Depth is a word frequently used when describing the state of the women’s game.
It’s why eight of the last nine Grand Slam tournaments have been won by different players, and why the WTA No.1 ranking has changed hands as regularly as it has.
While nobody dominates, there is a solid pack of arguably 20 – or perhaps more – players, who, when playing well, have the capacity to win the game’s biggest titles.
Man, you shouldn’t need further proof of @WTA depth but if you do, just go pull up the draw @BNPPARIBASOPEN.
— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) March 5, 2019
Draw sheets and the rankings list demonstrates this depth; there are 20 former top-10 players currently inside the WTA’s top 100 this week, while there are just 13 top-100 ranked men who classify as former top-10 players.
At Indian Wells this week, former world No.1s Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams are unseeded. Their second-round opponents are Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova respectively.
NEWS: Venus wins, Kvitova next at Indian Wells
That such star power can popular both ends of the court in the second round is a testament to how thrilling this depth makes the early rounds of big tournaments in the women’s game.
Rank | Player | Career-high |
13 | Caroline Wozniacki | No.1 |
14 | Daria Kasatkina | No.10 |
15 | Julia Goerges | No.9 |
17 | Madison Keys | No.7 |
19 | Caroline Garcia | No.4 |
20 | Garbine Muguruza | No.1 |
22 | Jelena Ostapenko | No.5 |
23 | Belinda Bencic | No.7 |
24 | Carla Suarez Navarro | No.6 |
29 | Maria Sharapova | No.1 |
35 | Dominika Cibulkova | No.4 |
36 | Venus Williams | No.1 |
45 | Johanna Konta | No.4 |
48 | Victoria Azarenka | No.1 |
65 | Kristina Mladenovic | No.10 |
68 | Andrea Petkovic | No.9 |
73 | Eugenie Bouchard | No.5 |
77 | Ekaterina Makarova | No.8 |
78 | Samantha Stosur | No.4 |
80 | Vera Zvonareva | No.2 |
Rank | Player | Career-high |
11 | Marin Cilic | No.3 |
14 | Milos Raonic | No.3 |
19 | Gael Monfils | No.6 |
20 | Pablo Carreno Busta | No.10 |
21 | David Goffin | No.7 |
27 | Richard Gasquet | No.7 |
28 | Grigor Dimitrov | No.3 |
29 | Gilles Simon | No.6 |
30 | Lucas Pouille | No.10 |
36 | Fernando Verdasco | No.7 |
40 | Stan Wawrinka | No.3 |
79 | Ernests Gulbis | No.10 |
81 | Tomas Berdych | No.4 |
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