As we’re heading into the 2017 season, it’s time for us to continue our tradition of year-end Top 10 predictions. Just as in the past six years, my friend John Bolan will share his Top 10 WTA year-end ranking forecast, while you’re invited to tell us your projected Top 10 in the comments below. The best predictor will win a WTA autograph of choice from our collection!
Predicting the Top 10 for 2016 was difficult. There were big surprises with Dominika Cibulkova making the Top 5 and Johanna Konta making the Top 10. Also, who would have thought Maria Sharapova would receive a doping ban, Victoria Azarenka would get pregnant and Petra Kvitova would not finish in the Top 10. Now, looking forward, it seems 2017 is going to be a much easier year for predictions.
First, I chose the players who deserved consideration for the 2017 Top 10 and, surprisingly, there were only 13 players in that group. Every player who finished in the Top 10 for 2016 deserved a chance to again finish on top for 2017. Who else? Petra Kvitova, until her injury and burglar attack, was a sure pick since she finished 2016 a very close 11th. Maria Sharapova who will be back in April and has proven once before she can finish in the Top 10 while missing four months of the year. The best young player, Elina Svitolina, ranked 14th in 2016 rounds out my 13 finalists.
Of course, we all have personal favorites. Your heart, not just your brain, joins in the decision. Choosing 10 players from my 13 finalist was very difficult and in the end, my heart helped me choose. My friends, Dominika Cibulkova, Elina Svitolina and Svetlana Kuznetsova deserve to be included. My brain also told me all three played great the last part of the year. I witnessed Elina’s win over Serena at the Olympics, Domi won the WTA Finals, Svetlana won the last big 2016 tournament in Moscow and famously cut off her hair before reaching the semifinals at Singapore.
Here are my Top 10 choices for 2017:
1. Serena Williams
2. Karolina Pliskova
3. Angelique Kerber
4. Agnieszka Radwanska
5. Madison Keys
6. Simona Halep
7. Dominika Cibulkova
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova
9. Maria Sharapova
10. Elina Svitolina
In 2017, the number one spot is no longer just for Serena, as Angelique proved in 2016. Serena’s age and injuries have leveled the playing field. Any of the thirteen players mentioned could finish number one, but I’m going with the veteran who still plays with the most determination, Serena Williams. She has proven to all she is the best player ever.
Of the other players, Karolina Plishkova has the best chance of being number one. She hits harder than Serena and has many more aces than any other player. She beat Serena in the last Grand Slam and now has the experience and poise on center court to be the champion.
There is no expectation on my part you will agree with me on these picks! You get to make your picks in the comment section. The winner will be the fan who is the most accurate predictor compared to the 2017 year-end WTA rankings. That fan will receive an autographed picture of a favorite player. Good luck!
The competition closes on December 31st, 2016. Comments submitted after that day will not be eligible for the prize.
2016 was very tricky and I know 2017 would be a return to some of the best WTA athletes.
Here’s my Top 10 picks for 2017:
1. Serena Williams
2. Agnieszka Radwanska
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova
4. Simona Halep
5. Angelique Kerber
6. Madison Keys
7. Maria Sharapova
8. Karolina Pliskova
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Ana Ivanovic
My choices
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Williams
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Agnieszka Radwanska
5. Simona Halep
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova
7. Caroline Wozniacki
8. Eugenie Bouchard ( 🙁 why do i do this every year)
9. Garbine Muguruza
10. Belinda Bencic
This is especially tough year since sharapova azarenka and kvitova don’t play for almost half a year, it’s tough for them to get into top 10 (of course we never know but still) so had to fill it with players I’m not really sure if they’d make it.
I’d also like to add 4 alternatives wta finals style 😀
11. Johanna Konta
12. Sloane Stephens
13. Sabine Lisicki
14. Maria Sharapova
This will be a tricky year, young players having an opportunity to shine
1. Agnieszka Radwanska
2. Angelique Kerber
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Serena Williams
5. Simona Halep
6. Elina Svitolina
7. Gavrilova, Daria
8. Zhang Shuai
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Elena Vesnina.
