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| courtesy 123greetings.com |
I hope everyone had a very happy Christmas with friends and family and that we are all looking forward to the New Year with all its hopes and aspirations.
I took the last
couple of months off from blogging to think about the direction in which to
take this blog. Additionally, a stressful job has prevented me from blogging as
much as I would like during 2014. In
2015, I aim to make Overhead Spin one of the premier tennis blogging sites
devoted to the wonderful world of women’s tennis.
As a fan of the
women's game, I started blogging 5 years ago because I was dissatisfied by the
lack of coverage for the women's game.
From the lack of women’s matches on show courts to the lack of women’s
matches on tv. Since those days, the WTA
has revamped itself. There are now more tennis sites and tennis writers
devoting more time and energy to the women’s game. As a fan, I could not be happier.
The WTA under the
leadership of Stacey Allaster has grown the sport and made the women’s game the
premier tennis watching event amongst tennis fans. There are still those who criticise every
miscue that the WTA makes in terms of how it markets its product but I think
those days are becoming more a figment of fans’ imaginations or just a way of
minimising the impact of the women’s game.
Sports
Illustrated recently asked tennis journalists about what they are looking
forward to in tennis for 2015 and one of the journalists mentioned that the WTA
won 2014. He is wrong. The WTA has been
winning since its inception. It may have had moments when it was not quite on
par with the men’s game but that had more to do with how it was covered by journalists
than the women themselves. How can you
write about a product if you never take the time to look at it, sample and
appreciate?
Tennis Channel
has been doing short retrospectives of Trailblazers in tennis. Thanks to the rise of Simona Halep, we now
know a lot about Romanian tennis other than Ilye Nastase and Ion Tiriac. Many of us who never saw any archived footage
of Virginia Ruzici winning the French Open now know about her. A trailblazer like her should have been
featured a long time ago especially when Alexandra Dulgheru was winning
tournaments as a qualifier and actually being a serious threat on clay back in
2009 to 2011.
2014 was a
fantastic year for the women. They have
cemented themselves as the must see event when the tennis season opens in a few
days’ time. I for one believe that the
women have shown us what a force they are in 2014 and that it will only get
better in 2015.
While many tennis
fans will be reading tennis journalists’ predictions for 2015, the Spin team
thought it would be good to find out from the fans of the game what were their
expectations and predictions for the New Year. Below are some of their
predictions.
Marissa (@sblily)
There won't be a Serena slam. (Of course,
it all starts with Serena for me. 
)
)
Caro will win a major.
Vika will come back even more focused (is
that possible?).
Coaching (and coaching changes and
shuffling) will be nearly as much of a WTA plot line as the action on the
court.
An American woman not named Williams or
Stephens will make the second week of a major.
Wimbledon will continue to slight the
Williams sisters (or less charitably, "put them in their place") with
court assignments not befitting champions of their stature, achievements, and
audience appeal. As usual, these scheduling decisions will come with ostensibly
gender and color- neutral rationalizations. And as usual, I will shake my head
and not believe them.
Will Genie escape the sophomore slump?
And will Sloane be able to overcome hers? (My predictions: "No" and
"No")
Matt Zemek (@mzemek)
Maria Sharapova will always have Paris,
and Petra Kvitova reminded us that she'll continue to be a threat at Wimbledon.
Those two players will be front and center at Roland Garros and SW19. Yet, over
the course of the full calendar season, it is hard to deny the notion that the
central drama of the 2015 WTA season lies in the paths that will be carved out
by five players: Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, Serena
Williams, and Victoria Azarenka.
Wozniacki -- for my money -- was the
comeback player of the year on tour in 2014. Hitting a crisper forehand and
fewer moonballs, Wozniacki -- though still dependent on her defense and court
coverage -- beefed up her game as well as her confidence. She definitely looks
like a force in the sport once again. Winning her first major, should she pull
it off, would be heralded as a profound triumph. It would rate as a very
popular victory on the tour if the Dane can do the deed.
