Roger Federer and Serena Williams were named 2009 ITF World Champions Tuesday after capturing four Grand Slam singles titles between them in 2009. It is the fifth time Switzerland's world No. 1 Federer has won the ITF award, based on performances at Grand Slam events, Tour events, Davis Cup and Fed Cup. Serena took the award for the second time despite her foul-mouthed outburst at a line judge at this year's US Open. Serena was fined $175,000 and put on probation for two years by the Grand Slam Committee following the tirade that resulted in her receiving a point penalty and losing her semifinal against Kim Clijsters. Federer had no such shadow hanging over his season. “It is an honor for me to be named ITF World Champion for a fifth time,” Federer said in an ITF statement. “It was an incredible year for me both on and off the court. “To win my first Roland Garros title, break the all-time Grand Slam record and regain the No. 1 ranking is amazing. It means a lot to me to finish the year again at the top.” Federer took his Grand Slam haul to 15 with his titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Serena, who captured the world No. 1 spot at the season finale in Doha, has 11 singles majors after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Serena and sister Venus were named women's doubles World Champions for the first time with Bob and Mike Bryan taking the men's doubles honor for a record sixth time. “This has been another memorable year for tennis, with some outstanding performances by our World Champions. Roger Federer has truly earned his place in the history books, while the Williams sisters remain the strongest competitors on the women's tour,” ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said. Henin eyes Wimbledon “There was one moment when I knew my life was going to change again,” Justine Henin says intently as she remembers watching the men's singles final of the French Open this year. Thirteen months before, in May 2008, Henin had retired from tennis as world No. 1 at the age of 25, looking depleted as she spoke wearily of needing “to breathe again”. Henin is now less than two weeks away from returning to the suffocating grind of the women's tour but she lingers over the moment which sparked her unexpected comeback. “I didn't watch the women at all in Paris,” she says with a mildly dismissive wave, having won the French Open four times previously. “I feel closer to players like Roger Federer. And of course Roger was trying to win the only Grand Slam he had never won. Part of me wanted him to win but, in another way, I knew it would give me trouble mentally if he did.” Henin laughs infectiously – not the usual response from a woman who has faced down her demons and analyzed those internal battles with the kind of tortured introspection which would entrance Jonny Wilkinson. But Henin is in markedly good humor at her tennis center in Limelette, a sedate Belgian village half an hour from Brussels. “You know that little voice we all have in our heads?” she asks. “Mine was talking a lot that afternoon. It was telling me Roger winning the French was very special. But it also bothered me to see him win. It made me think how much I'd missed by not winning Wimbledon. It was a strange feeling but, not long after that, I had the courage to put on my cap and pick up my racket. I had not played any tennis for a year and my one friend, who saw me put on the cap, said, ‘Well, I know this girl pretty well and that can only mean one thing'.” Henin smiles when asked what might have happened if Federer had lost in Paris? “I think I would've found something else to allow me to return. I needed an excuse to play tennis again.” Professional tennis is a solitary sport and even its most naturally gifted players, like Federer and Henin, can be worn down by its small but isolating traumas. “It's like life,” Henin says simply. “After the rain comes the sun. We have ups and downs because tennis is a reflection of life.”
