondarenko Jelena Janković Ágnes Szávay
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 3–6, 6–2, 10–2	Nuria Llagostera Vives María José Martínez Sánchez
12 May	Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy Tier I event $1,340,000 - Clay (Red) - 56S/48Q/28D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–2	Alizé Cornet	Anna Chakvetadze Maria Sharapova	Tsvetana Pironkova Serena Williams Venus Williams Patty Schnyder
		Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung 7–6(5), 6–3	Iveta Benešová Janette Husárová
19 May	Istanbul Cup Istanbul, Turkey Tier III event $200,000 - Clay (Red) - 30S/26Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 6–2	Elena Dementieva	Akgul Amanmuradova Tsvetana Pironkova	Jill Craybas Nadia Petrova Olga Govortsova Andreja Klepač
		Jill Craybas Olga Govortsova 6–1, 6–2	Marina Erakovic Polona Hercog
	Internationaux de Strasbourg Strasbourg, France Tier III event $175,000 - Clay (Red) - 30S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Anabel Medina Garrigues 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–0	Katarina Srebotnik	Chan Yung-jan Timea Bacsinszky	Peng Shuai Ai Sugiyama Flavia Pennetta Alona Bondarenko
		Tatiana Perebiynis Yan Zi 6–4, 6–7(3), 10–6	Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung
26 May (2 weeks)	French Open Paris, France Grand Slam $9,711,335 - Clay (Red) - 128S/96Q/64D/32X Singles Draw - Doubles Draw - Mixed Doubles Draw	Ana Ivanović 6–4, 6–3	Dinara Safina	Svetlana Kuznetsova Jelena Janković	Elena Dementieva Kaia Kanepi Carla Suárez Navarro Patty Schnyder
		Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual 2–6, 7–5, 6–4	Casey Dellacqua Francesca Schiavone
		Mixed Doubles: Bob Bryan Victoria Azarenka 6–2, 7–6(4)	Nenad Zimonjić Katarina Srebotnik

June

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
9 June	DFS Classic Birmingham, United Kingdom Tier III event $200,000 - Grass - 56S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Kateryna Bondarenko 7–6(7), 3–6, 7–6(4)	Yanina Wickmayer	Marina Erakovic Bethanie Mattek	Petra Cetkovská Alona Bondarenko Melanie South Nicole Vaidišová
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–2, 6–1	Séverine Brémond Virginia Ruano Pascual
	Barcelona Open Barcelona, Spain Tier IV event $145,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/28Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Maria Kirilenko 6–0, 6–2	María José Martínez Sánchez	Nuria Llagostera Vives Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro	Sara Errani Lucie Šafářová Ekaterina Ivanova Edina Gallovits
		Lourdes Domínguez Lino Arantxa Parra Santonja 4–6, 7–5, 10–4	Nuria Llagostera Vives María José Martínez Sánchez
16 June	International Women's Open Eastbourne, United Kingdom Tier II event $600,000 - Grass - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Agnieszka Radwańska 6–4, 6–7(11), 6–4	Nadia Petrova	Samantha Stosur Marion Bartoli	Caroline Wozniacki Ekaterina Makarova Gisela Dulko Alisa Kleybanova
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 2–6, 6–0, 10–8	Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs
	Ordina Open 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Tier III event $175,000 - Grass - 30S/16Q/15D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Tamarine Tanasugarn 7–5, 6–3	Dinara Safina	Elena Dementieva Alona Bondarenko	Sorana Cîrstea Katarina Srebotnik Michaëlla Krajicek Anna Chakvetadze
		Marina Erakovic Michaëlla Krajicek 6–3, 6–2	Līga Dekmeijere Angelique Kerber
23 June (2 weeks)	Wimbledon Championships Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grand Slam $10,524,070 - Grass - 128S/96Q/64D/32X Singles Draw - Doubles Draw - Mixed Doubles Draw	Venus Williams 7–5, 6–4	Serena Williams	Zheng Jie Elena Dementieva	Nicole Vaidišová Agnieszka Radwańska Nadia Petrova Tamarine Tanasugarn
		Serena Williams Venus Williams 6–2, 6–2	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur
		Mixed Doubles: Bob Bryan Samantha Stosur 7–5, 6–4	Mike Bryan Katarina Srebotnik

