2008 in Review

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The top 8 players are currenlty fighting out the end-year championship, but Grand Slam tennis ended with the U.S. Open in September. Here is the resumee for 2008.

11 male and 13 female players held Sanyaku rank over the course of 2008. 4 male and 5 female players were High Sanyaku (active Yokozuna or Ozeki).

7 male and 8 female players got promoted. 3 male and 3 female players climbed to to a new career-high rank: Rafael Nadal (Yokozuna), Andy Murray (Sekiwake), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Sekiwake), Dinara Safina (Sekiwake), Agnieszka Radwanska (Komosubi), and Jie Zheng (Komosubi). There was no new Ozeki promotion.

The mae player of 2008 title is shared between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal . On the ladies' side it goes to Serena Williams. Federer and Nadal reached all four grand slam semi-finals; Nadal's two titles contrast with Federer's one title and two lost finals. Serena Williams had a relatively weak first half of the season, but restablished herself as the women to beat with a victory at the U.S. Open and a narrowly lost final (against her sister Venus) at Wimbledon.

The retirement of 2008 was Justine Henin's surprising withdrawal from professional tennis before the French Open, leaving the Williams sisters as the only active female Yokozuna. The Williamses promptly re-took control of the scene in the second half of the year.

The promotion of 2008 was undoubtedly Rafael Nadal's elevation to Yokozuna, as a result of winning back-to-back titles at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nadal is the 15th male Yokozuna of the open era. He had been Ozeki since 2006.

The rising stars of 2008 were Andy Murray on the mens' side and Dinara Safina on the ladies'. Murray finally made his breakthrough on the big stage, reaching first the Wimbledon quarterfinals and then the U.S. Open final. Murray ends the year as at Sekiwake, a semifinal at the Australian Open 2009 would get him all the way to Ozeki. Safina had already been a Komosubi back in 2006. In 2008 she advanced one step further to Sekiwake, by reaching the French Open final and adding a U.S. Open semifinal to her tally at year-end.

The best Ozeki of 2008 was Novak Djokovic. In fact, by end-2008 he was the only Ozeki, as Rafael Nadal got promoted to Yokozuna, and all other Ozeki in 2008--Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, and Ana Ivanovic--lost the rank before the end of the year. Djokovic was an example of consistency, winning the Australian Open (his first slam title), and reaching the semifinals at the French and U.S. Open. A title at the French Open would have propelled Djokovic to Yokozuna, but this would perhaps have come a bit early.

The best lower Sanyaku players of 2008 were Andy Murray and Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic entered 2008 as a Komosubi, reached the semifinals at the Australian and French Open, and toppped the year with a hard fought final at the U.S. Open. She ends the year as Sekiwake (and ATP #1), but like Murray, a semifinal at the Australian Open 2009 would elevate Jankovic to Ozeki, a rank she has been close to for some time.

The comeback of 2008 was staged by Elena Demetieva. An Ozeki back in 2005 who had since fallen out of contention, Dementieva reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, therefore returning to Sekiwake. Another semifinal down under and Dementieva is again Ozeki. There was no similarly striking comeback on the mens' side, although the returns of former Ozeki Marat Safin and former Sekiwake Rainer Schuettler to the Sanyaku ranks at Wimbledeon (the semifinal made both a Komosubi for one tournament) deserve mentioning.

Finally, the decline of the year trophy is shared between Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko on the men's side, and Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova onthe ladies'. Roddick missed the quarterfinals of the first three slams, falling from Ozeki to kadoban Ozeki to Sekiwake and finally to Komosubi. He then held on to the lowest Sanyaku rank with a quarterfinal participation at the U.S. Open. Davydenko entered the year as Sekiwake and possible Ozeki prospect, but dropped out the the Sanyaku ranks altogether after four disappointing slams. Sharapova had an excellent start of the year, winning her third grand slam title at the Australian Open and regaining her former Ozeki rank. An injury-plagued rest of the season made her miss the quarterfinals at all subsequent slams, however, resulting in an end-year rank of Komosubi. Kuznetsova came into the 2008 season as the U.S. Open finalist and seemed close to regaining Ozeki rank, but disappointing results at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open made her drop out of the Sanyaku ranks altogether.

Men

	Rank end-07		Slam Results in 08/					Rank After…					Career points		Career  Rank
			AO	FO	Wbl	UO		AO	FO	Wbl	UO		In 08	Total
Current and Former Yokozuna and Ozeki (in italics if career high in 2008)
Roger Federer	Y(a)		SF	F	F	W		Y(a)	Y(a)	Y(a)	Y(a)		10	72	Y
Rafael Nadal	O		SF	W	W	SF		O	O	Y(a)	Y(a)		10	32	Y
Novak Djokovic	O		W	SF	-	SF		O	O	O(k)	O		8	16	O
Marat Safin	-		-	-	SF	-		-	-	K	-		2	22	O
Andy Roddick	O		-	-	-	QF		O(k)	S	K	K		1	28	O
Current and Former Sekiwake and Komosubi (in italics if career high in 2008)
Andy Murray	-		-	-	QF	F		-	-	-	S		4	4	S
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	-		F	-	-	-		S	K	-	-		3	3	S
David Ferrer	K		QF	QF	-	-		S	S	K	-		2	5	S
Rainer Schuettler	-		-	-	SF	-		-	-	K	-		2	5	S
Gael Monfils	-		-	SF	-	-		-	K	-	-		2	2	K
Fernando Gonzalez	-		-	QF	-	-		-	-	-	-		1	7	S
Arnaud Clement	-		-	-	QF	-		-	-	-	-		1	5	S
Mario Ancic	-		-	-	QF	-		-	-	-	-		1	5	K
Mikhail Youzny	-		QF	-	-	-		-	-	-	-		1	3	K
Nikolai Davydenko	S		-	-	-	-		K	-	-	-		0	12	S
Maegeshira
James Blake	-		QF	-	-	-		-	-	-	-		1	3	-
Jarkko Nieminen	-		QF	-	-	-		-	-	-	-		1	3	-
Feliciano Lopez	-		-	-	QF	-		-	-	-	-		1	2	-
Mardy Fish	-		-	-	-	QF		-	-	-	-		1	2	-
Ernests Gulbis	-		-	QF	-	-		-	-	-	-		1	1	-
Nicolas Almagro	-		-	QF	-	-		-	-	-	-		1	1	-
Juan Martin del Potro	-		-	-	-	QF		-	-	-	-		1	1	-
Gilles Muller	-		-	-	-	QF		-	-	-	-		1	1	-