WTA Young Players To Watch - 2016

Madison Keys

The 2015 season was a remarkable one. Serena Williams at the age of 34 was within two matches of a calendar grand slam; and with Flavia Pennetta winning the US Open, all grand slam tournaments were won by players age 33 years or older, which has to be a record for the open era.

The implications are significant, as in the mens game, the upcoming players have been completely shut out of an opportunity to win the biggest tournaments.  However, we have to think that younger players will come through soon.  It is worth taking a look at some of the young players under the age of 25 who could be contenders at the major tournaments in 2016. 

Garbiñe Muguruza age 22; End of Year Rank 3

Garbiñe is definitely one of the players identified to be a future champion and maybe a future number 1 player.  Garbiñe is not the typical Spanish player, at 6 ft. tall and powerfully built, Garbiñe has a game that is tailor made for hardcourts with the big serve and powerful groundstrokes.  Garbiñe won one tournament this year in Beijing and reached the final in Wuhan where she had to retire hurt against Venus Williams. Garbiñe also made it to the final of Wimbledon and gave Serena Williams a run for her money before losing in straight sets. In fact, Garbiñe game reminds me of a female version of a young Marat Safin from the early 2000s.

This comparison is apt because during the course of the recent WTA championships in Singapore, Garbiñe looked unbeatable against players who were unable to deal with her power and pace winning all of her round robin matches including against Petra Kvitova. Angelique Kerber looked thoroughly fed up after her defeat to Garbiñe in the round robin, having already lost to her in the round of 32 at both the French Open and Wimbledon plus the quarterfinal of Wuhan.   However, in the semifinal Garbiñe suffered a very surprising loss to Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets despite winning the first set on a tiebreak.  I would have made Garbiñe odds on to win the tournament but it wasn’t to be.  And this is where the comparison with Safin comes in, Safin would look unbeatable when he was on his game and displayed power and pace which many opponents couldn’t deal with.  However, Safin was very inconsistent and couldn’t sustain a high level for long periods of time.  So far Garbiñe displays similar traits.

In 2016 Garbiñe should be a contender at all of the grand slam tournaments, her run at Wimbledon proved to herself she can play on grass.  Garbiñe also has to win more tournaments on the WTA tour, which in turn will give her more confidence at the grand slam events.  As with so many of the modern players, Garbiñe likes to transition to net and play aggressive, really going after short balls.  Alas, as with so many modern players, when she gets up to net her volleys and decision making is not very good at this stage, I have seen her hit swing volleys out when conventional volleys would have worked fine.  With the grip players’ use and the powerful Babolat racquet, players like Garbiñe don’t switch to the best grip in time to make the swing volley count. Assuming Garbiñe continues to improve her game and movement, she has a great opportunity to win a grand slam tournament in 2016 if everything falls into place.

Karolina Pliskova – Age 23; End of Year Rank 11

Karolina Pliskova has had her best season to date in her young career.  Karolina finished the season on an absolute high, helping the Czech Republic to beat Russia to defend their Federation cup title.  Not only that, but Karolina played a significant role, first helping the Czechs to level the tie when they were 2:1 down with a win against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and then teaming up with Barbara Strykova to win the decisive doubles match against Elena Vesnina and Pavlyuchenkova.  No doubt Karolina’s confidence will be sky high after this experience.

Before the week of the Fed cup, Karolina made it through to the final of the season ending WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai China, which is the level below the WTA Championships in Singapore.  Karolina lost a very tight match 5:7 6:7 to Venus Williams but played very well.  All in all, in 2015 Karolina made it to the final of six tournaments; winning in Prague on outdoor clay; whilst reaching the finals of Zhuhai which we mentioned, Sydney, Dubai, Birmingham and Stanford.  Karolina also made the semifinals in Antwerp and Tiajin.  Karolina didn’t do as well at the majors, her best result was Round of 32 at the Australian Open where she lost to Ekaterina Makarova, so improvement required there.

Karolina is another archetypal modern player at 1metre 87, (6 ft. 1) with a big game.  I watched Karolina play many matches throughout this year and there is no question she is a talented player who has a big future if she continues to improve.  My concern has been that too often Karolina’s game can be quite hit and miss, great shots mixed in with often unnecessary bad errors and wild shot making, not very consistent.  Also, at 6ft 1, Karolina is not one of the best movers and is a little slow to react when having to come forward or stretched wide.  Karolina does have one of the best serves on the tour which you would expect at her height, capable of hitting many aces and unreturnables. 

What impressed me most about Karolina in her last two events was her ability to play aggressive but at a much more consistent level; she played a really good final against Venus in Zhunhai and was absolutely splendid in the Fed cup final ties.  If Karolina builds on this Fed cup success and improves her temperment and movement around the court, she definitely has the game to be a future champion.  Next year may be too soon because it is a huge jump from making the last 32 of major tournaments to potentially winning one, but she is on the right track.

