Stock Watch for Top Women's Tennis Players Ahead of the 2015 Australian Open
The Australian Open is almost here, and it's time to reassess where the top women's players stand before the first Grand Slam of 2015.
Next week, 128 players will kick off a fortnight of tennis in the Melbourne heat. Only one player will be able to walk away with the champion's trophy. This year's tournament may be as wide open as ever, but an examination of the top contenders reveals some trends.
Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka—all former Australian Open winners—are headed in different directions. One has boosted her chances with a recent title, while the other two are trying to find momentum.
Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard, the breakout stars of 2014, have shown signs of further progress already this season.
Other players such as Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska are focused on winning their first major, though one of them may be closer than the other to finally achieving that goal.
The following slideshow will examine early-season results and developments for the top women and whether to buy, sell or hold their stock entering the Australian Open. If the first few weeks of this season have been any indication, buckle up for a wild ride Down Under.
Victoria Azarenka
1 of 9
Stock: Sell
After missing most of the 2014 season, Victoria Azarenka made her long-awaited return last week in Brisbane.
An injury to her foot last January hampered Azarenka, who only played two matches between her quarterfinals loss at the Australian Open and the start of Wimbledon.
Later in the summer, Azarenka also hurt her knee, and the combination of the two ultimately forced her to pull the plug on her season in September.
Brisbane marked her first competitive tournament in more than three months, and the rust showed as Azarenka fell in the first round to Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-7 (7), 4-6. The result was sobering, yet hopeful.
She opened the match showing few signs of her extended layoff, racing to a 5-1 lead. Then she fell apart as a wave of unforced errors and double faults gave back momentum to Pliskova. Azarenka squandered two match points in the second set, failing to close out her opponent.
Azarenka flashed signs of progress in the loss, but her play wasn't crisp enough to win. She still needs more time to work herself back into shape.
That opening-round loss means Azarenka will head to Melbourne with little match preparation. Even as a two-time champion Down Under, she'll likely struggle as she tries to find her old form.
Caroline Wozniacki
2 of 9
Stock: Sell
Caroline Wozniacki's Slam-less drought shows no signs of ending soon.
The Dane began her season in Auckland, navigating her way into the final after beating Julia Glushko, Taylor Townshend, Julia Goerges and Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova.
In the championship match, Wozniacki fell flat against Venus Williams in a surprising 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 loss. Despite leading by a set and a break, Wozniacki's momentum vanished as Venus took initiative and began pushing her around.
Losing to an offensive-minded player? Same old story for Wozniacki.
Sloppy play before the Australian Open may be the least of her concerns. Wozniacki had to withdraw during her first-round match in Sydney this week due to a wrist injury, casting doubts about her ability to compete at a high level in Melbourne.
Wozniacki hasn't advanced past the fourth round in Australia since 2012, and with her wrist injury, it's tough to see her having the firepower to make a deep run Down Under.
Ana Ivanovic
3 of 9
Stock: Hold
Six years have passed since Ana Ivanovic's maiden Grand Slam title run at the 2008 French Open. She's still trying to recapture that magic.
A resurgent 2014 season where she won four tournaments and recorded a 58-17 record with 10 victories over top 10 players showed she's far from done. Now, she'll try to take the next step in 2015.
Her year began with a spirited run to the Brisbane International final last week, but she lost a three-set thriller to top-seeded Maria Sharapova. Once again, she failed to cross the finish line in a big match.
Ivanovic played well in wins over Jarmila Gajdosova, Kaia Kanepi and Varvara Lepchenko, but she lost her nerve against Sharapova, the 10th time she's lost to the Russian in 14 meetings.
In Australia, Ivanovic has had similar struggles, advancing past the fourth round just once (2014 quarterfinals) since her runner-up finish in 2008.
While her overall stock remains on the rise, it's tough to see Ivanovic lifting the trophy in Melbourne.
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Eugenie Bouchard
4 of 9
Stock: Hold
Eugenie Bouchard's breakthrough 2014 season fizzled to a close, but she began to show rebirth at the Hopman Cup.
A first-round drudging in a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Lucie Safarova didn't deter Bouchard. Instead, she responded with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Serena Williams.
The dichotomy between those two results highlights what Bouchard lacks most right now: consistency.
Last year, Bouchard made the semifinals at both the Australian Open and French Open before her runner-up finish at Wimbledon to Petra Kvitova. Outside of those three events, the 20-year-old Canadian didn't enjoy the same level of success.
She lost her first match in both Montreal and Cincinnati, a precursor to her fourth-round loss at the U.S. Open. After a finals run in Wuhan, Bouchard lost five of her final six matches in 2014.
Currently playing without a coach, Bouchard needs to gain back momentum in order to reassert herself as a top contender. The win over Serena was a positive step in that direction. It just may take her more time to regain confidence.
A deep run in Australia would be the springboard she desperately needs.
