2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
Indiana's biggest lead was 77–60 on Ebony Hoffman's 7-footer with 5.6 seconds left in the third. Temeka Johnson's 3-pointer at the buzzer made it 77–63 entering the fourth.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
A late 14-5 run cut the Fever's lead to 85–80 on Taurasi's layup with 1:23 to play. But Tammy Sutton-Brown responded with a basket inside, then January and Katie Douglas put the game away with free throws.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
Entering Game 3, ESPN2 was averaging a 0.36 U.S. rating (0.4 cable) and 531,000 viewers for the Fever/Mercury series, up 50% in ratings and 55% in viewers compared to the first two games of 2008's Shock/Silver Stars series (0.24 U.S., 0.3 cable, 331,000 viewers).


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Ebony Hoffman hit the jumper that gave her team a one-point lead with 57 seconds left, then blocked Tangela Smith's shot with a second remaining to help Indiana defeat Phoenix 86–85 in Game 3 of the finals Sunday. The Fever took a 2–1 lead in the series and can clinch the championship with a win at home Wednesday.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Indiana forward Tamika Catchings said Hoffman has been a force since going through a slump at the end of the regular season.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
"In the playoffs, she's stepped up her game and done such big things, especially in the Phoenix series, playing unbelievable, out of her mind," Catchings said. "That's awesome to see that, especially with the hard work she's put in over the years."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Hoffman, who led Indiana with 18 points, did it all with a sprained right shoulder. She left the game with 7:21 left and returned with 3:40 to play.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Catchings had 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, Briann January scored 17 points, and Katie Douglas had 15.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Cappie Pondexter led Phoenix with 23 points and Le'coe Willingham added 17. Diana Taurasi, the league's MVP, scored 18 points but shot 6-for-16 from the field.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Hoffman's long shot from the left corner put Indiana ahead in the final minute. Pondexter rushed downcourt and missed a layup, and Catchings rebounded. Then Indiana missed twice in close, but got the offensive rebound. January dribbled the ball out of bounds with 22 seconds left, though, to give Phoenix a final chance.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Pondexter missed a short jumper, and Catchings went for the rebound. She tried to call timeout, but Willingham tied her up and a jump ball was called.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Phoenix got the ball into Smith but her shot was blocked by Hoffman.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
The final margin irked Phoenix because the Fever got a free throw when Taurasi was called for a technical foul that she didn't agree with.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Taurasi had just made a tying layup with 5:14 to play, then took the ball and put it on the baseline for Indiana to inbound. As Taurasi turned around, she ran into Douglas, who fell and briefly held her stomach.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Taurasi said the officials told her she had thrown an elbow. Taurasi disagreed, saying her head hit Douglas and the play actually messed up her bun.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Catchings made the technical free throw to take a 76–75 lead, then January was fouled on the possession Indiana gained after the technical, and she made two free throws.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Through Game 3, ESPN2's telecasts are averaging 476,000 viewers (P2+), an increase of 51 percent when compared to last year's 316,000 viewers. In addition, the corresponding household impressions are up 50 percent (386,000 vs. 258,000) and the 0.4 rating is an increase of 33 percent over last year's 0.3 rating.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
The Indiana Fever led the WNBA finals series 2–1 and had a chance to clinch their first title in front of an active sellout crowd that included local celebrities such as Indianapolis Colts players Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne. None of that mattered as the Mercury beat the Fever 90–77 on Wednesday night to tie the series and force Game 5 Friday in Phoenix.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Indiana shot 2-for 13 in the fourth quarter, stifling any chance it had of overcoming the 72–65 deficit it faced going into the period. The Fever scored 12 points in the quarter, the third-lowest total in a fourth quarter in finals history.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Tamika Catchings, who led Indiana with 24 points and 12 rebounds, agreed that her teammates became hesitant. She said this is the wrong time for that.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Catchings shot 11-for-17 and Ebony Hoffman scored 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting. The rest of the team shot 11-for-44.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Phoenix's offense was in tune as usual. Cappie Pondexter scored 22 points, Penny Taylor added 17 points and Diana Taurasi and Tangela Smith each scored 16.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
The Mercury shot 10-for-24 from 3-point range. Phoenix felt Indiana controlled the tempo and slowed it down the past two games, but the Mercury felt they regained control on Wednesday.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
"Our strength all year has been in our confidence in our attack, and I felt we got that back," Taylor said. "We were playing with confidence and attacking every single time down floor, and that's hard to defend for 40 minutes."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Phoenix shot 72 percent from the field in the first quarter to jump out to a 33–22 lead. The Fever held the Mercury to 16 points in the second quarter and cut their deficit to 49–47 at the half.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Indiana tied the score at 59 on a layup by Catchings with 4:30 left in the third quarter, but Phoenix went on a quick 6–0 run to force a timeout and put the fans, who had been standing in anticipation of a Fever lead, back in their seats. The Mercury extended their lead to 72–65 at the end of the third quarter.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Indiana trimmed its deficit to 72–68 on a steal and layup by Catchings, but the Fever went cold and the Mercury pulled away with a 12–2 spurt. A 3-pointer by Taylor made it 84–70 with 2:33 to go.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Fever coach Lin Dunn was disappointed to lose at home, but focused on the fact that her team still could win the championship.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Through four games, the WNBA Finals averaged 521,000 viewers, up 65% from the 316,000 average for the Detroit Shock's three-game series sweep of the San Antonio Silver Stars, according to Nielsen data. Game 4, in which the Mercury evened matters, drew 670,231 watchers.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
The core of the dynamic Phoenix Mercury is a trio as talented as any in the game.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Diana Taurasi, Cappie Pondexter and Penny Taylor - who led the team to its 2007 title - did it again in 2009, when the Mercury held off a late rally by the tenacious Indiana Fever for a 94–86 victory in the deciding Game 5.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
League and finals MVP Taurasi scored 26 points, Pondexter had 24, and Taylor made two crucial free throws with 37.7 seconds left for the Mercury, who won the last two games to take the intense series 3–2.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
When it was over, the three hugged in elation, and Taylor - the Australian who joined the team Aug. 1 after reconstructive ankle surgery - broke down in tears.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Tammy Sutton-Brown scored 22 points, and Jessica Davenport had a career-high 18 for Indiana in its first finals appearance. Tamika Catchings added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Fever.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Sutton-Brown pointed to the crucial home loss in Game 4.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
"We had an opportunity to close it out at home, and we let that one slip away," she said, "but I think we came out and fought hard tonight. Phoenix is a great team. I think it was a great series. It was great for the WNBA."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Indiana rallied from 10 down in the second half to tie it at 80 on Sutton-Brown's layup with 4:29 to play, then Tangela Smith made two 3-pointers, her only field goals of the night, to put the Mercury ahead for good.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Pondexter's 9-footer made it 88–82 with 2:22 left, but the Fever - who had led the series 2–1 - weren't finished. Davenport's inside basket cut it to 88–84, then Catchings' rebound basket made it 88–86 with 2:07 to play.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
On the Mercury's next possession, Taylor took the ball and drove the lane into a crowd of defenders. Davenport was called for the foul, and Taylor's two free throws made it 90-86. Two free throws apiece DeWanna Bonner and Taurasi provided the final margin.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Taylor added 14 points and Bonner 13 for Phoenix. Katie Douglas had her second straight rough shooting night. The Indiana star was 4 of 14 for 13 points after going 2 of 14 in Game 4. The Mercury made 10 of 17 3s.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Phoenix won it with the super-speed style that then-coach Paul Westhead used in 2007 and Corey Gaines adopted when he took over.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
"When I first started coaching in the WNBA coach Westhead, who is my mentor - who we owe this championship to as much as him being here right now - he told me, `We're going to coach the players as players, not women, ball players'" Gaines said. "And it's funny how they embraced it because they enjoyed being treated that way. Instead of being treated as women basketball players, we treat them as ball players."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
The five-game WNBA Finals series averaged 548,000 viewers (P2+), up 73 percent vs. last season (316,000). The series averaged 434,000 households, up 68 percent, and delivered a 33 percent ratings increase (0.4) from last year (0.3).


2009 WNBA Playoffs
The 2009 WNBA Playoffs is the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2009 season.


2009 WNBA Playoffs, Playoff qualifying
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:


2009 WNBA Playoffs, Playoff qualifying
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:


2009 WNBA Playoffs, Bracket
This is the outlook for the 2009 WNBA playoffs. Teams in italics had home court advantage. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original playoffs seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round.


2009 WNBA draft
The 2009 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2009. The first round was shown on ESPN2 (in HD for the first time ever) at 3:00pm ET, while the second and third rounds were shown on ESPNU and NBA TV at 4:00pm.


2009 WNBA draft
A lottery was held on December 9, 2008. The Atlanta Dream received the first overall selection of upcoming 2009 draft. The Washington Mystics received the number two selection. The Chicago Sky came up with the third overall selection, followed by the Minnesota Lynx at four, the Phoenix Mercury at number five. For the first time in WNBA history, the lottery balls were chosen exactly according to odds. Some of the top draftees were Angel McCoughtry, Marissa Coleman, Kristi Toliver, and Renee Montgomery.


2009 WNBA draft, Dispersal draft
On December 1, 2008, the league announced that the Houston Comets would no longer operate. On December 8, a dispersal draft was held with teams being allowed to pick based on reverse order of 2008 records.


2009 WNBA season
The 2009 WNBA Season was the 13th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It is the first WNBA season without a Houston franchise, the Comets having folded in December 2008. The season ended with the Phoenix Mercury winning their second championship in three years.