Halep and Bouchard -- who have now tasted
the pressure of a major final and met in the Wimbledon semifinals -- both
received lessons in the latter half of 2014 on how to back up results, care for
one's body, and mentally approach life on the tour. Halep had more in the tank
than Bouchard at the WTA Finals in Singapore, but her North American hardcourt
summer left a lot of money on the table. She's more likely than Bouchard to
carry her best tennis into 2015, but the consistency with which she was
outclassed on hardcourts means she's no lock to maintain her ranking or her
status in the sport this season. It will be fascinating to see how Halep and
Bouchard respond to being true targets for a full calendar year.
Then there's Serena. Blasting through the
U.S. Open field and doggedly competing to win the WTA Finals reminded everyone
that a championship pedigree and championship instincts can still translate
into championship results for the great player of our age. The power of that
reminder, combined with an offseason free of incident, could enable Serena to
chase history with renewed energy. That's always a sight worth seeing in
women's tennis.
As for Azarenka, the possibility of
having Serena's best opponent playing with full health in 2015 is very exciting
to contemplate. A healthy Azarenka will rise to the top of the sport once again.
It's just a matter of being able to avoid the injury bug and play into form.
Ana Ivanovic? Agnieszka Radwanska? Peng
Shuai? Angelique Kerber? These and other players, including some of the younger
performers who emerged at the U.S. Open, show glimpses of brilliance every now
and then, but they still rate as "teases" as far as majors are
concerned. They might all make some noise in unexpected places, but the heart
of the 2015 season can be found in what Woz, Halep, Bouchard, Serena, and Vika
manage to do (or leave undone) on the court.
MasterAce (@TWMasterAce)
Since Serena Williams won the WTA
Championships and Czech Republic, led by Petra Kvitova, winning the Fed Cup for
the third time in four years, this offseason has been very interesting with
players making changes on and off the court for 2015. Here is a list of what I am looking forward
to.
(1) Biggest wildcard, in my opinion, is
the return of Victoria Azarenka from injuries which she seemed to have the
entire year of 2014 as she played only 17 matches.
(2) How players will succeed under their
new coaches? Agnieszka Radwanska made the splash hire of the offseason when she
hired Martina Navratilova. Despite
Simona Halep's success with Wim Fissette, they have parted ways as Halep wanted
to be coached by a fellow Romanian. Fissette did not take long to get another
job as he was hired by Taylor Townsend (unconfirmed & denied).
(3) How Eugenie Bouchard will fare since
she and Nick Saviano split and unlike other players, she has not named a new
coach. Madison Keys hiring of Lindsay Davenport was a very solid one as Keys
try to take her game to an elite level.
(4) Does Venus Williams have another deep
Slam run in her? She and Kvitova played what I thought was the WTA match of
2014 in the third round at Wimbledon.
(5) Can Caroline Wozniacki continue her
very solid play that started at Eastbourne? Normally, Wozniacki is a slow
starter when the season begins in Australia.
(6) Will the youngsters, led by Garbine
Muguruza and Belinda Bencic, continue to make inroads on the tour?
(7) Will there be another run in a Slam
by a player who was ranked outside the Top 100 like Aleksandra Krunic did at
United States Open?
(8) How can I forgot about the number one
player in the world? It is not Serena Weave but Serena Williams, who tied Chris
Evert and Navratilova in Slam titles when she won United States Open. Will Serena Williams fare better in the Slams
played outside the United States in 2015?
(9) Will Ana Ivanovic repeat 2014 except
do better in Slams?
(9) Will Maria Sharapova finally defend a
Slam and/or defeat Serena Williams?
Stephanie Neppl (@stephintheUS)
1) Serena Williams will win two slams (Aussie
Open and Wimbledon) but will lose her #1 ranking.
2) Maria Sharapova will not reach a grand slam
final this year.
3) Petra Kvitova will continue to have
consistency issues. This will not be a grand slam year for her.
4) Jelena Jankovic will fall out of the Top 30.
5) Caroline Wozniacki will make another grand
slam final, but still fail to win one.
Tennis dreams:
We FINALLY get a good run at a slam for Venus
Williams
Working with Lindsay Davenport will help spur on
Madison Keys’ career.
Sloane Stephens starts winning again
Retirements:
Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone
Will not retire:
Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm
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