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It’s time to vote for January’s WTA Player of the Month!

Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 8.

January 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists

Angelique Kerber: As the No.7 seed, Kerber stunned the tennis world by defeating both pre-tournament favorites in Victoria Azarenka and World No.1 Serena Williams to capture her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Kerber faced a match point in her first round against Misaki Doi, and after having – in her words – “one foot on the plane back to Germany,” Kerber played with renewed confidence through the first week. Facing Azarenka in the quarterfinals, the German turned around a 0-6 head-to-head and won five straight games to dismiss the Brisbane International champion and two-time Australian Open winner in straight sets. Seeing off surprise semifinalist Johanna Konta to reach her first major final, Kerber played stellar tennis and held her nerve against Williams, stopping her from tying countrywoman Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles. Her win takes her to a new career-high ranking of No.2 and puts her at the top spot on the Road to Singapore standings.

Serena Williams: Entering the Australian Open under an injury cloud, Williams erased all doubts as to her form her first match in Melbourne, racing into the final without dropping a set. Her semifinal against No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska was particularly dominant; the World No.1 needed only 20 minutes to win the opening set over the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion, going on to hit 42 winners to just 18 errors in the two-set match. Though she fell to Kerber in the final, the American remains just one major away from tying Graf’s Open Era record for most Grand Slam titles won, and is firmly behind Kerber at No.2 on the Road to Singapore standings.

Victoria Azarenka: Azarenka began the season hoping to make 2016 her comeback year. Looking in impeccable shape, she romped through the Brisbane International draw, losing just four games to eventual Australian Open champion Kerber in the final. In Melbourne, she was equally dominant through the first week, tying the record for fewest games lost in her first three matches. Despite losing to Kerber in the quarterfinals, the Belarusian still had chances to level the match, serving for the second set at 5-2 and holding three set points at 40-0.

Agnieszka Radwanska: The WTA Finals champion has only lost one match in 2016, the Australian Open semifinal to Serena Williams. Radwanska began her year at the Shenzhen Open, where she won the title, and looked in solid form through five matches in Melbourne before running into a World No.1 playing some of her best tennis.

How it works:

Four finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

MELBOURNE, Australia – Following the Saturday’s Australian Open final, the WTA has unveiled the first Road To Singapore leaderboard, with Angelique Kerber vaulting to the top.

The Road To Singapore is the year-long journey to the WTA’s crown jewel event, the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and Kerber, who just won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, has kicked off at No.1. Runner-up Serena Williams is in the No.2 position.

Defending WTA Finals champion Agnieszka Radwanska has launched a great start to her title defense – winning the Shenzhen Open and reaching the semifinal at the Australian Open to round out the top 3 on the Road to Singapore. How has winning the WTA Finals prepared Radwanska for continued success in 2016? Watch the video above to hear from the champion herself.

A pair of familiar faces sit atop the doubles leaderboard; the team of co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their third straight major title – along with titles at the Brisbane International and Apia International Sydney – to start the year at No.1. Australian Open finalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka are No.2.

The Top 8 singles and doubles players on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard will qualify for the $7 million 2016 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Here’s who else is in the Top 8 of the first Road to Singapore leaderboard:

SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova has climbed to a career-high ranking of World No.5 after stunning Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 6-4, to win the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

The Slovakian began the tournament as World No.8 and looked set to make an early exit when she lost her first two round robin matches.

However, after beating Simona Halep to reach the semifinals, she recorded a victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova before upsetting the Australian Open and US Open champion to claim the title.

The win moves her up to fifth, leapfrogging Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Madison Keys, who were all eliminated at the round-robin phase.

Had Cibulkova won her first two round-robin matches, she would be just over 100 points behind Simona Halep, who remains as World No.4.

Kerber secured her status as year-end World No.1 thanks to Serena Williams’ withdrawal from the tournament and received her award in Singapore.

Meanwhile, in the doubles rankings, Sania Mirza hangs on to top spot despite her and Martina Hingis’ semifinal exit in Singapore.

ZHUHAI, China – Roberta Vinci was dressed all in black after her last match at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. She looked fondly on a second straight Top 20 season and was in no mood to mourn what she once said would be her last year on tour.

“It was a good year, for sure,” she told WTA Insider Wednesday night. “I had a great last year, and a lot of points to defend this year.

“The tour is always tough and the players are always getting stronger. You always have to stay in good body and mind. Playing every single tournament is tough, but I’m so proud of myself for this year.

“I’m a little bit tired, of course, because it was a long season. I’m sad about today, but happy that I finished this year.”

The lingering question was whether she had finished for good. The answer was more up in the air.

“Right now, I’m finished with this season and I want to go home. I’ll be taking two weeks off for sure, without tennis or anything. Then I’ll decide, if I’m still motivated, if I still want to continue at this level, and if I want to keep working. I don’t know if I want to, or if I’m just tired right now.

“If I want to stay on tour, I’ll have to work a lot. But I don’t know.”

Vinci first rang the retirement bell last November, announcing her intention to finish her career in 2016. She walked the statement back slightly after winning her 10th career title – the biggest of her career at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy – and becoming the oldest woman to make her Top 10 debut. Any decision the Italian veteran does make, she insists, will be final.

