Now that we're over half way through the tennis year - just wondered who everyone thought would be the 8 qualifiers for the WTA Champs.

The top 20 in the race currently are -

HENIN-HARDENNE, JUSTINE 2786
MAURESMO, AMELIE 2372
KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA 1834
SHARAPOVA, MARIA 1639
PETROVA, NADIA 1483
CLIJSTERS, KIM 1454
HINGIS, MARTINA 1396
DEMENTIEVA, ELENA 1211
SAFINA, DINARA 1004
SCHNYDER, PATTY 957
MYSKINA, ANASTASIA 929
VAIDISOVA, NICOLE 841
GROENEFELD, ANNA-LENA 795
SCHIAVONE, FRANCESCA 712
LI, NA 655
PENNETTA, FLAVIA 627
HANTUCHOVA, DANIELA 601
MEDINA GARRIGUES, ANABE 566
PEER, SHAHAR 553
IVANOVIC, ANA 521

Justine & Mauresmo are pretty much 99% there already. As for the rest

Very likely -
Kuznetsova
Sharapova
Clijsters

All three have been pretty consistent at getting to the later stages this year - Clijsters in particular will surely shoot up the race now that her most successful time of year is underway.

Probably -
Petrova - if she is over her injury problems and can recapture her strong form of the 1st half of the year.
Hingis - If only because she hasn't been often beaten by players outside the top 10 so tends to rack up decent levels of points at most tournaments also hardcourt is probably her best surface.

In with a shot -
Myskina, Dementieva, Vaidisova, Safina, Schnyder

All of them are very close together in terms of points & have decent records on hardcourts - Dementieva should make it if she can replicate her strong form from last year (SF's & US Open & Filderstadt)

Who knows - Venus, Serena, Davenport, Pierce.

Due to injuries they haven't played much this year and really look out of the running but they are all capable of big results at the remaining major tournaments though it might just be too late.


Any thoughts & which 8 would you most like to see?

I cant stand seeing schynder in again. I can see Safina possibly breaking through though, along with myskina.

Good analysis as ever GS, well I think Justine has made the YEC priority this year after missing the past two, I think the first 7 are locks to make it, Hingis is so consistent, she'll hold onto her place, Dementieva is the vulnerable one, but then again she always manages to somehow qualify, she's made it every year since 2000 I believe...

Lindsay is out, even if she somehow makes the top 8, she won't go to Madrid, so hopefully Venus can pull some magic out of the hat...

If not, then I'd like to see Myskina there, she said that if she didn't make Madrid she would consider a break from tennis, it's a pretty big aim, but possible...

I doubt Venus would really care about the YEC really, she hasnt played there for 4 years can you believe :yikes:

I think myskina could pull it off, although she does have points to defend in Toronto, Filderstadt( well stuggart now) and zurich. tough but not impossible.

Yeah Elena nearly always has a strong set of results at Moscow and zurich so usually gets a last minute place.

I dont know if Lindsay can make it, she has a lot of points to defend and her injury isnt healing fast........

Yeah the top 7 look comfortable at the moment don't they & really 8th place is Dementieva's to lose at the moment though i'm not sure how she is so far ahead of Safina, Myskina etc. Her only good slam result is a QF - I suppose it's winning Tokyo & reaching the final of IW as otherwise she hasn't done much.

It would take something massive for Venus to get close - she'd probably need to win the US Open to cut the gap - though we know that is possible for her.

I've got tickets to go see it so am hoping for a good line-up - I agree with DL no Patty Schnyder please!

I'd like to see (being realistic)

Justine
Amelie
Kim
Svetlana
Maria
Martina
Myskina
Dementieva/Vaidisova

Being very unrealistic i'd like Venus & Mary instead of Ana & Elena - oh well!

There's rumours that Mary wont be able to play out the year :yikes:

I'm hoping venus does something special though! :pray:

No Schynder though, she has overstayed her welcome in the top 10 :tsk:

Hingis could qualify, but i'm not totally convinced.........

The annoying thing about Schnyder (well one of many!) is that she's likely to hang on a bit more in the top 10 due to Mary & Lindsay's injuries.

I think Hingis is vulnerable but she's quite lucky in that some of the players who would be in contention have barely played this year (Venus, Lindsay, Serena & Mary)

So hope Mary returns before her ranking dives to far - will she be able to build it back up again if it does!?

Petrova could be in trouble if she doesn't come back from injury soon - anyone have any idea when she's coming back?

I know i call Patty an oppurtunist top 10, feeding off the scraps of the top [players injuries and inactivities. Its times like this when you miss Capriati and seles in the top 10, but instead you have boring patty :rolleyes:

I dont know about Hingis, she's gone off the boil a bit for me since IW.........even though she did win Rome.........i still think she has a shot, but she's hardly guranteed a spot.

BTW GS2, i believe Petrova may be returning at San Diego......