July

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 July	Budapest Grand Prix Budapest, Hungary Tier III event $175,000 - Clay (Red) - 30S/31Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Alizé Cornet 7–6(5), 6–3	Andreja Klepač	Karolina Šprem Gréta Arn	Petra Kvitová Katalin Marosi Klára Zakopalová Anna-Lena Grönefeld
		Alizé Cornet Janette Husárová 6–7(5), 6–1, 10–6	Vanessa Henke Ioana Raluca Olaru
	Internazionali Femminili di Palermo Palermo, Italy Tier IV event $145,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Sara Errani 6–2, 6–3	Mariya Koryttseva	Flavia Pennetta Anabel Medina Garrigues	Margalita Chakhnashvili Carla Suárez Navarro Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Tathiana Garbin
		Sara Errani Nuria Llagostera Vives 2–6, 7–6(1), 10–4	Alla Kudryavtseva Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
14 July	Bank of the West Classic Stanford, United States Tier II event $600,000 - Hard - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Aleksandra Wozniak 7–5, 6–3	Marion Bartoli	Serena Williams Ai Sugiyama	Patty Schnyder Samantha Stosur Dominika Cibulková Anna Chakvetadze
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–4, 6–3	Elena Vesnina Vera Zvonareva
	Gastein Ladies Bad Gastein, Austria Tier III event $175,000 - Clay (Red) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Pauline Parmentier 6–4, 6–4	Lucie Hradecká	Ágnes Szávay Mariya Koryttseva	Iveta Benešová Yvonne Meusburger Tereza Hladíková Patricia Mayr
		Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká 6–3, 6–3	Sesil Karatantcheva Nataša Zorić
21 July	East West Bank Classic Los Angeles, United States Tier II event $600,000 - Hard - 56S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Dinara Safina 6–4, 6–2	Flavia Pennetta	Jelena Janković Bethanie Mattek	Nadia Petrova Victoria Azarenka Sybille Bammer Yuan Meng
		Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung 2–6, 7–5, 10–4	Eva Hrdinová Vladimíra Uhlířová
	Banka Koper Slovenia Open Portorož, Slovenia Tier IV event $145,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Sara Errani 6–3, 6–3	Anabel Medina Garrigues	Caroline Wozniacki Julia Görges	Maria Kirilenko Vera Dushevina Elena Bovina Petra Martić
		Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–4, 6–1	Vera Dushevina Ekaterina Makarova
28 July	Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada Tier I event $1,340,000 - Hard - 56S/48Q/28D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Dinara Safina 6–2, 6–1	Dominika Cibulková	Victoria Azarenka Marion Bartoli	Tamira Paszek Svetlana Kuznetsova Ai Sugiyama Jelena Janković
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–1, 6–1	Maria Kirilenko Flavia Pennetta
	Nordea Nordic Light Open Stockholm, Sweden Tier IV event $145,000 - Hard - 32S/16Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Caroline Wozniacki 6–0, 6–2	Vera Dushevina	Agnieszka Radwańska Katarina Srebotnik	Camille Pin Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual Iveta Benešová
		Iveta Benešová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 7–5, 6–4	Petra Cetkovská Lucie Šafářová

