From Seoul, South Korea, September 2018

The end of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year is at the corner, and yes, as usual, the women's tournament is full of surprises. We will first have a look at what happened to the players in Top 8, and then shortly analyze the semifinals. Below, you can see how the Top 8 looked before the start of US Open. The standings are changing, of course, and at the end of this article you can check a live update of how the rankings are changing exactly.

Now were are these players now in the US Open? Well, they are all out. Let's see in which stages did they leave the tournament. We will start from those who were eliminated early on in the competition. 

THE TOP 8 PLAYERS AND HOW THEY LEFT THE US OPEN

Simona Halep (Romania), no 1, out in the 1st Round (128강전)

She is without doubt the most successful player of 2018 so far, that's why she leads the rankings. Halep played 13 tournaments so far ths year, and reached at least quarterfinals in at 10 of them. She played 6 finals, among which she won 3 (Shenzen, Roland Garros, Rogers Cup) and was defeated in other 3 (Australian Open, Rome, Cininnati). So the Romanian managed to play 2 Grand Slam finals, but lost at Wimbledon in the 3rd round and at US Open in the 1st round. She was given as favorite at winning the American Open this year but she had a very strong opponent in Kaia Kanepi, no 44, from Estonia, 2-6 4-6. Halep is the first female player in history to lose in the first round at US Open as number one. That's also something to be proud of, isn't it? Very interesting how things will finish this year for Halep. Can she end the year as number one? If she does, she will become the second player after Serena Williams to finish the season as number one in two consecutive years. Now, that's really something to be proud of! Go, Simona!

Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark), no 2, out in the 2nd Round (64강전)

Caro has not been playing great in the second part of this season, and even her no 2 spot is now in danger. She was defeated by Ukrainean Lesia Tsurenko, current no 36, 4-6 2-6. What is going on with these top players losing so early to lower ranked ones?

Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), no 5, out in the 3rd Round (32강전)

Kvitova had a great year too, having won some top tournaments. She climbed so much in the rankings, and if she does a good job for the reast of the year, she might end up in the Top 5 of 2018. World no 20, the young hope of Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka, defeated Kvitova in two sets, 7-5 6-1. 

Angelique Kerber(Germany), no 4, out in the 3rd Round (32강전)

Kerber reached to this position in the rankings for playing great in all past three Grand Slams of the year. Semifinals at Australian Open, quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and winner at Wimbledon. A former champion in 2016 here at US Open, this time she was defeated by world no 29, Slovkian Dominika Cibulkova, score 6-3 3-6 3-6. Thanks to her performances this year however, she might end up replacing Woniacki as no 2, or who knows, she could even go past Halep and become the year end new number one. Good luck, Angelique!

Caroline Garcia (France), no 6, out in the 3rd Round (32강전)

Garcia started playing a very good tennis since the Asian season last year. She won the Beijing Open and entered Top 8. Her constancy, doubled by some failures of players like Muguruza or Ostapenko who were not able to defend their titles from last year, kept Garcia among the best players in the women's tour. Let's see if she can play her best tennis again, after this US Open is done. Here, she lost to world no 30, Spanish Carla Suarez Navarro, 7-5 4-6 6(4)-7(7).

Elina Svitolina (Ukraine), no 7, out in the 4th Round (16강전)

Svitolina had a good start of the year, she played well in the Middle East in spring, winning the Dubai Open, and playing the final in Qatar, then she won the Italian Open. She practically managed to defend the titles she won last year, thus we can still see her among the top players. Current no 19, Latvian Anastasija Sevastova defended her in 3 sets, 6-3 1-6 6-0.

Watch the highlights here.

Sloane Stephens (USA), no 3, out in the quarterfinals (준준결승)

Stephens jumped up in Top 5 after her final at Roland Garros, where she lost to Simona Halep. She had the 2000 points from last year victory here at US Open. Not being able to defend her points, she now sees a fall in the rankings, and this might cost her a lot. If she plays well for the rest of the season, she has a chance of finishing the year in Top 8. I have a feeling that she will. She has played great in the last 4 months or so. Here, she los to Sevastova, 2-6 3-6.

Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), no 8, out in the quarterfinals (준준결승)

Another caroline! Tennis loves carolines and the Top 8 loves them even more. I'm giving special cheers to those who can name at least 5 carolines who are currently playing in the women's tournament now :D. Jokes, jokes, but Karolina lost to who else than Serena Williams, score 4-6 3-6. She was pretty constant this year reaching the higher stages in the tournaments she played, and won the title in Sttutgart earlier this year. Her spot inthe Top 8 is in danger though. She is also a player to be with the eyes on during the last part of this season. 

THE SEMIFINALS AT US OPEN 2018

1. Serena Williams (no 17, USA) vs Anastasija Sevastova (no 19, Latvia)

The two players never met before, this is their first match together. Sevastova defeated 2 big names on her road to the semifinals, Svitolina and Stephens, the latter being the last year 's champion. Serena eliminated Pliskova, Kanepi and Venus Williams among others. Even if the American had a slower start this season after her year off, she began playing better this past summer, reaching the Wimbledon final, which she lost against Angelique Kerber. 

