The first half of the 2016 season is in the books and as the tour turns back to hardcourts, the possible field for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is beginning to take shape. The Road to Singapore leaderboard saw some subtle but important movement through the clay and grass seasons, with Serena Williams taking over the top spot in the RTS for the first time, French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza soar into contention, while question marks over Victoria Azarenka’s season continue to mount.
Breaking down the RTS Top 10:
1. Serena Williams – 6,270 points.
It speaks volumes of the impossible expectations for the World No.1 that a season that included two Slam finals, a title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Rome, and a final of the BNP Paribas Open, were all signals of a “slump.” As Serena said at Wimbledon, any other player on tour would dream of those results.
But: Serena isn’t any other player.
After making her second major final of the season at the French Open, Serena took over the No.1 spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard for the first time in 2016; she consolidated that move last week after winning her seventh Wimbledon title and tying Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles.
Listen to the newest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast, which looks into Serena’s season so far and her place in tennis history.
2. Angelique Kerber – 4,837 points.
Kerber’s best season of her career continued on grass. She relinquished the top spot on the RTS to Serena after the French Open, but after making her second major final of the season at Wimbledon, she extended her lead over No.3 Victoria Azarenka and the rest of the field by nearly 1,800 points. In fact, with Kerber less than 1,500 points behind Serena, the German has a larger lead over the rest of the field than Serena has on her.
3. Victoria Azarenka – 3,061 points.
After a blistering start that saw her win three titles – including the Sunshine Double (BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open) – Azarenka left the spring hardcourts as the woman to beat. Since then, the former No.1 has played just six matches, with various injuries leaving her sidelined. Her last match ended in a retirement to Karin Knapp in the first round of the French Open; she withdrew from the entire grass court swing, including Wimbledon.
It all begs the question: When will we see a healthy Azarenka back on court?
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – 3,038 points.
The Spaniard went into Roland Garros sitting at No.17 in the RTS. Two weeks later the 22-year-old became the third consecutive maiden Slam winner, beating Serena in straight sets in the final, and surged up to No.4. A semifinalist in Singapore last fall, Muguruza’s strong run on clay – she also made the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and the semifinals in Rome – has taken her from well outside the qualifying range to right in the thick of things.
Given her prowess on hardcourts, Muguruza’s move up the RTS charts should continue over the summer.
5. Agnieszka Radwanska – 2,696 points.
The reigning WTA Finals champion started her season among the most consistent women on tour, making the semifinals or better at her first four tournaments. Since then she has made just one semifinal (Stuttgart) and has been undone by a series of tough draws and unexpected circumstances.
Radwanska has lost to Dominika Cibulkova in three of her last five tournaments, all in three sets and capped off by the three-hour epic between the two that Cibulkova won 9-7 in the third in the fourth round of Wimbledon. She drew a red-hot CoCo Vandeweghe in her first match on grass, losing in three sets, and held a seemingly insurmountable lead over Tsvetana Pironkova at the French Open before getting distracted by the wet conditions at the French Open.
All that is to say, Radwanska is playing good tennis. If she continues this level through the summer there’s no reason to think the pendulum of luck won’t swing back her way.
6. Carla Suárez Navarro – 2,518 points.
Suárez Navarro has yet to ever qualify for the WTA Finals in singles, narrowly missing out a post last fall (she and doubles partner Muguruza made the doubles final). This year, the Qatar Total Open champion continues to keep pace, performing consistently without posting any breakthrough results to surge forward. The Spaniard went into the French Open at No.5 on the RTS and heads to the summer hardcourt season ranked at No.6, making the Round of 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon, as well as the semifinals at the Aegon Classic.
7. Dominika Cibulkova – 2,487 points.
Twelve months ago, Cibulkova was ranked No.56 after missing four-and-a-half months due to foot surgery. Now she’s one of the best players on tour, as evidenced by her RTS ranking at No.7. Cibulkova had a strong clay season, making the Mutua Madrid Open final, but her grass court season took everyone by surprise. The 27-year-old had so little faith in her grass court abilities that she scheduled her wedding on the day of the Wimbledon final.
Cibulkova won nine consecutive matches on grass, including her first grass title at the Aegon International, before making her first Wimbledon quarterfinal since 2011.
8. Simona Halep – 2,299 points.
After a slow start to the season due to illness and injury, Halep seems to have found a consistent base. It started with her title run on the clay courts of Madrid and it continued at Wimbledon, where she made the quarterfinals before losing to Kerber. The most important news for Halep: She’s healthy. An Achilles injury that knocked her out most of the grass court season never flared up at Wimbledon.
Last year Halep went on a tear through the North American hardcourt season, making back-to-back finals at the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open before making her first US Open semifinal. Can she do it again?
Hear from Halep’s coach Darren Cahill here:
9. Madison Keys – 2,121 points.
If the season were to end today, the 21-year-old American would be the first alternate in Singapore. Keys has soared up the rankings thanks to her sustained run of play across the clay and grass season. She marched her way to the finals of Rome, beating Muguruza en route, won the Aegon Classic, and made the Round of 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Hear from Keys, who made her Top 10 debut during the grass season here:
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – 2,082 points.
The Russian veteran is sitting in the second alternate position, backing up her fairytale run to the final of the Miami Open with solid results at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Hear from the resurgent Russian on how she resolved to improve on grass, leading her into the second week of the All England Club for the first time since 2008:
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
