Decade's Best: Players of the 2010's, #1-15
Let's be honest, we know who's #1. But what about the order of the "Decade's Best" rankings from #2 to #15? Well...
Come now, in order to keep *some* sense of chronological suspense here until the end, we pretty much have to jump ahead for moment.
#1 - Serena Williams, USA
...in effect, the entire decade in tennis -- usually good, but occasionally bad -- has been viewed through "Serena-colored glasses." In ways foreign to the "Big 3" on the other tour, Williams has been front and center (or, at the very least, "off-center") in every conversation, argument, accomplishment, feat and/or controversy the sport had or could produce. Be the issue revolving around race vs. privilege, female vs. male, old vs. young, power vs. touch, serve vs. consistency, superstar vs. "the field," player vs. official(s), perception vs. reality, equality vs. inequality, double standards vs. reputations, mothers vs. history, etc. The list goes on and on.
Heck, even the record books from here forward might rightly be separated into "Williams" and "non-Williams" sections -- because of *both* Serena and her sister Venus, but mostly due to Serena's career marks -- just to get a better gauge on what everyone else (i.e. the tennis "mortals") did why she was plying her craft on tour, and how they should best be judged against *each other* during her multi-decade presence between the lines. For, really, none of *their* accomplishments can accurately be judged in relation to hers (they'd seem unfairly inconsequential)... not even when you *combine* the career numbers of several of the top players who've rightly earned a mention in the same sentence (well, paragraph?) as Serena.
So, first off, let's just start with the raw numbers. It's easier that way.
Williams won 12 major singles crowns in the decade, four times as many as the player with the next most (Kerber-3). Her 37 singles titles led the field, eleven more than #2 (Kvitova). She played in 19 singles slam finals, won four doubles majors with sister Venus (the two hold the WTA record for tour titles won by an all-sibling pair at 22, with six claimed this decade), and swept the '12 Olympic singles/doubles at London in '12 for the third and fourth Gold medals of her career (one behind only Venus all-time). Her singles Gold made her only the third player (w/ Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi) to have won all four majors, the Olympics and the season-ending championships in a singles career. She completed "Serena Slam II" by winning four straight singles slam wins from 2014-15 (and what does it say that *that* is listed this far into this list?), and as of the 2017 Australian Open she's the only player to win double-digit singles slams in two separate decades (having also won 10 in the 2000's), as well as another in a third (1 in '99)... while she'll soon seek to win a *fourth*.
In the decade, Williams played in 21 total slam SF, 24 QF, 28 Round of 16's and was 32-1 in 1st Round matches at majors (making her 72-1 in her career, as well as 70-2 in the 2nd Round). All led the tour. She won three slam titles ('10 WI, '14 US and '17 AO) without losing a set. Only one other player (Bartoli - '13 WI) accomplished the feat during the 2010's. She reached at least the QF in 24 of the 33 slams she played, and at the 2012 Wimbledon set a record with 102 total aces fired during the tournament.
Serena's 34-match winning streak in 2013 was the longest on tour in the 2010's, and her 13 high-level Premier titles were more than any other woman. Her 75 Top 10 wins (giving her 176 in her career) topped the WTA list, as did her six wins over world #1's tied (Svitolina) for the most this decade, leaving her just one behind Martina Navratilova (18) for the highest total in tour history.
Williams won 10 majors after reaching her 30th birthday in September 2011. No other woman in Open era has history has won more than three. At 35, she was the oldest singles slam winner ever at the 2017 Australian Open, as well as being the oldest ever at Roland Garros (2015 at 33) and Wimbledon (2016 at 34). At 37, she was the oldest slam finalist (2019 U.S.), as well as the oldest woman to defeat a reigning world #1 (def. Halep in the '19 AO). The eleven year gap between her 2002 and 2013 titles in Paris was the longest at a single major in the Open era. And the 19 year, 362 day span between her 1999 U.S. Open win and her '19 U.S. Open runner-up result is the longest in tennis history between a player's first and most recent slam final appearance (so far).
Williams was the only three-time season-ending #1 during the 2010's, doing so from 2013-15, pulling off the first three-peat in the top spot since Graf's four straight seasons fron 1993-96. Her seven Top 10 seasons in the decade tied for the most on tour. She matched Graf's record (1986-91) for consecutive weeks in the #1 spot from 2013-16, becoming the oldest top-ranked woman in WTA history when she assumed the top ranking in February '13 at age 31. When she last relinquished the #1 spot in May '17 she was age 35 years, 7 months and 5 days.
And, last but not least, Serena's win in the 2017 AO final made her (as far as we know) the only woman to win a major title while pregnant (she approximately two months along with daughter Olympia).
And, really, there are *so* many things I'm leaving out.
Maybe more important than the numbers, though, was the way Williams' simple presence often psyched out opponents before even a single point was played. With her huge service game -- her first serve has generally been considered the best shot in the game, and maybe the most dominant single stroke in tennis history -- always at the ready (she's never suffered a significant arm, wrist or shoulder injury), Williams has traditionally never been more dangerous (either before an event or during a match) than when her back is against the proverbial wall and she's staring down defeat, or when she's armed with a mental note that tells her that she needs to "set something right." 11 of her 23 career slam crowns (including six this past decade) have been won after facing down MP and/or seeing at least one opponent either serve for the match or hold a break lead in a would-be deciding set en route to the title. It's no mere coincidence that Williams didn't lose another slam match in 2012 (sweeping Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as the Olympics and WTA Finals in the best stretch run put down during the entire decade) after suffering her only career 1st Round exit in a major at Roland Garros the previous spring (to Virginie Razzano). It's just what she's always done.
Around Backspin, all that was collectively grouped together and dubbed her "Serenativity," a trait unique to her alone.
Of course, though a listing of her accomplishments makes it seem as if her existence has somehow been "unfair" to those with whom she's shared the court, it's important to acknowledge what she personally overcame while racking up those numbers. While Williams, as her father Richard once told everyone before they knew he was *actually* being truthful rather than simply extolling the virtues of his youngest daughter, has always seemed to be a cut (or two) above most if not all of her opponents over the course of her career, she *has* had to maneuver through the sort of mental, physical and psychic minefields that would have likely prevented most others from accomplishing even a sliver of what she did, even if they had nowhere near the same amount of talent.
Just a thumbnail sketch of her travails includes the sort of multiple knee injuries and various surgeries that most players must endure, but also several consecutive slam absences (four during her career, including stretches of three and four straight this past decade) that limited her opportunities to add even more items to her career resume. Williams missed seven slams this decade, and has failed to post at fourteen since her '99 U.S. Open title. Her half-sister Yetunde Price was murdered in 2003, and the killer paroled in 2018. An accident in a Munich restaurant in July 2010 when she stepped on broken glass caused her to miss the rest of the season, and the injury later was linked to a hematoma and life-threatening pulmonary embolism that required emergency surgery. When pregnant with her daughter (with new husband Alexis Ohanian) in 2017, Williams underwent a cesarean-section delivery due to another pulmonary embolism during labor. She suffered another after giving birth, and was her bedridden for six weeks. In 2018, she announced she was suffering from postpartum depression.
Along the way there were other various controversies, from her return to Indian Wells after a racist incident involving her and Venus in 2001 (Serena maintained a 14-year boycott of the event), multiple ridiculous comments made about her race, sex and/or body (often by people in positions of power within the tennis establishment), as well as some unfortunate situations initiated by herself, including a problematic Rolling Stone interview and multiple run-ins with U.S. Open officials during matches in 2011 (final vs. Stosur) and '18 (final vs. Osaka) on the heels of a similar incident to end the previous decade ('09 semifinal vs. Clijsters), all of which may trace back to the series of horrific calls in the '04 semi (vs. Capriati) that went against Williams and pretty much single handedly brought the replay review system into the sport. Serena forgets *nothing*, and that night -- not to mention a few choice moments that occurred "ages ago" in Paris -- likely further embedded a distrust of the tennis establishment that has lingered to this day, often bursting out in unbecoming ways at inopportune times when situations bear even the slightest resemblance to a previous slight. While the women's game during her playing career has often come off as a case of "the field vs. Serena" from one side of the net, Williams has usually viewed things through a "the world vs. Serena" prism. In many ways, she's had good reason to feel as such, too.
All in all, it's been quite a load to carry, and would have been even without her having to pull off an all-time great tennis career at the same time.
As the decade concluded, and Williams returned from maternity leave, she finally began to resemble a mere mortal between the lines as she played on into her late thirties in a quest to match (and exceed) Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles. Sitting on 23 since winning the 2017 AO, even without a post-motherhood title, Serena has been remarkably successful in slam competition, reaching four finals (Wimbledon and U.S. in 2018-19) in the seven major MD events she's played. But after being 12-3 in slam finals in the decade before becoming a mother, she gone 0-4 since (with losses to two first-time champs in Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu, as well as defeats at SW19 at the hands of Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep). The stretch marks the longest losing streak in finals in her entire career, and the eleven-slam stretch during which she has not been crowned (she was a "DNP" at four) is the longest major title drought of a career that saw her win at Flushing Meadows at age 17 over two decades ago.
But while she hasn't won a title since her return (going 0-5 in tour finals), her 22-16-10 finishes show that she's still decidedly in the mix (form, not rankings, have always been more important in her case, anyway), even with a limited schedule as she approaches age 40. How long that remains the case will be one of the first questions to be answered in the 2020's, as a new generation of champions (two of whom have already stopped Williams a win short of history) further digs in. Even Serena can't defeat time... umm, right?
But no matter how things ultimately play out, the Williams legend will never die. Just in this Decade's Best series, Williams, ten years after she sat atop the list of the "Players of the Decade" between the 2009 and '10 seasons, has topped the lists for Top Performance, Best Single Season, Top Comeback Match, Biggest Match Upset (anytime she lost the match was a contender) and held the top spot as the #1 player between 2010-19 at *all four* slam events. As the 2010's came to a close, the Associated Press named Serena the Female Athlete of the Decade (which, even in its honor, was likely an understatement). There really was no realistic "alternate" choice.
Granted, there will forever be a debate about what she might have accomplished if a) her yearly schedules *hadn't* involved so many breaks and dips that made multiple "comebacks" necessary, or b) she'd *always* had the focus on winning major titles that she's had since turning 30 (after the likes of Chris Evert had publicly encouraged her in Tennis magazine to not sell her career short, for not only the good of her own legend but for that sake of women's tennis, as well), or c) had she "burned out" long ago had she *not* gone about things the way she did. In the end, Williams still rose above all the rest, be they her contemporaries or the names listed above (there are still a few in *some* career statistical categories) and around her in the annals of the greatest champions and winners in tennis history.
Having crafted a career that has seen her grow from merely a talented teenage tennis player into a sports giant, and from an historically significant sibling to into cultural icon, all while simultaneously filling the role of lightning rod *and* touchstone when it comes to nearly every conceivable issue on the board, she has, is and will always remain, (even when she shares the stage with the likes of Beyoncé), quite simply, Serena.
Serena. It's just a simple name, but Williams has made it pack quite the psychological punch. It means so much, and so many different things to untold numbers of different people. One gets the feeling we and future generations will be sorting her and everything about her out for quite a long time after she strikes her last tennis ball with furious intent.
But, hey, that's what being a true legend is all about.
Now, on with the rest. In ascending order...
#15 - Kim Clijsters, BEL
...for the short period of time she was around this past decade, Clijsters was supremely successful. But while a long return engagement was never planned, even her conservative schedule wasn't ultimately able to be fulfilled due to a series of (unsurprising) injuries.
Having retired at age 23 in 2007, Clijsters delivered daughter Jada in '08 and then ended her first retirement in '09, closing out the 2000's with her second U.S. Open title as she became the first mother to win a slam title since 1980. The Belgian burst into the 2010's on that high and delivered a fabulous season in '10, going 5-0 in finals (she played just eleven tournaments), winning titles in Miami and Cincinnati and defending her U.S. Open crown (her third win in three appearances in New York since 2005). She also took her first Tour Championships title since '03, and earned the tour's Player of the Year honors. Clijsters opened '11 by winning her maiden Australian Open, becoming the first player to win in four straight slam final appearances after beginning her career 0-4 in such matches.
Having already initially planned to retire in '12, a slew of injuries surely made it easy to hold firm to her decision even after all her immediate success, as the sort of injuries that helped usher in the end of KC 1.0 slowly took hold of 2.0, as well. That February, Clijsters briefly returned to #1 (for one week, giving her 20 in her career) for the first time since '06. But her AO title was to be her last, and her final in the Paris Indoors event the following month proved to be her last championship match. She missed three of the next four majors due to injury (including an ankle hurt while dancing at a wedding... seriously), briefly interrupted by a semifinal run in Melbourne in '12.
Clijsters announced that she would retire after the U.S. Open that summer, and did so after exiting in the 2nd Round at the hands of Laura Robson. After winning three titles in her first five 2.0 slam events from 2009-11, going a combined 27-2, Clijsters was 10-4 in her final four from 2011-12. She managed six total titles in her comeback, notching fourteen Top 10 wins in the decade (ten in '10 alone, with all coming in just three events: Miami/U.S./Tour Chsp.) with two #1 wins over Caroline Wozniacki, the last at the '12 Australian Open.
Having had two more children (sons born in '13 and '16) and been inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame (2017), seven years after her second retirement, a 36-year old Clijsters announced in late '19 her plan to return for one more tour turn starting in the '20 season. After a knee injury delayed her comeback, she recently announced the outline for a planned schedule set to kick off in the spring.
#14 - Yui Kamiji, JPN (WC)
...in the period following the end of all-time wheelchair great Esther Vergeer's career, Kamiji has been the most successful slam title collector.
