Top Storylines of 2011 on the WTA
Now that the 2011 season is over for the WTA, here are my four favorite story lines from the year that was.
1. Sabine Lisicki - She just turned 22 in late September, but the 5-foot, 10-inch German turned on the jets late to finish 47-17 and rise 200 spots from 218th entering Indian Wells to 18th at year's end.
The German came into the limelight in Birmingham two weeks before Wimbledon, taking out two top 30 players to win her first ATP title.
She jumped 38 spots in the rankings on that tournament alone, then took Wimbledon by storm, shocking French Open champion Li Na in the second round, 3-6, 6-4, 8-6, and wiping out Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals before falling to Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. She rose to 26th with the victory and followed that up with a semifinal appearance at Stanford, a quarterfinal at Carlsbad and a second victory, this one on tour at Dallas.
2. Petra Kvitova - An unassuming 34th to start the season, the 6 foot 20-year-old Kvitova was still riding high off her Wimbledon semifinal appearance in 2010, but had never made it past the fourth round in any other major.
She showed she was in it for the long haul immediately in 2011, winning the title at Brisbane and reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with an upset of No. 6 Samantha Stosur.
She followed it up with a win at Paris, defeating Kim Clijsters in the final, improving to a blistering 17-2 start on her way to a 58-13 season. After a lull of about six weeks, she won Madrid with wins over three top 10 players, lost in the final at Eastbourne and then shocked the world by defeating the seemingly impregnable Maria Sharapova in straight sets in the final, 6-3, 6-4.
Although she struggled during the US Open series, she found her game towards the end of the year and played brilliantly to win the WTA Championships. We could be looking at a future World No. 1 here, folks.
3. Li Na: first Asian to win a Grand Slam - The media heaped praise on Li Na for reaching the finals of the Australian Open, where she was simply overmatched by new No. 1 Kim Clijsters.
It was a career achievement for Li, and one absolutely no one thought she would not only repeat, but exceed just a few months later.
Li started the season by beating Clijsters at Sydney before losing to her in three sets at the Australian Open, a tournament in which she upset No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and rose from 11th to 7th in the standings as a result.
She looked a bit like a flash in the pan after Australia, going just 1-5 from then until the end of Apil when she reached the semifinals at Madrid and Rome back-to-back, gearing her up for the French Open, which she entered as the sixth seed.
In her finest hour, Li faced four straight Top 10 opponents from the fourth round on, and unseated defending champion Francesa Schiavone in the final to become the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam title. She finished the year 32-17, ranked No. 5 in the world.
4. Samantha Stosur: US Open champion - Reaching the finals of the 2010 French Open saw Australian Samantha Stosur vault to No. 4 in the world, a position she held for much of last season.
With the top of the rankings in constant flux, the pressure was on Stosur to make a push early in her home country, and the pressure seemed to get to her as she went out in the second round at Brisbane and Sydney, and was upset by Kvitova in the third round at the Australian Open.
She reached her first final at Rome, but bombed out in the third round at Roland Garros to lose a ton of points and drop to No. 10 in the world, briefly slipping out of the Top 10 to 11th before reaching the finals at Toronto, where she lost to a resurgent Serena Williams.
Williams, who had just come back from a serious illness, was the talk of the US Open Series. Despite being ranked 28th in the field, she was one of the favorites to win the final Grand Slam of the season.
The Aussie barely made it to the final eight, escaping 30th-ranked Nadia Petrova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 and 29th-ranked Maria Kirilenko in a record-setting 6-2, 6-7 (15), 6-3 match.
In the final eight, she stunned No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, put down German Cinderella Angelique Kerber in three, then stunned the hometown crowd by thrashing Williams in straight sets for her first Grand Slam title.
Stosur ultimately reached the semifinals of the WTA Championships to end 2011 with a 45-23 record, ranked No. 6 in the world.
Photo Credits: Getty Images
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Posted by Nick on 11/4/2011 6:58:59 AM
Filed under: australian, clijsters, french, kvitova, li, lisicki, na, open, sabine, serena, stosur, us, williams, wimbledon, wozniacki, zvonareva
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