Very good threads on here with useful incite... I hope that Venus and Serena can suddenly march up there... a US Open would do the trick for either of them! ;)

As for Vaidisova... I can't see her making it due to her lack of form at the moment and as one of you said before, her movement is still rather suspect... after a great Roland Garros where the game is slower, she doesn't seem to be able to adapt to the faster grass or hard courts as well as she would have hoped.

Hingis could make it though as we have seen in recent weeks, the big hitters are still causing her serious problems and with the return of Serena, Venus and Davenport, things are only going to get harder for her.

Myskina I don't see making it as she still doesn't convince me of a good run of form. Yes OK she did do well at Eastbourne but since then she has hardly convinced anyone that she can string a good set of performances together to challenge for a title again!

This is unlikely but I would love to see Na Li there just because she has had such a good year!

I think you're being a bit harsh on Vaidisova. Hardcourt is her best surface really - all but one of her titles has come on the surface. Though you're right she doesn't seem to have got the hang of grass yet.

Myskina has a chance though she's not helping her self by playing Stockholm instead of San Diego :shrug:

Li Na has been doing well recently but probably didn't do enough earlier in the year to be challenging for a top 8 spot.

Still though, I don't think that come up against the other top players on hard courts she would be able to beat them as she wouldn't be able to cope with the pace and/or spin that they all have worked out so well in their careers.

HENIN-HARDENNE, JUSTINE 2786
MAURESMO, AMELIE 2372
SHARAPOVA, MARIA 2027
KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA 1909
CLIJSTERS, KIM 1860
HINGIS, MARTINA 1681
PETROVA, NADIA 1486
DEMENTIEVA, ELENA 1481

SCHNYDER, PATTY 1229
SAFINA, DINARA 1189
VAIDISOVA, NICOLE 1106
MYSKINA, ANASTASIA 997
IVANOVIC, ANA 912
GROENEFELD, ANNA-LENA 895
SCHIAVONE, FRANCESCA 713
HANTUCHOVA, DANIELA 711

This is how the standings are looking after the Canadian Open. Justine & Amelie have already qualified & you've got to say the top 8 look pretty solid at the moment. The ones below have a small chance but they are really running out of time.

This is how it looks after the US Open - Maria is now only just behind Amelie and has now qualified. The top 7 all now look safe so really at the moment the only battle looks to be for 8th place. Petrova has an almost 200 point lead (which since she has only won 3 matches since May is pretty incredible) over Safina who squeezed past Patty at the US Open. So at the moment it looks like the top 8 will all make it unless Petrova continues her poor form.

Big jump from Jankovic but she's still miles away from the top 8 which is a shame - she would liven up the YEC.

This race is probably less competitive than we've had in the last few years sadly but then with Lindsay, Venus, Serena & Mary having missed huge parts of the year I suppose the level of competition isn't as high as usual.

1 HENIN-HARDENNE, JUSTINE 3473
2 MAURESMO, AMELIE 2735
3 SHARAPOVA, MARIA 2727
4 KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA 2093
5 CLIJSTERS, KIM 1860
6 HINGIS, MARTINA 1719
7 DEMENTIEVA, ELENA 1704
8 PETROVA, NADIA 1549
9 SAFINA, DINARA 1363
10 SCHNYDER, PATTY 1326
11 VAIDISOVA, NICOLE 1168
12 MYSKINA, ANASTASIA 1000
13 IVANOVIC, ANA 974
14 JANKOVIC, JELENA 971
15 GROENEFELD, ANNA-LENA 898
16 LI, NA 801
17 SCHIAVONE, FRANCESCA 800
18 PEER, SHAHAR 775
19 HANTUCHOVA, DANIELA 774
20 CHAKVETADZE, ANNA 703

If Schynder gets in i might seriously write a letter of complain to the WTA :rolleyes: roflmao

I think we're safe DL.

Though she will probably go back to 9th after Bali :yikes:

I cannot tolerate that farcical top tenner any longer roflmao

Well hopefully Serena, Venus, Mary, Myskina & Lindsay will be back soon to kick her out!

Or Jelena, Tati, Ana & Dinara.

In fact if they all got higher in the rankings we might see her pushed out of the top 20 roflmao

We won't so lucky GS, as long as there are tier IIIs, Patty Schnyder will be around to suck points out of them :rolleyes:

Yeah patty's taken over Nicole's old job roflmao

I'm not sure if Nicole is going to defend her Tier III sweep this year! Hopefully she'll stay in Europe.

Strange this will be Sharapova's first real European Indoor season - she only played Moscow last year and Zurich the year before - she's yet to win one of the big indoor events.

Hingis is playing Seoul though. A Tier IV! How much is she getting for that!

O dear I will be so sad not to see Nicole go to her tier 3s and whack all the 200+ ranked players off the court. What a shame.

