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/ Guy McCrea / 19 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Petra Kvitova is a rising star in the women's game
"Kvitova would be my current tip to win a maiden major title come the first week of June."
The women's game has lost many of its biggest names either to injury or retirement in recent times. Guy McCrea asks if we are finally about to witness a new group of women regularly contend at the Grand Slams...
It's been dubbed the "veteran's tour" and if you consider the recent Grand Slam singles champions on the WTA you can see why. Just two of the last 20 major winners were aged under 24 - Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, both back in 2008.
The WTA's season-ending top ten has seen some fresh faces in recent years led by current world number one Caroline Wozniacki, with Agnieszka Radwanska and Victoria Azarenka also involved. These three and other younger players have enjoyed excellent success at WTA events around the world.
But aside from Wozniacki's run to the 2009 US Open final, the participants in Grand Slam showpieces have largely been players aged over 24.
Of course, this has mainly been due to the dominance of the Williams sisters, plus the Belgian duo of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. Between them, this formidable quartet has won 13 of the past 17 Grand Slam singles titles. But there are increasing doubts over how long Serena and Venus will continue to stick around. Serena still hasn't played since winning Wimbledon last year and Venus hasn't since the US Open. Henin has retired again due to a serious elbow problem, while Clijsters also thinks this season will be her last full year on tour. She still plans to play in 2012 - the London Olympics are a target - but will pursue a reduced schedule.
Then there are continuing doubts over Sharapova and Ivanovic. Both are still just 23 years old, but Sharapova has only reached one quarter-final in eight Grand Slams since returning from shoulder surgery. I wonder whether she can ever really dominate players from the baseline as she did in the past. Note her Australian Open fourth round exit to Germany's Andrea Petkovic.
Ivanovic looked like she was getting back to her best late last season. But then Heinz Gunthardt decided he couldn't commit to a full-time coaching role. What followed was a disappointing opening round defeat in Melbourne and a failed trial coaching period with Antonio Van Grichen. The Serb remains talented enough to contend this year. But currently without a coach and short on victories, you wouldn't bet a great deal on it.
So who are the women to take advantage of this at the majors? Wozniacki (currently [11.0] on Betfair to win the French Open) is the obvious choice. Now back at number one after Kim Clijsters took the top spot for one week, the Dane will again have to field questions as to whether she deserves to be at the summit without having won a Grand Slam singles title.
Wozniacki was close to ending her wait at the Australian Open, but couldn't convert a match point against China's Li Na in the semi-finals. The thing is, although she hasn't been to another major final since losing to Clijsters in New York in 2009, Wozniacki has hardly underperformed at the Slams. She has reached the second week every time since then, including two semi-finals. With doubts over so many of the other older names in the women's game, Wozniacki will surely win a maiden major soon - particularly if she can rekindle her form of the second half of 2010 where she combined trademark defensive strengths with a willingness to try and be more aggressive on her forehand.
Who else? Well, there's lefty Petra Kvitova. The 20-year-old has already recorded some excellent results at the Slams - most notably her run to last year's Wimbledon semi-finals. Kvitova also reached the Australian Open quarters in January. The Czech has improved hugely even since last summer. She is fitter thanks to intense off-season training in the Slovakian mountains and appears less prone to concentration lapses than in the past.
I asked Clijsters about Kvitova at last week's WTA Premier event in Paris and the Belgian is in little doubt that the Czech will become a regular fixture at the back end of the majors. She reached the fourth round at Roland Garros on her Grand Slam debut and with few standout contenders on clay in the women's game (especially since Henin's retirement) Kvitova would be my current tip to win a maiden major title come the first week of June.
Of the others, both Radwanska and Azarenka have been second week fixtures for a while now (Radwanska has four, and Azarenka three previous quarter final appearances) but I would still put Kvitova above them. I doubt Radwanska has the power to win a Slam, while does Azarenka have the mental toughness yet to survive seven matches at a major?
Nevertheless, you can't get away from the feeling that for this trio and the other emerging talents on the WTA, the next couple of years present a wonderful opportunity to regularly contend for the sport's major prizes.
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