Sabalenka triumphs in Zhuhai; Osaka and Barty win first WTA Finals contests in Shenzhen

The top women in the 2019 tennis tour have been gathering in force in China for the two WTA finales. The WTA Finals, which headed from Singapore to Shenzhen for the first time, features the top eight players this year, while the WTA Elite Trophy brought together the next 11 ranked women plus one wild card in Zhuhai.

First it was Zhuhai…

…and in the absence of the No9-ranked Serena Williams, the field was topped by Kiki Bertens, Sofia Kenin, Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka.

However, the four to make it through the round-robin phase to the semi-finals were Bertens, Sabalenka, Karolina Muchova and Chinese wild card Saisai Zheng. Come the final, and it was Sabalenka who continued her outstanding run of form in China with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Bertens, the Belarusian’s third title of the year. The other two came in Wuhan and Shenzhen.

She afterwards admitted:

“For the next season, I would like to win somewhere else instead of China. But also I would like to keep winning in China. But I’m just really happy with this title and with the finish of my singles season, it’s really impressive.”

She cannot, though, sit back and relax just yet, for her tennis in China is not over: She heads to Shenzhen where she and partner Elise Mertens are top-ranked seeds in doubles at the WTA Finals. She said:

“Next is Shenzhen, right? The expectation is just to do everything I can and to show our best level of tennis with Elise and just to do our best.”

She does have a day’s respite, but the action began in Shenzhen almost before Zhuhai had ended.

WTA elite eight begin campaign for Championship title

Of course, it comes as no surprise that among the elite eight are all four of this year’s Major champions.

No2 in the Race, Naomi Osaka, won her second consecutive Major title at the Australian Open, and took over the No1 ranking into the bargain.

However, the woman heading to Shenzhen as No1 is the winner of last year’s Zhuhai Elite Trophy, Ashleigh Barty, who won her first Major title at the French Open, and soon afterwards overtook Osaka to become No1.

Current No4 Simona Halep won her second Major at Wimbledon, while No5 Bianca Andreescu won her first Major at the US Open, beating Williams in the final and becoming the first player born in the 2000s to win a Major.

The four Premier Mandatory champions are well represented in Shenzhen, too: Barty, Andreescu and Osaka won three of them, while Zhuhai runner-up Bertens won the fourth. As for Premier 5s, two more Shenzhen players, Belinda Bencic and Karolina Pliskova won one apiece. Indeed Pliskova has been the most prolific titlist on the tour this season, four victories from five finals.

Sixth in the Race is Petra Kvitova, runner-up at the Australian Open, and with two titles from four finals this year. She also reached the quarters of three Mandatories, and is into her seventh WTA Finals, having won at her first appearance in 2011.

Kvitova, along with defending champion Elina Svitolina, seeded No8, are the only former Championship winners among the eight, while there are three singles debutantes: Barty, Andreescu and Bencic.

Andreescu’s surge from just No243 a year ago came via a 48-5 record, and the US Open, Indian Wells, and Toronto titles. For her part, Bencic came to Shenzhen with the most top-10 and top-5 wins on tour this season, nine and six respectively. The Swiss also made her first Major semi at the US Open, won the prestigious Dubai title, and sealed her place in Shenzhen after her title run in the last available week in Moscow.

Record prize money

The rewards are eye-watering for all those concerned. In fact, the total purse is $14 million—more than any other tennis event. The previous record was set in September at the US Open, where the winner, men and women, earned $3.85 million. If the champion goes unbeaten through her group matches in Shenzhen, the last woman standing will pick $4.725 million.

The Groups

So how did the eight fall in the round-robin groups? Well, the year’s Major champions were split evenly between the two.

Red Group

Three of the four youngsters—Barty (23), Osaka (22), and Bencic (21)—are drawn with the oldest player in the field, 29-year-old Kvitova. The seeds are [with H2H against rest of group]:

1 Ashleigh Barty [4-6]
3 Naomi Osaka [4-5]
6 Petra Kvitova [8-4]
7 Belinda Bencic [4-4]

Purple Group

First-timer 19-year-old Andreescu takes on three WTA Finals stalwarts: two-time semi-finalist Pliskova, 2014 finalist Halep, and defending champion Svitolina.

2 Karolina Pliskova [8-11]

4 Bianca Andreescu [2-0]
5 Simona Halep [11-7]
8 Elina Svitolina [7-10]

Barty ends stunning year as two-time No1

Having already finished the regular season as World No1 to win the Porsche Race to Shenzhen, Barty became the first Australian year-end No1 and the youngest since 2012. She just needed to win one round-robin match to secure the latter honour and hold off a possible challenge from Pliskova or Osaka, and now only needs to step onto court for one more match to guarantee that No1.

Barty, who leads the tour with 52 regular-season wins, recovered from a set down to beat Bencic 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 after almost two hours on the first day of action in Shenzhen.

Osaka takes Kvitova to the limit—again

Osaka and Kvitova had only played each other once before, but it was a thriller. The final of the Australian Open was won by Osaka, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, and in their first meeting since, it would prove to be a very similar story. The Japanese star took two hours 40 minutes to beat the Czech, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, and did so after winning the first set from a break down, losing the second from a break up, and then dominating the third.

In the end, there were just two points between them in more than 200 played.

Purple Group opens Monday

Svitolina resumes her rivalry against Pliskova, after last meeting in the same tournament a year ago. Svitolina won the round-robin match over Pliskova 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, en route to lifting the trophy, her third straight defeat of Pliskova, having lost to the Czech in their first five meetings.

US Open champion Andreescu faces Wimbledon champion Halep for the first time, and is bidding for her ninth top-10 win this year Her only loss against top-tenners was to Osaka. Andreescu vs Halep will be just the third encounter between reigning Major champions this season.

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