Having picked up the sport at age 11 after it was progressively difficult for her to walk due to the paralysis of her lower limbs caused by congenital spina bifida occulta, Kamiji reached #1 in 2014 at age 20 and won more slam crowns this decade (20 - 6 singles, 14 doubles) than any player in wheelchair history other than the Dutch legend. At one moment in time at the end of '14, Kamiji was the reigning champion in six of the (then) seven WC slam disciplines, coming up short in only the Australian Open final vs. Sabine Ellerbrook. As the decade ends, she needs only the Wimbledon singles (which began in '16) to join the latest dominant WC figure from the Netherlands -- Diede de Groot -- as the only players in WC history to win all eight in a career. Kamiji has so far failed to reach a Wimbledon singles final in four attempts, thrice falling in the semifinals.
While the dominant singles player for a brief time from late 2013 and through '14, before being edged out by Jiske Griffioen in 2015-16, Kamiji found even greater success in doubles, winning fourteen major titles (+two WC Master crowns) int he 2010's, including nine with Jordanne Whiley before the Brit took time off to have a baby beginning in mid-2017. The duo won a Doubles Grand Slam in 2014, ultimately claiming five straight slam titles, with back-to-back Masters crowns (2013-14) bookending their run.
After Griffioen retired following the '16 Paralympics (she returned in '19), Kamiji picked up three more singles slam wins in '17 before de Groot hit her stride at age 21 the following the season. Still, Kamiji closed out 2019 having played in nine of the last twelve slam singles finals in the decade, solidifying her #2 position behind de Groot. From 2017-19, the two came as close to duplicating the old Navratilova/Evert rivalry as has ever been seen on the wheelchair tour, winning 11 of 12 singles majors and having a hand in 13 of 14 doubles slam titles since 2016, including two while playing together in '18. They faced off in seven slam singles final in the decade, with de Groot winning five times. Kamiji enters the 2020's clearly mimicking the position of Evert in the latter years of her head-to-head series with Navratilova, as after going 11-2 vs. a young de Groot, including defeating her for the '16 Paralympic Bronze in Rio (becoming the first Japanese woman to win a tennis medal in the event) in one of de Groot's first major international competitions, she saw the Dutch star come of age in late '17. Since then, de Groot has won 14 of their 17 encounters. In 2019 she squeezed Kamiji out of the major event winner's circle entirely, winning nine of ten slam/Masters titles as the Japanese woman failed to win at least one such crown for the first time since 2012.
After being the flagbearer for Japan at the '16 Paralympic Games, Kamiji likely play an ever bigger role in the event and in both growing the sport and leading the push for greater wheelchair access in her nation as Tokyo hosts the '20 competition next summer.
#13 - Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
...during the past decade, the Russians came THIS CLOSE to being an "all-timer" doubles pair, coming up one major title short of becoming the only pair -- male or female -- in tennis history to complete a Career Doubles Slam, win Olympic Gold and their respective tour's season-ending championships. While I ranked the Career Slam-winning, two-time season-ending #1's Errani/Vinci as the top doubles team of the 2010's, the Russians surely carved out their own unique corner over the same time span, winning a wider variety of big titles than the Italians. Co-#1's for five weeks in 2018, they were big title mavens, winning three slams (in seven finals), both the Rio Olympic Gold medal and WTAF title in '16, as well as six high Premier crowns (Beijing, Indian Wells, Montreal, Dubai, Toronto and Madrid) between 2012-18. The Russians were only an Australian Open title away from being truly historic. And they came close, losing in the final in both '14 and '18. In all, they won 12 titles in 26 tour finals, specifically having the poor timing to fall prey to the short-term "superteam" of Hingis/Mirza, going 0-4 vs. the pair in the finals of Indian Wells, Miami, Wimbledon and Rome in 2015-16.
As was the case with the Italians, Makarova and Vesnina shined in singles, as well, producing similar individual resumes. Along with winning a U.S. Open MX crown (2012), Makarova notched 30 Top 10 singles wins and reached slam semis at the Australian (2015) and U.S. Open (2014), but completed just two Top 20 seasons during the decade, during which she won three singles titles. Vesnina reached one slam semi (WI '16), won three singles titles (including a very big one in Indian Wells in '17), notched eleven Top 10 victories, and had a pair of Top 20 singles campaigns. She, too, won a MX slam, at the '16 Australian Open.
Makarova & Vesnina might still claim their missing puzzle piece to surely confirm their standing as a future Hall of Fame-destined pair, but it's no sure thing. Makarova, now 31, morphed into more of a reliable doubles threat than accompanying singles force in recent seasons, and played in just three events in '19. Meanwhile, 33-year old Vesnina sat out the last year and a half of the decade while becoming a first-time mother. Her return to the tour is anticipated, but at this stage any sort of time table is unknown (though one would think they might wish to attempt to defend their Olympic title in Tokyo next summer).
#12 - Flavia Pennetta, ITA
...the Italian put together what has arguably become the most underappreciated great career in the sport since the turn of the century. Any list of the best players of the last twenty years (or in this case, the last ten) *should* include Pennetta, but it's not likely that all would (or many?) actually would. One of the grittiest competitors in the game, she won a little bit of pretty much everything, and a lot of some things, as she gradually built toward what would be a career crescendo at the 2015 U.S. Open, when she became the oldest first-time slam winner in the Open era (33) and the one who needed the most slam MD appearances (50) to finally get it done.
Pennetta first earned her stripes as the leader of Team Italia in Fed Cup competition in the late 2000's and into the the early 2010's. A member of four championship squads (two this decade in 2010/13), she was Backspin's overall and FC Final MVP in both 2009 and '10 when she finished off her nation's title runs with a clinching singles victory. In all, she was 25-5 in her FC career (21-4 in singles). In the early years of the decade, Pennetta reached #1 in doubles while picking up slam ('11 AO), Tour Championships ('10) and high Premier ('10 Miami/Rome/Montreal w/ Gisela Dulko; '14 Wuhan w/ Hingis) crowns. After overcoming 2012 wrist surgery, the Italian hit her full stride in singles in her early thirties. By the end of the 2010's, she'd recorded seventeen Top 10 wins, won Indian Wells in '14, and become one of the best U.S. Open players of the decade (and a crowd favorite), participating in a number of hard-fought battles (see vs. Zvonareva '09 and Peng '11) while adding QF-SF-QF results from 2011-14 to her two QF runs in 2008-09. But nothing would compare to 2015.
That year, as the #26 seed, Pennetta authored a glorious run to her only slam singles title. After defeating '11 champ Sam Stosur (4r), she defeated two Top 5 seeds (#5 Kvitova and #2 Halep) to reach the final, where she met and defeated countrywoman, Fed Cup teammate and childhood friend Roberta Vinci in the only all-Italian slam final in tennis history, joining '10 Roland Garros winner Francesca Schiavone (also a Fed Cup teammate) as the only two Italian slam singles winners in women's tennis history. She then stunned the crowd during the trophy ceremony by announcing her plan to retire by the end of the season, though she had to *clarify* that afterward, as it seemed as if she might have *already* played her final match. As it turned out, she played four more events before wrapping her career at the WTA Finals and joining the likes of Marion Bartoli and Li Na as the third part of an odd trend that saw a trio of 2013-15 major champions retire in short order after winning a major. Having risen to #6 after the Open, Pennetta finished the year at #8, her only Top 10 season.
She has since had two children, the most recent in December 2019, with husband Fabio (as in Fognini, a popular ATP player also hailing from Italy).
#11 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
...in truth, if we could have peered into the future back in the early years of this decade (say 2013 or so) and seen that Azarenka would be *this* low on this sort of list in 2019 it would have been positively shocking. Yes, by then the top-ranked Belarusian had already had issues during her career with (often dramatic) injuries, but her overwhelming talent (and ability to sometimes even put Serena Williams on her heels in matches) always made one think she'd find a way to overcome all that. In a sense, she *did*, but what happened to Azarenka during the back-half of the 2010's was part of a storyline that no one would have been able to predict.
The first few years of the decade saw Azarenka assume the #1 ranking in the sport, finishing as the year-end top-ranked woman in '12 and holding the position for a total of 51 weeks over the course of two seasons. In 2012-13, after reaching the '11 tour championships final, she reached all four hard court slam finals at the Australian and U.S. Opens, winning back-to-back crowns in Melbourne to become what would be the only woman other than Williams (2012-14 U.S, 2015-16 Wimbledon) to win *and* successfully defend a major title during the decade. Azarenka lost to Williams in a pair of three-set U.S. Open finals, continuing a trend of competitive matches vs. the decade's top player that saw her defeat Serena in three singles finals during the decade (along with another such win in '09 in Miami). Twice Azarenka nearly upended what turned into slam title runs by Williams, squandering a 6-4/4-0 QF lead (serving for the match twice) at the '10 AO, and then serving for the title in the '12 U.S. final at 5-4 in the 3rd.
Four years deep into this past decade, Azarenka had put down five straight Top 10 seasons, including three consecutive Top 3 finishes from 2011-13 (w/ season-ending #1 in '12). At the '12 London Olympics, she won MX Gold with Max Mirnyi (def. Brits Andy Murray & Laura Robson in the final at the AELTC) and singles Bronze (taking her place on an epic medal stand next to Williams and Maria Sharapova). Surely, in just her early twenties, Azarenka seemed set to be in the mix for *the best* player of the 2010's.
But then reality (and life) got in the way. First it was injuries, then an unexpected pregnancy, a drawn-out custody battle put legal restrictions on her travel, and a decade-ending struggle to turn her off-court work into on-court success as she was victimized by the deadly combination of a low ranking leading to bad draws, early-round upsets and a continual series of resets that never quite saw her gather any sustained momentum. Her season-ending rankings reflected the chaos, as her 10-3-1-2 ranking start turned into 32-22-13-208-51-50 the remainder of the decade.
As things turned out, she didn't reach another slam semifinal after 2013, and would miss six of the decade's final fourteen majors from 2016-19. In 2014, she missed five months with a foot injury. Injuries and inconsistency held her back in '15, but she finally regained her swagger between the lines in the spring of '16, pulling off a "Sunshine Double" with titles in Indian Wells and Miami that lifted her back into the Top 5. But back and knee injuries prevented her from benefiting from her good form as she retired in the 1st Round of Roland Garros and missed Wimbledon entirely in the following months. That summer she surprisingly announced that she was pregnant, and had son Leo in December. Soon after she found herself in a custody battle with the child's father, and didn't return from maternity leave until June '17. Travel restrictions due to continued custody issues caused her to missed the U.S. Open that year, as well as being forced to back out of playing for Belarus in the Fed Cup final in the fall. After having been ranked in the #900's in May, she finished the season at #208. After being forced to avoid traveling to Australia to open '18, Azarenka finally was able to return to the tour on a semi-regular basis and finished the year at en couraging #51. After tearfully lamenting in an early-season post-match press conference '19 that all her hard work in practice wasn't being rewarded due to poor draws (in 1st/2nd Round matches in the opening months, she faced off with and lost to the likes of V.Williams, Kvitova, S.Williams and C.Garcia), she made a run to the Monterrey final (her first final in three years), defeating #5 Angelique Kerber in the semis (her best win since Miami '16), only to be forced to retire in the final vs. Garbine Muguruza. After moderate success during the clay season, Azarenka ended the year going 6-8 and didn't play after the U.S. Open. She finished the year at #50.
An underrated doubles player, Azarenka reached two slam finals ('11 AO w/ Kirilenko, '19 U.S. w/ Barty) in the 2010's, won five WD titles (three in 2010-11, then two in '19) and reached the '18 Wimbledon MX final in addition to her Olympic MX Gold.
Azarenka won seventeen singles titles during the decade, including the two majors and eight high-level Premier event crowns (2 Indian Wells, 2 Miami, 2 Qatar, and one each in Beijing and Cincinnati), and recorded 56 Top 10 victories. But no matter what she accomplished, Azarenka's career to date still has a rather heavy air of "what might have been." She enters the 2020's as a 30-year old former #1 seeking (again) a clean slate from which to launch a potential comeback in the latter stages of a long career. But the *next* decade has already delivered yet another setback as she's pulled out of the '20 Australian swing due to "personal reasons."
To be continued...?
#10 - Diede de Groot, NED (WC)
...at around the mid-way point of the decade, the whispers were already in the air. Dutch wheelchair legend Esther Vergeer was mentoring the next in the long line of superior female competitors in the sport from the Netherlands. The then-teenager's name was de Groot, and her nickname/Twitter handle was "Diede the Great." As the decade comes to a close, she's more than lived up to the hype. And she may turn out to be so much more.
Born with unequal leg length, de Groot began her wheelchair tennis career at age 7. While still a junior, she began to represent the Netherlands in the World Team Cup (WC's version of the Fed Cup/Davis Cup) and was part of the nation's eight championships during the decade. In 2016, before she'd ever made her slam debut, a 19-year old de Groot began to make her mark. While she lost the Rio Paralympic Bronze match to soon-to-be-her-top-rival Yui Kamiji, she picked up the doubles Silver with Marjolein Buis and would win the Wheelchair Masters season-ending event with Lucy Shuker. Come 2017, the entire game changed.
In her first slam, de Groot reached the Australian Open doubles final. Come Wimbledon she'd begun a slam streak that saw her reach both the singles and doubles finals at each of the remaining ten slams in the decade, winning seven singles and eight doubles majors. She reached the #1 WC ranking in March '18. When de Groot won the Roland Garros singles title in '19, the only slam crown she'd yet to claim, she became the first player in the sport's history to have won all eight slam s/d titles (the Wimbledon singles didn't start until '16, four years after Vergeer's retirement) and at the close of the event was the reigning champion in every discipline (only Vergeer, with seven events, had accomplished the feat before her). Only a three-set final loss at Wimbledon, where she'd won the title in 2017-18, prevented de Groot from a sweeping all slam competition in 2019. She won five of the final six slam singles titles in the decade. Teaming with Kamiji (2) and Aniek Van Koot (5), de Groot swept the final seven doubles slams in the decade, winning a Grand Slam with countrywoman Van Koot in '19 (+ the WC Masters). She reached and won five of the six s/d finals at the Wheelchair Masters events from 2017-19, as well, sweeping the crowns in '17 and '19.
