TennisReporters.net 2020 year-end review: top 11-15, women

Belinda Bencic

15. Garbine Muguruza
When she is on, she can be so darned dominant. She has two Grand Slams based on her ability to crush a bunch of winners. When she goes for it and finds her range, she can be one of the world’s best players. Her forehand and her backhand are very husky. When she loses, which is a decent amount, she gets frustrated and mournful. She can be very dreadful. The best thing in 2020 was the start of the year, when she advanced into the final at the Australian Open. She upset Simona Halep, but on Saturday she went down to Sofia Kenin in the final. That was more than respectable, but while she did win a lot matches, she could not win a title. In Rome, on clay, she was more than respectable, beating Jo Konta and Vika Azarenka. Against Halep, she was challenged and lost 6-4 in the third set. Where was her mental game? In 2021, Muguruza will be around, but will she be consistent for the entire year? That is a huge questio
 
14. Johanna Konta
The Australian/Brit is almost the same thing, when she is focused, and she digs in, then she would be very ground zero. She has a lot of coaches, say four, which is a lot, but she does like to listen. I am not sure why she really listens. In the last few months, she was muddy. She can back off, and she can shove the ball. She really is a cool player, but she has to change it up, at least a little more. Konta will be 30 years old, and, if she does go deep in tournaments, the fans will have to pay attention. On occasion, Konta wants to break out of her patterns. But, can she?

13. Victoria Azarenka
Ten years ago, she was No.1. She actually was the best player for a few months. She could beat anyone, winning so many matches. She won the Australian Open twice, on her march to the top. She lived on her massive stokes, with her influential forehand and backhand. She always tried to make shots on the lines. At the 2020US Open, she reached the final, beating Serena Williams in three sets in the semifinal. But, in the final’s third set, Naomi Osaka climbed up and the won 6-3. Azarenka was mentally tired. The Belarus can be very pissed off, and she was dejected . At 31 years, Azarenka can be irritable. She can best great players in 2021, or she can become distracted.

12. Belinda Bencic
It is possible that if she wasn’t hurt so much, she could have already won a Slam. But, she hasn’t reached that pinnacle. But, the Swiss was able to scrape back into the top 15. She can really grind it, and when she is feeling very well, then she can knock off most players. However, it was not a good year in 2020. When it was done, she was only 8-8. That is so mediocre. In 2015, she won Toronto during the summer. Then, she was so confident. She can drive herself, or she can nearly pop it back.

11. Serena Williams
The American has won 23 Grand Slams, so clearly, she is one of the best players on the planet. She has won so many titles, on hardcourts, clay and grass. She has almost every shot imaginable, with her massive serve, her heavy forehand, her slick backhand, and with a potent return. Williams is so rugged. However, now she is 39 years old, and she is aging. At the US Open, she lost Azarenka in the semis in three sets. That was a shocker, and then she had to wake up. Maybe in 2020, she will play here and there. But if she wants to win Slam No. 24 to tie Margaret Court, she has to break her four-match major final slide. Her footwork is no longer nimble and reaching for low balls is a major flaw. Even though she has been an all-in greatest event, it’s now time to get going again. It’s all about the commitment.

US Open: Stan Wawrinka is back, and driving

Who would have thought that Stan Wawrinka would rise up at this point in his career? After all, over the past year, he wasn’t really there. He was injured, he had to stop, and then the three-time Grand Slam champion lost a lot of matches. 

But almost everyone kept trying, even though it takes time. You have to be steady, and powerful, and hit the ball deep into the court.

Wawrinka knew that against No. 1 Novak Djokovic, that he had to be very patient. Plus, to beat him, everything has to work, depending on the day. Luckily, in a sense, the Swiss didn’t have to play 100 percent, because Djokovic was hurt, and in the third set, he retired, down 6-4, 7-5, 2-1. The Serb was not happy, he has really irritated.

But that happens with almost everyone. So now Wawrinka has a chance to win the US Open once again. That it possible, but he will have to win it over three more matches. In the second week, at the Slams, it can be a blast, but it is depends who you are playing and whether you are sharp.
 
Wawrinka’s very good friend, Roger Federer, easily won. He hasn’t had to sweat. Federer has beaten Wawrinka so many times on hardcourts. He will be favored, but he doesn’t know that yet, because the Swiss Wawrinka has to face against Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday. The Russian is playing fantastic ball over the play six weeks. Finally, he is intelligent and he goes for the lines. I would imagine that it is a toss-up. 

Believe it or not, Federer will have to face Grigor Dimitrov, who had to stop over the last few years because his body was messed up. Even this year, he has been losing a tremendous amount, but now, the former ATP Finals winner is back. If he doesn’t get hurt again, he has a chance to shine. Both Federer and Dimitrov have a lot of different shots, so to watch the match on Tuesday, it could be fascinating. But, clearly, Federer is a better player. That is why Federer has won 20 Slams, and Dimitrov has won zero.
 
NOTES
It was a huge win by Wang Qiang who stunned Ash Barty 6-2, 6-4. Qiang was consistent, while the Aussie Barty made a ton of mistakes. … Brit Jo Konta is playing substantially better, and she took down Karolina Pliskova 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-5. I don’t know that whether she can win it, but Konta did win Miami two years ago so maybe she can focus this week, and not get so fearful.

