Dr. Andrew Broad
Tennis
Anna Chakvetadze
Biography

Anna Chakvetadze is one of the most flairsomely talented and intelligent players in professional tennis, and one of the most intriguing characters on the WTA Tour. She reminds me of her fellow Russian Vera Zvonar�va in that she's ultracute, blonde and blue-eyed, gets very emotional on court, and fights to the bitter end.

Anna's groundstrokes are the main reason she is such a joy to watch. She hits them hard and flat, with flairsome power - generating ball-speed through sheer timing, with little physical effort compared with the muscular specimens that tend to dominate women's tennis these days. kinglear wrote: "Her shots are like strobe-lights streaming around the court."

Anna's groundstrokes are also very deceptive. At her best, her opponent is chasing shadows as Anna hits clean winners all over the court! She plays great spreading rallies, moving her opponent from side to side, especially with crosscourt forehand + crosscourt backhand combinations. She can make the court look very wide at her opponent's end!
����������� Akiko Morigami, after losing to Anna in the final of Cincinnati 2007, said: "She changes direction with every other ball. She runs you from side to side."

Anna's forehand is her preferred side. She uses a Western grip, which facilitates topspin and acute angles, and her racket-head accelerates to the point of contact.
����������� The way Anna generates angles on her forehand is superb; anything central to her forehand gets hammered! Give her a ball down the middle - especially a short one - and she can paint either sideline with either a crosscourt forehand or an off-forehand. Give her an angle, and she'll return it even more acutely.

Anna's backhand is her less spectacular side, although she is also capable of great angles on that side, and of hitting backhand winners down the line. She hits it two-handed, takes it early, and gets down well to low balls, which may be a reason why grass is her favourite surface (an assertion that was removed from her WTA Tour biography during 2007; she's very good on all surfaces, and particularly excelled on hard courts during 2007, while Wimbledon is the one Major where she has yet to reach the quarter-finals - although she was runner-up in the Girls' Singles at Wimbledon 2003). If stretched, she'll hit a sliced backhand, which keeps very low - especially on grass.

Anna: "I would describe myself as a baseline-player. I like my backhand, especially my down-the-line shot, because I win a lot of points off of it. And my smash for obvious reasons - especially in doubles."

Richard Pagliaro (Tennis Week) wrote: "Adept at changing direction in rallies by sending drives down the line, Chakvetadze can keep opponents off-balance with her unerring accuracy."

Anna has a great serve, especially for a girl of 5'7"! While not a particularly powerful serve, it's consistently deep, although she can also hit short-angled serves to the sidelines, which are very effective as they push her opponent way beyond the sideline to hit the return. Anna hits a lot of aces, both out wide and down the middle. Her second serve is often cited as a weakness, though.

And Anna has a great one-two punch: most of the time, her serve doesn't win the point directly, but sets up a groundstroke-winner on the third stroke of the rally. This was one of the first things I noticed when I first saw her play, at the French Open 2005, before she had even developed the flairsome power that ultimately transformed her from competent professional to member of my Eternal Fanship by the end of 2006. And it was one of the key things I found lacking during her slump of 2008.

Anna is a very clever player; it has been said that her best asset is her on-court intuition. She reads the game very well, is very focused, knows where to move, and is anticipating all the time. She's very good at keeping an eye on her opponent, and making her opponent play awkward balls. She can look beaten in a rally and still find a way to win it - for example, if she's chasing down a penetrating volley into the corner, she can take the initiative away from her opponent with a well-placed lob to the opponent's backhand.

Anna said: "I'm just trying to watch her racket, where she wants to hit. Sometimes it really happens, but sometimes I have bad days and I just can't play.
����������� "I never played like this when I was a junior. I was hitting really flat balls, and after that, I couldn't just win a match. That's why I changed it. I knew that I needed to do something else."

With a sturdy, compact physique, Anna has good footwork, and is fast around the court, which is what enables her to control her defensive shots and make them awkward for her opponent. She's prepared to grind out a rally as a counterpuncher before she gets an opportunity to take the initiative, and her placement and accuracy allow her to exploit any flaws in her opponent's defences with the ruthless efficiency of a chess-computer. But this style of tennis can be draining, hence stamina can be an issue for Anna.

Anna also has good variety. She may not come to the net much (although she is willing to come forwards to hit overheads or drive-volleys, especially on grass), but she can hit dropshots as well as the lobs and sliced backhands I've already mentioned, and has the ability to vary the depth and angles of both her serve and her groundstrokes. But her volleys and movement around the net have been criticised.

Daniela Hantuchov�, after losing to Anna at Stanford 2007, said: "Anna is one of the smartest girls, and plays the court very well. She is very intelligent: she doesn't always aim for the hardest shot. She is a bit like Martina Hingis."

Maria Sharapova, before playing Anna at San Diego 2007, said: "She plays similarly to Hingis: she's very patient and doesn't give you a lot of easy points."

Anna is frequently compared with Hingis, and she's getting rather sick of it. While it's true that Anna's anticipation and ability to make defensive shots awkward for her opponent are Hingis-like qualities, Anna has a much better first serve and much more power on her groundstrokes, whilst lacking Hingis's audacious dropshots and prowess at the net.

Aliz� Cornet, before playing Anna at Rome 2008, said: "Chakvetadze is a very good player. She can be aggressive, but she has good defence too. She's complete."

Richard Pagliaro (Tennis Week) wrote: "Disguise is one of the key components to Chakvetadze's game: she anticipates shots so shrewdly, and takes the ball so early that opponents can find reading the Moscow-native's shots can be as easy as deciphering a message scrawled across the surface of a lake.
����������� "Chakvetadze is a tennis-pickpocket who pilfers power from opponents by stepping on top of the baseline to rob players of their reaction-time."

As of the end of 2008, Anna has won seven WTA singles-titles, with a perfect 7:0 record in finals after winning Paris 2008 and before losing the New Haven 2008 final! Two weeks after her maiden-title at Guangzhou 2006, she won the Tier I tournament at her home-town of Moscow - the one every Russian wants to win! While she didn't win anything higher than Tier II in 2007, she was a very consistent performer and won an impressive four titles that year, also achieving a career-high ranking of #5 for three weeks in September 2007 - following her first Major semi-final at the US Open (her favourite Major).

In the second round of the US Open 2004, 17-year-old Anna stunned reigning French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, ranked #3, in only Anna's third-ever main-draw match on the WTA Tour or in a Major (only Andrea Leand beat a top-ten player after fewer such matches in her career, and no one else has beaten a top-three player in only her third such match).
����������� Another notable Anna-victim has been Nadia Petrova, against whom Anna established a 4:0 head-to-head - three of those victories coming in 2006, when Petrova was ranked #5 and #6, including in the Moscow final; Anna also beat #7 Elena Dementieva in the semi-finals there.
����������� In 2007, Anna added Venus and Serena Williams to her list of notable victims, and her 6:2 head-to-head against Jelena Jankovic at the end of 2007 became very impressive in the light of Jankovic's rise to world #3 that year (Jankovic rose to #1 in 2008, despite never having won a Major).
����������� In 2008, Anna added a fading Am�lie Mauresmo to the list of Major champions she has beaten, while Ana Ivanovic joined that list by winning the French Open (Anna is 2:3 against both those players at the end of 2008).

Anna is a very emotional player, who often looks miserable on court, chewing on wasps and rarely smiling. She often cries when things aren't going her way (not so much now as when she was a teenager), and has been known to burst into tears when she loses. She can also get horribly nervous when she's on the verge of a big win. She tends to play quickly between points, and when she's in a bad mood, she can look as though she's rushing.
����������� Simon Reed (BBC commentator): "I remember watching her at junior Wimbledon 2003: first point in a game, she'd win, scream with glee, then there'd be tears the next point when she missed it, then there'd be more tears, then there'd be glee. It was just incredible; I thought that this was a heart-attack time! And she went on and got to the final!"

But underneath that emotional fa�ade is a very gritty and determined competitor with tremendous fighting spirit. Anna can show negative emotions and play brilliantly at the same time, and she can play through her nerves magnificently - it's not that often that we can call her Chokevetadze! ;-) Although she did struggle to close out several matches from winning positions during her 2008 slump.

Anna is a very ambitious player - I think it was in 2005 that she said she wanted to be in the top five within three years (as per her WTA Tour biography), and she achieved that - albeit briefly - in September 2007. Any player can say that she wants to be #1, but what makes Anna's ambition so convincing is that a true goal is a dream with a deadline - something that is realistic enough to motivate oneself to work hard to achieve it.

She's not intimidated by the top players, but she expects so much from herself on the court, and gets very upset and frustrated when she underperforms. Her intensity is a very positive thing, but sometimes she wants it too much, and that's when her emotions boil over, and we see her muttering, whacking the court with her racket and getting upset about line-calls, if not actually crying.

At Cincinnati 2007, Anna said: "I'm improving every month the way I act on the court, and it's the part of my game I hope to improve."
����������� At Stanford 2007, she added: "More than anything, I want to find a way of becoming calm. I need to stay calm, but I find it very difficult. I still think my game is up and down. I don't know why, but sometimes I don't concentrate like I should."
����������� And she won both those tournaments!

The other reason Anna is such a joy to watch, besides her flairsome groundstrokes, is that she is ultracute. Part of this is in her physical appearance: a uniquely-sculpted face with beady blue eyes that bulge intriguingly when she's running for a shot, a well-rounded nose, pursed lips, weird and wonderful facial expressions, and a distinctive plaited ponytail with a bushy tip - which I'm pleased to hear she has no plans to change after getting her racket caught in it in the Stanford 2007 final! She looks like a cross between Mary Pierce and Jelena Dokic.

Anna also has numerous cute little habits on the court, such as the way she licks her lips, the way she blows with her mouth at the start of her service-action, the way she stands with her feet exceptionally far apart to receive serve, and the way she stands with her hand on her hip when she's disputing a line-call. Her reactions to losing points are in a class of their own: doubling over in frustration, stumbling backwards in an exaggerated fashion when a deep ball forces her into error, the Bojangles jumps she sometimes does after hitting a ball long, sinking to her knees, waggling her finger, pointing in the direction she thinks she should have hit the ball, and the high-pitched squeal she emits after missing an easy putaway. She really does put her body through the most amazing contortions seen on a tennis-court! She also has a two-tone grunt reminiscent of Monica Seles, although much quieter!

Photos alone cannot do full justice to Anna's beauty, because a lot of it is in her animation.

I don't know Anna's off-court personality as well as I should like - not having seen many interviews or even plucked up the courage to talk to her when I've had the opportunities - but the impression I have formed is that she is charismatic, funny, nervous about public speaking, and doesn't seem to have that aura of unapproachability about her that I feel in the presence of other professional tennis-players. She's very modest about her success, often chalking it up to the luck of the draw or the misfortunes of others rather than giving herself the credit she's entitled to give herself.
����������� I did see more of her interviews in 2007, and she came up with some very memorable, unique quotes. For example, when asked whether she had an inferiority-complex when playing Maria Sharapova (after losing to her slightly younger compatriot at the French Open 2007), she said, "I don't have complexes - sorry."

Anna trains at the Valere club in Moscow, and she's also studying for a degree from Moscow University. She goes into university whenever she's in Moscow, and takes her books on tour with her. Because of her special situation, she's allowed to take six years to do her degree instead of the usual five (I'm not sure which years, but she was still doing it at the end of 2007). The October 2005 issue of British tennis-magazine Ace quoted her as telling them she was studying ecology; however, according to a December 2006 interview for Sport Express, she's reading psychology - and has used it to help her tennis.

Anna was born in Moscow on 5th March 1987. Her father Djambuli is Georgian, and her mother Natalia is Ukrainian. Djambuli, who was a professional soccer-player in the 1980s, travels with Anna on the Tour (I actually met him at Eastbourne in 2006), but it was Natalia who introduced her to tennis at the age of 8. Anna's brother Roman is eleven years her junior (born 11th February 1998).

Prior to 2004, she was known as "Anna Tchakvetadze". This is because the first letter of her surname in Cyrillic can be transliterated as either "Ch" or "Tch", and at some point they changed their minds.

I found an old video of Anna playing Ren�ta Kucerkov� in the World Junior Finals (Russia v Czech Republic). Watching this in November 2005, I was amazed at how well Anna played, despite the poor video-quality. She had a weird service-action compared with the one we're used to seeing from her, but she was belting her groundstrokes, hitting winners at will! :-)

In October, Anna made an inauspicious d�but on the ITF Women's Circuit at Minsk, losing 7-5 6-0 to world #790 Monika Schneider.

"And she did literally burst into tears every time she lost a point!" [Sam Smith at Moscow 2006, remembering the 14-year-old Anna at some team-competition between Russia and England]

Anna started the year with some success in junior-tennis: in January she won singles-titles at the Salk Open (beating Emma Laine 6-2 6-2 in the final) and Vasteras (beating Anete Bandere 6-2 6-0 in the final), and in March she won Black Gold of Udmurtia (beating Olga Savchuk 5-7 6-2 7-5 in the final).

In April, she came through four(!) rounds of qualifying to earn herself a place in the main draw of ITF Makarska, where she beat Lucia Obysovsk� 6-3 6-3 in the first round, but was then thrashed 6-0 6-2 by world #409 Tina Hergold.

Then she made her WTA Tour d�but at Budapest, albeit only in qualifying, as she be at #173-ranked Michaela Pa�tikov� 2-6 6-1 6-4, only to lose 6-2 6-1 to #175 Lubom�ra Kurhajcov� in the second qualifying-round. Having played three tournaments in 52 weeks, she entered the WTA singles-rankings somewhere around #860.

In June, Anna won another junior singles-title: the Ozerov Cup. She beat Olga Panova 6-2 6-4 in the final.

In July, she reached the semi-finals of ITF Istanbul: she beat Merve Asimgil 6-3 6-2, thrashed seventh seed Maria Pavlidou 6-0 6-1, battled past Ivana Bracun 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2, then lost 6-2 6-1 to #501-ranked second seed Alena Yaryshka. Her ranking rose to approximately #810.
����������� Anna won the first (and, as of the end of 2006, the latest) doubles-title of her career at ITF Istanbul, and it was the very first doubles-tournament she'd ever played! She and Irina Kotkina beat Michal Amir/Bucke Yavuz 6-3 7-5, top seeds Maria Pavlidou/Alena Yaryshka 6-3 4-6 6-1, fourth seeds Ivana Bracun/Sanja Todorovic 2-6 6-3 6-3 and, in the final, Daniela Bercek/Ana Cetnik (who had a combined doubles-ranking of #1020) 7-5 6-4.

