Women's Tennis Players Who Will Improve the Most in 2015

The winter break is a time for players to experiment with new tactics, work on weaknesses and search for improvements. The following slides will analyse some of those players who are most likely to improve in 2015.

Belinda Bencic has long been put in the mould of former greats, and the next 12 months will prove to be an intriguing chapter in her progression.

Garbine Muguruza's impressive victory against Serena Williams at the French Open has set the standard for those hoping to make an impression on the higher echelons of the rankings, with improvement for the Spaniard likely.

Alize Cornet

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Alize Cornet's ascent should continue if she can replicate the form produced against the world No. 1 this year.

Cornet beat Williams twice this season, including a three-set victory at Wimbledon, and she progressed to the round of 16 in Wuhan after Williams retired at the end of the first set.

This would suggest that Cornet, currently No. 19, is capable of making a concerted push for the Top 10, although the gap in points begins to widen past Angelique Kerber in ninth.

The Nice-born right-hander hasn't surpassed the 16th-placed finish she recorded in 2008, but strong runs in Dubai and Paris this year will give her confidence to attack the Top 15.

Although the majority of Cornet's matches were on hard courts, her 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Williams and her marginal defeat to finalist Eugenie Bouchard on Wimbledon turf make her a threat for any player hoping to stay in the bubble at the top.

Belinda Bencic

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Improvement for Bencic might be gauged on how much further she can progress in a Grand Slam following her excellent performance at this year's U.S. Open. This, though, would do the 17-year-old a disservice.

Bencic's deceptive power earned her a quarter-final spot in New York, seeing off two Top 10 players in Kerber and Jelena Jankovic to make the last eight.

However, analysts shouldn't be blinkered by her performance in the big tournaments. Taking the next step in tournaments like Charleston, where she made the semi-final, would still constitute success.

Jack Wilson of the Daily Star wrote that Bencic has "the best chance of emulating Martina [Hingis] as a teenage slam winner."

Hingis' mother works with Bencic, leading to inevitable comparisons. She may yet do what Bouchard just missed out on and win that first major as a teenager, but it would be unwise to burden her with that pressure.

Garbine Muguruza

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As another player who enjoyed a significant run at a Grand Slam, Muguruza will be expected to improve on an impressive year.

A quarter-finalist at the French Open, the Spaniard saw off Williams in the round of 64, before eventually losing to Maria Sharapova in three sets.

Victories over Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open and Simona Halep at Wuhan have added to the expectation along with her jump of 43 places in the year-end rankings.

Kevin Mitchell wrote for The Guardian that as Muguruza completed her emphatic 6-2, 6-2 win over Williams in Paris, she was "lending her voice to the growing chorus acclaiming the arrival of a new order."

Muguruza certainly has a chance to be the leader of the pack rather than just one of many hopefuls. She matched Williams for power at Roland Garros, and that may see her better placed than others to challenge for a Slam.

Caroline Garcia

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Caroline Garcia has risen 100 places in the WTA rankings in the last two years, with performances like the one she gave in Wuhan suggesting there is more to come.

Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska were both beaten by Garcia in China to plant her name in the minds of the casual spectator.

Writing for Forbes, Miguel Morales identified an important feature of Garcia's game when pointing out that "she can win matches when she's not at her best."

This will serve her well against the game's top players, particularly if she is to go deeper into the tournaments that promise more points.

Beating Jankovic to win the title in Bogota and reaching the quarter-final in Madrid has laid down some high expectations for next year. If she can copy the blueprint for the aforementioned tournaments then Garcia's improvement in 2015 should be palpable this time next year.