2009 WNBA season
The regular season began with a televised (ABC) meeting between the defending champion Detroit Shock and the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles on June 6. The Connecticut Sun hosted the 9th Annual All-Star Game which was broadcast live on ABC (HD) on July 25.


2009 WNBA season, Houston Comets dispersal draft
On December 8, 2008, the Houston Comets dispersal draft was held. Five former Comets players, Latasha Byears, Mwadi Mabika, Hamchetou Maiga-Ba, Michelle Snow and Tina Thompson were free agents and therefore not eligible for this draft. Teams selected based inversely on their 2008 regular season records.


2009 WNBA season, Houston Comets dispersal draft
Six of the thirteen teams making selections waived their picks.


2009 WNBA season, 2009 WNBA Draft
The WNBA Draft lottery was held on December 9, 2008. The Atlanta Dream received the first overall selection. The Washington Mystics received the number two selection. The Chicago Sky came up with the third overall selection, followed by the Minnesota Lynx at four and the Phoenix Mercury at number five. For the first time in WNBA history, the lottery balls were chosen exactly according to odds.


2009 WNBA season, 2009 WNBA Draft
The 2009 WNBA Draft was held on April 9 in Secaucus, New Jersey. Coverage of the first round was shown on ESPN2 (in HD for the first time ever) at 3:00pm. Second and third round coverage was shown on ESPNU and NBA TV at 4:00pm.


2009 WNBA season, Regular season, All-Star Game
The 2009 WNBA All-Star Game was hosted by the Connecticut Sun on July 25 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Coverage of the game began at 3:30pm on ABC. This marked the second time the Sun had hosted the annual event.


2009 WNBA season, Regular season, Statistic leaders
The following shows the leaders for each statistic during the 2009 regular season.


2009 WNBL Finals
The 2009 WNBL Finals was the postseason tournament of the WNBL's 2008–09 season. The Adelaide Lightning were the defending champions but were defeated by Townsville in the Semi Finals. The Canberra Capitals won their sixth WNBL championship with a 61–58 win over the Bulleen Boomers.


2009 WPA World Ten-ball Championship
The WPA 10-Ball World Championship 2009 was the second edition of the WPA World 10-ball Championship, the world championship for the discipline of 10-ball pool. The event took place from November 25 to 30, 2009. The qualification phase was hosted at the Star Billiards Center, in Quezon City while the final tournament which started from May 10, 2011 was hosted at the World Trade Center Manila in Pasay.


2009 WPA World Ten-ball Championship
The event was won by Finland's Mika Immonen, defeating Filipino Lee Van Corteza in the final 11–6. British Darren Appleton was the defending champion, having won the 2008 event, but was defeated by David Alcaide in the quarter-finals.


2009 WPA World Ten-ball Championship, Format
The 128 participating players were divided into 16 groups, in which they competed in a double elimination tournament against each other. The remaining 64 players in each group qualified for the final round played in the knockout system.


2009 WPS All-Star Game
The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer All-Star Game was the first WPS All-Star Game. In a format similar to that of recent all-star games in Major League Soccer, the WPS All-Stars played Swedish club powerhouse Umeå IK on August 30, 2009, eight days after the league's championship game. The WPS All-Stars defeated their guests 4–2.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, Saint Louis Athletica named host
WPS awarded the 2009 All-Star Game to St. Louis, Missouri in a press release on June 25, 2009. The venue was Anheuser-Busch Center in the suburb of Fenton, home of Saint Louis Athletica.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, Umeå IK
Founded in 1917, Umeå IK is currently one of the premier women's clubs in Europe. They have won six Damallsvenskan titles, and won the UEFA Women's Champions League twice, appearing in the finals five times in the eight years since the competition's founding. Umeå was also the club that Marta played for before moving to the Los Angeles Sol.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, WPS All-Stars, Voting
Eleven of the eighteen WPS All-Stars were chosen by vote. 25% of the total vote came from fans voting online, 25% from media, 25% from coaches (who were prohibited from voting for their team's players), and 25% from players. The results of the voting were released on August 4 at 5PM ET.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, WPS All-Stars, Voting
Over 25,000 fan votes were cast, with the top three fan picks being Hope Solo, Lori Chalupny, and Shannon Boxx. Despite leading the fan voting, Solo did not make the Starting XI. Marta was the overall top vote-getter, being named on the ballots of all eligible coaches, collecting 94% of the media vote, and finishing second in the player vote and fourth in the fan vote.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, WPS All-Stars, Voting
Multiple players who were selected to the Starting XI were playing for their national teams in the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 at the time of the All-Star game. As such, their spots on the field were taken by the next runners-up in the voting for their respective positions.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, WPS All-Stars, At-Large Selections
The remaining seven players on the All-Star team were selected by Abner Rogers (head coach for the Los Angeles Sol), who was chosen by a vote of all WPS players to be the WPS All-Star coach, and Commissioner Tonya Antonucci.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, 2009 All-Star Rosters, Women's Professional Soccer
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, 2009 All-Star Rosters, Women's Professional Soccer
Bold indicates Starting XI from * Indicates Starting XI players who were on national team duty in Europe at gametimeItalic indicates runners-up  Starting XI players on European national team duty - Tiffeny Milbrett replaced FormigaRegular typeface indicates "At Large" player


2009 WPS All-Star Game, 2009 All-Star Rosters, Umeå IK
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, 2009 All-Star Rosters, Umeå IK
* Due to Umeå also missing players for the European championships, these WPS players played for their former club.


2009 WPS All-Star Game, Match details
Woman of the Match:Christie RamponeAssistant referees:Teresa MiguelStephanie TothFourth official:Dallas Malhiwsky


2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour
The 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour was an endurance race for Group 3E Series Production Cars. It was the seventh running of the Bathurst 12 Hour, and the third since the races 2007 revival.


2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour
The race was won by defending champions, Rod Salmon's TMR Australia car driven by Salmon, Damien White and new team member, Tony Longhurst in an upgraded Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.


2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour, Class structure
The event was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 22 February 2009 with cars competing in the following classes:


2009 WPS Draft
The 2009 WPS Draft took place on January 16, 2009. It was the first draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams, though other players not previously assigned could be drafted as well.


2009 WPS Expansion Draft
The 2009 WPS Expansion Draft was a special draft for the Women's Professional Soccer teams Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence, taking place on September 15, 2009. Each expansion team made 9 selections from the existing seven WPS teams.


2009 WPS International Draft
The 2009 WPS International Draft was a special draft for the Women's Professional Soccer teams Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence taking place on September 22, 2009. Each expansion team picked up to five international players, to be roughly even with the seven existing WPS teams.


2009 WPSL season
The 2009 Women's Premier Soccer League season is the 13th season of the WPSL.


2009 WPSL season, Changes From 2008, Folding
Seven teams left the league prior to the beginning of the season:


2009 WPSL season, Standings, Pacific Conference, North Division
* California and Walnut Creek game postponed, not rescheduled since it would not affect standings.


2009 WSBL season
The 2009 WSBL season was the 21st season of the Women's State Basketball League (SBL). The regular season began on Friday 13 March and ended on Saturday 18 July. The finals began on Friday 24 July and ended on Friday 21 August, when the Willetton Tigers defeated the Mandurah Magic in the WSBL Grand Final.


2009 WSBL season, Regular season
The regular season began on Friday 13 March and ended on Saturday 18 July after 19 rounds of competition.


2009 WSBL season, Finals
The finals began on Friday 24 July and ended on Friday 21 August with the WSBL Grand Final.


2009 WTA Premier tournaments
The 2009 WTA Premier tournaments were 19 of the tennis tournaments on the 2009 WTA Tour. The WTA Tour is the elite tour for women's professional tennis. The WTA Premier tournaments all rank below the Grand Slam events and above the WTA International tournaments. They are divided into three levels: Premier Mandatory (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing), Premier 5 (Dubai, Roma, Cincinnati, Canada and Tokyo), and Premier (10 tournaments in Europe, United States and Australia).


2009 WTA Tour
The 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 37th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 5, 2009, and concluded on November 8, 2009 after 56 events.


2009 WTA Tour
Serena Williams and Dinara Safina engaged in a battle for the year-end No. 1 ranking, with Williams eventually coming out on top after winning the WTA Tour Championships. She won two Grand Slam titles during the year. Safina ascended to No. 1 in April and held it for much of the rest of the season. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki and Elena Dementieva also enjoyed successful years in 2009.


2009 WTA Tour
Jelena Janković also battled with inconsistent results, falling from No. 1 in January to No. 8 by November.


2009 WTA Tour
Kim Clijsters returned to competitive tennis in August after giving birth to her daughter, and won the US Open title. Maria Sharapova made her comeback in May, having missed all tournaments since the summer of 2008, and rose back into the top 20.