Agnieszka Radwanska
5 of 9
Stock: Buy
Agnieszka Radwanska is another top women's player who bears the burden of having never won a major. But she may be closer than Caroline Wozniacki to getting over that hurdle.
This past offseason, Radwanska hired tennis legend Martina Navratilova to be her coach. Someone with that type of pedigree is exactly what she needs to take the next step.
At the Hopman Cup last week, Radwanska finally beat Serena Williams for the first time with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 win. That result helped her and partner Jerzy Janowicz lift Poland to victory at the co-ed competition.
Perth isn't an official WTA event, but the win is still momentous for Radwanska. Besides her first career victory over Serena, she carried her country to a title.
This week in Sydney, Radwanska will look to build on that momentum. She already won her opening-round match over Alize Cornet. Another strong week could send her confidence soaring.
Radwanska has made the quarterfinals four times at the Australian Open (2008, 2011-2013) and reached the semifinals last year. She's clearly comfortable playing Down Under. With her early-season results and Navratilova in her corner, Melbourne may be the place where she finally lifts a Grand Slam trophy.
Petra Kvitova
6 of 9
Stock: Sell
The Australian Open has not been kind recently to Petra Kvitova.
After reaching the semifinals in 2012, Kvitova exited in the second round in 2013 and fell in a shock opening-round upset last year at the hands of Luksika Kumkhum.
Her early results this season have done little to assuage doubts about her Aussie hopes.
Kvitova, a powerful and lanky lefty, lost 4-6, 4-6 in the Shenzen semifinals to Timea Bacsinszky. That's the type of opponent she needed to beat in order to gain confidence heading to Melbourne.
While Kvitova's style of attacking tennis has found great success at Wimbledon, she too often looks overmatched on hard courts. The 24-year-old Czech isn't a natural mover, and her inability to track down shots is exposed in faster conditions and to opponents with similar power.
She'll travel to Sydney this week for more preparation, but a deep run at the Australian Open may be too difficult a task for her.
Simona Halep
7 of 9
Stock: Buy
Simona Halep is out to prove her 2014 season wasn't a fluke.
She certainly started with a bang this year, capturing the title in Shenzen after a dominant victory over Timea Bacsinszky in the championship match.
Winning is becoming second nature to Halep. The Romanian won titles in Doha and Bucharest last year and earned eight wins over top 10 players. Halep also made the finals at the French Open, WTA Championships and Madrid, coming tantalizingly close to capturing the Roland Garros crown.
Halep fought her way to the quarterfinals in Australia last year before losing to Dominka Cibulkova. An even deeper run this time around may be ahead.
What makes Halep so tough to beat these days is not just her rock-steady ground strokes and superb court movement—it's her confidence. She's won so many matches and titles over the last two seasons, and that experience has imbued a strong sense of belief in herself.
The rest of the field in Australia will have to watch out for Halep. Grand Slam titles are now within her grasp.
Maria Sharapova
8 of 9
Stock: Buy
No player has benefited more from the early weeks of the 2015 season than Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova with extra confidence? That's a scary thought for the rest of the WTA.
In Brisbane, the Russian scored comprehensive straight-set wins over Yaroslava Shvedova, Carla Suarez-Navarro and Elina Svitolina. She saved her best for the final, topping Ana Ivanovic for a tense 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 win and the 34th title of her career.
With that win, Sharapova now sits just 681 points behind nemesis Serena Williams for the No. 1 ranking. As she trains in Australia this week, she'll have plenty of motivation to capture the title.
Sharapova, winner of the 2008 Australian Open and runner-up in 2007 and 2012, knows what it takes to win in Melbourne. She won't be intimidated by the situation.
The biggest question for her remains whether she can beat Serena if they face off. Based on their results so far in 2015, the gap may be shrinking.
Serena Williams
9 of 9
Stock: Hold
The most-feared player on the WTA Tour has endured a rocky start to the season.
Serena Williams launched her 2015 campaign at the Hopman Cup in Perth and was promptly served an opening-set bagel by Flavia Pennetta. While viewers may have left their seats for a coffee break after the set, Serena didn't. Instead, she ordered an espresso from her chair. Really.
The unconventional tactic worked, and Serena sprung to life, storming back for a 0-6, 6-3, 6-0 win. But she crashed hard in her next match, losing 2-6, 1-6 to Eugenie Bouchard.
Her string of bad play wasn't over yet. She then dropped a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 1-6 affair to Agnieszka Radwanska, smashing her racket in anger during the match.
Dropping two of her first four matches of the year through increasingly bizarre manners is hardly the start Serena needed. With her hold on the No. 1 ranking tenuous, she'll enter the Australian Open with little momentum.
Despite those early struggles, it's unwise ever to underestimate Serena. She still holds 18 Grand Slams titles—including five in Melbourne—and can seemingly flip the switch whenever she needs to.
But she hasn't won the Australian Open since 2010. To end that drought, she'll have to move past what happened in Perth.
Joe Kennard is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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