Thank goodness for Serena Williams!
Once again Serena demonstrated that she is unequivocally the top player in women’s tennis and the only elite singles player in the United States.
While there are a handful of juniors and a half-dozen women under the age of 24 who have shown promise, time will tell if they will become elite players. Mallory Burdette and Sloane Stephens showed that they may be more than one-hit wonders by reaching the round of 32. Time will tell.
This year 16 of the 128 women players were from the U.S. and four reached the round of 32.
Round of 128
The 16 U.S. women players had an embarrassingly weak first round – 5 wins and 11 losses.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams, Venus Williams.
• Losers -. Samantha Crawford, Victoria Duval, Julia Cohen, Melodie Oudin, Jamie Hampton, Nicole Gibbs, Coco Vandeweghe, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Christina McHale, Irina Falconi, and Vania King.
Round of 64
The women fared well in the second round – 4 wins and 1 loss.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, Sloane Stephens, and Serena Williams.
• Loser – Venus Williams.
Round of 32
With the exception of Serena Williams, the other American women lost (Stephens had a strong showing) – 1 win and 3 losses.
• Winners – Serena Williams.
• Losers – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, and Sloane Stephens.
Round of 16
Serena William remained on the winning track – 1 win and 0 loss.
Quarterfinals
Serena defeated Ivanovic handily – 1 win and 0 loss.
Semifinals
Serena blew out Errani – 1 win and 0 loss.
Finals
Serena wins in three sets against Azarenka – 1 win and 0 losses
At the Australian Open, the 10 American women won 9 matches and lost 10. (Serena won 3 matches)
At the French Open, the 12 American women won 15 matches and lost 12. (Serena won 0 matches)
At Wimbledon, the 10 American women won 14 matches and lost 9. (Serena won 7 matches)
At the U.S. Open, the 16 American women won 14 matches and lost 15. (Serena won 7 matches).
In the 2012 Grand Slams, the American women won 52 matches and lost 46. Serena Williams was 17-2. She won 17 of the 52 matches won by American women.
Given the track record of the USTA Player Development Program, hopefully, Serena can stay healthy for a long, long time.