In September, Anna returned to her Georgian roots as she tried to qualify for ITF Tbilisi, beating sixth seed Maria Penkova 6-7 6-2 6-3, but losing 7-6 6-4 to Iryna Kuryanovich in the second qualifying-round. The next week, she crashed out in the first qualifying-round of ITF Batumi, upset 1-6 6-1 6-1 by #834-ranked Klaudia Jans.

As in 2001, she played ITF Minsk, this time as the 8th seed, ranked #774, rather than an unranked wild card! She thrashed Egle Petrauskaite 6-0 6-2 in the first round, but then lost by the same score as she was upset by #826-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko (who would go on to win the Girls' Singles title at Wimbledon 2004).

Anna finished the year ranked #756.

Anna started the year in which she turned professional with a return to junior-tennis and a successful defence of her Vasteras title (beating Jenny Odqvist 6-2 6-2 in the final). In February, she won the Bavarian Challenge, beating Micha�lla Kraj�cek 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals and Marta Domachowska 7-6 7-5 in the final.

In March, 16-year-old Anna lost in the first qualifying-round of ITF Kaunas, 7-6 4-6 6-2 to Alberta Brianti. A month later, she reached the semi-finals of ITF Dubrovnik, beating Claudia Kuleszka 6-2 6-4, Mariya Koryttseva 3-6 6-2 7-6 (8/6), Ljiljana Nanusevic 6-1 6-2, and losing 6-2 6-3 to Lucija Krzelj.

Anna came through qualifying to reach the Girls' Singles final at Wimbledon. After trouncing two British nonentities to earn her place in the main draw, she beat 15th seed Marta Domachowska 3-6 6-2 6-3, Beier Ko 6-4 6-2, third seed Micha�lla Kraj�cek 1-6 6-4 8-6, seventh seed Ally Baker 1-6 7-5 6-3 and 11th seed Emma Laine 6-4 6-2.
����������� In an all-cute final, the girl who is something special lost 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Kirsten Flipkens (double-faulting on the last point, as I saw on BBC television). But it's often the runner-up at junior Wimbledon who goes on to have the better career than the champion - in the 2002 final, Vera Douchevina (Dushevina) had beaten a certain Maria Sharapova!

Concentrating on junior-tennis, Anna didn't play any tournaments counting towards the WTA rankings between April and September, in which time she dropped from #736 to #801. Then she returned to ITF Batumi, won three matches to qualify, upset fifth seed Anastassia Rodionova 7-5 3-1 retired, then lost in the second round 3-6 6-0 6-3 to Elena Tatarkova. This elevated her ranking to #546.

Anna played her only WTA tournament of the year at Moscow, where she got a wild card for the qualifying. Facing top-100 opposition for the first time in her career, she beat #97 Janette Hus�rov� 6-2 3-6 6-3, then lost 5-7 6-1 6-3 to #47 Tina Pisnik in the second qualifying-round.

Anna won five matches to qualify and reach the semi-finals of ITF Nottingham. In qualifying, she made light work of two British nonentities. In the main draw, she thrashed top seed Anne Keothavong (ranked #176) 6-0 6-4, and followed that up with victories over Tessy van de Ven 6-1 6-3, and sixth seed Adriana Barna 6-2 7-5. In a semi-final between two qualifiers, she lost 7-5 4-6 6-2 to Kirsten Flipkens in a repeat of the junior Wimbledon final.
����������� Ironically, #498-ranked Flipkens was the only lower-ranked player Anna had faced since the first qualifying-round. Her own ranking rose from #478 to #380.

Anna tried to qualify for ITF Palm Beach Gardens, but after beating #303 Diana Srebrovic 3-6 6-2 6-0, she was thrashed 6-1 6-2 by #464 Olga Poutchkova - another 16-year-old future star.

Anna Tchakvetadze said goodbye to junior-tennis at the prestigious Orange Bowl in December, where she reached the third round. She finished the year with an ITF-junior ranking of #22 and a WTA-ranking of #374.

Changing the transliteration of her surname to "Chakvetadze" and concentrating on adult-tournaments, Anna enjoyed some notable success: an ITF singles-title at Redbridge and three other finals. But by far her most famous victory of the year came at her first Major (in Women's Singles): a win over reigning French Open champion Anastasia Myskina at the US Open!

Anna made an inauspicious start to the year at ITF Belfort where, after thrashing Ivana Visic 6-0 6-0 and Pascale Leroy 6-1 6-2 to qualify for the main draw, she was upset by Yevgenia Savransky (at #520, ranked lower than the girl she double-bagelled) 6-4 6-7 7-6 (7/4).

Anna enjoyed a highly successful fortnight in the country where I live (not that she meant anything to me at the time). First, she won six matches to reach the final of ITF Sunderland: in qualifying, she beat Katherine Baker 6-1 7-6 and Ipek Senoglu 6-4 7-6. In the main draw, she beat Claire Ricketts 6-2 6-4, Dessislava Topalova 6-2 6-2, Olga Barabanschikova 6-4 1-2 retired, and Lina Stanciute 6-3 4-6 6-4. In the final, she lost 7-6 6-0 to #136-ranked second seed Kaia Kanepi.

Anna won the first (and latest) ITF singles-title of her career at Redbridge. Again, she had to qualify, beating Claire Ricketts 6-2 6-1 and Alberta Brianti 6-3 6-2. In the main draw, she made lighter work of Lina Stanciute than she had in the previous week's semi-final, winning 6-3 6-3. Then she beat fourth seed Anne Keothavong 7-5 6-2, Amanda Janes (now Keen) 6-2 6-2, and top seed Kaia Kanepi 6-7 6-4 7-5 in revenge for her loss in the Sunderland final. In the final, she trounced #183-ranked third seed Virginie Pichet 6-2 6-2 in less than an hour.

When Sunderland and Redbridge were added to the rankings, Anna shot up from #361 to #230 by the time of her next tournament: ITF St. Petersburg a month later. There she upset #156-ranked seventh seed Elena Tatarkova 6-1 6-4, and beat Adriana Barna 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where she had the honour of being Olga Barabanschikova's last victim. 24-year-old Barabanschikova won 1-6 6-1 6-2, and never played another tournament.

With her ranking up to #214, Anna played her first WTA tournament of the year at Casablanca, but crashed out in the first round of qualifying, 6-3 6-4 to #250-ranked Rosa Mar�a Andr�s.

Anna then played a couple of ITFs in France. At ITF Cagnes-sur-Mer - the last tournament of Iva Majoli's career - Anna came through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set, but lost in the first round of the main draw, 6-3 6-2 to #113-ranked S�verine Beltrame (now Br�mond). At ITF Saint Gaudens, she crashed out in the qualifying, 2-6 6-1 6-4 to #281 Tatsiana Uvarova.

A return to England brought more success to Anna, although sadly this did not include a return to Wimbledon as her ranking was too low (#222). While prospecting down Surbiton way, she stumbled upon an ancient, long-forgotten ITF grasscourt-tournament. She came through qualifying, beating Sophie Erre 2-6 6-2 6-4 and Holly Bagshaw 6-4 6-2. In the main draw, she beat Katie O'Brien 6-2 6-1, Jane O'Donoghue 6-4 6-4, Wimbledon 1999 semi-finalist Alexandra Stevenson (now ranked #126 and struggling with a right-shoulder injury that would require surgery) 6-2 retired, and Vilmarie Castellvi 6-2 6-0.
����������� In the final, she lost 6-4 1-6 6-1 to #62-ranked, second-seeded Selesian player Akiko Morigami. According to The Daily Telegraph, Anna was the more adventurous player, but struggled against Morigami's flat shots that bounce so low on grass.
����������� This elevated Anna's ranking to #189 (at the time of her next tournament).

Anna came though two qualifying-rounds for ITF Cuneo, but lost 6-4 6-1 in the third qualifying-round to #239-ranked Alice Canepa. But she got into the main draw as a lucky loser, and atoned for the upset with a 7-6 6-1 win over #121-ranked Eva Birnerov�. She beat fellow lucky loser Jennifer Schmidt 6-4 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost an all-cute match 4-6 6-3 6-3 to #81-ranked top seed Flavia Pennetta.

Anna went up to #175 in the rankings, and stayed in Italy for the WTA tournament at Palermo, where she lost in qualifying to Darija Jurak 6-4 5-7 7-5.

But then she actually did qualify for a WTA tournament - Stockholm - by beating Margit R��tel 5-7 6-2 6-1 and Maria Goloviznina 7-5 4-6 6-3. In her first-ever main-draw match at a WTA tournament, she lost 7-6 3-6 6-3 to second seed Silvia Farina Elia - by far her highest-ranked opponent yet at #21.

At ITF Bronx, Anna thrashed #202-ranked Lana Popadic 6-1 6-3, but lost in the second round 6-2 3-6 7-6 (10/8) to #99-ranked second seed Nuria Llagostera Vives.

And then came Anna's landmark-win at the US Open. Having never played Women's Singles (main draw or qualifying) at a Major before, she successfully qualified for her first Major by beating Elena Tatarkova 6-1 6-3, Yulia Beygelzimer 6-4 6-3, and Rika Fujiwara 7-6 6-2. And in the first round of the main draw, she knocked out former world #7 Barbara Schett - now ranked #80 - 1-6 6-4 6-3.
����������� In the second round, Anna stunned reigning French Open champion Anastasia Myskina - seeded fourth but ranked #3 - 7-6 (7/3) 6-3. It was only her third-ever main-draw match in either a WTA tournament or in a Major! Only Andrea Leand has ever bettered this record (she beat second seed Andrea Jaeger in the second round of the US Open 1981 - Leand's second-ever main-draw match), and only Serena Williams comes close to matching it (she beat #7-ranked Mary Pierce at Chicago 1997 - Williams's third-ever main-draw match). "I never thought that I could beat her," said Anna several times in her press-conference.
����������� In the third round, Anna came crashing back down to Earth with a 6-4 6-2 loss to #33-ranked Eleni Daniilidou. But with the help of the quality-points for beating the world #3, Anna shot straight into the top 100, from #175 to #91!

Playing ITF Batumi for the third year in a row - this time as the top seed - Anna reached the final. She beat Gabriela Navr�tilov� 6-3 7-6, Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5 2-6 6-2, future doubles-partner Elena Vesnina 6-4 7-5, and Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1 6-1. In the final, she lost to another future star, #176-ranked Ana Ivanovic, 6-3 6-3 (both Ana and Anna would win their first Tier I titles in 2006; ironically, they were doubles-partners for this tournament). Anna's ranking rose to #88.

Anna finished the year in her home-town of Moscow, although with the tournament having more higher-ranked Russians than wild cards, she had to come through qualifying: she beat �sa Svensson 6-4 6-1, #45-ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2 6-1 and Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-0.
����������� In the first round of the main draw, Anna lost 6-4 1-6 6-3 to #57-ranked Dinara Safina - what a difference two years would make! Anna's ranking rose to #83, touched a career-highest of #82 on 25th October, and finished the year at #84.

Anna made good progress in her first full year on the WTA Tour - nothing too spectacular, but a semi-final at New Haven and three other quarter-finals, and four wins over top-20 players. And she went from meaning next-to-nothing to me to being one of six candidates for my Eternal Fanship!

Anna made an inauspicious start to the year as she failed to qualify for Sydney: she upset #60-ranked Virginie Razzano 1-6 7-6 6-2 in the first qualifying-round, but was thrashed 6-1 6-3 by #95 Ludmila Cervanov� in the second.

At the Australian Open, Anna beat Selesian player Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3 6-2, but was thrashed in the second round 6-2 6-1 by sixth seed Elena Dementieva. It was enough to elevate Anna's ranking from #85 to #78.

Anna's slow start to the season continued as she failed to qualify for Paris, beating Libuse Pru�ov� 6-3 7-5, but losing 6-3 3-6 7-5 to #174 Cara Black in the second qualifying-round. She still rose to a new high of #75 in the rankings!

At Antwerp, Anna won four matches to qualify and reach the second round. She beat Shana Claes 6-3 6-3, Zuzana Ondr�kov� 6-0 6-4 and Petra Mandula 6-4 4-6 7-5 to qualify. In the main draw she beat #17-ranked Karolina �prem 7-5 6-3, although Karolina was losing in the first round of most tournaments then (at the time, I didn't like it that she lost to Anna, whom I didn't yet recognise as anything more than "rather cute"). In the second round, Anna lost to fellow qualifier Katarina Srebotnik 4-6 6-1 7-6 (14/12).
����������� This boosted Anna's ranking from #75 to #67, although she slipped back to #72 after 2004's points from ITF Sunderland and ITF Redbridge came off.

Anna enjoyed her best tournament of the year so far at Indian Wells, where she thrashed Martina Such� 6-0 6-1 in the first round, then upset world #20 Jelena Jankovic 2-6 6-2 6-4 - twice recovering from a break down in the third set (Jankovic led 2-0* and *3-2). In the third round, she lost 6-1 7-6 to Kim Clijsters - ranked #133 after missing most of 2004 with a career-threatening wrist-injury, but who would go on to win the tournament and dominate hardcourts in 2005!
����������� Anna's bare-shouldered appearance at the tournament's fashion-show boosted my liking for her, and her ranking rose to a new high of #65.

Anna lost to #48-ranked Maria Kirilenko 7-5 6-3 in the first round of Miami. At the time, I liked this result very much - "cute match and the right girl won", I wrote. The rise of Little Maria was, for me, one of the most exciting stories of early 2005 - I saw her and Tatiana Golovin as the leading candidates for my Eternal Fanship, but Nicole Vaidi�ov� and then Anna turned out to be the ones I would induct next!

Moving on to the claycourt-season, Anna qualified for Warsaw by beating Libuse Pru�ov� 6-4 6-2, future doubles-partner Elena Vesnina 7-6 6-4, and Silvija Talaja 6-2 6-1. But in the first round of the main draw, she lost 7-6 6-1 to a player ranked lower than any of them - #260 Julia Vakulenko. Anna's ranking rose to #61.

