Previewing the 2014 WTA season

The 2014 tennis season is just a couple of weeks away, the WTA tour promises another exciting season, an opportunity to look at the potential leading contenders for glory.

Serena Williams

I don’t think I’ve seen a player make such an impact in her early 30s as Serena Williams.  Andre Agassi did a great comeback where he pocketed four slams between the age of 29 and 32 but Serena is virtually dominating all of her opponents.

It is likely a combination of Serena’s game improving further over the years as she has found a way to avoid perennial injuries; and perhaps collectively her opponents are not quite as good as past rivals like Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin and Venus Williams.  What has helped to take Serena’s game to an even higher level has been the improvement of her serve.  Serena’s serve has always been a major weapon but since the beginning of 2012 has got even better with the ability now to hit aces at will in all four corners of the service box.

That makes Serena very tough to break in tennis matches and the awe factor by her opponents has gone up a notch on the back of this.  Serena’s opponents know that even when she is not playing well, her serve can keep in the match.  Serena did lose the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinal to Sloane Stephens and Wimbledon 4th rd to Sabine Lisicki so as ever her opponents have to be ready to grab the opportunity.  However, with the best serve in womens tennis history, athleticism, power, experience and intelligence, the only thing that will stop Serena winning more slams and finishing number 1 in 2014 are injuries or complacency. 

Victoria Azarenka

2013 was an interesting year to follow Victoria’s progress.  And you can say it’s been a mixed bag of great results and a player who appears to be in need of rejuvenation.

 

Victoria defended her Australian Open title defeating Li Na from a set down when it looked like she might not make it.  Victoria also won Cincinnati defeating Serena Williams in a great final but then lost to Serena Williams a month later in a blockbusting US Open final.   Victoria also lost to Serena in the Rome final and then lost to Maria Sharapova in the semifinal of the French Open. At Wimbledon, Victoria withdrew from her 2nd round match against Flavia Pennetta due to injury.  In the autumn, Victoria really seemed to suffer after her US Open loss and posted some mixed results in Asia losing to Venus Williams in Tokyo and Andrea Petkovic in Beijing.  At the WTA championships in Istanbul, Victoria managed only one win against Sara Errani.  

So, at this stage of her career Victoria appears to be a hardcourt specialist.  If she wants to go one step further in 2014 and return to the number 1 ranking she will have to improve her results at the French Open and Wimbledon and target winning at least one of those titles. 

In terms of her game, Victoria is in danger of grinding her career to an earlier end.  She’s a very steady and intelligent player but needs to develop a way of winning quicker points off her serve and avoid those long punishing rallies on hardcourts in particular.  If Victoria can add an extra dimension to her game in 2014 she has an opportunity to get back to number 1.  However, if Victoria makes no discernible improvements to her game, her ranking could drop further.

Li Na

I recently watched a DVD of a match from 2007 involving li Na and Vera Zvonareva at the Indian Wells championships quarterfinal stage.  Li won the match in straight sets but certainly Li could be described by that lovely colloquial phrase “ball basher”.

Since then, watching Li at the recent WTA championships in Istanbul and you see a player whose game has improved tremendously.  Li serves a lot better, her transition game is good, she moves her opponents around and doesn’t make as many errors.  In fact, Li is slightly unfortunate not to have won two major titles at this stage of her career.

Like Serena Williams, Li is now in her early 30s but there’s no reason to believe that she cannot have another good season in 2014.  She has a master tactician and highly motivated coach in Carlos Rodriguez who will hopefully curb Li’s up and down form and help her to become more consistent throughout the year.  Her big chances should again be at the Australian and French Open championships where the slower courts suit her game of having time to set up her shots and implement her game plan.

Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova did not have a good season in 2013 and at one stage dropped out of the top 10 altogether.  

Petra was knocked out early at the Australian Open by Laura Robson and lost in the French Open to Jamie Hampton of the United States.  In Wimbledon, Petra lost in the quarterfinal to Kirsten Flipkens in a tight three set match when she would have fancied winning the tournament.  Petra is yet to make a deep run at the US Open so far in her career and this year was no exception.

What this all means is that Petra has not progressed as much as we thought she would when she won Wimbledon back in 2011.  Big things were predicted after the manner in which she played the semifinal and final against Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.  The most interesting to note here is that according to official stats Petra was not in the top 10 in 2013 for highest percentage service holds but was in the top 5 for aces hit and break points saved throughout the season.   

