BRISBANE, Jan 5, 2016 – Just before the first tournaments began in 2016, everyone was ready to rock. They seemed to felt healthy and they couldn’t wait to begin. Three days later on Tuesday, No. 4 Maria Sharapova and No. 2 Simona Halep pulled out with injuries. A couple of days before in the Hopman Cup, No. 1 Serena Williams said that she was still sore and she wasn’t ready to get on court yet. On Tuesday night, she played for a set and a few games before she retired against Aussie Jarmila Wolfe. Serena could barely move.
Over in New Zealand, Venus Williams lost against the 18-year-old Darya Kasatkina, and Ana Ivanovic went down against Naomi Broady. And let’s not forget that No. 6 Petra Kvitova retired against Saisai Zheng at Shenzhen due to illness. Of the top 6, only Garbine Muguruza and Aga Radwanska remain.
Bloody Sunday. Or is it?
Whatever the case, it’s anybody’s ball game at the Australian Open.
All of a sudden, there are huge questions. Serena hasn’t played in a tournament since early September, when she was stunned in the semifinal against Roberta Vinci. She pulled out of the rest of the year, saying that she needed to heal, physically and mentally. She did manage to play a couple of exos in November and December, with her friend Caro Wozniacki and with the IPTL. It looked like she looked OK, more or less, but apparently her leg hasn’t fully healed. Serena is the defending champion and given that she won three majors in 2015, she will be the favorite everywhere she goes. But, if she can’t run at all, the rest of the healthy players will attempt to yank her around until she gives in.
Sharapova injured again
The defending champion Sharapova at Brisbane was scheduled to play Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova was injured a lot during last summer and during September, but in October, she began to feel better and she played fairly well at the WTA Finals and the Fed Cup final. The five-time champion wanted to continue. Instead, she played a few exos and practiced at home on California.
But today, she tried to practice and her left forearm was sore. She didn’t want to risk further injury. Last year in January, she was very healthy, winning Brisbane (beating Ivanovic) and reaching the final at the Aussie Open, losing against Serena in a tight match.
That is exactly what she wanted to do once again. But all of a sudden, she couldn’t crack her two-handed backhand because her left arm was painful. Will she accept a wildcard at Sydney next week if she is feeling better so she can get in some matches? It’s possible, but doubtful because the 28-year-old doesn’t want to take any risk.
The same goes with Halep, who has yet to win a major. A few days ago, Halep said that she felt stronger, her first serve was bigger and she was more in control. But, she says that for the past five months, she has a sore Achilles heal. She hopes to play Sydney and the Australian Open, but she isn’t sure what will occur and she can barely sprint.
“I hope and I want to play [at the Australian Open],” Halep said. “I have couple of weeks already again with the pain. I did an MRI and it’s nothing dangerous, but it’s still an inflammation. … I don’t want force it because it’s a tough injury.”
Halep is thrilled that her coach, Darren Cahill, will be in her camp full-time this year. He can help her calm down. That is true and, if she is fully healthy, she will have a legitimate shot to win a Grand Slam in 2016. But if she’s can’t run at full speed, she won’t be able to win the Australian Open. She isn’t very tall or extremely powerful, so when she is winning, it’s because she can run all day long and she is super steady. If she can’t, then she has no answer against the top competitors.
Kvitova is almost always hurt, but like the Czech played pretty well in the WTA Finals and the Fed Cup final. But today, she was ill once again. Hopefully, the two-time Wimbledon champion will feel better super fast. She is the defending champion at Sydney. Last year she really thought she could win the Australian Open for the first time and rise to No. 1. She wasn’t even close. She is extremely talented, but so hard to predict.
On Venus and Ivanovic: at least the American and the Serbian were healthy, even though they lost in New Zealand. Can they turn it around and catch fire at the Aussie Open? It’s hard to say. Both have reached the final before (Venus lost to Serena in 2003 and Ivanovic lost to Sharapova in 2008) and both have been around for a very long time, so they know exactly how they are feeling. But really, it’s about quality and the only way they can win again is to take tremendous risks.
Very soon, the young kids will be coming up very fast. In Brisbane, the No. 3 Muguruza is still there, as is the excellent 18-year-old Belinda Bencic.
With these nagging injuries and illnesses, we’re on to the Australian Open, where it’s wide open.
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