Federer and Henin named 2007 ITF World Champions
The ITF announced today that Roger Federer (SUI) and Justine
Henin (BEL) are the 2007 ITF World Champions. This is the
fourth year running Federer has received this honour, and
the third time overall for Henin.
Federer becomes only the second player to be named Men’s
World Champion for four consecutive years, following Pete
Sampras. The 26-year-old reached all four Grand Slam finals
for the second successive year, again capturing three titles,
the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. He also won the
season-ending Tennis Masters Cup, and became the first player
to earn over $10 million in annual prize money.
Federer said: “It is an honour to be named ITF World
Champion for the fourth year running. Each year brings new
challenges, and I am proud that I have been able to raise
the level of my game when needed. It gives me great satisfaction
to have won another three Grand Slam titles and maintained
the number one ranking.”
Henin becomes Women’s World Champion for the second
year running, having also received the honour in 2003. The
25- year-old won two Grand Slam titles, Roland Garros and
US Open, and went on to triumph at the season-ending championships.
She captured a career-best 10 titles for the year, boasting
a 63-4 win-loss record, and became the first woman to earn
more than $5 million in a single year.
Henin said: “This has definitely been the best season
of my career so far and I am delighted to be named ITF World
Champion once again. It has been a very challenging year overall,
but I have stayed positive and proved that nothing is impossible
if you work hard. I still think my best tennis is yet to come.”
The ITF’s selection of its World Champions is based
on an objective system that considers not only performances
at the Grand Slams, on the respective tours and at the season-ending
events, but also gives weight to performances in the two ITF
international team competitions, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas.
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Roger Federer
and Justine Henin both enjoyed outstanding seasons to maintain
their status as the world’s number one players. In particular
their record in Grand Slam events saw them emerge as the clear
choices for ITF World Champions.”
The ITF also announced that Bob and Mike Bryan (USA), and
Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA) are the 2007 ITF Doubles
World Champions.
The Bryans are Men’s Doubles World Champions for a
record fifth successive year. The pairing won a career-high
11 titles during 2007, including the Australian Open, and
were runners-up at Wimbledon. They were also unbeaten for
the USA team that won the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas for the
first time since 1995.
Black and Huber are Women’s Doubles Champions for the
first time in their first complete season together. The duo
won nine events during the year, including two Grand Slam
titles, the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and the seasonending
championships. This is the third ITF award for Black, who
was Junior Singles and Doubles World Champion in 1997. Huber
became a US citizen in July 2007 having previously represented
her home nation South Africa
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) and Urszula Radwanska (POL) are the
2007 ITF Junior World Champions. Berankis, 17, is the first
ever Lithuanian player to be named ITF World Champion after
the boys’ title was decided in the final week of the
season. A member of the ITF Junior Touring Team, Berankis
overtook long-time world No. 1 and fellow team member Uladzimir
Ignatik (BLR) by winning back-to-back titles at the Orange
Bowl and last week’s Yucatan Cup. He won the US Open
junior title, and reached two semifinals and one quarterfinal
at the other Slams.
Radwanska, the younger sister of former junior world No.
1 Agnieszka, becomes Poland’s first World Champion in
any category. Despite playing a limited schedule of junior
events, the 17-year-old emulated her sister by winning the
junior Wimbledon title, and was also a finalist at the US
Open. In doubles she narrowly failed to complete the junior
Grand Slam, losing in the Australian Open final before winning
titles at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. The ITF
Wheelchair World Champions are Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Esther
Vergeer (NED).
Kunieda becomes the first Asian Wheelchair World Champion,
having narrowly missed out on the men’s No. 1 ranking
in 2006. The 23-year-old became the first man to win the Grand
Slam of wheelchair tennis with victories in all four Super-
Series singles events. Overall he won a total of eight singles
and eight doubles titles, and helped Japan’s men win
the Invacare World Team Cup.
Twenty-six-year-old Vergeer finishes 2007 as Women’s
Wheelchair World Champion for an astonishing eighth consecutive
year. She extended her singles winning streak to 303 straight
matches, having remained unbeaten since January 2003, and
became the first woman to win the Grand Slam of four Super-Series
titles. During the year she collected a total of 15 singles
and 12 doubles titles, and led Netherlands to victory in the
World Team Cup.
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “I want to
extend my congratulations to all the ITF World Champions for
2007, and thank them for their contribution to another outstanding
year for the sport.”
The ITF World Champions will receive their awards at the
annual ITF World Champions Dinner on Tuesday 3 June, in Paris,
during Roland Garros.
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