Women's Tennis Players with the Most to Prove in 2015
Self-doubt. Injuries. Slumps. These are problems all tennis players deal with during their careers.
For some of the top women on the WTA Tour, those concerns hover over their heads like a dark cloud.
Caroline Wozniacki had a resurgent season in 2014, but she still came up empty at the Grand Slam level.
Ana Ivanovic had the same problem, winning more matches than anyone else but failing to produce in majors.
Victoria Azarenka lost much of her year to an opponent she had no answers for: her body. Injuries derailed her game and left questions about whether she can make it back.
Young stars such as Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens couldn't capitalize on their potential, and they both ended the year with a string of disappointing results.
Those five players have the most on the line in 2015. The following slideshow will examine how they reached their breaking point and what they'll need to do to overcome their hurdles.
5. Sloane Stephens
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Sloane Stephens took a massive step backward in 2014.
After finishing last year ranked No. 12 in the world, Stephens' downward spiral this season caused her to plummet to No. 37.
The 21-year-old American advanced past the fourth round of a tournament just once (quarterfinals at Indian Wells), suffering first-round exits in Qatar and Wimbledon.
ESPN's Chris Evert questioned Stephens' passion for the game after the Wimbledon loss in an interview with Tennis Now's Chris Oddo:
"The hunger’s not there, and I almost see a hesitancy… she’s afraid to commit emotionally. I just think she doesn’t want to feel hurt by it if she loses. She has an out if she feels she didn’t give a hundred percent. If she gives a 100 percent and loses—I think she has a fear of that.
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Something just seemed off with Stephens all year. In 2013, her attacking style and mental toughness led her to the Australian Open semifinals and Wimbledon quarterfinals. Her wins over Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova that season sent her on a trajectory for the top 10.
But she couldn't build on that momentum this season. Stephens wouldn't make it past the fourth round at any of the Grand Slams, finishing with a pedestrian 21-20 record.
Stephens failed to find consistency with her game, and as the losses snowballed, she couldn't build back her confidence.
Her coaching carousel likely contributed to the problem. Instead of finding one voice to guide her through the season, Stephens played musical chairs, jettisoning Paul Annacone in July after eight months together for Thomas Hogstedt. But their partnership was fleeting, as Stephens announced earlier this month she'd be working with Eugenie Bouchard's former coach, Nick Saviano.
Though Stephens and Saviano haven't announced a full-time partnership, his presence may be exactly what she needs. Saviano led Bouchard to a breakout season in 2014, so he has experience working with and developing young players.
Stephens once looked capable of taking over the mantle from Serena. To get back on that path, she'll have to grow from her disappointing 2014 season or risk being passed over by other prospects.
4. Victoria Azarenka
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Injuries kept Victoria Azarenka on the shelf for much of 2014.
Days before the two-time defending Australian Open champion began her quest for a three-peat in Melbourne, Azarenka suffered nerve damage in her foot during practice.
When she hit the court in Australia, it became clear the Belarusian was nowhere near 100 percent. Her movement was off and so was her game.
Azarenka gutted her way through an easy draw, but she was outclassed by Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
The injury lingered for the rest of the year. After withdrawing from Qatar to let her foot heal, she aggravated it during a loss in her first match at Indian Wells.
Forced to withdraw from Miami, Madrid, Rome and the French Open, Azarenka spent three months trying to recover as her ranking took a critical hit. She returned in Eastbourne but lost her first match there.
Due to the excessive time away from the court, Azarenka's level of fitness dropped. She looked slow and easily winded in a disappointing second-round loss at Wimbledon to Bojana Jovanovski.
More health problems followed. In Montreal, Azarenka hurt her knee, and the injury was serious enough to force her to skip Cincinnati.
She returned at the U.S. Open and navigated her way into the quarterfinals before a straight-set loss to Ekaterina Makarova. Even during that run, Azarenka's form looked far from solid.
Her return in Tokyo was cut short by a second-round loss to Ana Ivanovic. Azarenka then announced she would skip Wuhan and Beijing, prematurely ending her season.
As she works to recover from her knee and foot injuries, Azarenka will also have to shake off the mental and physical rust from her extended time off. The transition won't be easy.
Azarenka is preaching patience, telling New York Observer's David Cox: “It’s a matter of getting timing back, reaction speeds and building that base of consistency. That’s the toughest part, and it’s a process. When you come back you expect the results to be right there where you left off.”
In 2015, Azarenka will have to prove she has the durability to stay on court and the resolve to make her way back into the top 10.
3. Eugenie Bouchard
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The darling of the the WTA Tour in 2014, Eugenie Bouchard had a whirlwind season both on and off the court.
In just her second full season, Bouchard stormed her way into the top 10. Her rise began at the Australian Open with a run to the semifinals, which she repeated at the French Open.
As Bouchard and her aggressive, first-strike game carried her to deep runs at Grand Slams, she became a breakout star. Suddenly, her face was everywhere in television interviews, newspapers and magazines. In the span of five months, Bouchard became a household name.
The 20-year-old Canadian made good on the promise she showed at the Australian Open and French Open with a berth in the Wimbledon final. Petra Kvitova's power kept Bouchard from winning the title but couldn't diminish her status as a Grand Slam threat.
