 Welcome back to Tennis Talk, my name's Cam Williams and this time last year I actually made predictions for the rankings, the top 10 rankings for the women on the WTA and I wanted to have a look at them and see together if I got any of them right how close my predictions were I know I definitely got some really really wrong ones But let's go have a look at who I predicted for the top 10 for 2021 by the end of this season So let's get on with the predictions I think the number 10 in the world for the end of the 2021 season is gonna be Alina Svetolina, so I think she stays in the top 10 in 2021 But I think she will drop down five spots because she's currently ranked five in the world So I think she's gonna drop she does have the semi-finals of Indian Wells 2019 protected So she because remember that events being cancelled or being postponed She does have some points she can gain in Madrid and Miami, which are huge events on the WTA But the problem is with Svetolina She has to defend semi-finals of Wimbledon semi-finals of the US Open and the WTA Finals final that she made in 2019 all of those events. She had good results in 2019 So she has to defend a lot of points from about June or July onwards. So Svetolina at number 10 That's not the worst prediction. I did predict she was gonna drop down from five to 10 She actually dropped down to 15 because she failed to make the WTA finals And she lost a lot of points there from making the final there two years ago Also didn't do great at the slams I only made a quarter final the US Open at the end of the season didn't get the big points that she needed and also The events that she had to play well at and recover the points. She didn't so lost a lot of points there in the middle of the season Kind of regain them at the end and then of course drop the WTA finals So dropped out of the top 10, but I'm pretty happy with that prediction Okay going on to the number nine player by the end of 2021 I think it's gonna be Bianca on Drescu. So she didn't play at all in 2020 We haven't seen her play since she got that knee injury back at the end of the year in 2019 at the WTA finals She's lucky because she can keep the points that she got from Indian Wells in 2019 So she's protected with those and she does have some points She can gain at the Australian Open in Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros and Wimbledon because she didn't do very well At some of those events and others she didn't even play. Okay. So not the best prediction in the world She actually dropped out to 46 in the world didn't do what I thought that she would do didn't get to those You know those heights of making a good run at Wimbledon. She lost in the first round there I lost early at the Australian Open. She'd make the fourth round of the u.s Open but that was not nearly enough to cover the points that she'd won two years ago So not my best prediction was injured throughout as well got to the Miami final at the start of the year was very promising Um, also didn't perform great at win the in wells, which she lost a lot of points at So lost a lot of points at the tournaments that she'd won two years ago And of course didn't gain any points at the tournaments that she'd uh play poorly at in the past So not a great year for rondrescu. Okay, let's get to the number eight Person in the world the number eight spot by the end of the 2021 season will be so i've gone with mugger ruther Who is currently ranked 15 in the world? I think she is gonna go up seven spots and reach the top 10 again She was a former world number one. Of course. She's a couple of grand slams titles under her belt She has the 2020 australian open final protected points So that's why i'm picking her to really make a rise because she has those points already protected And she has a lot of points that she can gain in tournaments like miami madrid wimbledon Cincinnati canada wuhan and the china open, which she didn't do too well in 2019 slash 2020 So not a bad prediction there mugger ruther back in the top 10. She got back in the top 10 She actually finished number three in the world after winning the wta finals So i'm pretty happy with that one. I'll take that one as a win Only put her at number eight at the start of the year should have put her a lot higher She made the fourth round of the us open and the australian open So she had some really good results there. She also won like I said the wta finals and a bunch of other tournaments during the year Including a wta 1000 event in the middle east which was a huge huge points boost for her So she played well at the tournaments that I'd hope she played well at even though we didn't have the uh, You know, we didn't have the asian swing But she played very well and she went a lot higher than I predicted All right, so let's get straight into the number seven in the world by the end of the 2021 season I think it's going to be serena. I think she's going to get back into the top 10 She dropped out of the top 10 at the end of 2020 because sabalenca finished strong But I think she's coming back She's got the quarter finals of the 2019 australian open under her belt That's going to be protected and and she can also do better if she does You know win that tournament or get to a final and she also has points up for grabs at Roland Garros, miami, Cincinnati, rome and madrid So a lot of the clay court season if serena plays those tournaments She's got a lot of points she can gain to push her back into the top 10 The only downside is she has to defend points at Wimbledon from 2019 and also the us open from 2019 as well. Okay, so not my best prediction Uh, sort of like the on-drescue prediction Just didn't do the tournaments or