2012 All-Intriguing Team

Hmmm, there are two ways to look at the WTA tour at this time of year. One, of course, that there's less than a month remaining in this unpredictable 2011 season. And, two, that we're also less than three months away from seeing the 2012 campaign kick off Down Under with the promise for more "clarity" to arise once again pristine and hopeful. But, as we've learned throughout this season, disappointment could soon turn to celebration, and vice versa, for any and every woman on tour... and we're not long from knowing the difference between whatever is reality, and what is fiction, when it comes to a player's future.

So, with one foot clearly in both the present, as well as the past, whose not-too-distant future would seem to be the most fitting of inclusion on the "2012 All-Intriguing Team," at least from where we stand today? Well, here are a few to consider:


SERENA WILLIAMS, USA
THE GOOD?: Feeling as if she has something to prove once again, a fitter-than-ever Serena takes on the '12 season with never-before-seen (even from her) intensity and further cements her place in tennis history. Heading into Melbourne as the favorite, she wins her sixth AO title, kicking off a season in which she regains the #1 ranking, wins multiple slam titles (to get within shouting distance of Navratilova and Evert's total of 18 each on the all-time list) and pads her "Greatest of All Time" resume. With the Olympic tennis tournament being held at the All-England Club, Williams seizes upon likely her last opportunity (if she was still around in '16, she'd be 34 in Rio, and the Brazilian Olympic tennis event might be held on clay) to join Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi as the only players in professional tennis history to claim all six of the major singles titles in the sport -- the four slams, their tour's year-end championship event and the Olympic Gold.
THE BAD?: The (new, or old) health issues crop up again, causing Serena to take a step back from her career. Serena lets her anger get the best of her in another crucial slam situation, and the WTA finally caves in to outside pressure and suspends her.
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PETRA KVITOVA, CZE
THE GOOD?: Kvitova climbed into the Top 5, won titltes on all surfaces, led her Czech team into the Fed Cup finals and won Wimbledon in '11. Still, "Good Petra" and "Bad Petra" were often at odds, as she showed a tendency to go from world-beater to gift-giver in a matter of moments in some matches, and took many months to escape the long shadow of her SW19 heroics. But with her title in Linz pulling her out of a potential confidence-crushing tailspin, she finishes strong in 2011 and carries over her momentum into 2012. Kvitova wins another slam, rising to claim the role as the only true threat to a healthy Serena Williams in the WTA field, leading to a pair of titanic summertime match-ups with the American on the grass at Wimbledon, the last of which decides the Olympic champion.
THE BAD?: Kvitova can't escape her worse tendencies, occasionally pulling off some huge results that whet the appetite for more, only to slide back into the shadows for months on end afterward, setting the course for a good career, but one with a great deal of "what if's."
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CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN
THE GOOD?: Realizing that she risks being swallowed up by the unrush of other improving players from her generation (plus a healthy and refocused Serena), Wozniacki accepts her critics' opinions as valid and voluntarily learns to insert a little more aggression into her game while not sacrificing her defensive "comfort zone." Before the end of '12, she puts everything together on the hard courts of North America and reaches her second career final at the U.S. Open. Facing off with another slam-less player with "big stage issues," the Dane manages the pressure better than her opponent and walks away with her first major title, silencing her critics, getting herself over a huge career "hump," and allowing herself to mentally relax and enter 2013 having nothing to prove to anyone. Suddenly, the #1 ranking "isn't as important as it once was" to her, though she admits "it'd be nice to get it back and not have anyone question whether I deserved it THIS time."
THE BAD?: What are the chances Wozniacki finishes yet another season at #1 in 2012 without winning a slam? If she does, but has another campaign like the one she's had in '11, will her season be able to be deemed a true "success?" Another scenario: distracted by off-court opportunities, a budding (or broken, take your pick) romance, and after becoming increasingly more upset in post-match press conferences (many more of which take place after losses to "less accomplished" players), Wozniacki's on-court smiles disappear, replaced by visible frustration and accompanied by stories bringing up the career slides of other young women's stars. 2012 ends with Wozniacki in a very bad place, and most everyone declaring her chances of ever winning an elusive slam title a "pipe dream."