After that run at Wimbledon, however, Bouchard hit a slump. She lost her opening matches in Montreal and Cincinnati, also bowing out of the third round in New Haven.
Bouchard's cold streak sent her into the U.S. Open without much confidence, and it showed. She struggled to beat Sorana Cirstea and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in early-round matches, eventually succumbing to Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round. For the first time all year, she failed to make it to the quarterfinals of a major.
Her stock suddenly took a major hit. Though she rebounded with a run to the Wuhan final, Kvitova again trounced her for a title.
Bouchard would win only one more match the rest of the season. She ended 2014 with an opening-round loss in Beijing and a second-round walkover in Linz before dropping all three of her matches at the WTA Championships.
For a player who seemed destined for Grand Slam glory just a few months earlier, Bouchard suddenly looked unsure of herself on the court. She lost consistency with her game and the drive which carried her to that earlier success. As her popularity grew, so did the target on her back for opponents.
She remains an eminently talented player, but Bouchard will have to fight her way back into form next year to reaffirm her status as a top contender.
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2. Ana Ivanovic
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Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and even Simona Halep failed to win as many matches as Ana Ivanovic in 2014. In fact, no woman on tour won as often as the Serbian.
Ivanovic had her best season in years, finishing with a 58-17 record, winning titles in Auckland, Monterrey, Birmingham and Tokyo, and clinching the year-end No. 5 ranking.
She played with a renewed sense of confidence which she seemed to lack since winning the 2008 French Open. Along the way, Ivanovic earned several impressive wins over top-10 opponents like Serena, Sharapova, Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki.
Those results were fueled by her return to attacking, yet clean tennis. Ivanovic once again showed flashes of her former Grand Slam glory.
But that level of play didn't carry over to major tournaments. Though she performed well at smaller events, her shakiest play surfaced in important matches.
After beating Serena in the fourth round at the Australian Open, Ivanovic lost her nerve in a three-set defeat to Bouchard. At the French Open, she played sloppy tennis in a third-round loss to Lucie Safarova. Wimbledon saw her fall to booming serves of Sabine Lisicki, also in the third round.
Despite a run to the finals in Cincinnati, Ivanovic was crushed by Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the U.S. Open.
A title in Tokyo and a run to the semifinals in Beijing ended her season on a positive note, though they couldn't erase the asterisk of her Grand Slam failures.
Ivanovic is acutely focused on improving her results at majors next year, as she told The Sport Review's Marriane Bevis:
"Having more success at the Slams next year is definitely my main goal for 2015. ... I really feel I have the game to be at the top: I was No. 1 before, and I want to give myself the best chance to get back there. So I’m really working hard to get back. And of course to win another Grand Slam is my dream.
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She's never been able to recapture her triumph at Roland Garros in 2008. To become more than a one-Slam wonder, Ivanovic will have to find a way to breakthrough again at a major.
1. Caroline Wozniacki
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Zero. That number represents the largest blemish on Caroline Wozniacki's resume.
She's never won a major. Despite reaching two U.S. Open finals and finishing 2010 and 2011 as the year-end No. 1, Wozniacki is still searching for her maiden Grand Slam title.
After making the U.S. Open final in 2009 at age 19, Wozniacki appeared destined for greatness. She advanced to three more Grand Slam semifinals and won 12 tournaments during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, results which propelled her to the top of the world rankings.
But in 2012, Wozniacki hit a slump she'd fight the better part of three years to overcome.
A quarterfinals run at the Australian Open that year marked the last time Wozniacki would advance past the fourth round of a major for the next 10 Grand Slams. Her prowess in big tournaments took a nose dive.
Over the course of the past three seasons, Wozniacki won only four titles—all at smaller events.
The 24-year-old Dane bottomed out at the French Open this year, losing in the first round to Yanina Wickmayer. But that result spurred Wozniacki to finally break out of her prolonged funk.
At Wimbledon, Wozniacki lost in the fourth round, though her game seemed to pick up. She then advanced to the quarterfinals in Montreal and the semifinals in Cincinnati, losing tight three-set matches to Serena Williams at both events.
Those results gave her a newfound sense of confidence, which drove her to a titanic victory over Maria Sharapova at the U.S. Open, her biggest win in three years.
Wozniacki finally made it back to a major final, though she fell to Serena in two sets. The loss didn't deter her, and she then made the semifinals in Wuhan and the WTA Championships.
Despite Wozniacki's strong finish to the season, Sports Illustrated's Courtney Nguyen remains doubtful about the Dane's ability to win majors:
"While Wozniacki's win against Serena was very impressive—and did give me flashbacks to the Sharapova U.S. Open match—the truth remains that she has yet to prove that she can back up a huge win like that. What does it say that her two signature wins both come before the semifinals of a big tournament and both don't involve winning a trophy? That's just not good enough for someone who has been No. 1 for 67 weeks.
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Compiling a 49-19 record and clinching the year-end No. 8 ranking were important steps forward for Wozniacki, but questions still remain about her game.
Will she play with more aggression? Can she overcome her lack of power? Does she have what it takes to consistently beat top players?
For her upward trend to continue next year, Wozniacki will have to continue playing with aggression rather than falling into her old counterpunching style.
Wozniacki's results at Grand Slams in 2015 may ultimately define her legacy.
All statistics courtesy of WTATennis.com unless otherwise noted.
Joe Kennard is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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