Same with the Australian Open as well. Hopefully a sign of a strong group of top players (we'll see)

 

I must admit year started well for WTA fans.

I hace watched many great matches, AO finals was one of the best in recent memory and top players fare alright until now.

 

Awesome SF Lineups...
No argument there...
Loads of Hotness and Star Quality...

 

It will be even more stable in near future. 😎 This is weak era, strong generation of players will come to WTA tour very soon.

 

It's looking sweet indeed, but the only top player is Sabalenka lets not award players who havn' t done anything yet and give credit to those who win. This is 2023 not back in the day 2022.

 

Can't agree with that.

Swiatek, Sabalenka, Jabeur, Pegula, Garcia, Gauff, Kvitova, Azarenka, Badosa, Keys all didn't play this week - and DESPITE all of that, we got quality SF lineups. That hasn't always been the case with WTA..

 

Really?

Auckland 2 Qs in semis
Hobart 4 unseeded with 2 of them Q in semis
Thailand unseeded final
Lyon 3-unseeded in semis
We also just had Linette SF at AO.

Number 1 seeds mostly held up well at least and the matches have been good.

 

Really?

Auckland 2 Qs in semis
Hobart 4 unseeded with 2 of them Q in semis
Thailand unseeded final
Lyon 3-unseeded in semis
We also just had Linette SF at AO.

Number 1 seeds mostly held up well at least and the matches have been good.

I disagree with that - seeding is based on performance of last 52 weeks on all surfaces.

Yes, Begu was seeded and went out early in Linz and didn't reach QF.
Yes, Pera was seeded and went out early in Linz and didn't reach QF.
Yes, Kalinina was seeded and went out early in Linz and didn't reach QF.

But did you take into consideration, that Begu for example is aging and getting worse? Or that Pera got most points on clay? Sherif was often seeded, but outside of clay tournaments, she was never the biggest threat or even expected to hit her seeding.

We need to think more about QUALITY of player rather than SEEDING - that's why we are getting quality matches.

Yes, Vondrousova was NOT seeded, but anyone who knows her, knows why she was not seeded (injury) and how dangerous she is. Anyone who follows WTA knows that Vondrousova is heaps above those seeded. Tauson is still a relatively new player with high variance in results, but can play very well. So her reaching QF isn't what I'd call "draw breaking up".

Abu Dhabi had 6 seeds in QF, only non-seeded being Rogers and Zheng. Zheng is also in QF. Again, everyone knows how dangerous Rogers is and that Zheng is an uprising player with insane potential.

So sorry - I can't agree here. Also Linette was always good, just because results weren't there for a variety of reasons doesn't mean she hasn't always been dangerous and managed to upset many players throughout her entire career.

2023 looks fantastic so far for WTA tennis fans.

 

If Potapova in a SF means stable, then its always been stable

 

I think it’s more like we’re getting good matches with good players.

Only this year have I actually felt like the argument of “depth” truly applies to the WTA. We have solid top players and great and interesting top 50 ones. Last year it felt like the stability at the top 10 was horrid (outside of Iga duh).

Then again, it didn’t get bad until Miami….we still have time for 2023 to royally fuck things up.

 

Stable? Another Aganim attempt thread.

Adelaide 1
Sabalenka d. Noskova
Jabeur/Begu

Auckland
Gauff d. Masarova
Kovinic/Bonaventure

Adelaide 2
Bencic d. Kasatkina
Kudermetova/Badosa

Hobart
Davis d. Cocciaretto
Blinkova/Kenin

Australian Open
Sabalenka d. Rybakina
Azarenka/Linette

Hua Hin
Zhu d. Tsurenko
Andreescu/Wang Xinyu

Lyon
Parks d. Garcia
Osorio/Zanevska

Abu Dhabi
Zheng Q
Samsonova
Haddad Maia
Bencic

Linz
Sakkari
Martic
Potapova
Vondrousova

Out of 1 GS, 3 WTA 500s and 5 250s, only 2 names (Sabalenka and Bencic) repeated reaching to semifinals. Not to say you have the likes of Davis, Noskova and Masarova from Q reaching the finals and Linette in a GS semifinal.

This is hardly stable.