2009 WTA Tour
Former world No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo announced her retirement at the end of the season, while Ai Sugiyama and Nathalie Dechy were among other notable players who retired during the year.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
The 2009 season saw the Women's Tennis Association undergo what was described as "its most sweeping reforms in history", with the aim of creating a more fan friendly structure to the Tour, to reduce player withdrawals, and increase player commitment in the biggest tournaments.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
The main features of the new "Roadmap" calendar saw the abolition of the previous Tier system, which were replaced by Premier and International tournaments. 20 Premier events were to be held throughout the season, down from the 26 Tier I and Tier II events that were held in 2008. Of those 20, four—the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open in Madrid, and the China Open in Beijing—would be mandatory, offering $4.5 million in prize money. Along with that were five other tournaments, the Premier 5s, which offered $2 million in prize money. Ten other Premier tournaments were also held throughout the season. These would all lead up to the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, which boasted a $4.5 million total prize fund.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
In addition, 30 International events were created to replace the previous Tier III and IV categories. The top performers in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships who won an International title during the season were to be eligible to compete in the season-ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, which was held the week after the Sony Ericsson Championships.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
The Roadmap calendar also saw a 30% increase in the length off the off-season, from 7 to 9 weeks, with the season ending in October, as well as more breaks between the bigger tournaments throughout the season, an increase in back-to-back events, a decrease in player commitment, a limitation on top player participation in International tournaments and stronger penalties for top players who miss Premier tournament commitments.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
The WTA Tour also moved more closely to a combined Tour with the ATP, with 31% of events being combined men and women events, and equal prize money being offered at ten of the biggest events throughout the season. Total prize money increased to $86 million, which was once again a record high, up from $67 million the previous year.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
With the changes came a new ranking system, which now included the player's best-performing 16 events (down from 17), including the four Grand Slam tournaments and the four mandatory events for all players who qualified by ranking, and the awarding of "zero pointers" for top players missing commitments at the biggest events.


2009 WTA Tour, Tour reforms
Lastly, the Women's Tennis Association also announced that On Court Coaching would be included in all events on the Roadmap calendar. Having been tested in many events since 2006, the decision to approve the move was made to increase the relationship between the viewer and the sport, with viewers being able to listen in on conversations between players and their coaches, who are required to wear a microphone during the exchange. Players were allowed to request their coach once per set, at a changeover or at the end of the set, or when the opposing player was taking a medical timeout or toilet break.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
Elena Dementieva started the season on a hot streak, taking the title in Sydney, beating Dinara Safina in the final, as well as winning a smaller tournament in Auckland the week before, putting her as a firm contender at the season's opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
During the Australian Open fortnight, Venus Williams became the first big casualty when she lost in the second round to Carla Suárez Navarro. Jelena Dokić made a fairytale run to the quarterfinals, the furthest she'd been in a Grand Slam event since 2002, and world No. 1 Jelena Janković lost in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli. In the quarterfinals, Dokić's run was ended by Safina, with Vera Zvonareva, Dementieva and Serena Williams also moving through. Williams eventually beat Safina in a match that saw the No. 1 ranking on the line, to win her tenth Grand Slam title, and fourth at the Australian Open, and sealing her return to the No. 1 spot.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
February saw Amélie Mauresmo overcome her struggling form in the previous two seasons to win the Premier event in Paris. Venus Williams also won the Roadmap's first Premier 5 event in Dubai, beating surprise finalist Virginie Razzano.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
At the mandatory Indian Wells, Zvonareva won her biggest career title thus far with a win over Ivanovic in the final. Safina had another chance to reach No. 1 after this tournament, but lost to Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka won the event in Miami, stopping Serena Williams achieving a record-breaking sixth title there. Janković continued her struggles with her second straight loss, with Safina, Zvonareva and Ivanovic also losing early.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
Safina ascended to the No. 1 ranking on April 20 despite not playing the previous week, due to Williams not defending her title. Playing in her first tournament as the No. 1, Safina lost in the final of Stuttgart to Kuznetsova, before avenging the loss by beating Kuznetsova in the Rome final. In the final major warm-up event, Safina beat Caroline Wozniacki to win Madrid.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
After a strong clay season, Safina was the favourite to win her first Grand Slam at the French Open, and she eventually moved through to the finals in the top half. On the bottom half, Kuznetsova came through, beating Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, to set up the third meeting between the two during the clay season. With Safina heavily favoured, Kuznetsova won the title for her second Grand Slam title in singles, and first since the US Open in 2004.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
Elsewhere, in a fortnight of surprises, Dominika Cibulková reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, beating Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, who was returning from a lengthy lay-off from shoulder surgery recovery. Samantha Stosur also reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, taking down Elena Dementieva in the second round. Defending champion Ana Ivanovic lost to Azarenka in the fourth round, a loss which dropped her out of the top 10 in the world.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
The top four seeds all reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, the first time it had happened since 2006. The first week did, however, see French Open champion Kuznetsova upset by Sabine Lisicki on her way to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, and Janković lose to American teenager Melanie Oudin. The semifinals were direct contrasts to each other, with Venus Williams thrashing Safina in the top half semifinal, and Serena Williams beating Dementieva in an epic 8–6 in the third encounter. The final was the fourth all-Williams Wimbledon final, and the second in a row. Serena avenged her loss to Venus in last year's final to win her third Wimbledon title, first since 2003, and eleventh Grand Slam title overall.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
The US Open Series turned out to be an open race, with five different champions being crowned at the tournaments. Eventually, it went to Toronto champion Elena Dementieva, who also reached the semifinals in Cincinnati and Stanford. Flavia Pennetta finished second after winning Los Angeles and reaching the semifinals in Cincinnati and New Haven, results which saw her break into the top 10. Cincinnati champion Jelena Janković came third. Also during the summer hardcourt season, Kim Clijsters made her return to competitive tennis in Cincinnati after giving birth.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
At the US Open, Caroline Wozniacki reached her first Grand Slam final after a half of upsets which saw Safina, Janković and Dementieva all lose in the first week. Melanie Oudin reached her first major quarterfinal by defeating Dementieva, Sharapova and Petrova back-to-back, while Yanina Wickmayer reached her first semifinal at this level.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
In the bottom half, Clijsters came through after defeating Venus Williams in the fourth round, and later her sister Serena in the semifinals, in a match that ended with Williams receiving a point penalty, and later a fine, for unsportsmanlike conduct after reacting to a foot fault called by the linesperson. In the final, Clijsters beat Wozniacki to win her second Grand Slam title in only her third tournament back, and become the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.


2009 WTA Tour, Season summary, Singles
The fall season saw Maria Sharapova win her first title since returning from her shoulder surgery in Tokyo. Kimiko Date-Krumm provided a notable story, becoming the second oldest player to ever win a title in the Open Era in Seoul. Svetlana Kuznetsova won the event in Beijing, beating Agnieszka Radwańska in the final. Following that tournament, Safina surrendered her No. 1 ranking to Serena Williams, before regaining it the week prior to the WTA Tour Championships. This meant that the year-end No. 1 would be decided in Doha, with whoever performed better in the tournament achieving the position. Safina retired in her first match, while Williams went on to win the title to become the year-end No. 1 for only the second time, after 2002.


2009 WTA Tour, Schedule
This is the complete schedule of events on the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage.


2009 WTA Tour, Statistical information
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 2009 WTA Tour: the Grand Slam tournaments, the Year-end championships, the WTA Premier tournaments and the WTA International tournaments. The players/nations are sorted by:


2009 WTA Tour, Statistical information
1) total number of titles (a doubles title won by two players representing the same nation counts as only one win for the nation);2) highest amount of highest category tournaments (for example, having a single Grand Slam gives preference over any kind of combination without a Grand Slam title); 3) a singles > doubles > mixed doubles hierarchy; 4) alphabetical order (by family names for players).


2009 WTA Tour, Rankings, Singles
The following is the 2009 top 20 in the Race To The Championships. Premier Mandatory Events are counted even if the player did not compete, if there is no injury excuse, it is counted as one of their events, when you are in the top 10. Players in gold are players who competed in the 2009 WTA Tour Championships.


2009 WTA Tour, WTA Prize Money Leaders
Serena Williams topped the money list for the 2nd consecutive season and for the 3rd time overall. In doing so, she also became the first woman to win $6,000,000 in a single season. The top-12 players earned over $1,000,000.


2009 WTA Tour, WTA Prize Money Leaders
1 Only for 2008 year-end top 10, Certain players receive fines for skipping events


2009 WTA Tour, Retirements
Following are notable players who announced their retirement from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour during the 2009 season:


2009 WTA Tour, Awards
The winners of the 2009 WTA Awards were announced on 24 March 2010, during a special ceremony at the Sony Ericsson Open.


2009 WTA Tour Championships
The 2009 WTA Tour Championships (also known as Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2009) was held in Doha, Qatar from October 27 to November 1. It was the second time the Khalifa International Tennis Complex hosted the WTA Tour Year-End Singles and Doubles Championships.


2009 WTA Tour Championships
Women's Tennis Association(WTA) rank No. 2 Serena Williams won her second year-end championships title, defeating sister, Venus Williams in the final 6–2, 7–6(4). The Spanish duo of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez won the doubles event on their debut 7–6(0), 5–7, [10-7]. They defeated the World No. 1s in doubles and defending champions, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, in the final.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
On August 5, the first qualifier for the year-end championship was announced in Dinara Safina.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Dinara Safina enjoyed a good start to the year reaching the finals of ASB Classic losing to Elena Dementieva 6–3 2–6 6–1, followed by her second Grand Slam final, her first on a hardcourt in the Australian Open but was thrashed by Serena Williams 6–0 6–3. Safina then became the world no. 1 after Serena's Charleston points dropped off. She then made her 3rd final in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix but once again ended up on the losing side to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4 6–3. She then claimed two titles back-to-back in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia defeating Kuznetsova winning 6–3 6–2; and in the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open defeating Caroline Wozniacki 6–2 6–4.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
She then competed in her 4th straight finals and her 6th of the year at the French Open but once again lost to Kuznetsova 6–4 6–2. She then reached the Semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships but was once again questioned for her credibility as the world no. 1 as Venus Williams crushed her in the most dominating scoreline that a current world no. 1 has ever lost 6–1 6–0. - However she bounce back from that loss by winning the Slovenia Open defeating Sara Errani 6-7(5) 6-1 7-5 in the final. She reached her 8th final in Cincinnati but lost to Jelena Janković 6–4 6–2. Safina struggled in the US Open being pushed in the first and second rounds by much lower ranked players. She ended up losing to Petra Kvitová in the third round 6–4 2–6 7–6(5).


