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The 2017 tennis season is just around the corner and we can’t wait to see what it has in store for tennis fans.

No one predicted that Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber would end 2016 as No. 1, respectively, but they did. Will there be similar surprises in 2017? Who knows, but we do have a wish list.

10. World No. 1 Angelique Kerber had a great 2016 season where she ascended to the top of the WTA rankings. She won the Australian and the U.S. Open, and was a finalist at the Wimbledon Championships. Let us hope she is able to defend most of these points and maintain her No. 1 status, which is a huge undertaking.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion writes that women ”are constantly reminded” they aren’t men. She says people call her one of the ”world’s greatest female athletes,” but notes that male athletes such as LeBron James, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods aren’t described by their gender.

Williams says the equal pay issue frustrates her because women ”have done the same work and made the same sacrifices as our male counterparts.”

She says women ”must continue to dream big” to ”empower the next generation of women to be just as bold in their pursuits.”

The letter was published in Porter Magazine and republished by British newspaper The Guardian.

LONDON (AP) — Former tour player Anne Keothavong has been chosen to succeed Judy Murray as captain of Britain’s Fed Cup team.

The 33-year-old Keothavong was appointed national women’s team coach and Fed Cup captain on Tuesday by the Lawn Tennis Association.

Keothavong takes over the Fed Cup captaincy from Murray, the mother of top-ranked male player Andy Murray. She stepped down in March after five years as captain to concentrate on other roles.

Keothavong, who played 44 Fed Cup singles and doubles matches during her 13-year pro career, will prepare the team for the Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 tournament in Tallinn, Estonia, from Feb. 7-12.

The British team could feature top-10 player Johanna Konta, Heather Watson and Laura Robson.

Stan Wawrinka won a hard-fought match against Marin Cilic on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, keeping alive his chances of advancing to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Great Britain.

Wawrinka, who’s now 1-1 in his group, won the match 7-6(3), 7-(3). Cilic had chances to push the match to the third set, breaking Wawrinka in the opening game of the second set, but Wawrinka managed to get the break back.

Wawrinka next plays Andy Murray, who’s 2-0 in their group after a tough three-setter against Kei Nishikori earlier today.

Gael Monfils, who’s in Novak Djokovic’s group, has pulled out of the event due to an injury. He will be replaced by substitute David Goffin, who faces Djokovic tomorrow.

Watch ATP Tour Finals live on Tennis Channel

PRAGUE (AP) — U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova has parted ways with coach Jiri Vanek, ending a partnership that earned five WTA titles.

The decision by the 24-year-old Pliskova came after she helped the Czech team retain the Fed Cup title with a 3-2 victory over France over the weekend.

With Vanek, who joined her in 2014, Pliskova jumped into the top 10 and is currently ranked sixth. She reached the U.S. Open final and qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time this year.

It was not immediately clear who would replace Vanek.

LONDON (AP) — Andy Murray survived the longest three-set match in ATP Finals history by outlasting Kei Nishikori 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4 and posting a 21st consecutive win on Wednesday.

Top-ranked Murray needed 3 hours, 20 minutes to separate himself from Nishikori. The first set alone took 85 minutes.

It is the first time since the tournament moved to the O2 Arena in 2009 that Murray has won both of his opening two group matches, and he is in pole position to reach the semifinals for the first time in four years.

That could come later Wednesday if Marin Cilic defeats Stan Wawrinka.

Novak Djokovic is already through, and defeat against Nishikori would have hurt Murray’s chances of holding onto top spot in the rankings.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki will play at the Kooyong Classic in January, as women’s matches return to the Australian Open warmup event for the first time since 1993.

Organizers on Wednesday said the 2013 Wimbledon runner-up will join Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and Sorana Cirstea of Romania in women’s round-robin play.

Bernard Tomic, David Goffin and Richard Gasquet are confirmed starters in the eight-man draw for the Jan. 10-13 exhibition tournament which is staged annually in the week preceding the Australian Open.

The Kooyong Classic is held at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, a former venue for the Australian Open, each year since 1988 after the season’s first tennis major moved to Melbourne Park.

Pat Cash won the inaugural title, and Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are among the other former champions.

LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic edged a bit closer to the year-end No. 1 ranking, beating Milos Raonic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) Tuesday to qualify for the semifinals of the ATP finals.

Djokovic is 2-0 at the season-ending tournament, and will retake the top ranking from Andy Murray if he does better this week.

Murray is 1-0 so far, and plays his second match on Wednesday against Kei Nishikori.

Djokovic never looked at ease in his second match at the O2 Arena, but he was able to hang on through two tough tiebreakers to earn the victory.

The second-ranked Serb saved three break points in the first set, and managed to go up a break twice in the second set but Raonic responded each time.

