The season ends and it is normal to take stock. Who were the six players who caused the greatest revolution in their path? Six women who exceeded their expectations in a big way, let’s get to their names.
CORI GAUFF
Can a player already consolidated in the top 10 be a revelation? If we take into account that being top10 is no longer as expensive as it was two decades ago, of course it is. The case of Cori Gauff is the best example, a woman who in three months went from being a mere member of this group to becoming a reference and candidate for all kinds of awards for the future. Her first WTA 500 (Washington), her first WTA 1000 (Cincinnati) and her first Grand Slam (US Open) finally pushed her to occupy the place that she had been pursuing for so long, that of going out there and showing that at 19 years old I was already prepared for any type of challenge. Her first season with more than 50 victories allowed her to close the year within the top 3 in the world.
VONDROUSOVA MARKET
Ok, if we take away the fifteen days of Wimbledon, their season may be a little lame, but how many people can say that they have won Wimbledon? Marketa found her moment on a surface unknown to her, but she did it better than anyone else from the first to the last day. If we also take into account what was coming – she started the course in position #92 – and the danger that her talent would fall into oblivion after that final at Roland Garros, the Czech’s reaction in 2023, with more With 40 victories and closing the year within the top 10, he deserved to have one of the best reserved spots in this article. We will soon know if she really belongs to this group or perhaps the London Grand Slam completely defied expectations.
KAROLINA MUCHOVA
After a few years of showing her name but never occupying the stage, the Czech finally took the step that everyone was waiting for, becoming a protagonist in the big squares. It is true that she did not finish at Roland Garros, nor in Cincinnati, nor at the US Open. In fact, an injury prevented her from playing more tournaments in the last two months, but her evolution took her from #151 in the ranking. to finish as the eighth best player in the world. If her injuries had spared her in that final stretch, we would surely be talking about an even more spectacular 2023 from Muchova.
EMMA NAVARRO
I love this profile of a player who, without making too much noise in the final draws of the best tournaments, makes a jump of more than a hundred positions in the ranking without anyone knowing. Specifically, from #149 to #32 in the rankings, through more than 60 victories and a total of five titles in the ITF category. A 25K, a 60K, an 80K and two 100K may seem like minor matters, but I invite you to visit some of these tables to see that the level of difficulty below has also increased in recent times. Emma Navarro has already demonstrated that she has the necessary perseverance to reach the elite by dominating the slums, in 2024 it is time to confirm that she also knows how to fly in the heights, surrounded by eagles and falcons.
XIN YU WANG
The year 2023 was the year of total confirmation that Chinese women’s tennis is already there, that it is a matter of time before they make a splash on the big stages. We knew about Qinwen Zheng, also about Xiyu Wang, but it is also surprising to see the growth that privileged positions that mean being seeded in a Grand Slam. She is still close to achieving it, in fact, she has not yet released her record on an individual level, but even her arts in the doubles discipline could present her with an opportunity to fully enter history. We will follow her very closely in 2024, since she clearly has the signal on her head that she is a candidate to give more than one scare.
MIRRA ANDREEVA
If we talk about revelation, for me there is none greater than this. She is a practically unknown player, playing in junior tournaments when she was only 16 years old. She starts the season at #293 in the rankings and is committed to playing two 60K category events. She wins both. Her third competition of the year on the professional stage was the Mutua Madrid Open, where she made it to the round of 16. At Roland Garros she overcomes the qualifying phase and reaches the third round, but at Wimbledon she passes the Qualy again and reaches the round of 16. And I repeat, all this at 16 years old without any experience in the heights. The rule that prohibits her from playing more professional tournaments is what has made her finish the course in #56, since we all know what she would have gone through if she had had a wide sleeve. A Russian woman ahead of her time who came to remind us of the beautiful stories of prodigies that were experienced in the 80s and 90s.
2023-12-09 16:00:20
#WTA #season #Revelations #season