I am a fan of Aga, so I placed her at the top, she could do it with a little help from her friends and luck on her side, Angelique has a lot of points to defend so if she keeps herself together she may end the year close to the top. Karoline Pliskova has weakness, sure, she can hit aces left-right-center, but in the same way she beats to ranked players, sometime she left her guard down.
Serena, well 2017 will bring her more challenges, many players now know she is no longer unbeateable, Gavrilova could have a break-trhough year, she plays with pation, and 2017 will be a good year for her. Zhang seems an odd forecast, without any WTA tour title, and her age, she has an opportunity either, she surprise all of us or disapear from the ranking, I hope for a surprise, Caro and Elena will play well, and move up.
Garbine even after winning the FO struggled most of the year, I am not sure how she will perform in 2017, but if she fails to have a good start of the season, panic will drag her down the ranking.
While Carla, Timea, and Naomi Osaka will keep us entertained during 2017
1. Serena Williams
2. Simona Halep
3. Angélique Kerber
4. Agnieszka Radwanska
5. Garbine Muguruza
6. Karolina Pliskova
7. Caroline Wozniacki
8. Johanna Konta
9. Madison Keys
10. Belinda Bencic
1- S.Williams
2* Muguruza
3/ Radwanska
4′ Kerber
5+ Halep
6_ Keys
7″ Svitolina
8. Pliskova
9: Sharapova
10- Bouchard
11-12-13-: Azarenka, Konta, Bacsinszky
1. Serena Williams
2. Muguruza
3. Pliskova
4. Kerber
5. Radwanska
6. Sharapova
7. Cibulkova
8. Konta
9. Svitolina
10. Halep
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Williams
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Simona Halep
5. Agnieszka Radwanska
6. Johanna Konta
7. Garbine Muguruza
8. Madison Keys
9. Elina Svitolina
10. Dominika Cibulkova
P/S: Really wish Ivanovic could join this elite but didn’t see any chance. The best for her is Top 20 perhaps. Her performance at IPTL so bad. Just one win!
2016 was a year full of surprises and I think 2017 will be the same.
My predictions for 2017:
1.Serena Williams
2.Karolina Pliskova
3.Agniezska Radwanska
4.Dominika Cibulkova
5.Angelique Kerber
6.Simona Halep
7.Garbine Muguruza
8.Johanna Konta
9.Madison Keys
10.Timea Bacsinszinky
1. Karolina Pliskova
2. Angie Kerber
3. Serena Williams
4. Madison Keys
5. Simona Halep
6. Agniezka Radwanska
7. Elina Svitolina
8. Johanna Konta
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Daria Kasatkina
1. Serena Williams
2. Angelique Kerber
3. Agnieszka Radwanska
4. Simona Halep
5. Dominika Cibulkova
6. Karolina Pliskova
7. Garbine Muguruza
8. Madison Keys
9. Carla Suarez Navarro
10. Caroline Wozniacki
1. Maria Sharapova
2. Garbine Muguruza
3. Angelique Kerber
4. Serena Williams
5. Agniezka Radwanska
6. Johanna Konta
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova
8. Dominika Cibulkova
9. Monica Puig
10. Karolina Pliskova
1. S. Williams
2. Kerber
3. Halep
4. Ka. Pliskova
5. Radwanska
6. Wozniacki
7. Keys
8. Cibulkova
9. Strycova
10. Sharapova
Making some big predictions at the bottom half. Hoping to defend my title this year haha.
Well here we are, Christmas time. First I would like to wish everyone a happy holidays. I hope that Kvitova will be okay after her attack.
My pick are going to follow the pattern I have done for all of the past ones. Go with players I like and ones that have potential.