In all, de Groot has reached the finals of 21 of the 24 slam competitions in which she's played (10/12 singles, 11/12 doubles) and, while she currently denies the realistic nature of the quest, is two more years of slam dominance (a likelihood) away from a whole new set of whispers wafting through the air: that she could very well surpass a few of her mentor's "unreachable" career title marks. Her fifteen slam titles in the final three years of the decade equal that of Vergeer in the first three years, right down to the 7s/8d split.
#9 - Li Na, CHN
...while her total numbers are a bit light in comparison to some highly-place athletes on this list, the historic and groundbreaking nature of Li's accomplishments cemented her place in the tennis landscape, as well as Chinese sports and cultural lore.
One of the most beloved figures of the period, with an unmatched skill at charming thousands (millions, actually... well, *billions* I guess, right?) at the drop of a hat in one of her many post-match trophy ceremonies, Li re-wrote many of the rules long adhered to by Chinese athletes regarding the nation's restrictive sports apparatus. As a young player, Li had problems with the Chinese national team's negative coaching tactics and medical practices, even going so far in 2002 as to leave the sport entirely. When she returned two years later it was with her new husband (and former nat'l boys team member) Jiang Shan (later nicknamed "Dennis", which as Li noted, rhymed with "tennis" so it was perfect) as her personal coach rather than being assigned instructors. Her decision to quit the state-run system allowed her to plot out her own career, constructing her season schedule and hiring her own team. Her new reality allowed her keep more of her prize money, though she had to pay all her own expenses. Late in her career, after some of her biggest successes, she was permitted to keep *all* her earnings without being required to "contribute" to China's tennis development fund.
Her image as a rebel who stood up to the powers that be was symbolized by the rose tattoo on her chest, and her accomplishments on the court made her an instant celebrity, icon and role model. After posting a 19-1 career mark (1999-04) in ITF finals, she was the first Chinese woman to win a WTA singles title (Guangzhou in '04), the first to reach a slam QF ('06 Wimbledon) and the first to reach the Top 10 (February '10). The first Asian player to reach a slam singles final ('11 Australian), she soon after became the first to win one at Roland Garros that same season. In her third appearance in the final in Melbourne, she finally won her maiden AO crown in '14 after being one of the event's most successful players in the decade, going 27-4 there with SF-RU-4r-RU-W results for 2010-14. After a 21-3 start to the '14 season, during which she rose to a career high #2 ranking, knee surgery took Li off tour and lessened the effectiveness of her game, ultimately leading to her retirement in September of that year.
Though she was a top player in the majors, Li's efforts in other events were somewhat less successful. Her only high-level Premier crown came in Cincinnati in '12 (she played in the finals of Rome, Montreal, Miami and the WTAF), and she was just 7-8 in WTA singles finals during the 2010's (she won nine in her career). Still, she notched 28 of her 42 career Top 10 wins in a four-season window during (2010-13) this past decade, and completed Top 10 seasons from 2011-14 (and was #11 in '10).
While other Chinese players (Li contemporaries Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai, and late-decade achievers Wang Qiang and Zheng Saisai just to name a few) have had much success on tour, none had the overwhelming impact of Li. Both in Asia and elsewhere, her personality made her Asia's first tennis *star*, garnering many endorsements off the court and putting down the footsteps now being followed and expanded upon by the likes of fellow two-time slam champ Naomi Osaka of Japan. In 2013, Li appeared on the cover of Time magazine after being named to its annual list of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World." She was one of only four athletes included. The true impact of the "Li Na generation" of players that her success inspired has yet to be felt on tour, but in the latter years of the decade we saw the first Chinese junior slam singles champ in Wang Xiyu ('18 U.S., after she'd joined with Wang Xinyu at Wimbledon to form the first all-CHN girls doubles slam-winning duo), who will likely be the first of many to rise up the girls rankings and go on to join with her countrywomen to become a cohesive force on the women's tour.
Li gave birth to a daughter and son in 2015 and '16, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility in 2019. She has been the subject of a feature film based on her life by Hong Kong film director Peter Chan, set to be released in 2020, and in the final months of '19 maintained her celebrity status by starring in a reality show on Chinese television along with husband "Dennis."
#8 - Esther Vergeer, NED (WC)
...taking everything into account, Vergeer's peerless career may prove to be *the* most dominant of any athlete in pro sports history. The Dutch legend's wheelchair tennis exploits almost single handedly lifted up the sport's recognition around the world map as she set every conceivable record available, including some that one can rest assured will *never* be broken.
After being paralyzed following a nine-hour surgery for vascular myelopathy around her spinal cord as a child, Vergeer became a multi-sport wheelchair athlete before finally settling on a tennis career. She was part of the Dutch team that won the European Wheelchair Championship in 1997.
Granted, if this list concerned Vergeer's *entire* tennis career she'd be ranked far higher, but for its purposes she only competed in the first three years of the decade. Still, during that time, she put up remarkable numbers in the closing chapters of her career: winning seven slam singles and eight slam doubles crowns, two 2012 Paralympic Golds, three WC Masters crowns (2s/1d) and officially retired in early 2013 (her last event had been the Paralympics the previous summer) as the #1 ranked player in the world, a position she'd held nearly continuously since 1999. Her only slam defeats in the decade came in the '10 Roland Garros WD final and '12 Wimbledon WD semis.
When it comes to her overall career, the amazing accomplishments become *astounding* ones. Over the course of her pro career, Vergeer won 21 singles and 27 doubles slams, 14 WC Masters singles titles and nine in doubles, and four Paralympics Golds in singles and three in doubles (w/ one Silver). All are records. She was undefeated in slam singles competition during her career, spent 668 weeks at #1, was 695-25 in singles and retired with an ungodly, still-active winning streak of 470 matches that stretched back a decade (she only faced one MP -- vs. Korie Homan in the '08 Paralympic Gold Match -- during the streak). From March '01 forward, she was 559-1. Vergeer won 148 career titles, including a streak of 120 straight.
Said Vergeer on the occasion of her retirement, "To be honest, I don't really know or remember what it feels like to lose in singles. I know what it's like to lose a Monopoly game and I don't like that."
As the decade ends, a few of Vergeer's slam title records could prove to be in jeopardy at some point over the course of the 2020's, as the dominance in wheelchair displayed by another Dutch phenom, Diede de Groot, makes it possible that some of Vergeer's career "slam title" (something which took on different forms early in Vergeer's career before settling into the events run simultaneously with the four majors put on featuring WTA/ATP players - *) marks could very well fall. Naturally, though, even *that* accomplishment would come with a Vergeerian asterisk attached, as Wimbledon didn't begin its WC singles competition (which de Groot has already won twice) until 2016 and, well, de Groot is actually a protege of Vergeer, who mentored the young star early in her career.
* - [from Wikipedia] "The Wheelchair Tennis Class 8s at the 2002 Australian Open saw competitive wheelchair tennis take place at the same time and the same venue at a Grand Slam for the first time. In 2005 the Masters series was created, comprising all the events at the Grand Slams and the end of year championships, as Wimbledon and the US Open joined Melbourne. In 2007 Roland Garros joined and the Classic 8s were replaced by the Australian Open which had been held at the same venue two weeks later. In 2009 all events played at the able-bodied players' Grand Slams were renamed Grand Slams."
#7 - Maria Sharapova, RUS
...Sharapova came of age on the sport's biggest stages in the 2000's, winning Wimbledon at 17 in '04, reaching #1 in '05 and winning additional slam crowns in '06 and '08. She ended the decade with a misdiagnosed shoulder injury leading to a career-threatening condition that required surgery in October '09. In the 2010's, she re-arranged her game style and staged a spectacular on-court comeback while also becoming the founder of a successful candymaking business (Sugarpova) off it, only to see a controversial drug suspension and difficulties staying healthy upon her return come to define the remainder of her decade.
While Sharapova would be hampered by issues with her shoulder (often due to the restructured service motion designed to work around her previous injury) throughout the decade, the situation ultimately proved to be something of a "blessing in disguise," as her inability to continue to play her serve-dominant game or consistently maintain a high service percentage, she was forced to become a more versatile player. After improving her on-court movement and defense, including learning to slide on the clay, the Russian became a *better* player as a result. In a remarkable turn of events, after having earlier in her career described herself as a "cow on ice" when it came to playing on the surface, Sharapova became the tour's *best* clay court player of the first half of the decade. From 2012 forward, she was 80-14 on the surface, at one points winning 22 straight three-setters, and claimed Roland Garros titles in 2012 and '14 (her fourth and firth career slam crowns). Her '12 win completed her Career Slam, making her the sixth woman in tennis history to accomplish the feat, and propelled her back into the #1 ranking (for a month) for the first time since '08. She was the first player ever to win a major title after undergoing shoulder surgery. Later that summer, she won Silver at the London Olympics, falling in the final vs. Serena Williams to extend her long losing streak against her since defeating Williams twice during the '04 season (Wimbledon and Tour Chsp. finals), a streak which stands at nineteen matches as the decade ends (including 18 con. sets, and 31 of 32 dating back to '08). Even while still dealing with occasional shoulder issues, Sharapova had four straight Top 4 finishes from 2011-15 and extended her streak of seasons with at least one title to thirteen (2003-15), fourth-longest in WTA history behind Navratilova, Evert and Graf.
After losing the 2016 AO quarterfinals (to Williams), Sharapova tested positive for meldonium, a medication she'd been taking on the recommendation of her doctor since she was a teenager and had not been on the banned list of substances until January '16. She was suspended for two years, and ultimately served a 15-month sentence away from the sport after an arbitration ruling essentially found her to be guilty of mostly an accounting oversight (the new banned substances information had been listed in the fine print of an email sent out during the offseason), ruled to be sincere in being unaware of the new status of the drug and declared to have been at "no significant fault" when it came to any attempt to conceal her use of the drug. Meldonium has since been deemed by those with knowledge of the drug to have no "performance-enhancing" properties, and had been added to the banned list by WADA with zero scientific evidence to the contrary and only a "suspicion" about its effects because many Eastern European athletes were found to have it in their systems. At the time of the suspension (and ever after the ruling in her favor), many WTA players -- many while also revealingly citing long-harbored animosity toward the Russian because of a perceived lack of "friendliness" -- chose the moment to take the low road and attack Sharapova's character. Even now, despite the knowledge of the original misinformation spread about meldonium, as well as the since-revealed often crooked and slipshod practices of WADA itself, some refuse to reconsider their original, firmly stated criticisms directed at Sharapova formed when the ban first became public knowledge. Meanwhile, the dubious predictions of a negative (or mixed) reception from on-site fans at tournaments upon her return proved to be totally unfounded.
Sharapova missed six consecutive slams during her absence, returning to action in April '17. She won a title in that fall and finished the year at #60, then climbed back into the Top 25 in early '18, reaching the QF at Roland Garros that spring. But the Russian has been consistently hampered by injuries since her return (often concerning her foream, as well as continued problems with her shoulder, the latter of which ended her '18 season early as she finished at #29). The issues continued into 2019, when she played just fifteen matches (going 8-7), falling to a season-ending standing of #136, her worst since 2002. She's yet to reach a second slam QF since her return.
Even while the back half of the 2010's produced little of note for Sharapova, her first half was filled with significant results. She reached six slam finals, winning the two RG titles (making her 5-5 in major finals in her career), and won seven high-level Premier crowns (3 Rome, and one each at Indian Wells, Cincinnati, Madrid and Beijing). She won 16 WTA titles in the decade (in 31 finals, giving her a 36-23 career mark), recorded three of her seven #1 wins and 53 of her 98 victories over Top 10 players. She posted 41 during her dominant 2012-14 stretch, but just five since her '17 return to the tour.
Off the court, Sharapova has always found success since she became an endorsement magnet after winning Wimbledon as a teenager. This decade alone she founded her successful candy company, wrote a bestselling autobiography, was the first torch bearer during the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, and launched a program to mentor women entrepreneurs. When asked how long she intended to remain an active player, in the light of her lack of success in recent years, Sharapova continues to state that she's not yet ready to end her tennis career. One suspects she's hoping for a run of good health that will end in a final surge that results in a career-closing, climatic title run. Whether she'll get her "happy" ending is something only the Tennis Gods know for sure... and they ain't revealin' nuthin'.
#6 - Martina Hingis, SUI
...the decade began with Hingis out of the game, a few seasons past her *second* retirement (which had come after that odd, now largely forgotten, failed drug test in '07). Of course, the rumors immediately swirled early on that that was only a temporary situation, as she was the youngest and most impressive participant in the yearly Wimbledon Invitational Doubles exhibition (which she won from 2011-13) as well as the World Team Tennis Female MVP while playing for two different teams (including the multiple title-winning Washington Kastles). The comeback didn't happen, though, until *after* her lack of any sort of announcement kept her Hall of Fame induction on schedule for the summer of 2013. Then, almost as if right on cue soon not long after the enshrinement ceremony, Hingis announced that she was indeed back.
Who was to know that her four and a half year return stint as a doubles specialist would ultimately prove to be Newport-worthy in its own right? But that's just what it was, with Hingis adding ten additional slam titles (4 WD and 6 MX, including a Career MX Slam) to the fifteen (5/9/1) she'd already won from 1996-2006.
Hingis credited Daniela Hantuchova with finally pulling her out of retirement to play doubles with her, but she only committed to a handful of events in '13 and after she and the Slovak didn't find much success it didn't seem that the Swiss Miss' *third* career would last very long. But, still brimming with the talent at age 33 some sixteen seasons after she'd first become the 20th century's youngest slam singles champ (and the youngest ever world #1) in 1997 at age 16, Hingis rebounded from the end of a pseudo-coaching gig with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova early in '14 to regain her old "smiling assassin" persona, cagily teaming up with the sort of doubles partners who complemented her own net game and improbably putting together *the* best doubles career on tour during the 2010's.
