Wrapping Up the Women's Tennis Season

There have been many story lines from the year in women's tennis.  Although there are still some minor tournaments to come, the next time tennis will be a huge deal will be the 2013 Australian Open.  Let's look at some of the key points of the year.

The first thing I want to talk about is Victoria Azarenka's emergence.  She leaped onto the scene this year beating Maria Sharapova in the 2012 Australian Open Finals, which showed that she was ready to take the leap of stardom.  She did not rest on her achievement, however.  She gained the number one ranking in the world, which is a huge achievement.  Then, she went to the Olympics and performed well there too.  She won a bronze medal for her country Belarus to further her fantastic year.  Then, in the US Open Finals, she battled Serena Williams till the very end, showing she would be a major factor in the years to come.  Awesome job, Victoria.

Maria Sharapova really excelled this year.  After challenging Azarenka at the Australian Open, she finally mastered that pesky clay and rolled through the competition, beating surprise finalist Sara Errani in the Finals.  This was an especially important major for Sharapova to win as it gave her the career grand slam.  Sharapova also won a silver medal for her country, Russia.  This year truly solidified Sharapova's place as one of the best women's tennis players of all time.

Perhaps the player who had the best year, however, was Serena Williams.  After losing in the First Round of the French Open, Williams exploded.  She aced her way to a Wimbledon crown, her first major championship since her terrifying blood clot.   And by the way, she won the doubles title too with her sister Venus Williams.  She steamrolled her way to the Olympic gold, never being taken to three sets, and only losing one game in the final match.  She also won the women's doubles gold with Venus again.  Then, she went to the final major of the year, the US Open, and won there.  For a year that started so disappointing, not making past the Round of 16 in either of the first two majors of the year, this was an amazing finish.  Based partly on the latter part of this year, I believe we might be watching the great women's tennis player of all time.

We cannot also forget the player who beat Serena Williams in that epic First Round match at Rolland Garros: Virginie Razzano.  This women needs to be commended for such an impressive showing against such an impressive player.  The way she battled back from one set down, the way she battled as Serena Williams made one last push to save her tournament with that seemingly-forever deuce game when Razzano was up 5-3, was impressive.  This was an upset for the ages, and we, as tennis fans should be appreciative of such a spectacular performance.

After such a great year in women's tennis, we can only hope that 2013 brings us such great memories.

Thoughts on the First Three Rounds for the Women at the US Open and a Look Ahead

The US Open first three rounds came to a close yesterday for the women, so this is a good time for me to give my thoughts on the women during this opening stretch.  Who impressed?  Who disappointed?  Check it out below, along with a look ahead to the rest of the tournament.

One of the player who really impressed me with how well she has played is Victoria Azarenka.  All of the attention is on how Serena Williams is just going to waltz right into winning the championship here.  And even though she totally deserves it we have totally forgot about the number one seed!  She has dropped six games, and beat Zheng Jie 6-0, 6-1.  Zheng Jie has made two major semifinals and took Serena Williams to 9-7 in the third at Wimbledon.  So, I was expecting a really competitive match, which was not the case.  Looking at the draw ahead, I foresee her facing Maria Sharapova in the Semifinals, which is the other women who impressed me.

Maria Sharapova has been totally dominate during the US Open this year.  She has only dropped seven games so far this tournament, and has not dropped more than two games since the First Round.  She crushed the young Mallory Burdette 6-1, 6-1.  Her powerful groundstrokes have been an ever-so-present part of her game.  As mentioned earlier, I fully expect her to reach the Semifinals to face Victoria Azarenka, but her path is much harder as she has to play two ranked opponents, possibly five seed Petra Kvitova in the Quarterfinals.  With the way she is playing, however, I believe nobody can stop her until the Semifinals.

So, who has disappointed me?  Well, who else could it be other than Caroline Wozniacki?  This is the second major in a row that she has gone out in the First Round, however this one was different.  When she lost to Tamira Paszek at Wimbledon, she took a set and then went out fighting 6-4 in the third.  This time, against an unkown opponent Begu, she went out meekly.  She lost 6-2, 6-2 in a disappointing loss for the former number one.  For Wozniacki, now the long wait for the Australian Open ensues.

So, now it is prediction time.  I have already stated who will make it to the Semifinals in the top half of the bracket, but what about the bottom half?  The obvious semifinalist is Serena Williams, but the other one will be Angelique Kerber, who will just edge out Aga Radwanska in the Quarterfinals.  Sharapova will beat Azarenka in three sets, and Serena Williams, out for revenge against Angelique Kerber, will beat her in two sets.

So, the Finals will be Maria Sharapova against Serena Williams.  This is a rematch of the 2012 Olympic final.  Serena Williams won 6-0, 6-1 there, and I do not expect a much different result here either.  Serena Williams will beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1 to win the US Open.