The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Women’s top seeds to watch
ANGELIQUE KERBER (1), Germany 2016 match record: 63-18 (3 titles) Career singles titles: 10 (2 majors, 2016 Australian Open) Topspin: A breakout year in 2016: won her first Grand Slam singles title at Melbourne, beating Serena Williams in the final, lost to Serena in the Wimbledon final, won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics and then captured her second major after beating Karolina Pliskova in the U.S. Open final. ... Made seven finals and officially overtook Williams for the No. 1 ranking on the Monday after the U.S. Open ended, but was assured of the top ranking when Pliskova beat Serena in the semifinals in New York . ... Was a unanimous selection for WTA Player of the Year. SERENA WILLIAMS (2), United States 2016 match record: 38-6 (2 titles) Career singles titles: 71 (22 majors, 6 at Australian Open) Topspin: It was always going to be difficult for Williams to match her stellar 2015, when she was named AP’s female athlete of the year and won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon before losing in the U.S. Open semifinals, falling just two matches short of the calendar Grand Slam . ... Had an off-year by her standards in 2016, winning only two titles, but one of them was her 22nd Grand Slam singles title, which she got at Wimbledon, equaling Steffi Graf ’s Open-era record . ... Ended the year without the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2012... The newly engaged (to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian) Williams opened the year at the ASB Classic in wind-swept Auckland with a surprise second-round loss in three sets to fellow American Madison Brengle. AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (3), Poland 2016 match ecord: 53-18 (3 titles) Career singles titles: 20 (No majors) Topspin: Melbourne Park marked Radwanska’s best Grand Slam performance last year, losing in the semifinals to Serena Williams in straight sets; she lost in the fourth round at the other majors . ... Won two of her three tournaments in 2016 in China — at Shenzhen the week before the Australian Open and at Beijing in October . ... One of her nicknames is “The Magician” because of her shot-making ability, and she won the WTA Shot of the Year for the fourth year in a row in 2016. The shot came against Monica Niculescu at Indian Wells in March, when Radwanska ran all over the court during a rally before looping an around-the-post winner past her startled opponent. SIMONA HALEP (4), Romania 2016 match record: 45-18 (3 titles) Career singles titles: 14 (No majors) Topspin: Her three wins in 2016 came on clay at Madrid and Bucharest and on hard courts at Montreal, beating Madison Keys in the final . ... Her year began with injury issues when she was forced to withdraw from the Brisbane International with a left Achilles tendon problem . ... She finished a third straight season as a top-5 player. GARBINE MUGURUZA (7), Spain 2016 match record: 35-20 (1 title) Career singles titles: 3 (1 major, 2016 French Open) Topspin: The Venezuelan-born Muguruza captured her first Grand Slam singles title in 2016, beating Serena Williams in the French Open final ... Failed to capitalize on her success at Roland Garros, losing in the second round at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and not reaching another final . ... Pulled out of her semifinal match at the Brisbane International last week against Alize Cornet with a right thigh injury. JOHANNA KONTA (9), Great Britain 2016 match record: 46-22 (1 title) Career singles titles: 1 (No majors) Topspin: The Australian-born Konta became one of the stories of last year’s tournament, a crowd favorite who beat Venus Williams in the first round and advanced to the semifinals — the first British woman to make a Grand Slam semi since 1983 — before losing to Kerber.