Come the spring of '14, having recommitted to a true comeback, Hingis won the Miami doubles with Sabine Lisicki (her first WTA title since '07), then followed up with a U.S. Open final appearance alongside Flavia Pennetta (w/ whom she won two titles in the fall). In the spring of '15, Hingis formed a "dream team" alliance (dubbed "Santina") with Sania Mirza. In their first pairings, they won the "Sunshine Double" at Indian Wells and Miami. Their partnership proved to be a 16-month crowd-pleasing whirlwind that produced some ridiculous success, including three straight slam titles (2015-16 WI-uS-AO), a WTAF crown ('15), a 14-3 mark in finals, a 41-match winning streak and both rising to the #1 doubles ranking (Mirza for the first time ever, and Hingis for the first time in sixteen years).
In 2015, Hingis returned to Fed Cup play after a 17-year absence, ultimately being forced into action in singles in a tie vs. Poland (she lost to both Radwanska sisters). Not long after her and Mirza's 41-match streak ended, their partnership ended, as well (save for a final bow in that season's WTAF, for which they'd qualified as a duo). Hingis then won her first Olympic medal in the '16 games in Rio, teaming with fellow Swiss Timea Bacsinszky to take home Silver. While all that was going on, she was dominating in MX doubles, too. She and Leander Paes completed a Career Mixed Slam between the '15 AO and '16 RG, winning one title at each major. She then claimed back-to-back MX titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open with Jamie Murray, sweeping both the WD/MX at what turned out to be her final slam appearance in '17.
Hingis had played the '17 season with Latisha Chan, who'd interrupted her partnership with her sister Hao-ching for a one-year, one-of-a-kind experience with the Hall of Famer, who'd told her (but hadn't revealed publicly) that she'd retire once again at season's end. It turned out to be quite a year, as they combined for nine titles (they reached nine finals, winning one in a walkover) and finished the season as the co-#1's. It was Hingis' first season-ending doubles #1 finish after having ended years ranked in the Top 3 on five occasions during her multiple stints on tour.
In all during the decade, Hingis won 27 doubles titles (giving her 64 for her career), including 13 high Premier crowns and a WTAF (going 13-3 in such finals to go along with her 10-1 slam WD/MX mark). She ranked 11-2-4-1 in doubles in her four complete seasons on tour in the decade.
Since retiring for the final time (one suspects, at least), Hingis has gotten married and had her first child, daughter Lia, at age 38 in early 2019.
#5 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
...while some players rose steadily over the course of the decade, and others flashed brightly before struggling to stay ahead of the pack, Wozniacki ducked and weaved her through the 2010's, shadowboxing her way past it all even while the "most important" chapter of her journey was anything but a foregone conclusion. Still, in the end, the Dane survived the pitfalls of a long career, finding a way to stand tall before signaling her decision to exit the fight. Just like she always said she would.
Wozniacki didn't need to make a name for herself in the 2010's. When the decade started, though she was just 19, she'd *already* done that. A junior slam champion in 2006, she'd won her first WTA title by the end of '08, and reached a slam final (U.S.) and become the first Top 10 player from Scandinavia in '09. She reached #1 in 2010, becoming the first of what would be eight women who'd rise to the top spot for the first time in their careers during the decade. Wozniacki finished the first year of the 2010's as the season-ending #1, then did it again in 2011. She even continued a streak that she'd begun in 2008, eventually winning at least one singles title a year for eleven straight seasons. But even while her defensive abilities, athleticism and endurance were admired and acknowledged, and she'd shown a competitive grit that belied her oft-sunny attitude, she was quite possibly the most criticized #1 player ever.
Dubbed a "pusher" who lacked power and, rather than *take* a match's big points, was content to simply put balls inside the court until her opponent made a mistake at the end of a long rally, she was more accurately described as a player who lacked the willingness to play the sort of aggressive game necessary to take down other top players and win a major. She always *could* employ such a gameplan, but didn't see the need to change what had already made her the #1 player in the world, not to mention a global star before she'd turned 20 (largely because of her youthful, personal likeability). In retrospect, Wozniacki could turn out to be the *last* top player to be able to truly break through into the *overall* sports consciousness even while spending an entire decade in the spotlight without lifting a major title.
In a sense, she had a point about not *needing* to change a thing, but her lack of a slam title hung over her nonetheless. She never outwardly felt that she had anything to prove and, whenever she was questioned/interrogated about the matter (which was often), she maintained that she "had time" to win a major before her career was over, and wasn't worried. She was young, after all. How many people other than herself, her closest advisers and most optimistic supporters *truly* believed it, though, was questionable.
While the frustration over this unchanging reality grew (at Backspin, the discussions about the how's/how-to's and why's/why not's about it all came to be known as "Wozniology-101"), the Dane simply played on, and never fretted about her perceived plight.
While she went through a slight dip in results in the decade's middle years, winning just one title a season from 2013-15, she maintained her Top 10 standing through 2014. That season, after seeing golfer Rory McIlroy break off their marriage engagement, Wozniacki seemed to find the single-minded, something-to-prove mindset that so many had wished to see in her a few seasons earlier. After simultaneously training off the court to run her first marathon (which she did in New York that fall) while still playing a regular tour schedule, the Dane took a somewhat more aggressive mindset on court and produced her best slam result in five years, reaching the U.S. Open final (a loss to S.Williams). Unfortunately, the change didn't stick, as Wozniacki's season-ending ranking slipped to the bottom of the Top 20 (#17/#19) the next two seasons as she dealt with inconsistent results and injuries (often struggling w/ a bad ankle, which threw a major wrench into her defensive-minded attack). She was forced to miss Roland Garros, her first absence from a major since 2007 and the only one of her career, and fell to as low as #74 in '16 before a strong 4th Quarter (wins in Tokyo and Hong Kong) brought her back into the Top 20. But it was what she began in 2017 that would forever alter the opening paragraph of her career bio.
While she won just one title in '17, it was maybe the most important season of her playing life. For the first time since the early years of the decade, winning once again became an easy habit for the Dane. She reached big finals in Dubai, Miami, Toronto, Tokyo and at the WTA Finals. And while she'd *almost* been written off by most as far as ever snatching that elusive slam title after having slipped into the "second tier" of top players on tour in recent seasons, '17 put her back squarely in the conversation. She reached eight finals (tying the career-best mark she set each year from 2009-11), and though she only won twice she did so in her final two attempts: a successful defense of her Tokyo crown and the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals. She posted fourteen Top 10 wins on the season (by far her best ever), including three over three different #1's (becoming the first player to do that since Dinara Safina in '08), and finished at #3 (her best since 2011). Her short-term addition of Sascha Bajin, who'd previously worked with Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka (and, later Naomi Osaka), as a hitting partner/"assistant coach" seemed to spark a change in the Dane's mindset between the lines, as the long-hoped-for decision to develop a more sustained aggressive gameplan was finally put into action.
Unfortunately, Wozniacki didn't keep Bajin on board into '18 (once again going back to the comfortability of having her dad Piotr oversee her game), but whatever influence he may have had on her (and the success she saw over the '17 season) carried over into the new year. In Melbourne, after saving two MP vs. Jana Fett in the 2nd Round, she recorded her fourth career #1 victory (all coming in a six-month span in 2017-18) in the Australian Open final over Simona Halep to (finally) grab her maiden slam crown some 11 years, 43 majors, and 149 slam matches after her unacknowledged quest had began with her '07 RG debut at age 16. She was the first Danish (and Scandinavian) slam winner. The title run put her back in the #1 ranking (for a month) for the the first time since 2012, the longest gap between #1 stints in women's tennis history. It gave her 71 total weeks in the top spot, the ninth most ever for a WTA player.
After dealing with what she'd deemed a "mystery" ailment that impacted her training, in October Wozniacki announced that she'd been diagnosed with the auto-immune disease rheumatoid arthritis before the U.S. Open. She figured a way around the situation to win her first high-level Premier crown since '11 in Bejiing (without losing a set) that fall, and finished at #3 for a second straight year. It was her seventh Top 10 season of the decade, tied with S.Williams and Kvitova for the most on tour. 2019, though, proved to be a trying year between the lines for the Dane (though she did have a fine time off it, marrying former basketball player David Lee in June). Once again dealing with injuries (and with her condition likely making matters worse), she failed to win a title for the first time since '07 and played in just one final (her lowest since she reaching her first in '08). Her #38 season-ending ranking was her lowest since 2007 (#64), as well.
Wozniacki won 24 singles titles in the decade (third-best on tour), giving her 30 for her career. 43 of her 55 finals came in the 2010's, during which she recorded 51 (of 61) Top 10 wins. She added four additional slam SF results (3 from 2010-11, then another in '16... though a Wimbledon QF-or-better result remained elusive in her career), reached the '10 WTAF final in addition to her '17 win, and was 6-5 in high-level Premier finals (though there was a seven-year gap between wins in 2011 and '18).
While her big moment in the sun on the court took a while to be realized, Wozniacki was busy off it throughout the decade. She found time for modeling (in the fashion of designer Stella McCartney, who also designed many of her tennis outfits, in the pages of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue in multiple years beginning in 2015, and the ESPN Magazine body issue in '17). In 2016, she was Denmark's flagbearer at the Rio Olympics opening ceremonies, and in May '18 she was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by the Queen of Denmark.
Late in '19, Wozniacki announced that she would retire following the '20 Australian Open. It wasn't a shocking development, as her off-court interests and (after the '18 AO) lack of any true remaining on-court goal, combined with the difficulty of her medical condition, had already brought it to the fore as a potential development. One might have wondered if she'd have waited until after the Tokyo Olympics, during which she'll turn 30 this coming summer, before walking away. But Wozniacki never seemed to harbor any notions of an unfulfilled tennis career (and she'd "been there, done that" as far as the Olympic experience goes, reaching the QF in '12 before carrying the flag four years later).
It's hard to tell if Wozniacki would have continued her career beyond the '20 AO if she hadn't won the title in Melbourne two years earlier, but it likely at least had some impact on the decision. It certainly makes walking away with potentially *more* on the table easier than it would have been without it. The '18 win proved quite a bit, closed a lot of career loopholes, and allowed her the chance to take a deep breath and consider her options. Marriage, then retirement, etc. And now whatever comes next.
It was a great (eventual) development both for her and tennis that she finally won her major, allowing her to erase any possible stigma that may have lingered around her career had she not. That one win took away all the negative comments that had hung over her head at the start of the 2010's about what would have been a Hall of Fame-worthy career even without a major title. With that AO crown, she'll probably go into the Hall the first year she's eligible (of course, who's to say she might not go become a mother and then return before that five-year window closes -- at 29, she's young enough to give it a 2-3 year go at age 31/32 if she got the urge... it's been done before).
The Dane will end career as one of best-liked player by fans and foes alike, and was long considered one of the most cheerful and good-natured figures on tour, even as she *did* have a pointed streak that occasionally came out when challenged. Thankfully, such outward chestiness was utilized effectively between the lines before she was through, via the sort of aggressive play that won the Australian Open. As result, her career will end with no page unturned. It's not a bad way to bow out, when one thinks about it.
After a long public discussion, Wozniacki proved -- at virtually the eleventh hour -- that she was right all along. She *did* have time to win a major. And now she'll have time to do whatever she wishes, for however long she desires.
#4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
...oh, Petra. It was both a common exultation ("Oh, Petra!") and lament ("Oh, Petra...") over the run of the decade, as the Czech's dramatic highs were as high or higher than anyone's this decade. Alas, her lows were just as frustrating, being it huff-and-puffing (often while drenched in sweat in intense heat, gasping for breath because of her asthma) near the brutal end of early-round slam losses, or weathering a head-slapping run of unforced errors that suddenly popped up in the middle of a match. Have no fear, though, "P3tra" was no stranger to playing and winning matches that went three sets.
But even with all that, the lingering memories of Kvitova in the 2010's will always be good ones, be they ones of awe (see her soul-crushing -- for her opponents -- Wimbledon title runs), respect (she was the unquestioned team leader of the dominant Czech Fed Cup effort, a part of six title-winning squads in the decade), sudden "fear" ("Pojd!!!") or overwhelming affection (after surviving a December '16 home invasion attack and returning from career-threatening hand surgery, Petra was greeted with a barrage of open smiles, arms and hearts in a wave of adoration unmatched, perhaps, in the history of the sport).
When in top form, few were better than Kvitova, who proved to be one of the most exciting and *the* most dominant and intimidating hitter on tour this side of Serena Williams when her game was firing on all cylinders. With her sweeping lefty serves and aggressive style, the Czech was naturally more at home on grass than any other surface. She burst into the consciousness of the sportsworld by laying waste to the field at the 2011 Wimbledon to claim her maiden slam crown, leaving the horde of Hall of Famers in attendance at Centre Court stunned, with their jaws noticeably dropped. Their effusive praise for her future was fairly unanimous, as she was declared the next great player on tour. But while she starred in Fed Cup and won a second Wimbledon crown three years later, peppering the decade with several short-term, multi-event stretches of breathless dominance along the way, Kvitova never quite followed through on her original brilliance and promise. After winning two titles and reaching three semis and four QF in her first 19 majors in the decade (2010-14), in her last nineteen she reached just one final and two other QF. Good, but a fair bit south of her anticipated "greatness." Oh, Petra.
Aside from a game that was often as error-strewn as it was reliant on blasted winners, the Czech's health was usually the issue. Already asthmatic, she often found her great runs affected by viral illnesses, including having to deal with a case of mononucleosis in 2015. Her endurance was sometimes lacking, as well, as slam matches in Melbourne and New York played in the hot summer sun allowed sometimes "lesser" opponents to get the best of her if they could just keep her on the court *long enough*. Then the 2016 attack, even with her surprisingly prompt return and quick success (while not having full sensation on the fingers of her racket hand, nor able to totally close it), led to what was her "worst" season since her original breakthrough (not that it really mattered at the time, though). She finished at #29 and won just one title (in Birmingham in her second event back).
But Kvitova rebounded to lead the tour in titles in '18 (she last did it in '11) and returned to the Top 5. She reached her third career slam final at the '19 Australian Open, falling to Naomi Osaka but rising to #2 in the rankings. She ranked as high as #2 during four different seasons (the first coming in '11) during the decade, often coming within a single victory of taking the top spot. But she never did.
