It is normal after each calendar: some players exceed their expectations and others fail to meet them. Today we will talk about those that could even disappoint due to their performance. Do you agree on our five names?
OUR JABEUR
It feels terrible to me to give a yellow card to someone who ends the course being No. 6 in the world, with more than 35 victories and two titles in her pocket. Well, I’m very sorry but Ons Jabeur’s 2023 has been a little disappointing to me, less than what many of us expected. After starting the course in the second step of the ranking and with several Grand Slam finals in the suitcase, the challenge was to address these two subjects. It is true that injuries have deprived him of a few tours, but when he was ready those great rewards did not come either. If Wimbledon had changed everything? Absolutely, but the anxiety and pressure turned their backs on him.
CAROLINE GARCIA
Maybe I went too far in saying that Caroline Garcia would win a Grand Slam in 2023, but I really thought about it. After hers following her rebirth starting in the summer of 2022, all the pieces fit for me to see her take another step. Now I can say that I was wrong. The Frenchwoman did not find that regularity until the end of the course, at which point it was already too late to make up for the exercise. She went from being top 4 in the world to closing the top 20, with a fairly decent balance (40-27) but with the bitter taste of not having kept calm to climb one more step. To make matters worse, the two individual finals that she played in (Monterrey, Lyon) slipped out of her hands against Alycia Parks and Donna Vekic.
DANIELLE COLLINS
There has been talk about the American this season and it is normal, since little remains of that woman who made the 2022 Australian Open and threatened to reach much higher quotas within the locker room. Well, if she thought so too, this calendar certainly has not been the one with the greatest profit. It is true that her descent in the ranking has not been tortuous either (from #14 to #20 with a balance of 22-18), what is worrying is how little we have seen her compete and, even on those occasions, the few times we saw him enjoy. Semifinals in Austin and San Diego, two tournaments separated by a gap of seven months, were her best performances. She may have disappeared from the big stages, she may not have been on the cover again, but at least she has not left the first world order.
BIANCA ANDREESCU
I have thought about whether or not to put this name on the list, since I have the feeling that we have had the same feeling regarding Andreescu for several consecutive seasons. It’s okay that she won the 2019 US Open and got into the top 4 in the world, but how long will the Canadian’s confidence last? Each calendar that has passed has been worse than the previous one, always loaded with defeats, drops in performance and multiple excuses. This time she started the year at #46 and closes it at #96, with a record of 15-16 and a semifinal at the WTA 250 in Hua Hin as her best result. You may have more or less enthusiasm for this player, but these figures do not cover even the slightest expectations. Bianca, if in 2024 you don’t react and return to being the role model that we all saw in you, I promise not to put you on the list of disappointments again.
JIL TEICHMANN
It is not the case that has made the most noise and precisely for that reason it should be the first to study. What happened to Jil Teichmann? Why is the woman who finished the season ranked #35 today #145? Why a balance of 24-29 after ten months of competition? Why is her best result in 2023 a quarterfinal in W125K category tournaments? I don’t know, what is clear is that the change of coaches at the end of the course did not go as she expected. The Swiss stopped working with Beto Martín to join her path to that of Andrew Bettles, the coach who brought Svitolina to the elite for the first time. We will see if it has simply been a year of adaptation and the best is yet to come, for now Teichmann has taken a couple of steps back. I hope it’s to gain momentum.
2023-12-11 08:15:40
#WTA #Disappointments #season
