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The months have rolled and the season has inevitably arrived at the year-ender, with Singapore decking up to host the 2018 WTA Finals. Every year, the top 8 singles players in the WTA circuit assemble to lock horns with each other in this ultimate battle for the top spot. The players are hosted in a round robin event where they are split into two groups of four --White and Red, from which the top two of the respective groups will advance to the semi-finals.
The proceedings this year have been very intense in either group. Although the White Group matches were free from much widespread tension, the Red Group matches have been immensely crucial. It could be anybody's day in the Red Group to qualify for the semis and then the final, and things look incredibly tight.
Here's having a look at the probable finalists for the main trophy match on Sunday, the 28th of October.
#1 Angelique Kerber
An indisputably strong contender from the Red Group, three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber has always been a force to reckon with. The 30-year-old German played in two thrilling matches of the week in the group stages.
In her first encounter with the 26-year-old Kiki Bertens, the second-ranked Kerber was forced into an upset when Bertens pulled off a surprise win. Although Kerber dominated the first set with a 6-1 win, where she broke Bertens twice, the following two sets went downhill for the Wimbledon champion who failed to regain her poise. World Number 9 Bertens made most out of the opportunity and sealed the 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
However, Kerber pulled up her socks just in time to hand the latest sensation in tennis town, Japanese No. 1 and US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, a crushing defeat. After a nail-biting 2 hours 30 minutes battle, the 30-year-old Kerber edged past the 21-year-old Osaka.
Pushing Osaka to her very limits, Kerber forced errors out of her and succeeded in cementing a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory. By winning this match, Kerber remains in hot pursuit of a spot in the final of the tournament. Her next opponent is Sloane Stephens in the final group stage match on Friday.
#2 Elina Svitolina
The 24-year-old Ukrainian player and World Number 6, Elina Svitolina packed power and grace to finish at the top of the White Group and qualify for the semi-finals of the WTA Finals being held in Singapore. Svitolina had several hurdles to overcome en route to her way to the semis.
Although Svitolina has never made it past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, she has produced an impeccably strong performance in Singapore to seize a spot for herself in the semi-finals. In the first round of the group stage, she handed a defeat to Petra Kvitova in straight sets.
It was followed by another win against Czech player Karolina Pliskova in a fairly easy three-setter, and then, with yet another three-set victory in the all-important clash with former World No.1 and defending champion, Caroline Wozniacki, Svitolina gave a spot-on performance to guarantee her entry in the semis.
In an incredibly close encounter with Wozniacki, which lasted for a grueling 2 hours 35 minutes, the World Number 7 Svitolina fought her way to a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 win to make it to the semis and perhaps better her disappointing debut performance in the 2017 edition of the WTA Finals, having won all three matches played so far in this tournament.
#3 Sloane Stephens
There is no writing off the 25-year-old Sloane Stephens. It is 2018 and the firebrand player is making her debut performance in the WTA Finals this time. The US Open 2017 champion and current World Number 6 has improved her game and her strategy manifold before coming into the Finals.
Stephens became the the first person to hand Naomi Osaka her first major blow in her debut WTA Finals match when she served her a 5-7, 6-4, 1-6 loss that left her at her wit's end. The next challenge was posed by Kiki Bertens, another strong contender from the Red Group, but Stephens unleashed her best ammunition to seal victory in a tight 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 scoreline, with the match having lasted 2 hours 20 minutes. By defeating Bertens, Stephens ended the Dutchwoman's nine-match winning streak coming into the WTA Finals.
Posed with the challenge of defeating top seed Angelique Kerber to gain entry into the semis, it can be anybody's day in the clash, with the odds slightly in favour of the debutant American.
#4 Karolina Pliskova
Former World Number 1 Karolina Pliskova surpassed several challenges posed by her White Group compatriots before advancing to the semi-finals of the culminating WTA Finals event. The 26-year-old World Number 8 player from the Czech Republic outplayed the 28-year-old defending champion, Caroline Wozniacki, in her opening match in straight sets. Wozniacki went down fighting in a brief 2-6, 4-6 encounter.
Pliskova could not side step the hurdle thrown by Ukrainian semi-finalist Elina Svitolina in her second match in the round robin stage which she lost in three sets. Svitolina, who won three out of three matches in the tournament so far, handed Pliskova a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 loss.
However, Pliskova stepped up her game soon and, in the following match against the two-time Wimbledon champion and fellow Czech player, Petra Kvitova, she produced an impeccable performance to seal a straight-set victory in a 3-6, 4-6 scoreline to enter the semi-finals of the WTA Finals. By doing so, she has ensured herself of being a top contender for the big trophy on Sunday.
