Greg Garber, Senior Writer 9y

Venus, not Serena, in fine form

Yes, it's early, but after a few months off, there's plenty of new WTA data to assess: three tournaments, in China, New Zealand and Australia.

The winners out of the box -- Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams and Simona Halep -- were the usual suspects. Between them, they have now won 89 tournaments. Herewith, the first edition of Up or Down for 2015:

Williams

World No. 1 Serena Williams: It isn't easy getting old. She's 33, and after losing her first set 6-0 at the Hopman Cup to Flavia Pennetta, Serena ordered an on-court espresso. She came back to win, but then was embarrassed by 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard. And after beating Lucie Safarova, she fell to Agnieszka Radwanska for a 2-2 singles week. To complete the week, she smashed her racket in the championship mixed-doubles match with John Isner; they lost to Poland.

Sharapova

No. 2 Maria Sharapova: If there's one thing Sharapova excels at, it's beating the players she's supposed to. When you're ranked second in the world, that means everyone except Serena. In a rousing Brisbane final that lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes, Sharapova came back to defeat Ana Ivanovic 6-3 in the third set. Sharapova is getting closer to Serena's No. 1 ranking after winning only her second tournament ever in Australia. Her first? The 2008 Australian Open.

Halep

No. 3 Simona Halep: At the Shenzhen Open, Halep looked like the No. 1 seed -- and the third-best player in the world. While No. 2 seed Petra Kvitova fell in the semifinals, the 23-year-old Romanian overcame a bout of illness and captured her ninth career title. The competition will be a little tougher in Australia.

Ivanovic

No. 5 Ana Ivanovic: In 2014, she cracked the year-end top 10 for the first time in six years, and it looks like she could go higher and further in 2015. She won the first set in the Brisbane final versus Sharapova and showed some fire in a dramatic final.

Bouchard

No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard: Her success last year makes the grading curve a bit steeper this season. A year ago, the 20-year-old reached the Australian Open semifinals, losing to eventual champion Li Na. At the Hopman Cup last week, she went 0-3 in doubles but won two of three singles matches, including a 6-2, 6-1 encounter with Serena Williams.

Wozniacki

No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki: After her breakup with that golfer guy from Northern Ireland, she finished 2014 nicely, reaching the finals at the US Open. She seemed on point for 2015 after reaching the Auckland final, where she lost to Venus Williams, but there are now a few concerns after Woz withdrew from Sydney with a left-wrist injury.

Williams

No. 18 Venus Williams: How about big sister? She turns 35 in June, but she advanced to the Auckland final opposite Wozniacki. After dropping the first set, Venus went 6-3, 6-3 to win her 46th WTA title, the first since Dubai last February. She's No. 2 on the active win list, behind younger sister Serena.

Lepchenko

No. 30 Varvara Lepchenko: A nice start to the season for the American citizen, who is originally from Uzbekistan. She fell to Ivanovic 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the quarters at Brisbane. Maybe this is the year Lepchenko will reach the third round in Melbourne for the first time.

Stephens

No. 34 Sloane Stephens: While fellow Americans Lauren Davis (21 years old) and Coco Vandeweghe (23) reached the quarterfinals in Auckland, the 21-year-old Floridian lost to Davis in the second round. Based on what we've seen since her 2013 semifinals appearance Down Under, a repeat seems unlikely.

Azarenka

No. 41 Victoria Azarenka: The two-time Australian Open champion was visited by a series of injuries last year, and the onetime No. 1 has slipped far down the rankings ladder. She lost her first-round match in Brisbane to Karolina Pliskova, who survived two match points and prevailed in three sets.

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