2. Madison Keys (no 14, USA) vs Naomi Osaka (no 20, Japan)

Keys was the runner up last year, and she is doing a great work defending her points. She will meet Osaka Naomi, the surprise of 2018. She won Indian Wells in spring, but after that she did not play that well. However, we see her again now, far in a Grand Slam, the best result of her career. Keys and Osaka met 3 times before, and each time the American has won.

LIVE WTA RANKINGS - before the semis

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From Seoul, South Korea, June 2018

   Another year has passed and here we are again, a few hours before we know the 2018 finalists of Roland Garros for the women's competition. For those who remember, in 2017 the final match put face to face Romanian Simona Halep and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. Simona was the favorite and everybody was expecting her to win. She was up one set and had three games to one in the second set, but Jelena came back and won the second set. In the third set Simona had 3 to 1 again, but again, Jelena recovered and won the third set and the championship with it. 

   For nostalgics, here is a video with the most important moments of that final:

VIDEO HERE: SIMONA HALEP-JELENA OSTAPENKO 2017 ROLAND GARROS FINAL 6-4 4-6 3-6 

   2018 and another story. Ostapenko was eliminated in the first round of the competition and most probably she will be out of Top 10 by next week. But there is Simona Halep, a model of consistency in women's tennis, who never left Top 10 since she entered there for the first time in 2014. She is now world No 1 and she is again in the semifinals of Roland Garros, hunting for her first Grand Slam trophy. 

THE 2018 SEMIFINALS: 

Garbiñe Muguruza (Spain) - Simona Halep (Romania)

(they met 4 times so far, Garbiñe won 3 times)

   This meeting is especially important because it will decide who will be No 1 in the WTA rankings. Right now Simona leands the renkings with 7270 points and Garbiñe comes in 3rd place with 6010 points. If Garbiñe wins, she will be the new number one. 

Current rankings, top 5:

    Muguruza and Halep met 4 times until now, with Muguruza winning 3 of those encounters, but all three were on a hard court. There was a single clay meeting in 2015 in Sttutgart which Halep had won. This year in Doha Halep should have played the semifinal against Muguruza, but she had to retire due to injury. 

Direct meetings score:  Muguruza - Halep 3-1

Road to the semifinals:

   In this tournament so far, Muguruza has met Kuznetsova, Ferro, Stosur, Tsurenko - who are all ranked lower than Top 32, and in the quarter-finals beat rank no 28 Maria Sharapova. Muguruza beat all these players in only two sets, and almost did not play with Tsurenko who has retired after playing just 2 games. Halep played Riske, Townsend, Petkovic, rank no 16 Mertens, and rank no 12 and former no 1 Kerber. She played 3 sets against Riske and Kerber. So Halep has met stronger players than Muguruza did, however, Muguruza is known for playing extremely good especially in Grand Slam tournaments. 

Quarter-final Halep - Kerber 6(2)-7(7), 6-3, 6-2:

SEE THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE (VIDEO)

   Those who watched the Australian Open last January remember for sure the epic confrontation between Halep and Kerber, where both played extremely well, but Halep was able to win in the end and advance to the final (see link at the end of this post for the Australian Open semifinal between Halep and Kerber). Here at Roland Garros, Kerber started the first set very well. She was leading 4 to 0 when Halep started playing better and better. She managed to comeback and bring the score to 6-4 but it was not enough because Kerber was doing almost a perfect game. Halep lost the first set in tiebreak, but the fact that she was able to come back from 4-0 gave her a psychological advantage. Kerber did a perfect defense, but Halep committed very little errors - that is something rare for her - and brought Kerber to exhaustion. Simona showed she grew a lot mentally and she looks ready to win a Grand Slam. 

Quarter-final Muguruza - Sharapova 6-2, 6-1

SEE THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE (VIDEO)

   Sharapova has played great this year on clay, and looked like she is back in the game. Fans were expecting a lot from her in this quarter-final, even thinking that maybe she can win the competition. But with Muguruza she failed to make her serve and this marked the end of her road at Roland Garros. However, she is raising in the rankings, which is definitely great for her career after the drug use suspension. 

THE 2018 SEMIFINALS: 

Madison Keys (USA) - Sloane Stephens (USA)

(they met 2 times so far, Stephen won both meetings)

Direct meetings score:  Stephens - Keys 2-0

   The two players met only two times until now, the most important meeting being the 2017 US Open final when Stephen won the title (see the link at the end of this post). What is sure is that one American will be in the final!

Road to the semifinals:

   Stephens eliminated Rus, Frech, Giorgi, ranking no 25 Kontaveit (who had previously eliminated Kvitova), and ranking no 14 Daria Kasatkina (who had previously eliminated Caroline Wozniacki, the current world No 2 and the Australian Open champion). Keys defeated Vickery, Dolehide, Indian Wells champion and rank no 21 osaka, rank no 31 Buzarnescu (who had previously eliminated rank no 4 Svitolina), and Putintseva.

