This year’s Australian Open women’s draw is headlined by the usual stars of the game. Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska are the top three seeds, but a player’s position in the world rankings is something of an irrelevance in the women’s game.
The first two weeks of the 2017 season saw nine out of the world’s top ten participate in tournaments (Madison Keys is currently absent due to injury). Out of the group, only three players managed to reach tournament finals. Karolina Pliskova was the first as she roared to the Brisbane International title. Then a week later, Johanna Konta outplayed Radwanska in their Sydney showdown.
The trio of final appearances comes as others struggle. Kerber’s first two tournaments saw her fall in the quarterfinals in the opening week, followed by a second round exit the week after. Meanwhile, newly engaged Williams fired 88 unforced errors during her second round loss at the ASB Classic in New Zealand.
“There is a bit of uncertainty at the top of the women’s game now.” Men’s world No.1 Andy Murray recently said about the WTA Tour.
Unpredictability has become a frequent term to describe the Women’s draw in Melbourne. The last time all of the top five players reached the quarterfinal stage in the tournament was more than 20 years ago in 1994. Whilst history might be pointing to a strong chance of a lower ranked player winning their first major title, top seed Kerber believes she has the ability to repeat her heroics of 12 months ago.
“For me, I’m expecting the same as I was expecting the years before – going out there trying my best, fighting till the last point,” she said.
“This is always how I’m playing, how I am. This will not be changing.”
Williams is also remaining confident about her title chances. The 35-year-old is chasing after her 23rd grand slam title, which will put Wiliams second on the all-time list behind Margaret Court’s tally of 24.
“I didn’t come here to lose in the first round, or the second round, or at all,” said Williams, who will play Belinda Bencic in the first round. “If I can play the way I’ve been practising, it will be fine.
“I’ve been spending so much time on the court. It feels really good to be back, just hitting on Rod Laver (Arena), hitting on all the stadiums, it’s a good feeling. I love it here.”
The fighting talk of the two players are encouraging, but putting their words into action will be a tough task. Unlike the men, the women’s draw is filled with dangerous players that has the ability to defeat the best in the world. Elina Svitolina is ranked 13th in the world, but she has beaten a world No.1 player three times since 2015. Meanwhile, fifth seed and US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova recorded seven top 10 wins in 2016.
“I guess everyone is in shape and everyone is excited to play this Grand Slam. It’s the first Grand Slam of the year. Everyone was working hard in the off-season, so it’s tough to say. We will just see after few rounds here.” Pliskova said about the ambiguity of the draw.
There is also the contingent of players near the top of the game that has fallen short in Grand slam tournament. Radwanska has won 20 WTA titles in her career, but none of them has been in the majors. Her best performance was runner-up at the 2012 Wimbledon championships. It is a similar story for Simona Halep, who reached the 2014 French Open final.
“I feel good,” Halep told reporters during her pre-tournament press conference on Sunday. “I was preparing pretty good during this week. I’m waiting. I’m a little bit nervous. But it’s normal. I’m fit.”
With so many strong title contenders lurking in the draw, it is hard to predict who will reach the final. Then again, it is this unpredictability that makes the WTA Tour so intriguing and entertaining.
