This was a wild year in tennis, a year few ever could have imagined. On the women’s side, we entered assuming that Serena Williams would dominate her way through the Tour. She did play very well but she encountered several hurdles throughout the season – including the championship rounds. We saw her sister, Venus, struggle early on, but then she turned things up as we got into the grass part of the season. We saw Victoria Azarenka roll early on and then succumb to injury. And we saw a number of wonderful Cinderellas come up out of nowhere to make deep runs in the grand slams. It was one of the more entertaining, unpredictable years in recent memory on the women’s side of things and wHere were the biggest WTA highlights and lowlights:
22 and still counting
How herculean a task it is to win a Grand Slam at 34 years of age. Reaching a major final is one thing but to win it is a different animal. Serena Williams was deprived at the Australian Open finals by a focused and hungry Angelique Kerber, and in the French Open finals, she was denied again by the superiority of Garbine Muguruza. For someone who is a mental giant and who hardly allows herself to lose major finals, to have lost two in row must have knocked the wind out of her. It clears one thing–even the best face a crisis, even the greatest feel the extreme pressure of history. Serena was trying to equal Steffi Graff’s insane, and once far fetched, 22 Grand Slam titles record.
However, it was only a matter of time until Serena recreated her magic and shook hands with history. At Wimbledon, Serena came back with a vengeance to thwart Kerber, 7-5, 6-3, in an intense final. The German made only nine unforced errors but Serena can win even on an opponent’s best day. That’s what makes her Serena Williams. In terms of tennis, Serena is old, but players other than Angie Kerber can’t beat the mental resolve, the grit to get better, the desire of a proven champion. The number 22 took more time than one might have thought, but there still weren’t any doubts surrounding it.
WTA’s new boss
Angelique Kerber’s ascension to the No. 1 spot comes as a bolt from the blue. There were no prior warnings from the German; just plain out attack. In January of 2016, one looked at the contenders who could challenge Serena for bigger titles. Kerber wasn’t on the list. In fact, far from it. She just took off in Melbourne and has since continued her surprising rise. Overall, Kerber appeared in a tour-high eight finals in 2016, including the Rio Olympics, and played 81 matches. Her doughtiness helped her close out the year with a whopping 63 wins– a tour high. With Serena no more the leader, one can expect the WTA to be more egalitarian.
Muguruza The Enigma
Win big or win nothing seems to be Garbine Muguruza’s motto. At least for 2016, she followed that pattern. Muguruza outgunned and outwitted Serena to win her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and looked on course for a big season, but hardly anybody would’ve expected it be her only title of the season. For the rest of the year, she appeared sloppy and made only two further semifinals.
Cinderella Stories
Is there anything in tennis more exciting and refreshing than an underdog achieving the unthinkable? Shuai Zhang came out of the qualifiers and to the amazement of all, made the last eight of the main draw in Australia. Ketki Bertens smashing her way to the French Open semifinals was nothing short of heroic, but it’s Monica Puig whose Cinderella run will remembered for a long time. Puig wrote her own script at the Rio Olympics and won Puerto Rico its first Gold medal in any sport. She surprised everyone by beating a list of players that were ranked well above her.
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