********

GRAND SLAM FLASHBACK

US OPEN 2017 Final: Madison Keys - Sloane Stephens 3-6, 0-6 (WATCH HERE)

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2017 Semifinal: S. Halep-A. Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 (WATCH HERE)

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From Seoul, South Korea, March 2018

The 2017 year-end Top 8, in Singapore: (from left) Garcia, V. Williams, Svitolina, Pliskova, 

Ostapenko, Muguruza, Wozniacki, and Halep (front)

The tournament at Indian Wells enters its second week and some of the well-known names of women's tennis are already out of the game,after they were defeated by lower classed players. Let's take a look at them!

First Round: Naomi Osaka - Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-4

Sharapova does not seem to improve her game and reach a better shape  after returning from the 15 month meldonium suspension. She was eliminated by Japanese Naomi Osaka, no.44 in the rankings. Sharapova is currently no.41.

<Naomi Osaka, Japan, No 44>

<Maria Sharapova, Russia, No 41>

Second Round: Garbine Muguruza - Sachia Vickery 6-2 5-7 1-6

World No 3 and the last year Wimbledon Champion, Garbine Muguruza started the match strong, and was leading the second set with 3-0. Vickery's sudden improvement of the game let Muguruza with no answer, and here she is leaving the competition too early. This may cost her a lot of points in the general rankings. 

<Sachia Vickery, USA, No 100>

<Garbine Muguruza, Spain, No 3>

Third Round: Petra Martic - Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3 

Last year's French Open champion and the winner of Seoul Open is not able to  confirm what she showed last year, losing matches in the early stages of this season's competitions. Fans are still waiting her to return to the shape that brought  her the Roland Garros trophy.

<Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, No 6>

<Petra Martic, Croatia, No 58>

Third Round: Petra Kvitova - Amanda Anisimova 2-6 4-6

Former Wimbledon champion (2011, 2014), Petra Kvitova started this year winning two important trophies, St Petersburg and Doha Open, thus reaching the 9th position in the WTA rankings. She looked like the most successfull player of 2018 so far, but world No 149 Anisimova was better.

<Amanda Anisimova, USA, No 149>

<Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, No 9>

Third Round: Venus Williams - Serena Williams 6-3 6-4

It was Serena's first WTA tournament after more than one year of a break. Everybody was expecting her comeback, but she had to play with Venus, who knows her game better than anyone. It was not Serena's day.

<Serena defeated by world no 8, Venus>

Third Round: Carla Suarez Navarro - Elina Svitolina 7-5 6-3

World No 4 Elina Svitolina was coming after winning the Dubai Open, but this time Suarez Navarro played better and stopped Svitolina from earning points in her race to WTA Top 3.

<Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain, No 32>

<Elina Svitolina, Ukraine, No 4>

Top 10 Rankings

Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki are in contention for the WTA No. 1 singles ranking at the completion of the third round. In order for Wozniacki to regain the top ranking, she must win the title by defeating  a player other than Halep in the final.

The world rankings before we know the winner at Indian Wells: 

From Seoul, South Korea, March 2018

Indian Wells Masters (BNP Paribas Open), California

The tournament at Indian Wells is the first Premier Mandatory tournament of the WTA year.The other 4 Premier Mandatory tournaments are Miami Open, Madrid Open and Beijing Open. The facilities in this at Indian Wells are considered to be at least as good as those from the four Grand Slam tournaments, if not better. For long time, the BNP Paribas tour insisted for this tournament to be transformed in a fifth Grand Slam.

The huge central court can host 16,100 spectators, and the second biggest court has 8,000 seats. 29 courts are to be used, and the entire complex has almost 220,000 m².

128 players will enter competition, with 32 favorites entering from the second round.

The 32 favorites are as follows:

(in paranthesis - when a certain player left the competion;

no paranthesis - player still in competition at the date this article was published)

Point system:

Winner - 1000

Runner up - 650

Semifinalists - 390

Quarterfinalists - 215

Round of 16 - 120

Round of 32 - 65

Round of 64 - 35

Round of 128 - 10

History:  Williams Sisters' Controversy

<Serena Williams after winning at Indian Wells in 2001>

Venus and Serena Williams, two very successful American players, refused to play the Indian Wells tournament from 2001 to 2014 despite threats of financial sanctions and rating point penalties. 

The two were scheduled to play in the 2001 semi-final but Venus withdrew  due to an injury. Amid speculation of match fixing, the crowd for the final loudly booed Serena Williams when she came out to play the final and continued to booher intermittently through the entire match, even to the point of cheering unforced errors 

and double faults.

Williams won the tournament and was subsequently booed during the awards ceremony. The following month at the Ericsson Open, Richard Williams, Serena and Venus's father, claimed racial slurswere directed at him while in the stands. Neither Venus nor Serena played the tournament until 2015, when Serena Williams played in the tournament, ending her 14-year boycott of the event. Venus Williams ended her boycott by competing in 2016.

(wikipedia.org)

GALLERY OF THE CHAMPIONS:

2017 winner: Elena Vesnina, Russia

2016 winner: Victoria Azarenka, Belarus

2015 winner: Simona Halep, Romania

2014 winner: Flavia Penetta, Italy

2013 winner: Maria Sharapova, Russia 

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wikipedia.org