TENNIS WTA SHOT GUIDE – It is offseason time, so Ubitennis is having a look at the past year and rating the WTA players for their abilities in each of the fundamentals of tennis.
Season is officially over now. Fed Cup has been won, the Finals have given their verdict and the ranking has finally been decided.
Yes, 2014 is over for tennis fans, but in a little more than a month, the next season will start and, as usual, every player will be immediately tested for all the hard work they will have put in these weeks away from international competitions.
But before this will happen, we thought it would be interesting to redact a guide to the best ground strokes and fundamentals that shone during the past season, as to set a standard for the next one and check who will improve or decline in each section.
- Return of serve
In order to balance last week’s article, when we named the best five servers on tour, it seems about right that this week we will open with the best five girls on return and you could possibly be surprised by some of the names.
1) Simona Halep
The world number three tops this category thanks to her great anticipation skills. It is very hard to ace her and her fast and short swings allow her to return powerful serves as well as slower ones with the same precision. During the year she won 47.1% of the games on return, finishing second behind another player listed later on here. Her ability to be incisive on return even against big serves and on every surface is putting her on top of this category.
2) Agnieszka Radwanska
The Pole comes second in our rating of returners because she is not the kind of players that will hit tons of winners from the first shot, but she can open up the court well and close within a couple of shots. Her percentage of points won returning both the first and second serves are top 5 on the tour, thanks to her variety of solutions.
3) Maria Sharapova
There must be a certain fear running into everyone’s veins when they are about to serve a second serve and they see the wide shoulders of the Russian champion far inside the baseline, ready to kill whatever ball is about to arrive. Her numbers are not as impressive as the ones of the rest of the names of this list, because her attacking attitude often leads to errors, but it’s a risk worth taking, especially as it keeps her opponents fearing every return she hits.
4) Monica Niculescu
If she had not had to serve, she would have won a lot more than she has. The world number 46 tops the WTA rankings for points won returning first serves and the most breaks taken (48.5%, basically she breaks once every two games on return!), is ranked fourth for break points conversion and sixth on second serve return points won. Why have we not put her first? Well, she finds it hard to keep these stats up while facing top 10 players, but this does not mean she is not among the best five returners.
5) Sara Errani
For the Italian, whatever has been said for the Romanian is true as well, but her numbers have not been as impressive in 2014. But for such a short girl, whose serve is hampered by a genetic shoulder problem, it would not be possible to be close to the top girls over and over again if her return skills were not as good as they are.
- Backhand
It is a two-handed job only, or almost. In the women’s tour the single handed backhand is as rare as a Siberian tiger, but that does not diminish the quality of this shot in the tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqVeN6xyZfw
1) Serena Williams: with this one I swear she will not top any other ranking. But can any girl constantly win a duel of backhands with the world number one? Highly doubt so.
2) Simona Halep: the Romanian sensation, the girl the rose from a career of anonymity to world number two in the space of a year. She may be short, but her ball is heavy and accurate when it needs to be, a stiletto that passes you as you least expect it.
3) Caroline Wozniacki: the former world number one means business again after the notorious split with her (now former) fiancé. No other shot than her beloved backhand can better represent her newly improved game, especially down the line, it gives very little chances to her opponents.
4) Maria Sharapova: the Russian’s best shot is probably not the most beautiful of this ranking, but it definitely is as dangerous. It is the most powerful and penetrating of the tour, only its consistency is preventing it from being higher on the list.
5) Flavia Pennetta/ Jelena Jankovic: two veterans, two stunning backhands. Both players could paint the down the line even during their sleep. Both girls score probably the highest marks in terms of beauty of the shot, but the viewer should not believe it is only pretty, their opponents know it.
Honourable mention: Carla Suarez Navarro. The Spaniard is the last standing vessel of aggressive and effective one handed backhands.
- Slices
Who said women do not possess variety? If you are a fan of tricks and unusual shots, these are the girls to follow.
1) Agnieszka Radwanska: from behind-the-back volleys to chip and charge, from hidden dropshots to crafty backspins, there is a reason why they call her the magician.
2) Monica Niculescu: a name that is probably not very familiar to many non-die-hard fans, but the Romanian is an experience every tennis lover should have once. She plays a double-handed forehand sometimes, but it is very rare, she prefers to slice it and with many variations in length, height and speed. It is a nightmare to play against, ask Safarova.
3) Roberta Vinci: the Italian did not have the best season this year, after falling short of her top 10 chase. However, her sliced backhand remains one of the most remarkable and hardest to read and deal with.
4) Petra Kvitova: the name you would not expect on this list. However, the Wimbledon champion has got quite an effective alternative to her flat backhand and she can cause almost as many problems with it.
5) Magdalena Rybarikova: rumour has the Slovak being one of the worst sparring partners on tour, she prefers to hit all sorts of fun/awkward/strange shots rather than drilling. It clearly reflects on how unpredictable and yet effective her slices are.
Honourable mention:Timea Bacsinszky. One has to put her name up on this list. The reason why she is not top 5 is because she is quite inconsistent and has played too little against top players, but she showed all her skills against Sharapova this year. Another Swiss is worth a call, Romina Oprandi. She has definitely got the softest hands on tour, even more than Radwnaska, however, her injuries and physical problems are often preventing her to show all of her talent.
To be continued next week, who will be the best 5 at the net?