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
This is Safina's 2nd appearance and is trying to win her first match as she went 0-3 last year.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
On August 19 - The second qualifier was announced as Serena Williams following her semifinal appearance at the Rogers Cup.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Serena Williams Began the year by winning the Australian Open. She then reached the final of the Sony Ericsson Open after defeating Venus in the semifinals to keep her no.1 ranking. Playing injured she lost to Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-1. From there she went on a four match losing streak, the longest of her career and lost World No. 1 ranking to Safina on April 20 to Dinara Safina when she pulled out of Family Circle Cup. Despite a lack of preparation, Williams reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before losing to the eventual champion Kuznetsova 7–6(4), 5–7, 7–5, which ended her 18-match Grand Slam winning streak.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
However she rebounded at Wimbledon defeating Elena Dementieva 6–7(4) 7–5 8–6. The match was named by many as the best match of the year, she then claimed her third title by defeating Venus 7–6(3) 6–2. In the US Open, she reached the semifinals. She reclaimed the no. 1 spot for two weeks from Safina after outperforming Safina in the China Open. This is Serena's sixth appearance and is trying to reclaim the world no. 1 from Dinara Safina. Serena won the event in 2001 and was the runner-up in 2002 and 2004. Serena has a 10-5 record in the year-end championships.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
On the 4th of September, Caroline Wozniacki and Elena Dementieva were the third and fourth to qualify, respectively


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Elena Dementieva has enjoyed a remarkable season that was begun by winning 15 consecutive matches including titles in ASB Classic and Medibank International Sydney where she defeated the top two seeds Serena Williams and Dinara Safina, she then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open losing to eventual champion Serena 6–3 6–4. She then reached the finals of Open GDF Suez losing to Amélie Mauresmo 7–6(7) 2–6 6–4. At the French Open she was upset by Samantha Stosur after winning her match against Jelena Dokić due to Dokić's retirement.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Dementieva played one of the most memorable matches on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in 2009 when she was defeated by Serena Williams in the semifinals of Wimbledon (6–7(4) 7–5 8–6) in a marathon that lasted nearly three hours. Dementieva's successful hard court season was highlighted by winning the Rogers Cup in Toronto defeating Maria Sharapova 6–4 6–3 in the finals  and clinching the title of US Open Series winner. However she was upset by Melanie Oudin in the second round of the US Open. Dementieva also claimed her career high this year of no. 3 for 7 weeks. This is Dementieva's 9th appearance with her best showing coming from 2000 and 2008 reaching the semifinals. She has 5-16 record in the championship coming to this year's event.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Caroline Wozniacki season was highlighted by 3 titles on 3 different surfaces in MPS Group Championships a green clay event defeating Aleksandra Wozniak 6–1 6–2, In Aegon International a grass event defeating Virginie Razzano 7–6(5) 7–5 and in Pilot Pen Tennis a hardcourt event defeating Elena Vesnina 6–2 6–4. Wozniacki also reached 5 other finals in the Cellular South Cup losing to Azarenka 6–1 6–3, the Family Circle Cup losing to Sabine Lisicki 6–2 6–4, the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open losing to Safina 6–2 6–4, the Swedish Open losing to María José Martínez Sánchez 7–5 6–4 and her biggest achievement so reaching the finals of the US Open her first time to reach a spot greater than the fourth round, losing to Kim Clijsters 7–5, 6–3 and reaching world no. 5. She will be competing in her 1st year-end championship. She will be making her debut at the year-end championship.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Svetlana Kuznetsova began the year with a Quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams 5–7 7–5 6–1 throwing of a lead in the second set. In the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Kuznetsova won her first title in two years defeating Safina 6–4 6–3, the following week she once again faced Safina in the final of Internazionali BNL d'Italia however this time she lost 6–3 6–2.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
At the French Open Kuznetsova made easy work on Safina in the final 6–4 6–2 in just 74 minutes despite struggling against Serena and Samantha Stosur the previous rounds. The 2009 French Open is her 2nd Major, her first being the 2004 US Open. She then had a patch of bad run then on including a third round lost at Wimbledon losing to Lisicki 6–2 7–5 and 4th round lost to Caroline Wozniacki 2–6 7–6(5) 7–6(3) at the US Open. She then won the 2009 China Open over Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2 6–4 this helped her regain the no. 3 ranking. This is Kuznetsova's 5th appearance and trying to rub off an 8 match losing streak at the championship. Kuznetsova has a 1-10 record in the tournament's history.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
On October 9 Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka qualified together as sixth and seventh qualifiers.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Venus Williams is the defending champion. Venus won back-to-back titles in the Dubai Tennis Championships defeating Virginie Razzano 6–4 6–2. En route, she defeated Dementieva and Serena and a title in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel defeating Flavia Pennetta 6–1 6–2 and her first clay title since May 2005. She then went to Wimbledon as the defending champion, losing in the finals to her sister Serena 7–6(3), 6–2 after crushing world no. 1 Dinara Safina 6–1 6–0 the biggest win against a reigning world no. 1. She also reached the final in Stanford losing to Marion Bartoli.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
In the Grand Slams Venus' performance was not good losing in the 2nd round of Australian Open, 3rd round of the French Open and 4th round of US Open. This is Venus' 4th appearance and she has never lost before the semifinals. Venus has an impressive record of 9-2 in the event.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
This is Venus' 4th appearance and she has never lost before the semifinals. Venus has an impressive record of 9-2 in the event, and is the defending champion


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Victoria Azarenka is enjoying her best season so far by reaching a career high no. 6. She began the year with her first career title in Brisbane International defeating Marion Bartoli 6–3 6–1, then followed it up with titles in Cellular South Cup defeating Wozniacki 6–1 6–3 and Sony Ericsson Open, defeating five-time Miami champion Serena Williams. She also managed to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open losing to Safina 1–6 6–4 6–2 and Wimbledon losing to eventual champion Serena 6–2 6–3. She will be competing in her 1st year-end championship.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
On October 22 Jelena Janković claimed the last spot as Radwańska and Zvonareva fell early at the Kremlin Cup.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
Jelena Janković who is having a not so satisfying year, still managed to win the red clay tournament in Andalucia Tennis Experience defeating Carla Suárez Navarro 6–3 3–6 6–3  and Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open defeating Safina 6–4 6–2. She also became the runner up at Tokyo, retiring in the final against Maria Sharapova due to wrist injury. In Grand Slams Janković the furthest she has reached in a slam was a fourth round. Janković failed to make it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam in 2009. This Janković's 3rd appearance having her best result last year finishing in the semifinals with a 2-5 record coming to the event.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
The two alternate spots were taken by Vera Zvonareva, who had a fascinating first half of the year by reaching the semifinal of Australian Open losing to Safina 6-3 7-6(4) and winning two titles in Pattaya Women's Open defeating Sania Mirza 7–5 6–1, an international tournament, and Indian Wells defeating Ana Ivanovic 7–6(5) 6–2 also defeating Wozniacki 6-4 6-2 and Azarenka 6-3 6-3 en route, a Premier Mandatory tournament. She withdrew from Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open and Roland Garros with a right ankle injury.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Singles
In the US Open she lost to Flavia Pennetta in the Fourth Round when she lost 6-0 in the third when she started whipping on court. This will be her 3rd appearance if one of the players withdraw, she has a 4-4 record at the event. The other alternate is Agnieszka Radwańska, who had consistent results throughout the year, reaching at least the quarterfinals in twelve tournaments, including a runner-up finish at the China Open losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-4, She scored 2 top 10 wins in the year over Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva. This will be Radwańska's second appearance if a second player withdraws she has a 1-0 record at the event


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
On September 9 - Cara Black and Liezel Huber, the defending champions, were the first to qualify for the championships after their runner-up finish at Wimbledon.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber have been the no. 1 doubles team since 2007. Performing consistently during the slams, they had a quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open losing to eventual runners-up Hantuchová and Sugiyama. They then made a semifinal appearance at the French Open losing to eventual champions Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual and Wimbledon losing to eventual champions the Williams sisters, and reached their first major final of the year in the US Open losing again to the Williams Sisters.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
Outside the majors, they won back-to-back titles at the Open GDF Suez defeating Peschke and Raymond and Dubai Tennis Championships defeating Kirilenko and Radwańska. They also won Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open once again outlasting Raymond and Peschke, Aegon Classic defeating the American team of Kops-Jones and Spears, and Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open over Llagostera Vives and Martínez Sánchez. They were the only team to win at least a title on all 3 different surfaces.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
On September 29 the second team to qualify was the Williams Sisters, Serena Williams and Venus Williams


