Women’s tennis has been dominated over nearly the past two decades by the nearly undefeatable Serena Williams, who this year regained her World No. 1 ranking at the Australian Open after having lost it for a short period of time to Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
35-year-old Williams has recently lost the ranking after an injury ruled her out of Indian Wells, but one could argue perhaps that we are now seeing a change of guard in women’s tennis as 29-year-old Angelique Kerber, too, has not found an ideal consistency in her gameplay.
Women’s tennis may have seemed one-sided for a time, and for good reason – with 23 Majors, and a number of other titles across every playable surface, it is not hard to see why Serena Williams is considered the Greatest of All Time.
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Here are 5 women who we think could get to the top of the WTA rankings:
Catherine ‘CiCi’ Bellis
All of 17 years old, Catherine ‘CiCi’ Bellis of the United States of America has already become a sensation. Currently ranked 55th on the WTA tour, Bellis has had consistent wins over players much higher-ranked than herself from the 2016 season. Playing top-40 singles player Jelena Ostapenko at Stanford last year, Bellis, who entered the tournament as a wildcard, managed a quarter-final finish, putting up a fight against former World No. 1 Venus Williams.
Perhaps her standout performance came at the 2016 US Open, when Bellis started off through three rounds of qualifying, taking down two top-100 players – among them American Shelby Rogers, to set up a Round of 32 match against No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber. Although she eventually lost, Bellis, who was more on the ITF circuit, declared herself with that run.
The California native last year won the WTA title in Honolulu, beating 23rd ranked Shuai Zhang in straight sets – Bellis did not drop a single set en route to the trophy.
This year, with a steady ascent up the rankings, Bellis started off at 73rd, but has had her career-best tournament so far in Dubai. With all but one of her opponents in the top 30, Bellis took a couple of straight sets wins before demolishing World No. 6 Agnieszka Radwasnka in what has been Bellis’ biggest career upset so far.
Entering that tournament ranked World No. 70, Bellis is now at 55th and got off to a losing start at Indian Wells, but took a set off experienced campaigner Kirsten Flipkens en route to her eventual loss.
With her best years ahead of her and already mounting a steady climb up the rankings, Bellis could well find herself in the top 20 by the end of this year.
Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka has been a fresh face for tennis in Japan, in a time where Kei Nishikori has been perhaps the only noticeably big star from the country. The 19-year-old is currently ranked 52 on the circuit and been making steady inroads ever since.
Nearly 6 feet tall, Osaka has an immensely powerful serve, one that is very reminiscent of her all-time tennis idol – Serena Williams.
Although her 2017 season has been hit-and-miss so far, Osaka had a stellar 2016 season, particulary at the Australian Open. Ranked 127th at the time, Osaka came through qualifying to meet top-20 seed Elina Svitolina, dispatching her in straight sets, before an eventual battle and loss to former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Last year, she made the finals of her home event in Tokyo, defeating World No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova and 20th-ranked Elina Svitolina before seriously taxing former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki ,who eventually won.
Osaka closed the year with a big almost-win – over powerful Russian ace and former World No. 1 Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The teen has received high praise from none other than her own idol, Serena Williams. “I have seen her play,” Williams said in an interview late last year, “she’s really young and really aggressive. A very talented player.”
Having hit her career-highest ranking of World No. 42 last year, Osaka should look to get the ball rolling again and capitalize on the remainder of the hard-court season; she is through to the Round of 64 at the women’s singles, defeating qualifier Risa Ozaki of Japan.
After a win over experienced Chinese player Shuai Zhang, who is seeded 30th – the Japanese ace will see a real test of both nerve and skill against top 10 player Madison Keys.
Ashleigh Barty
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, doubtless an immensely skilled tennis player, has made big news for other reasons, namely her big shift from tennis to cricket, and back to tennis. Barty first made news in 2013 when, aged only seventeen, she made the finals of the Australian Open with compatriot Casey Dellacqua.
The pair eventually lost to Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, but Barty had already made her mark.
A former girls’ singles champion at Wimbledon, Barty had already won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour when, in 2014, she decided to switch sports, becoming a cricketer instead – but not without reason. Also a talented batswoman, Barty was immediately selected by Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League.
She returned to tennis in 2016, but then had a slow start – with 2017 a much more successful year for her already. Starting the year at the Brisbane International, Barty took Angelique Kerber to three sets before losing, and followed up with her first ever Australian Open match win soon after, eventually finishing in Round 3.
Simultaneously, she also made the quarter-finals in the women’s doubles, again with Casey Dellacqua, losing to No. 1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.
At the Malaysian Open this year, Barty entered as a qualifier – and eventually beat Japan’s Nao Hibino for the title, marking Barty’s first ever singles crown. She also took top honours in the doubles with Casey Dellacqua, and currently sits at 92nd in the rankings.
Expectations are high with Barty, but so is her talent, attested to by the fact that she won her first WTA singles title in under 12 months since she returned to the sport.
Daria Gavrilova
Ranked 27th on the WTA standings, 23-year-old Daria Gavrilova was born in Moscow, Russia, and represented the country until 2016, when she emigrated to Australia. She has represented the country since then.
At 17, Gavrilova won the Youth Olympic Games, giving her the World No 1 ITF ranking at the time. Since then, she has gone on to defeat several higher-ranked players convincingly, among them Yanina Wickmayer, Anastasia Rodionova and Eugenie Bouchard, but struggles with a knee injury and subsequent surgery slightly derailed her career.
2015 was a powerful year for the young player, who won two titles in the span of two weeks there; she followed that up with two back-to-back top 10 wins at the WTA Premier event in Rome, and made her first ever WTA semi-final, which ended with a loss to former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova.
Her career has been on a significant upward trend since, with Gavrilova starting 2016 with Australia’s second Hopman Cup win and continuing to the fourth round of the Australian Open with big wins over Lucie Hradecka, Kristina Mladenovic and Petra Kvitova, then bagelled 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro before her eventual loss.
Gavrilova’s start to 2017 has been marginally slower, with the 23-year-old nevertheless managing good wins over the quick-footed youngster Ana Konjuh and the higher-ranked Timea Bacsinszky.
Seeded 24th at Indian Wells, Gavrilova served well to defeat German Yanina Wickmayer but tumbled quickly to 10th seed Elina Svitolina, who is enjoying her own big run of form, currently at her highest-ever ranking.
Going on her current form, the committed Gavrilova, who has also had constant fitness levels, should definitely be able to hit the top 10 in the near future; she could also mark her own name among a group of young players looking to make their mark and take over from the sport’s Old Guard.
Madison Keys
One could perhaps argue world No. 9 Madison Keys is already at the top, and that would not be an incorrect assumption. But at only 22, Keys is playing some of the best tennis on tour. The two-time WTA title winner appears to be following a career path fairly similar to that of her idol, Serena Williams, and is already most comfortable on grass courts.
Keys is also the first American woman to be ranked inside the top 10 since Serena Williams, who achieved the feat in 1999, and has also had success at Grand Slams, making the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2015.
Incidentally, Keys lost to Serena Williams at the finals of the WTA Premier event in Rome last year, played on clay, following it up with her title at the Aegon Classic on grass – proving her comfort on all surfaces.
As a result of that performance, Keys made the WTA Finals last year, although her run there ended in the group stages; this year, she is drawn against the powerful Naomi Osaka in the Round of 32 at Indian Wells.
Considering she is already a consistent top 10 player, it is not a far stretch to think that the American grass court specialist could well be a future World No. 1!
