With 2012 over and 2013 underway, I'm reviewing the 2012 season of the top 50 ATP and WTA players, and notable others, and making an informed guess (quiet at the back) at what 2013 is likely to bring.
Ladies Night - #26 - 50
#50 - Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)
The now veteran Spaniard has had a solid, if fairly unremarkable singles career, and 2013 was little exception. Nothing much stands out for her in 2012 either, beyond reaching R3 in Melbourne before being forced to retire with injury - she racked up the sort of win one, lose one record that keeps you in the top 50 but not much more.
Though she has started 2013 brightly, I suspect AMG's best chances of notable success these days remain in the doubles.
#49 - Heather Watson (GBR)
2012 was something of a breakthrough year for Miz Watson. Starting outside the top 100, it was all about getting established in main draw events. The year started pretty slowly but she qualified and reached R2 at Roland Garros, reached R3 at Wimbledon, and ended the year winning her first WTA title at the smaller event in Osaka.
She has improved aspects of her game, but to kick on, the gritty Watson will need to continue to add more offense to her serve and patterns of play, which can be a bit too grinding and expose her to being hit off the court. If she can do this, then she may even be worth a top 20 spot - she is a fighter and that counts for a lot.
#48 - Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)
Another unmemorable year for another Spanish veteran, a win at the ITF in Marseille being the standout. She beat who she should most of the time, and rarely lost to who she shouldn't.
At 31, nearing 32, I have to feel that her ranking in 2013 will end south of the top 50, though possibly a few decent runs in the clay season will keep her around.
#47 - Simona Halep (ROU)
This diminutive Romanian is still young, and has steadily improved for the last couple of years, scoring some top 20 wins in 2012. Her standout result was in Brussels, where she reached the final and pushed Aga for a set before losing 75 60.
I can see Simona getting into the top 30 in 2013 but I fear that at 5'6" and perhaps lacking in the same amount of power as, say, Cibulkova, she's got a hard road to get much higher, especially as she also seems to struggle with consistency.
#46 - Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
No doubt Lucie's best results in 2012 came in doubles with fellow Czech Hlavackova, but she did have some singles highlights too, including a final in Quebec City, and a run to the SFs in Madrid, beating Kvitova and Stosur before losing to Serena. However, the rest of the year was fairly poor, with many R1 losses. With a truly excellent record in doubles, including 2 slam finals and Olympic silver, in 2012, it's likely 2013 will again be more profitable on the doubles side.
#45 - Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
A tricky year for Flavia - with finals in Auckland and Acapulco, but then an injury keeping her out for the US Open Series, from which she has not yet returned.
Her career has always been turbulent, with some good highs, like breaking into the top 10, followed by equally notable downturns, as her confidence drops off. 2013 may be her last chance to push back to the top 20 and make some noise, but we'll see how she responds to her comeback in Bogotá in February
#44 - Alize Cornet (FRA)
Alize is just 22, nearly 23, and if she's going to do something, it's getting to the time where she needs to start. She made a bit of a splash as a teen, but it's been turbulent and the results have not flowed since. 2012 saw an ITF final in Nassau and the final in Strasbourg, and a title win in Bad Gastein, but she underperforms at the high ranking events, generally speaking, and this is what holds her back.
She reached 11 in 2009, and in 2013 I think she can push back towards the top 20, but it's time she started performing on the bigger s
#43 - Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)
Aleks has struggled a bit since her comeback from a protracted injury layoff. In 2012 she won ITF Nassau, and made the QFS in Montreal.
If she can stay healthy, in 2013 she can get back into the top 30. She has a powerful game, and hits a heavy, yet inconsistent ball. At 25, Wozniak needs to take advantage of her prime and fulfil the earlier promise that saw her winning Stanford.
#42 - Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
The 25 year old Bulgarian looks smaller than she actually is because her frame is so slight, but she's actually 5'11" and is quite an unpredictable force. She'll beat Kerber in Doha but lose to Tatishvili in Budapest. She made R16 at the US Open, losing to Ivanovic, and the SFs in the also-rans tournament in Sofia. She had a memorable match with Sharapova at Wimbledon too.