Madison Keys – Age 20; End of Year Rank 18

Last year I saw Madison Keys win her first title in the final of Eastbourne beating Angelique Kerber in three sets; it was a great match which Keys won 7:5 in the third.  Madison followed that up by starting 2015 very well, reaching the Australian Open semifinal beating Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams along the way, before losing to Serena Williams in a tight match. Madison also made it to the final of Charleston where she lost to Angelique Kerber in three sets, Kerber getting her back for the Eastbourne loss.  Since April I haven’t heard much from Madison Keys in any of the bigger tournaments.

Madison had decent results at the majors, making the 3rd round of the French Open and the quarterfinal of Wimbledon where she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska.  In the US Open Madison lost to Serena Williams in the 4th round.  At the season ending tournament in Zhunhai, Madison lost to Venus but beat Saisai Zheng; however, Madison didn’t win any titles in 2015 so she will want to rectify that in 2016.  The good news is that Madison is currently coached by American great Lindsay Davenport.  As long as they continue to work together for the foreseeable future, I see Madison really challenging for major titles soon.  Outside of Serena Williams, Madison has potentially the best serve in the womens tour, her first serve can be delivered upwards of 120mph on the line, and her 2nd serve has quite a kick.

As with Garbine and Karolina, Madison is capable of making some wild errors, which is very much the modern way of playing in the womens game, I often wonder if it is due to lighter modern racquets and polyester strings.  I think Lindsay should help in that department as initially Lindsay had trouble been a consistent player herself when she was a teenager, but managed to lose weight, improve her movement and improve her consistency.  From that point of view, Lindsay should be able to teach Madison some tactical plays and how to use her serve to good effect, and improve her movement.  The key is whether Madison is willing to learn from such a great player as Lindsay Davenport and really work hard on her movement and tactical play.  If Madison is a quick learner, she has the game to win a major title in 2016.  I hope this happens because when you see a player with such raw talent, you want to see them show it to everyone by winning major tournaments.

Simona Halep Age 24; End of Year Rank 2

It is fair to say Simona is an established player as opposed to an up and coming but makes the cut for me as she is under 25 years old and still attempting to become a major champion.

In 2015 Simona’s best result came at Indian Wells where she won the event against Jelena Jankovic in one of the most topsy turvy matches I have seen in a long time.  What amazed me the most was the Presentation ceremony, Simona is so little she barely made it above the lectern to deliver her victory speech.  At 1metre 70 (5ft. 6) Simona is one of the shorter players on the tour so it is a credit to her to be one of the best players in the world.  All in all, Simona won three titles including Shenzhen and Dubai but all of her titles came before the spring and she really struggled to make an impact for the rest of the year, only making the final of Cincinnati.  In the majors Simona’s best result was reaching the semifinal of the US Open where she lost fairly easily to Flavia Pennetta.  At the WTA championships in Singapore, Simona lost two of her three round robin matches so not the best way to finish the season. 

With such a high ranking, Simona has to be a contender at all of the major championships in 2016.  A friend of mine believes what is holding her back is her nerves, Simona gets very nervous in the big matches, as evidenced in the Indian Wells final back in March, which she won but in dubious fashion in the end.  However, I think Simona’s challenges run much deeper.  I don’t think Simona can win a major championship until she realises she has to stop running side to side all day and start improving her transition game and come forward to finish points at the net.  Simona is one of the best at hitting down the lines but seems never prepared to take advantage of stretching her opponent by coming to net.  It gives the impression Simona doesn’t like to take any risks of being passed, but also it means she has to do even more running and therefore not conserving energy, right now Simona is not playing as efficiently as she could.  Simona says Justine Henin was her idol; Simona really needs to study Justine’s game and look at how often Justine was prepared to use her athleticism around the net as well as having great defence.  If Simona can improve this vital aspect of her game, she has the talent to win more than one major title.

Other players to look out for in 2016

Belinda Bencic Age 18; End of Year Rank 14

At age 18 Belinda Bencic is the youngest player in the top 20.  In June she won her first title at Eastbourne defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets and won the Canadian Open final in the summer beating Serena Williams along the way.  She may be a dark horse at the major tournaments in 2016.

Sloane Stephens Age 22; End of Year Rank 30

A talented player who won her first WTA title in 2015 in Washington DC beating Pavlyuchenkova.  Sloane is going through one of those phases where she is off the radar somewhat but she is too talented not to come back into the reckoning at some point.

Eugenie Bouchard Age 21; End of Year Rank 49

It is fair to say that since Bouchard took a heavy beating in the 2014 Wimbledon final, her career has taken a nosedive.  Perhaps things came too quickly for her, but she also got a rude awakening in the final, I don’t follow the bookmakers but the media seemed to make her favourite (more to the point that the media just wanted her to win than any reason based on sound analysis).  Kvitova showed her what it takes to win at the highest level.  Now that Bouchard has had those unfortunate incidents during Fed cup ties and hitting her head in the US Open locker room, it could be some time before she gets back into the top 10 but she has the talent to do it.