Power Ranking the Top 20 Women's Players After the 2014 US Open
Serena Williams continued making her case for Greatest of All Time. File her sixth U.S. Open title under solid evidence.
With millions of eyewitnesses looking on, Williams dismissed the resurgent Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-3, to claim her 18th Grand Slam title.
Williams is clearly No. 1 in the Power Ranking. Her win at Flushing Meadows all but assures her of ending the year at No. 1 in the WTA Tour rankings.
But what about the rest of the WTA? With so many upsets at the U.S. Open, the balance of power has shifted beneath Williams.
Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep, all the rage this spring, suddenly seem so five minutes ago. Meanwhile, some less familiar names, such as Ekaterina Makarova, Belinda Bencic and Aleksandra Krunic have emerged as ones to watch. Li Na, out indefinitely with an injury, was left off the power ranking.
We know that Williams is the definitive best. Check out where the rest of the Top 20 rank.
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Also considered: Sam Stosur, Bencic and Krunic.
20. Shuai Peng: Although her first appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal ended in near tragedy, Peng proved that her years on tour were not in vain. Prior to her semifinal match, Peng told reporters that she almost thought about giving up and retiring. Hopefully she makes a swift and full recovery from the heat illness she suffered Friday.
19. Dominika Cibulkova: Although ranked No. 13, Cibulkova has underachieved this summer. Seeded No. 12 at the U.S. Open, she lost in the first round to 15-year-old Catherine Bellis. Of course Bellis, the feel-good story of the tournament, played well. But Cibulkova played poorly.
18. Venus Williams: The elder Williams sister has had a surprisingly good summer. She reached the finals at the Rogers Cup and suffered a tough three-set loss to Sara Errani in the third round at the U.S. Open. But her game is clearly back on track. She's feeling fit enough to play in a tournament in Quebec that starts this weekend.
17. Carla Suarez Navarro: Her ranking will suffer because she failed to defend all her points. But Suarez Navarro continues to play solid tennis. She is among a handful of women who use a one-handed backhand. The shot causes fits for her opponents who see it so rarely.
16. Andrea Petkovic: Despite her third-round U.S. Open loss to Wozniacki, Petkovic had a decent run in the majors this year. She reached the semifinals at Roland Garros and the third round at Wimbledon.
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15. Lucie Safarova: One of the surprise semifinalists at Wimbledon, Safarova continues to enjoy perhaps the best season of her career.
14. Flavia Pennetta: Reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals, Pennetta showed why she's been one of the better hard-court players this season. A surprise winner at Indian Wells, Pennetta reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open last year. She also made it to the doubles final with partner Martina Hingis.
13. Victoria Azarenka: Her ranking will take another hit. The former No. 1 will fall to No. 24 after failing to defend her points at the U.S. Open. However, Azarenka appears to be on the path back to regaining her championship form. No way is she the 24th-best player on the tour.
12. Sara Errani: She seems to enjoy the grind. Errani has a beautiful all-court game but lacks a decent serve. Even an adequate serve would keep her in the WTA Top 10.
11. Jelena Jankovic: She worked so hard to play her way back into the Top 10. Now she slips to No. 11. Still among the most talented players on tour, Jankovic just ran into a hot player at the wrong time. The fellow Serbian and teen sensation, Bencic, defeated Jankovic in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
10. Ekaterina Makarova
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Ekaterina Makarova made history in doubles and became a historical footnote in singles. She and doubles partner Elena Vesnina won the U.S. Open title, becoming the first all-Russian team to win two Grand Slams. They had previously won at Roland Garros in 2013.
In singles, she will be remembered as the person Serena Williams defeated in the semifinals en route to her 18th Grand Slam.
Makarova has been solid all year. Still relatively young, she has positioned herself to make a run at the Top 10.
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9. Caroline Wozniacki
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Wozniacki's summer run put her back in the Top 10 and, more importantly, back in the conversation for championship title contention.
After her victory, Serena Williams told the crowd at Arthur Ashe that she expects Wozniacki to win a major soon, perhaps even the Australian Open. Still waiting for that first title, Wozniacki is no longer playing under has-been status.
She has inserted herself back among the best.
8. Ana Ivanovic
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After taking out Sharapova in Cincinnati, Ivanovic had high hopes for making some noise at the U.S. Open.
However, she lost in the second round to Karolina Pliskova, of all people. Ever since Ivanovic took out Serena Williams at the Australian Open, expectations for her have been high. Ivanovic continues to chase the dream of returning to a Grand Slam trophy ceremony. That one Slam title—the 2008 French Open—is the only thing that separates her from Jankovic and Wozniacki, other former No. 1s.
7. Eugenie Bouchard
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Bouchard's string of semifinal-or-better appearances in Grand Slams came to an end at Flushing Meadows. She did reach the fourth round, where she melted under the heat and the pressure, losing to Makarova.
After a mediocre rise in the rankings and media hype, Bouchard has been humbled at bit. She's still sitting pretty in terms of the race to the year-end championships with a No. 7 overall WTA ranking.
6. Angelique Kerber
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Angelique Kerber continues to play well enough to upset a Slam winner, but not good enough to become a major champion herself.
A powerful lefty, Kerber is a counterpuncher like Wozniacki. However, she lacks the discipline during the points. She will try a low-percentage shot when a longer rally would do. She packs more power than Wozniacki; she just needs to find a way to avoid costly shot-selection errors.
5. Agnieszka Radwanska
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Agnieszka Radwanska's window of opportunity might be shut. Another counterpuncher, Radwanska gets either overpowered by the heavy hitters or out-run by youngsters. Seeded No. 3, Radwanska lost to Makarova, a big hitter.
Few have as many shots in their repertoire as Radwanska. Unfortunately, her body is banged up, and time to heal means time away from the tour. A player with her defensive style of play and who relies on being able to retrieve shots can't afford injuries.
4. Maria Sharapova
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Sharapova failed to reach the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open. Other than the French Open, Sharapova lost in the fourth round in all the other two 2014 Slams.
However, because she has no points to defend the remainder of the year, Sharapova can rack up points and challenge Simona Halep for the No. 2 spot. If Williams takes the rest of the year off, Sharapova has an outside shot at claiming No. 1.
3. Petra Kvitova
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Another disappointing U.S. Open showing by Petra Kvitova. Still, she has her Wimbledon title and a follow-up win at New Haven. With Kvitova being only 24, you have to believe that at some point she will become more consistent with age.
Kvitova lost in the first round at the Australian Open and the third round at the French Open. She won Wimbledon and lost in the third round of the U.S. Open. Just like her play, her season has been all over the place. Yet because of her success at Wimbledon, Kvitova remains in the Top Five. She comes in at No. 3 in the power rankings because similar to Serena Williams, when her serve is on, she's nearly unstoppable.
2. Simona Halep
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Simona Halep worked so hard to shed her image as a minor league player among big league hitters. When she reached the finals in Madrid and at the French Open, it seemed like she had put all doubters to rest.
However, she looked weary at the U.S. Open. Like Bouchard, Halep seems to be suffering from fatigue. No two players have risen as fast or as high as those two. Her third-round loss was shocking.
1. Serena Williams
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The numbers on Serena Williams are astounding. The 18th Slam, the record $4 million in prize money, the sixth U.S. Open title, the record $60 million-plus in career winnings.
But the number that sums up Williams better than any is simply No. 1. She is the No. 1 player in ranking and ability.
Funny, her otherwise dismal 2014 will work in her favor in 2015, since she will have so few points to defend at Grand Slams. With the 18th Slam milestone also behind her, Williams will be free to enjoy rolling up more achievements and accolades.
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