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THE GERMANS
THE GOOD?: Following in the footsteps of '11 slam champions from China (new winner's circle blood), Australia and the Czech Republic (old/new blood), the Germans awaken the ghost of Steffi Graf and make Deutschland the latest nation to introduce a little variety into the mix of women's major winners in '12. This season has surely shown the signs of good things to come, as Julia Goerges looked every bit the potential star while winning Stuttgart and getting two wins over world #1 Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki and Angelique Kerber both reached slam SF, and Andrea Petkovic (the highest-ranked German) was the only woman on tour to reach three slam QF in '11. In fact, the only nation with more slam QF results this season than Germany's five was the always-plentiful-in-number horde of Russians (7).
THE BAD?: Goerges' inconsistency continues to bedevil her progress. Kerber's U.S. Open run turns out to have been little more than a "fluke" result. Lisicki's great comeback from her injury-riddled past turns out to be short-lived, as her body lets her down again. Petkovic's tricky knee injury history (making a unwanted cameo appearance the last few months) becomes even trickier.
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JELENA DOKIC, AUS
THE GOOD?: After experiencing yet another career resurgence in '11 -- her second in three seasons -- and winning her first tour title since 2002, Dokic follows the previous path of Justine Henin by finding belated peace of mind off the court through the reconciliation of her broken family. For the Belgian (in '07), such a scenario helped push her toward one of the greatest-ever seasons by any woman. For Dokic, it means winning multiple tour singles titles, returning to the Top 20 for the first time since '03, and making (at least) a QF run at a slam.
THE BAD?: After having credited the support of her brother Savo (and boyfriend Tino) with helping her return to the tour winner's circle after a nine-year absence, Dokic followed through with her sibling's wishes in recent weeks and returned to the (oft-troubled) family fold back in Belgrade with her father Damir. After everyone waits for the seemingly inevitable family breakup to occur, it finally does, sending Dokic off onto another of the emotional tangents that have so often made her tennis career an incidental afterthought when compared to the tabloid merry-go-round that has been her personal life.
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AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA, POL
THE GOOD?: In the latter stages of '11, Radwanska smartly added just enough aggression to her game, and improved her first serve enough to be able to wield it as an important weapon on big points. The tweaks to her game made a world of difference as Radwanska, who'd previously seen enough players from her generation -- and a few vets -- pass her by to finally drop her out of the Top 10, has proven to be THE move-and-shaker of the season's final months. Back-to-back Premier wins in Tokyo and Beijing showed the always-crafty Pole to, for the first time, also be capable of delivering an occasional knock-out punch against players who are consistently more powerful than she off the ground. Entering '12 with the chance to dream of things potentially "bigger" than seemed possible in seasons past, Radwanska has a career year, threatening to climb into the Top 5 and reaching her first slam SF, with a decent shot to spring an even better result.
THE BAD?: 2011's late-season surge isn't sustainable, and Radwanska's second serve continues to be a liability. Sensing the need to overcompensate in big matches, A-Rad moves out of her comfort zone by being TOO aggressive TOO often, setting herself up for more errors than her game in capable of overcoming against top players with the ability to out-hit her in big stage matches.
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VENUS WILLIAMS, USA
THE GOOD?: With her fatigue-inducing Sjogren's Syndrome finally diagnosed and being treated, Venus -- much like Serena -- approaches her '12 season with a new lease on her tennis life. With the Olympic tennis event being held at Wimbledon, the timing couldn't be more perfect. Already a three-time Gold Medalist (one singles/two doubles), Williams arrives in London on the cusp of setting an Olympic tennis standard that may never be broken. A fourth career Gold comes, and possibly even a fifth.
