The new tennis season is just getting underway with tournaments in Australia and the Middle East before the Australian Open. Beyond the Australian Open, though, what should four top Women’s Tennis Association stars hope for in the coming year?
Serena Williams
The best female tennis player today, and of the 21st century, just needs to hope that she is healthy when the major tournaments roll around. If Serena is healthy, and doesn’t have any of the nagging injuries which forced her to withdraw from tournaments in Indian Wells and Rome last year (among other places), she should be in good shape to win a few more majors and add to her trophy case. Serena has 21 major titles right now. One more will tie her with Steffi Graff for 22, second all-time, and three more will tie her with Margaret Court, who has the all-time record with 24 titles. If Serena can win two majors this year, she will be in position to tie or break the record in 2017. She still seems fit enough and good enough to play for a few more years at a high level. Many people have been wondering if she is going to fall off or whether her other off-court pursuits are a distraction, but that hasn’t proven to be the case. With that in mind, three majors is the best case if we’re being honest, but if she gets two, it’s a very, very good year.
Maria Sharapova
The main hope for Sharapova is that she can win the French Open. Sharapova has become a great clay-court player in this stage of her career. It’s not what anyone would have expected 10 years ago, when Sharapova was a better hardcourt player and someone who would hit harder and harder whenever she was in trouble. As she picked up a lot of experience, Sharapova became a better and more patient defensive player. Her court coverage skills enabled her to wait out opponents and draw errors. Sharapova won the French Open in 2012 and 2014, while Serena won it in 2013 and 2015. If Sharapova can win back the championship in France, she’ll view this as a successful season.
Victoria Azarenka
The former world No. 1, Azarenka played Serena Williams at several tournaments and was able to win one set. However, she was not able to win two. Azarenka played courageous tennis in a lot of big matches, but she would follow up a good match against a top player with a puzzling and spotty kind of effort against a lower-ranked player. Azarenka was simply too up-and-down during the 2015 tennis season. She was inconsistent, and injuries had something to do with that. If she doesn’t have as many interruptions of her season and can stay a little more healthy, she can win a major this year, which would make it a great year for her after a few years without any major championships.
Simona Halep
The standard for Serena Williams is to win multiple major tournaments in the same year. For Halep, it’s all about winning that first major. She hasn’t gotten there yet. Halep really seemed to struggle last season, playing with too much pressure and too many nerves, and not being free enough on the court. Halep knows she is not going to be viewed differently as a tennis player until she wins that first major title. She reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open but then played very poorly against Flavia Pennetta and lost a decisive match very quickly. Those weird losses, the ones which don’t make sense, need to be less present in Halep’s season. Being tougher in big matches will help her reach her goals.
Odds To Win Australian Open
Serena Williams +190
Victoria Azarenka +548
Maria Sharapova +650
Simona Halep
Petra Kvitova +1150
Garbine Muguruza +1050
Agnieszka Radwanska +2250
Madison Keys +2550
Belinda Bencic +1440
Caroline Wozniacki +3050
Eugenie Bouchard +5050
Karolina Pliskova +3050
Venus Williams +4050
Ana Ivanovic +4250
Sloane Stephens +5050
Angelique Kerber +3232
Ekaterina Makarova +5500
Lucie Safarova +5500
Dominika Cibulkova +6050
Samantha Stosur +7050
Sabine Lisicki +9050
Timea Bacsinszky +10000
Caroline Garcia +10000
Elina Svitolina +10000
Jelena Jankovic +10000
Andrea Petkovic +12000
Carla Suarez Navarro +12500
Laura Robson +15000
Flavia Pennetta +12500
Roberta Vinci +15000
