Grand Slam Seeds (2009-2018)

With the slams moving from 32 seeds to 16 next year, I thought I'd post this list I've compiled. This is the number of times each player has been seeded the last 10 years (2009-2018), which I how long I've been keeping track. Note this is from the original published list of 32 seeds, if a player withdrew after the draw, they are still included here and the player becoming the #33 seed is not. I'll post some stats compiled from this list to Twitter.

Men

Novak Djokovic (SRB) 39
Tomas Berdych (CZE) 37
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 37
Marin Cilic (CRO) 36
Roger Federer (SUI) 36
Rafael Nadal (ESP) 36
David Ferrer (ESP) 35
Andy Murray (GBR) 35
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 34
Richard Gasquet (FRA) 32
John Isner (USA) 32

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 29
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 29
Gilles Simon (FRA) 29
Gael Monfils (FRA) 28
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 28
Milos Raonic (CAN) 27
Kei Nishikori (JPN) 25
Kevin Anderson (RSA) 24
Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 23
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 21
Sam Querrey (USA) 21
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 20
Fabio Fognini (ITA) 20

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 19
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 18
Tommy Robredo (ESP) 18
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 17
Viktor Troicki (SRB) 17
Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 15
David Goffin (BEL) 15
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 15
Andy Roddick (USA) 15
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 14
Jack Sock (USA) 14
Dominic Thiem (AUT) 14
Andreas Seppi (ITA) 13
Mardy Fish (USA) 12
Juan Monaco (ARG) 12
Robin Soderling (SWE) 12
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 11
Lucas Pouille (LAT) 11
Radek Stepanek (CZE) 11
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 11
Julien Benneteau (FRA) 10
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 10
Pablo Cuevas (URU) 10
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 10
Tommy Haas (GER) 10
Bernard Tomic (AUS) 10
Alexander Zverev (GER) 10

Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 9
Florian Mayer (GER) 9
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 8
Marcel Granollers (ESP) 8
Benoit Paire (FRA) 8
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 7
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 7
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 7
Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 7
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 7
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 7
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 7
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6
Albert Montanes (ESP) 6
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 5
Victor Hanescu (ROU) 5
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 5
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 5
Gilles Muller (LUX) 5
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 5
Igor Andreev (RUS) 4
James Blake (USA) 4
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 4
Steve Johnson (USA) 4
Michael Llodra (FRA) 4
David Nalbandian (ARG) 4
Joao Sousa (POR) 4
Mischa Zverev (GER) 4
Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 3
Kyle Edmund (GER) 3
Karen Khachanov (RUS) 3
Martin Klizan (SVK) 3
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 3
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 3
Marat Safin (RUS) 3
Rainer Schuettler (GER) 3
Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 3
Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 2
Borna Coric (CRO) 2
Ivan Dodig (CRO) 2
Santiago Giraldo (COL) 2
Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 2
Lukas Rosol (CZE) 2
Stefanos Tsitisipas (GRE) 2
Alex Bogomolov (USA) 1
Hyeon Chung (KOR) 1
Federico Delbonis (ARG) 1
Robin Haase (NED) 1
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 1
Andrey Rublev (RUS) 1
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 1

Women

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 38
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 37
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 35
Samantha Stosur (AUS) 33
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 32
Petra Kvitova (CZE) 32
Serena Williams (USA) 32
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 31
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 31
Venus Williams (USA) 31

Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 29
Maria Sharapova (RUS) 29
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 28
Angelique Kerber (GER) 28
Lucie Safarova (CZE) 25
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 23
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 23
Na Li (CHN) 22
Roberta Vinci (ITA) 22
Simona Halep (ROU) 21
Sara Errani (ITA) 20

Marion Bartoli (FRA) 19
Sabine Lisicki (GER) 19
Nadia Petrova (RUS) 19
Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 18
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 17
Alize Cornet (FRA) 16
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 16
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 16
Sloane Stephens (USA) 16
Elina Svitolina (UKR) 16
Madison Keys (USA) 15
Barbora Strycova (CZE) 15
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 15
Julia Goerges (GER) 14
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 14
Kaia Kanepi (EST) 14
Andrea Petkovic (GER) 14
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 14
Caroline Garcia (FRA) 13
Shuai Peng (CHN) 13
Elena Vesnina (RUS) 12
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 10
Kiki Bertens (NED) 10
Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 10
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 10
Johanna Konta (GBR) 10
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 10
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 10
Jie Zheng (CHN) 10

Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 9
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 9
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 8
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 8
Daria Gavrilova (AUS) 8
Klara Koukalova (CZE) 8
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 8
Shahar Peer (ISR) 8
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 8
Kim Clijsters (BEL) 7
Elena Dementieva (RUS) 7
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 7
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 7
Dinara Safina (RUS) 7
Shuai Zhang (CHN) 7
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 6
Belinda Bencic (SUI) 6
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 6
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 6
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 5
Anett Kontaveit (EST) 5
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 5
Monica Niculescu (ROU) 5
Aravane Rezai (FRA) 5
Sybille Bammer (AUT) 4
Mona Barthel (GER) 4
Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 4
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 4
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 4
Tamira Paszek (AUT) 4
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 4
Patty Schnyder (SUI) 4
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 4
Agnes Szavay (HUN) 4
Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU) 3
Petra Cetkovska (CZE) 3
Lauren Davis (USA) 3
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 3
Justine Henin (BEL) 3
Ana Konjuh (CRO) 3
Elise Mertens (BEL) 3
Naomi Osaka (JPN) 3
Virginie Razzano (FRA) 3
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 3
Timea Babos (HUN) 2
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 2
Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 2
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 2
Jamie Hampton (USA) 2
Christina McHale (USA) 2
Monica Puig (PUR) 2
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 2
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) 2
Laura Siegemund (GER) 2
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 2
Iveta Benesova (CZE) 1
Misaki Doi (JPN) 1
Camila Giorgi (ITA) 1
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) 1
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 1
Kurumi Nara (JPN) 1
Romina Oprandi (ITA) 1
Laura Robson (GBR) 1
Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 1
Maria Sakkari (GRE) 1
Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 1
Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 1
Urszula Radwanska (POL) 1

Whew! Hopefully no transcription errors there. The next ten years the list will be much more exclusive, assuming they keep the slams at 16 seeds.

