Guest Author - Sandra Eggers

Little did tennis fans know at the beginning of 2002 what a treat we were in for. Serena Williams dominated the women's tour, and Pete Sampras stole the show on the men's side, winning his 14th Grand Slam title, but it wasn't at Wimbledon.

Serena Williams finished 2002 as world No. 1, winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open, and went undefeated at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She also began her acting career with a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids.

Venus Williams was dominant in 2002, until it came to playing little sis, finishing second to her all year. High point for Venus is the opening of her interior design business, V Starr Interiors in her home state of Florida.

Jennifer Capriati started off 2002 strong, defending her title at the Australian Open, but it was all downhill from there, losing her No. 1 ranking to Venus, being kicked off the Fed Cup team, and eventually finishing the year at No. 3.

Belgian Kim Clijsters finished her fourth year on tour at a career-best No. 4 in the world, with wins over Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Justine Henin and Lindsay Davenport. All this, and she's still a teenager, plus she has the worlds best hitting partner for a boyfriend, men's No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.

Belgian Justine Henin moved up in the rankings to finish 2002 at No. 5, with wins over Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Monica Seles. She lost at the season ending championships to compatriot Kim Clijsters, then was married the following week with Clijsters in attendance at the wedding.

The most inspiring story on the women's side in 2002 was that of Corina Morariu. The former top doubles player was diagnosed with cancer last year, and battled back to play at the professional level, losing to Serena Williams in the first round at the U.S. Open. The comeback will be sidelined awhile longer as Moriariu recovers from shoulder surgery at the end of the year.

Out of action most of 2002 were two former No. 1 players, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. Davenport returned to play at the end of the year, reaching the semis and finals of several events, but finished the year outside the top 10 for the first time in seven years. Hingis made a brief appearance on tour following her surgery, but has taken an indefinite break from tennis to fully recover and figure out a new game plan to win against big hitters.

2002 looked like the year for Anna Kournikova to finally break through and win her first title, but she suffered a mid-year losing streak, with several missed opportunities, losing in the first round of all four Grand Slam events, and is still winless after eight years on tour. Her most notable accomplishment of the year was appearing in the Enrique Inglesias music video Escape.

Not to be outdone by the women, the men's tour stirred up some drama of it's own.

Men's world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt topped the rankings for a second straight year and added another Grand Slam singles trophy to his collection, winning his first Wimbledon title.

Finishing a close second to Hewitt was American Andre Agassi, who defeated Hewitt in a spectacular U.S. Open semifinal, making a strong run at year end for the No. 1 ranking, but didn't fare so well at the end. Good news on the home front though, as fatherhood seems to suit Andre, and life is good with wife Steffi and son Jaden Gil.

It was somewhat of a revolving door on the men's tour, with a different champion at each of the year's Grand Slam events. Thomas Johansson won the Australian, Albert Costa the French, Hewitt at Wimbledon, and the feel-good story of men's tennis in 2002, Pete Sampras winning the U.S. Open.

Coming out of nowhere, on the heels of a disappointing second round loss at Wimbledon and poor results most of the year, Pete Sampras was washed up in the eyes of many tennis fans. Over the hill at the age of 30, and married to a Hollywood actress with a baby on the way, not many people stood by 13-time Grand Slam champion who hadn't won a tournament for over two years. But a little bit of confidence goes a long way, and Pistol Pete let his game do the talking by winning a 14th Grand Slam and his fifth U.S. Open title, defeating long-time rival Andre Agassi in the final. After adjusting to first-time fatherhood and contemplating retirement, Sampras has committed to giving it a go again in 2003, with an eye on a record eighth Wimbledon crown.

It was a great year for tennis in 2002, and 2003 proves to be even more exciting as the changing of the guard continues on both the men's and women's tours, where old meets new and the veterans continuing to show the youngsters a thing or two.