This offseason, Last Word On Tennis will be looking back at the seasons of the top 50 players on each tour. This installment includes the WTA 2016\u00a0players ranked 16-20.<\/i><\/p>\nWTA 2016 Year in Review: 16-20<\/h2>\n
16. Elena Vesnina<\/strong><\/p>\n At the beginning of the season, nobody would have bet Elena Vesnina would finish the season ranked this high. The doubles specialist, though, managed to have a masterclass year in single, too, with a Slam semifinal and a final in a WTA tournament.<\/p>\n High points<\/strong><\/p>\n As I said before, Vesnina is a double specialist, and her achievements in this category are worth being mentioned. In January, she won the mixed doubles at the Australian Open<\/strong> with Bruno Soares<\/strong>, but the most terrific is that\u00a0she won the gold medal at the Olympics<\/strong> with her long-time partner Ekaterina Makarova<\/strong>, with whom she won the WTA Finals<\/strong> in Singapore<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The most surprising part of her season is the singles, though.<\/p>\n Starting the year ranked outside the Top 100, she managed to reach the final in Charleston<\/strong>, starting from qualies, surrendering only to Sloane Stephens<\/strong>. Her lifetime achievement, however, has certainly been the semifinals at Wimbledon. After a dramatic\u00a0match\u00a0against her doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova, a player she never beat before, she won 9-7 in the third set and reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. She eventually lost in less than an hour to Serena Williams<\/strong>, a defeat which is definitely acceptable, given the strength of her opponent, who was battling for her 22nd<\/sup> Slam Title.<\/p>\n