2018 WTA Finals - General Discussion

[Enceladus]

We welcome this year's WTA Finals participants:

1. Simona Halep, winner of the French Open, Rogers Cup and Shenzhen Open.

2. Angelique Kerber, winner of the Wimbledon and Sydney International.

3. Caroline Wozniacki, winner of the Australian Open, China Open and Eastbourne International.

4. Naomi Osaka, winner of the US Open and Indian Wells.

5. Petra Kvitova, winner of the Madrid Open, Quatar Open, St. Petersburg Trophy, Birmingham Classic and Prague Open.

6. Sloane Stephens, winner of the Miami Open.

7. Elina Svitolina, winner of the Italian Open (Rome), Brisbane International and Dubai Championships.

8. Karolina Pliskova, winner of the Porsche Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo).

 

[Enceladus]

Alternate:
Kiki Bertens, winner of the Cincinnati Open, Charleston and Korea Open (Seoul).

 

[Enceladus]

Number of points:
1. Halep 6921 points
2. Kerber 5375
3. Wozniacki 5086
4. Osaka 4740
5. Kvitova 4255
6. Stephens 3943
7. Svitolina 3850
8. Ka. Pliskova 3840

 

[bezs]

Glad to see Svitolina qualify, will be cheering her on at the matches.

 

[I Am Finnish]

lol those gifs

 

[ALEXT]

First question is will Halep play any match? I mean competitive not just show up on the court .....
As for the winner, I would think Kerber, Osaka or Woz have the first chance. Pliskova, Svitolina, Stephens have been mediocre in the past few months. Kvitova is a wildcard - can go either way.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

If Halep retired, please don't play any match. It will make the RR clasement skew if she played only 1 match for example.

 

[Mr.Lob]

We welcome this year's WTA Finals participants:

1. Simona Halep, winner of the French Open, Rogers Cup and Shenzhen Open.

2. Angelique Kerber, winner of the Wimbledon and Sydney International.

3. Caroline Wozniacki, winner of the Australian Open, China Open and Eastbourne International.

4. Naomi Osaka, winner of the US Open and Indian Wells.

5. Petra Kvitova, winner of the Madrid Open, Quatar Open, St. Petersburg Trophy, Birmingham Classic and Prague Open.

6. Sloane Stephens, winner of the Miami Open.

7. Elina Svitolina, winner of the Italian Open (Rome), Brisbane International and Dubai Championships.

8. Karolina Pliskova, winner of the Porsche Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo).

Osaka. She's the only one in GIF lineup not blowing kisses or playing to the camera. She's focused on tennis!!

 

[I Am Finnish]

Halep pulled out

 

[Enceladus]

Update:
I added Bertens to the poll, Halep has logged off. I can't remove Halep from the poll (the system does not allow me), so don't vote for Halep, please.
https://www.eurosport.co.uk/tennis/...ingapore-due-to-injury_sto6975875/story.shtml

 

[Deleted member 293577]

I’m going to vote for Halep.

Spoiler

The alternate universe pre-US Open who didn’t get injured Halep.

 

[I Am Finnish]

 

[I Am Finnish]

Red Group
[1] Kerber, [3] Osaka, [5] Stephens, [8] Bertens

White Group
[2] Wozniacki, [4] Kvitova, [6] Svitolina, [7] Pliskova

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Finally! We get Osaka vs Stephens. Now I need also Osaka vs Kvitova.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

https://tennismash.com/2018/10/18/quiz-wta-finals-contenders/

 

[FakeEmpire]

Red Group
[1] Kerber, [3] Osaka, [5] Stephens, [8] Bertens

White Group
[2] Wozniacki, [4] Kvitova, [6] Svitolina, [7] Pliskova

Christ, they managed to put all the rookies in the same group, with Kerber serving as MC... --'

But looking at this draw, I've no idea who'll win it. Kerber has been patchy since her Wimby win; Osaka has been fairly consistent since her USO win, but she's finding it hard to rein her nerves and newly found pressure; Stephens is Stephens, as Kvitova is Kvitova; Bertens has been consistent, but the girl must be tired by now; Wozniacki has won a title recently, but her year was topsy turvy; Svitolina clearly isn't at her best and the same can be said about Pliskova, who seems to have stagnated. It'll be interesting, at least.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Osaka. She's the only one in GIF lineup not blowing kisses or playing to the camera. She's focused on tennis!!

