So far, it has been a great year for Women’s Tennis, and what better way to cap it all off than in the upcoming WTA Finals to be hosted in Shenzhen, China.
For the second straight season, all four grand slam titles were won by various players and this year’s penultimate event will feature the top-eight singles players and doubles pairs in round-robin action before a knockout phase for a chance to take a slice of the record-breaking $14M total worth of prizes.
A resurgent Naomi Osaka is set to headline Red Group along with the likes of Ashleigh Barty, Petra Kvitova, and Belina Bencic.
On the other hand, the Purple Group will feature the likes of Bianca Andreescu, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, and the second-seeded Karolina Pliskova.
This figures to be one of the most open WTA Finals in recent memory since these women can make a case of winning the title, and fans here at SBOBET can’t wait for the games starting tomorrow.
But before that, allow us to brief you on some talking points ahead of the much-awaited WTA Finals.
Belinda Bencic on a mission
In what was one of the most surprising WTA Finals 2019 news, Serena Williams is said to not participate in this year’s WTA Finals as she was leapfrogged by Belinda Bencic, who looks to be a woman on a mission.
After qualifying for a wild card in Moscow, Bencic booked her spot by winning it all in the recently-concluded Kremlin Cup where she defeated the likes of Kristina Mladenovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The Swiss player is currently enjoying a resurgent season after struggling with injuries for the last two campaigns. She kicked off her 2019 season with a run to the semis in Hobart from outside the top-50 before winning a title in the Dubai Tennis Championships last February.
She also went to as far as the Final Four in Indian Wells and in Madrid. While she experienced an up-and-down journey with rough patches in the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon, she did well for herself in the US Open.
Results were not that good in Wuhan, Beijing, and Linz — which put her in a precarious position coming into Moscow — which is why her advancing to the last WTA Finals spot makes it a whole lot sweeter for her.
“It’s a dream to be competing at the WTA Finals and to be one of the top eight,” said Bencic after winning her semis match in the Kremlin Cup.
“It makes it even more special that I booked my ticket at the last possible minute. This match had so much pressure and I was so nervous. Now I’m over the moon to win today and achieve this dream,” she added.
Will Ashleigh Barty finish as the No. 1 ranked player?
Young upstart Ashleigh Barty will have a chance to make history if she fares well in the upcoming WTA Finals, and the WTA Finals 2019 odds of doing so are well within her reach.
Barty has had an exemplary year for 2019, which was highlighted by her maiden wins in the Roland Garros and in the Miami Open last March.
It can also be remembered that the 23-year-old star was the first Australian woman to win the French Open since Margaret Court in 1973 when she triumphed in Paris last June.
She can become the first women’s No. 1 from Australia since her hero Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976 if she wins one of her first two round-robin matches or plays in all three of them.
Her first step towards making history, however, won’t be easy as most would expect since she’ll be facing the resurgent Belinda Bencic in the first round tomorrow.
Naomi Osaka aiming to end the year with a bang
For a while, it felt like playing tennis was a chore for Naomi Osaka after experiencing her fair share of struggles in the 2019 calendar year.
The Japanese superstar parted ways with Sascha Bajin earlier in the year, and she had some troubles with her left knee that caused her to retire from the Cincinnati Masters last August.
She struggled to build off momentum brought about by the heightened expectations from her fans with tough losses in the Roland Garros and in Wimbledon.
But come September, the 21-year-old slowly found her bearings and regained her confidence. Osaka won back-to-back titles in Japan and in the China Open in Beijing, and momentum is on her side now coming into Shenzhen.
There’s no doubt that she is one of the hot favourites in the upcoming tournament. But her journey to cap off the year on a high is going to be as hard as it gets.
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