Next Woman Up: Examining a Post-Williams Era
The Williams sisters have been dominating tennis for the better part of two decades, but even the best careers must come to an end. Venus is in the midst of a career resurgence, but at the age of 37 she could retire at any time with her 23 total Grand Slam titles (and four gold medals!) and go down as an all-time great. Meanwhile, Serena is about to have her first child, but all signs point to her returning next season and picking up her dominance right where she left it. That dominance consists of 23 Grand Slam singles titles (39 total) for those of you scoring at home, but again, at nearly 36, it is time to start picturing an American tennis scene without the Williams sisters.
Maintaining dominance after losing a legend, let alone two, is a nearly impossible task. The American men still haven’t recovered from Andy Roddick’s retirement, failing to win a Grand Slam since Roddick’s 2003 US Open win. The last time an American woman won a Grand Slam that was not named Venus or Serena Williams was in 2002 when Jennifer Capriati won the Australian Open. However, all is not lost for the red, white, and blue. The absence of Serena over the course of the 2017 season has allowed for a number of young Americans to enter the spotlight for the first time, and there are many more waiting in the wings. These are just some of the many talented women who are well-equipped to carry the United States into the next era!
Star Potential
Madison Keys (Age: 22; World Ranking: 16)

Madison Keys is a star right now, and she won’t have to wait long to get her respect. She has already been ranked in the top ten (high of 7th), and has reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam, when she beat Venus Williams in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open. She lost to Serena Williams in straight sets in the semifinals of that tournament, but that was when Keys truly put her name on the map. Keys already has three WTA singles titles, and once Serena retires, expect that number to skyrocket.
Keys’ game is centered around power. Her serve is one of the best on the women’s side and she can drive the ball with her forehand. She also has improved her overall fitness and has developed a decent defensive game. Keys has the best overall game of any of the players on this list, and is most likely to reach world #1 first among these rising stars.
Unfortunately, a nagging left wrist injury has led to a less than ideal 2017 season for Keys, and prevented her from grabbing the spotlight. She missed the Australian Open, only reached the second round of the French Open and Wimbledon, and had a number of first round exits in smaller tournaments. However, she seems to be trending in the right direction after winning the Bank of the West Classic over fellow American Coco Vandeweghe. She also reached the round of 16 in the Western & Southern Classic in Cincinnati before losing a tough three-setter to world #3 Garbiñe Muguruza. She may not be healthy enough to truly be a threat at this year’s US Open, but don’t be surprised if she wins multiple Grand Slams in her career and is one of the premier American stars.
Coco Vandeweghe (Age: 25; World Ranking: 21)

Vandeweghe is the second oldest player on this list, but she is probably the biggest American threat, outside of Venus Williams, at this year’s US Open. This has been her best year to date, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and making the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Also, as previously mentioned, she lost in the final to Madison Keys a couple weeks ago at the Bank of the West Classic.
Vandeweghe’s biggest asset is her serve, which is one of the best on tour. She is a decent athlete, but the power to her game makes her a constant threat. Vandeweghe is also a solid doubles player. She is currently ranked 37th in the world and won the aforementioned Bank of the West Classic with American Abigail Spears. The 2016 season saw her capture her first WTA doubles title at Indian Wells, reach the quarterfinals in Australia and the semifinals at the US Open, and the finals of both those majors in mixed doubles as well. If Vandeweghe can continue to get results on the singles side, paired with her consistently strong doubles game, she can be one of the top American women for the next several years.
Catherine “CiCi” Bellis (Age: 18; World Ranking: 36)

If you want to get excited about an up and coming talent on the women’s tennis scene, I suggest you get on the CiCi Bellis hype train. She is one of a number of women on this list who have been the top ranked junior. Bellis has been pegged the next great American star for a number of reasons. She’s the second youngest player in the top 100, she has dominated the junior levels, but the one that stands out to me is the results she’s achieved at such a young age. Bellis became one of the youngest to ever win a match at the US Open, when she upset 12th seeded Dominika Cibulková at just 15 years old. She has also already reached the quarterfinals of a WTA Premier Five event in Dubai. However, her most impressive achievement to me is that she has already captured a WTA singles title…at the age of 17 no less! It may have been the Hawaii Open, but this is no small achievement.
Of the eleven women highlighted here, they have a total of 11 WTA singles titles between them (not much when compared to Serena’s 72 titles). Six of those eleven were won by two of the older players on this list. Vandeweghe has two and Sloane Stephens has four. As we previously mentioned, Keys has three and Bellis and Lauren Davis have the other two. Even more telling, only Keys won one before the age of 20. You know who else won their first WTA titles before the age of 20? That’s right, the Williams sisters. Bellis has the technical ability, but she still needs to get stronger and add more power to her game. Nevertheless, she is off to an impressive trajectory in her young career, and she has the highest ceiling of anyone on this list. No tennis player will ever be able to replicate the dominance of Serena Williams, but if anyone can be the next dominant American star it is Bellis.
Sloane Stephens (Age: 24; World Ranking: 84)

