THE TUSSLE BETWEEN the Czech, Lucie Safarova, and Spaniard, Carla Suarez Navarro, was building up nicely for the 8th and the final spot in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore. However, after Navarro's loss to a qualifier in the Kremlin Cup, yesterday, Safarova has sealed her place in the elite eight for the 45th edition of WTA finals.
This cash-rich event in women’s professional tennis will commence from 25th October, 2015 at Singapore Sports Hub and the battle for a share of whopping $7-million in prize money will certainly bring out the best from the elite in women's game.
In Singapore, the current World no. 9, Safarova, will join the likes of Simona Halep (2), Maria Sharapova (3), Garbine Muguruza (4), Petra Kvitova (5), Agnieszka Radwanska (6), Angelique Kerber (7) and Flavia Pennetta (8).
After the defending champion and World no.1 Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament, citing a break to recover from injuries, it’s shaping into an open tournament with all eight women standing a chance to win. This will add more unpredictability to the event and the WTA Finals will be more exciting to watch.
Sharapova is the only player in this group to have won the WTA finals in 2004. However, the Czech, Kvitova and Poland’s Radwanska are the only two players to have played the WTA finals for the last five years in a row since 2011. Halep, last year’s runner-up is seeded no.1 for the very first time in this competition.
On the other hand, Muguruza, Kerber and Pennetta will be making their debut in this cash-rich tournament. Surprisingly, in this year's WTA finals, the Italian, Pennetta is the only winner of a Grand Slam in 2015.
Switzerland’s, Timea Bacsinszky and American, Venus Williams are the first and second alternates at this year's WTA finals.
Although it’s anyone’s game, Sharapova and Halep will take solace from Serena’s withdrawal and fancy their chances of finishing the year on a high.
Indian fans can also look forward to watching Sharapova, Radwanska,and Pennetta play in the upcoming Champions Tennis League (CTL) and International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).