2015 WTA Season Needs More Competition

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Serena Williams wins Miami
So, another weekend and another win for Serena Williams.  Serena won her eighth title last Saturday in Miami with a 6:2 6:0 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro, who was playing in her first Masters final.  We were all expecting a routine win but even I would not have predicted such a quick and easy victory.

It appears to be getting relatively easier for Serena to win tennis tournaments the older she gets; usually it is the other way as it supposed to be more difficult the older a player becomes.  In fact, barring Venus Williams, every one of Serena’s rivals from her generation are retired and doing different things.  That includes Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo and Jennifer Capriati.  Remarkable indeed and let’s not forget Serena has won twelve major titles since 2008.    

While this is all great news for Serena and her supporters, 2015 is so far proving to be a non-event on the WTA tour.  The players who are expected to challenge have not made a serious impression so far and Victoria Azarenka is just not competitive at this stage after being out for much of 2014 with injuries.  The only player who has stepped up is Simona Halep who won Indian Wells two weeks ago and lost to Serena in the semifinal in Miami in three sets.  However, I haven’t changed my view that Simona needs to add quite a few more things to her game if she wants to become a grand slam champion.  Striking the ball cleanly shot after shot after shot is not enough; she needs to start going to net to win points; develop a proper transition game and take more chances; right now she is too risk averse.

Let us look in more detail at the other top players.  I haven’t heard Petra Kvitova’s name mentioned for a period of time.  That is due to the fact she pulled out of both Indian Wells and Miami citing injury and perhaps exhaustion as well.  Petra is due to play for the Czech Republic in the semifinal of the Fed cup later this month, a commitment she always takes seriously.  Then there is Maria Sharapova.  Maria did make it through to the final of the Australian Open and it was always going to be difficult for her to defeat Serena.  Since then Maria has not made an impression in the mini indoor season and was knocked out early in both Indian Wells and Miami.  In the last few years Maria has had a very strong claycourt season so there is an opportunity for her to make her move; Maria is defending champion in both Madrid and Roland Garros. 

Caroline Wozniacki rounds out the current top five and Ana Ivanovic is up to number six in the world, Agnieszka Radwanska has dropped out of the top five altogether and is now number 8 in the world rankings.  Wozniacki and Ivanovic are the interesting players here; both former world number 1 players and have struggled mightily in recent times.  Even though Wozniacki made it to the final of the US Open in 2014, neither player has shown they are consistent contenders for big titles.  In Ivanovic’s case, she has been a non-factor at both grand slam tournaments and premier WTA events since 2008 so it is surprising she has made it so high up the rankings.  Eugenie Bouchard, Ekaterina Makarov and Andrea Petkovic comprise the rest of the top 10.

Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys and Eugenie Bouchard are considered the up and coming players.  Sloane Stephens is yet to win a tournament of any description on the WTA tour.  Madison Keys showed in the Australia Open she has grand slam potential by beating Venus and running Serena close in the semifinal; but is still not quite ready as makes too many unforced errors.  Eugenie Bouchard has gone off the boil for the moment. 

Therefore, looking at the WTA right now, there are no players to frighten Serena Williams.  Compared to the players from her generation, the standard is not quite there.  A lot of the arguments have been played out on forums and other outlets as to why that might be the case but for me looking at the participants at the top, everyone plays the same way and there is not enough conviction to do something different.  Halep is a good indicator, the player people are looking to but there is not enough variety in her game to trouble Serena over a series of matches until she adds vital elements.

Now that the early season indoor and outdoor hardcourts tournaments have ended and we move into the clay and grass period of the calendar, this may be the moment where the WTA gets interesting and we see more competition.  The WTA really needs the players to step up and provide the fans with better entertainment.

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