This is very contrasting and confusing statistics and suggests that even though Petra has what is considered to be one of the best serves in the game, her pattern of serving is either too predictable or her movement once the ball is in play is preventing her from backing up her serve on a consistent and regular basis to win matches. What I’ve noticed is that through the course of 2012 and 2013 Petra’s return of serve has gone off.

Onwards to 2014 and it is difficult to predict with absolute confidence that Petra will have a stellar season.  Petra still needs to work on her fitness levels and mental game to be more consistent during matches.  If Petra can cut down on her errors and hold serve much better, her confidence will increase and she can then be a contender at all four grand slam championships and a top 5 player where she belongs.

Agnieszka Radwanska

Agnieszka is a player that very much divides opinion.  She’s an update on the type of player that was predicted will not survive in the age of the power game which really took off in 1999 with the Williams sisters, Lindsay Davenport and later Jennifer Capriati who challenged Martina Hingis. 

Agnieszka is very much in the Hingis camp of playing a brand of tennis which as we know is very rare.  She plays with touch, feel, court craft and intelligence and looks as though she’s never ventured into a gym to lift weights.  However, what also divides opinion is that Agnieszka often appears to be not enjoying herself; her facial expression is often one of a frown which doesn’t warm her to some tennis fans.

Agnieszka’s big opportunity came at Wimbledon where she was the highest seed at the semifinal stage but succumbed to the power game of Sabine Lisicki.  Waiting in the final was Marion Bartoli who never beat her but Lisicki won the first set easily.  Agnieszka came back to take the 2nd set and went 3:0 in the final set but Lisicki came back and served for the match twice before sealing her final spot.  Agnieszka’s reaction to defeat was quite ungracious and didn’t acknowledge that the match was always in Lisicki’s hands.

As for 2014, I see Agnieszka having a similar season to 2013.  Agnieszka has never really made an impression at the French Open or US Open, her best chances are at Wimbledon and perhaps the Australian Open.  Like Lleyton Hewitt years before, the grass helps her game where her lack of power is exposed on the clay.  Agnieszka will be there or thereabouts but it is difficult to see her breaking through to win because although her game is well crafted and consistent, she often lacks inspiration.

Maria Sharapova

It was a very strange season for Maria Sharapova.  Maria did have a good first half of the year, getting to the semifinals of the Australian Open and then winning Indian Wells and Stuttgart. Maria lost the final in Madrid to Serena Williams and at the French Open, Maria almost defended her title but ran into Serena Williams again who is very much her nemesis at Grand Slam level. 

But things really started to unravel from late June onwards.  During her 2nd round match at Wimbledon, Maria constantly complained about slippery conditions before going down in straight sets to Michelle Larcher de Brito.  In the summer, Maria took on Jimmy Connors as coach then dispensed with his services after just one match after losing a three setter to Sloane Stephens in Cincinnati.

Then came the Sugarpova episode where it is claimed she applied to a court in Florida to use the name during the US Open which would help promote her products; this was denied by the Sharapova camp once the inevitable backlash got into full swing.  But it didn’t matter anyway as Maria withdrew from the tournament with a shoulder injury just before it was about to commence and hasn’t played competitively since. 

So no one really knows what 2014 has in store for Maria Sharapova.  What we do know is that Maria is one of the biggest fighters in womens tennis so she is more than capable of coming back and winning big tournaments if her shoulder holds up, despite the inevitable double fault syndrome she has suffered since 2009 and will suffer in 2014; she will be a force again.

Other players to watch in 2014?

Sloane Stephens:  I think we are waiting for her to win her first tournament.  I would like to see Sloane up her intensity, make her serve more of a weapon and play more aggressively by improving her net game at crucial moments.

Angelique Kerber:  Definitely has the potential to win big tournaments in 2014 and challenge at the majors as long as she gets her tactics right; her self belief was coming back towards the end of 2013.

Jelena Jankovic: Definitely one of the more talented players not to have won a major title.  There is still hope for Jelena as we have seen players like Schiavone, Bartoli, Li and Stosur all claim majors late in their career.  It can be done but she needs more self belief.

Laura Robson: The new generation along with Sloane Stephens. Like Sloane, Laura is yet to win a tournament but that could happen in 2014.  However, Laura must improve her fitness and consistency, and realise that the net is her friend and not her enemy; she must learn how to take advantage of short balls and venture to the net to finish points!