2002 WTA Tour flashback

Gold Coast
V.Williams d. Henin
Petrova/Bedanova

Auckland
Samashnova d. Panova
Kournikova/Talaja

Sydney
Hingis d. Shaughnessy
S.Williams/Henin

Hobart
Sucha d. Medina Garrigues
Frazier/Pratt

Canberra
Smashnova d. Tanasugarn
Osterloh/Grahame

Australian Open
Capriati d. Hingis
Clijsters/Seles

Tokyo
Hingis d. Seles
Elia/Kournikova

Paris
V.Williams d. Dokic
Mauresmo/Seles

Antwerp
V.Williams d. Henin
Mauresmo/Schnyder

Doha
Seles d. Tanasugarn
Molik/Husarova

1 GS, 1 Tier I, 3 Tier II, 2 Tier III, 1 Tier IV, 2 Tier V events. Even the likes of Smashnova can be color-ed for consistency while she isn't a top player playing major events.

 

Potapova just won a wta SF set 1 by 6-1. Stable genius!

 

The beginning of last year it seemed more stable to me. The 7 finals were Barty vs Rybakina (500), Halep vs Kudermetova (250), Anisimova vs Sasnovich (250), Badosa vs Krejcikova (500), Keys vs Riske (250), Barty vs Collins (AO), Kontaveit vs Sakkari (500). Swiatek and Kasatkina were at 2 semis, Kontaveit, Keys also reached semis. Except Rybakina all the other 5 players that reached WTA500 final were top 10 players.

 

I don't get why everyone on here is so obsessed with "stability", it's like you're a bunch of Karen desperate housewives who can't seem to get a consistent apple pie recipe.
Just sit back, watch the tennis and enoy

 

If someone prefers a stable distribution of power within the Tour ranks, let them enjoy it. Worse that there are still commentators who mistake stability for strength. If there is a narrow group of players that take a vast majority of SF spots in bigger tournaments, then the Tour is "strong"; when we see more variety, then we have a "weak era".

 

It's not so much that it has become stable, but more that it has become less random.

Unseeded players who do well in tournaments aren't complete nobodies anymore.

EDIT: That was phrased so randomly, rip my english.

 

This is what passes as "WTA stable"?

I shudder to think what "unstable" means in that case.

 

Qatar QF:
1 Swiatek - 7 Bencic
4 Gauff - 8 Kudermetova
2 Pegula - Haddad Maia
5 Sakkari - 3 Garcia

The ONLY unseeded one in QF is Haddad Maia. If people STILL don't wanna accept the consistency we have now, no one can help them anymore..

 

Dream SFs:
1 - 4
2 - 3

 

If Swiatek winning every match is stable, wta might be stable
Lets see if anyone challenges Ida the next few months
Rybakina just lost early and Sabalenka still hasnt played since the major
3 1000s coming and lets see if there is a challenge to Iga

I still say that if you go to US and ask who are the best tennis players right now NFL, NBA fans will say Serena, Gauff, Osaka

In UK add Raducanu

 

to be fair, post pregnancy Serena was/is still the most stable slam performer since her return in 2018

 

Still no dream popcorn Iga vs Niemeier I keep hearing about every time it happens. But I'm not buying this stable BS until my OG Magda makes the top 10, then and only then can you claim any stability.

 

lol. what's exactly stable when hindratek still is vulturing left, right and center? 🤣

 

WTA is fine because they are going back to China and fans are going to some tournaments
But the Finalists in AO & YEC winner, will they even contend at IW & Miami?
Tour is very fortunate to have Swiatek or it could be insanely random with Ostapenko and Kenin and Raducanu and Stephens types winning big then disappearing for years

 

But Linette just reached a Slam semi

 

Linette has always been a great player with BIG game, she just underperformed in terms of results. Her reaching a GS SF was long overdue, rather than a "fluke" like Raducanu was some time ago.

 

The WTA is in it's worst shape in history. The only stability is it's guaranteed instability.

 

I wonder if they mean stable for hardcore WTA fans who will watch regardless of who's playing. While excellent players are doing well the tour is so inconsistent the general public cannot follow it. Their are no big name rivalries and extra interest in women's tennis. I would've hoped someone could start a rivalry contending for the top but it's been pretty random. Every other week it's someone else's turn.

 

Current State of The WTA:
The BIG 2
Iga "GOD MODE" Swiatek
Aryna "BEAST MODE" Sabalenka
___
Everybody Else...
***Footnote:
Elena "Cutie Pie" Rybakina ALMOST made it into a "Big 3"...
HOWEVER:
Elena's Completely UNFORGIVABLE (CAN'T HAPPEN Under Any Circumstance. Period!) LOSS (as a -455 Fave) to BHM in Abu Dhabi, has relegated Elena to the Also-Rans of Scrubdom.

 

Because of our queen swiatek and Elena rybakina.

 

It’s certainly looking more promising