WORLD TOP SPORTS STARS: September 2010

Dominika Cibulkova

Dominika Cibulková (born May 6, 1989 in Piešťany, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia^[2]) is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on July 6, 2009. As of September 13, 2010, she is ranked World No. 33. Her best result was reaching the semifinals of the 2009 French Open.

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[edit] Career

Cibulková began playing tennis between the ages of seven and nine^[3] and grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia. She can speak both Slovak and English.

She lists clay and hard as her favourite surfaces, and has thus far proved to be most proficient on a hard surface.^[4] She has named Kim Clijsters as the player she admires most. She became a professional tennis player in 2005, after having played one ITF event in Prague at the end of 2004.

Dominika Cibulkova

Anna Chakvetadze

Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze (Russian: Анна Джамбулиловна Чакветадзе; born March 5, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player (with Georgian roots^[1]). On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of August 9, 2010, Chakvetadze is ranked World No. 63.

She began playing tennis at the age of eight after being introduced to the sport by her mother, Natalia. She travels for tournaments with her father. She speaks both Russian and English.

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Career

Chakvetadze hit her peak of World No. 5 in 2007 after a semifinal appearance at the US Open. Also in that year, she reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the French Open, both of which were career bests for those events. Four of her eight career singles titles also occurred in 2007.

Anna Chakvetadze

Jennifer Capriati

(born March 29, 1976, in New York City) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player. She made her professional debut in 1990 at age 14 when she reached the final of the hard court event in Boca Raton, ultimately losing to Gabriela Sabatini. She reached the semifinals of the French Open in her debut and later became the youngest ever player to crack the top 10 at age 14 years, 235 days in October of that year. Between 1990 and 1993, Capriati won six singles titles, including a Gold Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, defeating Steffi Graf in the final. Following a first round loss at the 1993 US Open, a burned out Capriati took a 14 month break from tennis. Her personal struggles during this time (including arrests for shoplifting and possession of marijuana) were well-documented by the press.

In 1998, Capriati won her first Grand Slam singles match in five years at Wimbledon. In the next two years Capriati slowly returned to form, winning her first title in six years at Strasbourg in 1999 and regaining a top 20 ranking. At the 2001 Australian Open, a re-committed Capriati became the lowest seed to ever win the championship when she defeated World No. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets for her first Grand Slam title. She also won the French Open that year, claiming the number one ranking in October. After successfully defending her Australian Open crown in 2002, Capriati became a top ten mainstay until injuries derailed her career in 2004.

Capriati won 14 singles titles throughout her career, along with one doubles title.

In 2005, Tennis magazine ranked Capriati 36th in its list of the 40 greatest players in the magazine's 40 years.

Jennifer Capriati

Kaká won the Ballon 2010

born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká, is a Brazilian football midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid[1] and the Brazilian national team. He started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club. At the time, he also played tennis,[2] and it was not until he moved on to São Paulo FC and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of fifteen that he chose to focus on football. In 2003 he joined A.C. Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the United Nations' World Food Programme.[3]