Ha….ha....not.

Its called a shoot for promotional purposes, Standard practice.

 

[spystud]

Singles draw pdf

http://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/draws/2018/808/MDS.pdf

 

[spystud]

Peter Bodo ranks the 8 finalists, good read.

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/25025398/who-prevail-wta-finals-rank-contenders

 

[70後]

Peter Bodo ranks the 8 finalists, good read.

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/25025398/who-prevail-wta-finals-rank-contenders

Peter Bodo ESPN.com Staff Writer: The Red Group has an edge in Grand Slam titles won in 2018 (2-1), thanks to Naomi Osaka and Sloane Stephens.

 

[Nostradamus]

can they all play in bikinis ? that might be the only thing that makes this tournament interesting.

 

[Mainad]

Someone should teach Sloane how to field tricky questions in her pressers!

 

[Mainad]

"Peter Bodo ESPN.com Staff Writer: The Red Group has an edge in Grand Slam titles won in 2018 (2-1), thanks to Naomi Osaka and Sloane Stephens. "

That should read "thanks to Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber" of course. Stephens didn't win any Slams in 2018 (she was 2017 US Open champion).

That said, Red Group does boast 3 Grand Slam champions (Osaka, Kerber, Stephens) to White Group's 2 (Wozniacki, Kvitova). On the other hand, White Group includes the only 2 players in Singapore to have won this event, defending champion Wozniacki and 2011 champion Kvitova. So watch this space!

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Here's an overall look at how the field have fared this year, both on tour and against Top 10 players:
1. Angelique Kerber: 45-17, 5-8 vs. Top 10
2. Caroline Wozniacki: 40-15, 2-0 vs. Top 10
3. Naomi Osaka: 40-17, 3-6 vs. Top 10
4. Petra Kvitova: 47-14, 7-1 vs. Top 10
5. Sloane Stephens: 33-18, 4-4 vs. Top 10
6. Elina Svitolina: 39-15, 4-3 vs. Top 10
7. Karolina Pliskova: 47-21, 4-4 vs. Top 10
8. Kiki Bertens: 44-21, 10-5 vs. Top 10

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Day 1

Kvitova vs Svitolina (H2H 7-1)
Should be a win for Kvitova, but Kvitova is a Kvitova and Svitolina has horrible late season.
2018 Doha R16 Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 6-4 7-5
2016 WTA Elite F Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-2
2016 Wuhan R32 Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-1
2016 US Open R32 Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-4
2016 Olympic Tennis QF Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-0
2015 Dubai R32 Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 2-6 6-3 6-2
2014 Wuhan SF Hard Petra Kvitova Elina Svitolina 6-3 7-5
2014 Cincinnati Masters R32 Hard Elina Svitolina Petra Kvitova 6-2 7-6(2)

Wozniacki vs Pliskova (H2H 6-3)
This is more interesting as since Pliskova 2.0 come up their H2H is 3-3.
2017 WTA Championships SF Hard Caroline Wozniacki Karolina Pliskova 7-6(9) 6-3
2017 Cincinnati Masters QF Hard Karolina Pliskova Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4
2017 Canadian Masters QF Hard Caroline Wozniacki Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-7(3) 6-4
2017 Eastbourne F Grass Karolina Pliskova Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-4
2017 Miami Masters SF Hard Caroline Wozniacki Karolina Pliskova 5-7 6-1 6-1
2017 Doha F Hard Karolina Pliskova Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-4
2014 Istanbul QF Hard Caroline Wozniacki Karolina Pliskova 6-1 3-6 6-2
2014 Monterrey QF Hard Caroline Wozniacki Karolina Pliskova 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3
2013 Miami Masters R64 Hard Caroline Wozniacki Karolina Pliskova 5-7 6-3 6-3

 

[70後]

I already voted Kvitova, although Sascha says he would have put his money on Osaka.

