The Swirling Winds Of Women’s Tennis Changes Fortunes Quickly

September 2, 2023,

It is here before you know it.

You can stall it. Be in denial. Have others look at you and not say what they want to say. What you need to hear. In the sports world?

It is time to retire.

Or step away, re-evaluate and make a comeback.

Maryna Zanevska is a Ukrainian-born Belgian former professional tennis player.

As of May 29, 2023, she was ranked 191 in the world and she has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62, achieved on May 23, 2022.

Maryna has won one WTA Tour singles title and one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. She has also reached four WTA Tour doubles finals.

Her overall career record is won 449, lost 271, with a 62.4 percent winning record.

Very impressive.

On August 8, 2023 she announced on Instagram she was “saying goodbye to tennis for now” due to back pain. Her final tournament was the 2023 US Open.

We watched her final match against the world number 2, in Aryna Sabalenka, and she quietly succumbed 3-6, 2-6, before tearfully saying goodbye to the New York crowd.

We will miss this wonderful star.

A super star will have to make a major comeback.

Simona Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player.

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She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks twelfth in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.

Simona was the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018. She has won two Grand Slam singles titles: the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Yet here was the latest news before the 2023 US Open.

The global news and information source dailymail.co.uk reported, “In what is tennis’ biggest drugs controversy since the Maria Sharapova saga, Halep has been provisionally suspended for almost a year, stemming back to October 2022, after she tested positive for banned blood-booster roxadustat at last year’s US Open.”

The Romanian star was dropped from the US Open entry list for the US Open Grand Slam tournament.

Brace yourself for this.

Her current ranking is number No. 1138 as of August 28, 2023.

At only 31 years of age, given her tenacity on the courts, we look forward to Simona making a strong comeback.

Like a swirling wind, women’s professional tennis is a world of quickly changing fortunes.

One year you are winning the US Open and just two years later, you re ranked number 186 in the world and spend a lot of time painting.

As she was standing on the victory celebration podium in September of 2021, who could have possibly seen that, in Emma Raducanu’s future?

The great news for Emma is that she is making buckets of green off the courts.

Online sources indicate she is set to make over 20 million dollars in endorsements.

So many are waiting for her to return to form on the tennis courts but when you are making all of that money, it make help you stay in your Zen moments and continue painting.

Her finals opponent in 2021, Leylah Fernandez, has fared better on the court, currently ranked at 88, as of July 31, 2023.

Having said that, both are a far cry from their massive success at the 2021 US Open.

The swirling winds indeed.

Leylah lost in the first round of the 2023 US Open.

The question is, will they ever make their way back to the top? An argument could be made, the more you spend time painting, the more your rankings are going to collapse.

Then there is one of our favorites in Sofia Kenin.

Sofia Kenin is an American professional tennis player who reached a career-high ranking by the WTA of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020.

The swirling winds.

Currently she is ranked number 188 as of July 17, 2023.

She was the 2020 WTA Player of the Year, an award she earned by winning the 2020 Australian Open and finishing runner-up at the 2020 French Open.

Sofia has won another four singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including the 2019 China Open at the Premier Mandatory-level with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Soon the decline began.

In 2021 at the Australian Open, Sofia was the defending champion and fourth seed. She defeated Australian wildcard player Maddison Inglis in the first round but was upset by the unseeded Kaia Kanepi in the second, in straight sets.

Here was the most devastating part.

Sofia’s loss was the earliest for a defending champion at the Australian Open since Jennifer Capriati lost in the first round in 2003. After the match, Ms. Kenin tearfully admitted that the pressure of defending her title was overwhelming.

But, Sofia is a fighter and even though she recently went through rehab for an injury, she is back once again at the 2023 US Open and won her first round match against Romania’s Ana Bogdan.

We hope she can push forward and have a great run in 2024. The sport really needs her.

We now close with the legendary Naomi Osaka.

Naomi has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles.

Naomi is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, with two Australian Open and two US Open titles. We remember all four with amazement.

Her seven titles on the WTA Tour also include two at the Premier Mandatory level.

At the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, Naomi won her first two major titles in back-to-back tournaments.

She was the first woman to win successive major singles titles since Serena Williams in 2015, and the first to win her first two in successive majors since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.

Then came her well-chronicled mental and emotional issues, that spilled out on to the court and her slide began.

As of June 19, 2023, Naomi is ranked number 429 in the world.

Our luminary decided to take 2023 off and enjoy being a mother and we wish her well. We feel certain, when she is ready to make a comeback, Naomi will soar once again.

If you have a favorite female tennis player that you love, what you hear in the background are those swirling winds. Life lesson?

Greatly enjoy watching her play today. Right now.