Who figured that on Sunday, Elina Svitolina would knock out American Madison Keys, 7-5, 6-4. While Keys has been better at the Grand Slams, but right against each other, Svitolina really hustles and she can switch it within a second. Yes, Svitolina has played some awful matches in the Slams, but now the No. 5 seems to be staying secure. If she can keep dominating with her serve, she has a real chance in New York.
 
Serena Williams is just so good when she focuses, and right now, she is. Serena beat Petra Martic 6-3, 6-4. While she has won 23 Grand Slams, that doesn’t mean that she can automatically grab it again. She lost in the final last year. This time, Serena will have to mix it up even more.

Tick-tock: In Paris, patience is important on clay

It was a wonderful day in Paris. It was sunny, it was warm, and the fans were smiling. But, on court, in the first Sunday, there were some important losers.

Venus Williams went down, so did Jo Konta, and somewhat shockingly, Jelena Ostapenko , the 2017 RG champion. She said: ‘It was terrible day at the office for me. In general I played maybe like 20% of what I can play. Made like 50 unforced errors and so many double faults. Like I couldn’t serve. Everything together just brought me a really bad result.”

Oh, yes, she did.

There is a tremendous amount of pressure. But, not for everyone, because certain mediocre people don’t think they have a chance to win it all, and that is too bad.

Venus Williams can still play fantastic at times. In two weeks, she will be 38 years old. She is still a top 10 player, and she will play until 40 years old, at least, assuming she is healthy. But that is a long time. Against Wang Qiang, Venus changed her tactics repeatedly, but she couldn’t keep it inside the baseline, spraying 35 unforced errors. On clay, she just can’t figure it out. She may never do that. But really, Wang played aggressive and very thoughtfully. She is an excellent doubles player, but maybe now Wang will feel better in the singles? We will find out, immediately. 

In the first half of 2017, Konta was bashing the ball and she cracked the top 10 after winning Miami. But since then, she has slipped, and she is pretty confused. She has to shake it off. 

The good thing on Sunday among the women was Sloane Stephens, who blasted her foe, Arantxa Rus. Alize Cornet came back and knocked off Sara Errani in three sets, and the No. 4 Elina Svitolina really has a chance to grab the title. If she contains herself.  

Among the men, a few of the top guys won pretty eroundasily, with Grigor Dimitrov, Alexandra Zverev and Dominic Thiem sailing into the second round. Dimitrov won the 2017 ATP Finals, and he was rising quickly, but this year, he has been so-so. He actually really likes playing on clay, and he said that every year, he has improved, sliding around, slicing it, topping it. But can he won RG for the first time? Or even reach the semis? He has to step up, and he has to be very calm at the Slams, because he has yet to win a major. Even any tournament this season. Tick-tock.  

Venus out-hits Ostapenko, to face Konta in semis

Wimbledon, Day 9 – Who would have thought that Venus Williams would keep her cool and dominate with her forehand? We all know that Venus has won five Grand Slams at Wimbledon, but she hasn’t won since 2008, which is a long time.

However, Venus never gives up, and I mean never, ever gives up, because in the past 20 years, even when she wasn’t playing well at all, she continues to try. It is so, so true. Others bail, but not Venus, who figures that once in a while, when her form returns, and she can crack it deep, touch the lines, crush a first serve, then she can beat anyone, which she did on Tuesday.

Williams defeated the Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in two sets. Ostapenko is super young, and she still needs to learn the nuances of grass. Eventually, she will win Wimbledon someday. But not yet.

Venus has to face Britain’s Jo Konta, who overcame Simona Halep in three fantastic sets. There is a good amount of pressure from Konta, but when she is playing, she doesn’t listen to the fans yelling when she is hitting the ball; she locks in and she focuses. That is why she has reached the semis, the first time for her in ages.

Can she beat Venus? Possibly, as she is much younger than the 36-year-old Williams, and we all know that the British fans will be jumping up and down for Konta. They will be celebrating Konta reaching Wimbledon’s second week — for the first time ever. The fans are learning who she is. Is Konta fast, super aggressive, happy, smart, erratic, super nervous, in trouble? We will find out on Thursday.

We have been watching Garbine Muguruza pretty closely over the past eight weeks. Yes, for a year, her brain was all over the place. But eventually, at Roland Garros, she rose, she didn’t get angry. Now, she is more patient and has begun to she believe in herself again. She bested two-time Grand Slam winners Angie Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and now, she is in the semis.

Muguruza is favored to reach the final, but you never know. Not with her. She can rip her forehand and backhand, but there are days when she doesn’t like her racket and could snap it. If the Spaniard is calm, she will win. She is that good.

She will play Magdalena Rybarikova, who upended the American Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets. Rybarikova has never reached the semis before, but the veteran plugged on. Against Vandeweghe, she hit it deep and she mixed it up all over the place. It took her eight years to reach the semis at the Slams, and finally, she understood that she needs to be patient, and also, swing away when the opportunity rises. She better do all these things, or Muguruza will crush her.

For the second time in two Slams, Halep had one match to win to ascend to No. 1. But, with the loss to Konta, following the slip in Roland Garros’ final to Ostepenko, Karolina Pliskova will be ranked No. 1 next week. She will be the 23rd top player in WTA history.