 

[-NN-]

I'll be honest - only here to watch Naomi Osaka.

Her record doesn't seem so hot against elite opposition but fingers crossed!

 

[spystud]

Jeez, just realized this will be on beIN in the States. Awesome, can’t even watch with DirecTV. Thought for sure TC had these rights.

 

[helixx]

semifinals tip:

kvitova, wozniacki, stephens, osaka.

today's matches:

kvitova - svitolina - kvitova clearly a favorite, svitolina didnt win a match over her for 4 years and is pretty much outsider of this year's finals based on her form.
wozniacki - pliskova - all caro's wins over pliskova are on slow hard courts. shouldnt be different this time
stephens - osaka - tough to call, but i go with sloane

 

[helixx]

lol what an underestimation of svitolina by me

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Did Svitolina gain weight? After the whole charade of her skinny thing or maybe Kvitova is now super skinny so it's hard to compare?

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Classic overhead miss by Kvitova.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Also thank God Nike still have Svitolina wearing the old kit so no same kit for Nike team (Svitolina, Kvitova and Sloane).
Only q mark is whether Kerber and Osaka wearing the same kit.

 

[Enceladus]

Kvitova-Svitolina 3:6, 1:2
Petra had problems with service in the first set and produced 16 UE. Good and stable service is a key component of Petra's play.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Kvitova-Svitolina 3:6, 1:2
Petra had problems with service in the first set and produced 16 UE. Good and stable service is a key component of Petra's play.

Svitolina is also serving remarkably well.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

UE so far

Kvitova: 24
Svitolina: 6

Cray.

 

[helixx]

what a ****fest by petra

 

[spystud]

Petra may be done. She worked SO hard to get back, there may not be anything left.


I sincerely hope I’m wrong.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

That's a 1-2 punch that we miss this whole match.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Andy Beetles looking fine.

 

[helixx]

dissapointed

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Very good result for Eli since her record against Kvitova is worse than against any other player in Singapore.

Hopefully one more win will be enough for her to progress. Should have made it out of round robin last year.

 

[Enceladus]

Kvitova-Svitolina 3:6, 3:6
Petra suits Elina's style of play (H2H 7:1 for Kvitova into today's match), but Kvitova played badly today. 30 produced UE, 7 DF, profit points after 2nd service only 42%. On the other hand, Svitolina very well returned and was better/more consistent in rallies.

 

[helixx]

wozniacki down double break

 

[helixx]

wozniacki worse in every department, she cant keep the ball in play. pliskova is even moving better than her

 

[Enceladus]

Pliskova-Wozniacki 6:2
So surprisingly, Wozniacki was the more active player in the first set than Pliskova - the winner's ratio of 11-8 for Wozniacki, which also produced 8 UEs, while Pliskova only 4.

 

[Enceladus]

Pliskova-Wozniacki 6:2, 1:0
Pliskova gained a break in the 1st game of the 2nd set. Of 7 BPs, she used 3.

 

[helixx]

Pliskova-Wozniacki 6:2, 1:0
Pliskova gained a break in the 1st game of the 2nd set. Of 7 BPs, she used 3.

wozzie is 0/6 on bb. terrible

0/7

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

I knew Pliskova gonna thrive here. Except collapse she's cruising.

Prediction: Kvitova win both vs Woz and Plisk
Woz beat Svitol. No idea on Plisk vs Svitol.

 

[Deleted member 293577]

Pliskova looking unstoppable. Power too much for Woz.