THE BAD?: While battling injuries the last two years, Venus has only played in one non-slam event (and just seven overall) over the past seventeen months. Even with the diagnosis and treatment of her Sjogren's Syndrome, time might be Williams' biggest opponent. She'll be 32 by the time Wimbledon and the Olympics roll around, and the only woman to win an Open era slam at that age or older was Martina Navratilova, at age 33 at Wimbledon in 1990. The odds are against her ever enjoying such a moment in the singles spotlight again.
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VICTORIA AZARENKA, BLR
THE GOOD?: Finally learning to better contain her sometimes-damaging on-court anger issues, Azarenka raised the bar for her career this year, reaching a career-high rank and her first slam semifinal. In 2012, she continues her climb, reaching her first slam final... and maybe even beating good friend Wozniacki into the major winner's circle.
THE BAD?: After seeming to finally overcome her past injury questions, Azarenka's 2011 campaign has lapsed into another series of ailments and retirements in recent weeks, making it easy to wonder if the Belarusian will EVER be able to overcome the "one step forward, one and a half steps back" pattern of her career. So far, she's avoided the sort of major injury that takes her off court for months on end... but her body's seeming fragility might mean it's only a matter of time before that changes.
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THE AMERICANS
THE GOOD?: After years of hand-wringing over the lack of young talent, U.S. women's tennis got an injection of excitment at Flushing Meadows in '11. A series of them, actually, as a team of New Generation Bannerettes played starring roles in their nation's slam. For the first time in ages, the U.S. had as many 1st Round winners in NYC as Russia. Christina McHale emerged as the player on the leading edge of the new group of players, putting up wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki on the season. With more eyes on their development, 2012 sees the 19-year old McHale post an early-season title to become the first U.S. teen since 2006 to be crowned a WTA champion, and only the second since Serena Williams stormed to the U.S. Open title at 17 in '99. Meanwhile, both Sloane Stephens and the hard-serving Madison Keys, with the latter being the young American player with the sort of big game that most resembles that of the sort of power players one will always have to stand toe-to-toe with on the path to grand slam success, continue their progress, while the juniors produce at least one more Girls slam champion (following in the footsteps of Grace Min's surprise win at the Open in September).
THE BAD?: Once again, it was a false alarm. The promise shown by so many of the Bannerettes at the U.S. Open proves to be an adrenaline-fueled boomlet that the actual talent of the young Americans is unable to back up. Shades of the diminutive Melanie Oudin, and the overhyped Ashley Harkleroad. The new U.S. players begin to fill out the Top 50 rankings -- which is still more than be said for the previous post-Williams Sisters breakthrough generation -- but none prove to be consistent threats to the top players, and only one (McHale?) proves hearty enough to even climb into the Top 20 for any appreciable amount of time over the next few years.
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VANIA KING & YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA, USA/KAZ
THE GOOD?: Even with a relatively small sample to look back upon, it's pretty obvious that these two have great chemistry on the doubles court. With most of the top women's doubles teams -- Huber/Raymond, Peschke/Srebotnik, Dulko/Pennetta -- beginning to show some age (some more than others, at least as far as their birth certificates are concerned, even if their results might belie it), these two might have the market cornered on being THE team to beat in the big events over the course of the next three-to-five years. With two slam titles already in their column, King and Shvedova look to potentially have a long, fruitful future together on the doubles courts. In 2012, they rise to the very top of the heap, with either one or both taking their turn in the #1 ranking.
THE BAD?: Ironically, the improving singles results -- especially King's -- that might be partly attributed to this pair's doubles triumphs end up becoming a "distraction" that takes away from the even greater things that the King/Shvedova duo might be able to accomplish as a TEAM.
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Kaia Kanepi, EST: She opened the season behind the eight ball. Coming off a year in which she finished in the Top 25 for the first time, won her maiden tour title and reached two slam QF, Kanepi was forced to play through a broken bone in her left forearm. Although she grabbed a few "signature" wins -- over Petkovic, Pennetta and Wozniacki -- '11 has surely been a disappointment after so many breakthroughs in '10. With a better start in '12, maybe she'll be able to finally pick up where she left off a year ago. Or maybe 2010 was just her "career year."

