Women's Tennis:
Women's Tennis - Season Archive 2013
The season archive consists of a short summary, an overview of news items and a list of rankings.
Season Summary
The year 2013 in women's tennis can aptly be described as Serena Williams's year, the year in which she showed she is by far the best player on the tour. Where her level in 2012 was already stellar, this year she has maintained that consistently throughout the year, with only a few rough patches notably early in the season. Her win at Roland Garros was especially impressive.
The summary would not be complete, however, without mention of a few of the rising stars.
Simona Halep had been hovering around 50th place for a few years, and suddenly attained a new level in Rome, where she made the semifinals. After that she has won six WTA-tournaments in the remaining part of the season, quickly rising into the top 10 and finishing in 6th position in the rankings. To top off the season, she won the Tournament of Champions in Sofia. Her gain in rating points over the 2013 season is 422, second highest of all players.
The only player gaining more rating points was Eugenie Bouchard, a young rising star from Canada, whose level in 2013 has risen gradually to a top 30 position. Among her achievements are a final in Osaka (lost to Stosur), semifinals in Strasbourg and Quebec City, a quarterfinal in Tokyo, and three set losses to both Williams sisters. This all resulted in a rise by 532 rating points, and a 28th position in the year-end ranking.
The third player that gets an honorable mention for her 2013 achievements is Madison Keys, whose rating has risen by 414 points. This rise is mostly due to some very surprising wins against strong players, the most impressive of which was her 6-2 6-3 win over Li Na in Madrid. Her level is not very consistent yet, but her performances have shown great potential, and it shows in her end of year ranking. She finishes the year as #35.
Other memorable moments can mostly be traced to the Grand Slams, such as Wimbledon, where Marion Bartoli beat Sabine Lisicki in the final to get her first grand slam victory (and her last, as she retired six weeks later), the Australian Open, where Azarenka beat Li Na in the final (with Li Na injured at the end of the match), and the US Open, where Flavia Pennetta made a surprise run to the semifinal.
On the downside, the players who lost most rating points in 2013 won't be keen to remember much from this year: Julia Goerges (-342), Tamira Paszek (-321) and Nadia Petrova (-304) haven't performed up to their standard, so to speak. For Petrova, there was a bit of a consolation in her doubles play, where she made it to the WTA-finals alongside Katarina Srebotnik. Unfortunately for her, these doubles performances are not reflected in this singles ranking.
The rising stars of 2013 (top 10) were:
| # | Player | Start rating | End rating | Difference |
| 1 | Bouchard | 4733 | 5265 | +532 |
| 2 | Halep | 5140 | 5562 | +422 |
| 3 | Keys | 4760 | 5174 | +414 |
| 4 | Knapp | 4768 | 5097 | +331 |
| 5 | Riske | 4798 | 5096 | +298 |
| 6 | Muguruza | 4833 | 5083 | +250 |
| 7 | Jankovic | 5230 | 5476 | +246 |
| 8 | Schmiedlova | 4633 | 4870 | +237 |
| 9 | Nara | 4607 | 4843 | +236 |
| 10 | Tomljanovic | 4641 | 4875 | +234 |
The entire list of rating progresses for 2013 is also available.
List of rankings
The complete list of rankings from the 2013 season is accessible here.
News archive
Season 2013 concludes with Van Uytvanck winning in Taipei
After all the end-of-season championships, one tournament was left for dessert: the new WTA 125K-series tournament in Taipei. It was won by Alison van Uytvanck, who beat her compatriot Yanina Wickmayer comprehensively in the final: 6-4 6-2. Van Uytvanck also set a new record for rating points won in this tournament category by gaining 79 points. The previous high of 74 points was achieved by Elina Svitolina, in Pune 2012.
On the ITF-circuit, two more tournaments have been processed. In Istanbul, Ksenia Pervak beat Eva Birnerova in the final, 6-4 7-6. Kateryna Kozlova won 46 points, the most of the participants there. Pervak gained 25, Birnerova 12. In Captiva Island, Mandy Minella won the tournament by beating Gabriela Dabrowski in the final, 6-3 6-3. Minella gained 41 points for her performance.
The complete ranking list as of November 10, 2013Simona Halep finishes season fittingly, wins Tournament of Champions
The Tournament of Champions in Sofia concluded with a final between two in-form players: Simona Halep and Samantha Stosur. Halep won: 2-6 6-2 6-2, putting an appropriate end to an absolute breakthrough season. This was Halep's 6th title of 2013, and her rating increased by 49 points in Sofia, which means she takes over 6th place from Agnieszka Radwanska in this week's ranking.
