1. Serena Williams, United States
2. Simona Halep, Romania
3. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
5. Maria Sharapova, Russia
6. Angelique Kerber, Germany
7. Eugenie Bouchard, Canada
8. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
9. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
10. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
11. Flavia Pennetta, Italy
12. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
13. Sara Errani, Italy
14. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic
15. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
16. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
17. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia
18. Andrea Petkovic, Germany
19. Venus Williams, United States
20. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
21. Sloane Stephens, United States
22. Alize Cornet, France
23. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
24. Samantha Stosur, Australia
25. Garbine Muguruza, Spain
26. Sabine Lisicki, Germany
27. Madison Keys, United States
28. Roberta Vinci, Italy
29. Casey Dellacqua, Australia
30. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic
31. Kurumi Nara, Japan
32. Zhang Shuai, China
Yeah with Nadal out Roger is bumped up to 2nd seed.
For Novak I would want him to be drawn in a different half to Stan. I know he leads the head to head by a hefty margin but he has struggled a bit against him lately and if he is in poor form he could trouble him. For Roger, an in form Berdych could be a tough draw for him.
That's interesting that you pick Stan as a player to avoid. I think Tsonga could be more of a problem. Because at the moment he is playing great, I unfortunately don't see him as a potential winner, but he is more than capable of an upset in this form.
I can't really predict a winner this year, my automatic answer is Novak, but he hasn't been playing near his best in the last 2 tournaments. I think he'll up his game for a slam though, so I aren't too worried about him yet.
Hope her father didn't make a show of himself this time.
Not sure if he was there. US TV have a strange habit of showing the players rather than cutting to shots of the players' guest box on every point.
The top half of the draw is now seed-free. Not surprising given the proximity of the US Open and the general unpredictability of the current WTA Tour. Petra & Genie are still in the bottom half.
That's interesting that you pick Stan as a player to avoid. I think Tsonga could be more of a problem. Because at the moment he is playing great, I unfortunately don't see him as a potential winner, but he is more than capable of an upset in this form.
I can't really predict a winner this year, my automatic answer is Novak, but he hasn't been playing near his best in the last 2 tournaments. I think he'll up his game for a slam though, so I aren't too worried about him yet.
Well I'm not sure that Jo could take 3 sets off Novak. I would still put Novak as the favourite against Stan, but Stan has beaten him at the AO this year and pushed him to 5 sets at the US and the AO last year, so he can be a threat. Maybe Novak will raise his game for the US open. As I said before, people were questioning Nadal's form on clay this year and he still won the FO. Novak has had a few shock losses on his best surface but best of 5 is a different beast!
Well I'm not sure that Jo could take 3 sets off Novak. I would still put Novak as the favourite against Stan, but Stan has beaten him at the AO this year and pushed him to 5 sets at the US and the AO last year, so he can be a threat. Maybe Novak will raise his game for the US open. As I said before, people were questioning Nadal's form on clay this year and he still won the FO. Novak has had a few shock losses on his best surface but best of 5 is a different beast!
Oh ok I'm with you now, I didn't think about the the US and AO last year. Stan has kind of fallen off my radar over the last few months. I feel a bit bad, he did win a slam this year after all. He just seemed to falter a bit after the AO, so it didn't really occur to me that he would threaten Novak. A bit dismissive of me.
Well I'm not sure that Jo could take 3 sets off Novak. I would still put Novak as the favourite against Stan, but Stan has beaten him at the AO this year and pushed him to 5 sets at the US and the AO last year, so he can be a threat. Maybe Novak will raise his game for the US open. As I said before, people were questioning Nadal's form on clay this year and he still won the FO. Novak has had a few shock losses on his best surface but best of 5 is a different beast!
I agree with you. Best of five is a whole different kettle of fish. The top guys just seem to be able to click into gear when it really counts no matter what their form was in lead up tournaments.
I never know which Jo is going to turn up to be honest. I was embarrassed for him in this year's FO when he lost to Novak so easily. If you'd told me that it was his first professional match I would have believed you. Also, I may be wrong but since the AO in 2010, I don't think Jo has actually beaten Novak (I'm ignoring Toronto because even I could have beaten Novak that day). I may be wrong and I'm too lazy to google.
Stan is also annoyingly inconsistent but I wouldn't write him off. As I said previously, having no vested interest, I am actually looking forward to seeing how things shape up over the next couple of weeks.
