Ranking the Top Candidates for WTA Player of the Year
The WTA Finals at the end of October will bring an end to a thrilling 2014 for the WTA Tour.
As with the men's side on the ATP, the four Grand Slams were split among four players, always a sign of healthy competition.
Unlike the men's side, however, there were no new Slam winners: Li Na (Australian Open), now retired, and Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon) both won their second, while Maria Sharapova (French Open) won her fifth.
Serena Williams (U.S. Open), meanwhile, made history by drawing level with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova at 18 Slams. In truth, it wasn't one of her vintage final wins, but it was certainly one that will live long in the memory in terms of the occasion.
However, while there were no great shocks in terms of Slam wins, the year's two first-time Slam finalists, Simona Halep, 23, and Eugenie Bouchard, 20, firmly established themselves in the top 10.
There were also surprisingly solid comebacks from former world No. 1 players Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki.
This list takes all of the above into consideration by ranking the candidates for the annual WTA Player of the Year ahead of the WTA Finals, with consistency and performances at Slams given particular emphasis.
Honourable Mentions
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With 113 players on the WTA Tour earning over 100 ranking points thus far this year, there was never going to be a shortage of candidates for this award.
But, as with any list, it has to be narrowed down to the highest-quality, consistent performers.
It is for the latter reason in particular that Li Na narrowly misses out.
She started the year in blistering form, successfully defending a title for the first time in her career at the Shenzhen Open before winning her first Australian Open after twice losing out in the final in the previous three years.
She reached a career-high No. 2 in the world ranking at that point but thereafter struggled with a knee injury. She had not played since Wimbledon when she sadly announced her retirement at the age of 32 at last month's China Open.
Caroline Wozniacki, as No. 9 in the world, will subsequently take her place at this month's WTA Finals. The Dane surprised many by reaching her second U.S. Open final, beating Maria Sharapova along the way, with Ahmed Rizvi of The National suggesting that her break-up with Rory McIlroy in May "has been good for her career."
Given that she had fallen to a four-year low of No. 18 in the world in March, however, the 24-year-old should instead be in contention next year if she can maintain her current form.
Another high-profile player to miss out is fan-favourite Agnieszka Radwanska, who has again qualified for the WTA Finals but in truth failed to build on an excellent 2013.
Likewise, Alize Cornet made headlines by becoming the first player to beat Serena Williams three times in a year since Justine Henin in 2007, but she did not enjoy the most consistent of seasons.
And youngsters such as Garbine Muguruza and Belinda Bencic, both of whom reached their first Slam quarterfinals, may be ones to watch next year.
6. Ana Ivanovic
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Who tied Serena Williams for reaching the most finals (six) in 2014?
Who won four titles to tie with Maria Sharapova for second-most in 2014?
Yep, it's Ana Ivanovic.
Not bad company to keep.
And, after ending ending 2013 ranked No. 16 in the world, few would have seen it coming.
It has culminated in her qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time since 2008, the year she reached No. 1 in the world and two Slam finals.
The latter is why she does not reach higher in this list despite enjoying one of the most consistent seasons on tour.
A quarterfinal at the Australian Open was comfortably her best showing at the Slams, while none of her four titles were even at Premier Mandatory or Premier Five level.
She did, however, win the first grass court tournament of her career in Birmingham prior to Wimbledon, as well as dominating Caroline Wozniacki to win the Pan Pacific Open last month.
She was also the only player to beat Sharapova on clay all year.
Her season certainly makes her a worthwhile candidate; to go one step further, though, she will need to win a major tournament.
5. Petra Kvitova
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Petra Kvitova delivered one of the most dominant performances of recent memory in beating Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-0 to win her second Wimbledon title in four years.
It was the shortest Wimbledon ladies' final in 31 years at just 55 minutes.
As Oliver Brown reflected in The Telegraph's post-match report, "There was not so much a cheer when [Kvitova's] final winner flashed past poor Bouchard as a whisper of collective incredulity."
And so it remains a mystery why the 24-year-old left-hander does not dominate her opponents more often.
She failed to go past the third round at any of the other three Slams, although she did defeat Bouchard once more to win last month's Wuhan Open.
After winning the 2011 WTA Finals and subsequently being named that year's Player of the Year, she enjoyed an extremely consistent 2012 before falling off many people's radar after an underwhelming 2013.
Her Wimbledon title was thus a return to prominence—a timely reminder of her incredible talent.
Indeed, she has all the tools—particularly power—to fill Serena Williams' looming void in the game. As John McEnroe told the BBC, "When she's on her game she makes life absolutely miserable for you, because you don't feel you can do anything. Nothing."