In the WTA 125K-tournament in Nanjing, Zhang Shuai prevailed, winning the final against Ayumi Morita when the latter retired after losing the first set 6-4. Zhang Shuai gained another 37 rating points, and climbs to 42nd place in the rankings.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich won her second tournament in a row in Nantes, having won Poitiers last week. She defeated Magda Linette in the final, 4-6 6-4 6-2, and gained 52 rating points, moving up the rankings to #159. In the 75K-tournament in Barnstaple, Marta Sirotkina won the final against Kristyna Pliskova: 6-7 6-3 7-6. Sirotkina gained 48 points by her win, and moves up to 170th place in this week's ranking.
Italy won the Fed-cup final from a weakened Russian team, with Vinci defeating Panova in a close match, and Errani beating Khromacheva and Kleybanova.
After next week, the season will be concluded with the year-end ranking list and several season statistics. Three more tournaments will be processed: the WTA 125K-tournament in Taipei, and the ITF-tournaments in Istanbul and Captiva Island.
The complete ranking list as of November 3, 2013Serena Williams wins WTA Championships and sets new rating record
The WTA Championships in Istanbul have been won by Serena Williams, her eleventh title of the 2013 season. She beat Li Na in a tense final: 2-6 6-3 6-0. Serena gained 17 rating points, setting a new record of 6058 rating points. Li Na gained 64 rating points, thereby climbing to number 2 in the rankings, her highest ranking so far.
Agnieszka Radwanska lost her three matches, resulting in a loss of 71 points. She slipped to 6th place in the rankings. Victoria Azarenka also lost a substantial number of points, 56, mostly due to back problems. She slipped from 2nd to 4th place in the rankings.
The ITF-tournament in Poitiers was won by newcomer Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus. She debuts in this weeks ranking at number 178. She beat Sofia Arvidsson in the final, 6-1 5-7 6-4.
The complete ranking list as of October 27, 2013Halep wins again in Moscow; Wozniacki takes Luxembourg title
Simona Halep conquered the Moscow title, her fifth title of 2013. She beat Samantha Stosur in the final, 7-6 6-2. Her new rating is 5513, her highest yet, and she finds herself back at 7th place in the ranking. Halep gained 65 rating points in Moscow, where Stosur gained 61.
In Luxembourg, Caroline Wozniacki beat Annika Beck in the final, 6-2 6-2. Wozniacki received 33 extra rating points during this tournament, leading to a climb to 8th place in the rankings. Her relative performance was bettered by Annika Beck (+69 points) and Katarzyna Piter (+58). Beck jumps from 110 to 82 in the new rankings, while Piter has just started her ascent: she goes from 249 to 200.
On the ITF-circuit, Kristyna Pliskova won the tournament in Limoges, by beating Tamira Paszek in the final, 3-6 6-3 6-2. Pliskova gained 40 points, Paszek 27. For Paszek, this was one of her best results of 2013, having lost over 300 rating points this year. Hopefully for her, this will mark the start of a better period in her career.
The complete ranking list as of October 20, 2013Kerber beats Ivanovic in Linz; Stosur wins in Osaka
Angelique Kerber won the tournament in Linz by beating Ana Ivanovic in a close two-setter: 6-4 7-6. Kerber won 39 rating points, thereby gradually closing in on the top 5. Ivanovic gained 20 points, climbing to 7th place in the rankings. The fact that Ivanovic is much higher on this ranking than in the WTA-ranking is mostly due to her consistency; she usually reaches 3rd and 4th rounds, but hasn't won any tournaments. Linz's most surprising player was Stefanie Voegele, who gained 52 points by reaching the semi-final.
In Osaka, meanwhile, Stosur won the title by beating young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, 3-6 7-5 6-2. Stosur gained 32 points with her win, Bouchard gained 34. The biggest point gain was made by Kurumi Nara: 56 points, closely followed by her Japanese compatriot Misaki Doi, who gained 48 points. Not all Japanese fared this well: Ayumi Morita lost in the first round, which cost her 32 points.
On the ITF-circuit, the 50K tournament in Joué-Lès-Tours was won by Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat An-Sophie Mestach in the final, 6-4 6-2. Mestach gained 41 points with her runner-up position.
The complete ranking list as of October 13, 2013Serena Williams strikes again in Beijing
Beijing saw Serena Williams clutch her 10th winner's trophy of the year 2013, after she beat Jelena Jankovic in the final, 6-2 6-2. Williams has managed to keep up her high level of play: her rating has increased by another 11 points, while no. 2 Victoria Azarenka's has dropped by 28 points, resulting in a Williams lead of more than 300 points.
Jelena Jankovic had the largest gain of rating points, at 76, followed by Lucie Safarova, whose good form has given her another 64 points in Beijing. Jankovic has returned to the top 10 - she's now up to number 8. It has to be noted, however, that the players between places 7 and 15 are very close to each other, and the order in which these players show up in the ranking may change frequently.
