Does Kiki hold the keys to the WTA kingdom?

Image: 2015 US Open Tennis - Qualies - Kiki Bertens (NED) [8] def. Xinyun Han (CHN) 
by Steven Pisano (CC BY 2.0)

Every now and again there’s a performance on the WTA tour that makes the viewer believe we’ve seen the definitive heir to the Serena Williams crown.

Think Jelena Ostapenko. Think Garbine Muguruza. Think Sloane Stephens.

All had their tour breakthrough at a tender age and on the big stage, yet all struggled in the immediate aftermath to recreate their Grand Slam magic.

It seems that every time a worthy successor is poised to break through and snatch the WTA championship belt, their momentum is halted and a dramatic form slump ensues. 

In every sport, there exists an undeniable hunger to see champions.

On the ATP Tour, the Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic triumvirate has ensured a level of familiarity and reliability. 

Their brilliance is a language that everyone understands and makes tuning in for the average fan a relatively comforting experience.

The women’s game doesn’t have that luxury.

Because the WTA has been Serena’s kingdom (and Serena’s kingdom alone), and considering that we’re now in the twilight of her truly transcendental career, there’s more hunger than ever for a new champion to emerge from the shadows.

The week of work Kiki Bertens put together in Madrid was the kind of performance that was indeed worthy of taking Serena's crown as the best player in women’s tennis- a prize that’s shared around like a veritable game of 'Pass the Parcel.'

Madrid worked as something of a mini coronation for Bertens. 

She obliterated a world-class field, knocking off four former Grand Slam winners and in the process became the first player to ever win the prestigious Spanish clay event without dropping a single set.

In claiming her ninth career title, Bertens rocketed to #4 in the official WTA World Rankings - the (equal) loftiest place any Dutch player (Richard Krajicek also reached #4 in 1999) has ever occupied.

If Kiki is indeed the woman to inherit the keys to the kingdom of the women’s game, this next month of tennis will go a very long way toward that solidifying that goal.

The clay courts are where Kiki shines brightest with our Stats Insider rankings model, currently viewing her as the second best player in the world on that surface.

It's a place where Kiki's patient game is best suited and a surface where Berten's has won six of her nine titles. 

All of Kiki's progress however won't have the same level of universal respect until she breaks through on tennis' biggest stage.

For all the devastating talent Kiki's capable of flashing, it's form which has so far eluded her at Grand Slam level. 

Of the 27 Grand Slams Bertens has contested, she’s broken through to a semi-final appearance just once, and boasts only three round of 16 appearances. 

That kind of Grand Slam resume is more suited to a player occupying a position in the fifties, not a World #4 with one eye on being the game's very best. 

Should Bertens struggle to parlay her Madrid momentum into success at Roland Garros, questions regarding her championship pedigree will justifiably persist. 

A strong showing in Paris, however - perhaps even a French Open title - would see her firmly entrenched atop the very highest peak of the women's game.

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