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
Serena Williams and Venus Williams are competing in their first year-end championships, who were considered to be the biggest threat in the doubles even though they had a low ranking at the beginning of the year. They had an impressive record of 24-1 through the year, with their only lost at the French Open to Petrova and Mattek-Sands. They won three of the four Grand Slams with victories at the Australian Open defeating Hantuchová and Sugiyama, Wimbledon defeating Stosur and Stubbs, and at the US Open defeating Black and Huber, all in straight sets. To maintain their record for never losing in any grandslam doubles finals. They also won the Bank of the West Classic defeating Chan and Niculescu, their first non-Slam title since 1999.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
On October 5, The third team to qualify was Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez, even though they did not have a good run at the slams with a first round exit at the French Open and three quarterfinal exits at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, they won the most doubles titles of the year with six titles. They had back-to-back titles at Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas defeating Pennetta and Dulko and Abierto Mexicano Telcel in an all Spanish final prevailing over compatriots Domínguez Lino and Parra Santonja.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
As well as back-to-back titles at the Rogers Cup prevailing over Stosur and Stubbs and the Pilot Pen event defeating the Czezh team of Benešová and Hradecká. They also won the Barcelona Ladies Open outlasting Cîrstea and Klepač and Internazionali Femminili di Palermo prevailing over Koryttseva and Kustova. They also reached the finals of the Swedish Open losing Pennetta and Dulko, and the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open losing to Black and Huber.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
On October 12, the final qualifiers were Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Qualifying, Doubles
Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs were the only qualifying team not to ever win a title in 2009. However their runner-up finishes at the Aegon International losing to Sugiyama and Amanmuradova, Rogers Cup losing to Llagostera Vives and Martínez Sánchez, and Wimbledon losing to Serena and Venus helped them to qualify. They also reached the semifinals of US Open and the third rounds of Australian Open and French Open.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
The stellar eight-woman line-up includes four players who have been No.1, three Grand Slam champions, and four who've been to at least one major final. Two of the field made their Top 10 debuts this season and are at the championships for the first time. Between them, they pocketed 21 of the 53 titles that were on offer during this landmark 'Roadmap' season. As last year, the competitors have been divided into two groups named for the colors of the Qatari flag.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
The White group comprises No.1 seed Dinara Safina, No.4 seed Caroline Wozniacki, No.6 seed Victoria Azarenka and No.8 seed Jelena Janković. The Maroon Group is made up of No.2 seed Serena Williams, No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.5 seed Elena Dementieva and No.7 seed Venus Williams. Last year's runner-up, Vera Zvonareva, and Agnieszka Radwańska wait in the wings as alternates.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
At the White Group featured more fresh-faced players than the other group with none of them having won a Grand Slam. Each player's respective head to head records against one another is as follows: Dinara Safina is 8-4, Caroline Wozniacki is 1-5, Victoria Azarenka is 4-8 and Jelena Janković is 8-4.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
With Dinara Safina leading the group, she has a decent head-to-head with each player she is 1-0 against Wozniacki, with their only meeting coming from the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open finals with Safina winning 6-2 6-4, She also has a very good record against Azarenka leading 4-1 with her only loss to Azarenka coming from this year's Indian Wells Open. They have also played 3 setters in their last 3 meetings. However Safina's record against Janković is 3-3 an even record with Janković winning their last meeting in the finals of Cincinnati 6-4 6-2.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
The next head-to-head features the two newcomers Azarenka and Wozniacki, which Azarenka has a slight lead of 2-1, with, winning their last two meetings. Like Safina, Janković has a good record against Wozniacki and Azarenka, she is 2-0 against Wozniacki, both matches having an interesting scoreline due to fact that Janković lost the first set in both meetings but eventually won the match. Janković is also 3-1 against Azarenka with Janković winning their last three matches and Azarenka's win dating back to 2006 in Miami.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
The Maroon Group features more accomplished and veteran players with all of them reaching a Grand Slam final and 3 of them, aside from Dementieva, have won a Grand Slam at least twice. In their respective records reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Serena Williams is 22-16, French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova is 12-12, Elena Dementieva is 10-21 and Venus Williams is 22-17. As their head-to-heads are broken down the leader of the Maroon Group, Serena, is the only one that has a winning record against each of her group mates.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
She is 5-2 against Kuznetsova, this year they met twice at the Australian Open which eventual champion Serena won and in the French Open which eventual champion Kuznetsova won. Serena is 6-4 against Dementieva and 2-2 this year with Dementieva's wins coming from Medibank International Sydney and Rogers, and Serena's victories coming from the Australian Open and their stellar match in the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. Serena is 11-10 against her sister Venus and 2-1 in the year.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
Venus won their first encounter of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships with Serena winning their last two meetings in Miami and Wimbledon. Unlike Serena, Dementieva is on the losing side with her head-to-heads besides being 4-6 against Serena, she is also 4-6 against Kuznetsova, with Kuznetsova winning their only meeting this year in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and winning 4 of their last 5 meetings. Dementieva is also down against Venus 2-9 with Venus getting the upper hand 2-0 this year against Dementieva with wins in Dubai and Stanford.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Groupings
Adding to that Venus is in a 6 match winning streak against Dementieva with Dementieva's win dating back to 2004 in Miami. On the head-to-head between Kuznetsova and Venus, Kuznetsova leads it 4-3 with them splitting their last two meetings and with their last meeting dating back to March 2008 in Miami with Kuznetsova prevailing.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Prize money & Points
The total prize money for the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships is 4.5million United States dollars.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 1
The action in the 2009 Year-end championship started in the White Group between debutant Victoria Azarenka and last year's semifinalist Jelena Janković.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 1
Azarenka broke in the opening game. Janković finally got on the scoreboard in the third game. Azerenka broke for a second time in the seventh game and had no trouble serving out the set at 5-2. The early stages of the second set followed much the same path as the first as Azarenka broke in the third game. This time though the Serb did muster some kind of a fight and she broke back two games later. Azarenka immediately restored her second set advantage, before going on to save break points in the eighth game. Azarenka broke again to claim the set and match 6-3.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 1
They were followed on court by the opening match in the Maroon Group. Where defending champion Venus Williams faced Elena Dementieva. The American grabbed the advantage by breaking in the second game. The rest of the set went with serve as Venus won it 6-3. The opening game of the 2nd set saw Dementiva save 3 break points, before being broken at the 4th opportunity. A battling hold in the third game, when she saved another break point. Dementieva then reeled off three games in a row.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 1
Venus recovered to  break again in the 11th game, with Dementieva once again producing a double fault. But the Russian broke straight back. Dementieva sealed the set with a 4th break point when Venus produced double fault. The Russian broke in the first and third games of the final set. In the 6th game Venus had break points only for Dementieva to hold. The Russian clinched the match 2 games later.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 1
The final match of the night was between the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, Serena Williams. And the French Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova grabbed an early break, in the third game. But 3 games later and Serena was back on serve. The two players then traded breaks as Kutznetsova served for it. But the first set was to be decided on a tie-break. Serena saved two set points before sealing the set. The second set followed much the same pattern with Kuznetsova snatching the early break only to be pegged back by Serena once again. The Russian once again the broke in the fourth game before being broken straight back. Eventually it was Williams who lifted her level breaking for the lead in the 11th game before serving out the match taking the set 7-5.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 2
The first match featured debutants Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki. Azarenka, the No.6 seed at the season-ending event, lost the opening game of the match but won the next six straight. The 80-minute second set saw Azarenka fended off seven break points to hold serve after 20 minutes for a 3-2 lead. Wozniacki finally broke in the ninth game. Despite Azarenka holding break back points in the very next game, Wozniacki held her nerve to force a deciding set, albeit after a 10-minute break due to the heat rule.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 2
The break seemed to have benefited Azarenka as she broke in the second game. Azerenka promptly dropped her own serve and exchanging another two breaks of serve with Wozniacki before a seventh break of serve of the set left Azerenka serving for the match. Wozniacki broke back and broke again as Azerenka lost her cool. She receiving a warning for hitting a ball out of the stadium between points and then had a point deducted on break point for smashing her racquet. Wozniacki held her nerve to serve it out.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 2
In the second match of the day, top seed Dinara Safina had to withdraw 1-1 and 30-15 in the first set with Jelena Janković. After a lower back injury flared up, she was forced to quit in tears. She withdrew from the tournament and was replaced by Vera Zvonareva. Her withdrawal ensures that Serena Williams will be the year-end no. 1.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 2
The main match featured a sister act as Serena Williams and Venus Williams went toe to toe in a tight 3 sets, lasting 160 minutes. Venus broke in the second game of the match. Venus, though, gave her younger sister the break back, with three double faults in the one game. But re-established the break in the fourth game. Serena broke back for a second time before the two players went on to exchange solid service holds. But it was only a temporary respite for Serena as Venus broke once again in the 12th game, sealing the set.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 2
Venus fell apart in the second, handing Serena a break in the opening game. Serena further extended her lead in the seventh game of the set when she broke again. Despite being broken back in the very next game, Serena won the set 6-4. The decider saw five out of the first six games going against serve. But despite Venus trailing for much of the set, and even serving to stay in it at 5-3 down it was she who first held a match point. Serena saved it with some ferocious hitting, before forcing the decisive tie-break. Serena took control, racing out to a 4-2 lead at the change of ends before sealing it with her first match point.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 3