August

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semi finalists	Quarterfinalists
11 August	Olympics Beijing, China $0 - Hard - 64S/32D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Sybille Bammer Serena Williams Venus Williams Jelena Janković
		Elena Dementieva 3–6, 7–5, 6–3	Dinara Safina	Vera Zvonareva d. Li Na 6–0, 7–5
		Serena Williams Venus Williams 6–2, 6–0	Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual	Yan / Zheng def. A.Bondarenko / K.Bondarenko, 6–2, 6–2
	W&S Financial Group Women's Open Cincinnati, United States Tier III event $175,000 - Hard - 32S/16Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Nadia Petrova 6–2, 6–1	Nathalie Dechy	Amélie Mauresmo Maria Kirilenko	Vania King Aleksandra Wozniak Sabine Lisicki Lilia Osterloh
		Maria Kirilenko Nadia Petrova 6–3, 4–6, 10–8	Hsieh Su-wei Yaroslava Shvedova
18 August	Pilot Pen Tennis New Haven, United States Tier II event $600,000 - Hard - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Caroline Wozniacki 3–6, 6–4, 6–1	Anna Chakvetadze	Amélie Mauresmo Alizé Cornet	Sorana Cîrstea Ágnes Szávay Marion Bartoli Daniela Hantuchová
		Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond 4–6, 7–5, 10–7	Sorana Cîrstea Monica Niculescu
	Forest Hills Tennis Classic Forest Hills, USA Tier IV event $74,800 - Hard - 16S Singles Draw	Lucie Šafářová 6–4, 6–2	Peng Shuai	Carla Suárez Navarro Iveta Benešová	Vera Dushevina Martina Müller Ekaterina Makarova Jamea Jackson
25 August (2 weeks)	U.S. Open Flushing Meadows, New York, United States Grand Slam $9,350,000 - Hard - 128S/96Q/64D/32X Singles Draw - Doubles Draw - Mixed Doubles Draw	Serena Williams 6–4, 7–5	Jelena Janković	Dinara Safina Elena Dementieva	Flavia Pennetta Venus Williams Patty Schnyder Sybille Bammer
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–3, 7–6(6)	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur
		Mixed Doubles: Leander Paes Cara Black 7–6(6), 6–4	Jamie Murray Liezel Huber

September

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
8 September	Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic Bali, Indonesia Tier III event $225,000 - Hard - 30S/8Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Patty Schnyder 6–3, 6–0	Tamira Paszek	Daniela Hantuchová Nadia Petrova	Chan Yung-jan Flavia Pennetta Francesca Schiavone Marta Domachowska
		Hsieh Su-wei Peng Shuai 6–7(4), 7–6(3), 10–7	Marta Domachowska Nadia Petrova
	Fed Cup: Final Madrid, Spain, Clay	Russia 4–0	Spain
15 September	Toray Pan Pacific Open Tokyo, Japan Tier I event $1,340,000 - Hard - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Dinara Safina 6–1, 6–3	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Katarina Srebotnik Nadia Petrova	Jelena Janković Elena Dementieva Kaia Kanepi Agnieszka Radwańska
		Vania King Nadia Petrova 6–1, 6–4	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur
	Guangzhou International Women's Open Guangzhou, China Tier III event $175,000 - Hard - 32S/21Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Vera Zvonareva 6–7(4), 6–0, 6–2	Peng Shuai	Zheng Jie Camille Pin	Karin Knapp Tamira Paszek Jill Craybas Arantxa Rus
		Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek 6–3, 4–6, 10–8	Sun Tiantian Yan Zi
22 September	China Open Beijing, China Tier II event $600,000 - Hard - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Jelena Janković 6–3, 6–2	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Vera Zvonareva Zheng Jie	Daniela Hantuchová Anabel Medina Garrigues Dominika Cibulková Ana Ivanović
		Anabel Medina Garrigues Caroline Wozniacki 6–1, 6–3	Han Xinyun Xu Yi-fan
	Hansol Korea Open Seoul, South Korea Tier IV event $145,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Maria Kirilenko 2–6, 6–1, 6–4	Samantha Stosur	Kaia Kanepi Jill Craybas	Pauline Parmentier Yanina Wickmayer Ekaterina Makarova Shahar Pe'er
		Chuang Chia-jung Hsieh Su-wei 6–3, 6–0	Vera Dushevina Maria Kirilenko
29 September	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Stuttgart, Germany Tier II event $650,000 - Hard (i) - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Jelena Janković 6–4, 6–3	Nadia Petrova	Victoria Azarenka Venus Williams	Li Na Elena Dementieva Dinara Safina Vera Zvonareva
		Anna-Lena Grönefeld Patty Schnyder 6–2, 6–4	Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs
	Japan Open Tennis Championships Tokyo, Japan Tier III event $175,000 - Hard - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 3–6, 6–1	Kaia Kanepi	Jarmila Gajdošová Aleksandra Wozniak	Tamarine Tanasugarn Klára Zakopalová Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Samantha Stosur
		Jill Craybas Marina Erakovic 4–6, 7–5, 10–6	Ayumi Morita Aiko Nakamura
	Tashkent Open Tashkent, Uzbekistan Tier IV event $145,000 - Hard - 32S/16Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Sorana Cîrstea 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(4)	Sabine Lisicki	Peng Shuai Magdaléna Rybáriková	Monica Niculescu Urszula Radwańska Michelle Larcher de Brito Ioana Raluca Olaru
		Ioana Raluca Olaru Olga Savchuk 5–7, 7–5, 10–7	Nina Bratchikova Kathrin Wörle

