The presentation of the 2012 Backspin Awards has begun. First, positioning a magnifying glass on the world... region by region.
==NORTH AMERICA==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Serena Williams, USA
POY (RUNNER-UP): Venus Williams, USA
RISERS: Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears, USA
SURPRISE: Mallory Burdette, USA
VETERANS: Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA
FRESH FACE: Sloane Stephens, USA
COMEBACK: Melanie Oudin, USA (singles)
DOWN: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
JUNIORS: Eugenie Bouchard, CAN & Taylor Townsend, USA
DOUBLES: Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA
TEAMS: Washington Kastles (WTT) & Florida Gators (NCAA)
ITF PLAYER: Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
IMPROVED: Varvara Lepchenko, USA
UNDERRATED: Julia Cohen, USA
FED CUP: Serena Williams, USA
PERFORMANCE: Serena Williams destroys field en route to winning Gold at London Olympics
NATION TO WATCH: Mexico
COMEBACK NATION: Canada
WORRIED NATION: none, really (but maybe the U.S., as far as non-Wiliams slam singles champion contenders?)
BUY: Victoria Duval, USA & Marcela Zacarius, MEX
SELL: Liezel Huber, USA & Alison Riske, USA
HOLD: Christina McHale, USA & Rebecca Marino, CAN
SISTER TO WATCH: Chelsey Gullickson, USA
MOST INTRIGUING in 2013: Coco Vandeweghe, USA
==SOUTH AMERICA==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Paula Ormaechea, ARG
POY (RUNNER-UP): Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
RISER: Florencia Molinero, ARG
SURPRISE: Cecilia Costa-Melgar, CHI
VETERAN: Maria-Fernanda Alvarez-Teran, BOL
FRESH FACE: Laura Pigossi, BRA
COMEBACK: Paola Suarez, ARG
DOWN: Gisela Dulko, ARG
JUNIOR: Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
DOUBLES: Catalina Castano/Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
TEAM: ARG Fed Cup team
ITF PLAYER: Daniela Seguel, CHI
IMPROVED: Patricia Ku Flores, PER
UNDERRATED: Bianca Botto, PER
FED CUP: Paula Ormaechea, ARG
PERFORMANCE: ARG def. CHN to reach '13 Fed Cup Group II
NATION TO WATCH: Brazil
COMEBACK NATION: Argentina
WORRIED NATION: Paraguay
BUY: Florencia Molinero, ARG
SELL: Gisela Dulko, ARG (singles)
HOLD: Gisela Dulko, ARG (doubles)
SISTER TO WATCH: Flavia Guimaraes Bueno, BRA
MOST INTRIGUING in 2013: Montserrat Gonzalez, PAR
==ASIA/PACIFIC==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Li Na, CHN
POY (RUNNER-UP): Samantha Stosur, AUS
RISER: Misaki Doi, JPN
SURPRISE: Marina Erakovic, NZL
VETERAN: Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
FRESH FACES: Ksenia Pervak, KAZ & Chang Kai-Chen, TPE
COMEBACK: Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
DOWN: Jelena Dokic, AUS
JUNIOR: Anna Danilina, KAZ
DOUBLES: Sania Mirza, IND
TEAM: JPN Fed Cup team
ITF PLAYER: Duan Ying-Ying, CHN
IMPROVED: Yaroslava Shvedova, KAZ (singles)
UNDERRATED: Zheng Jie, CHN (as always)
FED CUP: Ayumi Morita, JPN
PERFORMANCE: Li Na wins Cincinnati (first title since '11 RG)
NATION TO WATCH: Kazakhstan
COMEBACK NATION: Taiwan
WORRIED NATION: Thailand
BUY: Ashleigh Barty, AUS
SELL: Jelena Dokic, AUS
HOLD: Jarmila Gajdosova, AUS