The first on court featured a marathon between Caroline Wozniacki and Safina's replacement Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki, the No. 4 seed, won 11 of the first 13 games against Zvonareva. But the Russian summoned the form that took her to the final of the season finale a year ago, leveling up at a set all. And saving two match points at 5-6 in that set. After a 10-minute break due to the heat rule Wozniacki came out strong again, building a 3-1 lead in the third. Zvonareva then won three of the next four games to level at 4-4. But the Dane wasn't done, holding then breaking for 5-4 and fighting off severe cramps - and the subsequent tears - to serve it out.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 3
The second match saw Serena Williams pitting against Elena Dementieva. Dementieva, broke in the second game. But the American, who played with heavy strapping on her left thigh, broke back immediately, Serena then ran away with the first set, breaking again in the sixth and eighth games. Serena appeared to be running away with it early in the second set, breaking in the second game. The Russian, though, did manage to find some fight and broke back at the fifth attempt in the third game.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 3
The rest of the set went with serve, until Dementieva sent down her 10th double fault in the 10th game of the set to hand Serena three match points. The Russian saved the first two, before the American wrapped up the win at the third attempt 6-2 6-4. As a result, Serena booked her place in the Semifinals.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 3
The final match saw defending champion Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova trying to win their first match of the tournament. The American grabbed the first break, in the fourth game, which is all she needed for the set, 6-2. The second set was much more competitive and this time it was the Russian who grabbed the early break. Despite holding break points Venus was forced to wait until the 10th game to break back. The set went to a tie-break. Kuznetsova won the tie-break ensuring a decisive third set. They traded early breaks. The American re-established her break lead in the ninth game and Kuznetsova saved two match points as Venus served for it. But Venus finally converted on the third time around after 2 hours and 28 minutes.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
The 1st match of the last day of the Round Robin Stage featured Jelena Janković and Caroline Wozniacki. The result had several implications on the outcome of the group. A Janković win and she topped it with Wozniacki in 2nd with Azerenka having a chance to leap frog the pair of them later. This would squeeze Wozniacki out of the tournament. However a Wozniacki win would see her top with Azerenka going through, without having to play.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
The first set saw Janković only lose 5 points on serve, and broke Wozniacki twice to take the set 6-2. The second set was much the same with Janković breaking 3 times. Wozniacki did offer some resistance breaking once, but could not prevent herself losing the set, 6-2. For a 6-2, 6-2 win for Janković and top place in the group.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
The next match featured Russians Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Dementieva needed to win the match to clinch a berth or Venus Williams and Kuznetsova would end up level with her. With the American going through on the tie break situation, unless Dementieva won in straight sets. Kutznetsova was looking to end her 8 match losing streak at the Championships. With nothing left to play for but pride, Kuznetsova re-discovered the kind of form that took her to the Beijing title at the beginning of October.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
Dementieva, looked tense from the start and was forced to save a break point in the second game. It didn't take long for another opportunity to go Kutznetsova's way when in the sixth game when her opponent double faulted twice. Dementieva saved two set points in the eighth game but Kuznetsova made no mistake behind her own serve, sealing the set 6-2. The second set followed much the same pattern, with Kuznetsova breaking in the opening game. The French Open champion secured a second break of serve in the fifth game when Dementieva went wide, before serving the match out. This win ended Kuznetsova's 10 match-losing streak, since her first win at the 2006 championship. Venus advanced to the semifinals following this result.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
The last match in the round robin stage featured Agnieszka Radwańska who replaced co-alternate Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka needed to win to clinch the last semifinal place or it would go to Wozniacki. Azarenka appeared to be cruising to the straight sets win that would have seen her top the white group when she took a 6-4 5-2 lead over Radwańska.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
After Azarenka broke in the opening game and although Radwańska broke back in the second game, the opening game set the tone as the Belarusian broke again in the 5th and 6th games to race out to a 5-2 lead. Azarenka did suffer a minor blip in concentration towards the end of the first set as she allowed Radwańska one of the breaks back, it was only a temporary lapse as the Belarusian served it out at the second attempt. Azarenka ran away with match in the early stages of the second set, breaking in the first and third games.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
But the Pole, refused to give up and was rewarded for her patience when she broke back in the sixth game. Azarenka recovered her composure by immediately breaking back and setting up a chance to serve out the match. But the Belarusian undid all her good work with consecutive double faults to hand momentum back to Radwańska. The Pole raced through the next five games to seal the second set and level the match. The match was just one game into the third set when Azarenka was forced to take a medical timeout to have her left thigh heavily strapped.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Round robin, Day 4
Three games later Azarenka was break points down and in tears after trying to race up the court to a drop shot. The Belarusian saved the first break point, but again she was left sobbing and kneeling on the ground next before going on to double fault and hand her opponent the break. One more medical timeout and one and a half games later and Azarenka decided she could not continue. Radwańska won 4-6 7-5 4-1, Azarenka retired due to cramp. The result meant that Janković topped the group with Wozniacki the runner up.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Semifinals, Day 5
The day was started with the first doubles semifinal. Pairing Cara Black & Liezel Huber and Samantha Stosur & Rennae Stubbs against each other. The first set saw Stosur and Stubbs in take an earlybreak and with it the set 6-3. The second looked liked it was going away of Black and Huber when they were 5-2 up and had two set points. However Stosur and Stubbs held on and won the next 3 games to push it to a tie-break. Which Black and Huber won 7-3. The match was decided by a champions tie-break. Black and Huber cruised into an 8-3 lead. Only for Stosur and Stubbs to fight back, in vain as they lost the tie break 10-8. This win meant that Black and Huber had secured the year-end no. 1.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Semifinals, Day 5
The second match featured the first singles semifinal, meeting the champion of white group, Jelena Janković and the runner up of maroon group, Venus Williams. Janković broke early, however Venus broke back to level the set 3-3, it was not until the 11th game of the 1st set that Janković broke the Venus serve again and eventually closed the set 7-5. The second set saw Venus facing three break points in the 5th game, wherein Venus delivered 2 double faults, but held on as Janković faltered.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Semifinals, Day 5
The Serb then saved two break points in the next game but Venus seized her chance when the a third opportunity arose breaking the Janković serve, pounding away a forehand. It was enough for Venus to level the match. The third set saw Janković take an early lead as she rallied to a 2-0 lead only for Venus to take the next 3 games. Janković then fought back and broke to level it at 3-3, only for Venus to reestablish the break. Venus served at 5-4 for the match. After 2 hours 34 minutes, Venus clinched it 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to make her second consecutive final in the tournament. This win continues Venus success in the championship as she has never lost before the semifinals.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Semifinals, Day 5
Following, the second singles semifinal took place, meeting the champion of maroon group and undefeated, Serena Williams and the runner up of white group, Caroline Wozniacki. The first set saw 7 break of serve with Serena breaking serve 4 times to Wozniacki's 3. Serena eventually closed the set 6-4. In the second set, Wozniacki broke in the opening game. Wozniacki's body finally gave up though at the end of the game, the Dane retired from the match citing abdominal injury. Serena advanced to the final where she will meet her sister, Venus, for the second time in the week.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Semifinals, Day 5
The last doubles semifinal was then played between the Williams sister's Serena and Venus and the Spanish duo of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez. The first set saw both team holding serve up until 2-2 when the Williams sister won the next four games to close the set 6-2. The second set saw the Spanish team breaking Venus' serve early and that was all they needed as they won the set 6-4. In the champions tie-break the Williams sister's trailed 6-3 but gutted out some long points to claw back to 8-8. From there the Spaniards' teamship shone, as Llagostera Vives poached a backhand volley for 9-8 and Martínez Sánchez hit a forehand volley winner to seal the deal.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Finals, Day 6
The last day saw another showdown between Serena Williams and defending champion Venus Williams for the title. Serena progressed to the finals undefeated; beating, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus in the group stage. Before defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. Venus progressed to the finals after having a bad start, losing close three setters to Serena and Dementieva, whilst defeating Kuznetsova. Venus received a lucky break as Dementieva lost to Kuznetsova, tying all 3 players with Venus winning and progressing to the semifinals. Venus progressed to the final when she defeated Jelena Janković.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Finals, Day 6
Serena held the lifetime match record at 12-10 against Venus; coming into the final. With Serena winning their last 3 meetings. The first set saw Serena as dominate as she lost only 4 points on serve. Serena took advantage of her sister's poor service game converting two of six break points in the 3rd and 7th game to take the first set 6-2. The 2nd set featured no break point opportunities as it came down to a tie-break.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Finals, Day 6
In the tie-break Serena got the mini-break on the first point and rallied to a 5-1 lead only to see Venus cut it back to 5-4, but Serena won the tie-break 7-4 and the title. This win meant that Serena was the first player female to surpass the 6 million mark.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Finals, Day 6
The doubles finals was followed featuring Year-end no. 1's Cara Black and Liezel Huber taking on the Spanish duo of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez. Both teams won their semi-final match through a Champions tie-break, 10-8. Black and Huber defeated Stosur and Stubbs while Llagostera Vives and Martínez Sánchez defeated the Williams sisters. The 1st set saw 3 breaks a piece to send it to a tie-break that went to the Spanish duo 7-0. The second set saw the world no. 1's strike back 7-5. As in the semifinals this went to a champions tie-break which the Spanish duo won by 10-7. This ended their 6 match losing streak against the Zimbabwean-American duo; making it seventh time lucky to win their biggest title. Edging the world No.1s, 7-6(0) 5-7 10-7.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Race to the championships, Singles
Those with a gold background have enough points to qualify.


