Last year our great contributor John Bolan merged his courage and talent for tennis predictions and shared with us as early as in January how he thought the season-ending WTA Top 10 would look like. And that wasn't all. He asked you to join him in predictions and James, the reader who turned out to be the best predictor, was awarded an autograph of a WTA star.

John Bolan receiving autograph of Victoria Azarenka

As we all enjoyed the little project, we decided to repeat it this year. John has made his 2013 predictions (I have to say that he sent me the finished article way before New Year's Eve and before the WTA action started, but I was a bit slow in putting it up together!), and you are more than welcome to comment on John's picks, to share your own Top 10 selection in the comments below this article and then we get to wait for the season to finish to see how we all fared. The best predictor will win an autograph of a Top 10 WTA player, so there's even an incentive to take some time and employ your foretelling skills! Now I'm giving the word to John!

It isn't easy to predict the Top 10 players for 2013 this early, but these are my choices for the end of 2013:

1. Maria Sharapova
2. Victoria Azarenka
3. Agnieszka Radwanska
4. Serena Williams
5. Li Na
6. Caroline Wozniacki
7. Samantha Stosur
8. Petra Kvitova
9. Sara Errani
10. Angelique Kerber

I have tried my best to keep personal preferences out of my thoughts while choosing these players. Instead, I checked out the most recent head-to-head matches, the number of tournaments played the past two years and injury reports. Injuries always have a big effect on the outcome of the Top 10. Vera Zvonareva and Andrea Petkovic are not included because they remain out of action and will not play in Australia this year. Read more »

Serena Williams simply continued the momentum from 2012 and breezed to the Brisbane International title, her 47th career title, the most among active WTA players. Varvara Lepchenko was her victim in the first round (6-2 6-1), Alize Cornet in the second (6-2 6-2), Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals (6-4 6-3) and then after a semifinal walkover when Victoria Azarenka withdrew with an infected toe, Serena had just a 51-minute work against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.

From 2-all in the first set, the third-seeded Williams took seven straight games and quickly went all the way to a 6-2 6-1 victory and $162,987 in prize money.

Pavlyuchenkova, who upset No.6 seed Petra Kvitova and No.4 seed Kerber earlier in the tournament, was playing her first Premier final, but against the super-experienced Serena there was nothing she could do. Here's what Pavlyuchenkova said to Serena after the match:

I always feel like I don't know how to play tennis when I play against you!

I'm sure she's far from the only one with that problem.

In the off-season, Serena and Pavlyuchenkova practiced together in Mauritius as part of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy training camp.

Serena has now won 52 of her last 54 matches! (photo: sr_cranks)

Awaiting Serena Williams in the Brisbane International semifinals, Victoria Azarenka had a lot to fear, considering her 0-5 record against the American in 2012 and 1-11 all time, but her bigger enemy turned out to be a bad pedicure. Her big toe got infected so much that it was too painful to move and she had to withdraw from the tournament half an hour before her semifinal was scheduled to start.

Azarenka has struggled with the problem for about ten days. Eventually, she had to have a part of her right toe nail removed and she didn't have enough time to recover for the semifinal, plus, she didn't want to endanger her title defense at the Australian Open.

Serena is now through to the final of the Premier-level Brisbane International, where she will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who stopped lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko, first-time WTA semifinalist, with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 win. Serena has won 51 of her last 53 matches! Plus, she's 3-0 against Pavlyuchenkova. (photo: sr_cranks)

Serena Williams had to undergo surgery on both her big toes as a treatment for "a chronic foot disorder which involved minor procedures on both of her great toes". So as not to hamper the recovery process, Serena will not play the Thailand exhibition against Victoria Azarenka, scheduled for December 29th in Hua Hin. Li Na will be her replacement.

Last year Azarenka also played the Hua Hin exhibition when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki. Serena is expected to open her 2013 season at the Brisbane International. (source: ESPN, photo courtesy of Fiji Water)

Serena Williams has officially been named the Player of the Year by the WTA Tour. Like she had competition? There is absolutely no other woman that is more worthy of the honor – seven titles, including two Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US Open), Olympic gold and the WTA Championships, and a mind-blowing 48-2 win-loss record from the beginning of the claycourt season until the end of the year. To make things even more impressive, Serena won Wimbledon doubles title and Olympic gold medal with sister Venus in 2012 (notice, at the tournaments she was also victorious in singles).

Of course that's not all! Serena finished the year with a 4-0 record against No.1s and 15-0 against the Top 5! Overall, her 2012 win-loss record is 58-4. The fact that she ended the year ranked No.3 doesn't spoil the impression that she was a tornado on the courts. The manner in which she stormed to the titles is unforgettable.

This is the fourth time Serena has won the award. Previously she won it in 2002, 2008 and 2009. In 2002 she clinched eight titles and was undefeated at Grand Slams (21-0), undefeated by Top 5 players (11-0) and undefeated by No.1s (3-0). (photo courtesy of Fiji Water)

Serena Williams maybe didn't finish the year ranked No.1, but we can safely say she was overall the best player of 2012. Let's see now how the queen of big tennis stages did in the fashion department with her sponsor Nike, which is clothing the largest number of big WTA names – just to illustrate, all the 2012 US Open semifinalists were dressed in Nike.

Serena Williams opened the year in a black pleated skirt paired with bright yellow shirt, shoes and headband. However, the very beginning of the season is never there to impress and players usually wear clothes that they finished the previous season with. Fashion statements are waiting to be released at the Australian Open.

*Retrospections of WTA players' yearly outfits*

The American opened her Australian Open action in a blue dress with custom-made headband and sneakers celebrating Black History Month (here you can have a closer look at the special attire). The Nike Statement Dress had wide straps, pleated bottom and seams accentuating the feminine silhouette. There were also thin white accents on the collar and under the bust. In Miami she wore the same dress, although the color looks purple in the above photo. Read more »

Serena Williams showed off her curvaceous body and several beautiful swimsuits in the photos she posted on Twitter from her recent vacation in Bahamas. Read more »

In January this year, Women's Tennis Blog's faithful contributor John Bolan was brave enough to share with the world his predictions about the 2012 year-end ranking and asked you to join him in foretelling the WTA standings, offering the best predictor among you one Top 10 WTA player autograph. Isn't it exciting to see now how John and about 30 of you who joined did?

John was absolutely correct in placing two players – John's No.1 Victoria Azarenka and No.2 Maria Sharapova have finished No.1 and No.2. He misplaced Serena Williams by just one spot, Li Na by two, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska by three and Caroline Wozniacki by four.

Three of John's Top 10 players didn't make the cut. Kim Clijsters was John's No.3, but in the middle of the year she decided to retire and actualized the decision after the US Open, while injuries pushed John's No.8 Vera Zvonareva and No.10 Sabine Lisicki to No.96 and No.37 respectively. Year-end No.5 Angelique Kerber and No.6 Sara Errani are the biggest top surprises of the season. Let's give the word to John!

I'm thrilled with the outcome since seven of the predicted players finished as final Top 10 players. The fact that my first two picks were exactly correct is a feat I have not been able to do in previous years. The fans using the comment section to submit their own picks also did better than in 2011.

Injuries were once again the biggest issue for great players not finishing in the Top 10. Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, Sabine Lisicki, Venus Williams and Andrea Petkovic were casualties during 2012. The hardest part of picking the Top 10 is the big unknown of which players will not be able to compete for the entire season. Read more »