2005 WTA Tour

The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events. ITF tournaments are not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.

Season summary

Singles

Going into 2005, Lindsay Davenport was holding the No. 1 ranking and therefore was the top seed at the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open. She reaching the final for the first time since she won the event in 2000, coming back against Alicia Molik in the quarterfinals and Nathalie Dechy in the semifinals. Molik had a successful warm-up by winning the tournament in Sydney. Meanwhile, Serena Williams came through in the bottom half, beating Amélie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova. In the final, Williams won her seventh Grand Slam title, and first since Wimbledon 2003. Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters both continued to struggle with injuries and skipped the event.

The following week, Sharapova won the event in Tokyo, beating Davenport in the final. Moving into February, Mauresmo proved strong, winning in Antwerp and reaching the Paris final before losing to Dinara Safina. Sharapova also won the event in Doha, with Davenport winning in Dubai. Molik reached the semifinals of Antwerp and the final of Doha to continue her strong start to the season. Clijsters returned to competition in Antwerp,...
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