You always get the impression that guys like Robredo etc are a lot tighter in the 5 setters against the top players, especially in the crucial points. The mindset changes as well, rather that going for winners they are often content just to stay in the point.
I don't think Djokovic fans should worry too much about his recent form, he tends to show up when it really counts.
Oh ok I'm with you now, I didn't think about the the US and AO last year. Stan has kind of fallen off my radar over the last few months. I feel a bit bad, he did win a slam this year after all. He just seemed to falter a bit after the AO, so it didn't really occur to me that he would threaten Novak. A bit dismissive of me.
No it's pretty understandable, Stan hasn't done much of note since his AO win. But if he finds form he could be a dangerous player. It will be interesting to see how he does actually, he has been very inconsistent recently. Jo is very unpredictable too but on his best days he can trouble anyone. I think on the men's and the women's side the tournament seems quite open, but usually when we say that it is the usual suspects winning! Serena has really been poor this year though, wonder if she will do better here.
I'm not really a fan of Evans but hope he does well here because others his ranking drop won't be pretty.
Dan Cox and Naomi Broady have already gone out. Smethurst and Ward still to play. Edmund decided to stay on the challenger tour, despite having the ranking to make qualies, plays Bangkok next week, Shanghai the week after.
No it's pretty understandable, Stan hasn't done much of note since his AO win. But if he finds form he could be a dangerous player. It will be interesting to see how he does actually, he has been very inconsistent recently. Jo is very unpredictable too but on his best days he can trouble anyone. I think on the men's and the women's side the tournament seems quite open, but usually when we say that it is the usual suspects winning! Serena has really been poor this year though, wonder if she will do better here.
The still the big 3 are going to have to rely increasingly on impulse if they are to maintain their near total supremacy over the rest for a considerable length of time from now.
I can see the next non big 4 player winning a grand slam title sooner than 2017 (possibly 2 or 3 out of the 8 on offer in 2015 and 2016. Possibly the upcoming US Open as well, who knows.). And Nadal , Djokovic and Murray will lose more often before the semi finals of a grand slam in the next 2 years than they have previously. Nadal, Djokovic snd Murray won't be sharing every single grand slam title but one between them over a near 5 year stretch now.
Even if Nadal was fully fit and played this year's US Open he would have been far from certain of at least making the semi finals to winning the whole thing at Flushing Meadows and only losing to Djokovic or Murray at worst in the semi final or final there. Nadal after all has never successfully defended a non clay court grand slam title. And Nadal has only got one non clay court grand slam title at the very most left in him before the end of his career.
Oh ok I'm with you now, I didn't think about the the US and AO last year. Stan has kind of fallen off my radar over the last few months. I feel a bit bad, he did win a slam this year after all. He just seemed to falter a bit after the AO, so it didn't really occur to me that he would threaten Novak. A bit dismissive of me.
But the usual suspects do lose. They all lost at the Australian Open this year.
From 2013 Wimbledon on only at the French Open this year have at least 3 of the big 4 made the semi finals. And none big 4 won the whole thing at the Australian Open this year.
Whay happened on the The Australian Open this year will be increasingly be the shape of things to come in the next year or 2 and beyond. No way will Nadal, Djokovic and Murray remain almost as supreme over the rest as they are at present by the time Nadal is 32 years of age with Djokovic and Murray 31.
"How on earth did that happen?" would be completely unfair in relation to the Wawrinka Australian Open success.
I'm not really a fan of Evans but hope he does well here because others his ranking drop won't be pretty.
Dan Cox and Naomi Broady have already gone out. Smethurst and Ward still to play. Edmund decided to stay on the challenger tour, despite having the ranking to make qualies, plays Bangkok next week, Shanghai the week after.
Losing to a chap who could only put 1 in 3 of his first serves in and not even hit one winner in a set is highly embarassing.
Are we ever going to see another British male tennis player making even the world's top 100? Orher than Murray there's nobody else on the men's side hailing from the UK to not only qualify for a grand slam tournament on their own merits but also to win at least 2 or 3 rounds with a bit of luck in the draw.
Losing to a chap who could only put 1 in 3 of his first serves in and not even hit one winner in a set is highly embarassing.
Are we ever going to see another British male tennis player making even the world's top 100? Orher than Murray there's nobody else on the men's side hailing from the UK to not only qualify for a grand slam tournament on their own merits but also to win at least 2 or 3 rounds with a bit of luck in the draw.
