While everyone's eyes are in the battle for qualification to the WTA Finals,I decided to shed light on the competition that is going on for the qualification to the newest tournament of the WTA,the Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, which will host the world's 9-19 best players(except for Serena Williams) and one WC in November.Thirteen players have already secured a place in the tournament,however 6 of them will probably get to the WTA finals. So with 7 spots secured,there are only 4 spots remaining to send the WTA players into the elite top 20 of the world. Those 4 spots are currently occupied by Madison keys,Sara Errani,Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka. However, there are many players near them,battling for the precious qualifying spot. Ana Ivanovic,Ekaterina Makarova, Jelena Jankovic, Andrea Petkovic and Ana-Karolina Schmiedlova are among the players who will give their best to overcome the 4 standing players and be in Zhuhai next month. In this article, I will tell my opinion about them,their season,their current status and whether I believe they will make it or not.In the first part I will analyse the standing players.
1.Madison Keys
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Madison after winning Venus Williams in the QF
of the Australian Open |
Madison has had a delightful year and she is deservedly ranked no16 in the Road to Singapore rankings. She kicked off the season with a great result in the hard courts of the Australian Open,where she made the semi-finals after beating Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova. It was a great run for the big-serving American who had quicker 2nd serve than Andy Murray(:O) which helped her earn more fans and gain confidence for the rest of the season. However,Madison didn't keep the level in the American masters where she had some rough luck in the draws facing Jankovic and Stephens and eventually losing. As the clay courts season kicked off she made the final in the Charleston green clay courts without however facing a top 60 player in her road to it(3/4 where out of the top 100). In the final she led 5-2 in the final set against Angelique Kerber but the always fighting German turned the match around to let Madison in the Runner-Up position.She didn't have a really good clay court season,without being expected for her anyway as her game isn't suitable for clay courts. In the grass courts of Wimbledon she had an open draw till the QF with lower ranked opponents and so she remained consistent to reach another Grand Slam final round. There she was stopped by the wall of Aga Radwanska after an intense batlle in the Wimbledon Court 1. She the avenged her defeat to the Pole in New York to reach the 4rth round where she got defeated by Serena Williams.Madison reached the second week of 3 out of the 4 Grand Slams in 2015,not to mention that her loses were to eventual Semi-finalist(in the Aus-Open to eventual champion).Her current status implies that an injury in her left wrist that forced her to pull out from Quebec is preventing her to find her best play.In Wuhan she got in trouble in her first round by Magdalena Rybarikova,before losing to Kiki Mladenovic in the second round. Today,she took revenge from Kiki after she won her in straight sets in Beijing.She will face either Barbora Strycova,either Kateryna Bondarenko for a place in the 3rd round,where seed wise she will meat with Aga Radwanska for 3rd time this season. Keys beat Aga in NY and she has the chance here too. I believe that she will have no trouble in her second match,so if she will be able to find out the US Open form and beat the 7th seed she will have secured a place in the QFs,which will give her a big boost.
My opinion:Madison has currently 2385 points and a chance in Beijing.Also, she is projected to play Linz and Luxembourg till the end of the year so I believe that she will manage to be in Zhuhai.
2.Sara Errani
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Sara Errani after winning in Rio
her 1st title in 2 years |
The former World no.5 and French Open 2012 R-Up is currently sitting in the 17th place of Road to Singapore ranks. Her year isn't living up to her name but with entering some little tournaments and having her annual French Open run, she is here. Sara didn't start her season that well losing matches whenever she found a dangerous player and not living up the crowds expectations. Even in Rio, where she won her 1st title in 2 years , she had to save match points in the QFs against Haddad-Maia who retired later on in the match.In the clay court season she wasn't that good reaching QF only in Stuutgart and in Roland Garros. Sara is having a love-affair with the French slam as she has to fail before the QF since 2011. The slow courts in Paris suit her great and she is always a dangerous player to come up against there. As expected,she didn't show up on the grass courts,but she took the points she lost with playing clay court events in July,reaching the Final in Bucharest and the semi-final in Bad Gastein. Sarita started her US hard court campaign really well making the SFs of the Premier level 5 event in Toronto losing to Simona Halep. She dropped openers in Cinci and New Heaven to come in New York and lose in the 3rd round against Samantha Stosur. In her second round match she seemed to have a sort of problem,probably an illness. Last week she reached the semis in Guangzhou before losing to Denisa Allertova. This was her last chance! The tough draws in the Asian Premiers don't seem to let her have a big run. She lost to Caroline Garcia in the Wuhan 1st round in a 3 setter,while she has drawn Petra Kvitova in Beijing,who even though she has said that she is feeling ill again she leads Sara 6-0 in their H2H.
