Previewing The 2017 WTA Season

With the 2017 WTA season fast approaching, let’s take a look at some of the players who are likely to make the biggest impression and win the big prizes.

Angelique Kerber

The 2016 WTA season proved to be one of the most exciting for a number of years; and that was pretty much down to one player, Angelique Kerber, who took the game by storm by appearing in three out of four major finals and winning two of them.

And yet, Angelique wasn’t a player who dominated the year by winning week in week out on the WTA tour but saved herself for the biggest tournaments; which is almost the domain of the experienced veteran, a player who peaks for the biggest tournaments in the world. This enabled Angelique to gain the number 1 ranking and become the oldest ever debutant number 1 at the age of 28.  Interestingly on the mens side, Andy Murray became the oldest debutant number 1 since John Newcombe in the early 1970s, and it is fair to say both Murray and Angelique play a similar game.

Angelique was able to turn her career around by doing a number of things.  The first was to improve her mental game, Angelique always possessed natural ability and a strong work ethic but often got depressed during the course of a match which would affect her performance, especially against taller stronger players who hit the ball big.  This year Angelique was able to stay in matches at all times which allowed her to take opportunities which came her way. A perfect example of this was the 4th round of the Australian Open where she put in one of the best performances of her career to defeat Victoria Azarenka in straight sets.  Especially impressive was coming from 2-5 down in the second set to win it 7-5, hitting aces on important points, something she never really did before.

Another improvement was fitness, something Angelique has talked about a lot this year in interviews. Angelique’s fitness is perhaps the reason why her mental game improved as both go hand in hand.  The third improvement was her willingness to take the initiative more often, something she was always capable of but like Murray often reluctant to do it. Angelique has great athleticism around the net, one of the best smashes on the womens tour and able to hit winners down the line off both wings, which she could also use to attack the net. In fact, I would like to see Angelique come forward much more often which will make her even more difficult to beat in big matches.

2017 will prove difficult to replicate what Angelique has done in 2016.  However, if she can win at least one grand slam title, she will have validated her status as the best woman player in the world.  Other aims will be to win more titles on the WTA tour and to help Germany to win the Federation cup.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams lost her number 1 status to Angelique Kerber in September after an almost three year period at the top. In years past, we predicted Serena to make a comeback at some point the following season; Serena loves to make a statement that she is still the best.

On this occasion there is one caveat, Serena is now 35 years old and you would think the older Serena gets the more difficult it becomes to keep making comebacks to the top of the rankings. It is not impossible; Martina Navratilova was playing in latter rounds of grand slams well into her 30s and played in a Wimbledon final in 1994 at the age of 38 (losing to Conchita Martina Martinez).  One thing is for sure, despite all of the injuries in the last two seasons, we must not write Serena off.

In 2017 the key for Serena will be to stay fit and play enough lead up tournaments to be competitive in the major tournaments.  History will suggest this will not be too much of an issue as Serena has a convincing winning record on virtually every opponent she faces.  Serena still has the best serve in the game and even if her ground game is not quite as formidable due to slightly lesser movement, she is still very difficult to beat, especially on grass. Perhaps at this stage Serena’s motivation is not to win as many majors as possible but to win one to get past Steffi Graf’s total of 22 which she currently shares.

Garbine Muguruza

2016 was an interesting year for Garbine Muguruza

I say interesting because she played an incredible French Open tournament and was brilliant in the final against Serena Williams, in fact Serena looked like she was never going to win the match, she had virtually no opportunities. That was Garbine’s first grand slam victory, and yet it seems to me Garbine was virtually a non-factor for the rest of the tennis season, I don’t recall any significant results in either the hardcourt season or Olympic Games.

