The WTA season 2019 has been even more exciting than the ATP season. The 4 Slams were won by 4 different ladies and every major tournament saw its share of ruthless contests and surprising winners. We look back a the 4 female slam winners in the season 2019.
4. Australian Open- Naomi Osaka
The Japanese star started in Melbourne right from where she left in New York after winning her 1st slam. Osaka cruised through the draw before meeting Elina Svitolina in the quarter-final. The match was predicted to be a nail-biter but Osaka was at her best that day. She dispatched the Ukrainian in 2 sets and won the contest convincingly with the shoreline of 6-4 and 6-1.
Osaka faced Karolína Plíšková in the semis. The match went to 3 sets but Oasaka was in a sort of form that defeating her looked nearly impossible. Another final would come as she won the 3rd set. In the final Naomi met her hardest opponent in Petra Kvitova of Czech republic. Kvitova fought hard and took the 2nd set after losing the 1st but Osaka would come back strongly breaking in the 3rd set and taking the championship. This was her 2nd back to back slam success.
3. Roland Garros- Ash Barty
The 2019 French Open was a dream run for Australia’s Ashleigh Barty. The tennis player who turned cricketer before reverting back to tennis became the 1st Australian female since Margaret Court in 1973 to win a Roland Garros title. Barty defeated hard hitting Americans like Sofia Kenin and Danielle Collins in the 1st week before downing Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.
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Another American Amanda Anisimova faced Barty in the semis but was forced to bite the dust by the inform Australian. In the final Barty faced Czech teenager Markéta Vondroušová, who had defeated the defending Champion Simona Halep. In just over an hour, a straight set victory saw the Australian conquer the clay of Paris.
2. Wimbledon- Simona Halep
Simona Halep came to Wimbledon after having faced a shock defeat a month ago in Paris. The Romanian also was not so accomplished a grass court player. A tough draw with Victoria Azarenka and Coco Gauff did not deter Simona’s game and she ran into the 2nd week with plenty of confidence and good touch.
Halep faced an inform Elina Svitolina in the semis but was able to dominate the Ukrainian and race to her 1st Wimbledon final. A bigger test would await in the final in form of the 7 time Champion Serena Williams. Simona however looked commanding right from the word go and would defeat Serena in straight sets in a convincing fashion. She became the 1st Romanian ever to win the Wimbledon Championships.
1. US Open- Bianca Andreescu
The final Slam of the season brought the most surprising champion in the WTA calendar. Bianca Andreescu, a teenage sensation from Canada was able to lift her 1st Grand Slam at the age of 19. Andreescu has already shown her talent in 2018 and lifted 2 Masters titles of Indian Wells and Canadian Open but also had her struggle with injuries.
She had won a nail-biting semi-final against her Swiss rival Belinda Bencic but in the final faced the mighty aura of Serena Williams. The 6 time champion gave everything she had but had no answer to the clean hitting of Bianca. The Canadian raced in 2 sets with Serena providing a lot of resistance. Andreescu however wrote her name in history becoming the 1st Canadian Grand Slam winner.