WTA Year End Rankings Notes

I went through the final WTA rankings this week in order to compile my 2016 year end Top 10 by birth year page (which you can now find at right) and had a few notes worth mentioning.

I'd also like to give a big shout out to Todd Spiker and his extensive post on the subject.  Find him @TheBackspinner on Twitter.

I believe this was the first I waited a whole year to compile the Birth Year Top 10 rankings so it resulted in some drastic differences in ranking but also serves a good comparison since we're comparing apples to apples when comes to contrasting the 2016 year end rankings with the 2015 year end rankings.  So I thought I'd post about.

Players born in 1987 (formerly led by Sharapova) have long dominated the tour as a group, at times boasting ten players in the top 40, but they fell off a cliff last year.  In addition to Sharapova's suspension, Petkovic, Safarova, Errani, and Ivanovic all suffered through injury or just flat out bad play.  So much so that the 1987 no. 1 is Yaroslava Shvedova (37) followed closely by Niculescu (38). Maybe they'll rebound next year but likely not, given that they'll all be turning 30.

Players born in 1992 were formerly a blemish among the younger set on the WTA, having been passed by many players a year or two younger, but they enjoyed a nice step up last year, led by the surge of Karolina Pliskova into the top 10.  Her twin Kristyna also drastically improved her ranking and there were also good stories from Golubic and Rogers, besides former 1992 no. 1 McHale getting back into the top 50 and improving her ranking by 20 spots.

Players born in 1997 seemed to have moved past those born in 1996 with the quintet of Kasatkina, Bencic, Ostapenko, Konjuh, and Osaka all ranked ahead of the 1996 no. 1 Siniakova, and there are just 4 players born in '96 in the top 100 (also Chirico, Dodin, and Vekic).

Catherine Bellis has been the 1999 no. 1 for a couple years but she now outranked everyone born in 1998 (led by #138 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)) and if she were 4 years older would behind only 2 players born in 1995 (Keys and Putintseva).

Here's a list of years where the top spot has changed hands (year end 2015 to year end 2016):
1982 - Lucic-Baroni replaces the retired Pennetta
1985 - Kuznetsova (at #9) replaces the slumping Jankovic
1986 - Wimbledon SFist Vesnina inches past Strycova
1987 - as mentioned, Shvedova has passed Sharapova among others
1997 - Kasatkina has taken advantage of Bencic's injuries
1998 - the leader is the aforementioned Sabalenka, and last year's no. 1 Fridman is longer in the top 10 of this year
2000 - young Canadian Bianca Andreescu is now the trend setter no. 300, taking over for American Claire Liu
2001 - this very young group is led by no. 723 Maja Chwalinska (POL)

And finally, since I know you were all dying to know, here's the current top 100 by birth year.

1980

17-Venus Williams (USA)

1981

2-Serena Williams (USA)

1982

81-Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

1983

18-Roberta Vinci (ITA)

1984

21-Samantha Stosur (AUS)

1985

9-Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

54-Jelena Jankovic (SRB)

1986

16-Elena Vesnina (RUS)

20-Barbora Strycova (CZE)

65-Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)

69-Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)

70-Pauline Parmentier (FRA)

84-Shuai Peng (CHN)

89-Varvara Lepchenko (USA)

1987

37-Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

38-Monica Niculescu (ROU)

49-Sara Errani (ITA)

55-Andrea Petkovic (GER)

62-Lucie Safarova (CZE)

63-Ana Ivanovic (SRB)

64-Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

1988

1-Angelique Kerber (GER)

12-Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)

30-Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)

31-Laura Siegemund (GER)

50-Johanna Larsson (SWE)

53-Julia Goerges (GER)

1989

3-Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)

5-Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)

13-Victoria Azarenka (BLR)

15-Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)

23-Shuai Zhang (CHN)

57-Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)

58-Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)

77-Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR)

79-Vania King (USA)

86-Evgeniya Rodina (RUS)

92-Sabine Lisicki (GER)

1990

11-Petra Kvitova (CZE)

19-Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)

29-Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)

34-Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)

39-Alison Riske (USA)

41-Alize Cornet (FRA)

73-Madison Brengle (USA)

80-Sorana Cirstea (ROU)

82-Kristina Kucova (SVK)

90-Naomi Broady (GBR)

98-Irina Falconi (USA)

1991

4-Simona Halep (ROU)

10-Johanna Konta (GBR)

22-Kiki Bertens (NED)

27-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

36-Coco Vandeweghe (USA)

40-Misaki Doi (JPN)

78-Kurumi Nara (JPN)

83-Camila Giorgi (ITA)

1992

6-Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

45-Christina McHale (USA)

56-Viktorija Golubic (SUI)

59-Shelby Rogers (USA)

60-Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)

66-Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)

72-Qiang Wang (CHN)

76-Heather Watson (GBR)

95-Magda Linette (POL)

1993

7-Garbine Muguruza (ESP)

24-Caroline Garcia (FRA)

28-Timea Babos (HUN)

32-Monica Puig (PUR)

35-Sloane Stephens (USA)

42-Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)

61-Lauren Davis (USA)

88-Nicole Gibbs (USA)

91-Denisa Allertova (CZE)

99-Jana Cepelova (SVK)

1994

14-Elina Svitolina (UKR)

25-Daria Gavrilova (AUS)

46-Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)

51-Annika Beck (GER)

67-Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)

71-Danka Kovinic (MNE)

85-Saisai Zheng (CHN)

94-Nao Hibino (JPN)

96-Risa Ozaki (JPN)

1995

8-Madison Keys (USA)

33-Yuliya Putintseva (KAZ)

87-Carina Witthoeft (GER)

93-Irina Khromacheva (RUS)

97-Maria Sakkari (GRE)

1996

52-Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

68-Louisa Chirico (USA)

74-Oceane Dodin (FRA)

100-Donna Vekic (CRO)

1997

26-Daria Kasatkina (RUS)

43-Belinda Bencic (SUI)

44-Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)

47-Ana Konjuh (CRO)

48-Naomi Osaka (JPN)

1998

75-Catherine Bellis (USA)

WTA Top 10 by Birth Year

I created the 2015 year end ranking of WTA players by their birth year with top 10 for each year.  This year I didn't create intermediate list at 2-3 other times throughout the year so there's quite a bit of change between now and the last time I did the list - 2014 year end.  At right there is a link to the 2015 top 10 by birth year page as well as other year end lists.

