Matches of the year - women

I'm afraid 2008 will quickly be forgotten in terms of the women's game.
 
Justine Henin's standards over the previous 12 months had set the bar high but once she made the shock decision to quit in May, no-one was able to take over the baton with a series of players treating the number-one ranking like a hot potato.
 
Searching through the memory banks for a cracking top-level match is difficult and reflects that power vacuum at the top.
 
The all-Williams Wimbledon final was certainly better than many expected but should be classed as good rather than great.
 
The sisters took things up a level in the US Open quarter-finals in which Serena gained revenge, coming from 5-3 down in both sets and saving set-points aplenty to win 7-6 7-6. It certainly had drama and quality, although the error count wasn't low.
 
The same could be said of Serena's final clash at Flushing Meadows against Jelena Jankovic - definitely the best of the year's Grand Slam finals and a match which saw Serena return to the world number one spot after a five-year absence.
 
Personally, I'm a big fan of a 'last-(wo)man-standing' match and a couple of those spring to mind, both at Wimbledon.
 
Top seed Ana Ivanovic was involved in a surprisingly-difficult second-round match with Natalie Dechy but the Serb produced a fine fightback.
 
She survived two match points to win 10-8 in the third. It produced one of my favourite moments of the year, Ivanovic kissing the net before leaving court - thanking the net cord which had helped her win one of those match points.
 
A bewildered Dechy, meanwhile, buried her head in a towel.
 
Dinara Safina suffered similar mental anguish three days later.
 
Given it was a match which took place at the same time Andy Murray was on court, few probably saw it but those who did will remember it well.
 
Showing her trademark guts and detremination, Safina managed to force the match into a decider despite opponent Shahar Peer twice serving for the match in the second set.
 
Despite struggling with a leg injury, Safina managed to move 5-3 ahead in the final set but that's when it all went wrong.
 
Unable to put any sort of spring into her serve, the Russian couldn't finish Peer off and the Israeli stumbled over the winning line, leaving a tearful Safina shattered, physically and mentally, after three hours and 23 minutes' play.
 
That match goes close to match of the year for sheer drama, but it's another Safina match that manages to take our top award.
 
The Russian's fighting qualities were once again on show in her French Open fourth-round clash with Maria Sharapova but this time the quality matched the drama.
 
Some of the baseline rallies were a terrific example of what claycourt tennis is all about while the fightback Safina produced to send the top seed packing was truly amazing.
 
After saving two set points, Sharapova won the opening set on a tie-break before rain halted affairs. When the players returned, Sharapova was razor sharp in establishing a 5-2 lead and looked home and hosed.
 
However, Safina began to swing from the hip and produced some tremendous shots - including a backhand down the line to save match point at 5-3 down - to level the set.
 
The game still looked up when Safina fell 5-2 behind in the resultant tie-break but five points in a row saw the match squared.
 
In last week's column about the best men's matches of the year we mentioned Rafael Nadal's mental strength when he blew a similar position against Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.
 
Sharapova proved not so tough.
 
With the missed opportunities preying on her mind, errors crept into her game more and more in the deciding set and Safina took it 6-2.
 
"If you don't take the chances that you have it can go in the wrong direction really fast," was Sharapova's spot-on assessment afterwards.
 
Safina knew it too. Two days later she again came from match point down to beat another compatriot, Elena Dementieva.
 
Dinara certainly knew how to provide the thrills and spills in 2008.