Anna lost 6-4 6-3 to two-time Major champion Mary Pierce in a battle of the plaits in the first round of Berlin. At Rome, she beat Lubom�ra Kurhajcov� 6-3 3-6 6-1, then lost 5-7 6-3 6-2 to fellow rising star Ana Ivanovic - now ranked way ahead of Anna at #36. Anna's ranking climbed a place to #60.

Anna went one better again at Istanbul: she beat Antonella Serra Zanetti 7-5 6-2 and Tatiana Panova 5-7 6-4 6-1 to reach the first WTA Tour quarter-final of her career, where she lost 6-2 6-1 to top seed and eventual champion Venus Williams - then a four-time Major champion ranked #13. Anna's ranking rose to #56.

It was at the French Open that I first ever saw Anna play (other than her double fault on the last point of the Wimbledon 2003 Girls' Singles final). Before that, she upset 26th seed Paola Su�rez (semi-finalist at the French Open 2004) 7-5 1-6 6-0, and #42-ranked Kl�ra Koukalov� 6-4 6-3.
����������� This set up a mouthwatering third-round encounter with second seed Maria Sharapova! Maria won 6-1 6-4, but I saw the second set on BBC television (just as I had wished when the draw came out) and I couldn't take my eyes off Anna - I loved her cute little habits, and even found her quite sexy!
����������� Anna broke into the top 50, rising from #56 to #44.

My second chance to watch Anna play came immediately, as I attended Birmingham. Her first-round match was against sexy Spanish Selesian Mar�a S�nchez Lorenzo - I had no strong preference as to who I wanted to win. Anna won 6-4 6-3 without doing anything spectacular - she did go for her shots quite well, was willing to come forwards to hit overheads or drive-volleys, and held serve reliably except when serving for the set or the match (she needed endless deuces at *5-4 in the first set, and failed to serve it out at *5-2 in the second). Anna did not appear to enjoy this match anywhere near as much as I enjoyed watching it - she was chewing on wasps throughout.
����������� In the second round, Anna beat #40-ranked Evgenia Linetskaya 4-6 6-4 6-4, but I only saw the last game or so due to other priorities. In the third round, she upset #25-ranked sixth seed Shinobu Asagoe 6-4 6-4, but I had to leave to watch Maria Sharapova after the first three games. My father stayed to watch Anna, and told me that she took a medical time-out for a neck-injury so painful that she was in tears.
����������� This set up a mouthwatering quarter-final with #19-ranked fifth seed Tatiana Golovin. My loyalty was to Tatiana because she was the one I thought I might induct into my Eternal Fanship - but my Passion wanted Anna to win. Anna looked more attractive than Tatiana on the day, she went for her shots, and made all the nice noises as Tatiana decided to suppress her own grunt (which is the sexiest sound in tennis IMO). But Anna was nervous from the start, and Tatiana did come up with a handful of spectacular winners as she won 6-4 7-6 (7/3).
����������� My overall impression of Anna as a player from this tournament was that she was a competent professional, but I saw nothing for my Reason to suggest that she was Eternal-Fanship material. I didn't get another chance to watch her play until Birmingham 2006.
����������� Anna climbed one place in the rankings to #43.

At Eastbourne, Anna won four matches to qualify and reach the second round. In qualifying, she beat Abigail Spears 6-1 6-2, Kristina Brandi 6-2 0-6 6-1, and Tatiana Perebiynis 6-1 4-6 6-1. In the main draw, she beat #38 Magdalena Maleeva 6-7 6-1 6-2, but lost in the second round 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5) to #5-ranked second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova - Anna was up a set and a break; in the third set she served for the match at 5-4, and she was in tears at the end.

Anna broke into the top 40 - at #39 - just in time for Wimbledon, but had the misfortune to draw on-form 17th seed Jelena Jankovic - who had taken Maria Sharapova to three sets in the Birmingham final. Anna lost their first-round match 6-4 6-2, and left Wimbledon without being televised by the BBC. :-( Had Anna won that match, she had a golden draw to reach the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, her ranking climbed to its highest yet - #34 - as other players lost big points from Wimbledon 2004.

At San Diego, Anna reached her first Tier I (and Tier II or higher) quarter-final. She avenged her Birmingham defeat with a 6-4 6-4 win over #22-ranked Tatiana Golovin (Tati loves to choke: she led *2-0 in the first set and *3-1 in the second). Anna beat another hot babe, Iveta Bene�ov�, 6-4 6-3 in the second round, and thrashed #17-ranked French Open semi-finalist Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-1 in the third round. In the quarter-finals, she suffered an anticlimactic 6-3 6-4 loss to #61-ranked Selesian player Akiko Morigami. Her ranking rose to #31.

At Los Angeles, Anna beat Li,Na 7-5 6-4, then found Iveta Bene�ov� a tougher proposition than the week before, winning 7-5 4-6 6-4.
����������� This set up a mouthwatering third-round match against top seed Maria Sharapova, and it was a gruelling 2h18m battle as Maria, struggling with a right pectoral-muscle strain, won 4-6 6-4 7-5! Maria couldn't serve or hit her forehand properly, so it was just the sheer strength of her will that got her through in the end. Anna led 2-0* and *3-2 in the third set, but was injured herself with a left-groin strain; she took a medical time-out, started crying after a fall, was in tears as she shook hands with Maria, and left the court sobbing.
����������� Anna: "Maria was a fighter and she fought all the way. That's why she won. I pulled my muscle in my leg, so I didn't feel so well. I was really upset because I felt I could win the match."
����������� Sadly, Maria had to withdraw from the tournament after that match, sacrificing a chance to become world number one a week earlier than she did, and denying us a mouthwatering quarter-final between Daniela Hantuchov� and either of those wonderful Russians.
����������� Anna broke into the top 30 for the first time at #28, though she slipped to #30 after pulling out of Toronto the following week.

At New Haven, Anna upset #17-ranked Jelena Jankovic 6-3 3-6 6-2 to set up a mouthwatering second-round match with lucky loser Maria Kirilenko. The two ultracute 18-year-old Russians were going in opposite directions since Little Maria beat Anna at Miami: Anna's star was on the rise, while Little Maria had suffered injury and loss of form. So it was no surprise when Anna won 6-3 6-3. In the quarter-finals, Anna beat another lucky loser - Zheng,Jie - 6-4 6-4 to reach her first-ever semi-final on the WTA Tour, and in a Tier II! She lost 6-3 6-3 to top seed Lindsay Davenport, who had just lost the #1 ranking to Maria Sharapova, but beating Anna to reach the final was enough for Davenport to take it back. :-(
����������� Anna moved up from #30 to #24 in the rankings, and I was increasingly excited by the progress she was making - not only month by month, but week by week!

Despite her excellent form leading up to the US Open, Anna found herself in all sorts of trouble in her first-round match against Viktoriya Kutuzova: a pretty 17-year-old Ukrainian girl; a qualifier ranked #131. Anna was facing the most disappointing defeat of her career at *3-5 down in the third set, but she held to 15, and then dug deep as Kutuzova served for the match at 5-4: Kutuzova recovered from 0/30 and 30/40, but Anna broke after one deuce to level up at 5-5. I was so happy when Anna won 6-3 3-6 7-5 - unusually so, for a player that I was still a long way from inducting into my Eternal Fanship!
����������� Anna had no such problems in the second round, making light work of #59-ranked Jill Craybas 6-0 6-2 for the 100th match-win of her career.
����������� Anna made an error-strewn start to her third-round match against sixth seed Elena Dementieva, and was in danger of sliding to a quick defeat at 1-6 *0-2, and 3-4* in the second set - which she won 6-4. In the third set, Anna Chokevetadze had big chances to win: a 3-0* lead, two break-points at 4-3* (40/15) that would have left her serving for the match; she had Dementieva serving to stay in the match at 4-5 and 5-6 (0/15), and a *4/2 lead in the tiebreak. But Anna started crying as she let that tiebreak slip away from her, and Dementieva won 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7/5) despite 19 double faults!

"I have a huge soft spot for her, which has been growing like topsy in recent weeks." That is what I wrote about Anna during the US Open 2005. At this time, I saw six candidates for my Eternal Fanship. My Passion suggested Tatiana Golovin, Maria Kirilenko and Anna, but my Reason suggested Nicole Vaidi�ov�, Sania Mirza and Ana Ivanovic in terms of tennis-qualities rather than superficial attractiveness. Looking back at the end of 2006, it is clear to me that Anna and Nicole have the best combinations of the two.

Even though Anna successfully defended her third-round berth from the US Open 2004, her ranking dropped from #24 to #31 with the loss of the hefty quality-points from having beaten the world #3 in a Major. She further dropped to #36 on 26th September with the loss of the points from ITF Batumi 2004.

Anna's next tournament was Luxembourg. She battled past Magdalena Maleeva 7-5 2-6 6-4, then lost 6-4 6-1 to #19-ranked fifth seed Daniela Hantuchov�. Anna fought back from 0-4* to 4-4 in the first set, with Daniela - one of the most notorious chokers in tennis, it has to be said - remarkably losing her serve from 40/0 up at 4-2. But all in all, it was a bit of a tennis-lesson for the 18-year-old Anna, who went back up to #33 in the rankings.

Anna finished the year with four consecutive first-round defeats: at Filderstadt she lost 6-3 6-3 to #22-ranked Francesca Schiavone, at Moscow 2-6 6-2 7-5 to #10-ranked fifth seed Patty Schnyder, and at Z�rich 6-1 6-1 to #61 Magdalena Maleeva (whom she had beaten at Luxembourg; Anna had the honour of being her last victim, as Magdalena retired from professional tennis after losing in the second round). This was all a far cry from her impressive improvement-curve of the US Open Series!

Anna's season finished at Hasselt with her fifth loss in a row: she retired with a right-wrist sprain when trailing #68-ranked 16-year-old Micha�lla Kraj�cek 1-6 1-3. Anna fell to #37 in the rankings, but finished the year at #33 after three players fell below her and the retired Silvia Farina Elia asked to be removed from the rankings.

Anna's slump may have been due to tiredness at the end of her first full season on the WTA Tour, but apparently she sacked her coach Rikard Allgurin just before her losing-streak began, and, as of the end of 2006, has been without a proper coach ever since.

Anna enjoyed the best year of her career to date, going from strength to strength as she won her first two WTA singles-titles and rose to #13 in the rankings. When I saw her play in June, she had developed flairsome power since I last saw her (12 months previously). Her season culminated in a spectacular Tier I tournament-victory at her home-town of Moscow, where she defeated four top-12 players to announce her arrival as a force to be reckoned with. At the end of the year, I inducted her into my Eternal Fanship.

And she achieved all this despite starting the year in such a terrible slump that I had feared for her future - which only makes me admire her all the more now.

On 9th January, Anna dropped to #36 in the rankings when the WTA decided to remove all quality-points (points based on the rankings of defeated opponents). And she made her customary bad start to the year, losing 6-3 6-3 to #101-ranked Selesian qualifier Yan,Zi in the first round of Sydney. This extended her losing-streak from the end of 2005 to six consecutive matches.

At the Australian Open, Anna got her first win since late September 2005 as she battled past #55-ranked Zheng,Jie 5-7 6-2 6-4. But powerful 16th seed Nicole Vaidi�ov� was too much for her at this stage: Nicole crushed Anna 6-2 6-1. And her slump continued as she lost by the same score in the first round of Paris to defending champion Dinara Safina.

Anna enjoyed a welcome return to form as she reached the fourth round of Indian Wells. After a first-round bye, she beat Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-4 7-5, then scored a surprising 6-2 6-3 victory over #22-ranked Maria Kirilenko, who had won the Tier II tournament at Beijing 2005 since the last time they met. I still preferred Little Maria to Anna at the time, but I was very pleased to see Anna finally getting her act together again.
����������� In the fourth round, Anna lost 6-3 6-3 to #19-ranked Ana Ivanovic - another rising star who is eight months younger than Anna, but always seemed to be a step ahead of her in those days (but Anna would win their next two meetings, and Ana would finish 2006 ranked #14 - one place lower than Anna).

Anna's return to form continued at Miami, where she again reached the fourth round - this time without the luxury of a bye. She beat Karolina �prem 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the most attractive first-round match, then scored an amazing 6-1 6-2 win over 31st seed Shahar Pe'er! She thrashed Virginie Razzano 6-4 6-0, but couldn't repeat her US Open 2004 win over Anastasia Myskina, going down 6-3 6-2 to the world #12. Already I could sense that Anna was not only over her slump, but a better player than when I last saw her play (at Birmingham 2005).
����������� Anna moved up from #36 to #33 in the rankings, though she dropped to #34 a week later.

After a month off in April, Anna returned for the claycourt-season at Warsaw looking as delectable as ever, and she reached the second WTA Tour semi-final of her career. She beat Jelena Jankovic 7-5 6-3 in the first round, much to my delight (though it was the ninth in a losing-streak of ten matches for Jankovic, which saw her fall from #21 to #38 in the rankings before an amazing turnaround saw her reach the US Open semi-finals and finish the year at #12 - one place higher than Anna).
����������� In the second round, Anna beat my wonderful Daniela Hantuchov� (ranked #16) 6-4 6-3, and in the quarter-finals, she overcame a 0:3 head-to-head against #20 Ana Ivanovic as she fought back for a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory. In the semis, she lost 6-1 6-1 to world #10 Svetlana Kuznetsova.
����������� Anna's ranking rose from #34 to #27 - the only time she had been ranked higher was during the US Open 2005 fortnight, when she shot up to #24 and straight back down again.

At Berlin, Anna extended her ownership of Iveta Bene�ov� to 3:0 with a 6-1 6-3 drubbing, then beat #25-ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-4. In the third round, she lost to world number one Am�lie Mauresmo 6-4 6-2. But her next two tournaments were disastrous, as she retired in the first round of Rome with a right-thigh strain when trailing #70-ranked Selesian player Akiko Morigami 6-4 2-6 2-4, then lost in the first round of Istanbul: 1-6 6-4 6-0 to #59 Meghann Shaughnessy. Her ranking slipped to #30.

