telegram.co.uk
Shot of the year: Ignoring all the age-old orthodoxies and the geometry of a tennis court, Roger Federer produced an extraordinary running forehand during his second-round victory at the Australian Open, scooping the ball around the net post for a winner.
His poor opponent, a lowly qualifier already struggling against the Swiss's brilliance, was totally thrown - surely Federer hadn't just done that?
Match of the year: As the chief oddball, hedonist and racket-trasher of the tennis world, Marat Safin had always been expected to celebrate his 25th birthday in some style, and that he did by defeating Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open over five sets.
Federer, usually so restrained, was hurling his racket and muttering and cursing into the night. Put in Safin's terms, this was like Federer taking every racket from his kit bag and smashing them in turn against the umpire's chair. Safin would win the title in Melbourne, defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final, but his mooted rivalry with Federer never materialised.
Worst shot of the year: Federer held a match point during his defeat to Safin in Melbourne, and rather than tracking back to play a regular groundstroke when he was lobbed by the Russian, attempted to play a trick shot through his legs.
Disappointment of the year: Maria Sharapova may been the world No 1 during the season - the first time that the Russian had headed the world rankings - but she would have been immensely frustrated by her failure to win another grand slam title to add to last year's Wimbledon triumph.
Lindsay Davenport also finished the year as world No 1. So Sharapova has not reached a grand slam final since her victory at the All England Club. Still, at least the teenager managed to put out her own perfume this year.
Locker-room prank of the year: When Ivan Ljubicic returned from the showers at the Miami Open he was shocked to open his locker door and discover Michael Llodra completely naked.
The Frenchman, who stands over 6ft tall, had somehow squeezed himself into a locker half his height. Ljubicic asked Llodra what he was doing in his locker. "You're winning a lot of matches this year," Llodra replied, "so I'm trying to get some positive energy from you."
Strangest tournament of the year: The well-heeled residents of Monte Carlo usually feel the need to flaunt it and rattle their jewellery along the dining terrace of their country club during the tennis, but this season all was quiet.
On the week of the clay-court event, the principality buried their monarch of more than half a century, Prince Rainier. On the day of the funeral, the streets were shut down for most of the day, meaning that the players had to be at the country club at breakfast time for matches that started in mid-afternoon.
This led to one of the season's strangest sights, with Federer, the world No 1 who was patently affected by the mood, sitting patiently on the roadside for his early-morning pick-up in a minibus.
Mismatch of the year: Mary Pierce's rambling and emotional post-match speech to the Parisian crowd almost lasted as long as her defeat in the French Open final. She managed just two games against the Belgian, Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Debut of the year: Before the French Open, Rafael Nadal found himself in the unusual situation of being the favourite for the tournament, despite never having stepped on to the red clay of Roland Garros for anything other than a one-day coaching clinic for his clothing sponsors. But Majorca's boy-man duly delivered.
Worst performance of the year: Serena Williams may have won the Australian Open, but she was decidedly average for the rest of the season, never more so than during her third-round defeat at Wimbledon. She lost to Jill Craybas, a fellow American and an opponent of little consequence or standing.
Williams looked heavy and out of shape, was slow and plodding around the court, and conceded afterwards, between the sniffles and the dabs of the tissue, that she might need to work a little harder on the practice court.
Women's comeback of the year: As if she was attached to a giant spring, Venus Williams kept jumping up off the Centre Court grass after her Wimbledon victory.
The American had come back from match point to defeat Davenport and win her first grand slam title since her US Open triumph of 2001, and given that she had been seen as a fading force in women's tennis, why not bounce up and down and smile like a loon? It was the happiest she had been on a tennis court for years.
Performance of the year: Federer said that he had never played finer tennis than the match he produced against Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final. It was the second successive year that the Swiss had defeated the American for the grass-court title. "Maybe I'll punch him next time," Roddick said.
Men's newcomer: Andy Murray, for doing things differently.
Women's newcomer: Sania Mirza has become a huge star in India, attracting the sort of attention that might even make a few of the country's international cricketers wince.
The 19-year-old started the season outside the top 200 and finished it as a top-40 player. But Mirza has also had her difficulties this year, with the Muslim teenager subjected to a fatwa by extreme clerics who felt that the skirt she wore on court was too short. Could make some impact at next year's slams.