October

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
6 October	Kremlin Cup Moscow, Russia Tier I event $1,340,000 - Hard (i) - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–4	Vera Zvonareva	Elena Dementieva Dinara Safina	Flavia Pennetta Nadia Petrova Dominika Cibulková Svetlana Kuznetsova
		Nadia Petrova Katarina Srebotnik 6–4, 6–4	Cara Black Liezel Huber
13 October	Zurich Open Zürich, Switzerland Tier II event $600,000 - Hard (i) - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Venus Williams 7–6(1), 6–2	Flavia Pennetta	Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Ivanović	Katarina Srebotnik Victoria Azarenka Francesca Schiavone Petra Kvitová
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–1, 7–6(3)	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Patty Schnyder
20 October	Generali Ladies Linz Linz, Austria Tier II event $600,000 - Hard (i) - 28S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Ana Ivanović 6–2, 6–1	Vera Zvonareva	Agnieszka Radwańska Marion Bartoli	Flavia Pennetta Nadia Petrova Alona Bondarenko Alizé Cornet
		Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama 6–4, 7–5	Cara Black Liezel Huber
	Fortis Championships Luxembourg Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Tier III event $225,000 - Hard (i) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Elena Dementieva 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(4)	Caroline Wozniacki	Sorana Cîrstea Li Na	Amélie Mauresmo Daniela Hantuchová Anabel Medina Garrigues Iveta Benešová
		Sorana Cîrstea Marina Erakovic 2–6, 6–3, 10–8	Vera Dushevina Mariya Koryttseva
27 October	Bell Challenge Quebec City, Canada Tier III event $175,000 - Hard (i) - 32S/32Q/16D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Nadia Petrova 4–6, 6–4, 6–1	Bethanie Mattek	Angela Haynes Aleksandra Wozniak	Melinda Czink Nathalie Dechy Galina Voskoboeva Melanie Oudin
		Anna-Lena Grönefeld Vania King 7–6(3), 6–4	Jill Craybas Tamarine Tanasugarn

November

Week of	Event	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Round Robin
3 November	WTA Tour Championships Doha, Qatar Year-end Championship $4,550,000 - Hard - 8S (Round Robin)/4D Singles Draw - Doubles Draw	Venus Williams 6–7(5), 6–0, 6–2	Vera Zvonareva	Elena Dementieva Jelena Janković	Ana Ivanović Svetlana Kuznetsova Dinara Safina Serena Williams Nadia Petrova Agnieszka Radwańska
		Cara Black Liezel Huber 6–1, 7–5	Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs

Calendar changes

• Prize money continued to increase to a record of approximately $67 million.^[2]
• The J&S Cup, the Acura Classic, and the PTT Bangkok Open were all removed from the calendar.^[3]
• The Bangalore Open was promoted to a Tier II event, from its former Tier III status.^[3]
• The Zurich Open was demoted from Tier I to Tier II, and the Fortis Championships Luxembourg from Tier II to Tier III, with prize money also being reduced in both events to accommodate the change in status.^[3]
• One new event was created: the Cachantún Cup, held in Viña del Mar, Chile.^[3]
• The Toray Pan Pacific Open was moved from its normal February position in the calendar to September. It also changed from an indoor event to an outdoor event.^[3]
• Fed Cup quarterfinals and semifinals were held earlier, with the final still following the U.S. Open in September.^[3]
• The Qatar Total Open was elevated from Tier II status to Tier I, with prize money increasing to $2.5 million.^[3]
• Lastly, the WTA Tour Championships were relocated from their previous location of Madrid, Spain in 2006 and 2007, to Doha, Qatar for 2008. The prize money was also raised from $3 million to $4.5 million.^[3]

