What to expect from women’s tennis in 2022
The strength and depth of the WTA is remarkable
World number one Ash Barty started her 2022 season off on a high with a quality run to the Adelaide International title last week, beating four top 20 players en route. The 25-year-old Aussie is being touted for a Calendar slam run this season as she continues to play her very best tennis against the very best opponents but the strength and depth of the WTA is such that this would be a frankly herculean achievement.
Not only did we see, in 2021: the rise and rise of players like Roland-Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova and the serious improvements of world numbers six Maria Sakkari, number seven Anett Kontaveit, number nine Paula Badosa and number ten Ons Jabeur but we also saw the returning form of WTA Finals champion Garbine Muguruza in the very last tournament of the season. This year we should see the return to form of four-time Grand Slam champion (and current Australian Open champion) Naomi Osaka, two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep, 2020 Roland-Garros champion and ruthless powerhouse Iga Swiatek and perhaps even 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin after some tough times for each coping either with their huge successes, injuries, mental health, the covid-19 pandemic or all of the above.
Furthermore, we have a considerable influx of incredible young players to add to that mix; two of them made the US Open final last season in Leylah Fernandez and champion Emma Raducanu, whose journeys brought tennis onto the world stage to create a new generation of fans. The original young star from this bright generation is still the youngest in 17-year-old Coco Gauff, who reached the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros last season and already has two full, top seasons under her belt. We also have the likes of world number 13 Elena Rybakina, whose powerful serve is one of many weapons that should see her make it to the very top of the sport this decade, and number 43 Clara Tauson, who already has two WTA titles to her name as another 19-year-old blasting her peers away.
The current strength of the WTA can be attributed to many influences but none more so than a lack of a dominative Serena Williams, whose absence from the very top of the sport over the last few seasons has created this cavernous gulf for new talent to flood in. Former world number one and 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams will surely target the likes of Wimbledon and the US Open this season as she attempts to surpass Margaret Court and set that unassailable record all on her own. The 40-year-old may well be entering her final season on tour, with that elusive 24th Grand Slam title looking as unlikely now as, say, a teenage qualifier ranked at world number 150 winning the US Open without dropping a set.
Trying to pick winners for any tournament in the WTA is almost impossible but here are our (very tentative) Grand Slam picks for 2022:
Australian Open: Ash Barty
Roland-Garros: Garbine Muguruza
Wimbledon: Ash Barty
US Open: Naomi Osaka
Time needed for Raducanu
Current world number 18 Emma Raducanu has endured the whirlwind of whirlwinds since last summer, where her stunning run to the round of 16 at Wimbledon was bested by a genuine miracle run to the US Open title as the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam. The 19-year-old became one of the most famous athletes in the world overnight and she enjoyed all the glitz that came with it, whilst her behind the scenes team are probably still under a mountain of paperwork for new deals with a myriad of sponsors. Off the court the teenager has brought in new coach Torben Beltz, who oversaw the best of three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber’s years, and that new partnership will take time to meld as she makes the transition from plucky youngster to a world class, seeded star at every tournament she enters.
Raducanu also contracted covid-19 in the off-season, with the subsequent self-isolation taking a huge chunk of time out of her preparations and causing her to miss her first tournament of the season last week. This week, the Brit lost her first match since early November as she was blasted off the court 6-0, 6-1 by the aforementioned Elena Rybakina who will be a serious threat to the latter stages of the Australian Open in her current form. Raducanu needs time and plenty of it. The Brit will play just her 20th tour-level match next week in the opening round of the Australian Open and it would not be a surprise to see her bomb out at the earliest opportunity with so little match practice, although the Melbourne crowd will do their utmost to get her through and a win on that stage will do her the world of good.
You only have to look at the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Iga Swiatek and Bianca Andreescu for what may transpire this season for Raducanu. World number 28 Ostapenko had just turned 20 when she won Roland-Garros in 2017 and it was only really last season that the Latvian managed to re-establish herself in the top 30 of the sport after several years in the wilderness. To a much lesser extent, Iga Swiatek has also suffered with form and confidence since her stunning run to the Roland-Garros title in 2020. The Pole was 19 at the time and, like Raducanu, she did not drop a set all the way with a brand of ruthless power that looked unstoppable. However, the transition from hunter to hunted is a tough one to make, especially with the weight of expectations from spectators and global fans. Swiatek has since won a Masters title and stayed well inside the top ten of the sport but there is no question that she could have dominated large parts of the last few years if she could maintain her best level.
