The Battle for Zhuhai!:Part 2

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 this part I will speak for the competition behind the 4 standing players. The competition isn't that rough but it consists of players that you should wait the worst but the best from them the same time.

5.Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic on the French Open where
she had her best 2015 run.

The former world no1s season isn't as expected. Hr fans woke up after her fantastic 2014 but she has surely let them down this year. She started the year really well reaching the finals in Brisbane and leading Maria Sharapova with a set before losing to her. She was victim of a surprise in the first round of the Australian Open, where she lost to Lucie Hradecka. After the match, she claimed she had a toe injury. The only final round she reached till the next slam was in Monterrey where she lost in the Semi-finals to Caroline Garcia. Garcia was her nightmare for the first part of the season as she beat her 3 times(:O) in Monterrey,Stuttgart and Indian Wells. While everything seemed lost and she had 2 bad matches in her first 2 rounds in the French Slam,she made her 3rd round match with Donna Vekic a turning point as she won that easily and after beating Ekaterina Makarova in a tough 4th round match she made her 1st Grand Slam final phase since AO 2014. She then rallied through Elina Svitolina to make the semis. It was a really important result for her and her numerous fans as it was her first Grand Slam SF in 7 years(!!!) when she won in Paris! However, she wasn't able to repeat the 2008 triumph as she lost in the Semis to Lucie Safarova. Many believed that Ana would have a lot of confidence after the French Open,but she couldn't find the French Open form in the English grass courts scoring one win in 3 matches against out of top 100 players. However, she was there in the USA hard courts making back-to-back QF in Toronto and Cincinnati. In the US Open was a victim of her hard draw(in the 1st round only),losing to Dominika Cibulkova. The same player beat her in the QF of Tokyo,being her nightmare for the second half of the season. She also lost in the R16 in Wuhan to Garbine Muguruza. In Beijing,she has currently an easy draw. If we except her next opponent,Wuhan champion, Venus Williams who should be tired and she is also suffering from leg injury she has perfect H2H with every other player till the semis!
My opinion:I think Ana will get to Zhuhai anyway, as she plays Luxembourg as a top seed and Linz as well . If she wins against Venus, considering her easy draw I thing that she can get in the battle for Singapore too.

6.Ekaterina Makarova

Kate in her semi-fnal run in the Aus Open

The Russian is having an injured-marred season in general but her strong start that put her in the WTA top 10 for the first time in her career was able to bring her high in the Road to Singapore rankings. Kate had a really strong start making her 3rd consecutive Grand Slam final round in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. She continued her good form in the first Premier Tier I tournament in Dubai,where she reached the QF and lost in a rematch of the Australian Open QF with Simona Halep. She had made signs of her injury in the Us hard courts and it was evident as soon as the clay court season kicked off.She anyway made the 4th round of the French for her 4th consecutive Slam 2nd week before she lost to Ana Ivanovic. She didn't do literally anything for the rest of the season with only a SF appearance in Washington DC and a 4th round in the US Open. She hasn't played since the US Open and she is withdrawing from everything. Her only hope is her home tournament in Moscow, where she is next projected to play.
My opinion:Kate's injury seems serious and she has been hampered by it throughout almost the whole season. So, even if she plays Moscow her last tournament,not only the competition would have gotten far, but also her injury will probably not let her show her best face. It is a pity that Kate had to suffer from an injury after her fairytale start which surely looked promising.

7.Jelena Jankovic

Jelena after winning the title in Guangzhou 

The former World no1 is not having a really good year but with some sudden peaks she has managed to be in the competition for Zhuhai.She didn't start the season well dropping openers both in Brisbane and Australian Open. As a consequence of this she saw her ranking fall more resulting in more difficult first and second rounds. However, in Indian Wells she had a huge breakthrough run in the final of the Premier Mandatory event where she lost the match out of her hands to Simona Halep. Her clay court season wasn't that good especially after she got injured in the Strasbourg QF,with this resulting to her R1 loss in the French Open. She then went on to reach the SF in Hertogenbosch and the round of 16 in both Birmingham and Wimbledon marking it as a really successful grass court season according to her grass court standards. She even took out of competition the 2 time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the 3rd round of the England slam. She then won the Nanchang 125k title,however without facing a single top 100 player. She made the SF in her favouite tournament Cincinnati, for her best result in the US Open hard courts.Despite her Cincinnati success she was a victim of a 1st round US Open loss to Oceane Dodin. In Asia,she started off well winning the title in Guangzhou after saving match points in her semi-final match agains Yanina Wickmayer. She didn't keep this form up as she lost in the 2nd round of Wuhan and the 1st round of Beijing minimising her Zhuhai hopes. H er next tournament is Luxembourg.
My opinion: JJ's early loses in Wuhan and Beijing marked the end of her Zhuhai hopes as I stated before too. I don't think she can do something really good in Luxembourg and even if she does I don't thing she will catch up to the others.

8.Andrea Petkovic

Andrea after winning in Antwerp and
 returning back in the top 10

The German returned in top 10 for first time since 2011 this year but she wasn't able to keep up this success for the whole year,which had many up and downs like her game and her character. She started te year reall bad with many tough loses and some really tough wins especially in her Fed-up ties.However,after beating Alison Van Uytvanck saving 7(!!)match points in her Antwerp opener the turning point came in her season. She ended up winning the whole thing and being back in the worlds top 10. She Doha QFs and Charleston and Miami SFs. Even, in this period of her season was inconsistent week in-week out but she was still able to make results. However,she has made only one QF in Eastbourne since then and she hasn't been in that good  a form. In Asia she has dropped opener in her first 2 tournaments and she starts her Beijing campaign against Eugenie Bouchard tomorrow.
My opinion:Andrea is not in form lately and her draw in Beijing even if it has opened it looms some dangers for her so I believe she won't make it..

9.Ana-Karolina Schmiedlova 
The young Rising Star is having an amazing year, being probably the best International-level player of 2015.

Ana-Karolina after winning her first
WTA Title in Katowice

She didn't start the season well with many first round loses. She made her first WTA Final in Rio,where she lost to Sara Errani. Surprisingly, even this result wasn't enough to boost her confidence. She continued dropping first rounds and the one disappointment was coming after another. She played a top 15 player for first time against Aga Radwanska in Miami and lost. However, she probably learned many things by playing with the Pole as she conquered the next tournament she entered in Katowice for her 1st WTA Singles title. She also made the semis in Marrakech but in general her clay and grass court swing wasn't ideal without any big run. She turn the tides in her next tournament in Bucharest where after reaching her 3rd final of 2015 she avenged her Rio loss to Errani to win her 2nd career title. She followed up this showing with a SF appearance in Bad Gastein. Her summer was ideal as she reached her first premier QF in Cincinnati after winning Aga Radwanska in her first round match. She started the Asian swing really well making the SF in Seoul and her 2nd premier QF in Wuhan,where she beat Caroline Wozniacki. If she continued her form in Beijing she would be a big contender for qualifying in Zhuhai but she lost to Alison Van Uytvanck. She will battle for the qualification in Linz and Moscow.
My opinion:In the preview for this article I had her qualifying but after her 1st round loss today I was forced to change my mind. She was the only reliable out of the other competitors even if she was a couple of points back,but she wasn't able to exploit her favourable Beijing draw. I don't think that she can break the point difference in Linz and Moscow now.