Statistical information

List of players & singles titles won, last name alphabetically:

• Jelena Janković - Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow (4)
• Dinara Safina - Berlin, Los Angeles, Montréal and Tokyo (Tier I) (4)
• Serena Williams - Bangalore, Key Biscayne, Charleston, and US Open (4)
• Elena Dementieva - Dubai, Beijing Olympics, and Luxembourg (3)
• Ana Ivanović - Indian Wells, French Open, and Linz (3)
• Maria Kirilenko - Estoril, Barcelona and Seoul (3)
• Agnieszka Radwańska - Pattaya, Istanbul, and Eastbourne (3)
• Maria Sharapova - Australian Open, Doha, and Amelia Island (3)
• Venus Williams - Wimbledon, Zürich, and WTA Tour Championships (3)
• Caroline Wozniacki - Stockholm, New Haven, and Tokyo (Tier III) (3)
• Lindsay Davenport - Auckland and Memphis (2)
• Sara Errani - Palermo and Portorož (2)
• Justine Henin - Sydney and Antwerp (2)
• Flavia Pennetta - Viña del Mar and Acapulco (2)
• Nadia Petrova - Cincinnati and Quebec City (2)
• Vera Zvonareva - Prague and Guangzhou (2)
• Kateryna Bondarenko - Birmingham (1)
• Anna Chakvetadze - Paris (1)
• Sorana Cîrstea - Tashkent (1)
• Alizé Cornet - Budapest (1)
• Eleni Daniilidou - Hobart (1)
• Gisela Dulko - Fes (1)
• Nuria Llagostera Vives - Bogotá (1)
• Anabel Medina Garrigues - Strasbourg (1)
• Li Na - Gold Coast (1)
• Pauline Parmentier - Bad Gastein (1)
• Lucie Šafářová - Forest Hills (1)
• Patty Schnyder - Bali (1)
• Tamarine Tanasugarn - 's-Hertogenbosch (1)
• Aleksandra Wozniak - Stanford (1)

The following players won their first title:

• Kateryna Bondarenko - Birmingham
• Alizé Cornet - Budapest
• Sara Errani - Palermo
• Caroline Wozniacki - Stockholm
• Aleksandra Wozniak - Stanford
• Sorana Cîrstea - Tashkent

Titles won by Nation

•  Russia - 18 (Australian Open, Paris, Doha, Dubai, Amelia Island, Estoril, Prague, Berlin, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Montréal, Olympics, Cincinnati, Tokyo, Guangzhou, Seoul, Luxembourg, and Quebec City)
•  United States - 9 (Auckland, Memphis, Bangalore, Key Biscayne, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Zürich, and WTA Tour Championships)
•  Serbia - 7 (Indian Wells, Rome, French Open, Beijing, Stuttgart, Moscow, and Linz)
•  Italy - 4 (Viña del Mar, Acapulco, Palermo, and Portorož)
•  Denmark - 3 (Stockholm, New Haven, and Tokyo (Tier III))
•  Poland - 3 (Pattaya, Istanbul, and Eastbourne)
•  Belgium - 2 (Sydney and Antwerp)
•  Spain - 2 (Bogotá and Strasbourg)
•  France - 2 (Budapest and Bad Gastein)
•  Argentina - 1 (Fes)
•  Canada - 1 (Stanford)
•  China - 1 (Gold Coast)
•  Czech Republic - 1 (Forest Hills)
•  Greece - 1 (Hobart)
•  Romania - 1 (Tashkent)
•  Switzerland - 1 (Bali)
•  Thailand - 1 ('s-Hertogenbosch)
•  Ukraine - 1 (Birmingham)