Current world number 46 Bianca Andreescu won the US Open title in 2019 at 19 years old in a stunning year that also saw her claim two Masters titles. The Canadian will miss the Australian Open next week, citing a need to “reset” and “recover” from the detriment to her mental health of the unseen isolation of a touring tennis player in a pandemic. A series of wholly misfortunate injuries have hampered her progress at almost every turn over the last few years but the former world number four is one of the most exciting players to watch when she is capable of producing her explosive best. Andreescu’s struggles since winning the US Open are a warning of how tough it could get for Raducanu if she fails to manage her health and wellbeing this season. Staying in the top 30 and deep runs at Masters and Grand Slams on what is, remarkably, her first full season on tour would be a huge achievement for tennis’ new star.
WTA Movers: Badosa, Jabeur, Rybakina, Gauff, Fernandez
The WTA is currently in almost total flux, making for refreshingly open tournaments and overnight success stories throughout the last few seasons. However, the likes of world number nine Paula Badosa and number ten Ons Jabeur have improved vastly over the last year and they will be significant threats to the top order at Grand Slams this season. 24-year-old Badosa, especially, has a superb all-court game for the slower surfaces and that should see her successful throughout the clay season as much as it saw her romp to a first Masters title at lndian Wells last October. The in-form Spaniard should be considered a genuine Australian Open contender in world number two Aryna Sabalenka and number six Maria Sakkari’s stead, with both players’ semi-final defeats at the US Open to Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez signs of something perhaps deeper that needs working out in their respective games. 27-year-old Jabeur just missed out on her goal of becoming the first Arab to qualify for a year-end ATP or WTA Finals tournament as Anett Kontaveit’s imperious form snuck in at the last second but the Tunisian’s entertaining playstyle is constantly winning fans to her cause.
22-year-old Elena Rybakina is already of top-ten quality but there are simply too many players of that level right now to fit them all. The Kazakh should break into it at several points this season and she should be considered a dark horse for a very deep run next week in Melbourne given her early form this year. Also previously mentioned in this article, 17-year-old Coco Gauff looks in impeccable form and it took world number one Ash Barty to come back from a set down to beat the American teenager in Adelaide last week. At the time of writing, the teenager is through to the quarter final of Adelaide 2 and looking the likely champion there, with momentum the very biggest factor in chances of success on the WTA tour and she will be the firm fans favourite in almost all circumstances next week in Melbourne.
Not winning the 2021 US Open may well prove to be the reason that 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez ends up higher in the WTA world rankings come the end of this season. The current world number 24 showed her superb fighting spirit in New York last year and her tour experience, with a first title won at the Monterrey Open last March, should see her challenge for Masters titles and more in 2022. The Canadian has determination in abundance and compared with Raducanu’s US Open run she faced the much tougher draw, with four-successive three-set victories over Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka there nothing short of awesome.
WTA Risers: Anisimova, Tauson
19-year-old Clara Tauson and 20-year-old Amanda Anisimova are two players who look set to move into the equation, and in former world number 21 Anisimova’s case back into the equation, this season. World number 41 Tauson already has two WTA titles to her name and perhaps only an unfortunate early meeting with Ash Barty at the US Open last year kept her from making the same waves as fellow youngsters Raducanu, Fernandez and Carlos Alcaraz did in New York. The Dane was forced to retire from her quarter-final in Melbourne last week but it was likely a precautionary move and wins over Paula Badosa and Jelena Ostapenko last season makes breaking the top 20 this year look an achievable goal.
Anisimova broke onto the scene at Roland-Garros in 2019, where her stunning run to the semi-finals was halted by – you guessed it – eventual champion Ash Barty. The American has struggled with all manner of things since then, not least the passing away of her father, but signs of a return to form began last season and continued into 2022 as she won her opening tournament in Melbourne. With one of the purest backhands in the sport right now and a host of other weapons, a new partnership with Simona Halep’s successful ex-coach Darren Cahill should prove fruitful this season.
