2016 Season Review: Cibulkova Has Final Say
The final chapter in a memorable season came in Singapore as Dominika Cibulkova recovered from a rocky start to triumph at the season-ending showpiece.
The final chapter in a memorable season came in Singapore as Dominika Cibulkova recovered from a rocky start to triumph at the season-ending showpiece.
ROCK ISLAND, IL, USA – 21-year-old American tennis player Madison Keys hosted her first FearlesslyGIRL summit earlier today at the Rock Island High School in Rock Island, Illinois.
“Today was incredibly special,” Keys said. “To be able to launch my partnership with FearlesslyGIRL in my hometown and to meet so many amazing young women was an unforgettable experience.”
During the four hour summit in her hometown, Keys met hundreds of young women who attend Rock Island High School. She hosted a questions and answers session during which she shared her personal experiences with anti-bullying, building confidence, her relationship with fellow tennis players, and overcoming the pressure of being in the public eye. She also participated in group breakouts covering numerous topics relevant to young women today.
“I am so honored to be called a role model for young women and I take this role seriously as my goal is to help others through my own experiences and spread positivity.
“I want to thank my FearlesslyGIRL partner Kate and everyone at the Rock Island High School for making today possible. I look forward to keeping in touch with the young women I met today,” said Keys.
Keys became an ambassador for the internationally recognized leadership organization earlier this fall. FearlesslyGIRL is dedicated to empowering a generation of young women as well as their schools and communities and is 100% girl driven.
Check out the best photos from the event, courtesy of IMG and FearlesslyGIRL.
Madison Keys might be the youngest member of the WTA’s Top 10, but in 2016 she proved that she has the game to stay at the top. Watch all of Keys’ best shots of the year, right here!
Irina-Camelia Begu takes on Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Caroline Wozniacki’s late-season resurgence made headlines during the Asian Swing, but her spectacular shotmaking was on song all season long. Watch all her best shots of 2016!
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza after her win in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
December 14, 2016
Spelling challenges, emoji challenges, cracker challenges, selfie challenges and, of course, the WTA Frame Challenge – which video was the best of the year? Click here to vote!
Elina Svitolina
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.20
Year-End Ranking: No.14 (Career-High No.14, March 7)
Season Highlights: Title at Kuala Lumpur, finals at New Haven & Zhuhai
Best Major Result: QF (French Open)
14 Days until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/DIIg2qWhUX
— WTA (@WTA) 18 de diciembre de 2016
2017 Outlook
Some players adhere to the policy of “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” but Elina Svitolina isn’t one of those people.
After a career-best season – which saw her rise to her highest ranking of No.14, upset two different WTA World No.1s, pocket a title at Kuala Lumpur and reach the finals at New Haven and Zhuhai – the always-improving Svitolina announced a new coaching team with the goal of getting herself past the final hurdles and cementing her spot at the game’s upper echelons.
A busy off-season schedule in 2015 stunted Svitolina’s progress earlier this year, but she learned her lesson and heads into 2017 with a clear objective:
“Of course, the main goal is to be Top 10,” Svitolina told WTA Insider at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “I’ll try to have a normal off-season this time, work really hard physically, and mentally. It’s all about the small details, so I’ll be trying to work on those and make little changes.”
Looking ahead to 2017, Ukraine’s No.1 player will start out the year rested and in prime position to make big gains. With just a handful of points to defend in the first two months of the year, Svitolina looks ever closer to a big leap into the WTA’s highest rankings.
Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching took to the culture heart of Singapore during the WTA Finals, even attempting to create traditional dress worn throughout Southeast Asia.
With the French Open just days away, the WTA Insider team got to wondering: Is there really such a thing as a clay court specialist anymore?
Not since Francesca Schiavone’s French Open triumph in 2010 has a player won the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen with what would be considered a traditional clay court style. The slicing, the dicing, the grinding, have all given way to more powerful players, ones who already excel on other surfaces. The last four French Opens have been won by either Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova, with Sharapova in particular redefining what a clay court specialist looked like.
We sought to isolate the clay court results over the last three years to see who the best clay court players have been recently. To do that we looked at a player’s results at Premier-level events or higher over the last three seasons, using 100% of their points earned in 2016, 75% earned in 2015, and 50% earned in 2014.
Taking into consideration the players currently entered in the French Open, here are the Clay Court Power Rankings:
Takeaways:
– Serena reigns supreme: When you’ve won two of the last three French Opens, it’s hard to argue that you’re not the best. We did not include Sharapova because she is not entered in Paris, but she was behind Serena at No.2 by a little more than 400 points.
– Halep jumps to No.2: The former French Open junior champion benefits from her fantastic 2014 clay season, where she made the final of Madrid and the French Open, as well as her title-run in Madrid this year. If she can handle any changing expectations after Madrid, she’ll be in good form in Paris.
– Kerber holds firm: Kerber’s clay court power ranking at No.3 is slightly misleading. She has been a steady force early in the clay season in Charleston and Stuttgart, but her results have tended to taper off afterwards. She has made the French Open quarterfinals just once. But there’s no reason the Australian Open champion can’t flip the script this year.
– Radwanska and Azarenka slip: Two of the Top 5 women barely crack the Top 20 of our power rankings. Agnieszka Radwanska, who will be seeded No.2 in Paris, is down at No.20, while No.5 Victoria Azarenka, the most dominant player on hardcourts this season, is down at No.28.
Neither result is particularly surprising given their recent results on clay, which saw Radwanska lose in the opening round in Madrid and skip Rome, while Azarenka’s back injury hampered her clay preparation this year. Radwanska has been to the quarterfinals just once at the French Open, in 2013, while Azarenka’s best result was a semifinal in 2013.
– The Top 10 looks markedly different: Six of the women ranked in the Top 10 of our power rankings will be seeded outside the Top 10 in Paris: Petra Kvitova, last year’s French Open finalist Lucie Safarova, Carla Suárez Navarro, Sara Errani, Ana Ivanovic, and Madison Keys.
– Notable clay court darkhorses: In the Open Era, the French Open has been won by 15 first-time Grand Slam champions – the most of the four majors – something that encourages an extra-critical eye on the tournament’s underdogs. Irina-Camelia Begu, for example, has had a tremendous clay season, making the quarterfinals in Charleston, Madrid, and the semifinals in Rome. She’s up to No.11 in our power rankings, from a ranking of No.28. Daria Gavrilova is another name to keep an eye on, as she surges to No.19 in our power ranking. Elena Vesnina, Laura Siegemund, Christina McHale, and Louisa Chirico also earned big bumps.
Keep up with WTA Insider’s RG Contenders series by clicking here.