26 of Kvitova's 27 tour singles titles came during the 2010's (second to only Serena Williams' 37), as did 52 of her 55 Top 10 wins, with four coming over world #1's. Eight high-level Premier crowns were won by the Czech, including three wins on the clay in Madrid. She was 8-2 in such finals, and she won the WTA Finals in '11 and Olympic Bronze in '16. Her seven Top 10 seasons tied Williams and Caroline Wozniacki for the most in the decade (Kvitova also had a #11 finish). Her seven WTAF appearances were the most in the decade, though she ended on a seven-match losing streak in the event that began with the '15 final, going 0-3 in round robin play in both 2018 and '19. The preeminent Fed Cup player over the ten-year span, Kvitova's role on six title-winning teams trails only Chris Evert (8) and Billie Jean King (7) for the most in the event's history (she's tied w/ Rosie Casals), and is the most won by a player since Evert won her sixth in 1982. She was 26-8 in singles for CZE in the decade (30-10 career), including an imposing 21-2 from 2011-15.
Speaking to how well-liked she is, Kvitova ended the 2010's having won the tour's Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award eight straight years, tying Kim Clijsters for the most times honored in a career (aha... the *real* reason for the Belgian's '20 comeback!).
But as the 2020's begin, time has almost sneakily started to nip at Kvitova's heels. She's now one of the tour's veterans. The bright, would-be #1 player in the world of the early 2010's will turn 30 less than two months into the new year, with still quite a few career signposts left to knock down. In decades past, such a period in a career might prove to be an end point, but that changed over the past decade. Even with the vast wave of young, slam-worthy talent crashing the WTA party in the last few seasons, Kvitova more than held her own (see her epic series vs. '19 #1 Ash Barty) and continued to show the ablity to be overwhelming dominant over short periods of time, even if she's never quite been able to sustain such a run over a full season.
Thus, that elusive #1 ranking, the chance to be the most decorated Fed Cup player *ever* and the right to lift a slam trophy high somewhere other than at the All-England Club, just to name a few, remain as "gettable" accomplishments for Kvitova before the eventual love-in that will occur in Newport somewhere down the line. A large portion of the 2020's could still yet leave the field "Petra-fied."
#3 - Angelique Kerber, GER
...in there was an award for the decade's "Most Improved" player it'd likely be Kerber. When the 2010's began, no one would have been able to predict that the unheralded German would slowly build her game, confidence and career resume over the timespan to a point to where she'd be in the discussion as arguably the best women's player of the 2010's not named Serena. In fact, even in 2015 one would have been hard-pressed to think that the player born in Bremen to Polish parents in the same year (1988) in which Steffi Graf won her "Golden Slam" would win more majors in the decade than any player other than Williams.
As it turned out, the greatest trick that Kerber ever pulled was convincing the world that she didn't exist.
Kerber's unexpected climb to the top of the sport was signified by a mid-career commitment that saw her work to become possibly the fittest player on tour (neck and neck w/ Wozniacki?) and add to her great defensive skills a willingness to take chances and play to *win*, not just compete well. In the back-half of the decade, Kerber finally became the long-awaited German successor to the great Graf (Kerber's childhood idol) as she emerged to have her "career year" at age 28 and ride an ability to turn mid-point defense into point-winning offense all the way to the #1 ranking and (so far) three-quarters of a Career Slam, defeating Williams in the final to claim two of the titles.
There were early-decade rumblings of what was to come. Before she'd won her first tour singles title, Kerber (ranked #92) was a surprise U.S. Open semifinalist in 2011, defeating two seeded players (#12 Radwanska, #26 Pennetta) en route. In 2012, she broke into the Top 10 in the spring, reached the Wimbledon semis and finished the season in the Top 5 (a first for a German woman since Graf was #1 in '96). She led Germany to its first Fed Cup final in 22 years in 2014, falling to the Czech machine. Just 3-9 in tour finals from 2010-14, she set the stage for her breakout year by going 4-1 in '15, including winning titles on four surfaces (including her maiden wins on both red and green clay, as well as grass).
Five years after she'd made a name for herself in one slam, and four years after she'd reached a semifinal at a second different major, Kerber hit the ground running in '16 and stunned the tennis world by *winning* at a third, picking up the Australian Open crown in her 33rd career slam MD, defeating S.Williams in the final (for, surprisingly thus far, her *only* career #1 win). After having saved MP in her 1st Round match (an Open era first for an eventual major title winner) vs. Misaki Doi, Kerber became the first German slam champ since Graf in '99. It was only the beginning. Kerber won 63 matches that season (still her career high), finished at #1, won the U.S. Open (def. Karolina Pliskova, who'd denied her the #1 ranking with a win the Cincinnati final weeks earlier) and came THIS CLOSE to putting together *the* most accomplished season by a singles player in the entire decade, as she came up one win short of additional crowns at Wimbledon (lost to Williams), the Olympics (lost to unlikely Gold medalist Puig) and the WTA Finals (lost to unlikely champ Cibulkova, who'd gone 1-2 in rr play).
The inherent lingering physical and mental fatigue from completing her career year seemed to linger into the following year for Kerber. She's been up and down between the lines ever since. A season later, she went title-less and reached just one final, suffering the greatest non-injury/retirement related one-year ranking slip for a world #1 in tour history, dropping all the way down to #21. She then rebounded in '18, defeating S.Williams in a second slam final (the first player other than Venus Williams to ever do it) to win Wimbledon, picking up a third leg of a Career Slam. In taking the title, Kerber (30) joined S.Williams, Pennetta and Li as slam champs crowned in their thirties during the decade, and just one of ten women in the Open era to have done so in the age bracket. After finishing at #2 in '18, Kerber nearly slipped out of the Top 20 (#20 finish) again in 2019, once more going title-less.
The final four seasons of the decade kept up an odd pattern for Kerber in even and odd-numbered years, one perhaps best seen in her slam results during those seasons. In 2016 and '18 she was 20-2 and 18-3, respectively, in the majors. In '17 (6-4) and '19 (4-4) her results diminished considerably. For the decade, she was 70-17 in slams in even-numbered years, but just 31-20 in the odds. Even so, she was one of the few players healthy enough to play in all forty slams contested in the 2010's.
In all, Kerber won 12 titles (in 30 finals) between 2010-19, including a 3-1 mark in slam finals. She was 0-7 in high-level Premier, WTAF and Olympic finals, and often came up on the short end of some of the decade's most epic and memorable matches ('18 AO semi vs. Halep, '19 I.W. final vs. Andreescu). Even with her various ups and downs, though, Kerber (after having not had any through 2011) recorded 39 Top 10 wins in the decade, and finished in the Top 10 herself six different seasons. Her decade will surely secure her a Hall of Fame berth after her playing days are over, but if she can find a way to grab a Roland Garros crown (she reached the QF in 2012 & '18) she'd add her name to the short list of the sport's legends who've won each major title at least once. Soon to turn 32, Kerber's opportunities are likely dwindling to accomplish the feat (everyone can't be Serena, after all), but 2020 *is* an even-numbered year. So...
#2 - Simona Halep, ROU
...the decade's "warrior goddess" in a relatively pint-sized body, Halep channeled (in good and bad ways) the likes of both Justine Henin (the Romanian's tennis idol, and smallish-but-big-in-heart kin) and Jana Novotna (her "psychic twin" from another era who similarly battled past her own mental roadblocks before finally achieving her greatest career moment) over the course of the 2010's. Her straightforward resilience came to define the intangible hurdles that must be overcome before even one of the world's best athletes can sometimes permit herself to "breathe it all in."
Halep's tennis immortality was hard-earned, but will stand the test of time because, even in the era of the I-want-it-now "PDQ" tennis generation of stars, sport will always play host to talented individuals who still doubt themselves and seek to hold their efforts up to an almost unattainable standard, then see circumstances force them to endure an almost Herculean series of potentially psychologically crushing labors before being rewarded with ultimate success. For Halep this past decade that was two major titles, 64 weeks at #1 (10th all-time), back-to-back season-ending #1 rankings (accomplished by only the three others -- Davenport, Henin, Wozniacki and S.Williams -- this century) and the tour's longest active streaks in the Top 10 (309 weeks, nearly twice as long as the next longest active run) and Top 20 (329) as the decade ends.
A junior champion at Roland Garros in '08, Halep somewhat controversially decided to undergo breast reduction surgery at age 17 largely because she believed it would improve her "ability to react quickly" on the court. She had her breakthrough WTA season in 2013, winning half a dozen titles (in 6 finals), rising from around #50 in the world to finish the year at #11. A season later, she became the first Romanian since 1996 (Spirlea) to reach the Top 10, and then the first from her nation to reach a slam final (at Roland Garros) since 1980 (Ruzici). She lost in Paris in three tough sets vs. Maria Sharapova (the Russian declared it the toughest of her slam final victories). It wouldn't be the last time Halep would come close to great success, only to fall just short.
Even as she maintained a high level of tennis, finishing every season from 2014 forward in the Top 5, the highest level of success -- a slam crown -- remained elusive. Largely, the problem resided within Halep herself. Halep admitted that when she was a little girl she "didn't have the courage to dream," and as she reached her mid-twenties, having been on tour for nearly a decade, her worst enemy continued to be a stubborn lack of belief in herself. Though she had the
After a short break with Cahill after he'd walked away in the spring of '17, issuing Halep an ultimatum after he believed she'd given up in a match vs. Johanna Konta in Miami, Simona was finally "scared straight" and vowed to right the internal wrongs that only *she* could fix. The moment, and her reaction to it, changed everything. She reached her second RG final a few months later (losing to Ostapenko after holding a 6-4/3-0, with 3 BP for 4-0, lead). The loss left her a win short of reaching #1, but she completed the climb in the fall in Beijing (def. RG conquerors Sharapova and Ostapenko before falling in the final vs. Garcia) and finished the season in the top spot. At the Australian Open the following January, Halep nearly upstaged the *actual* champion of the event (Wozniacki) with her incredible string of marathon performances -- as she battled out of huge scoreboard holes, injury and exhaustion in the intense Melbourne heat -- en route to a third slam final. It was the greatest non-championship performance of the entire decade, and arguably ever. She ended up being hospitalized after the event, but her course was set for something great.
At Roland Garros that spring, finally, she wasn't to be denied. In Halep's third final in five years in Paris, the long distance triumph of the resilient Romanian finally became a reality with her maiden slam crown that somehow made all the heartbreak, anger, injury, blood, sweat, tears and disappointment worth it. Her deserved moment in the sun brought down a crescendo of relief, satisfaction and admiration both from and for Halep, from legions of fans and fellow players alike, cementing her legacy not only as a national sporting heroine in Romania but as one of the most beloved tennis champions worldwide. Having also reached big Premier finals in Rome, Montreal and Cincinnati (going 1-2, and coming a MP away vs. Bertens in the latter final from the first ever Rogers Cup/Cincy title sweep in back-to-back weeks), she backed up her #1 season in '17 with another in '18. With her success having helped her learn to be more "chill," and even with Cahill stepping away from coaching for a year, a (finally) relaxed Halep had an unexpected victory lap at Wimbledon a season later in which she played perhaps the best match of her career in a comprehensive handling of S.Williams in the SW19 final for slam title #2.
Coming after many lessons learned had instilled a still-growing confidence in her own abilities brought Simona an extra special bonus that remarkably may have even topped her win in Paris. *That* title run was about proving to herself what she was capable of, while her second major title was about what she had *become* because of that hard-earned knowledge. She'd taught herself to *always* be strong, and her second major win was her first public moment as a player (and individual) to revel in that accomplishment.
In all, Halep totaled 19 singles titles in the decade (in 36 finals), going 2-3 in slam championship matches (her five finals were the third most in the 2010's behind S.Williams' 19 and Sharapova's 6) and 7-9 in high-level Premier finals while also reaching the WTAF championship match in '14. She posted 39 total Top 10 wins, and reached at least the QF in 13 of the decade's final 24 majors, including a SF at the U.S. Open, the only slam at which she didn't reach the final. Perhaps most impressive, though, was Halep's ability to not suffer through a ranking-sinking lapse at any time since her original breakthrough in 2013. After a #11 finish that year, she ran off a 3-2-4-1-1-4 string of season-ending rankings to close out the decade, tying Williams for the most Top 5 seasons (6) in the 2010's, but being the only to string together her numbers in *consecutive* seasons. The last player to post six straight Top 5 singles seasons was Martina Hingis from 1996-2001.
Halep led Romania to the Fed Cup semis in '19 after dethroning the Czechs in the 1st Round (assuming her team leader role by going 4-0 in World Group singles play that season before falling in a deciding doubles match a round later to eventual champion France), but wasn't yet able to continue her door-kicking-in pattern. It remains one of the few "gets" left for Halep, who talked openly after winning RG that her last "dream" accomplishment was to win an Olympic medal for her beloved Romania. She'll get that chance (likely her last) in '20 in Tokyo, but it was recently announced that she won't play Fed Cup in the debut year of event's new format next season.
While Halep has denied rumors that she was newly engaged to be married, she'll nonetheless be eyeing her 30th birthday less than a year after the '20 season concludes. Henin had already retired *twice* by time she turned 29. Unless her Wimbledon run, a surprise even to her, opens the door (and her eyes) for more, one wonders how much longer we'll have Halep to admire on the tennis landscape. However long that is, though, it'll serve as an extended opportunity to witness the tangible proof that mountains are there to be climbed, no matter how many attempts it may take to reach the summit.
Meanwhile...