1. Halep
2. Cibulkova
3. Williams ( don’t like her, but she is good)
4. Keys
5. Kerber
6. Konta
7. Vesnina
8. Puig (Always got to pick a wild card)
9.Vinci
10. Zhang
Honorable Mentions:
Radwanska
Wozzy
The other Williams
Pilskova
Kuznetsova
Of course gotta have JJ 🙂
Justin, good like with your title defense! Also, let me know when the autograph reaches you! John sent it about a week ago. 🙂
1. Garbine Muguruza
2. Agnieszka Radwanska
3. Serena Williams
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (fav)
5. Angelique Kerber
6. Venus Williams (last year in top ten maybe)
7. Dominica Cibulkova
8. Carla Suarez Navarro
9. Simona Halep
10. Elina Svitolina
1.- Simona Halep
2.-Angelique Kerber
3.- Serena Williams
4.- Garbiñe Muguruza
5.- Agnieszka Radwanska
6.-Madison Keys
7.-Johanna Konta
8.- Elina Svitolina
9.- Dominika Cibulkova
10.- Belinda Bencic
1. Serena Williams
2. Simona Halep
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Angelique Kerber
5. Dominika Cibulkova
6. Agnieszka Radwanska
7. Johanna Konta
8. Elina Svitolina
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Daria Gavrilova
Thanks for running the contest again, always enjoy it! Last year was terrible so i’m hoping for a better showing in 2017 🙂
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Williams
3. Agnieszka Radwanska
4. Madison Keys
5. Simona Halep
6. Belinda Bencic
7. Johanna Konta
8. Karolina Pliskova
9. Elina Svitolina
10. Caroline Wozniacki
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Williams
3. Simona Halep
4. Agnieszka Radwanska
5. Karolina Pliskova
6. Maria Sharapova
7. Dominika Cibulkova
8. Madison Keys
9. Svetlana Kuznetsova
10. Elina Svitolina
I really have high hopes for Ana Ivanovic. I hope my predictions will not be affected by her big announcement tomorrow. I hope it’s not pregnancy or retirement rumours.
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Wiliams
3. Simona Halep
4. Karolina Pliskova
5. Dominika Cibulkova
6. Caroline Wozniacki
7. Agnieszka Radwanska
8. Madison Keys
9. Elina Svitolina
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Here are my picks for the WTA and LPGA..if I am wrong with the tennis picks but get the golf ladies right can I get a golfer’s autograph? 😉
1. Serena Williams 1. Ariya Jutanagarn
2. Simona Halep 2. Lydia Ko
3. Angelique Kerber 3. In Gee Chun
4. Karolina Pliskova 4. Shanshan Feng
5. Garbiñe Muguruza 5. Sei Young Kim
6. Elina Svitolina 6. So Yeon Ryu
7. Dominica Cibulkova 7. Lexi Thompson
8. Carla Suarez Navarro 8. In Bee Park
9. Johanna Konta 9. Anna Nordquist
10. Maria Sharapova 10. Brooke Henderson
Jim, if I happen to obtain a golfer’s autograph, I’ll send it to you! 🙂
1.Serena Williams
2.Agnieszka Radwanska
3.Karolina Pliskova
4.Maria Sharapova
5 Angelique Kerber
6.Dominika Cibulkova
7.Ana Ivanovic
8.Madison Keys
9.Simona Halep
10.Garbine Muguruz
1.Serena Williams
2.Karolina Pliskova
3. Agnieszka Radwanska
4. Angelique Kerber
5. Simona Halep
6. Madison Keys
7. Garbine Muguruza
8. Maria Sharapova
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Dominika Cibulkova
1.Simona Halep
2.Angelique Kerber
3.Serena Williams
4.Karolina Pliskova
5.Petra Kvitova
6.Agneszka Radwanska
7.Madison Keys
8. Jo Konta
9. Carla Suarez Navarro
10. Maria Sharapova
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Williams
3. Garbine Muguruza
4. Simona Halep
5. Agneszka Radwanska
6. Karolina Pliskova
7. Dominika Cibulkova
8. Madison Keys
9. Elina Svitolina
10. Maria Sharapova
1) Agnieszka Radwańska
2) Angelique Kerber
3) Serena Williams
4) Garbiñe Muguruza
5) Simona Halep
6) Belinda Bencic
7) Karolína Plíšková
8) Caroline Wozniacki
9) Dominika Cibulková
10) Maria Sharapova
Thank you!
