JonH comes home wrote:

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Copied over from French Open thread 

 

With the womens season effectively over, in terms of big events (men still have Paris Indoor and World Tour FInals to play) I thought I would have some fun. Given the rankings arent representative of the last 12 months, rather the last 18 months, I wondered who people would say have been the top 10 women this season (2020 calendar year) on WTA Tour.

Here is my top 10 and rationale: let us know what your top 10 as I am sure this is totally wrong below!

1.S. Kenin - despite losing todays final, and easily, she has probably had the best overall record this year. Won AO, RU in FO, last 16 at USO, 16-2 slam win record, 88.9% overall. Hard to argue really, even if she may not be the best actual player, she probably has the record to make her this years top player
2. N. Osaka - like Vika, it was all about New York winning USO and RU in Cinci, just edges Vika on that basis - got the wins the right way around!
3. V. Azarenka - 3 weeks in New York, winning Cinci and RU in USO, with a last 8 in Rome, just edged 3rd for me, but could have been 4th
4. I. Swiatek - title this fortnight at the FO brings her from nowhere, and a last 16 in AO as well. Almost 3rd to be fair, but 4th is decent
4. S. Halep - won Rome, semis in Melbourne and last 16 FO. Not sure if ahead of Kvitova but a title in Rome shades it for me
6. P. Kvitova - semis in FO, last 8 AO, last 16 USO (12-3 80% slam record) and Doha finalist.
7. G. Muguruza - RU in Melbourne, semis in Rome and a last 8 in Doha, in a year with few standing out with consistency, she gets 7th for me
8. A. Sabalenka - basically, won Doha but in a season with 6 big events, that is enough to get her a top 10 spot in my book
9. E. Mertens - not sure if I have her too high, but consistency was the name of her game. US Open last 8, Cinci Semis, Rome last 8, AO last 16. Probably over rated her but...
10. A. Barty - realise no play since March but semis at AO and in Doha. Just ahead of Ons Jabeur, I was very tempted to put Ons in the top 10

In terms of doubles, the top pair - it was a two horse raise between Strycova and Hsieh (won Doha and Rome, RU AO) and Babos and Mladenovic (Won AO, Final tbd French, Semis in Doha). Should they win tomorrow, Babos and Mladenovic clearly would have it, as it is I shade it to them as top pair of the season.

Jon

 I did make a comment before you transferred threads. Basically I think Sabalenka  is flattered by number 8 position. Her Grand Slam record is poor, only one 4th round of a Grand Slam in 12 attempts. Rybakina is missing from your top 10 and Brady had her moments in recent weeks. What about using an algorithm like the Governmernt? 

If it is being kept just to the 6 biggest events, then those 10 names probably do look right IMO, but I agree with ROSAMUND that Rybakina does look a notable omission. She did relatively little for a 'top' player in those 6 events, so shouldn't be anywhere near the list in that respect, but the rest of her year was really strong - 2 Premier finals, a lower title, and 2 further finals (5 finals in total).

Does Doha really have much more weight than Dubai? Dubai actually had bigger prize money for the winner (despite the lower status), so some players may have been more motivated, it was a week earlier, so players would probably be more fresh, and if you look at the respective entry lists:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Qatar_Total_Open
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Dubai_Tennis_Championships

Both had 5 of the top 7, Andreescu missing from both, Barty missing from Dubai, Halep missing from Doha, and the final seed was ranked 13th in Doha, and 16th in Dubai, so again pretty comparable.

Does say Barty's run of bye, winner of Q vs PR (Siegemund), walkover, Muguruza, en route to losing the Doha SF give her more credit (individually) than Rybakina's run to the Dubai final beating Martic, Kenin, Ka Pliskova, before going down 7-6 in the decider to Halep in the final (Siniakova her other opponent)? With a title, 5 finals, and a couple of top 10 wins, I'd personally definitely find room for her in a 2020 top 10 list, above both Sabalenka and Mertens.

JonH comes home wrote:

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What I hadnt realised is that this still exists, is being maintained, which supports the point re Rybakina!

live-tennis.eu/en/wta-race

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 Yes, but overall you are pretty much in line with the 'race' with just one different player in the top 10 and Ash Barty is 'race' #11. Plus your actual order is very close so well done on that!