So it was not an on-form Anna who went to the French Open, and nor did her campaign attract much attention as she beat #107-ranked qualifier Eva Birnerov� 7-5 6-4, then lost 7-5 6-3 to #38 Li,Na in the second round. Anna dropped one place to #31 in the rankings.
����������� But it was in the Women's Doubles event that Anna surprisingly excelled - having lost nine doubles-matches in a row, with her previous match-win coming at the French Open 2005! She'd been playing with the beautiful and sexy Elena Vesnina on and off since Moscow 2005, they had a combined doubles-ranking of #357, and here they reached the quarter-finals of the Women's Doubles, beating St�phanie Foretz/Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-4 6-3, eighth seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Su�rez - who have won eight Major titles together - 6-2 2-6 8-6, eleventh seeds Gisela Dulko/Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4 in an ultracute third-round match, and (quarter-)finally losing to fourth-seeded Australian Open champions Yan,Zi/Zheng,Jie 4-6 6-2 6-1. Team Chakvesnina had a combined doubles-ranking of #197 by Wimbledon!

At Birmingham, I got to see Anna play for the first time in a whole year, and I saw that she had transformed herself from a competent professional into a player with flairsome power in that time! After a first-round bye, seventh-seeded Anna beat qualifier Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4 6-4 to set up a third-round match with Vera Zvonar�va that induced me to go to Birmingham one day earlier than planned to watch it! And I was rewarded with a mouthwatering match between the two ultracute, flairsomely talented Russians, as Vera - ranked #78 after a year of illness and injury - upset Anna 6-4 6-3 (despite Anna hitting more winners) and went on to win the title!

Anna drew Vera again in the first round of Eastbourne, and the sequel was even better than the original! Vera won 7-6 6-7 6-2, although she should have won the second set after breaking for *2-1 and squandering her fourth break-point at 4-4* by netting a forehand that should have been an easy putaway. But Anna deserved a set for her flairsome contribution to both matches. Anna was crying as she came out from the changeover at *2-5 in the third, and she burst into tears when she lost.
����������� The next day, my father and I found ourselves walking behind Anna, Kveta Peschke and another girl on the way back to our hotel, and we had a five-minute conversation with Anna's father Djambuli and another old man, who were also walking behind the girls!

Having slipped to #34 in the rankings after her losses to Vera, Anna justified her 30th seeding at Wimbledon by beating Selesian player Yan,Zi 6-3 6-2 and doubles-partner Elena Vesnina 6-4 3-6 6-3 to set up a third-round match against French Open and Eastbourne champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, which I watched on BBC television. Losing 6-2 6-3, Anna looked much less impressive (and much less emotional!) than she did at Birmingham and Eastbourne, so I didn't induct her into my Eternal Fanship at that time, although I did promote her to the top of my demi-fanship. Her ranking went back up to #31.

Anna made her Fed Cup d�but in July, as Russia defeated Croatia 3:2 in a World Group play-off to remain in the World Group for 2007. Anna beat #106-ranked Ivana Lisjak 7-6 7-6 in the opening rubber - despite a wobble when serving for it at 6-5 (40/0).

At San Diego, Anna beat Jelena Kostanic 6-4 6-3, then scored a 6-3 6-7 6-2 win over #5-ranked third seed Nadia Petrova, who was struggling for form after returning from injury. Anna then upset #20-ranked Ana Ivanovic 4-6 6-4 6-1, to improve what had been a 0:3 head-to-head to 2:3. In a mouthwatering quarter-final, Anna had #12-ranked Nicole Vaidi�ov� in desperate trouble at 3-6 *0-2 (30/40), but Nicole fought back admirably to seal her first-ever places in a Tier I semi-final and the top ten! Anna broke back into the top 30 at #29.

At Los Angeles, Anna continued her upsetting ways with a 6-4 6-3 win over #23-ranked 13th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues, but then suffered an anticlimactic 6-3 4-6 7-5 loss to #65-ranked Alyona Bondarenko. Her ranking dropped back to #31.

Anna's impressive form in the US Open Series culminated in her first Tier I semi-final at Montr�al, which she reached without dropping a set! She beat lucky loser Vera Dushevina 7-5 6-3, thrashed #6-ranked third seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-4 in a repeat of their San Diego second-round match, beat Nathalie Dechy by the same scoreline and, in the quarter-finals, beat #25-ranked Shahar Pe'er 7-6 7-5. "It's the best result of my career, so I'm very happy, but I definitely want to be in the final," said our ambitious Anna.
����������� But sadly, her first-ever Tier I semi-final was ruined by a right-forearm strain that forced her to retire when trailing #12-ranked comeback-queen Martina Hingis 3-6 1-3.
����������� Anna: "In the start of the first set, I felt something wrong with my hand. It was really stiff and hurting when I served and hit forehands. I'm really sad because I knew that I could be in the final."
����������� Hingis: "Those down-the-line backhands were really quite impressive!"

Anna shot up from #31 to her previous highest ranking of #24, just as she did a year ago (by reaching the semi-finals of New Haven 2005). It's a shame that she chose to play New Haven 2006, given that she should have been resting her right forearm for a week with the US Open just a week away. And she paid the price for that bad decision with a first-round loss to #93-ranked fellow Russian Galina Voskoboeva. It was an ill-tempered encounter, and Anna retired at match-point down at 3-6 5-6. And she lost the #24 ranking just as suddenly as she had a year ago, dropping to #29.

Luckily, the US Open draw was very kind to Anna, with off-form Anastasia Myskina the only seed standing between her and her first-ever Major fourth round. Anna opened with an easy 6-4 6-1 win over Martina Such�, then avenged her Los Angeles loss by beating Alyona Bondarenko 7-6 (8/6) 6-0.
����������� This set up a third-round encounter with dangerous junior-player Victoria Azarenka, ranked #124, who had upset the 11th-seeded Myskina in the first round. Anna won 6-4 6-3, but had to come through some very tough service-games in the second set - not least when she served for it at 5-3, missing two match-points at 40/15 and saving a break-point before sealing victory in that game.
����������� This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match with #26-ranked Tatiana Golovin, who had taken out the off-form fifth seed Nadia Petrova in a 2h47m marathon the day before. It was a match between the two leading contenders for the next place in my Eternal Fanship, both looking for their first Major quarter-final. I expected Anna to win, and my loyalty was slightly to her, but Anna was out of sorts and Tatiana won 6-3 6-2 - albeit in 91 minutes with a lot of deuce-games!
����������� Anna moved up to #27 in the rankings.

At Beijing, Anna had the misfortune to draw former world number one Lindsay Davenport, but she put up a great fight before going down 7-6 3-6 7-5 despite breaking seven times to six, and winning only one point fewer than Davenport (119-120). Perhaps it would have been a different story if Anna hadn't served 13 double faults. Despite the first-round loss, Anna moved up to #26 in the rankings as defending champion Maria Kirilenko bowed out in the second round.
����������� Anna enjoyed some rare success in doubles as she and Elena Vesnina reached the final (Anna's first WTA final in doubles or singles), beating fourth seeds Marion Bartoli/Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-7 6-3 in the semi-finals, and losing to second seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Su�rez 6-2 6-4 in the final. This boosted Chakvesnina's combined doubles-ranking from #148 to #108.

Anna won her first WTA singles-title at the Tier III at Guangzhou. This didn't seem likely in the early rounds, as she struggled to beat #203-ranked Zhang,Shuai 3-6 7-5 6-0, #145 Elise Tamaela 6-2 6-7 6-3, and #65 Olga Poutchkova 7-6 3-6 6-1. In the semi-finals, she was leading #16-ranked top seed Jelena Jankovic when the latter retired with heat-illness (it was 32�C).
����������� In the first WTA singles-final of Anna's career, she found herself facing #31-ranked fourth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. Anna went into the match with a 3:0 head-to-head against the 24-year-old Spaniard, who had won six WTA singles-titles in her career. But Anna was in no mood to allow her a seventh, as she swept to her own first with a 6-1 6-4 victory in 1h35m (not including the rain-delay before Anna served for the match at 5-4), hitting the ball with conviction and accuracy. The second set was decided by a single break to Anna in the third game, although she had to save nine break-points over her next two service-games!
����������� Anna: "I have been working and hoping for this for a long time. I knew I had to be really aggressive today, and it worked. Maybe the score looked easy, but it was a very difficult match."
����������� Anna moved up to a career-high #23 in the rankings, although she slipped to #24 the following week as Shahar Pe'er narrowly overtook her.

After one week off, Anna won her second WTA singles-title at the Tier I in Moscow! Having lost in the first round in her two previous main-draw appearances at her home-town tournament, she stunned #10-ranked seventh seed Dinara Safina (who had beaten her at the same stage in 2004) 6-1 6-2. I was more than delighted when I saw that result on CEEFAX, and when I finally acquired the whole match from Tennis Videos International in December, I just knew I was going to induct Anna into my Eternal Fanship, because the first set was one of the most joyful displays of flairsome power and clean winners all over the court that I've ever seen!
����������� In the second round, Anna defeated #12-ranked Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final with second-seeded US Open champion Maria Sharapova, but as Friday the 13th would have it, Maria pulled out before the match with a right-foot strain. Anna said, "I'm disappointed not to play, especially with Maria here in Russia."
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna upset #7-ranked fourth seed Elena Dementieva 7-5 3-6 6-0, despite a left-shoulder strain which required treatment just three games into the match; Dementieva broke for 2-0 - the first of six consecutive breaks. Anna saved set-point at *4-5 (30/40), broke in the next game, and served out the first set 7-5. The second set was decided by a single break against Anna in the eighth game, but Anna steamrollered Dementieva for the loss of six points in the third set!
����������� In the final, Anna beat #5-ranked fifth seed Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-4 in 1h30m - extending her head-to-head to 3-0, and inflicting Petrova's first loss in six finals that year! Petrova was enjoying a return to form as dramatic as the slump in which Anna had caught her in August, but was now struggling with groin-, chest- and hip-injuries. The first set was very tight, Anna recovering from *2-3 (0/40) to hold and then break in the next game (after two deuces). Petrova broke back immediately, but Anna broke again (after three deuces) and served out the first set 6-4 after saving break-point at 30/40.
����������� Petrova's resistance seemed to crumble as Anna raced to a *4-1 lead in the second set, although Petrova got one of the breaks back, and forced Anna to serve for the match at 5-4. Anna looked crazy-nervous just before and during that game, but was brave enough to recover from 0/30 and 30/40, sealing victory on her first championship-point. And she was still crazy-nervous as she made her speech to the crowd!
����������� Anna: "I was a little bit lucky today as Nadia was obviously not 100% fit. I knew that she couldn't show her best tennis, but I enjoyed my win all the same."
����������� I spent a long time savouring Anna's victory and contemplating what was now the distinct possibility of inducting her into my Eternal Fanship. Since I didn't get to watch the final until I acquired it from Tennis Videos International, I decided to evaluate her during the off-season, in the hope of starting the 2007 season as an Anna-fan.

Anna moved up to #16 in the rankings immediately after winning Moscow. She pulled out of Z�rich, citing the aforementioned left-shoulder strain, but as Lindsay Davenport, Ana Ivanovic and Anastasia Myskina all lost big points from Z�rich 2005, Anna moved up to #13 on 23rd October, and stayed there for the rest of the year.

Anna's season came to an end at Linz. She fought back from 2-4* down to beat Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-2, but was on the wrong end of an upset for once, as she lost 6-4 6-4 to #30-ranked Samantha Stosur in the second round. She pulled out of Hasselt with flu.

During the off-season, Anna passed my evaluation with flying colours, and I inducted her into my Eternal Fanship in the small hours of 19th December 2006 - even sooner than the January 2007 date I had planned, as I had already made up my mind, and I wanted to get her section of my website opened so that I could upload the Wimbledon report that I had just written.

Anna enjoyed an even better year than 2006, as she became a top-six player (even reaching a career-high #5 for three weeks in September) and lived up to that stature with consistent results and wins over both Williams-sisters (who won one Major each in 2007). Although not one of her tournaments was as spectacular as Moscow 2006, she added an impressive four WTA singles-titles to her CV, and reached not only her first two Major quarter-finals (at the Australian and French Opens), but her first Major semi-final at the US Open. And she contributed to Russia's Fed Cup triumph, winning live singles-rubbers in the semi-finals and final.
����������� But she didn't get the recognition she deserved from the media - particularly not from the BBC, who only deigned to televise one Anna-match on Freeview all year: a woefully disappointing third-round loss at Wimbledon. The other lowlight of Anna's year was her post-US-Open slump (following a traumatic semi-final loss at the US Open), although she did snap out of it magnificently to reach the semi-finals of her first-ever Sony Ericsson Championships and finish the year at #6.

Anna started her season as the highest-ranked player (at #13) ever to play Hobart, and as the top seed there, she duly collected her third WTA singles-title. She started with a 6-0 6-4 first-round win over Lourdes Dom�nguez Lino in windy conditions. Then she edged past Olga Poutchkova 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 - recovering from 1/4 in the tiebreak and saving two set-points at 4/6! In the quarter-finals, she defeated Zheng,Jie (her highest-ranked victim of the week at #34) 4-6 6-1 6-1.
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna beat Sania Mirza 6-4 6-1 - but only after a nasty injury-scare when she was one game away from victory but pulled a stomach-muscle. Anna said: "It was hurting a lot, but I was 5-0 up [in the second set] so I wanted to finish the match. If it be any other score, I think I would have pulled out. I couldn't serve, and I couldn't run at all."
����������� Anna didn't fully recover from the injury in time for the final, but luckily she was only playing world #70 Vasilisa Bardina, who was exhausted after coming through seven matches to reach the final as a qualifier. Anna wasn't at her best, but came through 6-3 7-6 (7/3).