1. S. Williams
2. Kerber
3. Halep
4. Ka. Pliskova
5. A. Radwanska
6. Wozniacki
7. Keys
8. Cibulkova
9. Muguruza
10. Sharapova
My Top 10
1. S. Williams
2. M. Sharapova
3. A. Kerber
4. K. Pliskova
5. C. Wozniacki
6. D. Cibulkova
7. S. Kuznetsova
8. A. Radwanska
9. E. Svitolina
10. C. Garcia
1. Serena Williams
2. Simona Halep
3. Angelique Kerber
4. Madison Keys
5. Agnieszka Radwańska
6. Dominika Cibulková
7. Garbiñe Muguruza
8. Karolina Pliskova
9. Johanna Konta
10. Maria Sharapova
1. Angie
2. Serena
3. Ka. Pliskova
4. Halep
5. Aga
6. Keys
7. Garbine
8. Cibulkova
9. Konta
10. Garcia
1.Angelique Kerber
2. Karolina Pliskova
3. Agnieszka Radwanska
4. Serena Williams
5. Simona Halep
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova
7. Madison Keys
8. Maria Sharapova
9. Caroline Garcia
10. Daria Kasatkina
1. Kerber
2. Halep
3. Williams (S)
4. Radwanska
5. Pliskova
6. Wozniacki
7. Cibulkova
8. Suarez Navarro
9. Kuznetsova
10. Sharapova
1. Simona Halep
2. Karolina Pliskova
3. Angie Kerber
4. Aga Radwanska
5. Serena Williams
6. Madison Keys
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova
8. Caroline Wozniacki
9. Kiki Mladenovic
10. Belinda Bencic
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Simona Halep
3. Serena Williams
4. Agnieszka Radwanska
5. Karolina Pliskova
6. Caroline Wozniacki
7. Dominika Cibulkova
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova
9. Johanna Konta
10. Madison Keys
Thank you for another year filled with very enjoyable articles and great pictures for us WTA tennis fans.
New season is here 🙂
Hopefully I will be able to see some of the matches from Portugal….
1. Kerber
2. Radwanska
3. Williams S.
4. Halep
5. Keys
6. Pliskova
7. Cibulkova
8. Muguruza
9. Kuznetova
10. Svitolina
1. Angelique Kerber
2. Agnieszka Radwanska
3. Simona Halep
4. Serena Williams
5. Madison Keys
6. Karolina Pliskova
7. Maria Sharapova
8. Elina Svitolina
9. Belinda Bencic
10. Garbine Muguruza
Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Still two hours until the New Year here. Good luck to all!
Just noticed the date/time stamp on my post. Well, it’s 9:27 PM here in Cleveland, OH, USA and we’re still in 2016. Not that my picks have any chance of being remotely close to the year-end top 10 but, hopefully, I can sneak into the competition before the ball drops. Thanks, Joe
1. Kerber
2. S. Williams
3. Pliskova
4. Konta
5. Halep
6. Svitolina
7. Radwanska
8. Kuznetsova
9. Muguruza
10. Sharapova
1. S. Williams
2. Radwanska
3. Pliskova
4. Halep
5. Kerber
6. Svitolina
7. Wozniacki
8. Kuznetsova
9. Konta
10. Gavrilova
Notable Exclusions:
Muguruza
Cibulkova
Sharapova
Suarez Navarro
V Williams
Honorable Mentions
Garcia
Strycova
Bouchard
Giorgi
Konjuh
1. G. Muguruza
2. J. Konta
3. A. Kerber
4. K. Pliskova
5. Halep
6. Wozniacki
7. Sharapova
8. Kuznetsova
9. Venus Williams
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova
1. G. Muguruza
2. J. Konta
3. A. Kerber
4. K. Pliskova
5. Wozniacki
6. Halep
7. Sharapova
8. Svitolina
9. Venus Williams
10. Madison Keys
Note: This was made August 18, 2017
1. Elina Svitolina
2. Simona Halep
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Caroline Wozniacki
5. Johanna Konta
6. Garbine Muguruza
7. Agnieszka Radwanska
8. Angelique Kerber
9. Kristina Mladenovic
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova