Some players are better than their rankings, and some are worse. These players, therefore, have risen higher in the rankings than their quality of game suggests. We’re going to find out very shortly who are the players that are legit and who are worse than their WTA ranking. The Australian Open begins this week and there will be a number of notable absences on the women’s side. The WTA would have liked to see stars like Maria Sharapova, Madison Keys and last year’s champ, Victoria Azarenka, participating, but all of those women – and a few others – will be absent. That opens the door for some other members on the WTA to step up or disappoint.
Samantha Stosur
To everyone’s surprise, Samantha Stosur is ranked 21st in the world. The way she is playing and the way results are shaping, she won’t be able to hold on to that spot for too long. Last week in her home tournament in Brisbane, Stosur went down to world No. 7 Garbine Muguruza, 7-5, 6-7(2), 7-5 in a tooth and nail battle. The loss looked like a source of upside, but this week she was brushed aside, 6-3, 6-1, by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the ongoing event in Sydney. Stosur has not a won a tennis match in almost five months and is on a seven-match losing streak dating all the way back to the U.S. Open.
The 32-year-old tour former Grand Slam champion will head into the Australian Open with zero confidence and questions looming about her future.
Jelena Ostapenko
Ernests Gulbis may be the most popular Latvian tennis player, but it won’t be too long until he loses his status to teen sensation Jelena Ostapenko. She is an aggressive baseliner but also a thoughtful one. She isn’t somebody who goes for the jugular every time. The rapidly rising 19-year-old broke into the top 40 for the first time this week, but here is when the climb becomes treacherous. The teenager will have to be consistent to justify her ranking and perhaps step up a notch if she desires to fly even higher.
Ostapenko started 2017 on a wonderful note but had to retire from her semifinal match against Lauren Davis in Auckland because of a viral illness. Ostapenko had been in solid form all week in New Zealand, reaching the semifinals in both singles and doubles. That’s a stupendous feat despite battling illness. Her deep run in Auckland bodes well as she heads to Melbourne as a dangerous outsider.
Sara Errani
Sara Errani demolished Barbora Strycova, 6-0, 6-2, in the Dubai finals last year to capture her first Premier-level title while dropping just a solitary set in five matches. The Italian set herself up for a solid season, winning seven of her first 10 matches, but she then went 13-23 for the rest of the season and ended the year disastrously. Errani ended her 12-year partnership with coach Pablo Lozano with immediate effect.
Is the decline for real or was 2016 a mere aberration? Is it wise to extrapolate after just one bad season? She has been a consistent top-20 player since her breakthrough season in 2012, but after dropping a truckload of points, her ranking has plummeted and is down to the 50th spot. Errani may never scale the heights like before, but rest assured, she’ll fight for every point, every set, in every match and every WTA tournament.
Roberta Vinci
Roberta Vinci ended the 2016 season ranked 17th, 10 spots down from her career high of No. 7. Her high points from 2016 include the only title she won in St. Petersburg and the quarterfinal appearance in New York. For the 33-year-old to be ranked in the top 20 is an achievement in itself, but is she motivated to carry on?
Vinci lost to Karolina Pliskova in a competitive three-set match in Brisbane, and was swept aside 6-2, 6-3 by Barbora Strycova in the second round in Sydney. The always smiling Italian heads into the Australian Open with limited matches under her belt and as one of the oldest players. This could possibly be her farewell year.
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