Anna reached her first Major quarter-final at the Australian Open. In the first round, she found herself up against Sybille Bammer - who had beaten Serena Williams at Hobart - in the extreme heat that almost killed Maria Sharapova at the same time. Anna was lucky not to have to play a third set too, as she trailed *1-4 (0/30) and *2-5 in the second before winning the last five games.
����������� In the second round, Anna seemed to be cruising to an easy victory as she led Laura Granville 6-2 4-2 (40/15)*. But she decided to make it difficult, failing to serve out the match at *5-4, and dropping the second set 5-7. But she cruised through the decider to a 6-2 5-7 6-1 victory.
����������� I was anticipating a tough third-round match against Samantha Stosur - the last player to have beaten Anna, and an Australian playing in front of her home-crowd - but Stosur lost to Jelena Kostanic To�ic in the second round. Kostanic To�ic put up an aggressive performance against Anna, but squandered 10 break-points in the first set, and committed 37 unforced errors - almost twice as many as Anna, who won 6-4 6-4.
����������� In the fourth round, Anna recovered from *1-4 down in the first set to upset eighth seed Patty Schnyder 6-4 6-1 and reach her first Major quarter-final! "I don't want to talk like some of the players who like to say they will win a Grand Slam. I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals. I didn't expect that when I came here, because usually I play very bad in Australia."
����������� This set up a mouthwatering quarter-final with top seed and eventual finalist Maria Sharapova, although they both played below their best, being hampered by sore right shoulders. Anna led *4-2 and *5-3 (two separate breaks) in the first set, but lost it 6-7. It was Maria who led *5-3 in the second set, but Anna made a fight of it before Maria eventually broke for a 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 victory.
����������� Maria said: "Against a girl like that, who gets a lot of balls back, it's just a matter of who can be a little bit smarter, who can get an extra ball back, who is a little tougher. I thought I did the job really well today.
����������� "Sometimes I feel like I don't know if she knows what she's doing! I feel like she tricks herself into her own game. She definitely has a lot of variety. If she wants to step in, she has a lot of power behind her strokes."
����������� Anna said: "I think I need to improve to be more aggressive on important points especially because, yes, she was a little bit more aggressive than me. But it's tough to be aggressive because Maria, she's hitting the ball so hard! Especially in the warm-up, I thought, 'She will kill me!'"
����������� Anna gained many valuable ranking-points from Hobart and the Australian Open, but not enough to immediately elevate her ranking of #13.

In the first round of Paris, Anna thrashed Olga Poutchkova 6-2 6-0 in 52 minutes, winning every game in the match from 2-2 onwards. Anna said, "I know that is not her usual level, because I have had tougher matches against her in the past."
����������� In the second round, Anna extended her head-to-head against Anabel Medina Garrigues to 5:0 - but not before a 4-6 6-4 6-4 battle in which she led *5-2 in the third. When asked in a chat-session whether she had a boyfriend, Anna said she didn't, but confessed to fancying Australian Open finalist Fernando Gonz�lez (boyfriend of Gisela Dulko).
����������� Playing with her left calf strapped, Anna lost 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 to second seed Am�lie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals. Anna fought bravely - particularly from 3-5 down in the first - but she was in tears at the end.
����������� Anna rose one place to #12 in the rankings.

Anna reached the semi-finals of Antwerp. In the first round, she breezed past dangerous floater Eleni Daniilidou 6-4 6-2. In the second round, she overcame Sybille Bammer - who found the form of her life in the early months of 2007. It was an error-strewn performance from Anna, who won 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 despite squandering a *5-2 lead in the second and 5-0* in the third.
����������� In the quarter-finals, Anna extended her astonishing head-to-head against world #7 Nadia Petrova to 4:0 with a 6-3 6-4 victory - the week after Petrova won Paris! It really does seem that Petrova is psyched out by Anna's intelligent play, the way she makes her defensive shots awkward for Petrova, and the fact that Anna beats her every time!
����������� But in the semi-finals, Anna lost 6-3 3-6 6-2 to top seed Am�lie Mauresmo in an error-strewn encounter to go 0:3 down in their head-to-head.
����������� Anna rose from #12 to #10 in the rankings on 19th February - her d�but in the top-ten - although by not playing Dubai, she knew she was going to slip back to #11 the following week. "I don't really care that much about my ranking anyway. I just want to improve my game, win matches, and then my ranking will take care of itself."

It was around this time that Anna started working with Maria Sharapova's ex-coach Robert Lansdorp, who doesn't travel. Rainer Hofmann was also observed coaching Anna at the French Open three months later - a fact confirmed by his wife Patty Schnyder in a press-conference there. Interestingly, Anna's WTA Tour profile still only says that she is coached by her father Djambuli, although my understanding is that he merely travels with her. (Edit: by the end of 2008, it had been updated to name Lansdorp as her coach.)

Playing Indian Wells shortly after celebrating her 20th birthday, Anna ruined Mirjana Lucic's 25th with a 6-2 7-5 victory in the second round. Lucic reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon 1999 but then fell off the face of the Earth - this was only her fourth tournament since the US Open 2003. The second set should have been much easier, as Anna led 4-0 before having an apparent lapse of concentration.
����������� Just as she did in 2006, Anna beat Maria Kirilenko in the third round for the loss of five games: this time winning the ultracute encounter 6-4 6-1.
����������� Anna needed to reach the quarter-finals to return to the top ten, and was seeded to, but was upset 6-4 7-6 (7/2) by Shahar Pe'er in hot conditions that favoured the Israeli. It was the first time that Anna lost to Shahar in three meetings, the first time in 2007 that she lost to someone other than Maria Sharapova or Am�lie Mauresmo, and the first time in 2007 that she failed to win 11 games.

At Miami, Anna reached the biggest semi-final of her career up to that point, and moved back up to #10 in the rankings. Admittedly she had some luck with Jelena Jankovic and Kim Clijsters going out before she had to play them, but considering that she started the tournament with "no confidence at all" (according to her semi-final press-conference), she certainly recorded some impressive scorelines!
����������� After a first-round bye, Anna made light work of Vasilisa Bardina: 6-1 6-0. Then she saw off Tatiana Golovin 6-1 6-3 to avenge her US Open 2006 defeat and level their head-to-head at 2:2. In the fourth round, she beat Mara Santangelo 6-1 7-5 - although she made a meal of the second set after leading *2-0 (40/0)!
����������� In the quarter-finals, Anna overcame a 4-6 1-3* deficit to defeat Li,Na 4-6 7-5 6-2. Li is a go-for-broke player who can self-destruct, so Anna relied on placement rather than power.
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna lost 6-2 6-3 to world #1 Justine Henin (the same scoreline as their only previous meeting: Wimbledon 2006). Anna felt "very tired", and played very poorly - although Henin did tend to bring out the worst in her opponents with her variety of spins and her net-play. Anna said, "When you play the way I played today, it's not even strategy to think if you can't hit more than three balls over the net. I'm just feeling that I'm not in a good shape right now."
����������� Anna moved back up from #11 to #10 in the rankings - this time for two weeks.

Anna dropped back to #11 as she took a whole month off from playing tournaments - broken only by playing a dead fourth rubber in Russia's 5:0 Fed Cup victory over Spain in the first round of the World Group at her home-town of Moscow: Anna struggled past world #421 Nuria Llagostera Vives 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.

Anna kicked off her claycourt-season with a 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 victory over Jill Craybas in the first round of Warsaw. In cold, damp conditions, Anna failed to serve out the first set at 5-4, and Craybas failed likewise in the second.
����������� In the second round, Anna cruised past Tathiana Garbin 6-2 6-2, but in the quarter-finals against Jelena Jankovic, Anna retired at 6-7 (1/7) *1-3 (30/0) with a right-shoulder strain. Jankovic said: "I thought she had something wrong in the tiebreak. Before that, we were both on the same level, and all of a sudden, she kind of gave up and she wasn't the same player."

Anna overcame Samantha Stosur in a marathon first-round match at Berlin: 3-6 7-6 (7/1) 7-6 (7/5). In the second round, she was upset 6-4 6-4 by Lucie �af�rov� - but I don't mind losing to Lucie, because she too is one of the most flairsomely talented players on the Tour, and I have since inducted her into my Eternal Fanship. From what I've read, this was a brilliant performance by Lucie against a good one by Anna.
����������� Anna moved back up to #10 as retired #5 Kim Clijsters was removed from the rankings.

At Rome, Anna "looked on superb form" as she thrashed Selesian player Yan,Zi 6-1 6-3 in the second round. This set up a mouthwatering third-round clash with Daniela Hantuchov�, but Anna wasn't firing on all cylinders, and Daniela trounced her 6-2 6-3 (after wobbling at *5-1 in the second).
����������� Anna's ranking moved up to a new career-high of #9 as injured Nicole Vaidi�ov� was unable to defend her Strasbourg title.

Anna reached her second Major quarter-final at the French Open. She began with a straightforward 6-2 6-3 win over Alicia Molik in the first round, though she failed to serve it out at *5-2.
����������� In the second round, Anna survived a huge fright against �gnes Sz�vay: a qualifier ranked #102, who won the French Open 2005 Girls' Singles & Doubles. Anna was about to serve for the match at 6-4 *5-4 when there was a two-hour rain-delay. Resuming at 20:19 CEST in fading light, Anna ended up dropping the second set on a tiebreak. Amazingly, after the first two sets had been serve-dominated, only one game went with serve in the third set: Anna held serve in the third game, and hence won 6-4 6-7 (1/7) 6-4.
����������� In the third round, Anna did win 6-4 6-4, although once again she failed to serve it out - leading 6-4 *5-3 against 31-year-old Ai Sugiyama.
����������� This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match against Lucie �af�rov�, who had delighted me by upsetting Am�lie Mauresmo in the previous round (just as she had at the Australian Open), which I saw on BBCi. Sadly, Anna v Lucie wasn't televised. Anna won the first set 6-4, but a dramatic momentum-shift saw Lucie win the next seven games before Anna steadied the ship for a 6-4 0-6 6-2 victory. On Anna's official website, she wrote: "I must say that win against Lucie was by far my biggest win during this clay court season. Lucie is a great player. You better watch out because Lucie will climb up the rankings this year : ), Wait and see : )." (Lucie did climb from #29 to a year-end #23, but she was really going downhill during this period, although I did induct her into my Eternal Fanship in January 2008.)
����������� This set up an even more mouthwatering quarter-final against Maria Sharapova, who had beaten Anna in her first Major quarter-final at the Australian Open. I think it's disgraceful that the BBC did not deign to televise either of these quarter-finals.
����������� Sadly, an untimely bout of flu had taken its toll on Anna: "I had a day off yesterday to keep my energy for today's match, but it didn't work. Very, very bad I felt today."
����������� Maria recorded a clinical 6-3 6-4 victory to reach her first-ever French Open semi-final. "When I come to the tournament, I know in any tournament that I play, whether it's on clay or mud or whatever it is, I know what I'm capable of, and I believe in myself, and that's the most important thing."
����������� Anna moved up to a new high of #8 in the rankings.

Anna established her grasscourt-credentials ahead of Wimbledon by winning her fourth WTA singles-title at 's-Hertogenbosch, although I was disappointed that Anna and Daniela Hantuchov� decided to play there rather than Eastbourne as they had in previous years. In the first round, Anna fought back for a 5-7 6-2 6-2 win over Victoria Azarenka, then beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6 (7/3) and hammered Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-2. This set up a mouthwatering Anna v Daniela semi-final, which Anna won 6-3 6-4.
����������� In the final, Anna scored an impressive victory over top seed and world #3 Jelena Jankovic, who had beaten Maria Sharapova in the Birmingham-final the previous week. Anna won 7-6 (7/2) 3-6 6-3, although she let 5-0* become *5-5 in the first set, which had four rain-delays! She also had to save three break-points at *5-3 in the third before clinching victory. "I had a very good start," said Anna. "Jelena came back very strongly in the second set, but I got lucky at the start of the third set."
����������� Anna moved up to a yet another new career-high ranking: this time #7.

In the first round of Wimbledon, Anna made a dreadful start to go 1-4* down against Angelique Kerber. She got one break back, but still had to recover from *3-5 before riding the momentum that gave her to a 7-5 6-3 victory. In the second round, she scored a straightforward 6-2 6-1 victory over Tatiana Poutchek.
����������� The third round was the only Anna-match that the BBC deigned to televise all year, and it was a big disappointment as she lost 7-6 (10/8) 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 to 18-year-old Micha�lla Kraj�cek, who went on to reach the quarter-finals in an otherwise mediocre year for her, and who wanted revenge for a Girls' Singles match at Wimbledon 2003 in which Anna had beaten Micha�lla en route to the final.
����������� Anna took a 5-3* lead in the first set, but even up to that point, there wasn't much evidence of the spectacular flairsome power that I look for as an Anna-fan. Anna played a horribly choky game at *5-4, and was very upset when the umpire didn't overrule the winner by which Micha�lla went 6-5* up just before the first rain-delay. "He was watching the rain," said Anna. "If we are still playing, he should watch the ball."
����������� Anna lost the first set after squandering one set-point in the tiebreak. The second set went with serve, and Anna did play a brilliant tiebreak to level the match. The third set was full of long, deucy games, and it might have been a different story had Anna converted one of the two-break-points she held at 2-4*. But she didn't, and she capitulated woefully in the next game - not going for her shots, yet still missing - to drop her serve and the match.
����������� Micha�lla beat Anna because she was braver on the day - and I have to say, she looked better on the day too! ;-)
����������� Anna's ranking slipped back to #8.

In the Fed Cup semi-finals, Russia defeated the United States of America 3:2, and this time Anna got to play live rubbers! She thrashed Vania King 6-1 6-3 in the first rubber - sealed with a forehand winner down the line. "I told myself I will stay concentrated, confident, and nothing's going to happen. I just play for fun," said Anna.
����������� But jetlag and fatigue caught up with her as she lost 6-1 6-4 to Wimbledon-champion Venus Williams in the third rubber, failing to convert a break-point at 4-5*. This put Russia 1:2 down, so it was up to Nadia Petrova to win the fourth rubber and the doubles with Elena Vesnina.

