2016 has been an eventful year for the WTA tour. It started with Maria Sharapova’s shocking meldonium revelation and ended with Ana Ivanovic’s unexpected retirement. However, high octane tennis took centre stage in the midst of it all.
Let us look back at this eventful year of women’s tennis one last time. The year served us with some delicious encounters along with certain unforeseen results. The ladies gave their hearts and souls into making it worth our while.
Here are the top five performances in the WTA singles category:
#5 Karolina Plíšková
Semi Finals – 1 Runner up – 3 Titles – 3
The world No 6 managed to churn out fruitful results all season. Her aggressive game, steep-angled groundstrokes and quick movement helped her beat several tough opponents on court. She won her first title of the year at the Aegon Open and then defeated Kerber in straight sets to clinch the Western & Southern Open, the biggest title of her career.
Pliskova then defeated Serena Williams in the semifinals of the US Open by playing the best tennis of her life. In the final, she led 3-1 in the deciding set, but her nerves and an incredible fightback from Kerber turned the match in the German’s favour.
The Czech has had a consistent career graph. Her game and her rank are both showing a steady but sure escalation. With the help of her powerful backhand and strong stroke play, she managed to break into the top 10 in 2015 and the top 5 in 2016.
Pliskova also qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore but was knocked out on the basis of a poor head-to-head record in the round robin stage.
#4 Dominika Cibulkova
Semi Finals – 1 Runner up – 3 Titles – 4
2016 has been a fairy tale year for the 27-year-old from Slovakia. From being World No 38 at the end of the 2015 season, Cibulkova displayed immense improvement to end up as the WTA player with the maximum titles this season. 4 out of her 8 career titles have come in 2016 alone!
She won the Katowice Open, Eastbourne International and General Ladies Linz en route to her journey to the WTA Finals. She also got married in July 2016 – and that has always proved to be fortuitous for both ATP and WTA players!
In Singapore, she lost her first two round-robin matches and the road ahead seemed too steep for her to conquer. However, she showcased guts and grit to defeat Halep in the third match to qualify for the semifinals. After that, the Slovakian did not rest until she beat Kerber in straight sets in the final to clinch the coveted trophy.
In the world of WTA where every player has a staunch physique and big hitting power, the 5’3” Dominica Cibulkova has demonstrated the power of dedication with her heartwarming performance this season. As an appreciation of her incredible resurgence, she also won the WTA “Comeback Player of the Year” award for 2016.
#3 Agnieszka Radwaska
Semi Finals – 6 Runner up – 0Titles – 3
Aga Radwaska ended 2016 as the World No. 3, her highest ever season-ending ranking. The Polish proved her dominance on the tennis court yet again this year and managed to stay in the news for all the good reasons.
She had a great start to the season by winning the Shenzhen Open and making it to the semifinals of the Australian Open. She battled through unforgiving rains in the fourth round of the French Open but could not end up victorious.
Her Wimbledon round of 16 match with Cibulkova was, arguably, the best match of the season. It also won the WTA “Match of the Year” award. Aga succumbed at the end of the three sets and could not close the match out.
However, the 27-year-old made a strong statement in the latter half of the season by participating in four straight tournaments in a span of 35 days. She managed to win the China Open in this period and that too, without dropping a single set.
Her potent performance fueled by her implausible hotshots and masterful mobility helped her qualify for the WTA Finals for the 6th consecutive time where she lost to Kerber in the semis.
Aga was awarded the “Fan Favourite of the Year” and the “Fan Favourite Shot of the Year” by WTA for her 2016 season.
#2 Serena Williams
Semis – 2Runner up – 3 Titles – 2
French Open – finalist. Australian Open – finalist. Wimbledon – Champion. US Open – semi finalist. These are the results that Serena Williams achieved in spite of having a “subpar” season by her standards.
The strength, consistency and power of the American are an enigma that can never be solved by a common tennis fan. Like every year, the 35-year-old was able to break and equal few Herculean records this season.
Her back to back final losses in the first two Grand Slams of the season did not stop her from achieving what she set out to achieve – she won the Wimbledon by defeating Kerber in straight sets, thereby equaling Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles in the Open era. She also went on to win the doubles trophy with her sister, Venus Williams, later, on the same day.
She also equalled Steffi Graf’s record of 186 consecutive weeks at No. 1 but was eventually dethroned by Angelique Kerber after the US Open. The current World No. 2 completed her Grand Slam runner-up set in 2016 and also took her tally of career WTA titles to a humungous 71.
Last week, Serena announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian to end a marvellous year.
#1 Angelique Kerber
Semis – 3Runner up – 5Titles – 3
If this season belongs to any one player from the circuit, it is Angelique Kerber. Her glittering resume includes two majors (Australian Open, US Open), an Olympic silver medal and a runners-up finish at Wimbledon. She titivated her game beautifully after the 2015 season to become a force to be reckoned with.
Kerber dethroned Serena Williams to claim the world No. 1 ranking - something no one could’ve predicted at the start of the season! The 28-year-old ensured that her purple patch helped her national team as well – she played a major role in Germany’s World Group victory against Romania and also won silver at the Rio Olympics.
Also read: Interview with Angelique Kerber: "My fights with Serena Williams transformed my game"
Her crafty strokes, big shots and aggressive improvisation have helped her tremendously throughout 2016. The 28-year-old has been unstoppable this season and it would be interesting to see if she can maintain the same level in 2017.
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