Serena Williams has been voted the AP Female Athlete of the Decade. Williams won 12 of her professional-era record 23 Grand Slam singles titles over the past 10 years. No other woman won more than three in that span. https://t.co/UROapQ1hFk
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 28, 2019
1. Serena Williams, USA2. Simona Halep, ROU
3. Angelique Kerber, GER
4. Petra Kvitova, CZE
5. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
6. Martina Hingis, SUI
7. Maria Sharapova, RUS
8. Esther Vergeer, NED (WC)
9. Li Na, CHN
10. Diede de Groot, NED (WC)
11. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
12. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
13. Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
14. Yui Kamiji, JPN (WC)
15. Kim Clijsters, BEL
16. Garbine Muguruza, ESP
17. Samantha Stosur, AUS
18. Jiske Griffioen, NED (WC)
19. Aniek Van Koot, NED (WC)
20. Karolina Pliskova, CZE
21. Venus Williams, USA
22. Aga Radwanska, POL
23. (tie) Sara Errani, ITA
23. (tie) Roberta Vinci, ITA
25. Lucie Safarova, CZE
26. Elina Svitolina, UKR
27. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
28. Ash Barty, AUS
29. Sania Mirza, IND
30. Jordanne Whiley, GBR (WC)
31. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
32. Naomi Osaka, JPN
33. Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
34. Sloane Stephens, USA
35. Barbora Strycova, CZE
36. Hsieh Su-wei, TPE
37. Latisha Chan, TPE
38. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE
39. Peng Shuai, CHN
40. Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE
41. Alona Ostapenko, LAT
42. Bianca Andreescu, CAN
43. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
44. CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
45. Marion Bartoli, FRA
46. Timea Babos, HUN
47. Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
48. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
49. Gisela Dulko, ARG
50. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
*BACKSPIN'S non-"Fab 50" 2010-19 HONOR ROLL (to 168)*
Akgul Amanmuradova, UZB
Amanda Anisimova, USA
Shuko Aoyama, JPN
Raquel Atawo, USA
Timea Bacsinszky, SUI
Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU
Belinda Bencic, SUI
Iveta Benesova, CZE
Kiki Bertens, NED
Cara Black, ZIM
Genie Bouchard, CAN
Jennifer Brady, USA
Marjolein Buis, NED (wc)
Chan Chin-wei, TPE
Chan Hao-ching, TPE
Chuang Chia-jung, TPE
Danielle Collins, USA
Gaby Dabrowski, CAN
Harriet Dart, GBR
Kimiko Date, JPN
Casey Dellacqua, AUS
Elena Dementieva, RUS
Daniela Di Toro, AUS (wc)
Caroline Dolehide, USA
Duan Yingying, CHN
Vera Dushevina, RUS
Sabine Ellerbrock, GER (wc)
Marina Erakovic, NZL
Kirsten Flipkens, BEL
Jarmila Gajdosova (Wolfe; ex-Groth), AUS
Caroline Garcia, FRA
Margarita Gasparyan, RUS
Camila Giorgi, ITA
Julia Goerges, GER
Florence Gravellier, FRA (wc)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
Justine Henin, BEL
Korie Homan, NED (wc)
Eri Hozumi, JPN
Liezel Huber, USA
Ana Ivanovic, SRB
Jelena Jankovic, SRB
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik, POL
Kaia Kanepi, EST
Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
Miyu Kato, JPN
Madison Keys, USA
Maria Kirilenko, RUS
Andreja Klepac, SLO
Ana Konjuh, CRO
Johanna Konta, GBR
Michaella Krajicek, NED
Luksika Kumkhum, THA
Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK
Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
Johanna Larsson, SWE
Varvara Lepchenko, USA
Sabine Lisicki, GER
Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO
Petra Martic, CRO
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP
Christina McHale, USA
Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
Nicole Melichar, USA
Elise Mertens, BEL
Karolina Muchova, CZE
Monica Niculescu, ROU
Makoto Ninomiya, JPN
Melanie Oudin, USA
Tamira Paszek, AUT
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
Teliana Pereira, BRA
Kveta Peschke, CZE
Andrea Petkovic, GER
Nadia Petrova, RUS
Tsvetana Pironkova, BUL
Monica Puig, PUR
Yulia Putintseva, KAZ
Lisa Raymond, USA
Alison Riske, USA
Laura Robson, GBR
Anastasia Rodionova, RUS
Shelby Rogers, USA
Alicja Rosolska, POL
Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR
Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
Demi Schuurs, NED
Anastasija Sevastova, LAT
Astra Sharma, AUS
Lucy Shuker, GBR (wc)
Laura Siegemund, GER
Abigail Spears, USA
Rennae Stubbs, AUS
Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
Aldila Sutjiadi, INA
Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
Taylor Townsend, USA
Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL
Donna Vekic, CRO
Marketa Vondrousova, CZE
Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ
Sharon Walraven, NED (wc)
Wang Qiang, CHN
Heather Watson, GBR
Xu Yifan, CHN
Yang Zhaoxuan, CHN
Zhang Shuai, CHN
Zheng Jie, CHN
Zheng Saisai, CHN
*TOP 10 WTA PLAYERS - SINGLES only*
1.Serena Williams, USA
2.Simona Halep, ROU
3.Angelique Kerber, GER
4.Petra Kvitova, CZE
5.Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
6.Maria Sharapova, RUS
7.Li Na, CHN
8.Victoria Azarenka, BLR
9.Kim Clijsters, BEL
10.Flavia Pennetta, ITA
HM-Garbine Muguruza, ESP
*TOP WD+MX - INDIVIDUAL*
1.Martina Hingis, SUI
2.Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
3.Sania Mirza, IND
4.Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
5.Latisha Chan, TPE
NON-RANKED SPECIAL MENTION: Kveta Peschke, CZE
...21 WD titles, 1 slam (w/ Srebotnik '11), 3 MX finals, playing at age 44 in '19
*TOP DOUBLES DUOS*
1.Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA - won Career Doubles Slam, 5 majors, 22 titles
2.Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS - 3 slams, Olympic Gold, WTAF, 12 titles
3.Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, SUI/IND - 3 slams, Sunshine Double, WTAF, 14 titles in 16-month partnership
4.Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA - 4 slams, 6 titles, Olympic Gold
5.Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE - 5 slams (3 con. 2016-17), 11 titles
6.Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA - 2 slams, back-to-back WTAF, 9 titles
7.Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE - 3 juniors slams '13, 2 women's slams '18
8.Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic, FRA/FRA - '16 RG champs and Fed Cup finalists, '19 FC deciding doubles win in final, 4 titles
9.Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE - 2 slams, Olympic Silver, 3 Cincinnati, 10 titles (& 2 $100K ITF)
10.Hsieh Su-wei/Peng Shuai, TPE/CHN - 2 slams, WTAF, Indian Wells, 8 titles
11.Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan, TPE/TPE - 14 titles, Cincinnati/Doha Premier, WTA 125, 2 ITF
12.Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR - Sunshine Double and U.S. Open in '19
13.Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA - 1 slam, WTAF, Indian Wells, 9 titles
14.Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA - 1 slam, WTAF, Miami, 8 titles
15.Latisha Chan/Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI - 1 slam, Indian Wells, 9 titles in '17
HM-Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ - 2 slams, 4 titles
NON-RANKED SPECIAL MENTION: Raquel Atawo (née Kops-Jones)/Abigail Spears, USA/USA
...13 titles, 19 finals, Cincinnati '14 win; 2007-16 partnership
*TOP MIXED DOUBLES - INDIVIDUAL*
1.Martina Hingis, SUI - Career MX Slam w/ Paes, + 2 w/ J.Murray
2.Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA - 4 slam wins (U.S. 2018-19 w/ J.Murray); '16 Olympic Gold
3.Latisha Chan, TPE - RG 2018-19 w/ Dodig; 2 con. MX slams in '19
4.Sania Mirza, IND - 2 MX slams + 3 RU (4 diff. partners); '16 Olympic SF w/ 5th
5.Kristina Mladenovic, FRA - 2-2 slam finals w/ Nestor
6.Cara Black, ZIM - AO/WI in '10 w/ Paes
7.Katarina Srebotnik, SLO - 2-1 MX finals 2010-11
8.Gaby Dabrowski, CAN - 2-2 MX finals 2017-19
9.Lisa Raymond, USA - 3 MX finals (1-2) w/ 3 partners 2010-13
10.Lucie Hradecka, CZE - 1-2 MX finals 2013-15
HM-Victoria Azarenka, BLR - '12 Olympic Gold w/ Mirnyi; '18 Wimb. RU w/ J.Murray
[duos]
1.Martina Hingis/Leander Paes, SUI/IND
2.Latisha Chan/Ivan Dodig, TPE/CRO
3.Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jamie Murray, USA/GBR
4.Martina Hingis/Jamie Murray, SUI/GBR
5.Kristina Mladenovic/Daniel Nestor, FRA/CAN
6.Cara Black/Leander Paes, ZIM/IND
7t.Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi, BLR/BLR (Olympic Gold '12)
7t.Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jack Sock, USA/USA (Olympic Gold '16)
8t.Melanie Oudin/Jack Sock, USA/USA (home slam title '10)
8t.Heather Watson/Henri Kontinen, GBR/FIN (home slam title '16)
8t.Jarmila Gajdosova/Matthew Ebden, AUS/AUS (home slam title '13)
9.Lisa Raymond/Mike Bryan, USA/USA
10.Iveta Benesova/Jurgen Melzer, CZE/AUT (couple '11)
*TOP WHEELCHAIR*
1.Esther Vergeer, NED - undefeated in singles; 7s/8d slams, 2 Paralympic Golds, 3 s/d Masters; retired after '12
2.Diede de Groot, NED - first in sport to win all eight slam titles (won 7 of 8 slams, s/d Masters in '19); 15 totals slam wins 2017-19; 20 con. slam F to end decade
3.Yui Kamiji, JPN - 20 slams (6s/14d); Paralympic singles Bronze; 3 Masters (1/2); WD Grand Slam w/ Whiley in '14
4.Jiske Griffioen, NED - 12 (4s/8d) slams; '16 Paralympic Gold sweep; first Wimbledon WS champ in '16; 4 Masters (2/2)
5.Aniek Van Koot, NED - 3 singles slams (+1 Masters), 15 doubles slams (+4 Masters); '16 Paralympics WD Gold; two WD Grand Slams (w/ Griffioen '13, de Groot '19)
6.Jordanne Whiley, GBR - won '15 U.S. singles (hasn't played tournament since due to pregnancy, Paralympics and being ranked #8 and replaced by WC in '19 draw); won 9 WD slams w/ Kamiji (Grand Slam in '14, 5 con. majors)
7.Marjolein Buis, NED - '16 RG singles, +4 doubles slams (and Para. Gold '12 and Silver '16); WC classification change will force to retire after '20
8.Sabine Ellerbrock, GER - two singles slams in 2013-14; career began at age 33 in '09, reached #1 four years later; active in '19 at age 44
9.Sharon Walraven, NED - won seven con. WD majors 2010-12 (all w/ Vergeer); '10 AO singles RU
10.Lucy Shuker, GBR - five slam WD finals 2010-18; Masters doubles champ w/ de Groot in '16; two-time Para. WD Bronze medalist
HM-Korie Homan, NED - 2010 AO singles champ (w/d from WD in same event due to wrist injury, then retired in July w/o playing another match as a repair via surgery wasn't an option)
*TOP JUNIORS*
1.Belinda Bencic, SUI - only back-to-back girls major champ in 2010's, winning RG/WI in 2013
2.Ana Konjuh, CRO - won two singles slams (AO/US) in '13; swept AO s/d; '12 Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl champ
3t.Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE - won three con. GD slams (RG/WI/US) in '13; Krejcikova had reached GD final at AO
3t.Timea Babos/Sloane Stephens, HUN/USA - won three con. GD slams (RG/WI/US) in '10; Babos had reached AO GD final
5.Taylor Townsend, USA - swept 2012 AO singles/doubles; won three GD slams in '12 (2 w/ Gaby Andrews); reached '13 WI singles final
6.Genie Bouchard, CAN - in 2012 at Wimbledon became first Canadian jr. slam singles champ; won GD at Wimbledon in 2011-12 (one w/ Townsend)
7.Coco Gauff, USA - at 14, became youngest girls #1 in '18; '17 U.S. girls finalist, '18 RG girls champ; won U.S. GD w/ McNally (2018); '18 Orange Bowl 18s champ
8.Liang En-shuo, TPE - became first Taiwanese girls slam champ, sweeping s/d at AO in '18
9.Ons Jabeur, TUN - first Arab female to win slam girls crown, winning RG singles in '10 (had been finalist in' 10)
10.Wang Xinyu/Wang Xiyu, CHN/CHN - first all-CHN duo to win girls doubles slam at '18 Wimbledon; Xinyu also won '13 AO GD w/ Liang; at U.S. Open Xiyu was first CHN girls slam winnner
=ADDITIONAL NOTEWORTHY JUNIOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS=
