Below you will find 7 Top 100 players  outside the WTA Top 30 (Sorry Pavs and Kleybs) who I expect to do well this year *fingers crossed*.

1. Andrea Petkovic

• Date of Birth: 9 September 1987
• Current Ranking: 32
• Career Titles: 1 (Bad Gastein, 2009)
• Highlight of 2010: s’Hertogenbosch Runner-Up

Known as one of the most personable players on tour (and one of the best Tweeters), Andrea Petkovic made a name for herself to most WTA followers with her powerful groundstrokes (her match against Aravane Rezai in Madrid was hard hitting at its finest) and top class dance moves. Andrea posted solid results for only her second full year on tour. While she is one of the fittest players around (word from the locker room is that she has the best abs), closing sets and matches have proven to be her undoing. At Roland Garros this year, she served for the match against Svetlana Kuznetsova but could not convert. If she hopes to progress, she’s going to have to close out big upsets. In 2011, she has already made a good start. She is through to the finals in Brisbane without dropping a set. She’ll be looking to finally make a breakthrough at a Grand Slam this year.

2. Petra Kvitova

• Date of Birth: 8 March 1990
• Current Ranking: 34
• Career Titles: 1 (Hobart, 2009)
• Highlight of 2010: Wimbledon Semifinalist

Most tennis folk branded Petra Kvitova the WTA Newcomer of 2010 for her spectacular run to the Semi-Finals at the All England Club. Along the way she took out Jie Zheng, Victoria Azarenka, Kaia Kanepi and current no. 1, Caroline Wozniacki before finally falling to eventual Champion, Serena Williams. Armed with one of the best serves on the tour (plus she’s a lefty) and punishing groundstrokes from both wings, Kvitova can compete with anyone on tour, seen perfectly when she clobbered Wozniacki 6/2 6/0 in 45 minutes! Consistency seems to be Petra’s weakness, she didn’t make another quarterfinal after Wimbledon. This will be her main challenge in 2011. So far, she seems to be more consistent. She will play Petkovic in the Brisbane final. Expect her to cause a few upsets this year.

3. Julia Goerges

• Date of Birth: 2 November 1988
• Current Ranking: 40
• Career Titles: 1 (Bad Gastein, 2010)
• Highlight of 2010: Bad Gastein Champion

After going out in the first round of Wimbledon to Marion Bartoli, Julia Goerges decided to play an ITF tournament in Biarritz. She won that tournament without dropping a set. 2 weeks later, she was lifting her first WTA trophy in Bad Gastein. Goerges is an all-round solid player. She moves well, is good off both wings and her forehand rivals the top players on tour (she used it quite effectively in defeating Ana Ivanovic 6/3 6/1 in Luxembourg). Like Kvitova, her game has a lot of risk involved but when it pays off can be very dangerous. So far this year she has made the semifinals of Auckland. She will be looking to improve her Grand Slam record this year as she has never passed the 2nd round in her career. She should be seeded come Roland Garros.

4. Jarmila Groth

• Date of Birth: 26 April 1987
• Current Ranking: 42
• Career Titles: 1 (Guangzhou, 2010)
• Highlight of 2010: Guangzhou Champion

Coming into Roland Garros, Jarmila Groth had won 2 matches on the WTA tour all year. She was ranked 107 and had been granted a wildcard. When she left Paris, she had reached her first Grand Slam fourth round and started what would be her career year so far. Jarka followed this with a fourth round showing at Wimbledon and a semifinal in Istanbul. She pushed Maria Sharapova to 3 sets in Flushing Meadows. In Guangzhou, she was playing her first tournament as a top seed and took the title, winning all her matches in under an hour. Jarka has a punishing serve, moves well and has a backhand that can hit winners from any part of the court. Plus, she has the most adorable husband ever! In Brisbane 2011, Jarka started her year off with her first top 20 win, beating Sam Stosur comfortably 6/2 6/4. Expect her top 20 win-loss record to improve vastly.

5. Shuai Peng

• Date of Birth: 8 January 1986
• Current Ranking: 72
• Career Titles: 0
• Highlight of 2010: Asian Games Champion

Shuai Peng had a pretty poor 2010 by her standards. Until she played at the Asian Games. She dropped one set the whole event (to top seed Kimiko Date Krumm) before claiming gold for China. Now she is a changed player. In just her first week of 2011, she made the semifinals of Auckland, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in a come from behind three set win and narrowly losing to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets. Peng looks stronger, fitter and more consistent than ever. Expect her to take a first career title and to make at least a fourth round showing at a Grand Slam.

6. Bojana Jovanovski

• Date of Birth: 31 December 1991
• Current Ranking: 76
• Career Titles: 0
• Highlight of 2010: Beijing 3rd Round (upseting Jelena Jankovic)

Bojana Jovanovski is currently the youngest player in the top 100. In Beijing this year she used her big forehand to upset Jelena Jankovic in the 2nd round. Of all the players on this list, Jovanovski is the one with the most milestones to pass on the tour. She is yet to even reach a quarterfinal in a tour event. Expect her to achieve that and then some this year.

7. Simona Halep

• Date of Birth: 27 September 1991
• Current Ranking: 84
• Career Titles: 0
• Highlight of 2010: Fes Finalist

The formerly busty, Simona Halep had a breakthrough season in 2010. In only her third main draw WTA event in Fes, she made the final posting wins over Lucie Hradecka and Patty Schnyder. She pushed Jelena Jankovic all the way in a tight first round match at Flushing Meadows but just couldn’t finish it out. Halep has a game that is ideal for clay (she is a Junior Roland Garros champ) and a heavy forehand. While she may be shorter than most (she’s only 5’6”) she has the capabilities to overpower many of the ladies on the tour this year.

So…yeah, these are the people I have put expectations upon. Now if you’ll please excuse them, they have to go and disappoint me all year. This is WTA after all….