I think Kyle Edmund will be a top 100 player. Dan Cox also seems kind of promising, he is a fighter and has had some good results in challenger tournaments recently... I feel bad for Dan Evans (he will apparently drop to about 290 after that loss), he is very talented, but I think Ward, Cox and Edmund all work much harder.
What I find depressing is that we get excited about our male juniors and how promising they are, only to see them fail to make the leap into the male Tour.
I realise this is a result of maybe having other priorities as they mature....life on the Futures and Challenger circuits is tough and costly, but there's no one who seems to be set in "the top at all costs" mode.
How many are single minded enough to pursue excellence? I cant believe we don't have the same talent as Spain or France.
But becoming a Champion or even making the top 50 is now a matter of ruthless single mindedness and a life completely dominated by that passion. It cant be much fun being with a single-minded ambitious player, but that's what it needs.
How many would train till they drop as Tim and Andy did/do?
It's that that's depressing. How you solve it I don't know. More influx of LTA money isn't the answer. Other countries don't give their players a bean. And the desire for success must be so much greater when you come from a country that's poor (Eastern Europe, S. America etc ) The US and Australia who have dominated the rankings for decades are struggling to find anyone to replace Roddick.
Life is going to be so much duller without Andy. There's not even the joy in watching a Jeremy Bates type who we all hyperventilated about as he reached the dizzy pinnacles of the 3rd round of Wimbledon.
I think that was the No 1 Sports Headline back in the day.
Losing to a chap who could only put 1 in 3 of his first serves in and not even hit one winner in a set is highly embarassing.
Are we ever going to see another British male tennis player making even the world's top 100? Orher than Murray there's nobody else on the men's side hailing from the UK to not only qualify for a grand slam tournament on their own merits but also to win at least 2 or 3 rounds with a bit of luck in the draw.
Oh come on....
Maybe not this year or next year, but during next 5 or even 10 years
Comments
1. Serena Williams, United States
2. Simona Halep, Romania
3. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland
5. Maria Sharapova, Russia
6. Angelique Kerber, Germany
7. Eugenie Bouchard, Canada
8. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia
9. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
10. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
11. Flavia Pennetta, Italy
12. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
13. Sara Errani, Italy
14. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic
15. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
16. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
17. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia
18. Andrea Petkovic, Germany
19. Venus Williams, United States
20. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia
21. Sloane Stephens, United States
22. Alize Cornet, France
23. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
24. Samantha Stosur, Australia
25. Garbine Muguruza, Spain
26. Sabine Lisicki, Germany
27. Madison Keys, United States
28. Roberta Vinci, Italy
29. Casey Dellacqua, Australia
30. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic
31. Kurumi Nara, Japan
32. Zhang Shuai, China
That's interesting that you pick Stan as a player to avoid. I think Tsonga could be more of a problem. Because at the moment he is playing great, I unfortunately don't see him as a potential winner, but he is more than capable of an upset in this form.
I can't really predict a winner this year, my automatic answer is Novak, but he hasn't been playing near his best in the last 2 tournaments. I think he'll up his game for a slam though, so I aren't too worried about him yet.
Hope her father didn't make a show of himself this time.
Not sure if he was there. US TV have a strange habit of showing the players rather than cutting to shots of the players' guest box on every point.
The top half of the draw is now seed-free. Not surprising given the proximity of the US Open and the general unpredictability of the current WTA Tour. Petra & Genie are still in the bottom half.
In his case, that's a good thing.
Well I'm not sure that Jo could take 3 sets off Novak. I would still put Novak as the favourite against Stan, but Stan has beaten him at the AO this year and pushed him to 5 sets at the US and the AO last year, so he can be a threat. Maybe Novak will raise his game for the US open. As I said before, people were questioning Nadal's form on clay this year and he still won the FO. Novak has had a few shock losses on his best surface but best of 5 is a different beast!
Oh ok I'm with you now, I didn't think about the the US and AO last year. Stan has kind of fallen off my radar over the last few months. I feel a bit bad, he did win a slam this year after all. He just seemed to falter a bit after the AO, so it didn't really occur to me that he would threaten Novak. A bit dismissive of me.
I agree with you. Best of five is a whole different kettle of fish. The top guys just seem to be able to click into gear when it really counts no matter what their form was in lead up tournaments.
