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Daria
Kasatkina
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| Photo by Martin Sidorjak |
Kasatkina
already made a breakthrough in her career this year; breaking into the Top 30
of the rankings and being the youngest player in the Top 40. She also reached
the quarterfinals of Indian Wells after beating former Top 10 player Timea
Bacsinszky. As a 19 year-old, Kasatkina managed to reach the quarterfinals of
the Olympics, losing to Madison Keys. Kasatkina, along with Potapova, are
tipped as the future of Russian Women’s Tennis, and future World No.1s.
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Yulia
Putintseva
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| Photo by Reuters |
Putintseva
often roars everyone with her loud celebrations and on-court attitude, and she
has achieved some great results this year. She reached the quarterfinals of the
French Open, before losing to World No.1 Serena Williams despite being up by a
set and a break. Seen as a future Grand Slam winner, Putintseva is one to watch
in 2017.
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Jelena
Ostapenko
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| Photo by WTA |
Ostapenko
had some great runs this year; beating Kuznetsova and Kvitova on the way to her
1st Premier 5 final in Doha, which pulled her up in the rankings
from the 80s to the 40s. Her highest ranking was 34th in the world,
and she was seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career at the
French Open this year. Her mixed emotions and her on-court attitude often makes
people want to watch her matches, and she has great potential to become a
future Top 10 player.
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Naomi
Osaka
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| Photo by Getty Images |
Osaka
reached the third round of every Grand Slam this year, except Wimbledon where
she did not play. She had a chance to reach the fourth round of the US Open,
but let a 5-1 lead in the final set evaporate against Madison Keys. She also
reached her 1st WTA Final of any kind at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open,
her home event, as a wildcard, defeating eventual WTA Finals champion Dominika
Cibulkova along the way. Osaka also won the 2015 WTA Finals Rising Star Invitational
Tournament where she defeated Caroline Garcia in the final. Named the newcomer
of the year by WTA, Osaka is one of the few players tipped to be a future World No.1.
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Ana
Konjuh
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| Photo by AP |
Konjuh
reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, defeating 4th seed
Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round. She also won her 1st
WTA title in 2015 at the Nottingham Open. Tipped for a great future, Konjuh has
relatively very little points to defend in the first half of the year, and she
would be looking to rise in the rankings.
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Catherine
Bellis
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| Photo by Getty Images |
Bellis won
her 1st WTA Title of any kind at the Hawaiian Open, a WTA 125k
event. The win allowed her to break into the Top 75 in the rankings. Bellis is
the youngest player in the Top 100 at the moment, and she is tipped for a great
future having decided to play professionally and full-time on the tour after
reaching the third round of the US Open, losing to eventual champion and World
No.1 Angelique Kerber. Bellis would be the favourite to rise in the rankings
next year as she would be playing on the tour full time, an opportunity to get
more points. Bellis is also tipped as one of the future World No.1s.