Don’t let the ranking fool you, Stephens is a legitimate major threat and should quickly rise up the rankings as she recovers from a serious foot injury. Stephens has finally returned and regained the form that once got her to 11th in the world. That season (2013), she made the semifinals in Australia, the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and the round of 16 at both the French and US Open. She has been red hot since her return from injury. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Stephens made it all the way to the semifinals before falling in the semifinals to Caroline Wozniacki.
The following tournament in Cincinnati, Stephens again made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to world #2 Simona Halep. To reach the semifinals, Stephens had to win two matches in one day due to a rain delay, defeating Ekaterina Makarova in three sets and then Julia Görges in straight sets. Stephens has always been one of the best athletes on the women’s side, and seeing her being able to win two matches on a short turnaround only a month back on tour is an encouraging sign. Stephens is well on her way to recovery, and like Vandeweghe and Keys, she is ready to become a major contender in the very near future.
Consistently Relevant
Lauren Davis (Age: 23; World Ranking: 34)

Davis’ ceiling is not as high as some of the other players on this list, but she does have one skill that many of these players lack…a good clay game. Clay courts play slowly, so having a strong offensive game or a powerful serve is less of an asset. A number of prominent Americans have struggled on clay, so that makes Davis a bit of a standout. Of her seven ITF tournament wins, three came on clay (the other four were hard courts), and this year, in her breakout season, she cruised to the quarterfinals of the Morocco Open before falling to top seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Davis may never win a Grand Slam, but her career is just beginning to take off, and she may just carve out her own niche in the American tennis scene.
Jennifer Brady (Age: 22; World Ranking: 91)

Brady is a player I expect to be consistent, yet unspectacular at the professional level. Brady went pro in 2015 after an illustrious two-year career at UCLA where she was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and an All-American in singles. She has yet to win a WTA title, but she does have four ITF singles titles already, and four doubles titles as well. Brady’s best surface is hard courts and her biggest success at a Grand Slam came earlier this year at the Australian Open when she reached the fourth round. She has yet to make the main draw at the US Open, but that should change this year and she could make a run in a pro-American environment. She may never win a Grand Slam, but expect Brady to be a consistent name for many years to come in international competitions.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (Age: 32; World Ranking: 100)

This is more a “recognition of achievement” for Mattek-Sands than a potential to become a star, but Mattek-Sands deserves her due! She is back in the top 100 in singles, but more importantly she was the top ranked women’s doubles player in the world before she suffered a gruesome knee injury going for a “Serena Slam” in doubles at Wimbledon. A dislocated kneecap and ruptured patellar tendon will sideline her for awhile, but don’t let that detract from her amazing accomplishments. Mattek-Sands has won 21 WTA doubles titles, five Grand Slams, two mixed doubles Grand Slams, and a gold medal in mixed doubles from the Rio Olympics. Doubles is often forgotten in the headlines, and also to the casual tennis fan unless a singles star or the Williams sisters are playing. It is unfortunate, but it is the reality. That is why Mattek-Sands deserves recognition for her career, and of course for her bomb fashion sense.
Taylor Townsend (Age: 21; World Ranking: 119)

