Sunday, 30 December 2012

The WTA Top 10 Predictions

 Caroline Wozniacki

Grand Slams Won - 0
Career Titles - 20 WTA & 4 ITF
Career Prize Money - $14,171,097
Career High - Becoming #1 in the world in 2010 and reaching her first grand slam final in 2009


2012 wasn't a good year for Wozniacki at all, she started the year as world #1 but quickly fell down the rankings losing her #1 status to Victoria Azarenka when she won the Australian Open, Her Career so far has been a pretty mixed bag she is still yet to win a Grand Slam title but has a great record in the WTA events, She has a good run in the Australian Open before getting beat by Kim Clijsters in the Quarter finals but in the French Open she only reached Round 3 where she was knocked out by Kanepi and didn't even make it past the 1st Round at Wimbledon or the US Open as she suffered defeats against Tamira Paszek and Irina-Camelia Begu in her worst year to date she managed to pick up two titles after the US Open though in Seoul and The Kremlin cup.

I can't see any signs of Wozniacki getting back to the form that she was in 2009-2011, there are just to many players that are getting better around her and using their style of player more effectively then Wozniacki, Vika and Serena  just seem miles ahead of Wozniacki right so i doubt she'll be seeing that #1 spot returning to her anytime soon i think she's even starting to doubt her ability as a top 10 tennis player and instead of improving her game her personal life and media attention seem to be halting her progress recently

Wozniacki's game at the minute is far to defensive and other players seem to have caught onto it and have the patience to see out points against her and she struggled a lot against big power hitters which she caught answer back to because her Offensive game is lacking to much and her serve also needs work if she wants a better chance at climbing back up the rankings i think no one can take away the fact that she is competitive and will fight hard next season but the question is will that be enough? her footwork, balance and the way she moves around the court is everything you could ask for at times but on the backhand she doesn't turn defense into Attack as much as she should to trouble the best players on the tour nowadays and i don't think her counter-puncher style is effective enough to give the better players on the tour any trouble. for the 2013 i can see her slipping down the rankings even more i can't progress for her in the Grand Slams, maybe she'll take advantage in some of the WTA events when the higher ranked players aren't participating but that's as high as it will get for Wozniacki

Prediction - Will Finish 2013 outside the Top 10 and will fail to make the Quarter finals in any of the Grand Slams  

Samantha Stosur

Grand Slams Won - 1 ( US Open 2011)
Career Titles - 3 WTA & 4 ITF
Career Prize Money - $11,817,987
Career High - Beating Serena Williams in the US Open in 2011 in straight sets to win her first and only grand slam title to date


It was only in 2009 that Stosur made massive progress in her Grand Slam Runs before then her best ever run was the 4th Round at the 2006 Australian Open in 2009 Stosur made her first Grand Slam Semi Final Appearance against Kuznetsova where she got beat by the eventual champion in 3 sets the year after that Stosur made the final of the French Open but was beaten by Francesca Schiavone in straight sets and then in 2011 she made her first Grand Slam final against Serena Williams and beat her in straight sets 6-2 6-3, 2012 was a steady year for Stosur but contained a lack of success for her, she started the year as World #5 even after the defeat in the 1st round of the Australian open to Cirstea she remained #5 in the French Open she reached the Semi final but was beaten by Errani in 3 sets she then suffered disappointment at Wimbledon as she was beaten in the second round against Arantxa Rus and then in the Olympics she was defeated in the first round again by Suarez Navarro. In the US Open in which Stosur was the defending Champion was was knocked out in the Quarter finals by Azarenka which was potentially the match of the year.

It's clear to see that Stosur has played her best tennis in the later stage of her career and has been a huge darkhorse and an unexpected Grand Slam Champion but she has always had the tools to be one of the best players on tour with her serve and most importantly her second serve being her greatest asset, she is never going to be the best Grass player because of her top spin forehand and Kick serve which are obviously more suited to her favorite surface Hard court so she can be forgiven for having such a bad Wimbledon record. I think on her day when playing on Hard court she can beat just about everyone as proven in the past when she took Serena apart in 2011, she has fell from #5 to #9 this year but i think she can make up those spaces and get up there in the top 5 again if she remains fit and starts of with a good run in the Australian Open which she is more then capable of doing, she is a confidence player so it's important that she starts of well.

Prediction - Will Finish 2013 in the top #5 after good runs in the Australian and US Open however expect another Round 1 or 2 exit from Wimbledon and also an early exit from the French Open

 Petra Kvitova

Grand Slams Won - 1 (Wimbledon 2011) 
Career titles - 9 WTA & 7 ITF
Career Prize Money - $9,045,748
Career High - Winning Wimbledon in 2011 and soon becoming #2 in the World 


  A lot of people expected big things from Kvitova in 2012 but she failed to reach a final of any of the Grand Slams, She reached the Semi Finals in the Australian Open and French Open before only managing the Quarter finals at Wimbledon when she was the defending Champion and then a 4th Round exit at the US Open, However she did end the year well by winning the Rogers cup and New Haven but then she was forced to withdraw from the WTA Tour Championships due to a Virus however she did help Czech Republic team retain the Fed Cup 

I think the drop to #8 looks harsh on her as she improved on all her previous Grand Slam results in 2011 apart from Wimbledon off course however in WTA events she hasn't been at her best, i think the main reason why she hasn't followed up her Wimbledon success is down to expectation and confidence in her ability, people already pinned her down as World #1 before 2012 even started but now i think due to the pressure being off her in 2013 she will play some free flowing stuff and loosen up a bit and let her tennis do the talking i really do think she will win her 2nd grand Slam title in 2013, she was very unlucky not to make the final of the Australian Open after being a break up on Sharapova and then she was beat in the Semis by Sharapova again ( who was the eventual Champion ) if her serve improves and becomes more like the serve we witnessed at Wimbledon in 2011 then she could become a big force in 2013 

Prediction - I have no doubt that she will improve greatly this year and will move into the top #4 and Also win her 2nd Grand Slam of the year which i have a feeling it will be the French Open 


 Li,Na

Grand Slams Won - 1
Career Titles - 6 WTA & 19 ITF
Career Prize Money - $9,316,704
Career High - Winning the French Open in 2011 and becoming the first ever Asian Grand Slam Winner 


Since winning the French Open in 2011 Li Na has failed to find any kind of form in Grand Slams and hasn't been to the Quarter finals of any in 6 attempts, she failed to make any sort of Impression at the start of 2012 and was way below her best and her Grand Slam results weren't the best either with Cirstea knocking her out of Wimbledon early on, Laura Robson dumping her out of the US Open and Shvedova surprisingly knocking the defending champion of the French Open but there was signs that she was back at her best at the Rogers cup where she beat Radwanska, Errani but lost in the final to Kvitova and then going on a good run in the China Open before falling to Sharapova in the Semi Finals but it was enough to make sure she would make the Tour Championships. 

I really don't know what to expect from Li Na in 2013, sometimes she plays some of the best tennis on tour but other times she becomes frustrated with herself and looks to her coaching team to much for help whilst in matches and she can't really find any consistency at all lately either but when she is on form her play from the baseline with her groundstrokes and her cross court pacey forehand with can be pinpoint at times are a huge weapon in her game.

Prediction - She is 30 now and i can't see her improving much in 2013 her results since the French Open win have been very inconsistent and although she had a few good runs in 2012 i think 2013 will be a hard year for her and i expect her to finish it outside the top 10



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