2009 WTA Tour Championships, Finals, Doubles
Nuria Llagostera Vives /  María José Martínez Sánchez defeated  Cara Black /  Liezel Huber, 7-6(7-0), 5-7, [10-7].


2009 WTA Tour Championships – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber are the defending champions, but they lost in the final against Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez.


2009 WTA Tour Championships – Singles
Venus Williams was the defending champion, but lost to her sister Serena Williams in the final, 6–2, 7–6(7–4). With the victory, Serena claimed the year-end No. 1 ranking for the second time in her career.


2009 WTA Tour Championships – Singles, Draw, White Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2009 WTA Tour Championships – Singles, Draw, Maroon Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2009 WWE draft
The 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) draft was the seventh WWE draft, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment. The draft had two parts: the first part was televised live for three hours on April 13; the second part, the "supplemental draft", was held the same day immediately following the televised portion. The first part was broadcast on WWE's program Raw on the USA Network in the United States, and the supplemental draft was available on the Internet, at WWE's official website. The televised portion was held in Atlanta, Georgia at Philips Arena.


2009 WWE draft
The 2009 WWE draft marked the third time that the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands were featured in the draft; wrestlers, general managers and commentators were all eligible to be drafted from the company's roster. For the televised half, matches determined which brand received a random draft selection. During the supplemental draft, brand and employee selections were made at random. Due to draft regulations, drafted champions took their titles to their new brands, and tag teams were not exempt from being selected. As a result, the draft impacted championships and split tag teams.


2009 WWE draft
Overall, 36 draft selections were made, the most since the original draft in 2002 (which featured 57 selections). Twelve selections were made on television; six were made by Raw, five by SmackDown, and one by ECW. All of the draftees were wrestlers: 28 males (10 drafted on television) and 8 females (2 drafted on television). Raw obtained the first overall pick in the draft by winning the first match, which resulted in the acquisition of United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter from SmackDown. Women's Champion Melina from Raw was SmackDown's first selection.


2009 WWE draft
ECW's sole televised draft pick was Vladimir Kozlov from SmackDown. Additionally, SmackDown's WWE Champion Triple H was drafted by Raw, resulting in SmackDown's loss of its prime championship. At the end of the televised portion, the final draft choices were Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio of Raw by SmackDown, replacing the loss of the U.S. Champion, and SmackDown's Divas Champion Maryse by Raw, replacing the loss of the Women's Champion.


2009 WWE draft
In the supplemental draft, Mr. Kennedy, who was sidelined with a non-scripted shoulder injury, was drafted from SmackDown to Raw as the first (13th overall) supplemental pick. SmackDown obtained Shad Gaspard from Raw as their first (14th overall) supplemental selection. Ezekiel Jackson was ECW's first supplemental pick. Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) were drafted from SmackDown to Raw; this left SmackDown without a tag team championship (although the tag team champions can appear on all 3 brands). Brie Bella (from SmackDown to Raw), Charlie Haas (from Raw to SmackDown), and Hurricane Helms (from SmackDown to ECW) were the final supplemental picks.


2009 WWE draft, Background
In March 2002, the Brand Extension storyline was initiated. WWE's Raw and SmackDown! television programs were made into brands that employees were assigned to work; the ECW brand was later added in 2006. With the exception of 2003, WWE has held the draft annually since its inception.


2009 WWE draft, Background
Via its website on February 11, WWE announced that the 2009 Draft was to take place on April 13 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. All wrestlers, general managers, and commentators were eligible to be drafted. A supplemental draft was announced for April 15. It was announced on the day of the televised draft that for the third consecutive year, matches would determine which brand received a draft pick, and that 12 wrestlers were to switch brands. As in previous drafts, the purpose of the 2009 WWE draft was to increase television ratings of WWE programming and to refresh the roster with new storylines for each brand.


2009 WWE draft, Roster selections, Televised draft
During Raw, 10 matches were held among representatives of the three brands to determine which would receive a draft pick; two of the matches were for two selections. Each match featured a wrestler representing their brand; if a wrestler was drafted earlier in the program, they would represent their new brand. After the matches, a computerized system, which appeared on the Raw stage TitanTron, randomly selected a member from the two opposing  brands' rosters for the winning brand.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
After the televised draft, Joey Styles, the Director of Digital Media Content for WWE's official website, interviewed the draftees on their reactions. The drafted wrestlers generally expressed approval of the draft and described what they hoped their experiences would be with their new brand. Seven of the wrestlers were champions with their original brand, and as outlined in the draft regulations, they carried their titles over to their new brand; this affected seven of nine championships.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
Champion draft selections included: Unified Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter, WWE Champion Triple H, and Divas Champion Maryse from SmackDown to Raw; Women's Champion Melina and Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio from Raw to SmackDown. Since Triple H was drafted to Raw, it left SmackDown without a world championship, as Raw now featured two of the three primary championships in WWE, the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
Edge would bring the World Heavyweight Championship back to SmackDown two weeks later at Backlash when he defeated John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match. When MVP and Mysterio switched brands, the two secondary championships switched brands for the first time in WWE's history. Similarly, after Maryse and Melina switched brands, WWE's two female championships also switched brands for the first time. Though the Unified Tag Team Champions were both drafted to Raw from SmackDown, the titles were able to be defended on all three brands due to being unified.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
Numerous tag teams were affected by the Draft overall. During the televised portion of the draft, ECW tag team John Morrison and The Miz was split up. The Miz was drafted to Raw and Morrison to SmackDown (during the supplemental draft). The Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki), Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG), and The Colóns were split up during the supplemental draft, although the duos went to the same brands afterward. SmackDown tag teams Jesse and Festus and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder were also split up, with Festus drafted to Raw and Ryder to ECW.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
The draft had little effect on the television ratings for WWE's programming. Generally, the ratings of the three shows during the week of the draft were consistent with the ratings of each from the previous week.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
The ratings for WWE programming the week before the draft were the following: the April 6 episode of Raw was watched by 5.7 million viewers in its first hour and by 6.1 million viewers in its second hour for an average 3.9 rating, the April 7 episode of ECW on Sci Fi earned a 1.3 television rating, and Friday Night SmackDown earned a 2.0 television rating. The draft episode of Raw was watched by 4.7 million viewers in its first hour, 5.7 in its second hour, and 6.1 in the final hour for an average 3.7 television rating. Later that week, ECW on Sci Fi earned a 1.2 television rating, while Friday Night SmackDown earned a 2.0.


2009 WWE draft, Aftermath
As stated by WWE commentator Jim Ross, the draft would not come into effect until after Backlash, when the final inter-brand matches took place.


2009 Wagner Seahawks football team
The 2009 Wagner Seahawks football team represented Wagner College in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). The Seahawks were led by 29th-year head coach Walt Hameline and played their home games at Wagner College Stadium. They finished the season 6–5 overall and 5–3 in NEC play to tie for third place.


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team
The 2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Jim Grobe during his ninth season at the school and played its home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as they have since the league's inception in 1953. The Deacons finished the season with a record of 5–7 and 3–5 in ACC play. The Deacons missed out on a bowl game for the first time since the 2005 season.


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Before the season, Recruiting
On National Signing Day, the Demon Deacons received letters of intent from 21 players.


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Before the season, Recruiting
Preferred Walk-Ons:Spencer Bishop TE/LB 6-2 200 FR (HS) Pinehurst, NC (Pinecrest)Roger Khouri Fullback 6-1 230 FR (HS) Key Biscayne, FL (Ransom Everglades)Zach Massey TE/FB/LS 6-1 195 FR (HS) Kannapolis, NC (A.L. Brown)Gray Mazzone Wide Receiver 5-9 170 FR (HS) Cary, NC (Panther Creek)Josh Strickland Wide Receiver 6-2 185 FR (HS) Winston-Salem, NC (Forsyth Country Day)Alex Wulfeck Punter 5-9 170 FR (HS) Orange Park, FL (Bolles School)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Baylor
5 all-time meetings:  Baylor 4–1Last meeting:  2008 at Baylor (Wake Forest 41, Baylor 13)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Elon
9 all-time meetings:  Wake Forest 8–0–1Last meeting:  1939 in Greensboro (Wake Forest 34, Elon 0)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Boston College
16 all-time meetings: Boston College 8–6–2Last meeting:  2008 at Wake Forest (Boston College 24, Wake Forest 21)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, North Carolina State
102 all-time meetings: NC State 61–35–6Last meeting:  2008 at NC State (NC State 21, Wake Forest 17)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Maryland
57 all-time meetings: Maryland 41–15–1Last meeting:  2008 at Maryland (Maryland 26, Wake Forest 0)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Clemson
74 all-time meetings: Clemson 56–17–1Last meeting:  2008 at Wake Forest (Wake Forest 12, Clemson 7)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Navy
10 all-time meetings: Wake Forest 7–3Last meeting:  2008 in Washington DC (Wake Forest 29, Navy 19)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Miami
9 all-time meetings: Miami 6–3Last meeting:  2008 at Miami (Miami 16, Wake Forest 10)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Georgia Tech
28 all-time meetings: Georgia Tech 20–8Last meeting:  2006 in Jacksonville (Wake Forest 9, Georgia Tech 6)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Florida State
27 all-time meetings: Florida State 21–5–1Last meeting:  2008 at Florida State (Wake Forest 12, Florida State 3)


2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Duke
88 all-time meetings: Duke 53–34–2Last meeting:  2008 at Wake Forest (Wake Forest 33, Duke 30 OT)


2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season
The Wakefield Trinity Wildcats' 137th season saw them enter their eleventh Super League campaign, as well as the 2009 Challenge Cup.


2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season, League table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season, Death of Leon Walker
On 22 March 2009, Leon Walker, a reserve player, collapsed in the 63rd minute of a game against Crusaders Reserves at Maesteg rugby union ground. He was airlifted to Morriston Hospital, Swansea where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was 20 years old at the time of his death. An inquest subsequently found that his death was the result of a rare undiagnosed heart defect, and the coroner ruled that he died of natural causes.


2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season, Death of Leon Walker
Walker started playing rugby league for the amateur side, the Churwell Chiefs. Walker joined the Salford City Reds in 2006 and played for the club for three years. After his rookie season he was named the Salford Reds Junior Academy Player of the Year. In 2007 Walker represented both the Yorkshire and England U18 sides.


2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season, Death of Leon Walker
He joined the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in November 2008, joining their senior academy side.


2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season, Death of Leon Walker
Walker attended Morley High School and was a scaffolder by trade, and was the cousin and team mate of Luke Blake.