didn't play well at the tournaments that she had to play well at And dropped down to 41 in the world. So I thought she'd get back in the top 10 She obviously went further. She went backwards Then my prediction, uh, but she didn't play well in the clay court season You know, she did well the french open She lost I think in the fourth round of the quarterfinals. Uh, she replicated Her, uh, quarterfinal at the Australian Open as well. So she did well there She did well at the start of the season, but it was the injury as soon as she got injured at Wimbledon She lost all her points from going from the final two years ago to losing the first round lost a lot of points Didn't play a lot any of the american season And uh, and the end of the season either so we didn't see her for six months She lost all those points as well unlucky for serena if she had played those events Would she have been in the top 10? Maybe maybe not. Maybe she would have been just outside Let's get to number six now. So number six might she might be a little bit of a surprise for you guys I put sabre lancre at number six and the reason I put her at number six is because she's coming off two titles to end 2020 she finished after the french open She won two titles back to back on hard court and she always finishes strong And she has so many points if she does make a very good run at one of the majors She has so many points she can make up She has points at the u.s. Open, Wimbledon, Miami, Madrid, australian open, china open, canada and roll on garros So they're the biggest tournaments in the world and she didn't do very well in those tournaments over the last two years So she can get a lot of points if she does well in those events And I think she is on the verge of a breakthrough. I think next year She's gonna finally Breakthrough at a grand slam. Okay. She went a lot better than I've actually predicted I said number six She actually finished a number two in the world and pushed towards number one in the world Towards that end of the season, especially when bardie stopped playing and I said she'd make a semi-final a final She actually made two semi-finals at Wimbledon and at the u.s. Open And she did well at the australian open as well at the start of the year So had a very good season did sabalinka one of the best players of the season up there with bardie Is one of the best of the season and I put her at number six Should have put her a lot higher. She played way better than I had predicted But I'm gonna count that as a win. Let's get to the number five now Number five again might be a little bit of a surprise to you guys So I've got ash bardie at number five now. She is currently the world number one So number five that is four spots lower than what she's currently ranked at Now the only reason I put her down there Even though she has the semi-final of the australian open from 2020 Protected because it's under the revised ranking. She has to defend So many events after the australian open. She has to defend the french open, of course She has to defend the wta finals at the end of the year. She has to defend the miami title So there's a lot of points just there the china open. She made the final there wuhan and since an adi She made good runs at those tournaments too. So she has a lot of points to defend Okay, that's probably my worst prediction The other you know the other ones that were pretty bad, you know on drescu and serena those ones were mainly because of injury I just didn't think bardie could do what she did this year and she was clearly the best player this year She finished as world number one one. Wimbledon had a great season Replicated what she did the australian open last year by making the quarterfinals So she saved a lot of points actually didn't play a lot of the tournaments I mentioned there and of course Didn't lost a lot of points from not playing the wta finals But it didn't matter because she played so well throughout the claycord season throughout the grasscord season And throughout the season itself Let's get to the number four player in the predictions and this one might be a little bit controversial Some people might not like this one, but I put it number four carolina paliskeva. Now a lot of people Put a lot of confidence in paliskeva and she lets you down every time She always lets me down when I put faith in her. So hopefully that she does not let me down The reason why I picked her to be number four in the world by the end of the 2021 season Is because she has a new coach sasha bayin who is the former coach of neomy osaka He was also a former hitting partner with serena. Williams So here's a great get as a coach for paliskeva and I think it might just lift it to the next level She also has protected points at the australian open from 2019 when she made the semi finals there So she doesn't have to worry about doing well in australia She can warm up there and then later in the year She has points that she can make up at madrid the french open the us open the china open And also doha. So there's a lot of points that she can take from those events So spot on I picked her at number four and she actually made it to number four Who would have guessed so pliskeva and I said, you know she had to do well the majors She made the final of wimbledon. That's really what solidified her spot at number four So she did have that little breakthrough had a very slow start to the year I remember there was a lot of comments about my prediction list saying that pliskeva is not going to make it in the top five She's going to drop down. So that's probably my best prediction and it's the one that's actually spot on So very happy with that. She had a great season. Let's