The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour made an analysis of the presence of countries on the women’s tennis scene and of course Russia is the leader.
Players from Russia had more than twice as many Top 100 players in the 2009 year-end rankings as the second-place country and won more than twice as many Tour singles titles as the second-place country.
I remember Kim Clijsters’ observation when she returned to the Tour: “A lot of Russian is being spoken in the locker room.”
Players Ranked in 2009 Year-End Top 100 (As of November 9, 2009)
Russia: 15
Czech Republic: 6
France: 6
Germany: 6
Italy: 6
United States: 5
Romania: 4
Spain: 4
Belarus: 3
Belgium: 3
China: 3
England: 3
Slovakia: 3
Switzerland: 3
Ukraine: 3
Australia: 2
Austria: 2
Chinese Taipei: 2
Croatia: 2
Hungary: 2
Japan: 2
Poland: 2
Serbia: 2
Argentina: 1
Bulgaria: 1
Canada: 1
Denmark: 1
Estonia: 1
India: 1
Israel: 1
Kazakhstan: 1
Latvia: 1
Slovenia: 1
Uzbekistan: 1
Additional info: The United States has the record with six players in the year-end Top 10 in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Titles in 2009
Russia: 13
France: 5
United States: 5
Belarus: 4
Italy: 4
Denmark: 3
Spain: 3
Belgium: 2
Israel: 2
Germany: 2
Hungary: 2
Serbia: 2
Australia: 1
Austria: 1
Czech Republic: 1
Japan: 1
Romania: 1
Slovakia: 1
Switzerland: 1
Thailand: 1
Additional info: Russians won eight of the 19 Premier-level events in 2009, while no other country captured more than two Premier titles. (photos: Ralf Reinecke, Elisa)