Anna won her fifth WTA singles-title at Cincinnati, and moved back up to #7 in the rankings. She went 0-4 down in her first-round match against Tatiana Poutchek, then won 12 games in a row to win 6-4 6-0. "I was scared," said Anna. "I didn't sleep well last night because we had a flight early in the morning, and I just didn't feel like I was ready to play. I felt like I was sleeping on the court the first few games."
����������� And she made a similar slow start in her second-round match against #218-ranked qualifier Anda Perianu, recovering from 0-2 before winning 6-4 6-3. In the quarter-finals, Anna was leading her best friend Elena Vesnina 6-7 (3/7) 6-0 4-1 when Elena retired with a right-shoulder strain. "It's never good to win a match like that," said Anna.
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna overcame fellow 20-year-old Sania Mirza 6-2 5-7 6-3, though she struggled quite a bit to close out the third set: "I think she started to play more relaxed after it was 5-0," said Anna.
����������� This set up a final with Selesian player Akiko Morigami, who had led Venus Williams *5-3 in the third at Wimbledon. But she couldn't handle Anna, who cruised to a 6-1 6-3 victory in just under an hour (Akiko led 2-0 in the second).
����������� Anna said: "I think she was tired, because she had a tough match yesterday. I was trying to play every point very concentrated, because the last few days have been really up and down. If it had been like that today, it would be really tough because she doesn't make easy mistakes, and runs very fast. My game-plan was to move her, make her run, and be more aggressive."
����������� Akiko said: "I don't think I was tired. I just wasn't executing shots. I was disappointed to play the final like that. Anna was just too good. I give her a lot of credit."

Once again, Anna justified her top seeding by winning her sixth WTA singles-title (and fourth of the year) at Stanford - and moved up to a new career-high ranking of #6. In the first round, she overcame a 2-4 start to blitz Eleni Daniilidou 6-4 6-1. Anna said, "It was my first match, and I was surprised by the speed of the court. I was moving a little slow, then I decided I needed to take the ball earlier and play more aggressively. This match I played much better than I did all week in Cincinnati!"
����������� Katarina Srebotnik proved a much tougher opponent in the quarter-finals, as Anna needed almost two hours to win 4-6 6-2 6-2. "She was making me run all over the court," said Anna. "Then I started to play more aggressive in the second set, and I began to serve and return better also."
����������� This set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Daniela Hantuchov�. Daniela led 5-2 in the first set and 5/2 in the tiebreak, but Anna won 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-2 in 2h18m.
����������� Anna said: "It was a good match, although my serve was a bit up and down. I served better in the third set, though, which was the most important. Still I'm pleased with the way I played. I was playing better than I was yesterday. She made me run a lot. After the first set, I thought I had to play more aggressive."
����������� Daniela said: "She is very smart, and can play big when she needs to."
����������� This set up a final with Sania Mirza. Sania has groundstrokes of flairsome power herself, but Anna's were more effective: Sania had to run all over the court as Anna won 6-3 6-2 - despite losing a point when she got her racket stuck in her braided ponytail! "I used to have even longer hair than I have now, and that has never happened," she said.
����������� "I have to say I'm a little tired. I wasn't feeling that great to run around for three sets, so I told myself to finish it fast. I didn't serve that well the whole week, but I played well. I had to concentrate more on every point. Her forehand is huge, but when I made her run, it's tough for her. In Cincinnati, we had so many unforced errors and it wasn't good to watch. But we were both playing better here."
����������� Sania said: "After I lost the first set, she dominated. She comes up with her best in the finals. She plays much better when people are against her [the crowd was very pro-Sania]. I think that pumped her up more. Some people like it, some don't, and maybe she is one that does."
����������� With this win, Anna's ranking went up to a new high of #6. "I always want to improve my ranking and my tennis. But first it starts with my tennis. If I play better, the ranking will come."
����������� In stark contrast to what she said at the Australian Open, Anna was no longer coy about her prospects of winning a Major: "My goal is to win a Grand Slam. Every player wants to win one, and I'm one of them. I've made two quarter-finals already, so I'm sure I can do it."
����������� Anna's 2007 doubles-results had been a woeful 1:7 going into Stanford, but she and Victoria Azarenka - who were playing their fifth tournament together - reached the final, losing 6-4 7-6 (7/5) to Sania Mirza and Shahar Pe'er. Sania said: "However many times you play Anna, you never get used to her shots, and you can see she made some great angles in doubles too."

After a first-round bye at San Diego, Anna won both her first two matches 6-4 6-4: against Meghann Shaughnessy and Ai Sugiyama respectively. Anna said, "I do have confidence, but I feel I am tired as well. It's tough to play too much tennis, especially since last week I was playing doubles and singles."
����������� In the quarter-finals, Anna extended her winning-streak to 12 matches with a 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 victory over Wimbledon-champion Venus Williams in 2h32m. After losing the first set - in which she had led 5-2* with two set-points - and trailing 6-7 3-5*, when Williams wasted a match-point with a double fault, Anna fought back admirably, moving her tall opponent around the court and hitting behind her.
����������� "It was the biggest win in my career, but I am already thinking about tomorrow," said Anna. "I was running in every point and fighting until the end, and I think that's why I won. She just played better in Vermont [Fed Cup]. She won that match and I couldn't do anything. Here it was easier, because I knew what I had to do - a game-plan in my mind - and it helped that I played against her three weeks ago. It was a very emotional win to beat Venus in the United States, but the crowd was very good and supported me."
����������� This set up a mouthwatering semi-final against world #2 Maria Sharapova, but Anna - who already had a 0:4 record against Maria - sounded beaten even in her quarter-final press-conference: "I'll have to try and do my best tomorrow, but I don't know what my strategy against Maria will be. I'm tired now, and will have to see how I feel on the day. I'll try to move her around and hope for the best."
����������� Maria, who played brilliantly all week to win her only title of a year plagued by a shoulder-injury, demolished Anna 6-3 6-2. Maria served extremely well - for once in 2007 - and Anna's legs started cramping near the end.
����������� Anna said: "I think I did not recover from yesterday's match. I think I gave all my power to the quarter-final match - it was nearly three hours. I felt very tired. I wasn't able to fight like yesterday, because I didn't have much time to recover. Maria played very well and hit a lot of winners, but I couldn't run to some of the shots she made."
����������� Maria said: "The quality of the first set was better than the second, where I didn't have to give as much. I thought the first set was pretty competitive. Once I got the first break in the second set, I felt like I was on cruise-control. It was a little too easy."
����������� Anna and Victoria Azarenka reached their second doubles-final in a row, winning their semi-final the same day as Anna's singles semi-final! They beat Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama 6-2 3-6 [10/6], but lost the final 7-5 6-4 to top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

Anna went into Toronto suffering from a viral illness with flulike symptoms. After a bye, she had to play Virginie Razzano. Anna went 3-0 up before the virus took its toll on her energy, and she retired trailing 6-7 (5/7) 0-2. She was doing the official WTA Tour Blog for that week, and in it, she wrote: "It's strange: I haven't had any injuries all year, but I've been sick like this three times now. I had it before Indian Wells and during Roland Garros. Roland Garros was particularly bad timing because I was in the quarter-finals."

Anna reached her first-ever Major semi-final at the US Open - and rose to a career-high ranking of #5 for three weeks. In the first round, she dismissed #413-ranked wild card Ashley Weinhold 6-1 6-1 in 46 minutes. The second round was a bit trickier, as she overcame Nicole Pratt 6-3 6-4. Pratt has the same birthday as Anna, but is 14 years her senior.
����������� In the third round, Anna beat Sania Mirza for the third time in her last five tournaments: this time 6-2 6-3 in just 53 minutes to extend their head-to-head to 4:0. Sania said: "She didn't allow me to play well. I was always running. She was very rarely running. She was dictating play. I like to dictate play. That's how I play. When I can't do that, I start putting pressure on myself."
����������� In the fourth round, Anna saw off the very talented 16-year-old Tamira Paszek 6-1 7-5, although after squandering a match-point at *5-4, she needed a second attempt to serve it out and reach her third Major quarter-final.
����������� "She killed me in practice before the tournament, so I don't know how we'll play." That's what Anna said about her next opponent: Shahar Pe'er, who had reached the quarter-finals by upsetting Nicole Vaidi�ov� and then ousting Maria Sharapova's conqueror Agnieszka Radwanska.
����������� Shahar led 4-2* in the first set, but then crumbled in spectacular fashion as Anna rattled off 10 of the next 11 games to win 6-4 6-1 (Shahar broke in the first game of the second) and reach her first Major semi-final.
����������� Anna said: "I was so nervous before the match. Even though it was straight sets, it was a tough match. I thought, 'I will die on this court, but I will not lose.' I don't have these powerful groundstrokes, so I just fight to the end and try to play smart. I'm trying to change the pace a lot."
����������� Shahar said: "I'm really, really disappointed, because I beat Anna this year [at Indian Wells]. I was annoyed and I was crying."
����������� Before playing 2004-champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis, Anna the psychologist said: "She's a favourite in this match, so I have nothing to lose and no pressure. For me it's much easier to play with no pressure, so I will try to do my best."
����������� The semi-final was played on a very hot and windy day, and all the reports I've read agree that it was a very low-quality match. Anna fed off Kuznetsova's unforced errors to win the first set despite hitting only one winner. She then melted away in the heat to lose 3-6 6-1 6-1. Anna led 1-0* (40/0) in the second and *1-0 in the third, but her eyes were red with tears by the end, and she was distraught afterwards.
����������� "I just played horrible. I couldn't handle the wind. I didn't expect it will be such a turnaround after this first set. I didn't want to just win in straight sets or something like that, but at least play maybe more than 50% percent that I can." Her press-conference lasted only 80 seconds - a stark contrast to her giggly, charismatic quarter-final press-conference, which lasted 10 minutes.

Anna won the opening rubber of the Fed Cup final in Moscow as Russia defeated Italy 4:0 (the doubles was cancelled by mutual agreement) for its third Fed Cup triumph in four years. Anna beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 4-6 6-4, despite being 0-3 down in the third set (the turning-point was a dead netcord-winner for Anna).
����������� Anna said: "The first match of the tie is always very important, and I'm happy to win it and give my side the point that we all needed so much. It was so much up and down today, and now I feel completely exhausted. I thought we were going to lose the match. But I said to myself that I have to fight. When it was 3-0 in Francesca's favour in the third set, I started to relax a bit more because I had nothing to lose.
����������� "I have to serve much better," added Anna, who wouldn't have to serve for her country again, as Svetlana Kuznetsova's two wins gave Russia an unassailable 3:0 lead, and Elena Vesnina substituted for Anna in the dead fourth rubber.
����������� Maria Sharapova was there to support the Russian team - which included practising with Anna - but was unable to play due to a persistent right-shoulder injury that had also forced her out of Russia's previous two ties of 2007. Anna didn't think it would have been right for Maria to play anyway. "If you haven't played Fed Cup all year, it wouldn't be fair just to show up for the final. It's not fair to all the other girls who committed themselves to the team's cause," she said. I agree with Anna's argument, and I think Maria did exactly the right thing by showing up but not playing, for scripture says that she who humbles herself shall be exalted.

Having won 18 of her last 21 matches, Anna's form took a turn for the worse. At Luxembourg, after a bye, Anna beat Meilen Tu 6-1 7-6 (7/2), but lost her quarter-final 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Selesian player Marion Bartoli, who had hardly been on form since reaching the Wimbledon-final. Anna's ranking slipped back from #5 to #6.

Anna made it three losses in a row: she blew a 5-2 lead to lose 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 to Tatiana Golovin in the second round of Stuttgart (Tatiana went on to reach the final), and her Moscow title-defence began and ended in the second round: she lost 7-6 (8/6) 6-2 to Dinara Safina, whom she had hammered so spectacularly in the first round of Moscow 2006. Having saved two set-points at *4-5 against Safina, Anna had two of her own at 6/4 in the tiebreak, but then the wheels fell off completely. To lose a first set on a tiebreak and then capitulate in the second - as Anna did in both these losses - is a sign of a player who is very tired. She pulled out of Z�rich with a respiratory infection.
����������� Safina also beat Anna in the first round of the doubles at Moscow, when Anna was playing with Vera Zvonar�va for the first time. The good news is that this delightful partnership looks set to continue in 2008 - not such good news for the groundstaff, I suppose, as these two crybabies could create their own rain-delay! ;-)
����������� For failing to defend her Moscow-title, Anna dropped one more place to #7 in the rankings.

Anna: "When I was playing at the US Open, I was feeling that I was in great shape and that I can do better and better. And now, after a few tournaments where I didn't really play well, I just start to think more about it's the last two tournaments in the year. But it's always like this. You cannot be in the best shape all the time. It's like in life: you have good days; you have bad days."

Anna appeared to have snapped out of her slump when she thrashed Francesca Schiavone 6-0 6-2 in the second round of Linz, where she was the top seed. But then she suffered the worst defeat of her career: 6-1 6-0 in 39 minutes to world #17 Patty Schnyder in the quarter-finals.
����������� This is what Anna had to say for herself: "Everything happened really quickly, and I was just slipping on court - I didn't run well. It's a little bit frightening because she is not a big hitter. She is just moving you around and changing the pace and the rhythm, but I just missed everything I could. Now I'm already thinking if it's a good thing that I qualify for [the Sony Ericsson Championships], because with this kind of game, I don't know what I'm going to do there."