The Romanians: The Swarmettes have sparked at big events in '11, upsetting Li Na and Petra Kvitova in the opening days of the U.S. Open, and Monica Niculescu reaching the 4th Round in New York and SF in Beijing in recent outings. Three different young Romanians reached at least the tour singles semifinal stage this season, but none won titles. The foundation for widespread Romanian success seems to be strengthening, but it's been thirty-three years since a Romanian won a slam title, and thirty-one since one reached a slam final. Heck, it's even already been fourteen years (!!!) since Irina Spirlea's controvery-heavy run to the U.S. Open final four back in '97.

Kim Clijsters, BEL: Will 2012 be her swan song? Will she even make it to 2012, or all the way through it? A defense attempt of her '11 AO title, as well as the Olympics (KC's never been an Olympian, choosing to skip the event in '04, and in retirement in '08), remain as possibilities to tempt her to hang on for a bit longer after pretty much a "lost" season dominated by injury since February.

Dinara Safina, RUS: Will she? Won't she? Was Marat simply spilling the "retirement beans" a little early? If the star-crossed Russian does indeed "eventually" return from her back injury sabbatical, how long will it take... or her comeback attempt last?

Caroline Garcia, FRA: If you're looking for the next teenager to make her mark, the Pastry might be the first to cast a hopeful glance toward as '12 begins. Along with being the only player to reach the Girls SF at all four junior slams (reaching the final at Flushing Meadows), Garcia nearly captured lightning in a bottle in Paris when she led Maria Sharapova 6-3/4-1 at Roland Garros before her youth finally caught up to her. Of course, the tour hasn't exactly been a terribly hospitable place for teenagers of late. Tour titles won by teens have gone from eleven to four to one the last three seasons, and the last non-Russian teenager to win a slam crown was Serena Williams in 1999.

Lauren Embree, USA (Univ. of Florida): The Gator led the University of Florida's comeback -- escaping her own 4-0 3rd set hole in UF's 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven match final -- against Stanford in the NCAA team final (ending the Cardinal's 184-match home winning streak), and then reached the SF in women's singles. Is she (or teammate Allie Will) the early pick for 2012 NCAA champion? No Gator woman has been crowned champion since Jill Craybas in 1996, and Lisa Raymond (1992-93) not long before her.



**TITLES AT ALL FOUR SLAMS, YEAR-END CHSP. & OLYMPICS**
[Have Won All 6 Major Singles Crowns in Careers]
Andre Agassi - 3 AO, 1 RG, 1 WI, 2 US, 1 ATP, 1 Olympic singles Gold
Steffi Graf - 4 AO, 6 RG, 7 WI, 5 US, 5 WTA, 1 Olympic singles Gold
[Need Only Olympic Gold]
Roger Federer - 4 AO, 1 RG, 6 WI, 5 US, 5 ATP, 0 Olympic singles Gold (has 1 Doubles)
Serena Williams - 5 AO, 1 RG, 4 WI, 3 US, 2 WA, 0 Olympic singles Gold (has 2 Doubles)
[Close to Winning All 6 Titles]
Novak Djokovic - 2 AO, 0 RG, 1 WI, 1 US, 1 ATP, 0 Olympic singles Gold (needs RG/Olympics)
Rafael Nadal - 1 AO, 6 RG, 2 WI,1 US, 0 ATP, 1 Olympic singles Gold (needs ATP Finals)
Maria Sharapova - 1 AO, 0 RG, 1 WI, 1 US, 1 WTA, 0 Olympic singles Gold (needs RG/Olympics)


The 2011 "Regional Honors" (w/ "2012 Market Tips") arrive next on the season review scene.

All for now.