Future Tennis Stars

Roger Federer and Justine Henin were named the ITF Champions for 2007. Seriously, they put out a press release for that? I guess they had to but it’s not like anyone was within spitting distance of them.

“Every year brings new challenges, and I am proud that I have been able to raise the level of my game when needed,” said Federer, who won three Grand Slam titles this year and reached the final at the French Open.

“This has definitely been the best season of my career,” said Henin, who was 63-4 with 10 titles in 2007 after skipping the Australian Open for personal reasons related to splitting up with her husband. “It has been a very challenging year overall, but I have stayed positive and proved that nothing is impossible if you work hard.”

Read the entire article at ESPN.com

The good news for Ana Ivanovic? She did better today than the last time she faced Justine Henin in a 6-1, 6-2 loss in the French Open finals. The bad news? She still lost.

Justine Henin beat Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4 to move into Sunday’s final against Maria Sharapova. Sharapova routed Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 6-2 in the first semifinal. Henin and Sharapova have not played since the semifinals of last year’s season ending Championships where Henin won 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

A win on Sunday would give Henin her 25th win in a row, matching a run made by Steffi Graf in 1989. Henin could also win her 10th title of the year. No player has won 10 or more titles in a year since Martina Hingis did it in 1997.

Once again, Justine Henin beat Jelena Jankovic and this time, it wasn’t close. Henin beat Jankovic 6-2, 6-2 and it puts Henin up 2-0 in round robin play and puts Jankovic in a hole 0-1. Jankovic should cheer up though as she will have to play Williams and Chakvetadze (who are playing now and Chakvetadze took the first set 6-4) and Jankovic is capable of beating both which is exactly what she will need to do. Another loss and Jankovic could be out.