What she did do at the Sony Ericsson Championships at Madrid was a very pleasant surprise: after pulling out of Qu�bec City with a right-shoulder injury, she reached the semi-finals in her first-ever season-ending championship!
����������� In her first round-robin match, Anna lost 6-1 7-6 (7/4) to world #1 Justine Henin, who was already on a 20-match winning-streak, and would go on to successfully defend her title here. Anna fought back well from 2-3* in the second set, before playing a nervous tiebreak littered with errors. "I was very disappointed with the first set," said Anna. "I was so sleepy; I didn't move well, didn't serve well. It was horrible."
����������� In her second round-robin match, Anna had a large slice of luck as Australian Open champion Serena Williams had a left-knee injury that restricted her mobility. Williams took a medical time-out with Anna leading *5-4, and retired after losing the first set 6-4. Nevertheless, Anna deserves credit for some great tennis in that set. "She was moving slowly, and I was surprised by that. It's not the way I wanted to win, and I feel sorry for her. I hope it's not very serious." It was certainly serious enough for Williams to withdraw from the tournament before her second match, and it's the same knee on which she had surgery in 2003.
����������� In her third round-robin match, Anna extended her impressive head-to-head against world #3 Jelena Jankovic to 6:2 with a 6-4 0-6 6-3 victory that sealed Anna's place in the semi-finals as she finished second in the Yellow Group with a 2:1 record. Jankovic, playing her 96th match of the year (for Anna only the 78th) was very fatigued, though Anna did very well to turn the match around after losing seven games in a row to trail 0-1* in the third. Anna said: "It was a very tough match: a very nervous match with a lot of ups and downs. I'm so tired right now I just want to go to sleep."
����������� This set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Red-Group winner Maria Sharapova, which was beyond my wildest dreams when the tournament began! Maria had only played (and lost) one match since losing her US Open title in the third round, as she continued to struggle with the right-shoulder injury that had plagued her all year. She only qualified for the championships when Venus Williams withdrew. But she came up with amazing form at perhaps the most unlikely time of her career so far, and Anna went the same way as Maria's three round-robin victims, as Maria thrashed her 6-2 6-2 in 1h14m to extend her head-to-head against Anna to 6:0, and to advance to a final against Henin.
����������� The momentum did start to go Anna's way when she was *0-4 in the second and managed a couple of easy holds of serve, but it was too little too late, and she looked close to tears. A telling statistic is that the players had five break-points each: Maria converted four, Anna not a one.
����������� Maria said: "I had break-points against me and I was able to serve my way out of it, and then I got some rhythm. I felt confident. It's pretty incredible, because if someone told me about two weeks ago that I was going to play the Championships, I would have been just happy to play. To be here is great, and to be in the final is even better. The most important thing is I've been able to serve without thinking about hurting my shoulder. I'm serving and playing freely."
����������� Anna said: "It was tough today, because there were so many easy mistakes from me."
����������� Anna moved up one place to a year-end ranking of #6.

On 15th/16th December, Anna played an exhibition-tournament at Charleroi, Belgium. In the semi-finals, she beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-3. In the final, she lost 6-4 6-2 to Justine Henin.

Anna and her parents were tied up and robbed in her country-house in southwest Moscow at 4am (GMT+3h) on Tuesday 18th December. Six masked burglars climbed over the fence, broke in via the garage using a remote control they had taken by force from a maid; they beat Anna's father up, and stole money and valuables worth over five million roubles (roughly equal to Anna's prize-money for 2007, which was nearly 60% of her career prize-money so far). Anna was tied up for half an hour, but by the grace of God, she was not kidnapped or seriously hurt. Her father said: "They took out a pistol and told me my child was at home - reminded me - and they told me to hand everything over. I did."
����������� Russian police finally caught the robbers on 4th March 2008 - the day before Anna's 21st birthday.

Reportedly still nursing some injuries where the burglars had hit her, including a minor finger-injury, Anna played an exhibition against Maria Sharapova at Singapore on 30th December. Maria put in a dazzling array of blistering first serves and baseline-winners to win 6-0 7-6 (12/10), although Anna led 5-2 in the second set. Maria said: "Anna started playing great in the second set, and all of a sudden I found myself in a battle."

2008 was mostly an annus horribilis for Anna. Perhaps that was only to be expected after the December 2007 burglary, yet she won her lone title of the year - Paris - less than two months after the burglary.

Anna: "I think psychologically, I was okay already at the Australian Open. I was ready to play. But the thing is that I didn't really have preparation, because I had a reinjury. Unfortunately I didn't have a preparation for the season, so probably that's why it's very tough, especially physically when you don't have a preparation, like your fitness-work, your physical work before the season starts. It's really tough to play."

When I saw her at Wimbledon - one of her better tournaments of the year, as she reached the fourth round for the first time in her career - she was so up and down, mixing brilliant winners with lots of unforced errors (particularly on her one-two punch, which is normally one of her greatest strengths), and getting very emotional - even for her. Nick Bollettieri wrote in his US Open preview: "When I watch her play this year, I am confused. For a few points, she looks fantastic, and then on other points, you scratch your head. How can she go from 100% to 0% with nothing in between?"

Anna had a barely-positive win/loss record of 28:23 for 2008, and I don't think I'm even meant to take her doubles-record seriously (1:6, the win coming at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open in September, when she teamed up with Agnieszka Radwanska to defeat local wild cards Kimiko Date Krumm/Rika Fujiwara 6-3 3-6 [10/8]). She dropped from #6 to #18 in the rankings (finishing in the top 18 for the third year in a row).

Anna only reached three semi-finals on the WTA Tour all year: when she won Paris, a Tier I semi-final at Rome, and her second final of the year at New Haven. She also contributed two rubber-wins to the Russian Fed Cup team (one in the first round, one in the semi-finals) as it won the Fed Cup for the fourth time in five years, although she wasn't selected for the final as she wasn't fully fit. She even opted out of the Beijing Olympics due to her poor form. But I still love her.

Anna started the year at the JB Group Classic exhibition-tournament in Hong Kong. In the first round (quarter-finals), she beat Daniela Hantuchov� 6-4 6-3.
����������� In the semi-finals, Maria Sharapova beat Anna 6-4 6-2 to extend their unofficial head-to-head to 8:0. The first five games went against serve, with Maria making forehand-errors, before Maria's serve started working. Anna had some "wonderful moments", but couldn't put Maria under any concerted pressure. Maria said: "I missed a few shots, but as long as I do the right things by the time the Australian Open comes, everything will be working."
����������� Maria, of course, went on to win the Australian Open.

Anna made a losing start to the season proper, as she lost 7-5 6-1 in 1h13m to world #28 Katarina Srebotnik in the first round of Sydney.

Anna got the easiest of draws in the first round of the Australian Open: world #92 Andrea Petkovic. Unfortunately Anna didn't get the workout she needed, coming into the Major with so little match-play, as Petkovic retired after just three minutes of play when she hyperextended her right knee in her opening service-game: 0/0 (40/40) retired. Petkovic was sidelined until September.
����������� In the second round, Anna served eight aces as she recovered from 0-2* in the first set to beat #154-ranked qualifier Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-4, although she let a 3-0* second-set lead become *3-3 - that's what happens when you're not match-tight.
����������� This set up an ultracute third-round match with world #26 and fellow 20-year-old Russian Maria Kirilenko, but unfortunately Anna lost 6-7(6) 6-1 6-2 (although I was also happy for Maria - of whom I'm a demi-fan - that she reached her first Major fourth round). Anna was tired after winning the first set; Maria played a brilliant second set, and the third was closer than the scoreline implies, Anna finally sinking after saving four match-points at *2-5.
����������� Maria: "There's always competition between us to see who would be better, and the last few times I lost to her, I got really p***ed off. Actually, I was always the best when I was small. Then the last two years, she is very successful, wins everything, so she became a top-ten player. It's not really easy to play against her, because she plays quite deep and she has good hands. But today, I felt like I was running well, and I felt strong, like I can play the ball how I want.
����������� "There are two big screens on the court, and I was watching them and I saw Anna's face, and she seemed really tired. And of course, when you see someone dying on the other side, you feel more energy."
����������� Anna later said it was a mistake to have played in Australia, as she hadn't fully recovered from the December 2007 burglary. For failing to defend her 2007 quarter-final, she dropped from #6 to #7 in the rankings.

Anna scored the winning Fed Cup rubber for Russia as it beat Israel in the first round of the World Group on 2nd/3rd February. Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev made the big mistake of letting world #16 Dinara Safina play the first rubber instead of Anna, and Safina duly lost 0-6 6-2 6-2 to Shahar Pe'er. Fed-Cup d�butante Maria Sharapova then put Russia 2:1 up by thrashing Tzipi Obziler 6-0 6-4 and Pe'er 6-1 6-1.
����������� With Tarpishchev seeing enough sense to let Anna play the fourth rubber, she beat Obziler 6-4 6-2 to give Russia an unassailable 3:1 lead - despite being 0-3 down and losing her temper with the hostile crowd at Ramat Hasharon, which wouldn't keep quiet during the rallies. "I love to have the crowd against me, and I use it to lift my own level," she said. "Today was tough because the fans were very loud, but I'm very happy to have won."
����������� Russia won the dead doubles-rubber to complete a 4:1 victory.

Anna won her lone WTA title of 2008 at Paris - less than two months after the burglary. In the second round, she trounced #64-ranked wild card Nathalie Dechy 6-1 6-3. Anna led 3-0* in the second set, but lack of concentration made it *3-3. "I actually didn't expect it would be so easy," said Anna. "Nathalie definitely didn't play her best."
����������� In the quarter-finals, Anna scored her first-ever win (after three losses) against fading former world #1 Am�lie Mauresmo, who won two Majors in 2006, but was now down to #18. Anna won 3-6 6-3 6-3. In the first set, she went *0-3 down in just 6 minutes, but in the second set, she lifted her game and broke for *5-3. The third set started with seven breaks: Anna led *4-3, then saved break-points before holding for 5-3*.
����������� Anna: "When we got new balls in the third set, I won that game because the balls were much faster, so it was easier for me to serve."
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna beat her third Frenchwoman in a row: #9-ranked Selesian player Marion Bartoli, who had sensationally upset top seed Justine Henin in the semi-finals of Wimbledon 2007, but was now in a slump. Anna trailed 2-6 *2-2, but reeled off the last ten games of the match(!), finishing with a return-winner. It was a battle of the walking wounded, with Anna suffering from thigh- and back-problems, and Marion crying and grimacing from her own back-problems. Both girls took medical time-outs.
����������� In the final, Anna beat world #20 �gnes Sz�vay 6-3 2-6 6-2 to extend her perfect record in finals to 7:0. The first two sets were error-strewn, with the winner of both sets leading 4-0. Both girls had shoulder-injuries; Anna took an off-court medical time-out for a left-shoulder injury after the second set.
����������� The third set was very high quality. Anna saved two break-points at *2-2, then scored the crucial break in the next game to go up *4-2. In fact, Anna won the last four games of the match to complete victory in 2h05m.
����������� Anna: "I had problems with my shoulder. Yesterday I called my trainer because of my hip. I guess I'm getting older.
����������� "It just happened that I won all seven finals. I don't think it's amazing - it just happened. What I would really love would be to play one in a Grand Slam [sic] - and win it, of course!"
����������� Anna moved back up from #7 to #6 in the rankings.

Anna considered pulling out of Antwerp the following week for rest and recovery, but she didn't, and lost 6-3 7-5 to #66-ranked lucky loser Sofia Arvidsson. Anna led 2-0 in the first set, then lost four games in a row. Anna was treated for back-pain during the first set.

Anna also lost her opening match at Doha. In very windy conditions, she lost 7-6(7) 6-4 to world #29 Li,Na. Anna twice served for the first set, and had set-point at 7/6 in the tiebreak. She also led 4-3* in the second set, only to lose every game left in the match.

Anna scored two of her best match-wins of the year at Dubai, before retiring with a left-thigh injury. In the first round, she beat #19-ranked qualifier(!) Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 2-6 6-4, despite 11 double faults and letting a 5-2 lead wobble in the third set.
����������� Anna: "I am slowly regaining my rhythm, and winning Paris was good for me, but that was indoors. She's a tough opponent to play, and I didn't have many wins outdoors this year. But I was aggressive and I served pretty well, and I was fighting to the end, and that's why I won. We both played well, and it was a good match to win because you get more confidence."
����������� In the second round, Anna recovered from 6-7 1-4 down to beat world #15 Dinara Safina 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3 in over three hours! But she couldn't recover for her quarter-final the next day against world #4 Jelena Jankovic (who would end the year ranked #1 despite never having won a Major). After a medical time-out at *1-4 and dropping the first set 1-6, Anna retired with a left-thigh injury.

Anna skipped the Super Tier I at Indian Wells as she planned to play Miami, Amelia Island and Charleston back to back. As she explained at Amelia Island: "I wanted to prepare myself better for the red-clay season. Last year, my best result [on clay] was the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, and before that, I really didn't play that well."

At Miami, Anna capitalised on Tamira Paszek's sophomore-slump to see off the 17-year-old world #42 6-3 6-2, then crashed out in the third round 7-5 6-1 to promising 18-year-old Sabine Lisicki: then ranked #137, although she had already beaten former world #1 Lindsay Davenport 6-1 7-5 in a live Fed-Cup rubber in February. Anna dropped from #6 to #7 in the rankings.

In her opening match at Amelia Island, Anna thrashed #114-ranked Selesian qualifier Ayumi Morita 6-3 6-1 in 1h04m, by seven breaks to three. "I really didn't play that consistently or as well as I wanted to play," said Anna. "But for a first match of this tournament, and first match on green clay, it was okay. I could do worse. I just want to play more consistently, especially with my serve tomorrow. I have to control myself more, and hopefully I can do that tomorrow. I can't say that clay is my favourite surface, but green clay is much faster than red. I do like green clay more than red clay, but you have to get used to it."
����������� In the third round, Anna lost 6-2 3-6 6-1 to #34-ranked 18-year-old Dominika Cibulkov�. Anna served erratically, with 11 double faults. "This wasn't the first top-ten player I've beaten, but beating her means a lot to me," said Domi, who went on to reach her first WTA singles-final at Amelia Island.
����������� Anna went back up to #6 in the rankings as Venus Williams's Charleston 2007 semi-final points came off.

Anna lost in the second round of Charleston to another 18-year-old: world #86 Sorana C�rstea. It was windy, but Anna didn't blame it on that. "She just pushed the ball back and I made mistakes. I think it's just the way I'm playing right now."
����������� Anna went back down to #7 in the rankings as Serena Williams moved up to #6 by winning Charleston.

Anna won the opening rubber for Russia as it beat the United States of America 3:2 in the Fed Cup semi-finals at Moscow on 26th/27th April. Anna wobbled past world #115 Vania King 6-4 7-5. In the second set, Anna led *4-3, but a quadruple fault made it 4-4*. Anna broke again for *5-4, but squandered two match-points, then double-faulted at break-point down. She served for the match a second time at *6-5, and had to save two break-points before securing her victory.
����������� Anna: "I had two match-points at 5-4 (40/15), and instead of going for it, I started to play more cautious. And after she saved those match-points, my nerves got to me and I lost my concentration. But I was able to overcome that problem."
����������� Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonar�va gave Russia an unassailable 3:0 lead with wins over Ahsha Rolle and King, respectively, and then Russia lost the two dead rubbers, with Elena Vesnina substituting for Anna in the fourth rubber.
����������� Sadly, Anna didn't get to play in the Fed Cup final in September (Russia beat Spain 4:0 for its fourth Fed Cup triumph in the last five years), because she was "not fully fit" according to Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev.