Rankings

Singles Championship Race (3 November 2008) Rk Name Nation Points Tour 1 Jelena Janković  SRB 4,786 21 2 Dinara Safina  RUS 3,823 20 3 Serena Williams  USA 3,681 12 4 Elena Dementieva  RUS 3,400 18 5 Ana Ivanović  SRB 3,353 17 6 Vera Zvonareva  RUS 2,626 24 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova  RUS 2,623 18 8 Venus Williams  USA 2,522 13 9 Maria Sharapova  RUS 2,515 9 10 Agnieszka Radwańska  POL 2,256 23 11 Nadia Petrova  RUS 1,914 24 12 Flavia Pennetta  ITA 1,814 26 13 Caroline Wozniacki  DEN 1,756 23 14 Patty Schnyder  SUI 1,596 23 15 Alizé Cornet  FRA 1,499 23 16 Victoria Azarenka  BLR 1,497 20 17 Marion Bartoli  FRA 1,487 25 18 Dominika Cibulková  SVK 1,447 25 19 Katarina Srebotnik  SLO 1,410 24 20 Anna Chakvetadze  RUS 1,370 23

Singles Year-end Ranking Rk Name Nation Points Change 1 Jelena Janković  SRB 4,710 +2 2 Serena Williams  USA 3,866 +5 3 Dinara Safina  RUS 3,817 +12 4 Elena Dementieva  RUS 3,663 +7 5 Ana Ivanović  SRB 3,457 -1 6 Venus Williams  USA 3,272 +2 7 Vera Zvonareva  RUS 2,952 +15 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova  RUS 2,726 -6 9 Maria Sharapova  RUS 2,515 -4 10 Agnieszka Radwańska  POL 2,286 +16 11 Nadia Petrova  RUS 1,976 +3 12 Caroline Wozniacki  DEN 1,713 +48 13 Flavia Pennetta  ITA 1,670 +26 14 Patty Schnyder  SUI 1,590 +2 15 Victoria Azarenka  BLR 1,494 +15 16 Alizé Cornet  FRA 1,492 +39 17 Marion Bartoli  FRA 1,410 -7 18 Anna Chakvetadze  RUS 1,363 -12 19 Dominika Cibulková  SVK 1,337 +32 20 Katarina Srebotnik  SLO 1,272 +7

Number 1 Ranking

Holder	Date Gained	Date Forfeited
Justine Henin (BEL)	Year-End 2007	19 May 2008
Maria Sharapova (RUS)	19 May 2008	9 June 2008
Ana Ivanović (SRB)	9 June 2008	11 August 2008
Jelena Janković (SRB)	11 August 2008	18 August 2008
Ana Ivanović (SRB)	18 August 2008	8 September 2008
Serena Williams (USA)	8 September 2008	6 October 2008
Jelena Janković (SRB)	6 October 2008	Year-End 2008

Awards

The winners of the 2008 WTA Awards were announced on 25 March 2009, during a special ceremony at the Sony Ericsson Open.^[4]

• Player of the Year – Serena Williams
• Doubles Team of the Year – Cara Black & Liezel Huber
• Most Improved Player – Dinara Safina
• Comeback Player of the Year – Zheng Jie
• Newcomer of the Year – Caroline Wozniacki
• Humanitarian of the Year – Ana Ivanović
• Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award – Elena Dementieva
• Player Service Award – Liezel Huber
• Favorite Premier Tournament – Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)
• Favorite International Tournament – Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

See also

• Tennis statistics
• Grand Slam (tennis)
• WTA Tour Championships
• List of WTA number 1 ranked players
• List of female tennis players
• WTA Awards
• 2008 WTA Tier I Series
• 2008 ATP Tour

External links

• Official WTA Tour website.
• Official Tour Calendar 2008 (pdf)

References

1. ^ "Henin announces shock retirement". BBC News. 2007-05-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7399963.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
2. ^ "2008/2009 Calendar Press Release". http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/SEWTATour-Archive/Archive/PressReleases/2007/2008_2009CalendarRelease.pdf. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "2008 WTA Tour". http://tennis.quickfound.net/2008_wta_tour.html. 
4. ^ Williams, Safina, Ivanovic Among WTA Award Winners