Fashion statement of the year: Dominik Hrbaty is usually not a man turned by clothes or image, but his fourth-round defeat at the US Open will mainly be remembered for the outlandish shirt he was wearing on his back - or on most of it.
The baby-pink top, which was probably more suited to an evening out in New York's West Village than a game of tennis in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, had two holes cut into the material on the back, exposing his shoulder blades.
Playing in the noon-day sun, the Slovakian had to ask a ballboy to rub in some sun screen. As Hewitt, Hrbaty's conqueror, said: "I couldn't lose to a man wearing a shirt like that."
Men's comeback of the year: James Blake was returning from the adversity of last season. The New Yorker broke his neck last year after colliding with a net post during a training session, had his recovery complicated by a rare virus that paralysed half his face and affected his hearing and vision, and also had to deal with the death of his father from cancer.
Blake was awarded a wild card into the US Open, where he reached the quarter-finals and led Andre Agassi by two sets to love before losing over five sets.
Celebration of the year: Kim Clijsters won her first grand slam title at the US Open, having lost four slam finals, and could have done herself some serious damage after her victory over Pierce. She was attempting to reach her entourage in the second tier of seating by clambering up a thin, 10-metre long steel railing, and she was halfway along when she realised she was losing her balance.
It was probably only the outstretched hands of the spectators which prevented her from having a terrible fall on to the concrete. The Belgian arrived at the top of the bannister, burst into tears and gave an affectionate embrace to everyone in her player's box.
Quote of the year: Tim Henman was in droll mood after his first meeting with Murray, a three-set defeat in Basle. Was this 'a changing of the guard'? "I've been hearing about this," Henman said. "It's either the changing of the guard or I'm supposed to be passing him something. Is it a torch? Is it a flag? Maybe it's a baton. There's this mystery thing that I'm supposed to be passing to Andy, and he's welcome to it. Please pass it on to him. I won't be offended this time if you write that."
Attempted ranking dash of the year: Greg Rusedski travelled to a decidedly unglamorous stop on the tennis circuit, a second-tier Challenger event in Ukraine, to try to earn the points he needed to overtake Henman as British No 1. Rusedski, needing to reach the semi-finals, was defeated in the opening round.
Shot of the year: Ignoring all the age-old orthodoxies and the geometry of a tennis court, Roger Federer produced an extraordinary running forehand during his second-round victory at the Australian Open, scooping the ball around the net post for a winner.
His poor opponent, a lowly qualifier already struggling against the Swiss's brilliance, was totally thrown - surely Federer hadn't just done that?
Match of the year: As the chief oddball, hedonist and racket-trasher of the tennis world, Marat Safin had always been expected to celebrate his 25th birthday in some style, and that he did by defeating Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open over five sets.
Federer, usually so restrained, was hurling his racket and muttering and cursing into the night. Put in Safin's terms, this was like Federer taking every racket from his kit bag and smashing them in turn against the umpire's chair. Safin would win the title in Melbourne, defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final, but his mooted rivalry with Federer never materialised.
Worst shot of the year: Federer held a match point during his defeat to Safin in Melbourne, and rather than tracking back to play a regular groundstroke when he was lobbed by the Russian, attempted to play a trick shot through his legs.
Disappointment of the year: Maria Sharapova may been the world No 1 during the season - the first time that the Russian had headed the world rankings - but she would have been immensely frustrated by her failure to win another grand slam title to add to last year's Wimbledon triumph.
Lindsay Davenport also finished the year as world No 1. So Sharapova has not reached a grand slam final since her victory at the All England Club. Still, at least the teenager managed to put out her own perfume this year.
Locker-room prank of the year: When Ivan Ljubicic returned from the showers at the Miami Open he was shocked to open his locker door and discover Michael Llodra completely naked.
The Frenchman, who stands over 6ft tall, had somehow squeezed himself into a locker half his height. Ljubicic asked Llodra what he was doing in his locker. "You're winning a lot of matches this year," Llodra replied, "so I'm trying to get some positive energy from you."
Strangest tournament of the year: The well-heeled residents of Monte Carlo usually feel the need to flaunt it and rattle their jewellery along the dining terrace of their country club during the tennis, but this season all was quiet.
On the week of the clay-court event, the principality buried their monarch of more than half a century, Prince Rainier. On the day of the funeral, the streets were shut down for most of the day, meaning that the players had to be at the country club at breakfast time for matches that started in mid-afternoon.
