The thing is, this award is for the *hero* of the year not the
*player* of the year. Monica has finished matches in Melbourne and
Paris where she was in obvious pain but was determined to give it her
all for the fans. She turned up to support those who could play at
the US Open even though it must have been heartbreaking for her to do
that. She also attended a charity tennis exhibition she'd earlier
committed to and acted as umpire since she couldn't play- who else on
the WTA would do that? And to top it all off, she made a personal
representation to Clijsters to congratulate her on becoming Number 1-
who else in Monica's position would do that?

Having grace, courage, determination and a sense of fair play and
decency mark a hero out from the rest of the pack. Winning titles
can win you 'player of the year' but the ladies vying for that
particular award are markedly deficient in the qualities I've
outlined above.

It's a disgrace that she's been removed from this list but why should
the WTA change a habit of a lifetime by treating Monica well now?