Fairways and Forehands 2013 Top 30 WTA and LPGA Year In Review: #6 Lexi Thompson and Sara Errani

Lexi Thompson, 2013 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 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 6 on the money list from each tour are Lexi Thompson (LPGA) and Sara Errani (WTA).

LEXI THOMPSON (United States)

2013 Official LPGA Prizemoney: $1,206,109

Best Results: WINNER Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, WINNER Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Banamex, 3rd The Evian Championship, T3 Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning & O-I, T8 HSBC Women’s Champions, T9 Safeway Classic presented by Coca-Cola, T10 Mobile Bay LPGA Classic

Facebook: Lexi (click)

Twitter: lexi (click)

Barring injury or burnout, Lexi Thompson will one day be #1 on the Rolex Rankings. I’m certainly not the only person to think that, but I thought I’d just say it anyway. Towards the end of 2013, she started to put it all together. A tie for 9th at the Safeway Classic and a 3rd place finish at The Evian Championship laid the path for victory at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. Although Lexi won the 2011 Navistar Classic, she did so as a non-LPGA member. Thus, her Sime Darby victory earned her a Rolex as a first time tour winner. Her 19-under winning score set the tournament record. It was the first time she shot in the 60s for all four rounds of an event. It won’t be the last.

2013 Lorena Ochoa Invitational winner (click to enlarge)

It wouldn’t take long for Lexi to return to the winner’s circle. A month after winning in Malaysia, she won in Mexico at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Her sensational 2nd round 64 just missed Angela Stanford’s 2010 course record for a round. It was almost a shame that the year came to an end. A glimpse into the future was on display. If Lexi can keep building on what she did late in 2013 as the 2014 season unfolds, there could be quite a battle for Player of the Year between Lexi, Inbee Park, Suzann Pettersen, Stacy Lewis and maybe even Lydia Ko.

Sara Errani, 2013 Abierto Mexicano Telcel (click to enlarge)

SARA ERRANI (Italy)

2013 Official WTA Prizemoney: $3,073,992

Best Results: (Singles) WINNER Abierto Mexicano Telcel, RUNNER-UP Open GDF Suez, RUNNER-UP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, RUNNER-UP Internazionali Femminili di Palermo; (Doubles) WINNER Australian Open, WINNER Qatar Total Open, WINNER Open GDF Suez, RUNNER-UP Roland Garros, RUNNER-UP Internazionali BNL d’Italia: (Team) Fed Cup Champion, Italy

Facebook: saraerraniofficial (click)

Website: sara-errani.com (click)

After a breakout 2012 season that saw her win 4 singles titles and 8 doubles titles, it stood to reason that Sara Errani would come back down to earth a bit in 2013. With that in mind, the 26-year old Italian star still excelled in 2013, winning the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in singles and finishing runner-up at 3 other events. In doubles, she teamed up with Roberta Vinci to win 3 events, including the Australian Open, and finished runner-up in 2 others, including Roland Garros. If that is considered a down year from 2012, then there are a lot of players who would love to have Sara’s “down year.”

Year end doubles #1 trophy with Roberta Vinci

In addition to her great personal triumphs on court, she also led Team Italy to its 4th Fed Cup title. If there were one area where Sara did take a bit of a back step, it’s in her Major singles performances. She did reach the Roland Garros semis after reaching last year’s final. But in the other three Majors she had early exits. Honestly, considering all she accomplished in 2013, that’s a bit of nitpicking. However, she is capable of deep runs in Majors. My guess is we’ll see one or two from Sara in 2014.