Women’s tennis, not too long ago, was considered unpredictable and erratic for its slew of different winners when a certain Serena Williams doesn’t dominate. The inconsistency at the top and consistency of upsets was seen making the sport poorer and less entertaining. However, the last couple of years, this unpredictability is finally being seen as it should be – sign of the depth in women’s tennis.
In 2017, there were five different players who occupied the world No 1 spot, two unseeded players won their first Majors and nine different players lifted the nine biggest titles of the year for the first time since Premier Mandatory tournaments were introduced in 2009.
By comparison, there has been a lot more consistency at the top in 2018, with French Open champion Simona Halep losing her world No 1 spot to Caroline Wozniacki for only a span of one month after losing the Australian Open final to her at the end of January.
While three of the four Grand Slams this year were won by first timers and only Petra Kvitova won two Premier trophies of the nine, two of the first-time champions – Halep and Wozniacki – were already among the most consistent players over the last few years.
The Romanian world No 1 has sealed her year-end number 1 spot for the second successive year and the Dane has maintained her third rank as in 2017.
But the 2018 season has also seen some major upheaval in the year-end Top 10. Only four players from the 2017’s year-end Top-10 have managed to stay there in 2018 – Halep, Wozniacki, WTA Finals champion Elina Svitolina and former world no 1 Karolina Pliskova.
2018 Top 10 at the start and end of the year
| Name | Ranking at end of 2018 | Ranking at start of 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Simona Halep | 1 | 1 |
| Angelique Kerber | 2 | 21 |
| Caroline Wozniacki | 3 | 3 |
| Elina Svitolina | 4 | 6 |
| Naomi Osaka | 5 | 68 |
| Sloane Stephens | 6 | 13 |
| Petra Kvitova | 7 | 29 |
| Karolina Pliskova | 8 | 4 |
| Kiki Bertens | 9 | 31 |
| Daria Kasatkina | 10 | 24 |
Among the big climbers in the top 10 were Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, the 2016 year-end number one who made a comeback after a horrendous 2017 season and Cincinnati champion Kiki Bertens, who became just the third Dutchwoman to break into the Top 10 of the WTA Ranking.
But the biggest leap of the season was undoubtedly that of Noami Osaka. The US Open champion won her first career title at Indian Wells in March and then clinched to her first Grand Slam crown in New York in September. The US-based Japanese climbed from world no 68 to world no 5 – a jump of 63 places in the span of a year. Despite exhaustion marring her year-end performances, the youngster will be the one to watch out for next season.
2017 year-end top-10 and their 2018 ranks
| Name | Ranking at end of 2017 | Ranking at end of 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Simona Halep | 1 | 1 |
| Garbine Muguruza | 2 | 18 |
| Caroline Wozniacki | 3 | 3 |
| Karolina Pliskova | 4 | 8 |
| Venus Williams | 5 | 40 |
| Elina Svitolina | 6 | 4 |
| Jelena Ostapenko | 7 | 22 |
| Caroline Garcia | 8 | 19 |
| Johanna Konta | 9 | 39 |
| CoCo Vandeweghe | 10 | 104 |
The ranking show saw some glaring falls as well, the most notable being that of 2017 Grand Slam champions Garbine Muguruza and Jelena Ostapenko, who fell out of the top 10.
Venus Williams, at 38, finally showed the signs of age as she failed to a reach a single final after finishing as the runner up at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and WTA Finals last year. Statistically, the most devastating drop was that of Coco Vandeweghe, who fell from world No 10 to 104 in the span of a year.