In the qualifying tournament of Osaka, 16-year-old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland is quietly climbing up the rankings by having gained 39 points off of Chang Kai-Chen and Mandy Minella. Since receiving her first rating this season (early in May) she has already gained 105 rating points. Currently she's positioned at no. 280 in the rankings, but she can be expected to make some serious jumps in the near future.
The complete ranking list as of October 6, 2013Kvitova beats Kerber in Tokyo final
Petra Kvitova won her second tournament of 2013 by beating Angelique Kerber in a rare all-lefty final in Tokyo: 6-2 0-6 6-3. It was Kerber, however, who made the biggest rating jump in this tournament; she gained 83 points, climbing from 10 to 6 in the rankings. Kvitova earned 69 points and climbed from 19 to 11th place in the rankings. Other notable rating gains were boasted by Eugenie Bouchard (+82), Lucie Safarova (+66) and Venus Williams (+62). Both Bouchard and Safarova are now in the top 30, while Williams moved from 8th to 7th place.
Venus Williams' level of play is therefore still worthy of a top 10 position; her WTA-ranking has mostly slipped because her physical condition has not allowed her to play as many tournaments as most other players. Her semi-final showing in Tokyo, and most notably her 6-2 6-4 win over Victoria Azarenka, have shown that she is still a serious contender whenever she does play.
The other tournament of this week was the WTA125-tournament in Ningbo, China, which was won by Bojana Jovanovski. She beat Zhang Shuai in the final: 6-7 6-4 6-1. Both Jovanovski and Zhang Shuai had recently won other tournaments, and again in Ningbo they gained a substantial number of rating points: Jovanovski +44 and Zhang Shuai +61. Jovanovski is now ranked in 37th place, while Zhang is 56th in the new rankings.
The ITF-tournament in Las Vegas has progressed to the final, which will boast Melanie Oudin vs. Coco Vandeweghe. This tournament has also resulted in the admission of Mayo Hibi of Japan to the ranking system. Hibi gained 35 points during the tournament, where she made the semifinal, and she debuts at number 256 in the rankings.
The complete ranking list as of September 29, 2013Agnieszka Radwanska conquers Seoul, Guangzhou won by Zhang Shuai
Agnieszka Radwanska won her third tournament of 2013 this week, by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Having had relatively little opposition in her half of the draw, her rating gain is only 16 points, showing she played at a level that might be expected of her. Pavlyuchenkova gained 38 rating points, moving up to 27th place from 30th. Kimiko Date-Krumm gained 41 points for reaching the quarterfinal, mostly due to a stunning 6-3, 6-1 victory over a slightly injured Maria Kirilenko.
Zhang Shuai won her first WTA-tournament in Guangzhou, beating Vania King in the final, and having knocked out players like Hsieh Su-Wei and Yvonne Meusburger along the way, not dropping a set. This performance led to a rating gain of 114 points, and a jump in the rankings from 106 to 68.
This week, the 75K ITF-tournament in Albuquerque was also processed, however, the final between Anna Tatishvili and Shelby Rogers still needs to be played at the time of writing. The rest of the results have been included in this ranking list, with Hsu Chieh-Yu (+56) and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (-23) as the most notable movers.
The complete ranking list as of September 22, 2013Jovanovski wins Tashkent, Safarova prevails in Quebec City
This week's rankings show the results from the tournaments of Tashkent and Quebec City. Tashkent was won by Bojana Jovanovski, who beat Olga Govortsova in a very close final, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6. Lucie Safarova won in Quebec City, beating Marina Erakovic in straight sets: 6-4, 6-3.
Jovanovski gained 56 rating points from her win, while Govortsova gained 44. Semi-finalist Mandy Minella earned a respectable 45 points for her performance. The highest ranked player of the tournament, Yaroslava Shvedova, lost in the first round, which cost her 28 rating points.
In Quebec City, Safarova (+65) and Erakovic (+34) gathered the most rating points, along with quarterfinalist Polona Hercog (also +34). Hercog beat top-ranked player Kirsten Flipkens in the first round, which cost Flipkens 28 rating points.
Jovanovski's new ranking is 52nd, up from 61st, while Safarova climbs from 46th to 35th place.
The complete ranking list as of September 15, 2013
Serena Williams wins US Open, extends her lead
After a close final, Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 for her fifth US Open title. Williams was struggling with the windy conditions, but when she finally managed to deal with the wind early in the third set, she took the last five games in a row with dominant play.
Williams' tournament win resulted in a gain of 67 rating points, where her nearest contender, Azarenka, gained just 12 points, leading to the rating gap between numbers 1 and 2 increasing to 235 points.