SISTER TO WATCH: Chan Yung-Jan/Chan Hao-Ching, TPE
MOST INTRIGUING in 2013: Li Na, CHN (w/ Carlos Rodriguez)
==AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
POY (RUNNER-UP): Chanel Simmonds, RSA
RISER: Fatma Al Nabhani, OMA
SURPRISE: Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR
VETERAN: Shahar Peer, ISR
FRESH FACE: Ons Jabeur, TUN
COMEBACK: Evgenia Linetskaya, ISR
DOWN: Cara Black, ZIM
JUNIOR: Ipek Soylu, TUR
DOUBLES: Natalie Grandin, RSA
TEAM: TUR Fed Cup team
ITF PLAYER: Basek Eraydin, TUR
IMPROVED: Natasha Fourouclas, RSA
UNDERRATED: Julia Glushko, ISR
FED CUP: Ons Jabeur, TUN
PERFORMANCE: Basek Eraydin (TUR) wins five ITF titles
NATION TO WATCH: Turkey
COMEBACK NATION: South Africa
WORRIED NATION: Israel
BUY: Basek Eraydin, TUR
SELL: Shahar Peer, ISR
HOLD: Cara Black, ZIM
SISTER TO WATCH: Hulya Esen, TUR
MOST INTRIGUING in 2013: Ons Jabeur/Nour Abbes, TUN
==RUSSIA==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maria Sharapova
POY (RUNNER-UP): Nadia Petrova
RISERS: Maria Kirilenko & Ekaterina Makarova
SURPRISE: Alexandra Panova
VETERAN: Nadia Petrova
FRESH FACE: Valeria Savinykh & Valeria Solovieva
COMEBACK: Alisa Kleybanova
DOWN: Vera Zvonareva
JUNIORS: Irina Khromacheva
DOUBLES: Elena Vesnina
TEAM: Maria Kirilenko/Nadia Petrova
ITF PLAYERS: Victoria Kan & Margarita Gasparyan
IMPROVED: Olga Puchkova
UNDERRATED: Nina Bratchikova
FED CUP: Svetlana Kuznetsova
PERFORMANCE: Maria Sharapova wins Roland Garros
BUY: Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina
SELL: Vera Zvonareva
HOLD: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
SISTER TO WATCH: Arina Rodionova
MOST INTRIGUING in 2013: Nadia Petrova (w/ Ricardo Sanchez)
==REST OF EUROPE==
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Victoria Azarenka, BLR
POY (RUNNER-UP): Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
RISER: Angelique Kerber, GER
SURPRISES: Mona Barthel, GER & Kiki Bertens, NED
VETERANS: Roberta Vinci, ITA & Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE
FRESH FACES: Laura Robson, GBR & Donna Vekic, CRO
COMEBACKS: Tamira Paszek, AUT & Kirsten Flipkens, BEL
DOWN: Sabine Lisicki, GER & Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
JUNIOR: Annika Beck, GER
DOUBLES: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA
TEAM: CZE & SRB Fed Cup teams
ITF PLAYERS: Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, ESP & Ana Savic, CRO
IMPROVED: Sara Errani, ITA & Bojana Jovanovski, SRB
UNDERRATED: Kaia Kanepi, EST & Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
FED CUP: Petra Kvitova, CZE & Jelena Jankovic, SRB
PERFORMANCE: Victora Azarenka starts season 26-0, wins AO & becomes #1
NATION TO WATCH: Great Britain
COMEBACK NATIONS: Spain & Serbia
WORRIED NATIONS: France & Italy (but in "full" Europe, maybe it's Russia)
BUY: Heather Watson, GBR & Camila Giorgi, ITA
SELL: Francesca Schiavone, ITA
HOLD: Petra Kvitova, CZE & Marion Bartoli, FRA
SISTER TO WATCH: Urszula Radwanska, POL
MOST INTRIGUING in 2013: Karolina & Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
More 2012 Backspin Awards are coming soon! All for now.