Angelique Kerber - Adapting to life at the top

2013 has been an interesting year for Angelique Kerber and her fans.  A season of consolidation, and finding out more about herself as a person and competitor; which culminated with a title and appearance at the WTA championships in Istanbul for a second consecutive year.

Recapping the 2013 season, it started off with a semifinal appearance in Sydney with a loss to Dominica Cibulkova then a 4th round defeat at the Australian Open to Ekaterina Makarova.  Angelique missed the Paris Indoors due to injury which meant she could not defend her title.  Angelique then lost early in Doha and Dubai before flying out to Monterrey, where she got to the final but lost out to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Forward to the hardcourts in North America where Angelique had mixed results, getting to the semifinals of Indian Wells and going out early in Miami.  The Indian Wells semifinal proved to be frustrating as Caroline Wozniacki resorted to employing some of the most defensive tactics ever seen in a tennis match to turn around a first set deficit in her favour.  

The clay and grass court seasons during spring and early summer didn’t go too well either, with semifinal defeats to Sharapova in Stuttgart and a quarterfinal loss in Madrid to Ana Ivanovic.  Angelique was then forced to pull out of the Foro Italico with an abdominal injury.  At the French Open, Angelique succumbed to former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets in the 4th round.   On the grass there were early exits at both Eastbourne and Wimbledon, tournaments she did extremely well in during 2012.  In fact, Angelique’s defeat to Kaia Kanepi at Wimbledon led to a strange episode on social networks which was certainly unwarranted.

Onwards and upwards to the hardcourt season we hoped, but the same trend continued of relatively early exits in Canada, Cincinnati and New Haven; her best result being a quarterfinal appearance in Washington.  Angelique’s poor form culminated with a 4th round defeat at the US Open to enigmatic Carla Suarez Navarro in a third set tiebreak.  

At this stage, things were not looking good, having dropped a lot of points from the 2012 season, she was in danger of dropping out of the top 10 for an extended period.  However, things turned around suddenly during the autumn hardcourt season in Asia; Angelique got to the final in Tokyo having taken out Radwanska and Wozniacki comfortably in the quarterfinal and semifinal.  The final against Petra Kvitova was incredibly the first all left handed final on the WTA tour since 2009.  It was an interesting match with Kvitova taking the first set easily but then losing the 2nd set to love before rallying to take the 3rd set 6-2. 

Angelique then came back to Europe where she requested a wildcard at the Generali Open in Linz, which she received at the last moment and played some lovely tennis to get to the final in convincing fashion.  In fact, by getting to the semifinal, Angelique ensured qualification for the WTA championships for the 2nd year in a row. In the final, Angelique played a highly entertaining match against Ana Ivanovic which she took in straight sets to win her first and only title of 2013. At the WTA championships in Istanbul, Angelique almost made it to the semifinals, but was again stopped in her tracks by the dangerous Petra Kvitova.

I think 2013 has been a great experience for Angelique Kerber.  She has gone through a unique period of learning about herself, managing disappointment, injuries, motivation, change of coaching setup and still found a way to finish the year on a relative high.  That is something which takes mental strength and character.  Angelique found out that it is one thing to get to the top 10, but an entirely different proposition to stay there when competitors are out to get your scalp.  That not only requires mental toughness but also the willingness to make adjustments to keep improving, which hopefully will bode well for the future.

Angelique was kind enough to take some questions before heading off for a well deserved vacation and preparations for the 2014 season.

1. Congratulations on a really good end to the season, getting to the final of Tokyo, winning Linz and qualifying for the WTA championships in Istanbul. You ran Petra Kvitova close and could have made the semifinals. What do you attribute the upturn in results to?

I have been lucky not to be injured even if my abs have suffered a bit after Tokyo. I, of course, worked hard and learned from every matches, practiced my serve, done a lot of fitness.

My team was behind me and I’ve worked hard on being clear mentally, on handling the pressure better, on being more composed and it kind of worked. I believe it’s important to work a lot on giving a particular attention to your mental condition also. Making sure nothing goes into your mind that could potentially hinder your game.

 2. Following on, it’s been a tough year, you had a breakthrough year in 2012. How different has it been trying to consolidate your position in the top 10?

I believe and experience it is harder to remain on the Top 10 rather than to get there. Both requires a huge amount of work but the expectations you have from you, your fans, family, friends, team is higher and these added pressure is sometimes tough to handle.

 

3. You seem to have a new coaching set up, are you looking to add new things to your game than a year or two ago?

Of course! Who does not want to keep improving? I want to go deeper on Grand Slam and important tournaments. I want to be able to play more and more matches against Top players. Ranking wise, becoming a consistent Top 10 is obviously important for me as well as growing and maybe reach the Top 5.

