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Serena Williams is seen here at her book signing at Harrods department store in London, on November 2, 2009. Now it’s time to put the books away and focus on tennis. Williams, who is currently ranked No. 1 on the WTA Tour is seeded No. 1 for the 2010 Australian Open set to begin Jan. 18 in Melbourne. Yes, Grand Slam tennis is about to get under way.

Tournament officials could have used a discretionary seeding to place Justine Henin in the draw, but they chose not to. So the Belgian former champion playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since announcing her return from retirement will be a dangerous threat, possibly meeting some of the top seeds in the opening rounds.

Amidst controversy and spectacular play, Serena Williams of the United States ends 2009 ranked No. 1 in the world on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Once before in her 14 year career she achieved the No. 1 year-end ranking, seven years ago in 2002.

Just three years ago, in 2006 she had dipped to No. 95 at year’s end following an injury-plagued season. She lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open to Daniela Hantuchova. Williams then withdrew from all events until summer with a left knee injury, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She spent 18 weeks outside of the top 100 during that time. Then after starting up again, she lost at the U.S. Open in round four, ending the year at #95. In 2007 she started her climb back up the rankings, moving up to No. 7 at the end of the year, and finishing 2008, No. 3.[SonyEricssonWTATour.com]

Serena Williams solidified her World No. 1 ranking by winning the Sony Ericsson Championships on Sunday, November 1, 2009 in Doha, Qatar. She claimed the championship with a straight-sets win over her sister, Venus Williams, and a 5-0 record for the tournament. Venus was back to defend her title from last year, but Serena made sure that did not happen.

The Final was competitive between the two sisters. However, both were struggling with injuries and had heavy taping on their left legs. Serena was dominate in the opening set, winning 6-2. Venus then stepped up her game in the second set, managing to force a tiebreak. However, Serena came out on top, winning the match 6-2, 7-6(4).

Samantha Stosur of Australia kisses the trophy she won on Sunday at the WTA HP Japan Women’s Open held Oct. 12-18, 2009 in Osaka, Japan. At age 25, it was her first WTA singles title since turning pro in 1999.

The No. 13 ranked player was hardly tested throughout the tournament. She won each of her first three matches in straight sets, defeating Alexandra Panova 6-2, 6-4, Akiko Morigami 6-1, 6-2, Jill Craybas 6-1, 6-3. In the Semifinals, No. 6 ranked Caroline Wozniacki took Stosur to 3 sets, with Stosur coming out on top 6-0, 4-6, 6-4. In the Final match, Stosur was back to a straight sets victory over No. 24 ranked Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 6-1 to take home the hardware.

Happy birthday to Danish tennis cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, who turns 19 today.

Caroline Wozniacki was born July 11, 1990 in Odense, Denmark. She turned pro July 18, 2005 at the ripe old age of 15. She has already had an outstanding career with five WTA Tour singles titles, and two double titles. Her singles career win/loss record is 151-62. She is currently ranked 9th in the world.

She has made the 4th round in three Grand Slams already, including Wimbledon this year. It shouldn’t be long and she will be breaking into the winning bracket of one of those majors.

Danish tennis cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, poses with her trophy after the championship match of the WTA Aegon International played in Eastbourne, England June 15-20.

This was the 2nd title for Wozniacki, who also won the WTA MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA back in April.

In route to the title, Wozniacki, who was the 6th seed, defeated No. 31 ranked Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, (6-3, 6-2), No. 19 ranked Samantha Stousur of Australia, (6-1, 5-7, 6-1), No. 46 ranked Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, (6-3, 6-2), No. 21 ranked Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, (3-6, 6-4, 6-4), and No. 23 ranked Virginie Razzano of France, (7-6 [7-5], 7-5).

Cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark reached the Final of the 2009 WTA Tour Family Circle Cup played April 13-19 at Charleston, South Carolina, USA. She was defeated in the championship match by Sabine Lusicki.

Wozniacki breezed through her first three rounds with wins over Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-3, Shuai Peng 6-3, 6-4, and Virginie Razzano 6-2, 6-0. In the Semifinals, she ran up against another featured cutie pie, No. 3 ranked Elena Dementieva of Russia. It was a good, close match going three sets. Wozniacki, ranked No. 11, prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

Danish cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, is shown here with her trophy after winning the MPS Group Championships tennis tournament Sunday, April 12, 2009, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

World No. 12 ranked Wozniacki needed three sets to get past her opening round opponent, No. 31 ranked Samantha Stosur of Australia. She lost a tie-break in the 2nd set, but eventually came out on top 6-3, 6-7(4-7), 6-1.

Wozniacki’s next opponent was No. 42 ranked Virginie Razzano of France. Wozniacki was the victor in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. The Quarterfinal match was an easy 2-set victory over another featured cutie pie, No. 40 ranked Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-2.

Eighteen year-old Danish cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, is shown here returning a shot to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden March 15, 2009 in Indian Wells, California, USA. Wozniacki made it all the way to the Quarterfinals.

Wozniacki, the 9th seed in the tournament, had a BYE into the 2nd round where she defeated 88th ranked Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-1. Her victim in the 3rd round was No. 19 ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in a 3-set match by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. In the 4th round, Wozniacki was the victor in a 2-set match over 83rd ranked Urszula Radwanska of Poland 7-5, 6-3.

Danish cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, reached the finals of the 2009 WTA The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & The Cellular South Cup played in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, Feb. 15-22.

Wozniacki, currently ranked 13th in the world, was the top seed in the tournament. She had an easy 1st round match, defeating Jelena Dokic 6-1, 6-2. The had a straight-sets win over Severine Bremond 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), and won her quarterfinal match over Michaella Krajicek in 3 sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.