get to the number three player by the end of the 2021 season I think the number three player is going to be Naomi Osaka. So currently Osaka is number three So I think she's going to stay in that spot She got the australian open title of 2019 protected and she had some really big tournaments that she didn't do well in Over the last two years wimbledon the french open miami and the wta final She has a lot of points up for grabs if she does well in those events Also, we can't count out the fact that the olympics are being played in her home country And no doubt she's going to play the olympics because she's the biggest star in japan Well, one of the biggest stars and you get ranking points for the olympics So don't count Osaka out at winning maybe a silver or gold medal at the olympics with a bunch of ranking points coming there as well Okay, so she definitely didn't stay in the top 10 She actually finished the number 13 in the world and the tournaments that I hope she'd do well at She did well at the australian open So I did you know kind of pick that one Of course a big error in in that was the ranking points for the olympics. There was no ranking points for the olympics They changed the rules just before the season started So no ranking points at the olympics didn't matter anyway She didn't do too well there and she played very badly at the tournaments that I'd hope she'd do well at And of course she didn't play for a long time as well. She pulled out for pretty much Only playing the olympics and the us open at the end of the year So didn't play that much throughout the season also didn't play wimbledon didn't play the wta finals She was on the verge of qualifying but just didn't play enough tennis and That's really what hurt her just kind of like serena like on dress You you know if you don't play throughout the year a lot of other players are going to take your spot Let's get to the number two player in the world by my predictions at the end of the 2021 season I think the number two in the world is going to be Sophia kenan so this is really based on the fact that she has the australian open title wrapped up already And under her belt she doesn't have to worry about defending her australian open title And she has a lot of points that she can make up because she hasn't been great over the last two seasons In a lot of big tournaments besides the australian open And the french open. There's a lot of points up for grabs. Okay, so definitely nowhere near number two in the world for For kenan. She just didn't back up that 2020 season was player of the year australian open champion finalist of the french open And that's where she lost the low points. Also. She pulled out of a lot of tournaments She didn't play for a long time between The shrine open and the french open and she didn't even play the us open or muck to the end of the season So a reset next year. Maybe she can get back in the top 10 But yeah, so fear kenan number two She definitely couldn't back up that season that she had in 2020 now the world number one Who's it going to be? There's not too many names left and I think the world number one by the end of the 2021 season is going to be It's going to be somona halib, but it's going to be a tight race Like I said, I think kenan might be able to get that number one ranking But i'm going to stick with halib. I think halib has more experience and that's the difference between halib and kenan somona halib in the australian open of 2020 made the semifinals So those points are protected and also she has some points to gain in some big events Including cincinati the china open and the wta finals now We know she has to defend the wimbledon title, which is a big title to defend It's going to be tough for her to defend the biggest title of her career arguably and also a couple of those other tournaments Rome she has to defend that as well Okay, so not quite the world number one that I thought I do still believe that halib on her day Is one of the best players in the world and can beat anybody on her day But of course the injury the injury of the calf that pulled her out of the french open She couldn't play wimbledon. She can play a lot of the season She came back at the very end of the season and did okay Winning a couple of matches getting to a final Of the transylvania open. So she did okay She regained some form towards the end played okay at the us open considering her ranking dropped a lot But unfortunately didn't get to world number one status like I thought she would It seems to be a lot of common theme I seem to have picked a lot of players I've predicted a lot of players that ended up getting injured and then dropping down Halib wouldn't being one of those Osaka kind of being injured By not playing a lot or withdrawing from a lot of tournaments cannon as well Of course on rescue Serena. We all know their injury worries So a lot of the players I picked all seem to get injured and I didn't give enough respect to players Like muga ruta sabaleca or barty. So it was a tough one. It's not easy to pick I did get the plush couple one though. So I'll claim that one for the entire year. I got one right So I'll go with that But let me know down the comments below if you did the predictions this time last year Who did you have in the top? I know a lot of you wanted to be on tech in there and she actually finished in the Top 10 at the end of the season. Maybe I should have picked her instead of Someone likes feralina, but again, let me know down the comments below. How many did you get right? You want to go check out my reaction to the men's top 10 predictions that I made this time last year? Go check out that video as well. I'll see you guys soon