Aleksandra Wozniak

The seeds proved invincible during the day session at the $220,000 ASB Classic on Monday, with Aleksandra Wozniak, Shahar Peer and Nicole Vaidisova all recording wins in their opening matches at the International event.

Wozniak, seeded No.4, was the last player to win in the day session as she regrouped after dropping the second set to beat Magdalena Rybarikova in three sets, 63 67(4) 75. It was icing on the 21-year-old Canadian's day, as earlier on she rose to a new career-high of No.33 in the world. The January 5 rankings are the first to include the new points distributions.

The 24th edition of the ASB Classic graces the hardcourts of the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland, New Zealand this week, with world No.4 Elena Dementieva and Top 10 hopeful Caroline Wozniacki headlining the field.

Name three great Canadian tennis players. Okay, name one.

Still struggling? That's probably because the list is about as extensive as the one for great New Zealand players.

Much like New Zealand with Marina Erakovic, though, Canada does have one player to pin its hopes on - fast-rising 21-year-old Aleksandra Wozniak, the fourth seed at this year's ASB Classic.

The parallels with Erakovic are striking. Wozniak began last year ranked 130 and ended it ranked 34, a rise of 96 places that mirrored Erakovic's rise from 161 to 60.

Here are some of the other big moments from the year in tennis.

The full field for January's ASB Tennis Classic has been revealed in Auckland this afternoon.

The eight seeded players are all ranked inside the world's top 41.

Names unknown before today, 5th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6th seed Aleksandra Wozniak, 7th seed Shahar Peer, and Nicole Vaidasova at eight.

New Zealand's Marina Erakovic enters the tournament at 13, ranked 60th in the world.

Elena Dementieva and Caroline Wozniacki are seeded one and three.

Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and Nadia Petrova are scheduled to lead the field at the 2009 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament is set for the ASB Tennis Centre, January 5-10 with qualifying January 3-4.
 

Organisers of next year's women's tennis tournament in Auckland believe they have delivered on their promise to assemble the most competitive field yet as the event embarks on a new era.
 
The field for the main draw of the ASB Classic was finalised yesterday with the top four seeded players all ranked inside the world's top 20.
 

The WTA Tour season came to a close Sunday when Venus Williams won the Tour Championships singles title, and $1.3 million U.S., before rather sparse crowds in Doha, Qatar.
 
There is still more tennis to be played; a number of smaller women's events on the ITF Circuit offering between $10,000 and $100,000 in total prize money will take place right through to the end of the year.
 
But the major leagues are taking a break. And with that, we offer up the annual Open Court Awards.
 

Nadia Petrova clinched the second alternate berth for the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2008 on Friday, with a quarterfinal win halfway across the world in Québec City.
 
If Petrova - the No.1 seed at the Tier III event - lost her quarterfinal with Melinda Czink, then Flavia Pennetta would have joined Agnieszka Radwanska in the alternate line-up at the prestigious season-ender, which will be held next week in Doha, Qatar. But she beat the unseeded Hungarian, 61 64, thus overtaking Pennetta in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships.

The last four quarterfinal berths were snapped up at the Bell Challenge on Thursday, with the winners including No.5-seeded Canadian sensation Aleksandra Wozniak and a trio of non-seeds.
 
Wozniak, who has rocketed up the rankings this year and is currently at No.37 in the world, cruised past qualifier Carly Gullickson in straight sets in the feature night match, 63 62. She now moves into the quarters of the Tier III event for the second time in four appearances, having gotten to this stage in 2006 as well (falling to Lilia Osterloh).