5) Karolina Pliskova
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The 6ft 1in Pliskova's game is naturally based around her serve.
The Czech, has shown glimpses of her prowess from right through her junior years. She won the Australian Open Juniors title in 2010, defeating the talented Laura Robson in the final. Karolina has an extremely aggressive style of play, hitting big on both the forehand and the backhand side.
Her movement is sluggish, but she manages to move really well for a player of her height. She won her first WTA title in 2013, breaking the top 10 barrier for the first time in 2015. Pliskova is also a very proficient doubles player, being ranked 11 in the world.
Pliskova did not get off to an ideal start . She struggled right until the end of the clay season. But she was up and kicking as soon as the grass season started, winning the Aegon Open in Nottingham. Riding on the back of her powerful serve, she won her first Premier 5 WTA title, winning the Cincinnati Open defeating Angelique Kerber in the final.
Just a couple of weeks later, she made it to the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, extending her run to the finals. She beat both the Williams sisters at the same tournament, a feat that only players of the class of Steffi Graff and Martina Hingis have been able to manage.
To do it in New York, at the home of the iconic Serena and Venus Williams, is all the more special. Pliskova's run was halted in the final by Angelique Kerber, in a tight three-setter that had the New York crowd wanting for more.
Pliskova's propelled her to a top 5 spot for the first time in her career. By the time the season ended, Pliskova had managed to rack up impressive serving stats. She served 530 aces in the season, which made her the leader on tour by a huge margin. Serena Williams stood second – with 324 aces.
With her having had the taste of big-time tennis, that is to say, the second week of slams, Pliskova and her fans will expect her to do it on a more regular basis in 2017.
For that, she'll have to work on her movement, which will help her improve her performance on clay and the slower hard courts. She also might have to stop playing doubles, if she's to rest her adequately for the later stages of tournaments.
After the great end to 2016, it'll be interesting to see how she shapes up as a player in 2017.