I never know which Jo is going to turn up to be honest. I was embarrassed for him in this year's FO when he lost to Novak so easily. If you'd told me that it was his first professional match I would have believed you. Also, I may be wrong but since the AO in 2010, I don't think Jo has actually beaten Novak (I'm ignoring Toronto because even I could have beaten Novak that day). I may be wrong and I'm too lazy to google.
Stan is also annoyingly inconsistent but I wouldn't write him off. As I said previously, having no vested interest, I am actually looking forward to seeing how things shape up over the next couple of weeks.
I don't think Djokovic fans should worry too much about his recent form, he tends to show up when it really counts.
4 all, 1st set against Jimmy Wang.
No it's pretty understandable, Stan hasn't done much of note since his AO win. But if he finds form he could be a dangerous player. It will be interesting to see how he does actually, he has been very inconsistent recently. Jo is very unpredictable too but on his best days he can trouble anyone. I think on the men's and the women's side the tournament seems quite open, but usually when we say that it is the usual suspects winning! Serena has really been poor this year though, wonder if she will do better here.
6-1 6-1 win over Gonzalo Lama of Chile for starters. Yuki Bhambri of India is his next opponent.
Dan won the 1st set 6-4.
Wang serving at 33% with 0 winners in the set apparently.
Dan Cox and Naomi Broady have already gone out. Smethurst and Ward still to play. Edmund decided to stay on the challenger tour, despite having the ranking to make qualies, plays Bangkok next week, Shanghai the week after.
The still the big 3 are going to have to rely increasingly on impulse if they are to maintain their near total supremacy over the rest for a considerable length of time from now.
I can see the next non big 4 player winning a grand slam title sooner than 2017 (possibly 2 or 3 out of the 8 on offer in 2015 and 2016. Possibly the upcoming US Open as well, who knows.). And Nadal , Djokovic and Murray will lose more often before the semi finals of a grand slam in the next 2 years than they have previously. Nadal, Djokovic snd Murray won't be sharing every single grand slam title but one between them over a near 5 year stretch now.
Even if Nadal was fully fit and played this year's US Open he would have been far from certain of at least making the semi finals to winning the whole thing at Flushing Meadows and only losing to Djokovic or Murray at worst in the semi final or final there. Nadal after all has never successfully defended a non clay court grand slam title. And Nadal has only got one non clay court grand slam title at the very most left in him before the end of his career.
But the usual suspects do lose. They all lost at the Australian Open this year.
From 2013 Wimbledon on only at the French Open this year have at least 3 of the big 4 made the semi finals. And none big 4 won the whole thing at the Australian Open this year.
Whay happened on the The Australian Open this year will be increasingly be the shape of things to come in the next year or 2 and beyond. No way will Nadal, Djokovic and Murray remain almost as supreme over the rest as they are at present by the time Nadal is 32 years of age with Djokovic and Murray 31.
"How on earth did that happen?" would be completely unfair in relation to the Wawrinka Australian Open success.
How on earth did Wang win 4 games in that set?
Losing to a chap who could only put 1 in 3 of his first serves in and not even hit one winner in a set is highly embarassing.
Are we ever going to see another British male tennis player making even the world's top 100? Orher than Murray there's nobody else on the men's side hailing from the UK to not only qualify for a grand slam tournament on their own merits but also to win at least 2 or 3 rounds with a bit of luck in the draw.
I think Kyle Edmund will be a top 100 player. Dan Cox also seems kind of promising, he is a fighter and has had some good results in challenger tournaments recently... I feel bad for Dan Evans (he will apparently drop to about 290 after that loss), he is very talented, but I think Ward, Cox and Edmund all work much harder.
I realise this is a result of maybe having other priorities as they mature....life on the Futures and Challenger circuits is tough and costly, but there's no one who seems to be set in "the top at all costs" mode.
How many are single minded enough to pursue excellence? I cant believe we don't have the same talent as Spain or France.
But becoming a Champion or even making the top 50 is now a matter of ruthless single mindedness and a life completely dominated by that passion. It cant be much fun being with a single-minded ambitious player, but that's what it needs.
How many would train till they drop as Tim and Andy did/do?
It's that that's depressing. How you solve it I don't know. More influx of LTA money isn't the answer. Other countries don't give their players a bean. And the desire for success must be so much greater when you come from a country that's poor (Eastern Europe, S. America etc ) The US and Australia who have dominated the rankings for decades are struggling to find anyone to replace Roddick.
Oh come on....
Maybe not this year or next year, but during next 5 or even 10 years