Anna's WTA Tour losing-streak extended to three matches at Berlin, where she lost in the second round to world #26 Victoria Azarenka 1-6 7-6(1) 6-4, after leading 4-1 in the third set. The theme of Anna struggling to close out matches was becoming worrying! Another interesting statistic is that Anna's last five matches on the WTA Tour had all been against 18-year-olds (as Anna was when I first saw her play).
����������� Anna dropped one place to #8 in the rankings as Elena Dementieva moved up to #7 after reaching the Berlin-final.

Anna reached her second semi-final of the year at Rome. In the second round, she scraped past world #51 Kateryna Bondarenko 3-6 7-6(1) 6-0. In the third round, she scored one of her best match-wins of the year against world #16 Agnieszka Radwanska: 6-4 1-6 6-1.
����������� This set up a delectable quarter-final against #64-ranked qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova, who had upset world #3 and French Open champ-to-be Ana Ivanovic in the previous round! Anna won 6-2 3-6 6-1. Both girls took medical time-outs for shoulder-injuries. Tsvetana took hers in the second set, whereupon Anna lost her concentration and was netting her first serves as she went 0-4* down. Tsvetana served out a tense game at *5-3, winning the second set on her fourth set-point. But Anna served better and hit deeper to breeze through the third set 6-1.
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna continued her recent habit of losing to 18-year-olds against #34-ranked qualifier Aliz� Cornet. Anna was 6-3 3-0* up after winning 5 games in a row, but she became complacent, double-faulted to lose her serve to make it 3-2*, and was overwhelmed by the accuracy of her opponent as her fourth three-setter in a row took its toll.
����������� Cornet: "I was afraid of being ridiculous. I was just afraid to lose like 6-3 6-1 in 50 minutes, and I told myself you have to keep fighting and try to come back. After that, ten minutes later it was 3-3, the fighter inside me was back, and it started again."
����������� Anna moved up from #8 to #6 in the rankings: one place for the Tier I semi-final, and another for the abrupt retirement of world #1 Justine Henin, who asked to be removed from the rankings.

In the first round of the French Open, Anna struggled past world #82 Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3 5-7 6-1 in 1h55m. Anna won the first set by two breaks to one, but the second degenerated into break and counterbreak as the first six games went against serve. Llagostera Vives held first, and broke Anna one more time to take the second set 7-5. In the third set, Anna was broken back to 1-1*, but won the last 5 games.
����������� Anna crashed out in the second round, losing 6-4 7-6(2) to world #49 Kaia Kanepi with an incredibly wasteful display: she converted only 3 of 11 break-points: the ones that went begging included 4-4* (15/40) in the first set, and at least two at 3-3* in the second - in which Anna had led *3-2. She even served for the second set at *5-4, squandering a set-point. And she had a woeful W:UE ratio of 5:38.
����������� For failing to defend her 2007 quarter-final, Anna dropped back from #6 to #8 in the rankings.

Around this time, it emerged that Anna was training at Justine Henin's 6th Sense academy and working with Carlos Rodr�guez, who coached Henin throughout her career.

Anna opened the defence of her title at 's-Hertogenbosch with a 6-3 3-6 7-6(1) second-round victory over #125-ranked qualifier Angelique Kerber, whom she had beaten 6-2 6-2 at 's-Hertogenbosch 2007.
����������� Anna: "It was a tough match, but it was my first grass-court match this season. For her, maybe it was a little easier, because she has played a few matches already. I felt like I was playing a little bit about myself, especially in the third set when I was up 5-2. I think it is good, though, that I had such a tough fight. I was actually pleased with the tiebreaker. I played much better in the end."
����������� Anna's title-defence ended in the quarter-finals as she lost 6-2 3-6 6-2 to world #29 Alyona Bondarenko, who had been 0:4 in quarter-finals in 2008.

Anna reached the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time in her career. But she came perilously close to crashing out in the first round, as she made a dreadful start against world #100 St�phanie Dubois before winning 2-6 6-1 8-6 in 1h58m. In the third set, Anna saved two match-points at 3-5* (15/40*), and a third at *4-5 (30/40). Anna also recovered from *5-6 (15/30), and finally won after a game of three deuces and two break-points at *7-6.
����������� The second round was much better - although still far from convincing - as Anna beat #84 Edina Gallovits 6-4 6-2 in 56 minutes, looking brilliant at times with her flairsome power and deceptive placement. She also looked very emotional - particularly her bizarre outburst after failing to break serve at the start of the second set, when she gestured towards the umpire, threw her racket and looked close to tears. I just got the feeling that Gallovits could have done a lot more damage by slicing the ball to Anna's forehand more often.
����������� In the third round, Anna beat #108 Evgeniya Rodina 6-4 6-3 with another up and down performance: some lovely winners, but so many errors on the one-two punch, and rushing between points. Anna struggled to close out the first set after leading *5-3, and had to endure a two-hour rain-delay at 5-4* (Deuce #3) after squandering three set-points. She handled the rain-delay much better than Rodina, winning 6 games in a row to lead 6-4 5-0*, but then wobbled once more, missing two match-points at 5-2* and another three at *5-3 as 40/0 became 40/40.
����������� Anna: "I think I played much, much better than my previous rounds - especially my first match was horrible. And then match by match, I feel better. 5-0 up, I lost concentration a little bit, but still was able to finish the match in two sets, and I'm really happy with my result. I had some tough time this year, and I think to play the fourth round, it's a good result already."
����������� This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match against Nicole Vaidi�ov�. Both girls came into Wimbledon in a slump (Nicole's ranking had dropped to #22, having been as high as #7 in May 2007), but that didn't stop them producing the match of the Championships!
����������� Anna scored the only break of the first set to take it 6-4, and came within a game of victory at 5-4* and 6-5* in the second set. But Nicole held both those service-games easily, and Anna suffered an emotional breakdown as she lost the second-set tiebreak 7/0 (not to take anything away from Nicole, who hit a return-winner and two aces on the last three points).
����������� Anna had break-point in the first game of the third, but Nicole saved it with an ace, and Anna double-faulted to go 0-2* down. But there was still plenty of excellent tennis to come as Anna survived a game of seven deuces and four break-points at *0-3, and Nicole's service-game at *3-1 was full of winners from both girls. But Anna couldn't get the break back, so she ended up losing 4-6 7-6(0) 6-3, and walked off the court in tears. Nicole now leads their head-to-head 3:0.
����������� Nicole: "She was the better player first set. I just tried to grind, and the second set, keep in the game and played a great tiebreak, and it just went from there. Got my confidence from the second set."
����������� Anna: "She's a good player, and she deserves definitely this win. Maybe I didn't use my opportunities in the second set. But still, she served really well today, and it was tough to return."

In defence of her title at Stanford, Anna beat world #25 Shahar Pe'er 6-3 6-4 in the second round, only to lose by that score to #15-ranked Selesian player Marion Bartoli in the quarter-finals. Anna made 38 unforced errors, and was broken five times. "I just didn't feel well," she said. "It was tough to serve with the heavy balls, and my movement was a little slow. But she played solid."

In the second round of Los Angeles, Anna thrashed Marta Domachowska 6-1 6-1 in 49 minutes, "never giving Domachowska an opportunity to settle with an assured and energetic display" (Matthew Cronin, Reuters). "I played very well," said Anna. "I concentrated all match, and overall, it was excellent."
����������� In the third round, however, she lost 6-4 5-7 6-2 to #30 Sybille Bammer, spending much of the third set yelling at herself and cracking her racket against the ground. Anna said: "She didn't do anything special. She was just putting ball in the court, and I was either making mistakes or hitting winners. It was like I was playing myself. I'm disappointed. I had an open draw in this tournament, and I didn't take my opportunity."
����������� Anna dropped one place to #9 in the rankings as her Stanford 2007 title came off (the 2008 edition was played a week earlier due to the Olympics).

Anna beat world #79 Jill Craybas 6-2 7-5 in the second round of Montr�al, but lost to Marion Bartoli again in the third round. Anna led 6-4 *5-4 (40/40) when there was a rain-delay. On the resumption, she lost three games in a row to drop the second set 5-7. Marion led *5-3 in the third, Anna fought back, but Marion still sealed victory 4-6 7-5 7-6(4).
����������� Anna dropped one place to #10 in the rankings as her San Diego 2007 semi-final points came off.

To my acute disappointment, Anna decided to skip the Beijing Olympics despite having been named in the Russian team (only four players from each country can play singles). Her mother Natalia said: "Anna has no plans to compete in Beijing, because her current form is far from ideal."
����������� Anna was replaced with Dinara Safina, who won the Silver Medal as part of an all-Russian podium-sweep: Elena Dementieva won Gold, and Vera Zvonar�va won Bronze. Anna dropped one place to #11 in the rankings as Vera rose from #11 to #9.

Anna reached her second final of the year at New Haven. In the second round, she saw off world #44 Casey Dell'Acqua 6-4 6-4 despite 11 double faults. "I didn't play any matches for two weeks, and I had never played her before, so didn't know what to expect," said Anna. "But it was okay. I lost my rhythm a little bit on my serve because of the wind in the first set. I couldn't find it in the second, as But still, I was fighting to the end, and I am pleased with this win."
����������� In the quarter-finals, Anna avenged her Charleston-loss to Sorana C�rstea with a 6-3 6-3 win over the world #57, and said: "It was really, really tough: deuce all the time, a lot of break-points. It was a little tough conditions [sic]. It was too hot. In the beginning of the second set, I felt a little dizzy, but then I was fighting until the end. That's why I won."
����������� In the semi-finals, Anna beat Am�lie Mauresmo for the second time in 2008, overcoming 9 double faults and the world #33 6-3 3-6 6-1. Anna said: "I lost a little bit of concentration in the beginning of the second set, but then I felt I was finding my game again. It was too late to win the second set - I came back from 1-5 to 3-5 before she won it - but I got off to a good start in the third set, and I'm really pleased with how I played that one."
����������� Anna couldn't extend her perfect 7:0 record in finals, as she lost the New Haven one to #22-ranked 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki. Anna led 6-3 *1-0, but ended up losing 3-6 6-4 6-1.
����������� Simon Cambers (Reuters): "Chakvetadze began aggressively, sending a series of stinging returns deep to the baseline, and mixing power with finesse. But as Wozniacki lifted her game, the mistakes began to flow from the Russian. Wozniacki remained composed under fire. She crawled her way back into the contest to even the proceedings, taking full advantage of her opponent's marshmallow second serves. The Dane grabbed the momentum and took command with her penetrating groundstrokes, while Chakvetadze endured a monumental collapse."
����������� Anna: "I just didn't recover from yesterday's match. It finished quite late, went three sets, and I didn't really sleep well. I just didn't have power, especially in the third set. If you are not able to run and fight on the court, then you're going to lose the match.
����������� "I'm actually pleased with my game - not today, but if I compare it to one month ago, it's much better."
����������� Anna moved back up in the rankings from #11 to #9.

Perhaps still tired from her New Haven exploits, Anna crashed out of the US Open in the first round on Monday, losing 1-6 6-2 6-3 to world #56 Ekaterina Makarova. Anna had lost in the first round of a Major only once before: when she had the misfortune to draw Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon 2005.
����������� Anna made a catalogue of unforced errors, and "wilted under a barrage of withering groundstrokes from her left-handed opponent" (Pritha Sarkar, Reuters). After an early exchange of breaks in the third set, Anna dropped serve from *2-3 (40/0), double-faulting to go 2-4* down. Her unforced errors allowed Makarova to hold for 5-2* despite two double faults, and Anna squandered four break-points at 3-5* before losing in 1h46m.
����������� For failing so spectacularly to defend her 2007 semi-final, Anna dropped from #9 to #12 in the rankings - and to #13 a week later, when Patty Schnyder won Bali.

Anna also crashed out in the first round of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, losing 6-4 3-6 6-3 to #39-ranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi in a repeat of her French Open fiasco. But she moved back up one place to #12 in the rankings as Daniela Hantuchov�'s Kolkata 2007 semi-final points came off.

At Beijing, Anna snapped her three-match losing-streak by beating #42-ranked lucky loser Iveta Bene�ov� 6-4 7-5, but was trounced in the second round 6-3 6-2 by #20 Dominika Cibulkov�.

Anna crashed out of Moscow in the first round to her New Haven final-conqueror Caroline Wozniacki: now ranked #16. Anna was broken to love at *4-4 in the third set as she lost 2-6 6-1 6-4. She may have had the biggest win of her career at Moscow 2006, but she has so far failed to win a main-draw match at her hometown-tournament in any other year.

Anna also crashed out of Z�rich in the first round, losing 3-6 6-3 6-2 to #66-ranked qualifier Monica Niculescu: an awkward Selesian player who uses a lot of slice and dropshots, like a female Fabrice Santoro. Niculescu took a medical time-out for a leg-injury at 2-1* in the second set, and the delay appeared to affect Anna's timing as she went 1-5* down. Niculescu won 10 of the last 13 games with her left thigh heavily strapped. In the third set, Anna double-faulted for 2-3*, and didn't win another game after that.
����������� Anna was distraught after her loss. "There is no reason. I don't know the reason. I wish I did. If you can't beat a player who plays tennis of this quality, I don't know whom you can beat. I'm looking forward to the end of the season and a good break."

Sadly, the end of the season came all too soon for Anna, as she failed to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships (she finished the Race at a woeful #20). Anna snapped her three-match losing-streak by beating world #83 Mathilde Johansson 6-4 7-6(4) in the first round of Luxembourg, then lost 6-2 6-4 to #42 Iveta Bene�ov� - whom she had beaten at Beijing. Personally, I'm just relieved that it was Iveta instead of 14-year-old Wimbledon Girls' Singles champion Laura Robson who came through to beat Anna. ;-)
����������� For failing to defend her semi-final at the Sony Ericsson Championships 2007, Anna's ranking plummeted on 10th November from #12 to a year-end #18.

Motor sensational
Paris or maybe Hell
I'm waiting
Clutches of sad remains
Waits for Aladdin Sane
You'll make it
Ooh, who'll love Aladdin Sane?
Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise
Ooh, who'll love Aladdin Sane?
[David Bowie, "Aladdin Sane"]