As far as 2013 goes, I can't predict much change for Tsveti. She may go on a tear with sliced forehands and flat backhands, but a lot of the time she'll lose disappointingly. It is the way of things.
#41 - Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)
Sofia is another player whose confidence seems very brittle. She won Memphis and reached the SFs in Moscow but seems unable to build on these sorts of results and really get on a roll.
Perhaps 2013 will be different, but I doubt it. I don't recall Sofia having any major weapons and is bedevilled with the same inconsistency that seems to hurt many players at this level - you just never know what to expect from one week to the next.
#40 - Shuai Peng (CHN)
Once seen a successor to the likes of Li and Zheng, Peng hasn't been able to kick on quite like that. She had a decent run to the R16 at Wimbledon, but otherwise it was fairly slim pickings in terms of stand-out results. There was more week-in, week-out consistency, though - less R1 flame-outs.
Peng started 2012 at #17 and I think she can get back to the top 20 in 2013. She has started brightly, with a SF in Shenzhen, so let's be optimistic.
#39 - Mona Barthel (GER)
The young German looked like one to watch in 2012 after some results in 2011 that made you sit up and take notice, but instead it rather became a case of sophomore year blues. She won Hobart, reached the QFs at Paris indoors, but the rest of the year was rough, with only SF in Quebec City and Bastad to break through the gloom of numerous first round losses.
I think 2013 will see Mona getting back to winning ways as she adjusts to the tour at this level and finds her feet again. I expect her to get into the top 20, and at 21, she could be around there for quite a while.
#38 - Sloane Stephens (USA)
Given the USA is a country that has desperately looking for signs of the NextBigThing, as the Williams retirements begin to seem possible in the coming years, Sloane Stephens has handled it pretty well. The 19-year-old started 2012 at #96 and ended in the top 40. Not Williams-style breakout, but great progress in a game that is in general seeing less breakout moments and more evolutionary rises to the top. Things started to take off on the clay, with a SF in Strasbourg and then a R16 run at Roland Garros, and there were solid results thereafter.
Sloane has started 2013 brightly, and gave Serena quite a match in Brisbane. I see top 20 here, she seems to have bit more fire than her languid demeanour would suggest. Can she go higher? Not sure, but she's still very young and she's on the right track.
#37 - Sabine Lisicki (GER)
2012 was a bit of a wash-out for the likeable yet injury-prone German. A R16 run in Melbourne and QF run in Wimbledon are the stasndouts from an otherwise forgettable season.
2013 has to be about more consistency and staying injury-free. Sabine has a big game, and never seems to be able to channel it effectively enough. Now 22, perhaps the time has arrived, to get back into the top 20 and look towards the top 10?
#36 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
The most promising of the younger Russians, Ana seemed to take a step back in 2012, slipping from 16 to 36. Indeed, reaching the Washington final is the only bright spot - the rest of the year is R1 losses or one win, one loss situations.
Nastya is a good height, has great weight of shot, and is still young at 21. In 2013 she should reverse this slide and get back into the top 20. She started the right way, with a final in Brisbane. May it continue.
#35 - Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
2012 was a poor year by the standards of Fran's recent years, with only brief flashes - winninG Strasbourg, making the R16 in Wimbledon. It's been a drastic decline from ending 2011 just outside the top 10. Indeed, the second half of the year was a virtual write-off.
Now 32, Fran seems to be running on fumes and it's hard to be sure what she's still hoping to achieve - perhaps she still competes for the love of the game, but if so, you'd be hard pushed to see it on court. Her unexpected Roland Garros triumph is her career triumph, and the joy with which she seized the moment was wonderful - it makes this inept drift back into irrelevance harder to watch.
#34 - Carla Suarez-Navarro (ESP)
This young Spaniard seemed to promise much a couple of years ago, but she seems to have settled into the same erratic pattern of many of her contemporaries. Estoril Final, Barcelona SF, Beijing QF and a R3 at Roland Garros doesn't seem a huge amount to show for a year. She has a glorious one-handed backhand but at 5'4" she's perhaps a throwback to an earlier era, one that struggles to compete in the glamazon power-game stakes of the modern WTA.
