2016 WTA Rogers Cup.

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The number 2 spot has definitely changed a couple times this year though between Murray and Fed. I'll have to have a look tomorrow though. Maybe I'm thinking of 2015.

Murray has been ranked number #2 all year save for one week at the start of May when he lost it briefly to Fed after failing to defend his Madrid title and despite Fed not even showing up in Madrid.
He regained it the following week after Fed went out early in Rome (failing to defend his finalist points from last year) and has kept it since.

 

[spystud]

Great, women's thread.

 

[PDJ]

Murray has been ranked number #2 all year save for one week at the start of May when he lost it briefly to Fed after failing to defend his Madrid title and despite Fed not even showing up in Madrid.
He regained it the following week after Fed went out early in Rome (failing to defend his finalist points from last year) and has kept it since.

Murray is the most recent Mens no.2 to not reach no.1. Prior to him it was Tommy Haas in 2002.

Women.
In recent times:

Petra Kvitová 2011
Agnieszka Radwańska 2012
Li Na 2014
Simona Halep 2014
Angelique Kerber 2016
Garbine Muguruza 2016

 

[spystud]

This draw is fun.

http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2016/1077/MDS.pdf

 

[spystud]

Timea B. to play with Hingis in Rio. Interesting.

 

[spystud]

Angie/Simona starting shortly on ESPN2.

 

[Fedole]

That wasn't a pretty 1st set for Kerber.

 

[spystud]

Well, that set did not go as expected. Simona threw down the bagel as Angie just imploded all over herself.

 

[ScentOfDefeat]

Kerber probably thinking about that number 1 spot --> proceeds to lose 6-0 in the first set.

 

[elkwood]

Halep most likely not going to play at that high of a level
in second set. I Think kerber comes back to take this to 3 sets

 

[spystud]

Sidenote, both of these kits look outstanding today. Good job, Adidas.

 

[elkwood]

agh halep should have broken by now in this game !!

 

[elkwood]

Well halep sure knows how to hit her rac without breaking it !

 

[Tennis wizard]

Match is getting really good now, halap looking super pissed too with a couple of racquet smacks

 

[Tennis wizard]

Whats the point in calling your coach over if you never listen ? lol i see this happen with all the wta players

 

[elkwood]

Yea Halep was pissed during that change over. Halep needs
to pick up her game and go after kerber some. Rather then
just waiting for Kerbs to screw it up

 

[spystud]

Playing 3.

 

[elkwood]

Yea not looking good for Halep

 

[Tennis wizard]

kerber at her annoying defensive best and Halep keeps going for these crazy shots on the run and keeps on missing

 

[Tennis wizard]

Halep misses an absolute sitter .. -facepalm-

 

[elkwood]

Yea but she was running up to the ball. I think she over ran it

 

[Tennis wizard]

Halep is just smashing everything she can , with multiple winners and unforced errors

 

[elkwood]

WTF kind of service game was that from Kerber !!

 

[Tennis wizard]

such a high quality match

 

[elkwood]

Lets see if Halep can hold after the break !!

 

[spystud]

Gotta break now, Angie.

 

[Tennis wizard]

cmon halep 1 more!

 

[spystud]

Welp, 5-2 Simona now.

 

[elkwood]

3 match pts

 

[Tennis wizard]

god dam it halep

 

[spystud]

Simona wins. Fun match.

 

[elkwood]

Wow what a way to win. Grats to Halep!!

 

[Pavla]

Despite the obvious flaws in their games, I just love watching these two battle each other. Simona's turn this time

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Serena also has the Indian Wells final, Miami 4R, Rome title, Toronto SF and Cincinnati title. She should play some more tournaments but at her age, she can't risk injuries and she can keep winning the big titles.

This rankings stuff happens on the mens tour too. Nadal is 4th in the world with nothing better than a slam 3R. He has a 3R at USO, 1R at Aus Open, 3R at the French and N/A at Wimbledon. Holds a masters title and two ATP500's though. Same with Dominic Thiem, until his French Open SF he was 15th in the world yet had only had 2R 2015 FO, 2R SW, 3R USO and 2016 3R AO. But he'd played 30 tournaments (was actually 30 within 52 weeks, crazy) which helped his ranking.