Bianca Andreescu, CAN - won back-to-back GD slams in '17 (AO/RG); Orange Bowl 16s (2014) and 18s (2015) singles champ
Ash Barty, AUS - first Aussie girl to win Wimbledon (2011) since 1980
Clara Burel, FRA - in 2018, was runner-up at AO (Liang), U.S. (Wang Xiyu) and Youth Summer Games (Juvan), but won Junior Masters and was girls #1 for season
Olga Danilovic, SRB - won three GD majors (w/ three partners) in 2016-17
Kaja Juvan, SLO - swept s/d Golds at Youth Summer Games in '18
Irina Khromacheva, RUS - won three GD majors from 2010-12 (five finals w/ five partners)
Elizaveta Kulichkova, RUS - swept 2014 AO singles/doubles titles
An-Sophie Mestach, BEL - swept 2011 AO singles/doubles titles
Tereza Mihalikova, SVK - back-to-back AO singles finals (won '15); 3 GD slam finals 2014-16 (won '16 AO)
Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, COL - became first jr. girls slam champ ('19 U.S.) from South America since 2000
Alona Ostapenko, LAT - at Wimbledon in 2014 became first Latvian girls slam champ
Whitney Osuigwe, USA - first U.S. girl to win RG (2017) since 1989; '17 Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl titles
Karolina Pliskova, CZE and Kristyna Pliskvoa, CZE - only sisters to win jr. slams in decade, both in '10 (Karolina AO, Kristyna WI)
*FED CUP PLAYERS*
1.Petra Kvitova, CZE
2.Flavia Pennetta, ITA
3.Karolina Pliskova, CZE
4.CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
5.Kiki Bertens, NED
6t.Roberta Vinci, ITA & Sara Errani, ITA
7t.Caroline Garcia, FRA & Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
8.Ash Barty, USA
9.Barbora Strycova, CZE
10.Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
HM-Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR
Special Mention: Aleksandra Krunic, SRB
[captains]
1.Petr Pala, CZE
2.Kathy Rinaldi, USA
3.Corrado Barazzutti, ITA
4.Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
5.Julien Benneteau, FRA
HM-Paul Haarhuis, NED
[nations]
1.Czech Republic - 6 titles (2011-12,14-16,18), 3 semis
2.Italy - 2 titles (2010,13), 3 semis
3.France - 1 title (2019), 2 RU, 2 semis
4.United States - 1 title (2017), 2 RU
5.Russia - 3 finals, 2 semis
6.Australia - 2 finalS, 1 semi
7.Belarus - 1 final, 1 semi
8.Germany - 1 final, 2 semis
9.Netherlands - 1 semi
10.Romania - 1 semi
HM-Switzerland (2 semis) & Serbia (1 final)
*TOP OLYMPIANS*
1.Serena Williams, USA - 2012 singles/doubles Golds
2.Monica Puig, PUR - 2016 singles Gold
3.Victoria Azarenka, BLR - 2012 singles Bronze, 2012 mixed Gold
4.Venus Williams, USA - 2012 doubles Gold, 2016 mixed Silver
5.Lucie Hradecka, CZE - 2012 doubles Silver, 2016 mixed Bronze
6.Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA - 2016 mixed Gold
7.Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS - 2016 doubles Gold
8.Maria Sharapova, RUS - 2012 singles Silver
9.Angelique Kerber, GER - 2016 singles Silver
10.Timea Bacsinszky/Martina Hingis, SUI - 2016 doubles Silver
HM-Petra Kvitova, CZE (2016 singles Bronze) & Laura Robson, GBR (2012 mixed Silver)
*NCAA PLAYERS*
1.Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA) - 2011-12 singles
2.Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA) - 2014 and '16 singles
HM-Brienne Minor, Michigan (USA) - 2017 singles; first African-American NCAA WS champ
*TEAM COMPETITIONS*
[World Team Tennis]
1.Washington Kastles - 2011-15 champions (2011-12 undefeated seasons)
2.Springfield Lasers - 2018-19 champions
[Hopman Cup]
1.Switzerland (Belinda Bencic/Roger Federer) - 2018-19 champions
2.Australia Green (Dasha Gavrilova/Nick Kyrgios) - 2016 champs; first AUS since '99
[Wheelchair World Team Cup]
1.Netherlands - 2010-16,18-19 champions
2.China - 2017 champions
[Junior Fed Cup 16s]
1.United States - 5 titles, 2 runners-up
2.Czech Republic - 1 title, 1 runner-up
3.Russia - 2 titles, 1 runner-up
[ITF World Junior 14s]
1.United States - 3 titles, 4 runners-up
2.Russia - 3 titles, 1 runner-up
3.Ukraine - 1 titles, 3 runners-up
[NCAA]
1.Stanford Cardinal - 2010,16,18-19 champions
2.Florida Gators - 2011-12,17 champions
*Ms. Backspin of the 2010's*
Serena Williams
*Backspin MVP of the 2010's*
Si-mo-na (Halep)
*Best Quote*
"Welcome to the crazy women's tennis tour." - Li Na (2013 Wimbledon/2014 Indian Wells)
*Best Change*
Equal Prize Money at the Majors
*Most Debated Policy Change*
WTA On-Court Coaching Sessions
*Most Unnecessary Change*
The "new" Fed Cup
*Most Controversial Figure*
Margaret Court
*Most Vivid Mirages*
Justine Henin's early 2010 comeback (Brisbane/Australian Open finals; 2 titles) and Genie Bouchard's 2014 season (Wimbledon final, AO/RG semis, #5 ranking, and only WTA singles title)
*Oddest Development*
Different Final Set Rules at Each of the Four Slam Events
...AO: Super Tie-Break (to 10) at 6-6
...RG: Play Out Set, Win By 2
...WI: Tie-Break (to 7) at 12-12
...US: Tie-Break (to 7) at 6-6
*Best TV Coverage Change*
All-Court Streaming Coverage at Slam Events
*Best Technological Advancement*
Retractable Roof Stadiums at the Majors
*Most Maddeningly Inaccurate On-Screen Graphic*
During Serena Williams' quest for the all-time slam title record, ESPN continuing (literally for years!) to have a British flag behind the image of 1920/30's legend -- and Californian (!!!!) -- Helen Wills-Moody
*TOP PERFORMANCES*
[Overall/Extended Run]
2012 - Serena Williams' "Golden Summer Slam"
...won Wimbledon/Olympics/U.S. Open + WTAF
[One Tournament]
2016 - Monica Puig at Rio Olympics
...first Puerto Rican Gold medalist ever; def. 3/4 '16 slam winners (Kerber-AO/US wins, WI F & Muguruza-RG) and Kvitova
[Back-to-Back Tournaments, non-Slam]
2016 "Sunshine Double" (Indian Wells/Miami) - Victoria Azarenka
[Season]
2013 - Serena Williams
...year-end #1; 78-4; 2 slams, WTAF, 5 high-Premier titles; 11-2 in finals; 21 Top 10 wins
[Season - Most Versatile]
2019 - Ash Barty
...year-end #1 ranking; RG, Miami and WTAF WS titles; Rome WD; carried AUS to Fed Cup final; simultaneous WS/WD Top 10
[Season - w/o Slam Title]
2017 - Elina Svitolina
...5-0 in finals; 11 Top 10 wins, 3 over #1's; 3 high-Premier titles
["Career Season"]
2016 - Angelique Kerber
...#1 ranking; won Australian Open/U.S. Open; finalist at Wimbledon/Olympics/WTAF
[Career Breakout Season]
2019 Bianca Andreescu
...Indian Wells, Rogers Cup & U.S. Open titles; first CAN slam champ; Top 5 ranking; won first 8 matches vs. Top 10
["Career Slam"]
2012 Roland Garros - completed by Maria Sharapova
[Most Versatile Slam Career]
Samantha Stosur
...only player in 2010's to win slam singles (2011 U.S.), doubles (2019 AO) and mixed titles (2014 WI)
[Comeback Result - Slam]
2017 Australian Open - Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
...second career slam semifinal, 18 years after previous one at '99 Wimbledon
[Comeback Result - non-Slam]
2017 Birmingham - Petra Kvitova
...first post-home invasion attack/emergency surgery title
[Comeback Career - Singles]
Kim Clijsters
...post-retirement: won 3 majors (2 in 2010's), WTAF, Miami/Cincinnati (7 WS titles); returned to #1 (2011) for first time since '06
[Comeback Career - Doubles]
Martina Hingis
...post-second retirement/HoF induction: won 4 WD slams, 6 MX (completed MX Career Slam w/ Paes); Olympic WD Silver '16 (first medal); "Sunshine Double" & WTAF in '15; 27 WD titles; returned to #1 (2016) for first time since '00
[Golden Set]
2012 Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Yaroslava Shvedova (vs. Sara Errani; swept all 24 points)
[Most Memorable Non-Title Winning Run]
2018 Australian Open - Simona Halep (RU)
[Sequel]
2014-15 - Serena Williams' "Serena Slam II"
[Sequel, non-Slam]
2015 Toronto & 2019 Dubai - Belinda Bencic (big titles w/ 4 Top 10 wins each)
*MATCHES OF THE DECADE*
[Top Match]
1. 2016 Wimbledon 4th Rd. - Dominika Cibulkova def. Aga Radwanska 6-3/5-7/9-7
2. 2011 Australian Open 4th Rd - Francesca Schiavone def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4/1-6/16-14
3. 2016 Doha QF - Aga Radwanska def. Roberta Vinci 3-6/6-2/6-3 [Most Enjoyable Match]
4. 2013 Cincinnati Final - Victoria Azarenka def. Serena Williams 2-6/6-2/7-6(6)
5. 2018 Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Lauren Davis 4-6/6-2/15-13
[Top Comeback]
1. 2015 Roland Garros SF - Serena Williams def. Timea Bacsinszky 4-6/6-3/6-0
..."flu match"; won title
2. 2016 Australian 1st Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Misaki Doi 6-7(4)/7-6(6)/6-3
...1 MP; won title
3. 2018 Australian Open 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Jana Fett 3-6/6-2/7-5
...5-1 in 3rd, 2 MP; won title
4. 2017 Roland Garros QF - Simona Halep def. Elina Svitolina 3-6/7-6(6)/6-0
...trailed 6-3/5-1, MP down in TB
5. 2015 Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Serena Williams def. Heather Watson 6-2/4-6/7-5
...Watson served for match; SW won title
[Top Upset]
1. 2015 U.S. Open SF - Roberta Vinci def. Serena Williams 2-6/6-4/6-4
..Serena title away from 2015 Grand Slam
2. 2012 Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Virginie Razzano def. Serena Williams 4-6/7-6(5)/6-3
...Serena's only 1st Rd. slam loss
3t. 2010 Wimbledon QF - Tsvetana Pironkova def. Venus Williams 6-2/6-3
3t. 2010 Wimbledon 4th Rd. - Tsvetana Pironkova def. Venus Williams 6-2/6-3
...Venus' personal albatross, Pironkova won three of four matches in their all-time series, including at another major (AO 1st Rd.) in 2006
4. 2013 U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Vicky Duval def. Samantha Stosur 5-7/6-4/6-4
...#296, in second career WTA MD match, def. '11 champ under the lights on Ashe
5. 2014 Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Alize Cornet def. Serena Williams 1-6/6-3/6-4
...Cornet had been 0-20 in grand slam vs. Top 20 players; second of three '14 wins over Williams
*Miscellaneous*
Most Historic Title: 2011 Roland Garros - Li Na (first Asian slam champ)
Career Argument-Ending Title Two-fer: 2017 WTAF & 2018 Australian Open - Caroline Wozniacki
Most Tour Landscape-Changing Breakout Title: 2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka
Breakout Title - non-Slam: (tie) Indian Wells - Naomi Osaka (2018) & Bianca Andreescu (2019)
Most Stunning Slam Win: 2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko (w/ 299 winners, first WTA title)
Most Awe-Inducing Maiden Slam Win: 2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova
Most Opportunistic Slam Run: 2013 Wimbledon - Marion Bartoli
Most Opportunistic non-Slam Title Run: First WTA Lucky Loser Champions - Olga Danilovic (2018 Moscow River Cup) and Coco Gauff (2019 Linz)
Most Affirming Slam Title Run: 2015 U.S. Open - Flavia Pennetta
Most Affirming non-Slam Title Run: 2014 Sydney - Tsvetana Pironkova (in only career final, four seasons after reached Wimbledon SF)
Biggest Throwback Slam Result (family): 2017 Australian Open final - Serena Williams def. Venus Williams (only Serena/Venus final in decade, eight years after most recent all-Williams final at '09 Wimbledon)
Biggest Throwback Slam Result (nation): all-U.S. semifinalists -- Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Venus Williams and Coco Vandeweghe -- at 2017 U.S. Open
Biggest Throwback non-Slam Result: 2014 Quebec City - Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (tour title after record 16-year gap since won Bol in '98)
Perseverence Rewarded: 2018 Roland Garros - Simona Halep
Heartfelt Slam Run: 2010 Roland Garros - Francesca Schiavone
Most Amazing Summer Surge: 2017 Sloane Stephens (From #957 to #17, U.S. Open title)
Title Won with the Most Conspicuous Ease: 2017 Wimbledon - Garbine Muguruza (w/ Conchita Martinez as "fill-in" coach for Sam Suymyk)
"In-Through-the-Backdoor" Titles - non-Slam: 2015 & '16 WTAF - Aga Radwanska & Dominika Cibulkova (both were 1-2 in round robin play)
Youthful Star-Turn: 2019 Wimbledon - Coco Gauff, 15 (4th Rd.)