My opinion:I think Sara has lost the battle.She has a tough draw in Beijing and even if she plays Linz and Luxembourg she has a disadvantage in comparison to others on hard.However,she has 2360 points and the competition isn't that rough,so I believe she will hold her spot.
3.Elina Svitolina
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| Elina after winning in Marrakech |
The young Ukrainian has had a really consistent season without many surprise loses and exits. She is currently in the 18th place of Road to Singapore and she has hopes to qualify for the WTA Elite Trophy. She started the season really well,making the SF in Brisbane before losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. Without surprises in any next tournament she finished the early hard court season well. She then decided to play the Copa Claro Open in Bogota, where she made the semis,losing to eventual champion Teliana Pereira.However,next week she won the title in Marrakech. Without being able to stop the seeds in the European clay court tournaments,she came in Paris in a part of the draw containing Aga Radwanska and Simona Halep. Exploiting the loses of the seeds,she was able even with difficulty to make her first Grand Slam final-round, as she advanced ith the QF where she lost to Ana Ivanovic.Her consistent baseline play was finally rewarded. With this showing she entered deeply in the worlds top 20 players. She didn't show up in grass, as it was expected,but her summer hard court season was really good. She made semis in Stanford and Cincinatti before losing to eventual champions in both times.She then went on to reach the 3rd round of the Us Open before losing to Ekaterina Makarova. Her Asian swing has started with two R16 finishes in Tokyo and Wuhan,while in Beijing she has a really good draw,with the only seed to face till the QF, being US Open champion Flavia Pennetta,who barely won Han in her opener. She has a chance here that will help her qualify as she is playing in Tianjin too.
My opinion;I think that Elina's consistency will help her win ground while others are losing. She can come through open draws without flopping so in my opinion she will make it.
4.Victoria Azarenka
The former World no-1 and 2 time Grand Slam champion is finding herself in a back to track season being ranked no19 in the Road to Singapore. She started the season by making the 4rth round of the Australian Open losing to former finalist Dominica Cibulkova although she was really close to earning a QF clash with Serena Williams. She then went on to play probably her favourite tournament in Doha where she made the final,showing the tennis world that she is back. However, she lost to Maria Sharapova and Flavia Penneta in the US Masters showing that she has to work a lot in the European clay courts before she really comes back. She lost in the 3rd round of Madrid to Serena Williams in a match she had 3 MPs!!!(:o). However, she didn't let down and she made the QF in Rome before losing easily to Maria Sharapova again. In the french Open her draw was really tough as she had to face Serena Williams in the 3rd round. She led with a set and a break but again she didn't manage to complete the win. She faced another injury that made her withdraw from Birmingham. However, she was ready for Wimbledon where she made it to the QF once again losing to Serena Williams being a set up. She then went on to play Toronto where she had a huge chance in a tournament most of the seeds were out or without form,but she didn't manage to get pass Errani. In Cincinatti she found her self with another injury which had forced her to withdraw from Washington DC.In the US Open she didn't seem so well in health,but she was able to win an incredible match in the 3rd round against Angie Kerber and eventually make the QF where she lost to Simona Halep. Vika is absent since Us Open due to injury. She pulled out from Wuhan and Beijing,while her participation in Hong Kong is questionable. As she said she is looking to the next season, as her injuries won't probably let her finish this one.
My opinion:Not only she isn't physically ready,but mentally too in my opinion. Vika shows no care in qualifying for the WTA Elite trophy, while she has lost the two important Asian-Swing stops. Her participation is Hong Kong is questionable,but even f she makes it she wont be able to do the job with that rough competition. In my opinion she won't make it as her mind id already in 2016.
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| Vika in Doha where she made the Final |
