WTA Championships Day 3: Williams-Kvitova battle headlines a loaded day

What’s a high-profile event without a touch of spice? Upsets undoubtedly inject new interest and enthusiasm into an event. Jelena Jankovic who never fails to light up an atmosphere put up a spirited display against the higher ranked Victoria Azarenka to secure her first win over a top 4 player in last 18 tries and her achievement has definitely thrown open the White Group. The next few matches from that group will now be followed with lot more eagerness.

Jankovic now squares up against Li Na which makes a mouthwatering affair on a day which is loaded with two other matches which can be extremely competitive. A much anticipated clash between the only two WTA Championships winners in this year’s field – Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova is the banner match of the day along with another potentially exciting encounter between Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber. Let’s have a look at these three contests.

(4)Li Na v (7)Jelena Jankovic (Head-to-head: Li leads 5-4)

There can’t be a more entertaining contest to start off the day. Both Li Na and and Jelena Jankovic know each other pretty well having won a doubles title together. Naturally their face-offs turn out to be packed with loads of drama and quality tennis. Li holds an edge but very slightly.

What makes matters even more interesting is the fact that they have split their meetings this year. The Serbian former World No. 1 who is enjoying a remarkable resurgence came into the clay season on a high having won a title at Bogota and having stretched Serena to the distance in the Charleston final. She had the upper hand in Rome over her Chinese opponent but Jankovic did lose some of the steam after that and in their most recent encounter, Li bludgeoned her in less than an hour.

But the Serb’s tennis has started to shine again post US Open. She came into her 5th Championships on some momentum and turned it on a slumping Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka who confessed to being mentally burned out, couldn’t find an answer to the Serb’s stinging angular backhands and simply couldn’t find a solution to deal with Jankovic’s awe-inspiring defense, silky movement, strong serve and delicate touches.

Li Na on the other hand, did have her moments of nervousness in her straight sets victory over Sara Errani. She looked quite jittery in a match which showed her brilliance as well as her vulnerability. The 2011 French Open champion has to avert being under pressure and until and unless her forehands start rolling, she might find it difficult against a Jankovic who’s riding high on confidence.

Prediction: Jankovic wins in three sets.

(3)Agnieszka Radwanska v (8)Angelique Kerber (Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 5-3)

For World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska who’s trailing Maria Sharapova by just one point in the rankings, it was always an arduous task this year , given she was clubbed with two WTA Championships winners in the same group. Her best chance of being still in contention for the semi-finals was a triumph over 2011 winner Petra Kvitova, something she had done last year. But the Czech came out of the blocks swinging big and didn’t give the Pole much of a breathing space. Against Serena she was more intent on mixing it up and was effective for a brief period but missing a horde of break points did her in. Today is perhaps the best chance for redemption for a desperate Radwanska.

In her most recent face-off with the German No. 1 Angelique Kerber in Beijing, Radwanska came out trumps in a tight two-setter. But a week before that in Tokyo, Kerber had emerged victorious over a weary and listless Radwanska who had just come off a title run in Seoul.

This one too can go the distance given Radwanska might just face the effects of a long season that saw her winning 56 matches. Kerber couldn’t produce anything of note in her first round-robin match as she was subdued and overpowered by a ruthless Serena Williams. But in this match, she has more options if she can get her forehands going. Kerber has great defense and her lefty forehand-down-the-line caused havoc on Radwanska in Tokyo. Being more aggressive would work but the more experienced Radwanska with her myriad tricks and her ability to defuse power would want to end the year with a win.

Prediction: Radwanska wins in three sets.

(1)Serena Williams v (5)Petra Kvitova (Head-to-head: Serena leads 4-0)

The last match of the day is the one most anticipated. What makes it even more special is the fact that this is the first indoor meeting between Serena and Kvitova. And both of them have been highly impressive in their WTA Championships campaign this year – Serena as usual in her first two matches and Kvitova in the only match that she played.

After a lacklustre year, which saw her winning just one title before the US Open, the very talented 2011 Wimbledon champion started upping the intensity in the Asian swing. With more improved fitness Kvitova finally started looking like the competitor she should be. What’s more noticeable is she is now finishing off the points at the net when required, something that was shockingly missing even few months back. An illness-free Kvitova is bubbling with self-belief which was so evident when she came out swinging freely against Radwanska.

Would all that count when she takes on the best player in the world who herself is having one of her most memorable seasons? The Czech has a losing record but in their last encounter in Doha this year, Kvitova did start to display some of the guts and gumption that was expected of her and at one point even led Serena 4-1 in the third set. Petra did admit that it was the first time she actually believed she could beat Serena.

An indoor court and a little weary Serena will help if the Czech does succeed in producing her bullet serves and laser forehands from the word go. But the defending champion has better movement, better serve and far greater mental fortitude and she also has incentive – she will tie the second-longest win streak in the WTA Championships history with a triumph here.

Prediction: Serena wins in three sets.