"Youngest Slam Winner": 2017 Australian Open - Alexis Olympia Ohanian (while inside mother Serena Williams' womb)
Best Shot: - Aga Radwanksa (2013 Miami QF vs. Kirsten Flipkens)
Are you kidding me! Aga Radwanska wrong-footed by a net cord 360 spin backhand volley winner. Shot of the year? http://t.co/NtB01JAp4I #WTA
— WTA (@WTA) March 27, 2013
Best Court Introduction Outfit: Serena Williams (2018 U.S. Open)
Best On-Court Outfit: (tie) Alona Ostapenko & Simona Halep (2017 Roland Garros)
Best New Court: Court Simonne-Mathieu (2019 Roland Garros)
Best Post-Match Speech: Li Na (2014 Australian Open)
*
1. Bouchard v. USTA (2016-18)
2. Kiki Mladenovic's Bad Karma (personal attacks vs. colleagues coincide with long losing streak)
3. WADA's Slipshod Science and Suspect Tactics (& Sharapova suspension)
4. Serena vs. U.S. Open umpires/linespeople/officials
5. Vika Azarenka's Off-court Custody Issues & Injuries Lead to Long Absences
6. The ill-fitting reign of U.S. Fed Cup Capt. Mary Joe Fernandez
7. Australian fans/media vs. Azarenka (2013)
8. ESPN commentators (ongoing)
9. Azarenka 2013 U.S. Open "Pink-and-Battleship Grey" Outfit
10. Sachia Vickery vs. Elise Mertens (2017 Hobart 2nd Rd. - so ridiculous it forced a rule change regarding participants in slam qualifying draws)
=Australian Open 2010-19=
[Top 10]
1.Serena Williams, USA
2.Li Na, CHN
3.Victoria Azarenka, BLR
4.Angelique Kerber, GER
5.Kim Clijsters, BEL
6.Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
7.Naomi Osaka, JPN
8.Maria Sharapova, RUS
9.Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
10.Aga Radwanska, POL
[Doubles]
1.Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
2.Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE
3.Martina Hingis, SUI
4.Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
5.Svetlana Kuznetsova/Vera Zvonareva, RUS/RUS
HM-Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA
[Wheelchair]
1.Esther Vergeer, NED
2.Yui Kamiji, JPN
3.Diede de Groot, NED
4.Jiske Griffioen, NED
5.Aniek Van Koot, NED
=Roland Garros 2010-19=
[Top 10]
1.Serena Williams, USA
2.Maria Sharapova, RUS
3.Simona Halep, ROU
4.Garbine Muguruza, ESP
5.Francesca Schiavone, ITA
6.Samantha Stosur, AUS
7.Li Na, CHN
8.Sara Errani, ITA
9.Sloane Stephens, USA
10.Lucie Safarova, CZE
[Doubles]
1.Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2.Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
3.Mattek-Sands/Safarova, USA/CZE
4.Lucie Hradecka, CZE
5.Errani/Vinci, ITA/ITA
6.Latisha Chan, TPE
7.Hlavackova/Hradecka, CZE/CZE
8.Makarova/Vesnina, RUS/RUS
9.Sania Mirza, IND
10.Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
11.Gaby Dabrowski, CAN
12.Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
HM-Krejcikova/Siniakova, CZE/CZE
[Wheelchair]
1.Esther Vergeer, NED
2.Yui Kamiji, JPN
3.Jiske Griffioen, NED
4.Diede de Groot, NED
5.Marjolein Buis, NED
=Wimbledon 2010-19=
[Top 10]
1.Serena Williams, USA
2.Petra Kvitova, CZE
3.Angelique Kerber, GER
4.Garbine Muguruza, ESP
5.Aga Radwanska, POL
6.Sabine Lisicki, GER
7.Venus Williams, USA
8.Simona Halep, ROU
9.Marion Bartoli, FRA
10.Maria Sharapova, RUS
[Doubles]
1.Martina Hingis, SUI
2.Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA
3. Hsieh Su-wei, TPE
4.Elena Vesnina, RUS
5.Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
7.Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
8.Heather Watson, GBR
9.Timea Babos, HUN
10.Lisa Raymond, USA
HM-Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
[Wheelchair]
1.Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2.Diede de Groot, NED
3.AnieK Van Koot, NED
4.Jiske Griffioen, NED
5.Esther Vergeer, NED
=U.S. Open 2010-19=
[Top 10]
1.Serena Williams, USA
2.Flavia Pennetta, ITA
3.Angelique Kerber, GER
4.Samantha Stosur, AUS
5.Kim Clijsters, BEL
6.Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
7.Victoria Azarenka, BLR
8t.Sloane Stephens, USA and Naomi Osaka, JPN
9.Roberta Vinci, ITA
10.Bianca Andreescu, CAN
[Doubles]
1.Martina Hingis, SUI
2.Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
3.Liezel Huber, USA
4.Sania Mirza, IND
5.Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
6.Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
7.Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
8.Ash Barty, AUS
9.Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
10.Melanie Oudin, USA
[Wheelchair]
1.Esther Vergeer, NED
2.Diede de Groot, NED
3.Yui Kamiji, JPN
4.Aniek Van Koot, NED
5.Jordanne Whiley, GBR
posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:14 PM
18 Comments:
Hoo-rah! That's *finally* over with.
Like the section in green near the end with "Best of..).
Serena's numbers are staggering.
You have Halep way higher than I do, but I respect it. I put the 3 interchangeable ones(Kerber/Wozniacki/Kvitova) over her as their decade outweighed Halep's 2013-19.
Of the 10 women I listed as questionable for the Open, Zvonareva is the first to have pulled out. Having already retired once, no real read on if she is planning to come back.
Yeah, I thought you had Halep quite a bit low, but I couldn't be sure until I really inspected the numbers.
I figured that Kerber was going to be #2 and Halep competing with Kvitova/Wozniacki, until I went through Halep's decade and came to think that, really, other than the 3-2 margin in slam wins for Kerber, Halep really was ahead of her in pretty much everything else. The keys were the back-to-back #1 years and consecutive Top 4 rankings for Halep (and how she never really fell after rising up in '13, compared to Kerber's up/down swings) and Kerber's winless record in high-Premier/WTAF/Olympic finals. That sort of tipped the balance.
Actually, because of FC, I could more easily choose Kvitova over Halep, but not over Kerber, if that makes sense. But Kerber could never be #4/#5, so I went with the the smoothest combination.
Granted, there are arguments here and there, but I don't think there are any egregiously listings. I hated not having Vika in the overall Top 10, but what's happened made it difficult (though she's there for singles-only WTA players), and wish I could have bumped Pennetta just a few more spots. I do think she's the most underappreciated player of the decade.
I know you had Hingis higher, and I easily could have, too. Some of her numbers (like, 24-4 in slam WD-MX/WTAF/high Premier finals in the decade) are ridiculous. But I felt the nod had to be given to the top singles players in the overall Top 5.
I saw a decade Top 10 ranking a while back that had Clijsters very (too, I think) high. And a week or so ago one that had both Osaka (maybe, but it's been a really nice year+ run crammed in at the last moment, with the majority of her big-time career -- hopefully -- still coming in the *next* decade) and Barty (really? how?) in the Top 10 singles players, but didn't include Wozniacki at all, which was just absurd.
I sort of ranked in tiers:
1) Serena, naturally
2) Halep/Kerber/Kvitova/Wozniacki (and maybe Hingis), so I think a case could be made for any order there
3) Hingis/Sharapova/Vergeer/Li
4) de Groot/Azarenka/Pennetta (thought about Clijsters, but the way she petered out down the stretch in 2.0 prevented it)
Etc.
Oh, and I made an edit on when Halep got to #1 after a note I received. She first got there in October in Beijing (after def. Sharapova and Ostapenko, who'd both beaten her in Paris), not during the WTAF. But she did wrap up year-end #1 there.
Blowout early next week, I think. It won't matter that a round or two have been played in Week 1.
WTA in the 2020s made me LOL.(Also WTA in the 2060s.)
Wow. You covered everything. Great!
Haha. Couldn't resist when I randomly saw that "2060s" one a while back and I immediately flashed back to that first against-the-wall photo from earlier. I had to search for a good 2020's one, but I think that one fit pretty well. :D
In an effort to not clog Todd's Prediction Blowout, you get Up/Down side today, as Shenzhen starts today.
I'm happy.
"I'm going to swing from the chandelier."- Sia.
Sia might embody the spirit of the WTA player. As someone who doesn't like fame, and has stage fright, she found a way to perform. By wearing, wigs, hats, and even standing on stage backwards.
Which young up and comer will figure out how to navigate the tour on and off court in 2020?
5 On the Up Side.
1.Sabalenka- Shenzhen pick to go back to back, 4 of her 5 titles have been in China. Arguably the weakest field on the 3, Muguruza and Bencic are probably her biggest threats.
2.Kvitova- Brisbane pick, as she is known for being ready early. Former Hobart winner(once), and Sydney(twice), won Brisbane in 2011. Possibly meets her magnet in Barty early.
3.Ostapenko- Auckland pick has Gauff and Williams in her half of the draw, but she projects well early this year. Plus has almost nothing to defend through Miami. Only 198 pts, while 4th rd in AO would earn 240 alone.
4.Sharapova- First time playing a warmup event in Australia since 2015, when she won Brisbane. Getting match play, and recovering day to day is the key. So is actually not giving back WC.
5.Konta- Surprisingly back, this is a work in progress. Like Sharapova, showing that she is in shape to play back to back days may mean more than the amount of games she wins.
5 On the Down Side.
1.Bencic- Not a true down, but concerning. After a career year, you would think that she would prepare the same way she did the year before. But that was not possible, as she played Hopman Cup the last 3 years, winning the last 2. This means she got 8 matches counting doubles. Even if she wins, no way to get that much. Will she be in form by the Open?
2.Riske- Also not a true down. This one has a couple of twists. Think Bertens playing clay after Wimbledon, or Wang Qiang playing in the Asian Games while missing Toronto and Cinci. Wasn't a shock that Wang finally had a good USO result in a year without them. Which brings us to Riske. Riske in China is a thing, but with her rather pedestrian AO results, never past 3rd rd, she skips Shenzhen for the first time in 5 years to play in Australia. As someone who is willing to play ITF events in Great Britain on grass before Wimbledon, finally starting in Australia might be the start of a career year.
3.Goerges- Trying to 3 peat, she is on this list because with the season starting a week later, her Auckland points will be off on Monday, leaving her at 41, and probably being unseeded at the Open.
4.Collins- Not expected to have a good year, but gets a huge break. Even with the week difference, she probably will be seeded around 27, though by the time she plays, she will be 77 in live ranking. The red flag is that she did something that Serena does. Serena does it due to injury. What is it? Having over half of your points from one tournament.
5.Voegele- Already lost this week, playing an International. Has not made a premier field since Indian Wells, when she lost to Andreescu.
Good point on Bencic's different preparation w/o the Hopman Cup. No "Roger osmosis effect," either. ;)
Hope you're right on Ostapenko. It'd be nice to have a bit more Latvian Thunder in the air to open the new decade.
Ostapenko's 2nd half of 2019 wasn't too shabby, compared with how things had been going. Here's hoping......
Hey, she ended '19 with a RU and W result. In 2018, Barty ended with SF and W results. ;)
(All right, maybe that a bit *too* optimistic.) :)
And it starts already- Ostapenko pulls out for personal reasons. Which is more worrisome once you realize she has been on site for the last week.
Tsurenko lost to Mertens. Started last year beating Buzarnescu, Kontaveit and Osaka at Brisbane. After doing it 3 times there, has not beaten a player ranked better than her since.
Only 11 players in the Top 100 were not slated to play this week. Now 13, with Ostapenko and Kuznetsova pulling out, here are the others:
Out of AO- Puig, Petkovic, Azarenka.
The rest- Halep, Andreescu, Vondrousova, Hercog, Swiatek, Kovinic, Diatchenko, Rus.
Halep is scheduled to play next week, so not worried about her.
This is the only week to affect AO seeding, so I should mention current standings:
Barty is locked in at 1, Pliskova, Halep, and Osaka will be 2-4 with order to be determined.
Kvitova is at 8, Bertens is the only one who could bump her.
9-16 Vondrousova sits at 16, but Mertens, Riske or Vekic could pass her.
17-24 Anisimova on bubble has 8 women who could pass her. Putintseva at 36 is the lowest.
25-32 Last 4 in-Kontaveit, Sevastova(lost), Strycova, Hsieh.
Last 4 out- Alexandrova, Rybakina, Muguruza, Putintseva.
Six players below them unlikely but still alive- Zheng, Wozniacki, Goerges, Garcia, Tomljanovic, Brady.
Quiz Time!
All of these players won Auckland. Who was the only player not to win multiple times?
A.Julia Goerges
B.Marion Maruska
C.Eleni Danilidou
D.Patty Fendick
No overreaction to Collins over Svitolina, but does raise the eyebrows.
Answer!
The obvious wrong one is (A)Goerges, as she won the last 2 years. Attempting to be the first woman to win 3 times in a row, which has never happened because no woman has won 3 times period.
(D)Fendick is wrong, but before I get to why, look at these names- MJ Fernandez, G.Fernandez, Garrison, Seles, Hetherington, Navratilova, Sukova. They are not the names of women Fendick beat in singles, where she reached a CH of 19, but people she played with in doubles.
Winner of 25 doubles titles, including 1991 Australian Open, she reached 19 more in an interesting career, including winning Auckland back to back in 1988-89, for 2 of her 3 career singles titles after being NCAA singles champion back to back in 1986-87.
There seems to be a theme, so if you are guessing that the next person also went back to back, you would be correct. That was (C)Danilidou, who did so in 2003-2004. One of the few stars from Greece, this does remind us that Sakkari has a chance to go back to back in Morocco. The 2003 edition was memorable not just for Danilidou, but was one of the rare times that a woman from South Korea reached a final. Cho Yoon-Jeong reached 3 finals, but this was the closest she came to a title, losing 7-6 in 3.
That leaves (B)Maruska, the 1997 winner that pulled an Andreescu, but better. In one of 4 same country finals, Austria's Maruska defeated Judith Wiesner. Coming in ranked 154, she stormed through the field for her one and only title, reaching a CH of 50 later that year.
One more thing, because of 2008 Doha, Wozniacki can now say that she has played doubles with both Williams sisters.
That was fun to watch Wozniacki and Serena playing doubles for the first time. Like a showmatch but in between really well played. Happy to see Woz as #5 in the decade thats right to me. Caroline has not completely denied a comeback after a couple of kids so we'll see. Perhaps she'll do a Clijsters. Happe New Year to all.
Nice nickname they have got Careena - cute
C-
Quiz: I went with Fendick. :/
Yeah, the loss is a shrug for Svitolina. The 1/1 catches your eye, though.
In Auckland, I guess Bouchard is a win away from some headlines in Canadian media making a comparison to Andreescu's '19 start, eh? ;)
Hmm, Muguruza *wins* a love 3rd set in her first '20 match. A nice change.
Rybakina doing *really* well in Shenzhen this week would bolster my predictions for her in the Blowout, by the way. :)
H-
Interesting that Caro won't rule it out. Hey, have a kid or two... train for a marathon... come back to tennis in tip-top shape.
By the way, after griping about the changes to the ITF website, which went from being the most user-friendly around when it came to searching through a player's career match results to the most frustrating, I *should* note that the antidote to *that* mess is the more-simple-and-that's-a-good-thing results format on CoreTennis.net, which doesn't take 50 clicks to see everything, *still* has additional stats breakdowns, and even includes the players age *and* birthdate (which is a *bit* helpful when knowing how old a player is, but the ITF removed a year ago for some stupid -- because there can be no other -- reason).
At the very least, that site allowed me to keep my first-time WTA semifinalists predictions for the Blowout, which would have have been scrapped if I'd had to wade through the the ITF or WTA pages to check on the career results of each potential pick.
Ah, big win over Stephens from Samsonova (just in time for my '20 predictions for her). ;)
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