There are 28 new players in the top 100 when compared to last year.  Players moving from outside of the '14 top 100 into the '15 top 50 were #36 Gavrilova, #44 van Uytvanck, #46 Pereira, and #48 Konta.  Players from the '14 top 50 that dropped out of the '15 top 100 were the injured Peng and Dellacqua.

There were a few years where the #1 player born in year X changed.  Former '86 #1 Peng missed almost the entire year with injury and was replaced by Strycova.  The miserable season by Bouchard dropped her from #1 to #5 among those born in '94 and Svitolina took over the top spot after a nice season.  In '96 Vekic surrendered her top spot to Siniakova by one ranking spot.

Speaking of '96, a slump by Vekic after a promising start to her career leaves '96 lacking when compared to '95 and '97.  Both those years have 4 top 100 players (Keys, Witthoeft, Putintseva, Kontaveit & Bencic, Kasatkina, Konjuh, Ostapenko).

'87 continues to be a banner for women's tennis but with their aging they've been brought back to field a bit and the depth in the top 50 is not what is once was.  However, they still have 5 top 25 players: Sharapova, Safarova, Ivanovic, Errani, and Petkovic.  '92 continues to lag behind with just 5 top 100 players but we'll see if that depth improves behind Pliskova, Watson, McHale, Arruabarrena, and Linette.

I'll let you look through the page for more observations.  Way down the list apparently Patty Schnyder has come out of retirement and is ranked #746. 

2015 Aussie Open: Early Rounds

This is a little late in getting out there since the 3rd round is underway, but I wanted to post some of the stats on seeded players as well as recap the Americans play, which has been very good.

An unbelievable number of seeded players (30 in all) have already crashed out of the '15 Aussie Open after 2 rounds, which is an historic number.  I've been tracking this data since '09.  The average of seeds out in the first 2 rounds (over those 6 years) is 10 men and 12 women.  This year 16 men and 14 women have been eliminated.  The 14 women isn't unprecedented as in the last 6 years at least 14 seeds have been sent packing early 5 times, with the most being '13 Wimbledon, the tournament won by Bartoli over Lisicki.  But 16 men losing this early is ridiculous.  The most previously (in the last 6 years) was 14, at that same Wimbledon.  The 10 seeded men who lost in round 2 also shatters (my) record, with 7 happening on a few occasions.  And the 11 seeded women who lost in round 1 (they recovered nicely with only 3 seeds losing in round 2), that's the most on my charts, although Todd Spiker has data back farther and said it happened at '02 French Open and '04 Wimbledon.  So anyway, it could be an interesting remainder of the tournament, although save Ivanovic and Wozniacki, the big names have survived and we are yet to be guaranteed an unseeded quarterfinalist in either draw.

Here is the lengthy list of eliminated seeds:

Men
11-Gulbis, R1 l. to w-Kokkinakis
13-Bautista Agut, R2 l. to Muller
15-Robredo, R1 ret. vs Roger-Vasselin
16-Fognini, R1 l. to Gonzalez
17-Monfils, R2 l. to Janowicz
20-Goffin, R2 l. to Baghdatis
21-Dolgopolov, R1 l. to Lorenzi
22-Kohlschreiber, R2 l. to Tomic
23-Karlovic, R2 l. to Kyrgios
25-Benneteau, R1 l. to Becker
26-L.Mayer, R2 l. to Troicki
27-Cuevas, R1 l. to q-Bachinger
28-Rosol, R2 l. to Sela
29-Chardy, R2 l. to Seppi
30-Giraldo, R2 l. to Johnson
32-Klizan, R2 ret. vs Sousa

Women
5-Ivanovic, R1 l. to q-Hradecka
8-Wozniacki, R2 l. to Azarenka
9-Kerber, R1 l. to Begu
12-Pennetta, R1 l. to Giorgi
13-Petkovic, R1 l. to Brengle
15-Jankovic, R1 l. to Bacsinszky
16-Safarova, R1 l. to Shvedova
17-Suarez Navarro, R1 l. to Witthoeft
20-Stosur, R2 l. to Vandeweghe
23-Pavlyuchenkova, R1 l. to Wickmayer
27-Kuznetsova, R1 l. to Garcia
28-Lisicki, R1 l. to Mladenovic
29-Dellacqua, R2 l. to Keys
32-Bencic, R1 l. to Goerges

It's also been a fine tournament for the Americans, who have turned their fine draws into a number of 3rd round appearances also with a few upsets

Men (6-5)
19-Isner, def. q-Wang & Haider-Maurer
Johnson, def. q-Edmund & 30-Giraldo

Young, def. q-Puetz, l. to 8-Raonic
q-Smyczek, def. w-Saville, l. to 3-Nadal

w-Kudla, l. to 12-Lopez
Querrey, l. to Pospisil
q-Russell, l. to 20-Goffin

Women (19-10)
1-Serena, def. van Uytvanck & Zvonareva
Keys, def. Tsurenko & 29-Dellacqua
Vandeweghe, def. Schiavone & 20-Stosur
Brengle, def. 13-Petkovic & Falconi
18-Venus, def. Torro-Flor & Davis
30-Lepchenko, def. Diatchenko & Tomljanovic
Mattek-Sands, def. w-Duan & Mladenovic

Gibbs, def. w-Rogowska, l. to 26-Svitolina
q-Tatishvili, def. Date-Krumm, l. to Bacsinszky
w-Falconi, def. Kanepi, l. to Brengle
Davis, def. Krunic, l. to 18-Venus
McHale, def. q-Foretz, l. to Witthoeft

Stephens, l. to Azarenka
Townsend, l. to 8-Wozniacki
Rogers, l. to Tomljanovic
Riske, l. to w-Dodin
Min, l. to 14-Errani

'14 quarterfinalists still in the draw: Wawrinka, Nadal, Federer, Berdych, Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, Dimitrov, Cibulkova, Radwanska, Bouchard, Halep, Azarenka
'14 quarterfinalists eliminated: Ivanovic, Pennetta, (Li)

Former champions still in the draw: All 7 of them (Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Wawrinka, Serena, Sharapova, Azarenka)

Former junior champions still in the draw: Baghdatis, Tomic, Kyrgios, Zahlavova Strycova, Azarenka, Ka.Pliskova
Former junior champions eliminated: Monfils (R2 l. to Janowicz), Young, Bhambri (R1 l. to Murray), Vesely (R1 l. to Troicki), Saville (R1 l. to Smyczek), Lucic-Baroni (R1 l. to Smitkova), Jankovic, Pavlyuchenkova, Mestach (R1 l. to Makarova), Townsend, Konjuh (R1 l. to Rybarikova)

And I think that does it for now.