“I don’t want to say, ‘Yes, I’m continuing,’ and then in one week, I stop, or say, ‘No, I’m retired,’ and then after a week, you see a video of me practicing.”

Taking a less decisive tact is the famously flamboyant Francesca Schiavone. Vinci’s compatriot has started a web series asking Facebook fans whether she should continue her career, or perhaps follow a new path, all with her signature flair.

“It’s nice for the fans, but I won’t be putting out any videos because I want to decide my future! But Francesca is Francesca; it’s so funny.”

While she waits to make a decision, Vinci won’t regret confessing her initial intent to retire, feeling it helped her better appreciate the tour on which she’s played nearly two decades, and those who’ve watched her play.

“For me, it’s nice because they want to know my future. If I say I’m going to retire and someone is sad, it feels good because it means they really love me and my tennis.

“It’s normal for the fans and the journalists to want to know. Soon, I will let you know what is in my future.”

The immediate future sees the former World No.7 at home with friends and family, looking back on a pressure-filled season centered around defending the 1300 points she earned at last year’s US Open, when she ended then-No.1 Serena Williams’ Calendar Year Grand Slam bid to reach the final.

“I had a lot of pressure, especially at the US Open. In my mind, I was saying that this year will be tough. I didn’t know if I could even stay Top 50. Now, I’m in the Top 20, so my coach is happy and also I’m really happy about that.”

From shouting “60 points!” after her first round win, she made it all the way back into the second week for the fourth time in five years, falling to eventual champion Angelique Kerber.

“I was injured but I played amazing tennis; I won great matches there. I felt something special in New York; I’m always playing good there, be it final or quarterfinal. It’s an incredible tournament for me.”

Vinci described the year’s final major tournament in the present tense, just as she outlined the simple – yet life-changing – decision that stands in front of her.

“If it’s yes, then yes. If it’s no, then no.”

All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.

On Saturday a sellout crowd packed into the Rod Laver Arena to watch Angelique Kerber end Germany’s near 17-year wait for a Grand Slam champion. However, the attendance and Germany’s title tally weren’t the only noteworthy numbers from a fascinating month Down Under…

2,360 – Kerber leaves Australia sitting pretty atop the Road To Singapore leaderboard with 2,360 points. Last year, she didn’t pass this mark until the start of August.

1,698 – In January, a total of 1,698 aces were served in 276 main draw matches.

694 – Kerber spent 694 minutes on court en route to her Australian Open triumph.

194 – The number of minutes needed by Heather Watson to defeat Monica Niculescu in the second round of the Hobart International, making it the longest match of the season. Honorable mentions go to Yulia Putintseva and Caroline Wozniacki for their three hour, 12 minute effort at the Australian Open.

139 – Zhang Shuai started the year ranked No.139 but has since has risen 74 spots – the biggest jump of any player currently in the Top 100.

125 – The speed in miles per hour of the fastest serve at the Australian Open, unleashed by Serena Williams.

80.1 – Serena’s 120mph-plus deliveries helped her win 80.1% of the points on her first serve in January.

74 – Perhaps unsurprisingly, Serena had more racquets restrung than any other main draw player at the Australian Open, sending 74 to the stringer’s room.

54 – Maria Sharapova (five matches) and Serena Williams (seven matches) have each hit a WTA-leading 54 aces.

45 – Monica Puig has been the most upwardly mobile of any player currently ranked in the Top 50, rising 45 places (from No.92 to 47).

34 – Based on the rankings from February 2, 2016, there are currently 34 nations represented in the Top 100, led by the USA (12), Germany (10) and Russia (8).

13 – Kerber has played a WTA-leading 13 matches (12-1); her only loss came in the Brisbane final against former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka.

3 – Kerber also leads the way in the fledgling Road To Singapore leaderboard. Three of the Top 8 on the leaderboard following the 2015 Australian Open went on to compete in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

0 – Number of times Serena had lost a third set in a Grand Slam final going into her meeting with Kerber.

27-year-old Zhang Shuai had to win three matches just to qualify for the 2016 Australian Open. A player who had never won a Grand Slam main draw match in 14 previous attempts, Zhang drew the highest-ranked opponent possible in No.2 seed Simona Halep. What Zhang saw as an ending became a new beginning.

“The last few months my ranking was down to No.200, so it was very tough. I was feeling very sad every day. I almost retired.

“But so many people helped me: my coach, my parents, my team, also the national team. My sponsor, too, always tried to help me, and give me more motivation.”

Zhang blasted past Halep for one of the biggest wins of her career – after upsetting then World No.1 Dinara Safina at the China Open in 2009 – and won three more matches to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, losing a close match to Johanna Konta. 

“In my heart I’m feel like I already win the tournament because I won seven match. Yeah, it doesn’t matter if I won or lost today. I’ll just keep going.”

Final Results for January’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month

1. Zhang Shuai (44%)
2. Johanna Konta (31%)
3. Daria Gavrilova (17%)
4. Daria Kasatkina (6%)
5. Samantha Crawford (2%)

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com