The WTA Tour is the worldwide professional tennis circuit for women governed by the Women’s Tennis Association, the principal organising body of women’s professional tennis. The organisation was established in 1973, and by 1980, over 250 women were playing professionally. The same year, an unprecedented total of $7.2 million prize money was offered by the tour. In 2013, Serena Williams alone went over the $12 million mark with total earnings of $12,385,572 in a single year.
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The most popular wins at the tour often come from the well-known names from the game of tennis, with the likes of Williams, Maria Sharapova, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, among others gathering headlines.
However, the most enthralling of the wins are at times achieved by the most underrated players on tour. Here’s a recap of some of the most emotional and inspiring victories in recent memory on the WTA tour.
#7 Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci: 2015 US Open finalists
Italian trailblazers Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta clashed in the finals of the 2015 US Open. The latter came through as one of the most surprising — and popular — champions in US Open history, only to announce her retirement post the tournament.
However, the story of the championships was the duo’s route to the unlikeliest of finals;.Pennetta took out some tough opponents in form of the fourth and second seeds Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep, respectively. Vinci went on to pull an absolute stunner against the top seed and 21 time Grand Slam Champion, Serena Williams.
The veterans shared some heartwarming moments at the post-match presentation ceremony. Towards the end of her speech, Pennetta announced her retirement after the emotional victory, “There’s one more thing I’d like to say – it’s the way I would like to say goodbye to tennis.” The match went down as a historic day not only in Italian tennis history but women’s tennis itself.
#6 Zhang Shuai: First Round at the 2016 Australian Open
The feel good story to come out of the WTA tour in the first half of 2016 was undoubtedly that of the Tianjin-born Zhang Shuai. Contemplating retirement at the beginning of the 2016 Australian Open, owing to her lack of success at Grand Slam tournaments, the Chinese veteran notched up her first ever main draw victory at a major. Having played through the qualifying draw, she went on to beat the world no. 2 Romania’s Simona Halep.
Zhang followed her tremendous win with victories over other higher ranked opponents, including Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, and the hard-hitting Americans Varvara Lepchenko and Madison Keys, before falling short to Johanna Konta.
Considering her 0-14 record at all the previous Grand Slam events, her run to the quarterfinal was nonetheless the most rewarding experience in her long career, not to say an inspirational one as well.
#5 Marion Bartoli: Wimbledon Championship Match 2013
Marion Bartoli was a familiar face on the WTA Tour, having played in a remarkable 47 Grand Slam tournaments since her Grand Slam debut in 2001. Bartoli, a former finalist at SW-19, was best known for her unorthodox playing style which involved the two-handed forehand (a rarity in tennis), and an unusual service motion. She entered the 2013 Wimbledon Championships as the 15th seed, and quietly marched through the draw, if not tearing through it.
She did not face a single player ranked inside the top-10 en-route to her second Wimbledon final, and had a chance to win the title without having to do so. In the title clash, she faced Wimbledon’s darling, Sabine Lisicki , the other surprise finalist. Nicknamed “Boom Boom” on the tour, Lisicki had brought havoc in the draw having beaten tournament favourites Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska, and was one win away from her own fairytale ending.
However, Bartoli had different plans as the veteran won in a see-saw encounter, where emotions ran high for both players. Overwhelmed by her first (and last) major title, Bartoli announced her retirement from the sport soon thereafter, and bid her farewell at the opening of the same event next year.
#4 Tsvetana Pironkova: Sydney Championship Match 2014
Only very keen tennis followers would know Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, one of the most erratic and unpredictable player on the WTA Tour. The former Wimbledon semifinalist has been noted for her ”cerebral” grass court skills, owing to her stunning runs deep into the tournament on more than one occasion. She is one of the most constant faces to appear in Grand Slam tournaments, as she holds the second longest active streak of most consecutive appearances at majors at 45.
However, Pironkova’s big breakthrough came at a premier level hard court tournament in Sydney, at the 2014 Apia International. Having come through qualifying, Pironkova notched up three straight top-10 victories against the versatile veteran Sara Errani, the hard-hitting Petra Kvitova, and the future world no. 1 Angelique Kerber, to win her first WTA title, twelve years after her debut on tour.
“Mom, Dad we finally have a trophy,” exclaimed Pironkova in an emotional post-match ceremony, with her parents among the onlookers. A true tale of the victory of the hard work and perseverance of one of the most committed and wonderful players on the ladies tour.
#3 Monica Puig: Olympic Gold Medal Match
Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig became an overnight sensation after winning the Gold Medal Match against Angelique Kerber at the 2016 Rio Olympics. It was the first individual gold medal for her country.
Puig also broke tennis records in being the only unseeded player to win the Olympic tennis singles final, since the re-introduction of tennis in 1988. The following quote, from a post-match interview with NBC, after her win perfectly sums up her emotionally enthralling story, “I think I united a nation. And I love where I come from.”
#2 Venus Williams: 2017 Australian Open semi-final
One can bank upon Venus Williams when it comes to setting record books straight; she did so once again with her finals appearance at the 2017 Australian Open taking the record for longest span (20 years) between Grand Slam Final appearances, having first reached her first Grand Slam Final at the 1997 US Open.
An inspired Williams reached the semi-final stage without the loss of a single set.
In her path to the final was fellow American Coco Vandeweghe, the player who had outhit the likes of Garbine Muguruza and the defending champion and top seed Angelique Kerber. Venus went on the win the match coming from a set down to reach her first major final since the 2009 Wimbledon, and offered the crowd what might go down as one of the most popular and animated post-win reactions of all time.
#1 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni: 2017 Australian Open quarter-final
The only performance worthy of topping the emotional win of the elder Williams was that of Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The 34-year-old reached the semi-final stage at the 2017 Australian Open with an emphatic win over the tournament’s dark horse and in-form Czech player Karolina Pliskova. A blistering showcase of groundstrokes against one of the strongest all-rounder and fastest server on tour got Lucic-Baroni through to just her second major semi-final.
And that was just one side of the story; Lucic-Baroni, made her tour debut in 1997 and was a major force to begin with just like the Williams sisters in their early years. She reached the last four in just her second Wimbledon appearance. However, fate subjugated her rise and she had to battle through years of unspecified personal issues, an abusive father, financial struggle, having to shift countries which forced her out of the tennis scene.
Lucic-Baroni made a comeback on tour after going on and off at the lower rung ITF circuit, and came back into full form from the late 1990’s at this year’s Australian Open. She beat the likes of Agnieszka Radwanska and Pliskova, only to lose out to the eventual champion Serena Williams. With a rosary around her neck she fell to her knees when Pliskova netted a return, and had little to say but, “This has truly made my life, everything bad that happened, it has made it okay.”
Serena Williams too prior to their clash reminisced saying, “We both have gone through a lot, We both have survived, and here we are.” What better words to sum up the return of an absolute star.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion "should have won"