You sarcastic whiz SW19 roflmao

roflmao

Dav's given me an idea; im going to change my sig to something more fun :D

1 HENIN-HARDENNE, JUSTINE BEL
3473.00 12
2 MAURESMO, AMELIE FRA
2872.00 14
3 SHARAPOVA, MARIA RUS
2727.00 11
4 KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA RUS
2532.00 19
5 CLIJSTERS, KIM BEL
1860.00 12
6 HINGIS, MARTINA SUI
1851.00 18
7 PETROVA, NADIA RUS
1819.00 20
8 DEMENTIEVA, ELENA RUS
1808.00 18
9 SCHNYDER, PATTY SUI
1540.00 22
10 SAFINA, DINARA RUS
1441.00 20
11 JANKOVIC, JELENA SCG
1169.00 25
11 VAIDISOVA, NICOLE CZE
1169.00 15


Well it looks like we have our top 8 - can't see Schnyder or Safina catching up now. I suppose Justine could still pull out and let Patty in but lets hope she turns up this year!

Will be interesting to see how the groups get divided. Nadia is playing every tournament going for the rest of the year so I reckon she has a good chance of qualifying 5th or 6th knocking either Hingis or Clijsters into 7th place.

Which means if everyone else stays where they are we could end up with a group of

Justine, Maria, Martina, Kim!!!! Who would you favour coming out of that!?

The race for the number 1 is still on also. As the top 3 have all played less than 17 tournaments this year the race rankings above are essentially their safe points for this year so it all depends how they do for the rest of the year.

Justine has a 6 point lead so Amelie would have to win her remaining two events (Moscow & Zurich) just to catch up with her then it would depend how they did at the YEC.

Maria is 750 points behind Justine but is down to play Moscow, Zurich & Linz before the Championships so she has a chance to catch up. It looks like it could go down to the wire at the YEC.

I hope none of them drop out. I would be devastated if Patty got to the YECs :P

She won't get in! :yahoo:

I don't give a monkeys who gets in... there will be no Lindsay, no Serena and no Venus there... whats the point in watching? :shrug:

Or Pierce Actica ;) I am almost tempted to support Masha to keep power tennis alive, but im secretly wanting a Hingis win

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDn-x8QckFc Atribute to 2 masters who should be there :rolleyes:

errrrr.... How about Hingis?
The only real reason to watch tennis, is to watch Hingis play. Yeah she's gonna win it. She'll beat Petrova in the final! B)

What's the score with this now then?
Do we think Hingis will make it in? Does anybody know what sorta points she heends to qualify... scuse me but I haven't really followed for a couple of years the points system and how they gain entry. :blush:

1 HENIN-HARDENNE, JUSTINE 3473
2 MAURESMO, AMELIE 2947
3 SHARAPOVA, MARIA 2802
4 KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA 2533
5 PETROVA, NADIA 2029
6 DEMENTIEVA, ELENA 1943
7 CLIJSTERS, KIM 1860
8 HINGIS, MARTINA 1851
9 SCHNYDER, PATTY 1615
10 SAFINA, DINARA 1442
11 VAIDISOVA, NICOLE 1304
12 JANKOVIC, JELENA 1169
13 CHAKVETADZE, ANNA 1124
14 MYSKINA, ANASTASIA 1000
15 SCHIAVONE, FRANCESCA 980
16 IVANOVIC, ANA 976


Here are the current points. Hingis looks pretty safe unless Schnyder goes on a bit of a spree and wins Zurich & Linz which seems unlikely. Everyone else is too far behind. Latest i've heard is that barring disasters Henin & Clijsters will play so the top 8 at the moment look to be the top 8 that will make it.

Cheers GS2, I was hoping you were still here to answer my query as you seem to be in the know regarding this! :D

I think if the current top 8 are all in it will make for a cracking tournament. Mo has been looking a tad wayward recently but Kuzzy and Petrova have been hitting form. Also Sharapova obviously so should make for an interesting tourny. I'm rooting for Hingis though. Be a great story for her in her a comeback year!

Isn't Hingis above Clijsters now, seeing as she won against Groenfeld?

Yeah she will be but the WTA only update this once a week on a Monday so the effect of Zurich won't be seen until next week.

But yes Hingis is now currently 7th in the table.

hantuchova could do the swiss miss a favour and take out schnyder today. that would almost eliminate patty from YECs...no??

Yes I would have thought so.

I think Hingis is almost certainly safe.

I hope so anyway - i'm going to the YEC and i'd rather see Hingis than Schnyder anyday!

Plus though Hingis has looked a little ropey lately she's much more likely to do some damage there than Patty.

When is the YECs on?

Starts Tuesday 6th November.

Next week is Linz, week after is Hassalt then it's the YEC

The YECs will be a good test of Hingis' mettle. We'll see how she handles it against the top players. I think it'll be a now or never situation. Especially if she meets Kim :devil:

Although I am going to contradict myself now and say that I think we'll know by the end of next year if she is still going to be one of the eight best in the world, as I hope she sorts some issues out in the next 12 months which have been evident from her play in her 'comeback' season.