Townsend is another player to have formerly been the top-ranked junior at the end of the season. However, of all the former number ones on this list, Townsend was the first American since 1982 to achieve that feat. Townsend has already reached six singles finals in her career, winning three. She has yet to make an impact at a Grand Slam, but she has reached at least the second round in three of her four appearances at the French Open.
Townsend is also a pretty accomplished doubles player so far in her career and is currently ranked 84th in the world. She has yet to reach a WTA singles final, but in 2013 she reached the final of the Citi Open in Washington D.C. with Eugenie Bouchard. Despite losing that final, Townsend has gone on to win 12 ITF doubles titles in her four years on the pro tour. Her best Grand Slam doubles result came last year at the US Open, when she and partner Asia Muhammed received a wild card and made it all the way to the quarterfinals. Townsend and Muhammed have teamed up on a number of occasions, going 7–1 in finals when teamed up. Townsend could threaten to win a Grand Slam due to the wide open nature of the women’s side (sans Serena), but she is most likely to make her mark on the doubles side.
Young Guns
Kayla Day (Age: 17; World Ranking: 126)

The last three players we are going to highlight have the potential to become stars, but it is too early in their careers to truly gauge their overall potential. Kayla Day has yet to officially turn pro (rules limit her from playing a full schedule until she is 18), but one would expect that announcement to come when she turns 18 at the end of September. Day, like Bellis and Townsend, is a former junior number one, which she attained after winning the 2016 Junior US Open and winning both the doubles and singles titles at the Pan American ITF Championship. She is currently ranked seventh in the junior rankings, but she has only played eight events this year, having played 19 tournaments on the pro level. Day made her WTA debut almost a year to the day at the Connecticut Open and then played her first Grand Slam at the US Open where she reached the second round at 16 years old after upsetting fellow American Madison Brengle.
Day’s lone singles title came late last season in Georgia on the ITF circuit, but she has enjoyed a rather successful 2017 season, especially on clay. In February, Day reached her third career ITF final before losing to Canadian Bianca Andreescu at Rancho Santa Fe. The following week, Day got her first wins at a major WTA event, when she reached the third round at Indian Wells. In the clay season, Day picked up ten wins over the six tournaments she participated in, including reaching the semifinals at Naples and Marseille. Day doesn’t quite have the upside of Bellis, but she will certainly continue to make her mark on the pro tour once she finally decides to go pro.
Amanda Anisimova (Age: 15; World Ranking: 183)

Anisimova is one of two players on this list born in 2000 or later. She rose all the way to number two in the junior girl’s ranking last June after becoming the first American female to reach the final of the Junior French Open in 15 years. Anisimova currently sits at 11th in the junior rankings, but like Day, has only played eight events this year, winning a tournament on the clay in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This has been Anisimova’s first year competing on the professional tour. For her age, it is hard to argue with the results. She has made four ITF finals this season. Her first came at Curitiba, where she won a total of six matches to reach the final. Anisimova was able to secure her first title in Sacramento at the end of July. She will turn 16 at the end of August, and as she gets older she will be able to play in more tournaments. It is still too early to project what she can become, but considering her accomplishments at her age, her stock is on the rise.
Claire Liu (Age: 17; World Ranking: 293)

Liu is the other player on this list born in the new millennium, and she is currently the #1 ranked junior tennis player in the world. Liu has yet to really announce herself on the professional stage, but the potential is there. On the junior level, Liu was the runner-up at this year’s Junior French Open-losing to compatriot Whitney Osuigwe. She did win the Wimbledon junior’s event in three sets over American Ann Li, ending the 25-year American junior girl’s drought at the event. She also won the juniors doubles championship in 2016 at Wimbledon with fellow rising American Usue Maitane Arconada. She is also likely to join the company of Townsend and Bellis by ending the junior’s season as the top ranked female. This would be the third time in six years an American has finished as the top ranked junior on the girl’s side after not doing so for 35 years. Like Lauren Davis, Liu has shown good skill on clay courts. Of her three ITF titles, all have come on clay, two of which she won in May of this year in Florida and Italy. Liu may be several years away from truly becoming a threat on the pro stage, but she is a name to watch for the future.
These three are not the only promising young players either. Arconada, Osuigwe, the Black sisters, Li, Taylor Johnson, and Sofia Kenin, present just a handful of the up and coming players on the American side!
Replacing two legends of the sport is an impossible task, and we will never see a duo dominate the sport like the Williams sisters have. However, the future of American tennis is far from bleak with a number of women ready to step up on the global stage. The US Open is already underway with qualifiers taking place this week, but the main draw kicks off on Monday, August 28th on the Tennis Channel and ESPN and will run for the next two weeks! Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@Rookie_Rhino) for more tennis coverage, as well as for many other sports!