Next year she must make her opponents feel like that more often.
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4. Eugenie Bouchard
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It may seem strange to rank Eugenie Bouchard above Petra Kvitova given the Canadian has twice lost out to the Czech in finals this year.
But it is just reward for a player who only turned 20 in February enjoying a remarkable year of tennis.
Following in her former friend Laura Robson's footsteps in being named last year's Newcomer of the Year, there is surely little doubt who has the brighter future in the game now.
The world No. 6 showed incredible consistency to belie her age in reaching at least the semifinal in the year's first three Slams.
She also won her first WTA title in Nuremberg in the warm-up to the French Open.
Admittedly, and perhaps understandably, she has not looked quite the same player since being destroyed by Kvitova in her maiden Slam final at Wimbledon in July.
But she now has the perfect chance at her first WTA Finals to recover some form and end a breakthrough year on a high.
Either way, when you combine the ruthlessness displayed by her quotes in Sports Illustrated that "I don't think the tennis tour is the place to have friends," with her talent and marketability, her "staying power"—as referred to by a former coach of the Williams' sisters in the Wall Street Journal—is not in question.
3. Simona Halep
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Last year's Most Improved Player of the Year, Simona Halep, has gone from strength to strength in 2014.
Like Eugenie Bouchard, the Romanian has firmly established herself as a top-10 fixture, displaying tremendous consistency in reaching a final, semifinal and quarterfinal in three Slams.
After becoming the first player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach a maiden Grand Slam final without dropping a set, she pushed Maria Sharapova all the way at the French Open, to the point that the Russian reflected, as per The Independent, “this is the toughest Grand Slam final I’ve ever played. All respect to Simona.”
She could also count herself unfortunate to suffer an ankle injury against an inspired Bouchard in the Wimbledon semifinal.
Still 23 years of age, Halep already has eight WTA titles under her belt, with her first Premier Five title coming at the Qatar Open in February.
She described it as the "best moment of my life," as per Reuters.
One suspects a player who aspires to Justine Henin may have many better in the near future.
2. Maria Sharapova
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It's not necessarily been a vintage Maria Sharapova year, but it's still been a hugely successful one for the Russian.
She fell to No. 7 in the rankings in March, but within three months she had won three more titles—all on clay at Stuttgart, Madrid and Paris—to add to her growing collection.
Indeed, nine of Sharapova's last 12 titles have come on clay—including two French Opens in the last three years—which was her weakest surface earlier in her career, leading her to compare herself to a "cow on ice" in 2007, as per Yahoo.
She now has the highest win percentage on clay on the tour, as per Tennis.com, and in 2014 has a 17-1 record on the surface.
Quite the turnaround.
Though the French Open was a strange tournament—the top three seeds fell before the fourth round in a Slam for the first time in history—her final with Simona Halep was widely described as one of the best women's finals in recent years.
It was also the 20th consecutive three-set match on clay in which Sharapova prevailed, showing her stamina and battling qualities.
Her achievements were described as "amazing" by Lindsay Davenport, as per the New York Times, when referring to players' difficulties on weaker surfaces. “Most of the time, players just throw the towel in. Pete Sampras, I’m sure, never spent months and months trying to become a better clay-courter."
While her shoulder issues appear to have diminished her reliability on other surfaces—she exited in the fourth round of each of the other three Slams—her triumph at the China Open earlier this week showed she is far from a one-trick pony.
Indeed, should she prevail at the WTA Finals for the first time in a decade, she may well find herself named Player of the Year.
1. Serena Williams
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Perhaps the greatest compliment one can pay Serena Williams at this moment in time is that 2014 wasn't even as dominant as 2013, when she won an incredible 11 titles. Yet she will end the year as the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1994 to top the rankings in every single week of a calendar year.
Indeed, after failing to progress past the fourth round at the first three Slams of the year, the American hit rock-bottom at Wimbledon when she pulled out of a doubles match with her sister Venus following four consecutive double faults.
Chris Chase for USAToday.com described it as "one of the more bizarre scenes in Wimbledon history."
The temptation was to conclude, at 32, that the legend's best days may be behind her.
Her response? She won 19 out of her following 20 matches, a run that overlapped with her 18th Slam at the U.S. Open to move level with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
In truth, it wasn't one of her vintage final wins, but it was certainly one that will live long in the memory in terms of the occasion.
Her opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, dubbed her an "unbelievable champion," as per ESPN.
There is no longer any argument: whether she catches Graf's tally of 22 or not—which at 33 will surely prove beyond even her—she is one of the all-time greats.
And, with six titles to her name this year, it would be a huge surprise if she isn't named Player of the Year for a sixth time.
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