WTA Top 10 By Birth Year Updated for 2014 Year End

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated with the 2014 year end rankings data (from November 24, 2014).  There was the usual amount of turnover in the top 100 since the week after Wimbledon, with 15 players entering or exiting the top 100.  There wasn't much movement in and out of the top 100 by older players but, somewhat surprisingly, it was '89 through '91 that surrendered top 100 spots to players born in the mid-'90s.  1987 continues to be a banner year for tennis and was headlined by the strong years of Sharapova, Ivanovic, Petkovic, and Safarova.  1990 has cooled off some.  It is still led by Kvitova and Wozniacki but the players behind them have seemingly plateaued.  Check out the Top 10 by Birth Year page for some more analysis.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 1
1982 - 3
1983 - 4
1984 - 2
1985 - 5
1986 - 6
1987 - 12
1988 - 7
1989 - 9
1990 - 10
1991 - 8
1992 - 6
1993 - 11
1994 - 8
1995 - 1
1996 - 2
1997 - 2

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 15 players that entered or left the top 100 since the week after Wimbledon.

Entering Top 100
60-Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)
67-Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
71-Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS)
72-Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)
73-Shelby Rogers (USA)
84-Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
85-Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)
87-Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)
91-Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)
92-Ana Konjuh (CRO)
94-Madison Brengle (USA)
95-Nicole Gibbs (USA)
97-Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)
99-Saisai Zheng (CHN)
100-An-Sophie Mestach (BEL)

Leaving Top 100
Na Li (CHN)
Vania King (USA)
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)
Misaki Doi (JPN)
Alison van Uytvanck (BEL)
Sharon Fichman (CAN)
Shahar Peer (ISR)
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
Johanna Konta (GBR)
Victoria Duval (USA)
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)
Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)
Paula Ormaechea (ARG)
Alexandra Cadantu (ROU)
Julia Glushko (ISR)

-Lucic-Baroni and Mladenovic had left the top 100 the last time I ran the rankings but now they are back in
-Doi, Duval, Kleybanova, Konta, and Kr.Pliskova all entered the last time but now have fallen out again

Quarterfinalist Leaders

I promised some statistics related posts a few days ago so here's some stats based on the quarterfinalists at ATP and WTA tour events from 2013 and 2014.  I like to view the number of quarterfinals reached as a measure of consistency and it also highlights some lower ranked players who seem to excel at small events but can't do much at Masters and majors.

Men's Leaders
David Ferrer (ESP) 34
Tomas Berdych (CZE) 28
Rafael Nadal (ESP) 26
Novak Djokovic (SRB) 25
Roger Federer (SUI) 25
Andy Murray (GBR) 24
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 20
Milos Raonic (CAN) 19
Fabio Fognini (ITA) 18
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 17
Richard Gasquet (FRA) 17
Tommy Haas (GER) 16
John Isner (USA) 16
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 15
Kevin Anderson (RSA) 15
Marin Cilic (CRO) 15
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 15
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 15
Kei Nishikori (JPN) 15
Gilles Simon (FRA) 15
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 15

Women's Leaders
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 26
Serena Williams (USA) 23
Sara Errani (ITA) 21
Angelique Kerber (GER) 21
Petra Kvitova (CZE) 21
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 20
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 17
Na Li (CHN) 17
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 17
Simona Halep (ROU) 16
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 16
Maria Sharapova (RUS) 16
Roberta Vinci (ITA) 14
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 13
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 13
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 12
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 12
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 12
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 12
Lucie Safarova (CZE) 12

Best Countries (ATP/WTA)
Spain 222
France 147
United States 144
Germany 130
Czech Republic 119
Russia 107
Italy 106
Serbia 78
Switzerland 63
Argentina 58
Romania 54
Croatia 47
Poland 47
Slovakia 46
Australia 45
Canada 45
China 39
Japan 34
United Kingdom 29
Ukraine 27

-I like to look at those numbers as a measure of a country's overall depth.  Not surprising to see Spain at the top.  This is a measure over the past 2 years.

Number of Different Players to Reach a Tour Quarterfinal (2014 only)
United States 26
Spain 22
Germany 20
France 18
Russia 15
Czech Republic 14
Italy 10
Argentina 9
Croatia 9
Australia 8
Romania 8
China 7
Serbia 7
Slovakia 7
Japan 6
Switzerland 6
Poland 5

Highest Ranked Country with a single player (2014 only): Latvia (Gulbis) 11

Countries with 1 QF appearance in 2013/14
Dominican Republic (Estrella Burgos)
Georgia (Tatishvili)
India (Bhambri)
South Korea (Jang)
Sweden (Larsson)
Turkey (Buyukakcay)

Slam Summaries

I have updated the men's and women's slam summaries with the 2014 information.  I'll get to the countries later this week.

**UPDATE** - The countries information is now available.

The Last Six Years of Seeded Players

I went back and looked at the past 6 years worth of majors ('09-'14) and compiled a list of how many times each player was seeded and played.  Only eight players were seeded and played all 24 majors.  Injury is about the only way a top player will miss one and I was surprised how much the 10-25ish players have ebbed and flowed and how many decent players experienced a downturn (perhaps due to injury) that dropped them out of the top 32 for a period of time.

So here are the eight:
Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Roger Federer (SUI)
David Ferrer (ESP)
Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)

And here is everyone else with at least 4 years worth of seeded appearances:

Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 23
Andy Murray (GBR) 23
Samantha Stosur (AUS) 23

Na Li (CHN) 22
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 22
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 22

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 21
Marin Cilic (CRO) 21
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 21
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 21
Maria Sharapova (RUS) 21
Serena Williams (USA) 21

Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 20
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 20
Rafael Nadal (ESP) 20

Marion Bartoli (FRA) 19
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 19
Nadia Petrova (RUS) 19
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 19

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 18
Gilles Simon (FRA) 18

Richard Gasquet (FRA) 17
Petra Kvitova (CZE) 17
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 17
Lucie Safarova (CZE) 17

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 16
John Isner (USA) 16
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 16

I am surprised really at how few names are on this list, and there are certainly some mediocre players on here whose consistency must be commended.  If anyone wants the complete compilation I can scan it in and email it to you.