This led to one of the season's strangest sights, with Federer, the world No 1 who was patently affected by the mood, sitting patiently on the roadside for his early-morning pick-up in a minibus.
Mismatch of the year: Mary Pierce's rambling and emotional post-match speech to the Parisian crowd almost lasted as long as her defeat in the French Open final. She managed just two games against the Belgian, Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Debut of the year: Before the French Open, Rafael Nadal found himself in the unusual situation of being the favourite for the tournament, despite never having stepped on to the red clay of Roland Garros for anything other than a one-day coaching clinic for his clothing sponsors. But Majorca's boy-man duly delivered.
Worst performance of the year: Serena Williams may have won the Australian Open, but she was decidedly average for the rest of the season, never more so than during her third-round defeat at Wimbledon. She lost to Jill Craybas, a fellow American and an opponent of little consequence or standing.
Williams looked heavy and out of shape, was slow and plodding around the court, and conceded afterwards, between the sniffles and the dabs of the tissue, that she might need to work a little harder on the practice court.
Women's comeback of the year: As if she was attached to a giant spring, Venus Williams kept jumping up off the Centre Court grass after her Wimbledon victory.
The American had come back from match point to defeat Davenport and win her first grand slam title since her US Open triumph of 2001, and given that she had been seen as a fading force in women's tennis, why not bounce up and down and smile like a loon? It was the happiest she had been on a tennis court for years.
Performance of the year: Federer said that he had never played finer tennis than the match he produced against Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final. It was the second successive year that the Swiss had defeated the American for the grass-court title. "Maybe I'll punch him next time," Roddick said.
Men's newcomer: Andy Murray, for doing things differently.
Women's newcomer: Sania Mirza has become a huge star in India, attracting the sort of attention that might even make a few of the country's international cricketers wince.
The 19-year-old started the season outside the top 200 and finished it as a top-40 player. But Mirza has also had her difficulties this year, with the Muslim teenager subjected to a fatwa by extreme clerics who felt that the skirt she wore on court was too short. Could make some impact at next year's slams.
Fashion statement of the year: Dominik Hrbaty is usually not a man turned by clothes or image, but his fourth-round defeat at the US Open will mainly be remembered for the outlandish shirt he was wearing on his back - or on most of it.
The baby-pink top, which was probably more suited to an evening out in New York's West Village than a game of tennis in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, had two holes cut into the material on the back, exposing his shoulder blades.
Playing in the noon-day sun, the Slovakian had to ask a ballboy to rub in some sun screen. As Hewitt, Hrbaty's conqueror, said: "I couldn't lose to a man wearing a shirt like that."
Men's comeback of the year: James Blake was returning from the adversity of last season. The New Yorker broke his neck last year after colliding with a net post during a training session, had his recovery complicated by a rare virus that paralysed half his face and affected his hearing and vision, and also had to deal with the death of his father from cancer.
Blake was awarded a wild card into the US Open, where he reached the quarter-finals and led Andre Agassi by two sets to love before losing over five sets.
Celebration of the year: Kim Clijsters won her first grand slam title at the US Open, having lost four slam finals, and could have done herself some serious damage after her victory over Pierce. She was attempting to reach her entourage in the second tier of seating by clambering up a thin, 10-metre long steel railing, and she was halfway along when she realised she was losing her balance.
It was probably only the outstretched hands of the spectators which prevented her from having a terrible fall on to the concrete. The Belgian arrived at the top of the bannister, burst into tears and gave an affectionate embrace to everyone in her player's box.
Quote of the year: Tim Henman was in droll mood after his first meeting with Murray, a three-set defeat in Basle. Was this 'a changing of the guard'? "I've been hearing about this," Henman said. "It's either the changing of the guard or I'm supposed to be passing him something. Is it a torch? Is it a flag? Maybe it's a baton. There's this mystery thing that I'm supposed to be passing to Andy, and he's welcome to it. Please pass it on to him. I won't be offended this time if you write that."
Attempted ranking dash of the year: Greg Rusedski travelled to a decidedly unglamorous stop on the tennis circuit, a second-tier Challenger event in Ukraine, to try to earn the points he needed to overtake Henman as British No 1. Rusedski, needing to reach the semi-finals, was defeated in the opening round.