I observed last year that Garbine’s game very much reminds me of a female Marat Safin. When she is on her game she is very powerful and looks impossible to beat but suffers from incredible inconsistency at this stage of her career, much like Marat did.  At 1m 82 (5 ft 11) her movement is not the best which is an issue. Also, in my opinion Garbine takes too long between points and ambles around the court between serves, which gives an impression constant low energy. It is her style so will probably not change but is something I am sure noted by her opponents.  I am still impressed with her willingness to get to net to finish points but at the same time distinctly unimpressed with her volleying technique; Garbine insists on hitting swing volleys and constantly gets the grip all wrong, never changing the grip in time to hit the swing volley properly and perhaps she should consider hitting conventional volleys instead.

Difficult to say what 2017 will bring. We have to remember Garbine is still one of the young players on the tour and has achieved a lot already; she is still three years away from hitting top form. Her best chances to win majors and challenge for number 1 will come in the middle of the year on clay and grass. On hardcourts she will have to significantly improve her movement to be a threat.

Simona Halep

Every year I do a preview or round up I am almost always obliged to write something about Simona Halep!

That indicates Simona is always there without quite getting to the next level, and has to be included in the conversation.  However, I have seen enough of Simona to say despite the odd win at a Masters tournament such as Canada, Simona still has the same problems and issues she had twelve months ago, I don’t see any improvement.

The problems being that Simona spends far too much time running from side to side and is only prepared to come forward to shake hands at the end of the match, or when she is forced forward by short angles from her opponent.  Even in an era where the volley has become less important, it is still virtually impossible to win major titles without having the ability to come forward to finish points. Finishing points at net saves energy and shows your opponent you mean business.  At 1m 68 Simona is shorter but very athletic; players like Justine Henin, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Barbora Strycova and others have shown that shorter players can be successful at net with good athleticism and a good overhead. 

I also still question what Darren Cahill’s role is, is to calm her nerves?  By this stage they should have Simona playing better than she did in 2014 and 2015.  In 2017 I want to see Simona play a more expansive game to get to the next level.  Kerber has laid the blueprint for how “counterpunchers” can take their game forward by adding important attacking facets to her game to go with the consistency, hopefully Simona will take note.

Karolina Pliskova

Karolina had an excellent year in 2016, really shooting up the rankings and playing a significant role again in helping the Czech Republic to defend their Federation cup title against France, Karolina is now the clear Czech number 1.  Last year I identified Karolina to be one to watch in 2016 and she didn’t disappoint.  Up to that point it was a surprise she didn’t do better at grand slam level but really came through this year to win Cincinnati and coming really close to winning the US Open after convincingly defeating Serena in the semifinal and a break up in the 3rd set against Kerber in the final.

I think Karolina made significant changes in her game in 2016 to become a consistent top 10 player. Karolina has a much better mental approach, she is now prepared to play aggressive but maintain a much better level of control, something she wasn’t doing in 2014 or 2015 where she would make very poor errors for no real reason and not when really under pressure from her opponent.  Karolina has the second best serve in the game after Serena Williams and I think will take over as the best server in the world once Serena retires.  Karolina is 1m 86 (6ft 2) so has the angles covered and hits the serve down the middle on the ad court beautifully, she also has an easy service motion which she can produce over and over without too much tension.  The one area Karolina still needs to work on is her movement. Like any player 6ft or taller, she finds it more difficult to change direction quickly so is vulnerable to being run side to side by a smart opponent. Hence why Karolina, Petra Kvitova, Lindsay Davenport all prefer to play first strike tennis, the only exception to the rule being Venus Williams who had exceptional defence for a tall player.

Another area which is extremely impressive is Karolina’s volleys and touch at net.  The Czech Republic continue to produce players who volley extremely well because they grow up playing indoor tennis on quicker surfaces, they produce all court players. In contrast to Muguruza who wants to come forward, but growing up on slower surfaces means she has never learned to change grips and volley properly.

I see no reason why Karolina cannot continue to improve and end 2017 as a top five player with a major title accomplished as well.

Madison Keys

Previewing a new season is always an opportunity to see how the younger players are measuring up. And, of course the new generation are always looking over their shoulder to see how the others are doing.  Muguruza has got the jump on Madison and Pliskova by winning a major title, but they are all established top 10 players now.