Also, here's a list of the players (one slam wonders if you will) seeded at just one major over the last 6 years, excluding those 9 players seeded for the first time at the most recent US Open:

Iveta Benesova (now Melzer) (CZE)
Alex Bogomolov Jr (USA - at the time)
Jamie Hampton (USA)
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Martin Klizan (SVK)
Michael Llodra (FRA)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
Romina Oprandi (SUI)
Urszula Radwanska (POL)
Laura Robson (GBR)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
Ai Sugiyama (JPN)
Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)

WTA Top 10 by Birth Year Updated

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated with the rankings data from Monday, July 7th, which is the week after Wimbledon.  There was a fair amount of turnover in the top 100 since the week after Miami, with 15 players entering or exiting the top 100.  The early '80s continue to decrease as each year between '81 and '85 had a player drop out of the top 100.  The younger years didn't add as many as usual with only '91, '95, and '97 (Bencic) adding one player each from those born in the '90s.  The big winner was '89 which added 3 players to the top 100, so now there are 4 years with double digit players ('87,'89-'91).  Check out the Top 10 by Birth Year page for some more analysis.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 1
1982 - 3
1983 - 4
1984 - 2
1985 - 5
1986 - 7
1987 - 12
1988 - 7
1989 - 10
1990 - 11
1991 - 10
1992 - 6
1993 - 9
1994 - 6
1995 - 2
1996 - 1
1997 - 1

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 15 players that entered or left the top 100 since the year end rankings.

Entering Top 100
56-Heather Watson (GBR)
63-Belinda Bencic (SUI)
64-Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)
71-Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
79-Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)
81-Misaki Doi (JPN)
85-Kiki Bertens (NED)
87-Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
89-Timea Babos (HUN)
90-Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
91-Johanna Konta (GBR)
92-Victoria Duval (USA)
94-Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)
98-Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)
99-Tereza Smitkova (CZE)

Leaving Top 100
Jamie Hampton (USA)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
Laura Robson (GBR)
Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)
Urszula Radwanska (POL)
Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)
Virginie Razzano (FRA)
Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)
Petra Martic (CRO)
Olga Govortsova (BLR)
Katarzyna Piter (POL)
Teliana Pereira (BRA)
Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)

-Doi and Bertens had left the top 100 the last time I ran the rankings but now they are back in
-Lucic-Baroni, Martic, Piter, and N.Kichenok all entered the last time but now have fallen out again

WTA Top 10 By Birth Year Updated

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated with the rankings data from this past Monday, March 31st, which is the week after Miami.  There really was not much change among the top 100 as usual as since the '13 year end rankings only 11 players have entered and exited the top 100.  '85 added 2 players at the expense of '86 while was some minor shuffling in the younger players.  '87 and '90 continue to lead with 11 and 12 players in the top 100, respectively, while '93 took a step back to 9 players.  Check out the Top 10 by Birth Year page for some more analysis, and I have archive the '13 year end results.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 2
1982 - 4
1983 - 5
1984 - 3
1985 - 6
1986 - 6
1987 - 11
1988 - 9
1989 - 7
1990 - 12
1991 - 9
1992 - 6
1993 - 9
1994 - 6
1995 - 1
1996 - 1

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 11 players that entered or left the top 100 since the year end rankings.

Entering Top 100
42-Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
51-Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
82-Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
83-Petra Cetkovska (CZE)
85-Alison van Utyvanck (BEL)
87-Sharon Fichman (CAN)
91-Zarina Diyas (KAZ)
94-Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)
95-Petra Martic (CRO)
97-Katarzyna Piter (POL)
100-Nadiya Kichenok (UKR)

Leaving Top 100
Marion Bartoli (FRA) - retired
Ayumi Morita (JPN)
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)
Romina Oprandi (SUI)
Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Kiki Bertens (NED)
Timea Babos (HUN)
Luksika Kumkhum (THA)
Misaki Doi (JPN)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)

-Pironkova had left the top 100 the last time I ran the rankings but now she is back in
-Babos and Kumkhum entered the last time but now have fallen out again

Older Players and Retirement

It has seemed to me that we've had relatively few retirements over the past couple of years, which correlates nicely to the aging of the tour and/or lack of younger players.  This topic has been discussed at some message boards I frequent, but I went back looked at seeds for the '09 Aussie Open (5 years ago) to how many of those players have hung up the racquet.  One may theorize that in 5 years half of those players should have retired, give that 10 years is a rough amount of time a given player is playing tour-level events.

So first off, here is the list:
-Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Tsonga, Simon, Roddick, Del Potro
-Blake, Nalbandian, Ferrer, Monfils, Gonzalez, Verdasco, Wawrinka, Soderling
-Almagro, Andreev, Cilic, Berdych, Robredo, Stepanek, Fish, Gasquet
-Karlovic, Safin, Lopez, Mathieu, Tursunov, Schuettler, Melzer, Kohlschreiber

Of these players:
-23 (72%) are still playing on tour
-7 (22%) are retired: Roddick, Blake, Nalbandian, Gonzalez, Andreev, Safin, Schuettler
-2 (6%) are struggling with health issues and likely won't play again: Soderling, Fish

Of the men still on tour, 20 of 23 were seeds at the Aussie Open this year (or would have been had they been healthy).  The three unseeded were Stepanek, Karlovic, and Mathieu.  That number was surprising to me.

I would have expected more than 9 players to be retired/out of tennis 5 years later.  By my count, 17 of those 32 men are now over 30, so only half those over 30 have retired.  But most of the ones that are playing are still doing so at a high level.  So I guess my point is players are playing longer (though I admit I haven't compared this data to 2004 to 2009 for instance - a subject for another past perhaps) and that is helping to prevent younger players from coming up.  Also one incentive I haven't heard mentioned much is the money (which it always comes down to anyway).  With the growth of prize money, especially for first round slam losers, a players who wanders around the top 100 will collect a 6-figure paycheck for the 4 slams alone not to mention the smaller tournaments and sponsorships etc.  I don't know what coaches and physios and travel of course all add up to costing but I would venture it's easier for say the no. 80 ranked player to make a living at tennis now than even 5 years ago.