2009 Walker Cup
The 42nd Walker Cup Match was played on September 12 and 13, 2009 at the Merion Golf Club (East course) in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Team United States won 16½ to 9½ for its third consecutive win.


2009 Walker Cup, Format
On Saturday, there are four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. On Sunday, there are again four matches of foursomes in the morning, followed by ten singles matches (involving every player) in the afternoon. This was a change from previous years (and the first format change in 46 years) when there were only eight singles matches on Sunday. In all, 26 matches are played.


2009 Walker Cup, Format
Each of the 26 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole extra holes were not played. The team with most points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.


2009 Walker Cup, The course
The Merion Golf Club (East course) in Ardmore, Pennsylvania is a par 70 course. Hugh Irvine Wilson is credited with designing it, and it opened for play in 1912. It has hosted various USGA events including six U.S. Amateurs, four U.S. Women's Amateurs, and four U.S. Opens. It has also hosted the Curtis Cup and Eisenhower Trophy team events.


2009 Walker Cup, Teams
Ten players for the USA and Great Britain & Ireland participate in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.


2009 Walsh Cup
The 2009 Walsh Cup was a hurling competition played by the teams of Leinster GAA, a team from Connacht GAA and a team from Ulster GAA. The competition differs from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship as it also features further education colleges and the winning team does not progress to another tournament at All-Ireland level. The first four losers of the competition entered the Walsh Shield.


2009 Walsh Cup, Walsh Cup, Quarter finals
The quarter finals saw Kilkenny, Antrim, Galway and Wexford proceed to the next round, while Dublin, Laois, Wexford and Offaly were left to contest the Walsh Shield.


2009 Walsh Cup, Walsh Cup, Semi Finals
The semi finals saw Kilkenny playing the previous year's winners, Antrim, while Galway faced Wexford. Both Kilkenny and Galway progressed to meet in the final.


2009 Walsh Cup, Walsh Shield
The Walsh Shield was created in 2008 and was contested for the second time in 2009. It consisted of the losing quarter finalists of the Walsh Cup, with Dublin coming through to win for the first time.


2009 Warrington Wolves season
The 2009 Warrington Wolves season was the 131st in the club's history. They competed in Super League XIV as well the 2009 Challenge Cup. They reached the Challenge Cup final in which they defeated Huddersfield Giants.


2009 Warrington Wolves season, Super League, Table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2009 Warrington Wolves season, Notes
Note A: Warrington won 24-25 via the golden point rule.


2009 Warsaw Open
The 2009 Warsaw Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 13th edition of the Warsaw Open, part of the Premier-level tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place at the Legia Tennis Centre in Warsaw, Poland, from 18 May until 23 May 2009. Unseeded Alexandra Dulgheru, who entered the main draw as a qualifier, won the singles title.


2009 Warsaw Open, Finals, Doubles
Raquel Kops-Jones /  Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated  Yan Zi /  Zheng Jie, 6–1, 6–1


2009 Warwickshire County Council election
Elections to Warwickshire County Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.


2009 Washington Freedom season
The 2009 season is Washington Freedom's first season competing in the Women's Professional Soccer league, the top division of women's soccer in the United States, and seventh competitive season. The team was coached by  Jim Gabarra who has led the team since its founding in 2001.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Review
In January 2008, Washington was selected as one of the seven cities to launch Women’s Professional Soccer in spring 2009. The WPS would be the next iteration of a women’s professional league since the WUSA folded in 2003.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Review
The Washington Freedom had been competing in the W-League since 2006, would begin the Washington franchise to field a WSP team. Still led by head coach Jim Gabarra, the coaching staff stayed intact transitioning to the new league. The initial player allocation aimed to keep players in preferred locations and best marketing potential, with the Freedom getting Abby Wambach, Cat Whitehill, and Ali Krieger (on loan from FFC Frankfurt).


2009 Washington Freedom season, Review
The Freedom played in the league’s inaugural match on March 29, 2009, against Los Angeles Sol before a crowd of 14,382. They lost the match, 2–0, and struggled for the first three weeks. The Freedom picked up their first win of the WPS era back in California, beating FC Gold Pride, 3-4, thanks to a 90th-minute goal from Abby Wambach.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Review
The season continued to be an up and down one with a strong run through June (going undefeated through 8 matches) followed by three consecutive losses. Winning four of their last five, the Freedom finished their first WPS regular season in 3rd place, earning their first playoff appearance.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Review
The first round playoff match was a rematch of the last week of the season, where the Freedom defeated Sky Blue FC at home 3-1. Sky Blue would get revenge winning 2-1 at the Maryland SoccerPlex, thanks to an 85th minute goal from Francielle.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Club, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Competition, Regular season
|team2 = Saint Louis Athletica|location = Germantown, Maryland|stadium = Maryland SoccerPlex|attendance = |referee = |result = D|note = }}


2009 Washington Freedom season, Competition, WPS playoffs
The Freedom finished 3rd in the table earning a place in the WPS Playoffs in a First Round match up versus 4th place Sky Blue FC. Despite having defeated Sky Blue on the final day of the regular season, the Freedom dropped the First Round match at home after conceding a late goal to Francielle.


2009 Washington Freedom season, Transfers
As part of the inaugural season, each of the league’s seven teams went through several mechanisms for player acquisitions to fill out their rosters. These included:


2009 Washington Huskies football team
The 2009 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Steve Sarkisian, who replaced Tyrone Willingham following a winless 2008 season. The Huskies played their home games at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. The Huskies finished the season 5–7 and 4–5 in Pac-10 play.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, LSU
LSU came into the game ranked #11 in the nation, but the Washington Huskies earned their respect after they gave up 478 total yards to Washington. The Washington Huskies had 13:44 time of possession edge and ran 83 offensive plays to LSU's 48, but lost the game due to a couple untimely turnovers and blown defensive plays.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Idaho
Washington ended the nation's longest losing streak at 15 games and gave new coach Steve Sarkisian his first victory, beating Idaho 42-23. Sarkisian's first win as a head coach came as the Huskies scored touchdowns on its first five possessions—minus a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half—making up for a defense that showed weakness against the pass. Locker tossed touchdowns of 24, 31 and 4 yards and added a 3-yard TD run of his own as Washington picked up its first victory since Nov. 17, 2007 when it beat California.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Idaho
Despite the offensive performance, the Huskies defense showed it still has a long way to go in defending the pass. Quarterback Nathan Enderle threw for 279 yards—part of the 349 total passing yards by the Vandals. But Idaho had to settle for three field goals on three trips inside the Washington 20 in the first half.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Idaho
Enderle then made his one crucial mistake on the first possession of the second half. After Washington's Curtis Shaw fumbled the second half kickoff and Idaho recovered, Enderle faced a third-and-4 at the Washington 25. Throwing toward the near sideline, Enderle's pass found the hands of linebacker Mason Foster, who returned the turnover 56 yards to the Idaho 21. Four plays later, and after Locker hit D'Andre Goodwin for 20 yards to the 1 on third down, Chris Polk plowed in for his first touchdown of the season. The Vandals ended up out-gaining Washington 412 to 374, but were hampered by eight penalties and an inability to get Washington off the field


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, USC
The underdog Washington Huskies upset the USC Trojans on a last second field goal for a 16-13 win. The game snapped a 7-game winning streak for the Trojans over the Huskies, the last victory coming in 2001. For USC, Aaron Corp started for the injured Matt Barkley at quarterback.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, USC
The Huskies became the latest Pac-10 team to upset the Trojans, only two Pacific-10 Conference teams have failed to beat USC during the Pete Carroll era: Arizona and Arizona State. Other Pac-10 teams have defeated USC at least once during this period, Oregon State did it twice, 2006 and again in 2008.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Notre Dame
Notre Dame defeats the Washington Huskies 37–30 at Notre Dame Stadium to give Notre Dame its 4th win of the season. Notre Dame stayed alive with 3 goal line stands resulting in only 3 Washington Husky points. Golden Tate was able to scorch Washington's defense for 244 yards receiving, 31 yards rushing and one touchdown. Notre Dame finally wins in OT and extends their record to 8–0 against the Huskies.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Arizona State
With the appearance the game would be heading into overtime, ASU quarterback Danny Sullivan threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to receiver Chris McGaha in the last five seconds of the game.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Oregon
After Erik Folk's 33-yard field goal in the first quarter for Washington, Nate Costa rushed for 3 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Ducks their first lead. Then Javes Lewis intercepted Jake Locker's pass in the end zone to give Oregon the ball back, which resulted in Jeremiah Masoli scoring from the 1-yard line for their second touchdown. With a second left, Folk kicked a 48-yard field goal to end the half, which was aided by a personal foul on Oregon.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, Oregon
Unable to move, the Huskies turned the ball over to Oregon and the Ducks scored their third touchdown on Masoli's 3-yard run in the top of the third quarter.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, UCLA
The Huskies failed to capitalize on UCLA's five turnovers and lost to the Bruins by a point at the Rose Bowl. Down by a point, Erik Folk's 38-yard field goal kick in the fourth quarter was no good. Folk kicked three field goals, two in the second quarter, and Jermaine Kearse scored two pass-touchdowns for the Huskies. Jake Locker completed 23 of 40 passes for 235 yards.


2009 Washington Huskies football team, Game summaries, UCLA
Kai Forbath kicked a 27-yard field goal earlier in the final period to win the game for the Bruins. Kevin Prince completed 13 of 17 passes for 212 yards and Kevin Craft had 10 of 14 completions for 159 yards. Both gave up an interception.