So, with Fed Cup over last weekend and the Czech Republic beating the United States, that meant that the WTA season is officially over. Hard to believe it started many months ago around New Year's! I want to take this post in my blog to go through some of the All About Tennis Blog's picks for a variety of topics, including: best player, best match, most improved player, biggest disappointment, and best coach. Let's dive in!
Best Player
The best player this year, in my opinion, is pretty straightforward: Simona Halep. Not only did she finish as the number one player at the year's end, but she did it even though she lost in the First Round of the US Open and didn't play the WTA Finals. This shows just how good the rest of Halep's year has been. And her year has been very impressive. After a title in Shenzhen, Halep's year continued with a fantastic run to Final of the Australian Open, including an epic win over Angelique Kerber, and her season really blossomed when she made the French Open Final, dismissing a hot Muguruza along the way, and came back from the a set and a break down against Sloane Stephens in the Final to win the French Open, her first major title. Couple that with a great win in Toronto against Stephens, also in the Final, and this was the best year of Halep's career, and I think deserves best player honors.
Best Match
When you think of the best match of 2018, a few matches come to mind. This list is not extensive at all, and it is really hard to pick a best match, because I haven't even watched all of the epic matches I will be listing. But, based on the matches I've seen and the matches I've heard were great, I have limited best match down to a few options. I think that one match that people don't mention much that was spectacular was Halep beating Lauren Davis 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 in the Third Round of the Australian Open. Halep had to save match points in that match, and Lauren Davis played admirably. Another amazing match also comes from the Australian Open, and that was Halep beating Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 in an amazing semifinal. Then, in the Final, Wozniacki beat Halep 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in another spectacular match. So, for me, those three matches come to mind for best match of the year, and they all happened to be at the Australian Open, and involve Simona Halep. Another epic match happened between Halep and Stephens at Toronto this year, as preivously mentioned, and Halep won 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in a very tight match. Stephens also played a very tight match with Camila Giorgi, beating her 4-6, 6-1, 8-6. Overall, I would have to say that, in my completely subjective opinion, that Halep beating Kerber in the Australian Open semifinal would have to be my match of the year.
Biggest Surprise
This is a no-brainer. What Aryna Sablenka did during the second half of the season was spectacular. I already had a feeling Sablenka was going to be very good when I saw her crush Sara Errani in Tianjin in 2017 6-1, 6-3, but this year was well-beyond my expectations. Sablenka started to show her potential in Eastbourne when she lost a tough, tight two-setter in the Final to Caroline Wozniacki. Then, she played fantastic power tennis to match the Semifinals of Cincinnati, won the Connecticut Open, played Osaka as close as anyone in the tournament reaching the Round of 16 at the US Open, and won Wuhan. This gave her the opportunity to play in the WTA Elite Trophy where she very closely missed out on the Semifinals, although next year, I would expect to see her at the WTA Finals, and perhaps a be a top three player there.
Biggest Disappointment
For me, Garbine Muguruza was the most disappointing this year. Expectations were extremely high following Wimbledon last year, and she has failed to come even close to repeating her past successes. Given her high standards, her results this year weren't great. She only won one title, at WTA International event in Monterrey, and reached only one other Final, losing in the Doha Final to Petra Kvitova. She really only played well, in terms of major success, at the French Open, making the Semifinals before going down quickly to Simona Halep. At the other three majors this year, she went a combined 3-3, never making it past the Second Round. In fact, after the French Open, Muguruza only made two semifinals for the rest of the year, in Hong Kong and the WTA Elite Trophy. I'm not saying this a terrible year, but given Muguruza's expectations, she didn't come close to hitting those expectations.
Best Coach
I want to finish with a quick discussion of best coach for the year. I think this is an easy decision: Darren Cahill was spectacular coaching Simona Halep this year. Although he won't continue as Simona's coach next year, his ability to help guide Simona to a grand slam is very impressive, given how hard it is to win a grand slam and the mental block that had seemed to form at Grand Slam Finals for Simona. His calm demeanor and good advice clearly played in role in Halep's successes this year, and he should be recognized for his fantastic coaching.
Well, that's an extremely quick breakdown the WTA season. I can't wait for next year!