MIAMI (AP) — Gardnar Mulloy, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who won 129 U.S. national titles and played competitively into his 90s, has died at age 102.

The longtime Miami resident died Monday night, said his wife, Jackie.

Mulloy won five Grand Slam doubles titles, was ranked No. 1 in the United States in 1952 and started the University of Miami tennis program. He swept United States Tennis Association grand slams in three age groups: 45s, 70s and 80s.

Mulloy, who served in the Navy during World War II, was 31 when the war ended, and his tennis career had barely begun. At age 43, he won the Wimbledon doubles title with Budge Patty and helped the U.S. Davis Cup team reach the final.

He would have turned 103 on Nov. 22.

LONDON (AP) Dominic Thiem won his first match at the ATP finals, beating Gael Monfils 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The eighth-seeded Austrian, who is making his debut at the season-ending tournament, could advance to the semifinals with a win over Milos Raonic on Thursday.

Second-ranked Novak Djokovic will face Raonic in the late match. Both won their opening matches, and Djokovic will advance if he wins.

Thiem struggled in the second set on Tuesday, just like he did in the loss to Djokovic on Sunday. But he improved his service game in the final set, winning 79 percent of the points on his first serve.

He was also able to break Monfils in the final game as the Frenchman produced three of his five double-faults in the decider.

LONDON (AP) — Taking the court as the No. 1-ranked player for the first time, Andy Murray got the job done.

The Wimbledon champion was tested for much of his opening match at the ATP finals but still came out on top, beating Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-2 Monday at the O2 Arena.

Murray took over at the top of the rankings last week, replacing Novak Djokovic. But the year-end No. 1 ranking is still up for grabs and could be decided on Sunday if both Murray and Djokovic reach the final.

Murray struggled to win his service games in the first set against Cilic, but still ended up saving all but one of the five break points he faced. On the other side, he converted four of his five break points.

In the early match, Stan Wawrinka finally lost a match at the ATP finals to someone who hasn’t been ranked No. 1 in the world. The U.S. Open champion, who has reached the semifinals of the season-ending tournament for the last three years, lost to Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-3.

PARIS (AP) — Amelie Mauresmo has stepped down as France’s Fed Cup captain as she is expecting her second child.

Former top-ranked Mauresmo made the unexpected announcement on Monday – a day after France lost 3-2 in the Fed Cup final to defending champion Czech Republic.

Mauresmo, who took over as Fed Cup captain in 2013 and also coached top-ranked Andy Murray, says her pregnancy won’t allow her to captain France during the 2017 campaign. Her baby is due in April.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said she did not let players know about her decision before Monday because she wanted “the girls to be 100 percent focused on the final.”

Under Mauresmo, France won six out of nine Fed Cup ties.

As the leading women from France and the Czech Republic gathered at Strasbourg for the Fed Cup Final in a festive indoor atmosphere, it was apparent to all tennis authorities that both nations could realistically expect to capture the prestigious international team championship. As the host country, France had a large dose of sentiment on their side; conversely, the Czech Republic boasted a formidable lineup which included the sixth ranked woman in the world, supported by a remarkably capable supporting cast. For those of us who followed this Fed Cup final with special interest, it always seemed certain to hold our full attention from beginning to end.

That is precisely what happened. In the end, the visiting team demonstrated their supremacy in no uncertain fashion, but, predictably, it went down to the wire before the Czech Republic came through 3-2 to secure their third Fed Cup team title in a row and their fifth in an impressive six year span. Through it all, across a stirring weekend, the player who carried her nation across the finish line was none other than Karolina Pliskova, the aforementioned world No. 6. She would split her two singles  contests before playing a crucial role in winning the last doubles encounter. At the end of a long season, after a period of considerable growth and an appearance in her first major final, despite being debilitated by so much hard work, Pliskova was commendably disciplined and determined.

But let’s review a gripping weekend chronologically. The opening act was a stirring clash between Pliskova and Kristina Mladenovic, a 23-year-old ranked 42nd in the world. One might have believed Mladenovic would be intimidated by the responsibility of taking on the U.S. Open finalist in such a daunting setting, but she acquitted herself honorably. Pliskova forged an early 3-1 lead before Mladenovic fought back tenaciously to 3-3. But Pliskova regained the initiative in the seventh game, breaking serve again with a winning backhand down the line return off a weak second serve kicker. Pliskova—the 2016 WTA Tour leader in aces because her delivery is singularly deceptive and deadly accurate—held at 15 with an ace for 5-3 and broke her adversary again to seal the set as Mladenovic double faulted the ninth game away.

The second set was locked at 3-3 but Pliskova double faulted into the net at break point down in the seventh game. The favorite got the break right back for 4-4, but soon found herself in uncomfortable territory again. She dropped serve once more, this time with an unforced error off the forehand. A buoyant Mladenovic served out the set energetically in the tenth game to make it one set all.