Fairways and Forehands 2013 Top 30 WTA and LPGA Year In Review: #12 Caroline Wozniacki and Angela Stanford

Caroline Wozniacki, BGL Luxembourg Open winner (click to enlarge)

Instead of a year in review focusing on overall achievements, I thought this time I’d do a countdown of the top 30 money list leaders from the WTA and LPGA. For the WTA, singles, doubles and mixed are combined for this top 30. Number 12 on the money list from each tour are Caroline Wozniacki (WTA) and Angela Stanford (LPGA).

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (Denmark)

Official 2013 WTA Prizemoney: $1,779,418

Best Results: WINNER BGL Luxembourg Open, RUNNER-UP BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, SF Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, SF AEGON International, SF New Haven Open at Yale, SF Toray Pan Pacific Open, QF China Open, QF Western & Southern Open, QF Qatar Total Open, QF Family Circle Cup

Facebook: Caroline Wozniacki (click)

Website: carolinewozniacki.com (click)

When reviewing Caroline Wozniacki’s 2013 results, it feels as though she is a victim of her own considerable success from when she was the world’s top ranked player. She might not currently be at those heights, but let’s be fair to Sunshine. She was a winner in Luxembourg and a runner-up in Indian Wells, a tournament considered to be one of the top non-Majors. If a player is in the semifinals in Dubai, Eastbourne, New Haven and Tokyo, along with the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, Doha and Charleston…well, that’s pretty darn good. There are a lot of WTA players, good players, that would gladly have the kind of year Sunshine had in 2013.

US Open (click to enlarge)

I admit that I’d love to see Caroline win at least one Major, preferably more. Right now, it’s tough to do that on the women’s tour. Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka are playing at a very high level, as is Maria Sharapova when she isn’t injured (well, Vika too for that matter). So when there is a chance, like at Wimbledon when Vika and Masha were clearly not 100% and Serena suffered a shock upset, it’s up to the rest of the ladies to take advantage. But even then, the competition is tough with the likes of Petra Kvitova, Li Na, and a handful of other great contenders. However, keep in mind that Sunshine is only 23 years old. She has plenty of game and hopefully plenty of time. I still believe Caroline Wozniacki will be a Major champion in singles.

Angela Stanford at Evian Championship (click to enlarge)

ANGELA STANFORD (United States)

Official 2013 LPGA Prizemoney: $778,234

Best Results: T4 US Women’s Open, T6 Evian Championship, 2nd Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, 3rd RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup, T5 Kingsmill Championship, T5 Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning & O-I

Facebook: Angela Stanford (click)

Website: Angela Stanford Foundation (click)

Twitter: Angela Stanford (click)

In her 13th year on the LPGA tour, Angela Stanford keeps going strong. The Texas native earned 6 top 10s, including a tie for fourth at the US Women’s Open and a tie for 6th at the Evian Championship. Beyond that, she had 15 finishes in the top 25. It’s rare to see Angela have off weeks, although everybody does. She capitalizes when she has scoring chances, finishing 8th in putts per GIR. Her finish on the money list would likely have been considerably higher even than 12th had she not skipped the late season Asian swing, missing events in China, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. But it’s perfectly within her right to do as she said she would, which is cut down on overseas events. 13 years of dealing with the grind of travel on tour and being away from family for long stretches has earned her the right to cut back.

Bumping forearms with Gerina Piller at Solheim Cup (click to enlarge)

Solheim Cup. Gotta talk about it. But I’ll keep this brief. It wasn’t her best week. She knows it, as does everybody. However, as an American, I am very proud of the effort put forth by all the ladies on the American team, including Angela. I don’t care what her record was this year, I would happily take Angela on any team representing the United States playing against anybody, anywhere in the world. She’s one of our aces. She had a bad week at an inopportune time. It happens. Move on. I hope to see her on the 2015 Solheim Cup team showing why she is one of the best players in the world.