4. It’s a special year for the WTA tour as it celebrates 40 years of existence, how does it feel to be part of making history on the tour?

It’s amazing what Billie Jean King has made for women’s tennis and being part of it, growing in the middle of so many talented athletes who have made history is huge.

5. Switching to your game, I think you are one of the best movers and defenders on a tennis court. You are also great at hitting down the lines; I think you can take advantage of that by coming to net more often when you stretch your opponent.

Is the transition game a tactic you favour and do you see yourself using that play to shorten the points more often, especially at key moments?

That is something I will discuss with my coach during my pre-season. My head now is more looking at my vacation and the few weeks I will spend without thinking or even playing tennis ;-)

 

6. You have made two major semifinals at the US Open and Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012. How do you see your chances of going one step further and making a final in 2014 and beyond?

I’ll work hard for that anyway and we’ll see if I can handle the pressure, play well and

consistent, beat strong top players... Hopefully then, it can happen... Step by step...

 7. Marion Bartoli, one of my favourite players grabbed the opportunity to claim Wimbledon this summer, drawing from her experience of 2007. Francesca Schiavone did something similar at Roland Garros in 2010 and Sam Stosur at the US Open in 2011. How much of an inspiration was Marion’s win to yourself and other players that it is possible to win a big title even if you are not top seed?

There are always possibilities. Marion was a good player and I’m glad she got a chance to win a Grand Slam, which was her goal, before retiring.

I’m focusing on myself, my game and really believe that if you work hard, it will pay back. I take one think at a time. I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I work hard for that but also need to enjoy being on court and play and learn and grow.

8. Collectively all of the young German players haven’t had as much success as fans were hoping this year. There is a lot of talent among the players who make up the Fed cup squad, how do you feel about prospects to do well in the Federation cup in 2014?

Our goal as a team is to be able to bring a title to Germany. We are really working hard for that with Barbara and the team. We feel fan’s expectation and will give everything we have to potentially fulfil it. Hopefully 2014 will be our year... ;-)

Why mens tennis needs to stay best of five sets

There has been a lot of debate about mens tennis, ultra long grand slam matches have been the source of everyone’s focus.  

There’s an interesting dichotomy going on here; read the various tennis forums and there are threads full of complaints that surfaces are too slow and rallies / matches are too long.  Watch the BBC during Wimbledon and we are constantly told this is the greatest era with the best players ever seen.  The x factor is the paying public at the slams, and despite mega long matches, the paying public appear to love them and are prepared to sit through hours upon hours of tennis.

Ultra long tennis matches are nothing new as the game is littered with examples in every decade.  For instance, in 1992 Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang in the US Open semifinal in 5hrs 26 minutes which is the longest match in the tournament’s history.  Amazingly, Edberg came back 24 hours later to beat Pete Sampras in the final which went four sets and lasted over 3 hours.  Later that decade in 1996, Pete Sampras would beat Alex Corretja in the quarterfinal of the US Open in 4 hours 9 minutes, Sampras needed to be taken to hospital and put on a drip afterwards.  

Sampras would be involved in a lot of long matches that decade, his matches against Jim Courier at the 1995 Australian Open and 1996 French Open, plus the 1996 ATP Masters final against Becker were all well over 4 hours each.  In the 1998 French Open, Alex Corretja defeated Hernan Gumy in 5hrs and 31 minutes.

The 1980s also threw up its share of long matches.  In 1988 Mats Wilander defeated Ivan Lendl in the final of the US Open in 4 hours and 55 minutes.  Meanwhile in the Davis cup in 1987, Boris Becker defeated John McEnroe in a tie that lasted 6 hours and 21 minutes. However, a look at the list of the longest matches ever played shows that out of 29 matches that have been officially timed over five hours, 23 have taken place since the turn of the new millennium, while 15 of those have taken place since 2008 including the crazy match in 2010 Wimbledon between Isner and Mahut which lasted a whopping 11 hours 5 minutes over a 3 day period.  So it’s quite clear that matches over 5 hours long are increasing with alarming regularity.

So, why are there so many long matches today?  Two common denominators are slower courts and style of play convergence with both factors coinciding at exactly the same time in the course of modern tennis history.  This has meant that the majority of matches have taken place where two players camp out on the baseline playing a counterpunching style, or not possessing big enough weapons to finish points relatively quickly on a regular basis.  What exacerbates the length of matches even further is guys taking longer between points to recover from exhausting rallies.