For comparison, 9 of the 32 women's '09 AO seeds are now retired plus Safina.  But only 14 of the 22 remaining players was seeded at this past AO.  So similar retirement results but the remaning women have not been nearly as consistent as the men.

Here are the women's '09 AO seeds:
-Jankovic, Serena, Safina, Dementieva, Ivanovic, Venus, Zvonareva, Kuznetsova
-Radwanska, Petrova, Wozniacki, Pennetta, Azarenka, Schnyder, Cornet, Bartoli
-Chakvetadze, Cibulkova, Hantuchova, Mauresmo, Medina Garrigues, Zheng, Szavay, Bammer
-Kanepi, Sugiyama, Kirilenko, Schiavone, Kleybanova, Wozniak, A.Bondarenko, Tanasugarn

2014 Mini-Preview

Here is a brief preview of the 2014 season as well as some of my plans for this year.

Top of the Men's Game

I expect Djokovic and Nadal to continue to battle it out on the game's biggest stages, with Murray perhaps getting his shot a time or two.  I don't know that Nadal will be same monster he was in 2013 but he is certainly a favorite to win every event he enters after his tremendous year on hard courts.  Djokovic rose back up against him toward the end of the year and these two should battle it out for world no. 1 throughout the year.

Murray, now a winner of 2 majors, will contend at times and perhaps win a major but I don't think he'll have the consistency of the other two.  Del Potro and Federer will play more of a spoiler's role and while I think it is possible that one of them could win a major, I think it is unlikely.  Federer should have a better year than last, especially against players ranked below, but I imagine he will continue to struggle against those ranked above him.

It is hard to see anyone else break through with the top of the game the way it is.  I believe Ferrer will take a step back this and possibly fall out of the top 5 as he ages.  Wawrinka, Tsonga, and Berdych may remain top 10 players but it's hard to see any of them taking the next step.  And will we even see any new blood?  Raonic and Isner each reached a Masters final last year, and Janowicz has made steady improvement.  Fognini enjoyed a career year in 2013, but has he reached his ceiling?  As good as the top 4 or 5 are compared to the rest of the tour, there is another clear level occupied by the rest of the top 10 or so, and it is difficult to predict anyone new breaking through.

American Men

The state of the American men's game continues to spiral downward.  There is now only one American in the top 40.  Isner is what he is and while he can make an exciting run here and there, it is hard to see him reaching the World Tour Finals, winning a Masters, or making it past the quarters of a major.  While I'd love to be wrong, he can give anyone a tough match on any given day, but he can lose to almost anyone.

I expect a bounce back from Querrey, currently ranked no. 46, but how far up can he go?  He has been very inconsistent, especially after returning from injury.  There are a number of Americans in the 80 to 150 range including Smyczek, Russell, Young, Klahn, Harrison, Sock, Kudla, Ram, Williams, Kuznetsov, and Johnson.  This is a mix of young talent and journeymen.  I like the rise Smyczek has made over the past year but I'm not sure he can go up much further.  Williams and Johnson seem to have stalled.  Harrison needs new life.  It is good to see Young back in the top 100 but one always wonders where his mind is.  Sock and Kudla are on the rise and I would like to see them make strides this year.  Klahn has seemingly come from nowhere and I really don't know much about him.  There are a few in this group that have some potential, but nothing to be overly excited about, especially for a nation with tennis tradition that the US has.

Top of the Women's Game

Serena, Serena, Serena, and Azarenka.  Some have been talking about Serena winning The Grand Slam this year, and while that's possible I believe she'll trip up at a major or two.  Azarenka is the only player who has been able to challenge her much over the past year.  I would think those two would end up winning all the majors between them.  I'm not sure what else there is to say.

Sharapova has been good off and on over the past couple years, but she never beats Serena and rarely beats Azarenka off of clay.  Radwanska has been very good against the rest of the tour, but struggles against the other three.  Li and Kvitova both have the game to challenge the top tier but are very inconsistent.  Is anyone going to step up and reach major semis consistently and be a clear cut 3 through 6 ranked player.  That top 10-ish of the tour was pretty solid a year ago but over the past few months there has been little consistency behind Serena and Azarenka.

There were a few breakout players a year ago and one wonders if they can get into that top 10 and perhaps even challenge the top tier on occasion.  I think of Halep and all her titles, Stephens and her success at the Aussie Open and Wimbledon, and then some others lower down the rankings.  There appears to be some opportunity for a couple players if they can string to together consistent results for  a few months.

American Women

As bleak as the future looks for the US men, it is strong for the women.  Besides Serena at the top, there are 5 other Americans in the top 50, and 11 total in the top 100.  I mentioned Stephens above, Hampton and Keys both broke out last year, and there are a crop of youngsters behind them, not to mention veterans like King and Mattek-Sands hanging around.  The world may soon become familiar with names like Riske, Davis, Vandeweghe, Min, and Duval just to name a few.  And that's leaving out Lepchenko, McHale, Oudin, and the like who have already had some time in the spotlight.  Of the 24 Americans ranked in the top 200, 17 of them were born in the '90s.

Blog Future

The time I have for running this blog seems to be diminishing.  I am going to try and keep up my stats pages (slam summaries, tournament champs and quarterfinalists, and WTA birth year top 10) since I enjoy that a lot.  I will also keep doing my Davis and Fed Cup previews and recaps.  But my weekly tournament reporting will likely slip some or be briefer, still mulling that over.  We will see when the majors come around, what I'll be able to put up.  And I would like to do some comparisons with all the stats I've compiled, but I'm not sure when that will happen.

Quick Quarterfinalist Stats
-Of the 14 men who reached at least 9 ATP quarterfinals, 12 were ranked in the top 13.  The only missing top 13 member was Raonic (#11, reached 6 but the Rogers Cup final).  #16 Fognini and #19 Simon were the men renamed outside the top 13 that made at least 9 quarters.
-The lowest ranked man to reach 8 quarters was #31 Monfils.
-#42 Monaco had the lowest rank of those to reach 7 quarters.
-Of the 12 women who reached at least 8 WTA quarterfinals, all were ranked in the top 14.  Only Halep (#11, reached 7) and Bartoli (#13, reached 4 but retired in August) are in the top 14 and failed to reach 8 quarters.
-The lowest ranked player to reach 7 quarters was #29 Safarova.
-Beck had by far the lowest rank of those to reach 6 quarters at #58.
-50 different countries had at least one tour quarterfinalist.  Countries with only one quarterfinal reached were Georgia, Montenegro, South Korea, Thailand, and Tunisia.
-Spaniards reached 110 quarters, the French 84, the Americans 67, the Germans 65, the Russians 64, the Italians 60, and the Czechs 54.
-Spain also led with the number of different players to reach a tour quarterfinal with 24.  The USA was second with 21, France had 19, Russia 17, and Germany 16.

