WTA Surprise Performance of the Year #3: Kiki Bertens

Kiki Bertens had the year of her life, breaking into the Top 30 for the first time in her career and reaching her first ever Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros. She also managed to help the Netherlands Fed Cup team to reach the semifinals of the Fed Cup competition, only to lose against France narrowly.

Kiki Bertens at the French Open. Photo by Getty Images

Bertens helped Netherlands to upset powerhouses Russia in the Fed Cup 1^st round, and managed to upset both Ekaterina Makarova and Svetlana Kuznetsova in her matches. Although Russia did not field their strongest team for the tie, it was still a big upset considering Netherlands had no Top 100 players. 

The clay court season was when Bertens’ season started to change for the better, first starting with a semifinals appearance in Rabat. There, she lost to qualifier Marina Erakovic despite having a match point opportunity.

As a qualifier in Nurnberg, Bertens defeated No.1 seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets for her first ever Top 10 win in her career. She then went on to win the title as a qualifier, to win her 1^st WTA Title since 2012.

Bertens hits a backhand to Roberta Vinci in Nurnberg. Photo by Getty Images

Needing to reach the fourth round of Roland Garros to successfully qualify for the Rio Olympics as according to the criteria set by the Netherlands Tennis Federation, she faced an uphill task as she was handed a very tough draw, pitting her against Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the first round, and a potential meeting against former Top 30 player Camila Giorgi. To reach the fourth round, she also has to defeat potential opponent Daria Kasatkina in the third round. Bertens defied all the odds to create a massive upset by defeating Kerber in 3 sets and easing past Camila Giorgi. She then defeated Daria Kasatkina in a thriller match that went to 10-8 in the final set. Bertens’ dream run continued as she defeated a frustrated Madison Keys in the fourth round to set up a meeting against last year’s semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky in her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. She powered through Bacsinszky in straight sets to reach her 1^st Grand Slam semifinal, but lost to Serena Williams in a very tight match that ended 7-6, 6-4 in Williams’ favour. Bertens had set points in the first set, and was up a break in both sets, but a calf injury prevented her from keeping the dream run going.

Bertens after her upset over Bacsinszky in the quarterfinals of the Roland Garros. Photo by Getty Images

Bertens reached the third round at Wimbledon, but lost against eventual semifinalist Simona Halep. Nevertheless, this was her best performance at Wimbledon, and her first time being seeded in a Grand Slam tournament.

Bertens managed to reach her 2^nd WTA Final of the year, this time as the 3^rd seed, at the tournament in Gstaad. She once again upset Bacsisnzky, but now at a much closer scoreline at 7-5, 7-6 in the semifinals. However, she lost to underdog Viktorija Golubic in the final.

Bertens posing with her runner-up trophy and Golubic with her champion's trophy in Gstaad. Photo by Getty Images

After Gstaad, Bertens had her worst run of the year by losing 6 straight opening round matches at Bastad, Rio Olympics, Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open, and at Linz.

She rebounded well at Luxembourg where she reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Monica Niculescu. With this performance, Bertens secured her qualification for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.

At the WTA Elite Trophy, Bertens was drawn into the same group as Elina Svitolina and Elena Vesnina. Bertens had a great start to the tournament, winning the first set in her opening match against Svitolina but failed to keep up the momentum and lost in 3 sets. The match between her and Vesnina was a dead rubber as Svitolina successfully qualified for the semifinals, but nevertheless the match was still very well-played by both players. However, Vesnina was too good for her and defeated her in straight sets.

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Year-End Ranking in 2015: 104
Year-End Ranking in 2016: 22 

Finals Reached: 2 (Nurnberg, Gstaad)
Titles Won: 1 (Nurnberg)

Prize Money in 2015: $370,048 (Singles + Doubles)
Prize Money in 2016: $1,073,074 (Singles + Doubles)

Bertens finished in the Top 30 for the first time in her career, and had her first few Top 10 wins this year. She had earnings of more than $1 million this year (Singles and Doubles combined), and therefore this year can be considered her career-best season.