This has not only lead to lengthy five set matches but also four set matches regularly last four hours as well.  In fact, this year’s Wimbledon final over 3 hours and 30 minutes even though it was a straight sets win for Andy Murray over Novak Djokovic.

The dissenting voices are growing with more and more ex-players and pundits calling for grand slam tournaments to be made best of three sets mimicking the ATP tour; who jettisoned best of five set finals after Federer and Nadal played a five hour blockbuster in Rome in 2006 with both promptly pulling out of the next tournament in Hamburg citing fatigue. 

Recently Martina Navratilova gave her views on the situation "It's really becoming so taxing that I believe one day we will have two out of three sets in the grand slams, otherwise they're going to be taking people out on stretchers,"  But it’s not just about the prospect of players being taken out on stretchers, you also have to think these matches are not really TV friendly and in the end may appeal only to fans who are also prepared to sit through and watch every ball of five day test cricket matches. 

However, despite the naysayers, mens tennis needs to stay as best of five sets for a variety of reasons.  First of all, the integrity of mens tennis depends on grand slam tournaments being played as best of five sets.  Let’s remember that Tennis is and has always been a sport of both skill and endurance; the tiebreaker only came into existence in the early 1970s and in Davis cup the late 1980s.  

Playing best of five sets ensures the traditions of mens tennis stays intact where skill, fitness, mental stamina and the ability to find solutions on the court (as Patrick Mouratoglou would put it) are all part of the package of being a top player.  Top players also possess a good on board computer (brain), best of three sets will take those elements away and turn the situation into more of a lottery.  The perfect example being 2020 cricket where strategy and tactics are virtually a non factor but makes great television for everyone except the bowlers, who are constantly hit out of the grounds into the adjacent river on an ad nauseam basis.   Tennis deserves better than potential one hour blowouts at grand slam level.

But also consider this, every generation throws up a set of circumstances which are unique to their era.  And we can see from the top current four players in the world that the counterpunching style currently rules.  In my time of watching tennis, this may be a first.  Previous eras have always thrown up a mixture of attackers and baseliners at the top: McEnroe, Borg, Lendl and Connors in the early 1980s. Becker, Edberg, Wilander and Lendl in the late 1980s; or Agassi, Becker, Edberg, Sampras and Courier in the early 1990s. Today, the balance is tipped in favour of endurance more than skill.  

The counterpunching style may rule for now but that doesn’t necessarily mean the next generation of top players will play the same way.  There are players coming through who favour shorter more aggressive points and use the serve as a means to get the job done.  Should such players get to the top five positions, it will inevitably lead to shorter grand slam matches in the latter stages in future.  And hopefully that will leave the game in a healthier state.

Let’s sign off by looking at some of the greatest five set matches in recent times that have been timed under four hours…….

2001 Wimbledon semifinal Pat Rafter v Andre Agassi: The classic match between puncher and counterpuncher, this type of matchup has been a serious casualty of style of play convergence.  These two guys played some of the best five set matches in the past 25 years. Incredibly this match was “only” 3hrs 30 minutes despite going to 8:6 in the fifth set!

2001 Wimbledon final Goran Ivanisevic v Pat Rafter:  Proof that a five set battle between two serve and volleyers could produce incredible tennis and high drama.  To be fair, the stakes were high and the raucous crowd made it something special.  The tennis was dynamic, 9-7 to Goran in fifth set but nowhere near four hours.

2000 Wimbledon semifinal Pat Rafter v Andre Agassi: A lot of people say this match was higher quality but the 2001 match had more drama, especially as both guys knew there was no Sampras waiting in the final.  Either way, it was fantastic tennis throughout the whole battle.

2000 Australian Open semifinal Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras: One of their best battles, this match had two incredible tiebreakers, it looked like Sampras would take it in the 4th, but Agassi staged a great comeback to take the deciding set 6:1

2011 US Open semifinal Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer: This is the best rivalry of the current era.  Simply because Federer often plays shorter points and forces Djokovic into playing lesser longer rallies on average.  Even though Djokovic came from two sets down this match was 10 minutes short of four hours, and the tennis was great. 

1999 US Open final Andre Agassi v Todd Martin: Agassi battled back from two sets to one down to claim the title.  And although Martin won the two tiebreaks in the middle of the match, it was done and dusted in 3hrs and 23 minutes.