The women’s Tour appears perpetually in flux. For the admirers, it’s a sign of increased competitiveness. For the critics, the absence of a pecking order suggests decreased quality. But it’s difficult not to get excited when the eight elite women clash at the weeklong season-ender.
The WTA Finals, which begins on Sunday, comprises a two-group round-robin league followed by the semifinals and final. With three debutants, three close to their peaks and two canny veterans in the mix – and seven of these eight having a shot at finishing 2017 as No. 1 – it should be engrossing.
SIMONA HALEP
Ranked: No. 1
Age: 26
Match record: 44-15 (74.6%)
Titles: 1 (Madrid)
Runner-up: 4 (Rome, Roland Garros, Cincinnati, Beijing)
Key Stat: Over 60% of her ranking points have come on clay with an 18-3 record
Ever since she made the French Open final and Wimbledon semifinal in 2014, Halep seemed destined for greatness. A counter-puncher of the highest order and a natural on clay, her stellar movement made the transition to other surfaces less difficult. But despite reaching No. 1, her career has been one of unfulfilled promise, the absence of a Slam standing out stark. She played three of 2017’s best matches – against Jelena Ostapenko (Roland Garros), Johanna Konta (Wimbledon) and Maria Sharapova (US Open). But she lost all three, raising questions about her mental fortitude. At her fourth Finals, on the hard-courts of Singapore, she has the opportunity to silence a few naysayers.
GARBINE MUGURUZA
Ranked: No. 2
Age: 24
Match record: 46-19 (71%)
Titles: 2 (Wimbledon, Cincinnati)
Runner-up: 0
Key Stat: One of only two (Venus Williams, the other) to make the second week at all Majors in 2017
Muguruza’s challenge is entirely different from Halep’s. It takes some doing to become the first player in history to beat Serena and Venus Williams for your first two Major titles. But until her Cincinnati triumph in August, Roland Garros (2016) and Wimbledon were her only trophies for two years! She hadn’t even reached a final. But there is no denying that she has the game and mentality to extend such short bursts into hot streaks. She just turned 24, has been No. 1 and already has two of tennis’ most coveted prizes. A third in Singapore, while establishing her as the player of the year, has the potential to make her the face of women’s tennis in a post-Serena world.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA
Ranked: No. 3
Age: 25
Match record: 51-16 (76%)
Titles: 3 (Brisbane, Doha, Eastbourne)
Runner-up: 0
Key Stat: Most aces on Tour this year – 438
Like Muguruza, Pliskova was ranked No. 1 at some point. Like Halep, despite hitting the ceiling rankings-wise, there is a lot of room results- and game-wise. Pliskova’s is the best serve in women’s tennis apart from Serena’s, and her game is one of technical beauty. No one – apart from Tomas Berdych – hits with such easy power. For the critics, this often masks what they reckon is massive underachievement. After reaching the 2016 US Open final, more was expected. But the farthest she has been at a Major since is the last four in Paris; she is also title-less since June. When she arrived for the Asian swing, she admitted to being tired. Can she gather herself for the season finale?
ELINA SVITOLINA
Ranked: No. 4
Age: 23
Match record: 52-12 (81%)
Titles: 5 (Taipei City, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome, Toronto)
Runner-up: 0
Key Stat: 7-1 vs. Top 5 opposition in 2017
In the past, Svitolina’s game has waxed and waned. But her stand-out quality is the ability to summon her best when confronted by a big fish. She is 5-0 in finals this year and the first woman to win three Premier-5 titles in a season. In one of those, in Istanbul, she beat Pliskova, Muguruza and Halep in succession, while at Toronto the same treatment was meted out to Venus Williams, Muguruza, Halep and Caroline Wozniacki. This is the sort of form required to win the Finals, and these are the very same players she will be up against – players who are unlikely to be ecstatic about the match-up. It will not be a surprise if the World No. 4 leaves Singapore as the World No. 1.
VENUS WILLIAMS
Ranked: No. 5
Age: 37
Match record: 35-12 (74%)
Titles: 0
Runner-up: (Australian Open, Wimbledon)
Key Stat: 20-4 in Majors this season
In a little over two decades, Venus has seen it all and done it all. But no one in recent times has made her presence felt quite so stirringly. All the gates seemed to have clanged behind her forever, yet here she is as a 37-year-old, managing an autoimmune disease, among the world’s top-five players. This season, she has often displayed the imperiousness that characterised her glory years, and it’s apt that she has the best record at the Majors (two finals, one semifinal). “Ready to kill it this year,” said Venus after the Australian Open in January. “Who goes into the year and says, ‘Oh my God, it’s not going to be a good year’? Who says that? Not me.” She has lived by every single word.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
Ranked: No. 6
Age: 27
Match record: 56-20 (74%)
Titles: 1 (Tokyo)
Runner-up: 6 (Doha, Dubai, Miami, Eastbourne, Bastad, Toronto)
Key Stat: Her 56 wins are the most by any player this year
One might peg Wozniacki down as another of the gate-crashers. But the Dane’s strength is that she believes she belongs and expects to win every match she plays. No wonder then that five months after her 21st birthday, she was already a two-time year-end No. 1. Like Halep and Pliskova, she got to the top without a Slam title. She has still not won a Major and may never achieve it, but her persistence means she will continue to fight. Even this year, she lost six finals before succeeding in Tokyo on her seventh attempt. She has steadfastly tried to add offence to a game based predominantly on defence. If she can find the right blend, there is no reason why she can’t repeat her 2010 run to the final.
JELENA OSTAPENKO
Ranked: No. 7
Age: 20
Match record: 47-18 (72%)
Titles: 2 (Roland Garros, Seoul)
Runner-up: 1 (Charleston)
Key Stat: 22-7 in 3-set matches, including 21-3 after Miami in April
Ostapenko carries no baggage. When she won the French Open to become the first unseeded woman to triumph there since 1933, she played with a flair that belied her experience. In the months since, the burden of expectations doesn’t appear to have bothered her one bit. It doesn’t matter that her first serve percentage is in the low-50s. An ace-to-double-fault ratio that hovers around 1 isn’t uncommon on Tour, but Ostapenko’s 168 aces to 359 double faults is unheard of. Yet she continues with the same gay abandon. The only sign of nervousness was when she saw a red carpet outside her plane on her return to Latvia after Roland Garros! Singapore is unlikely to intimidate her.
CAROLINE GARCIA
Ranked: No. 8
Age: 24
Match record: 46-20 (70%)
Titles: 2 (Wuhan, Beijing)
Runner-up: 0
Key Stat: 38-1 after winning the first set in 2017
The last of the lot, Garcia has always made her fans wait. Andy Murray touted her as a future No. 1 when she was 17. Her consummate shot-making was renowned, but never was she able to harness it expertly. Over two weeks in China – at Wuhan and Beijing – she finally arrived. From 16th place in the race to Singapore, she leapfrogged other contenders and made the cut, defeating Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova, Svitolina, Petra Kvitova and Halep in the process. Until then, she had never beaten a top-3 player. Garcia doesn’t quite have the power to mow down the rest of the field here. But she has a complete game, and if her recent form is any indicator, she won’t just make up the numbers.