WTA Top 10 By Birth Year - 2013 Year End

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated with the rankings data from this Monday, December 2nd, which I am considering to be the 2013 year end rankings.  For as much as we've heard about the more graceful aging of veterans, this does not seem to be the case among the rank and file of the top 100.  There are now just 17 players born from '82 to '85 in the top 100, compared to 21 the week after Wimbledon.  '93 continues to be a break out year with 10 players born then in the top 100 now, but there are just 4 from '92 and only 1 from '95 (there were 5 and 2 after Wimbledon, respectively).  So it's kind of a mixed bag of results for the younger to "in their prime" players, and you can see more of this in the Top 10 by Birth Year page.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 2
1982 - 4
1983 - 5
1984 - 4
1985 - 4
1986 - 8
1987 - 11
1988 - 9
1989 - 8
1990 - 12
1991 - 8
1992 - 5
1993 - 10
1994 - 5
1995 - 1
1996 - 1

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 16 players that entered or left the top 100 since the week after Wimbledon.  This is a longer period than typical since I skipped running these stats after the US Open.

Entering Top 100
49-Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)
52-Shuai Zhang (CHN)
57-Alison Riske (USA)
76-Shahar Peer (ISR)
77-Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO)
81-Kurumi Nara (JPN)
83-Anna Schmiedlova (SVK)
85-Vania King (USA)
88-Timea Babos (HUN)
89-Luksika Kumkhum (THA)
91-Julia Glushko (ISR)
92-Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)
95-Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER)
97-Camila Giorgi (ITA)
98-Teliana Pereira (BRA)
99-Virginie Razzano (FRA)

Leaving Top 100
Nadia Petrova (RUS)
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)
Heather Watson (GBR)
Mallory Burdette (USA)
Olga Puchkova (RUS)
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)
Vesna Dolonc (SRB)
Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)
Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
Mandy Minella (LUX)
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)
Mariana Duque-Marino (COL)
Mathilde Johansson (FRA)
Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR)
Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)

-Larcher de Brito and Daniilidou had entered the top 100 the last I ran the stats and now are outside looking in
-The reverse is true for Giorgi
-It is good to see some more diversity with a Brazilian, a Thai, and two Israelis entering the top 100.

Slam Summaries Posted

I have posted the slam summaries for 2013 in the pages over on the right side of the blog and have moved 2012 summaries to the archive pages.  I now have 5 years of data related to the seeded players and also countries represented in slam quarterfinals.

Here's a few comments on this year's data:
-Novak Djokovic beat 14 seeds despite winning just 1 major and notching 24 overall wins.  This means he played only 10 unseeded players, the minimum possible is 8.
-Very quietly Mikhail Youzhny, Andreas Seppi, Ekaterina Makarova, and Carla Suarez Navarro had solid seasons at the majors.  Each reached double digit wins and Makarova notched 4 upsets en route.
-Sloane Stephens was 6 wins better than her seed, which is a huge number.  Tommy Robredo and Suarez Navarro were 4 wins better than their seeds, which is still excellent.
-The number of different men reaching the semis and quarters of majors was up, showing some cracking in the Big 4's dominance, though Murray and Nadal did each miss one major.
-The top five in WTA (Serena, Azarenka, Sharapova, Radwanska, and Li) were fairly consistent throughout the year.
-Three unseeded men reached a major quarterfinal, which is more than usual.  Four unseeded women did the same, which is fairly typical, but Svetlana Kuznetsova did it twice, which takes talent.

A few comments on the country data:

-Each year from 2009 to 2012, 22 different countries were represented in slam quarterfinals.  Then that number dipped all the way to 17 in 2013.
-29 different countries have been represented in slam quarters since 2009.  11 of them have made an appearance at least once in every calendar year:  Belarus, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.
-Chile, Japan, Romania, and Taiwan has appeared in slam quarters during only year during that span.
-Here's a list of the point leaders each year;
'09: Russia/United States - 22
'10: Spain - 18
'11: Serbia - 18
'12: Serbia/Spain - 15
'13: Spain - 22

WTA Top 10 By Birth Year Updated

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated with the rankings data after Wimbledon.  The early 80s have stopped surrendering top 100 spots to those born in the early 90s, but the 90s is seeing more parity with '90 and '91 losing spots to '92 and '93.  In the last compilation, 24 women in the top 100 were born in '90 or '91 compared to now only 18, while those born in '92 or later has increased from 16 to 23.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 2
1982 - 6
1983 - 3
1984 - 5
1985 - 7
1986 - 7
1987 - 12
1988 - 8
1989 - 8
1990 - 11
1991 - 7
1992 - 6
1993 - 8
1994 - 4
1995 - 2
1996 - 1

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 13 players that entered or left the top 100 since the week after Miami, which was the last time I ran these stats.  It is a little unusual to see so many higher ranked women in the list, usually it tops out around #70.

Entering Top 100
49-Monica Puig (PUR)
55-Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
56-Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
62-Andrea Petkovic (GER)
78-Paula Ormaechea (ARG)
80-Alexandra Cadantu (ROU)
81-Caroline Garcia (FRA)
91-Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)
94-Mariana Duque-Marino (COL)
96-Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)
98-Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR)
99-Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)
100-Flavia Pennetta (ITA)

Leaving Top 100
Tamira Paszek (AUT)
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)
Anna Tatishvili (GEO)
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)
Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
Arantxa Rus (NED)
Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Melanie Oudin (USA)
Petra Martic (CRO)
Petra Cetkovska (CZE)
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

WTA Birth Year Top 10 Updated

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated to the rankings after Miami, this post is a few days late.  The early 80s have been rapidly surrendering top 100 spots to those born in the early 90s.  There are 16 women in the top 100 born after 1991, while 40 women in the top 100 were born in the 90s.  Meanwhile, only 17 were born before 1985.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 2
1982 - 5
1983 - 3
1984 - 4
1985 - 7
1986 - 8
1987 - 12
1988 - 8
1989 - 8
1990 - 13
1991 - 11
1992 - 5
1993 - 5
1994 - 3
1995 - 2
1996 - 1

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 14 players, which is high number, that entered or left the top 100 since the year end 2012 rankings, which was the last time I ran these stats.