I don't mind the current system though, it's hard to come up with a great one.

Oh yeah by no means am I really complaining, just merely stating that it's possible to become a top ranked player without really doing terribly well at the big events.

Although I think Rafa has a tenuous hold on that #4 spot, so unless he really cranks it up, which would be nice to see, he'll probably dip a bit. The nice thing about this Djokovic dominant era, and the Fedal one the preceded it, was that those guys have made it virtually impossible for anyone to become world #1 without winning big tournaments. Even some guys who went on nice runs and won big events like a slam, still couldn't get to #1 or haven't yet - guys like Murray, Stanimal, Del Potro, Cilic, even Soderling. (Although he never won a slam, but he did reach two slam finals in consecutive years)

 

[Fedole]

Bit negative but never thought Kerber would win that so not too disappointed. Hope we see her in Rio, can definitely grab a medal there.

 

[tacou]

dang Halep is already warming up in doubles, she's awesome

 

[PDJ]

Happy for Halep. Didn't see it but sounds a good match, if up and down.
Did Halep come in much?

 

[skyline]

Super happy for Simona! And will be really happy with a Simona - Madison final if it comes to pass.

Kerber still has a great shot at no. 1 regardless of today. I think she'll go far at Cincy.

 

[insideguy]

Man I hope Keys wins this but how awesome is it to see this Kucova run.

 

[fundrazer]

Match seems to be on Keys' racquet. Seems like she's making an acceptable number of unforced errors at the moment, but if that number keeps picking up then Kucova has a shot I guess.

 

[skyline]

I expect nothing less than for the match to be on Madison's racquet. But prior matches were not on Kucova's racquet either and she still pulled through.

 

[PeteD]

Kucova zero winners. Maddy just needs to keep patience and this is done in 2.

EDIT: she just hit a nice one. However, she's very much a returner.

 

[spystud]

Quick & painless for Keys.

 

[Pavla]

Boring as hell.

 

[skyline]

Wow. How did Kucova manage to take out Konta? Did Konta blow it?

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Wow. How did Kucova manage to take out Konta? Did Konta blow it?

I suspect Kucova had nothing left in the tank, remember she played late last night, and had to come through qualies just to make it to the main draw. So she had played about 3 extra matches coming into this one. Also, could have been a bit of nerves too. World #121 in a SF at a Premier event on the WTA. No player in the last 40-50 years ranked outside the top 100 in the world had ever made the final of a Premier event or higher on the WTA.

 

[tacou]

Can't remember the last time I've had a win-win women's final in a big match!
Keys winning an Olympic medal or even the USO would be crazy, and taking this tournament would be a huge step.
But I love Halep and would love the same success for her...hopefully it is an entertaining but not overly taxing match tomorrow!

 

[tacou]

I suspect Kucova had nothing left in the tank, remember she played late last night, and had to come through qualies just to make it to the main draw. So she had played about 3 extra matches coming into this one. Also, could have been a bit of nerves too. World #121 in a SF at a Premier event on the WTA. No player in the last 40-50 years ranked outside the top 100 in the world had ever made the final of a Premier event or higher on the WTA.

Kucova is also very quick and shows it off a lot during her matches. The one against Eugenie, particularly the third set, was like a track meet on her end.
Keys would be a bad match up for Kucova in general, but if she was even half a step slower than normal she's got no shot in that fight.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Just saw the draws for the 2 competitions next week and dear god they're awful.
Nanchang has ONE top 100 player.
Florianopolis has at least 8, top seed being Jankovic.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Halep into her first ever doubles final in Montreal and it's a Premier 5. Partnered by Niculscu, they face Makarova/Vesnina.

Also Halep's win over Kerber in the SF was just her 2nd top 3 win. The other being that shock crushing of Serena at the 2014 WTA finals RR. Funnily enough, both top 3 wins have featured Simona dishing out a bagel.