Madison is yet to play in a final like the other two but has already appeared in the semifinal of the Australian Open in 2015 so has potential.  I mentioned earlier that Pliskova can take over from Serena as having the best serve in the womens game but so can Madison, who has a mean kick serve and can serve upwards of 120 miles per hour in the corners.  Madison has also changed coaches twice; the memo was that Lindsay Davenport didn’t want to travel as much so she hired German Thomas Hogstetd but has since dispensed with his services at the end of the season. Madison had some good results, for instance getting to the final of the Italian Open and Canadian Open (yes I prefer the old fashioned terms) and reaching the end of year championships in Singapore; Madison also won the grass tournament in Birmingham.  I get the feeling when watching Madison that she is at the same stage of development Karolina was in 2015. Madison has yet to cut out those unexplainable unforced errors and play consistent, which is preventing her getting to the next level. Madison is tall and strong and with so many of the modern players, struggles with her movement but is trying to improve that area of her game. Having said that, Madison is listed at 1m 78 (5 ft 10) therefore it is slightly surprising her movement is such an issue as she is not that tall by modern standards.

Thomas Hogstetd tried to get Madison to slow her serve down and hit more spin but I don’t think it was wise or worked so I am not surprised he is no longer her coach.  Madison is capable of winning a major title in 2017, as long as she can cut down on the errors and be willing to come to net more to finish off points, play with a better strategy, she has all of the shots and power to be number 1.

Petra Kvitova

Petra finished the year ranked number 11 and won the Elite trophy in Zhuhai, the next tournament in prestige after the WTA championships. Petra also split with her long term coach David Kotiza back in the spring as part of the changes she wanted to make to get her game back on track after the long illness she suffered in 2015. But the significance of all this is the horrendous attack she suffered in her own home just last week which left her needing surgery on her left hand.  Petra says she is lucky to be alive and we are all grateful for this, and perhaps because she is a strong athlete was able to withstand the attack.  Hopefully Petra will be back by the summer. We can’t predict how Petra will do but we know with her talent she will win big tournaments again in future as soon as she can mentally banish the fears she will no doubt be feeling. We wish her well.

Others to watch:

Dominika Cibulkova

Dominika had her best year to date, winning Eastbourne, reaching the quarterfinal of Wimbledon and getting married as well during a great summer for her.  Dominica made her debut at the WTA championships in Singapore and went on to win it, playing clutch tennis against Halep to qualify for the semifinal, coming from a set down to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinal and a great victory in the final against number 1 Angelique Kerber, Dominika claimed the title with brilliant controlled aggressive play.  Jana Novotna and Amelie Mauresmo used a win at the Masters to propel them to grand slam success the following season, can Dominica do the same?

Johanna Konta

Johanna is Britain’s first top ten player since Jo Durie achieved that feat back in the 1980s. This is important because Johanna entered the top 10 late in the season and won her first title in California defeating Venus Williams in the final.  Johanna carried on her good form from 2015 by reaching the Australian Open semifinal at that start of 2016 losing to eventual champion Kerber.  Johanna also made the semifinal of Eastbourne and the Elite Trophy losing a tough three setter to Elina Svitolina.

Since the end of last season Johanna has parted company with her coach Esteban Carill and is currently trialling with Wim Fisette who coached Kim Clijsters. Johanna also lost her mentor Juan Coto who sadly died in December.  As far as 2017 is concerned, Johanna has a good opportunity to improve her game further. Even though Johanna is 25 years old and shot up the rankings dramatically, I feel her game is still a bit raw and needs refining, similar to the position Kerber found herself in 2012.  I think Johanna needs to improve her forehand decision making and footwork; if she can improve those aspects to go along with her tremendous serve, she is an outside bet to win a major title.

Maria Sharapova

This will be interesting, the return of Maria Sharapova in the spring of 2017.  Clearly there is no point in predicting what will happen on her return from the much publicised drugs ban but it certainly spices up the tour for all of the players whether it is the number 1 player or journeywomen on the tour.