2004 WTA Quiz

==THE QUESTIONS==

1.The Russian Horde grabbed most of the headlines this season, as three players became the first women from their country to claim grand slam singles titles. Over the course of Russian/Soviet tennis history, though, which woman has the most WTA singles crowns?
a.Anastasia Myskina
b.Olga Morozova
c.Maria Sharapova
d.Natasha Zvereva
==============================
2.Of the players ranked in the season-ending singles Top 20, which climbed the most places since the end of 2003?
a.Alicia Molik
b.Karolina Sprem
c.Svetlana Kuznetsova
d.Maria Sharapova
==============================
3.Russian, Chinese or neither? Match up each of the players listed below with their correct designation:

Ekaterina Kozhokina
Shuai Peng
Yung Jan Chan
Elena Tchalova
Vasilisa Bardina
Chia-Jung Chuang
Lucie Safarova
Nan-Nan Liu
==============================
4."My brother is a former #1 player on the ATP tour, a former grand slam champ and a current Top 5 player. This season, I won a singles title of my own." Who am I?
==============================
5.True/False. Alicia Molik's victory over Maria Sharapova in the Zurich final was uncommon for many reasons. Which of the following statements are true, and which are false?

a.it was the only '04 match that had 3 tie-break sets
b.it's the only pro (ITF/WTA) singles final that Sharapova has ever lost
c.it was the first time Sharapova had lost a set at love
d.it gave Molik her first WTA Tier I title
==============================
6.Eight champions in 2004 were first-time WTA singles titlists. Pick out the ones who fit the description from the list of '04 winners below:

Claudine Schaul
Jelena Jankovic
Martina Sucha
Anabel Medina Garrigues
Nicole Pratt
Elena Likhovtseva
==============================
7.Six Russian women spent time in the singles Top 10 in 2004 (four of them ended the season there). From the list of them below, place them in order from most WTA singles wins to fewest over the course of this past season:

#3 Anastasia Myskina
#4 Maria Sharapova
#5 Svetlana Kuznetsova
#6 Elena Dementieva
#11 Vera Zvonareva
#12 Nadia Petrova
==============================
8.True/False. Emilie Loit won her first two career WTA singles titles in 2004, but managed to actually finish lower in the year-end singles rankings than she did in 2003.
==BONUS==
If true, how many places lower in the rankings did she finish? If false, how many places higher did she finish? (Hint: the answer is in single digits)
==============================
9.From 2000-03, only one player per year managed to defeat both Serena and Venus Williams in the same season. In 2004, despite both missing time with injuries, two players managed to do accomplish the task. Who were they?
a.Lindsay Davenport & Amelie Mauresmo
b.Lindsay Davenport & Anastasia Myskina
c.Lindsay Davenport & Maria Sharapova
==============================
10.Match the Backspin nickname with the player:

a.Penny
b.The Tunisian Tornado
c.The Blue Angel
d.The Czarina
e.The Frussian Pastry
----------------------
1.Anastasia Myskina
2.Emma Laine
3.Tatiana Golovin
4.Marlene Weingartner
5.Salima Sfar

==THE ANSWERS (1 point each unless noted)==

1.a & b. (you only get 1 point, though) This was something of a trick question, but one that benefits you. At the moment, both Myskina and Morozova are tied with nine WTA titles apiece (so either answer is correct). Sharapova is third all-time with seven. Zvereva, while she played for the USSR, is from Belarus, not Russia (but she only won four singles titles, anyway).
==============================
2.b. #18 Sprem climbed 41 places (from #59), more than Kuznetsova (31, from #36 to #5), Sharapova (28, from #32 to #4), and Molik (22, from #35 to #13).
==============================
3.If you said Dinara Safina, you're wrong (Marat Safin fits the ATP player description, but Safina didn't win a title in '04 -- though she was RU in the WTA's Luxembourg event). You're also wrong if you said Michaella Krajicek (she won an ITF title but, of course, brother Richard is retired). The correct answer is 21-year old Jaslyn Hewitt, sister of Lleyton, who won her first ITF title this season in Canberra.
==============================
4.(1 point for each of four correct answers) a and c are false. b and d are true. Sharapova, for the record, is now 7-1 in WTA singles finals, and 3-0 on the ITF circuit.
==============================
5.(1 point for each of eight correct answers) The Russians are Kozhokina, Tchalova and Bardina. Pen and Liu are Chinese. Chan and Chuang are from Chinese Taipei, and Safarova is Czech. All eight won ITF singles titles this year.
==============================
6.(1 point for each of three correct answers) Schaul, Pratt and Jankovic won their first career WTA singles titles this season. Sucha and Medina Garrigues won their second career titles, while Likhovtseva won her third (but first since 1997).
==============================
7.(1 point for each placed in correct position) In order, the Russian WTA wins leaders were Kuznetsova (57), Sharapova (55), Zvonareva (52), Myskina (48) and Dementieva & Petrova (both with 40).
==============================
8.True. Loit won two titles, back-to-back weeks in Casablanca and Estoril, but saw her ranking fall from #41 to #45 from the end of 2003 to the end of 2004.

BONUS (1 additional point): so, the answer is four ranking spots.
==============================
9.c. Davenport defeated Serena twice, and Venus three times in 2004. Sharapova knocked off Serena twice, as well, and Venus once.
==============================
10.(1 point for each of five correct matches) a-2, b-5, c-4, d-1, e-3.

==THE SCORING==

32...a perfect score! Maria Sharapova was ranked #32 at the end of 2003, so it looks like you'll be winning Wimbledon next year. Plan accordingly.
---------------------------
31-21...#27 Tatiana Golovin rose to that position from #345 in 2003, so you'll have to play some tennis in barely-there short-shorts in '05.
---------------------------
20-10...#16 is in this range (that's how many doubles titles Anna Kournikova won in her career). And thus the Quiz's Anna K. quota has now been filled.
---------------------------
under 10...Jelena Dokic use to be a Top 10 player, but now she's #125.

All for now.