Entering Top 100
70-Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)
76-Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
77-Madison Keys (USA)
78-Olga Puchkova (RUS)
80-Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
83-Jana Cepelova (SVK)
88-Donna Vekic (CRO)
89-Elina Svitolina (UKR)
92-Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)
94-Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
95-Vesna Dolonc (SRB)
98-Karin Knapp (ITA)
99-Mallory Burdette (USA)
100-Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

Leaving Top 100
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) - injured
Timea Babos (HUN)
Vania King (USA)
Shahar Peer (ISR)
Nina Bratchikova (RUS)
Iveta Benesova (CZE)
Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)
Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)
Alexandra Panova (RUS)
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)
Alexandra Cadantu (ROU)
Melinda Czink (HUN)
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) - injured
Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)

WTA by Birth Year - Year End 2012

The WTA Top 10 by Birth Year page has been updated to the year end rankings of 2012.  I may do a comparison post between 2011 and 2012 year end rankings, but that is for another day.  It looks like the next generation of top 100 women may be upon us as 25 of the top 100 were born in '90 or '91 primarily at the expense of those born in the early to mid-80's.  There are only 28 women in the entire WTA rankings (1200 women strong) born in '81 or earlier.  This includes the Williams sisters, Schiavone, Date-Krumm, etc.

Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 2
1982 - 7
1983 - 4
1984 - 6
1985 - 8
1986 - 9
1987 - 11
1988 - 8
1989 - 7
1990 - 14
1991 - 11
1992 - 4
1993 - 4
1994 - 2

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 10 players that entered or left the top 100 since the week after the US Open, which was the last time I ran these stats.

Entering Top 100
54-Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
80-Annika Beck (GER)
84-Melanie Oudin (USA)
85-Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
87-Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)
92-Stephanie Voegele (SUI)
93-Lauren Davis (USA)
96-Misaki Doi (JPN)
98-Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)
99-Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP)
100-Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)

Leaving Top 100
Kim Clijsters (BEL) - retired
Andrea Petkovic (GER) - injured
Ksenia Pervak (KAZ)
Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
Anne Keothavong (GBR)
Sesil Karatancheva (GBR)
Stephanie Foretz-Gacon (FRA)
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)
Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
Olga Puchkova (RUS)

Slam Summaries Posted

This is coming much later than I would like it to but my 2012 slam summaries pages have been posted at right and the 2011 summaries have been added to the archive.

-David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Richard Gasquet, Sara Errani, and Maria Kirilenko were players who put together a better than expected campaign sort of under the radar.
-There were no unseeded men's quarterfinalists this year and only 4 women's.
-The men's tour was not quite as top heavy as last year, perhaps due to Nadal's injury.
-The women's tour was more top heavy than previous years, as the top 4 players became more consistent.
-Only Djokovic made all 4 semis, but 4 men (Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Ferrer) made all 4 quarters.  No woman accomplished the feat.
-41 men and 39 women were seeded at majors in 2012.  That means only 7 women seeded at the Aussie Open would drop out of the top 35-ish a slam time throughout the year.  I think that is pretty incredible.

I will update the countries summary page early next week.

The Older Women Are Slipping

There are now no women born in the 70s in the WTA Top 100, and of the number of women born in the 90s continues to increase while the number of those born in the early-80s continues to decrease.

I have updated my list of top 10 players per birth year, and you can find the link to that page at the right. 
Here is the breakdown of players in the WTA top 100 by birth year:

1980 - 2
1981 - 3
1982 - 7
1983 - 6
1984 - 6
1985 - 9
1986 - 8
1987 - 13
1988 - 8
1989 - 9
1990 - 13
1991 - 9
1992 - 3
1993 - 3
1994 - 1

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 10 players that entered or left the top 100 over the 2 months of play since the week after Wimbledon, which was the last time I ran these stats.

Entering Top 100
54-Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
75-Laura Robson (GBR) - first woman born in '94 to enter top 100
80-Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
86-Johanna Larsson (SWE)
88-Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
90-Sesil Karantancheva (KAZ)
91-Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino (ESP)
97-Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
98-Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
99-Olga Puchkova (RUS)

Leaving Top 100-sorted by age
Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)
Greta Arn (HUN)
Mirjana Lucic (CRO)
Elena Baltacha (GBR)
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)
Vera Dushevina (RUS)
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)
Michaella Krajicek (NED)
Irina Falconi (USA)

And if anyone knows somewhere that I can sort the ATP rankings by date of birth, I can do similar stats for the men.

Birth Year Top 10 Updated

I have updated my list of top 10 players per birth year, and you can find the link to that page at the right.  I have kept the 2011 year end ranking page for future comparisons but have overwritten my previous rankings which were done after Miami this year.  Here is the breakdown of players in top 100 by birth year:

1970 - 1
1979 - 1
1980 - 2
1981 - 3
1982 - 8
1983 - 7
1984 - 7
1985 - 8
1986 - 10
1987 - 13
1988 - 6
1989 - 8
1990 - 14
1991 - 8
1992 - 2
1993 - 2

I have a couple comments about those numbers on the Top 10 by Birth Year page, but feel free to draw your own conclusions and comment if you want.  Here are the 12 players that entered or left the top 100 over the 3 months of play since the week after Miami.
Entering Top 100
46-Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
55-Alize Cornet (FRA)
72-Kiki Bertens (NED)
79-Heather Watson (GBR)
80-Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)
88-Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)
89-Camila Giorgi (ITA)
91-Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)
92-Melinda Czink (HUN)
93-Bojana Jovanovski (SRB)
96-Mirjana Lucic (CRO)
98-Nina Bratchikova (RUS)
Leaving Top 100
Alberta Brianti (ITA)
Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)
Johanna Larsson (SWE)
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)
Anastasia Yakimova (BLR)
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
Edina Gallovits-Hall (ROU)
Stephanie Dubois (CAN)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Virginie Razzano (FRA)
And if anyone knows somewhere that I can sort the ATP rankings by date of birth, I can do similar stats for the men.