25 Elina Svitolina
The Ukrainian had a very good year, reaching into the semis at Wimbledon, edging  Victoria Azarenka 7-6 in the third and she almost stunning the current No. 1 Iga Swiatek. She did lose in the semis, but she can be so consistent and can really grind it, hard. Over the years, she looked excellent, but also, mentally, when she was young, she would panic. Now she appears to be more stable. If she wants to win a Slam for the first time, she has to improve her return, and at the net. Also, she can throw in a few, cool shots.

24 Magda Linette
She has been playing for many years, and she has won some good players, but at the Slams, she didn’t  do much, until she became more fitting, and more powerful. She plays all the time, almost each week, unless she gets hurt, but at least she stays in there, and chuck it in some aloof shots.  Yes, she really wants to get into the top 10, for the first time, but if she wants to do that, then she must changed a few critical tactics, or she won’t.

23 Donna Vekic
In the first half of the year, that was solid by the  Croatia, winning Monterey, Mexico, and then in June, she reached in Berlin, upsetting Elena Rybakina  and Maria Sakkari. She said, “Every player’s goal is to win a Grand Slam title, but the difference now is that I truly believe that I can do it, for the first time in my life.” Then she has a lot of work to doing, given that in the last four months, she did very little. Perhaps she was hurt, physically, but her strokes were not deep enough, so if she wants to mix it up more, than she should feed in more variety.

22 Victoria Azarenka
It is almost impossible to see when she is playing, in a tournament, and if she is  playing great, early, or later, will she miss so many errors? Yes, she has won two Grand Slams at the Australian Open, over 10 years ago. Then, she was so rational, ripping her forehand and her backhand, down the line and crosscourt. However, even though she has been very good, she couldn’t stay there as the No. 1 for a long time. Her good friend, Serena Williams, beat Azarenka so many times, as she has certainly better when they serve and return. Maybe she can win a tournament next year, as in 2023, she didn’t, but she did reach into the semis at the Australian Open, before she lost against Elena Rybakina. Another opportunity?  Who, knows?

21 Ekaterina Alexandrova

She has not been very good  at the Slams, yet the Russian won the ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands in June, on the grass. That was jolly, as her forehand is huge, and she also really likes to play on the hard courts. Her backhand can be solid, and she is feeling very good, she can return into the corners. However, she has never reached into the quarters at the Slams, so next year, she will have to blend it up more, and hit her backhand in the middle, very deep on the lines.