I think Carla is perhaps ranked about where she should be - she can bounce up if she gets on a roll and pulls off some decent wins - it's happened before, like thw QF run in Melbourne, but otherwise, she'll hang around where she is.
#33 - Christina McHale (USA)
McHale showed steady progress in 2012, but perhaps will be looking to kick on a bit in 2013. A solid but unspectacular year, R3 at 3 of the slams, and many R16s on the main tour, there's a consistency here that many of her peers lack, but then there are few peaks either.
To get higher, Christina is going to have to lose less matches against opponents she should beat, and that might mean dealing with her nerves better in tight situations - there were some memorable matches in Eastbourne against Wozniacki and then Pavlyuchenkova that stand out. Not yet 21, this should come in time for the New Jersey native.
#32 - Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
Daniela has been around FOREVER - I mean, I remember them discussing her being too thin way back in 2002, and yet she's only 29. However, the promise of a couple of years ago, when she made the SFs in Melbourne, seem distant, and she seems past her prime now. She won Pattaya City and reached the finals in Luxembourg but otherwise it was slim pickings for the willowy Slovakian.
She might experience a slight rankings bounce in 2013 but it seems like Daniela's lot now is to cause the occasional upset and then get out of the way. A shame - it once seemed like she had more promise.
#31 - Urszula Radwanska (POL)
The younger Pole has lagged behind her sister all along, and was sidetracked by some injury issues, but in 2012 finally looked ready to push on. Ula won ITF Birmingham, then reached the final in 'S-Hertogenbosch from qualifying before losing to Petrova. From there she had a solid summer, posting consistent R16s at tour events, then SFs in Tashkent and Guangzhou.
Ula tends to play with a bit more power than her sister and is a bit more erratic, but I think she can join Aga in the top 20 at least. She's now 22 and this would be a good time to make her move.
#30 - Tamira Paszek (AUT)
Tamira is another poster-girl for inconsistency, yet she's still younger than you think, at 22. It was all about that Wimbledon, wasn't it. The amazing Wozniacki match, and the run to the QFs before losing to Azarenka. But there was also the Eastbourne win, and a QF in Montreal. However, that was it for the notable achievements as the inconsistency took over once again.
I think Tamira is top 30 quality but may struggle to get much higher consistently with her small stature - she has to take a lot of risks, and sometimes they pay off - and sometimes they don't. If I were a share rating agency, I would rate Tamira as a Hold.
#29 - Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
The funky one, who plays for Kazakhstan, had a terrific run back into the top 30 in 2012. A bunch of early ITFs and then a run through qualifying to the RG QF, and a R16 at Wimbledon (+ golden set) helped to drag her back into contention from an injury plagued 2011. Things fizzled out a bit after the US Open, but she's well placed to begin 2013.
I think Slava can hang around 20-25 in the rankings with maybe the odd burst into the top 20, which would beat her career high so far.
#28 - Klara Zakopalova (CZE)
Klara was in decent form in 2012. Nearly 30 now, she was extremely solid throughout the season, with SF in Paris indoors, Final in ITF Prague, R16 at the French, SF in Eastbourne and numerous QFs.
She's started 2013 in good form so maybe she can have another great year? She's now at a career high, can she break the top 20?
#27 - Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
At the risk of over-using a word, Cirstea is erratic. However, 2012 was less so for the Romanian. She made a number of QFs and SFs throughout the season, and a couple of R3s at slams helped to hold her ranking up.
Sori has a big game but can be inconsistent within matches, but she's still only 21. She can kick on, and with her good looks, perhaps she can join the ranks of the poster girls in 2013.
#26 - Jie Zheng (CHN)
Again, an inconsistent 2012 (are you seeing a pattern yet?). Won Auckland and made R16 in Melbourne, then did nothing until the SF in Birmingham from qualification. The rest of the year was also unspectacular. A shame - the tiny Chinese has a fun game and can get into some amazing battles - but it seems like she can't bring it consistently, and loses to some surprising players - Parmentier, for example.
She's nearly 30 so I think the progam is unlikely to change now. More of the same - she may create some surprising upsets, have some incredible battles, but then she'll flame out for several weeks thereafter.
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