The tournament's surprise package this time was Flavia Pennetta, who reached her first Grand Slam semi-final after defeating four seeded players. Her rating increase of 189 points in one tournament is a new record, the old record being the 183 points gain by Ekaterina Makarova at the 2012 Australian Open. Pennetta's new ranking is 17th, up from 37th.
Other big rating jumps are boasted by Alison Riske (+118), Makarova (+113) and Kurumi Nara (+105). Riske's new ranking is 45th, while Makarova's is 11th. The most disappointing result was shown by Sorana Cirstea, who lost 61 rating points, dropping from 27th to 32nd place.
The complete ranking list as of September 9, 2013
Halep wins another tournament and storms into Top 10
Simona Halep won New Haven by beating Petra Kvitova in the final, 6-2 6-2. This was her fourth tournament win of 2013, after Nurnberg, Den Bosch and Budapest. She only lost one set in the entire tournament, in the second round against Suarez Navarro.
Halep's tournament performance earned her 85 rating points, leading to a jump in the rankings from 17th place to 6th, passing Errani. Since number 5 Li Na has a lead on Halep of over 100 rating points, a further rise is not very likely any time soon.
In the US Open qualifying rounds, Chanel Simmonds of South-Africa was the most surprising qualifier. Before this week she was at number 255 in the rankings; with the 63 rating points she earned, she rises to number 214. Other notable qualifiers are Victoria Duval, Grace Min and Casey Dellacqua, who earned 59, 53 and 51 points respectively.
The complete ranking list as of August 24, 2013
Azarenka wins Cincinnati; Jankovic gains most points
Victoria Azarenka beat Serena Williams in the Cincinnati final this Sunday, by a score of 2-6 6-2 7-6(6). Mostly due to this victory, Azarenka gained 33 rating points for the tournament, while Williams lost 20. The still sizable gap between the numbers 1 and 2 in the ranking has thus been reduced.
The most surprising positive results this tournament have come from semi-finalist Jankovic (plus 69 points), Barthel (plus 62) and Wozniacki (plus 53). Maria Kirilenko lost 45 rating points, dropping to number 20 in the rankings. Major movers are Agnieszka Radwanska, who climbs up to 4th place, passing Li Na, and Sam Stosur who climbs to 7th place from place 12.
After the second round on Wednesday, Marion Bartoli announced her retirement. This week's ranking will therefore be her last: she ends her career at number 16, with a 5396 point rating.
The complete ranking list as of August 19, 2013
Women's Tennis Ranking (August 11)
The latest ranking list of August 11 shows the results of the tournaments of Toronto and Suzhou.
The premier tournament in Toronto was won by Serena Williams (for which she gained 24 rating points), but the attention primarily went to Sorana Cirstea, whose surprise runner-up position gained her 118 rating points. Other notable performances have been put in by Rybarikova (plus 78 rating points) and Cornet (plus 51 rating points). Agnieszka Radwanska passed Sara Errani into 5th place and is closing in on Li Na, who is still in 4th.
For Alisa Kleybanova this was her first WTA Tour-level tournament since Miami 2012, and pretty much her first serious comeback tournament since her absence due to Hodgkin's lymphoma. She still had a rating of 5050 before the Toronto tournament, good for a 58th place in the ranking, which is mostly an expression of the level that can be expected of her once she gets used to being on tour again. Due to a first round loss to young talent Eugenie Bouchard, she lost 32 rating points in Toronto, dropping to 66th place. The upcoming tournaments will show if Kleybanova will be able to once again pick up her level.
The new WTA125 tournament in Suzhou saw Shahar Peer take the title (and 38 rating points), with runner-up Zheng Saisai taking 64 rating points and climbing to a ranking of 211 (three-way tie). Peer returned to the top 100 this week.
The complete ranking list as of August 11, 2013
Women's Tennis Ranking Archive
In the archive, not yet completed, the ranking lists can be found starting from June 22, 2013. The archive page also contains some statistics and records starting from 2011 onwards.
Sports Ranking System applied to Women's Tennis
My ranking system is somewhat similar to the rating system used in chess. First of all, each player has a rating which gives an indication of their strength. By playing matches, they can gain or lose points from their opponents, not from any other players. The main difference between my ranking system and the WTA ranking system is that the latter is mainly a system of merit, which is used for determining tournament acceptance and seedings, and my system is mainly a measure of strength aimed at predicting results. In the WTA-system, tournament finals count very heavily, whereas in my system, all matches in a tournament weigh equally, and scores are determined not just by winning or losing, but mainly by the scoreline. Whether one gains or loses points depends on the difference in strength between the players, and the extent to which the scoreline reflects this difference in strength.